Komeil Bahmanpour

Microsoft Office Word 2010 Bug with Rendering Arabic Ligatures Using Sakkal Majalla Font

2011-04-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

If you’re not familiar with Perso-Arabic writing and typography, the paragraph below will help you learn a bit about it. That’s really useful if you’re trying to investigate what went wrong with Microsoft Office Word 2010.

Combined Characters or Ligatures

Combined characters or ligatures are characters that join into one character when placed together. One example is the “ae” combination in English; it is sometimes represented by a single character “æ”. Arabic is a script that has many combining characters.

Historically, the Persian writing in use today, was derived from Arabic; hence called Perso-Arabic. In Persian writing and typography, Persian ligatures consist of initial, medial, final, and isolated glyph forms of Persian letters joined (sometimes partially-joined) together. As the Middle East is all about complication, there are previous-joiner, next-joiner, bi-joiner, and non-joiner glyphs. Exhausting, inefficient, development-resistant, and most importantly error-prone when digitally dealt with.

Now back to the game; Windows packs its very own Unicode ligature transform engine. Throughout the years, it’s grown out of bugs—mostly.

With short-vowels being generally dropped in Perso-Arabic writing, Persian name Komeil consists of four letters. They join in as a single ligature. With Unicode in mind, the table describes how separate Persian letters end up as a ligature.

Microsoft Office Word 2010 Bug with Rendering Arabic Ligatures Using Sakkal Majalla

Ever since I installed Microsoft Office 2010, I noticed a strange bug with the glyph-to-ligature transformations of Sakkal Majalla. More strangely, it’s just this font exposing the bug with Word 2010. I tried to eliminate unfailing possibilities, and came to the conclusion that the combination of Microsoft Office Word 2010 (both 32-bit and 64-bit) and any conceivable Windows results in Sakkal Majjala Arabic glyphs not being rendered properly. The following were thoroughly examined:

Microsoft Windows 7 x64 + Microsoft Office Word 2010 x64
Microsoft Windows 7 x86 + Microsoft Office Word 2010 x86
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 x86 + Microsoft Office Word 2010 x86—with majalla.ttf (Sakkal Majalla 5.01) and majallab.ttf (Sakkal Majjala Bold 5.01) copied from a Windows 7 x86 and installed

Please note systems being tested had the latest updates installed. The problem remains with all sizes and all font styles (regular, italic, bold, and bold italic). With Sakkal Majalla being selected as current font, Microsoft Office Excel 2010 renders any given Persian ligature properly. Also to come to a conclusion about the Word in Office 2010, the same systems with Office 2007 were able to render Sakkal Majalla Arabic glyphs properly inside Word 2007.

The screenshot on the left demonstrates Microsoft Office Word 2010 Persian ligature bug with Sakkal Majalla font. On the right, Microsoft Office Excel 2010 is shown rendering the same Persian ligature using Sakkal Majalla font just fine.

A well-respected lettering artist, Mamoun Sakkal (Arabic: مأمون صقال) is a calligrapher and typeface designer who has received international awards in both calligraphy and typeface design. Award winning Mamoun Sakkal, a native of Aleppo, Syria, immigrated to the United States in 1978. He is the founder and principal of Sakkal Design in Bothell, Washington, providing Arabic calligraphy and typography design solutions to major US corporations. Sakkal Majalla, a font included in Windows 7, is his masterpiece if you ask me. It wasn’t that important if this problem was with any other Perso-Arabic font. But for me, other Windows fonts are overshadowed by the beauty of Sakkal Majalla every time I come across typing Persian.

Windows Fonts with Arabic Unicode Subrange

The following is a list of fonts including Arabic Unicode subrange that come standard with Microsoft Windows 7 / Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2:

Andalus
Arabic Typesetting
Arial
Courier New
Microsoft Sans Serif
Microsoft Uighur
Sakkal Majalla
Segoe UI
Simplified Arabic
Simplified Arabic Fixed
Tahoma
Times New Roman
Traditional Arabic

Neither of the above except for the Sakkal Majalla bring out the bug in Word 2010.

Fixing BMP/TIFF Image File Types Association Damaged by Adobe Bridge CS4/CS5 Installation

2011-03-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Adobe development team is one of a kind, and that’s the reason behind the problems Adobe CS4 / CS5 software consumers are faced with. Perhaps my earlier solution to the PBK file type association being damaged by Adobe Pixel Bender—part of Adobe Photoshop CS5—installation worked for you. Now it’s time to fix image file types association damaged by Adobe Bridge CS4 / CS5 installation—yet another bloatware from the Adobe Creative Suite.

There might be a chance I don’t want all my image files associated with Adobe Bridge / Adobe Photoshop. Problem is this is out of the question if you’re forced to use the recent Adobe Creative Suite.

Two of the extensions annoyingly associated with the Bridge are BMP and TIF (also TIFF). It’s really irritating to wait for the slow Bridge to open up, instead of the traditional Windows Photo Viewer. And if you’re wondering about an option to restore the association, you’d be wrong.

To fix the problem, the default value for each extension under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT must be reset to its default in Windows Registry.

Chortkeh Windows Registry Fix for Image File Type Association

Download the following registry patches and double-click to merge with your Windows Registry, and then restart your system for the new configuration to take effect. Please note changing Registry system configuration requires administrative privileges, so you need to be logged in as Administrator.

Download Link

Download Chortkeh Windows Registry Fix for BMP File Type Association
Download Chortkeh Windows Registry Fix for TIF/TIFF File Type Association

Fixing PBK File Type Association Damaged by Adobe Pixel Bender Installation

2011-01-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

این نوشتار به فارسی نیز موجود است.

This is the opening of the fairytale software engineers tell to amuse children: “Once upon a time in San Jose, there was a software company that has historically focused upon the creation of bloated software…”

Adobe, oh, bloated Adobe… They came up with the idea of a programming language for the description of image processing algorithms. Codenamed Hydra, the final product was given a spiffy name: Adobe Pixel Bender; and the IDE for scripting with the Pixel Bender was called Adobe Pixel Bender Toolkit. Recognizable with its PBK extension, Pixel Bender Kernel File is one of the file types associated with Adobe Pixel Bender Toolkit.

They are so arrogant they haven’t checked Windows to see whether PBK extension has been previously registered to some other software. Originally called Dial-Up Phonebook, PBK extension belongs to Remote Access Phonebook, a Windows’ own application. PBK files were primitively designed to store RAS connection configurations in INI file format, but they’re in a wider use today to store VPN connections as well. So, if you have a VPN subscription, or you’re simply required to connect to a VPN, then odds are you’re diverted to Adobe Pixel Bender!

Adobe’s software bloat strikes again. If you install Adobe software packed with Pixel Bender—that includes Adobe Photoshop CS5—you’re going to lose PBK’s original file type association to rasphone.exe.

Back in Windows XP days, PBK files were originally stored in %AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk, which is not mandatory for today’s Windows 7’s (or Windows Vista’s) %AppData%\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk.

After installing Adobe Pixel Bender (Toolkit) on Windows XP, even if you go to the aforementioned folder, you see rasphone file is opened by Adobe Pixel Bender and has the icon of the Adobe program rather than a phone. There’s a similar case with Windows Vista / Windows 7, meaning PBK files, stored regardless of folder position or hierarchy, have their icons changed and are opened by Adobe Pixel Bender rather than “Network Connections.”

Searching for a solution to the problem across the Internet, I was convinced no one has fixed the problem with PBK file type association so far. So, comparing Windows Registry keys on a corrupted Windows and an undamaged Windows, I came up with the idea of a fix, or as I prefer, a “patch.”

Registry keys harmed by Adobe Pixel Bender are as follows:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.pbk] @="pbkfile"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.pbk] @="pbkfile"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.pbk\OpenWithProgids] "pbkfile"=hex(0):

Chortkeh Windows Registry Fix for PBK File Type Association

If you feel sympathy for Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov, don’t worry, because I also prepared a command-line script to do the job effortlessly.

Please note the patch will restart the system without further confirmation. Therefore, save any unsaved work and close any opened applications before proceeding with the repair. Also please note because as part of the process, the current user’s Registry Hive needs to be modified, do NOT run as administrator.

Download Link

Download Chortkeh Windows Registry Fix for PBK File Type Association

Essential Multimedia File Types the Second Generation Pioneer MVH-Series Should Support

2010-12-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

این نوشتار به فارسی نیز موجود است.

Waiting for the 2011 Santa, yet, demanding a Pioneer carputer is out of the question, or Susumu Kotani will commit seppuku. There are cheap Chinese brands out there with three generations of archived/discontinued carputers, at the same time Pioneer multimedia head unit users are still arguing why they can’t play videos recorded with their Nokia Nseries smartphone or a downloaded YouTube video on their aftermarket Pioneer headunit—their way of saying an MVH (music video headunit) does not support MP4.

Currently some 40 percent of all cell phone sales in the U.S. are smartphones, and estimates are that number will actually approach 60 percent by 2012. Even more striking is that over 50 percent of car owners in the U.S. are smartphone owners. Regrettably, the global power elite, aka Superclass, including Pioneer, are programmed to be in love with Apple, and to allow only iTards to connect their dumbphones to the head, leaving others even desperate for a sip of A2DP/AVRCP!

The Bluetooth-enabled variations of the next generation MVH (MVH-Px3xxBT, MVH-x3xxBT) should definitely support both A2DP and AVRCP to enable users to transfer and control audio playback over Bluetooth.

Nokia is dead meat, the “soft” in Microsoft is bloated, but I’m happy the real Superclass—Google with its Android—has come to a dogfight with the company that produces screwless incompetent attractive girls for electronic gadgets. It will not take long, and by the demise of CD/DVD, some five to six years from now, consumers will look at smartphone interface availability as a purchase decision when buying a new car, and by 2016, imagine, if you will, how this is going to affect that center console stack between the driver and passenger.

The current approach on how the multimedia decoder has been implemented in the MVH-8200 family is wrong. Shamefully, having CorePlayer installed, a 2007 Nokia N95 is by far a better multimedia hub than an MVH-8250BT.

Of all the electronics used inside the MVH-8250BT, there’s only one chip I like, and that’s the Samsung K4S641632N-LC75 (64MB 133MHz CL3 7.5ns 3.3V LVTTL) SDRAM. A preprogrammed, restrictive, purpose-built decoding platform—like MVH-P8200’s current Panasonic MN2DS0018MAUB and the NEC microprocessor mated to the Panny—is doing no good. If some come to their senses, what we need here is something like an Nvidia Tegra system-on-a-chip, programmed to decode and play everything multimedia that makes sense. ARM Cortex/PowerVR combination and Qualcomm Snapdragon can be considered for a possible more expensive MVH multimedia hub.

Employing such chips might also promise a high-end RS-series MVH with a Wolfson DAC. For sure, narrow-minded audiophiles would argue that MVHs do not deserve to be produced as “MVX” high-ends. But they’re wrong, in the same way they’re refusing to accept the fact that a compressed 1.5 Mbps stereo DTS stream is a far cry better than a raw 1.4 Mbps stereo PCM stream found on an Audio CD. C’mon, where’s my MVX-P99RS?

Such a pity, with all the reputation and intrinsic potential, Pioneer is chasing ghosts here. Having experienced many different hardware/software platforms since 1992, I personally prefer allegro-tempo Linux-based environments like the new MeeGo (Intel/Nokia) to adagio-playing Java-based platforms like the new one Pioneer engineers have developed for their home multimedia players.

Broader Range of Multimedia File Types Support

Users want their multimedia file collection to work on an MVH—without conversion—and for that reason, here is a list of audio/video file types and container formats needed, sorted based on support priority.

Audio Streams

MP3, WMA, and AAC are currently supported by the 2010 MVH family—including MVH-P8200BT, MVH-P8200, MVH-8200BT, MVH-8200, MVH-8250BT, and MVH-8250. The support is lame, because I can have an audio file in WMA or AAC, but I can’t have an AVI video packed with these sounds. The audio portion of your AVI should restrictively be an MP3. The following is a list of audio stream specifications needed, sorted based on support priority:

WAV—Waveform Audio File Format: The usual bitstream encoding is the Linear Pulse Code Modulation (LPCM) format. This is essential, because when audio quality matters, this is how a ripped Audio CD is stored on a portable media—uncompressed.
FLAC—Free Lossless Audio Codec: Same purpose as WAV, with the benefit of a 50%–60% compression. Nowadays, younger audiophiles store their collections as FLACs, thanks to the demise of CD.
MP2—MPEG-1 Audio Layer II or MPEG-2 Audio Layer II: The audio within VCD, DVD, and DVB-S; also a preferred audio track extension, just like the MP3
MKA—Matroska Audio: Used within Matroska multimedia containers, and also as audio tracks
AC-3—Dolby Digital: Used both as audio files and as the audio stream within multimedia containers
DTS—Digital Theater Systems: Used both as high-quality audio files and as the audio stream within high-quality multimedia containers
OGG—Ogg: Used as the audio portion of multimedia containers like MP4 and MKV, or as Ogg Vorbis audio files
WMAL—Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless: Same purpose as WAV and FLAC, with the benefit of smaller file size comparing to FLAC, but not royalty-free. Microsoft Zune HD users tend to store high-quality collections in WMA Lossless, rather than FLAC.
MP1—MPEG-1 Audio Layer I: Outdated, but would be nice if supported.
AMR-NB—Adaptive Multi-Rate Narrowband: Mobile telephone handsets can store short audio recordings in the AMR format. It’s also the audio portion of the videos old cameraphones capture in 3GP. These videos are still very popular for their small file size.

Video Streams

DivX Home Theater Profile is the only video format supported by the 2010 MVH family—including MVH-P8200BT, MVH-P8200, MVH-8200BT, MVH-8200, MVH-8250BT, and MVH-8250. The DivX capabilities should expand, to fully support MPEG-4 Part 2 (MPEG-4 Visual) specifications, and the following is a list of video stream specifications needed, sorted based on support priority:

H.264—MPEG-4 Part 10 aka AVC (Advanced Video Coding): A very popular block-oriented motion-compensation-based codec, used in Blu-ray Discs, HD DVDs, HD satellite broadcasting (DVB-S2), SBTVD, high-quality cameraphones, YouTube HD, iTunes Store, Adobe Flash Player, and Microsoft Silverlight.
MKV—Matroska Video: A very popular format for small-sized high-quality motion picture collection storage
H.262—MPEG-2 Part 2 aka MPEG-2 Video: Used in the video portion of DVD Video and also SD satellite broadcasting (DVB-S)
H.263: Used in FLV (Flash Video), YouTube, and 3GP videos captured by low-quality camera phones
WMV—Windows Media Video: Microsoft’s video specifications for the ASF (Advanced Systems Format) container
MPEG-1 Part 2 aka MPEG-1 Video: Heavily influenced by H.261, MPEG1 is the video stream used in Video CD DAT files.
MP42—Microsoft MPEG-4 v2: Microsoft’s video specifications for the AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) container

Container Formats

AVI (Audio Video Interleaved), ASF (Advanced Systems Format) and portions of MPEG container formats are apparently supported by the 2010 MVH family—including MVH-P8200BT, MVH-P8200, MVH-8200BT, MVH-8200, MVH-8250BT, and MVH-8250. The support should expand for the aforementioned containers, so every variation and fork is supported. The following is a list of container formats needed, sorted based on support priority:

MP4—MPEG-4 Part 14
MPEG-PS—MPEG Program Stream: Specified in MPEG-1 Part 1 and MPEG-2 Part 1, MPEG-PS is used in VCD and DVD-Video-compliant MPEG-2 videos.
VOB—Video Object: Based on the MPEG program stream (MPEG-PS) format, but with additional limitations and specifications in the private streams, VOB is the container format used in DVD Video.
MKV—Matroska Multimedia Container
MPEG-TS—MPEG Transport Stream: Specified in MPEG-2 Part 1, MPEG-TS is used in broadcast systems such as DVB and ATSC. According to this, files recorded on satellite receivers are in TS format.
FLV—Flash Video
MOV/QT—QTFF (QuickTime File Format): Extended to MPEG-4 Part 12, MOV is Apple’s multimedia container file format, widely used on iPod Video and by video-recording Canon cameras.
3GP—3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project): Extended from MPEG-4 Part 12, this is still widely in use in videos captured by low-quality camera phones.

Of course there are a lot of less popular audio/video formats and specifications not listed above; therefore, a lot of file formats are omitted. But remember, MVHs are not supposed to be carputers, and that’s the reason why they should not support every file your Windows / Mac / Linux systems play. The reason I collected the list is because Pioneer is going to launch their second generation MVH in a few months, and I need to tell them an MVH should play more extensions than say an Nseries Nokia!

Nokia E7: Nokia’s Road to Nowhere Continues

2010-09-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

این نوشتار به فارسی نیز موجود است.

Nokia World in London sees the debut of the Nokia E7, a phone squarely aimed at the business world that doesn’t win any prizes for originality, but it does run on the new Symbian^3.

The popping 4-inch clear black polarized AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display comprises 360 by 640 pixels, ridiculous resolution for a screen this big.

Then, looking at its awkward 8-megapixel camera, I just learned businesspersons can evidently live with fixed-focus lenses, but unlike other businessmen, to me, Carl Zeiss Tessar is also one of the desiderata for optics.

Rated at 1200 mAh, the irremovable battery on a 3G-connected Nokia E7 is expected to stay up for 5 hours talking (9 hours 2G talk time). Unlike any other brands and due to its fondness of not putting any screws on its products, the battery on most Apple’s products is irremovable. Now, Nokia is following Apple’s trouble-making path. Guess what you should do if somehow end up with a faulty battery; take in for servicing, perhaps. What about having a spare battery? Taken out of the equation now, has it?

Now, Nokia E7 has no MicroSD card slot. Well, that is just fantastic, what are they trying to prove here?

I know it’s got a dedicated GPU capable of 3D graphics hardware acceleration, but if you are supposed to compete with today’s tough rivals, the processor should clock at around 1 gigahertz.

Nokia N97 comprised a not-so-well-engineered backsliding hinge mechanism. It was tight, but there was a flaw. Because the part underneath—with the QWERTY keyboard—has been covered for almost 40% of its surface by the remnant of the backsliding screen, the keyboard on the N97 had three rows. Lacking the fifth row for numbers, this is somewhat the case with the new Nokia E7’s truncated 4-row QWERTY keyboard. Leaked images of the MeeGo-powered N9, Nokia’s next super phone, verify the fact that Nokia does not care about the fifth row. Expected to release in early 2011, its metallic construction and brushed aluminum finish might promise a deserving N95 descendant.

What the hell is happening with Nokia? Once a market leader, it is now putting out profit reports showing a steeper-than-expected 40 percent drop in second quarter net income, because of pressure from Apple and other smartphone makers.

Nokia is not failing, per se, and it’s still significantly profitable at the moment with its sales of low-end phones in the poorer nations of the world propping up its business. But the tide of the company’s fortunes may have seriously turned, and market watchers will be scrutinizing it to see if efforts like the launch of its touchscreen N8, E7, C7, and C6-01 Symbian^3 smartphones can reverse the downward trend when the third quarter finances roll in.

Nokia has a problem with its strategy. Like a deer caught in the headlights, it’s too slow to react and there will be no improvement this year or for that matter the next.

While Apple’s recently unveiled iPhone 4 was flying off virtual shelves with 600,000 pre-orders and other vendors rolling out models with Google Android, Nokia wasn’t even there.

Strategically looking, Nokia will not survive unless it finds its place in the industry. Apple has cornered the market on user-friendliness and lifestyle integration with iTunes and widespread application software support, while RIM (Research in Motion, makers of the Blackberry) has a firm grasp on the enterprise market. Unless it finds a niche, Nokia will continue to struggle and go nowhere on the road to irrelevance.

ISIRI 9147 Persian Keyboard Layout by Chortkeh for Windows 7 32-Bit / Windows 7 64-Bit / Windows 7 64-Bit for Itanium / Windows 7 32-Bit on Windows 7 64-Bit

2010-06-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

این گفتار به فارسی نیز موجود است.

The latest official Persian keyboard layout is 9147 issued on April 28, 2007 by the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran.

The layout provides characters in three levels:

Level 1: “Normal State”
Provides primary Persian letters and Persian numbers.
Level 2: “Shift State”
Provides additional Persian letters, Arabic diacritics, Persian punctuation marks, mathematical symbols, and a few Latin symbols.
Level 3: “AltGr State”
Provides remaining Persian letters and diacritics, and a few practical Latin ASCII characters.

Reading emails and comments by Windows 7 Persian keyboard layout users, I was convinced there is no perfect ISIRI 9147 Persian keyboard layout library compilation—at least for its 64-bit edition—as if they are there, but with flaws:

Shift+Space does not provide U+200C (Zero-Width Non-Joiner).
An incorrect flag setting results in right Alt not being treated as Ctrl+Alt (AltGr).
Numeric keypad does not provide Persian numbers and Persian decimal separator.
Layout experimental installation causes problems especially on Windows 7.
Relying on the MSI installer bundled with MSKLC, they do not come with proper installers.
Improper compilation settings occasionally result in insane-looking problems with indistinctive applications on Windows 7.

What you’re about to read is the result of our efforts at Chortkeh towards compiling a set of flawless keyboard layout DLL files compatible with modern-day Windows family.

Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout Based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Latin Numeric Keypad

Latin numbers are required in case you are having trouble with programs not compatible with Unicode Persian numbers.

Download Links

Download Chortkeh Persian keyboard layout based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Latin numeric keypad for Windows x86
Download Chortkeh Persian keyboard layout based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Latin numeric keypad for Windows x64
Download Chortkeh Persian keyboard layout based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Latin numeric keypad for Windows x64 for Itanium
Download Chortkeh Persian keyboard layout based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Latin numeric keypad for Windows x86 on Windows x64 (WoW64)

Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout Based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Persian Numeric Keypad

Download Links

Download Chortkeh Persian keyboard layout based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Persian numeric keypad for Windows x86
Download Chortkeh Persian keyboard layout based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Persian numeric keypad for Windows x64
Download Chortkeh Persian keyboard layout based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Persian numeric keypad for Windows x64 for Itanium
Download Chortkeh Persian keyboard layout based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Persian numeric keypad for Windows x86 on Windows x64 (WoW64)

How to Install

Download and save both the keyboard layout installer (chortkeh-install-kbdfa.cmd) and the Persian keyboard layout (kbdfa.dll) at the same folder, and run as administrator chortkeh-install-kbdfa.cmd. Then in the command-line you need to press “c” and hit Enter to continue with the installation. Please note once finished, the installer will restart your system, so save any unsaved work, and close running programs before launching the installer. Also please note you need to be an administrator to be able to modify system files.

Download Link

Download Chortkeh Keyboard Layout Installer for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 (chortkeh-install-kbdfa.cmd, Revision 3, November 4, 2008)

Copyright Notice and Legal Disclaimer

As part of proprietary software Chortkeh TransOffice, DLL files provided for download are not free software. Protected by Copyright Law, reproduction and/or manipulation of this computer program, or any portion of it, is prohibited. You are only allowed to download, install, use, uninstall (or delete) Chortkeh Persian keyboard layout DLL files.
Though permissible, direct sharing of the DLL files is not recommended. Instead, provide a link to the relevant article, so that the reader has access to the original material and the potential updates.
While Microsoft accepts no obligations or technical support in case of producing such keyboard layouts using MSKLC, Microsoft should not be held responsible for any loss or damage of any sort, because Chortkeh Persian keyboard layout DLL files are not produced by MSKLC.
Chortkeh Persian keyboard layout is distributed “as is”, with no obligations or technical support from Chortkeh, and Chortkeh is not responsible for any damage, nor guaranteeing the functionality of the software.

Pioneer Kuro Plasma Still Better than Today’s Bests: the Kuro’s Dead, Long Live the Kuro!

2010-05-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

این نوشتار به فارسی نیز موجود است.

It’s been a sad 15 months since Pioneer’s deadline to cease production of the world’s best TVs—its Kuro plasma display panels—and to cancel its upgrade to a possible tenths generation. Vultures are still staying perplexed.

Technology keeps fast-forwarding in an unbelievable speed, or does it? Panasonic recently released its 2010 series G20/G25 plasma TVs by March 15th.

According to a CNET review by David Katzmaier, Panasonic G20/G25 plasma TVs are excellent; oh, really?

On the same review, David intimated that the Kuro still beats the Pana when it comes to picture quality and black level. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure the Panasonic G20/G25 is a fantastic TV, but come on, it’s been more than two years since the initial release of the Kuro 9G, which is like forever in the tech world, and the competitors still can't beat the Kuro.

“Kuro” is Japanese for “black”, and that’s because Kuro’s current (9th and the last) generation of plasma display panels deliver 5 times deeper black levels than the previous generation for an unmatched contrast. That’s blacker than almost every plasma produced today, and way blacker than LCDs.

With the 3D fever spreading all over the world, and its minimal requirements for a 120 Hz refresh rate which is currently unattainable in plasmas, and greening everything, and affordable brands’ LED 3D adverts on reaching over 400 Hz, the Kuro is history.

Vultures shall remain on-call; maybe 2011 will be the year when the Kuro gets to pass the torch…

The Kuro is dead, long live the Kuro!

Nvidia GeForce G105M vs. Intel GMA950: Your Netbook Can Be More than Just a Small Slow Laptop

2010-04-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

This article describes how much more powerful an Nvidia GeForce G105M is comparing to an Intel GMA950, and how it affects the overall performance of a typical netbook.

The netbook used for this comparison is my friend Sally Kheirandish’s Asus N10Jb. Well, Asus haven’t listed the down-to-earth N10 lineup on its Eee PC series, and its untrendy style shows it’s meant for business. Obviously, you don’t take me for an Asus fan, but I gotta tell you the truth folks, this baby delivers exceptional performance…

N10Jb Specifications

CPU: Intel Atom N280 1.66 GHz 667 MHz FSB 512 kB L2 Cache (Hyper-Threaded)
Chipset: Intel 945GSE + Intel ICH7-M
Memory: Kingston KVR800D2S6/2G 2GB DDR2 800 MHz CL-6 SO-DIMM (Upgraded)
Display: 10.2″ WSVGA 1024x600 Color-Shine (Glare-Type)
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce G105M with 512 MB VRAM + Intel GMA950 (Switchable VGA)
Hard Drive: Seagate Momentus 5400.4 ST9250827AS 2.5″ SATA 250 GB 8 MB Buffer 5400 RPM (Upgraded)
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate x86 b7600 (Upgraded)

Before upgrading to Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit edition, with its original Windows XP, its Windows startup time was slower than an assessed Dell Mini 10v:

Total seconds elapsed to finish POST	10.38
Total seconds elapsed before Windows welcomes user	45.65
Total seconds elapsed before Desktop is shown	1:04.05
Total seconds elapsed before tray icons are completely displayed	1:11.95

The N10Jb is packed with a VGA switch on its left side. So, to gauge the test, I powered up the N10Jb once with its green Intel GMA950 selected, and once with the Nvidia.

Windows Experience Index (WEI)

Switching from Intel GMA950 to Nvidia GeForce G105M, WEI ratings jumped from 2.2 / 3.0 for Windows Aero desktop performance / 3D business and gaming graphics performance to 2.9 / 3.6 respectively.

CrystalMark 2004R3

Switching from Intel GMA950 to Nvidia GeForce G105M, CrystalMark benchmark statistics jumped from 1946 / 1072 / 465 for GDI / Direct2D / OpenGL to 1726 / 2180 / 3804 respectively. It’s hard to believe, but the Nvidia is twice as fast as the Intel for 2D rendering, and 8 times as fast, when it comes to 3D rendering.

As opposed to public’s belief, 3D rendering power is not just good for gaming experience, because movie playback actually depends on Direct3D ever since DirectX-9-based Video Mixing Renderer (VMR-9) has been introduced.

HD Movie Playback

In an earlier post, I concluded the fact that Dell Inspiron 1011 (Mini 10v) is not able to play 8 Mbps wide 1920x1080 Full-HD DivX/Xvid AVI videos and Matroska videos with the same resolution but with slightly lower bitrates. The Intel Atom N280 CPU in the N10Jb supports 2 threads, so it has two logical cores, just like Mini 10v’s N270, but apart from its slightly faster clock (1.66 GHz vs. 1.60 GHz) it’s got a faster FSB (667 MHz vs. 533 MHz), so things should change dramatically comparing to the Mini 10v, even with the Intel graphics accelerator running. Because you can’t always rely on simple unelaborated facts, with the Intel running, it’s strangely slower than the Mini 10v, so don’t expect to play even 6 Mbps DivX/Xvid and 5 Mbps Matroska MKV files when going green. But with the power-hungry Nvidia ignited, the results are spectacular. For the ultimate test, I put a 9.5 Mbps MKV test file containing an 8 Mbps H.264 video stream and a 1.5 Mbps 6-channel DTS audio stream. The little monster played the video clip flawlessly on Media Player Classic – Home Cinema v1.3.1249.0 with EVR Custom Presenter (using Direct3D rendering for movie playback) selected, consuming 45% of one logical core on the average.

Considering its modest price tag and impressive specifications, 2 batteries (2400 mAh 3-cell and 4800 mAh 6-cell), carrying bag, and USB optical mouse included, it’s a bargain. Talking about the VGA and rendering abilities, I can name real deal laptops which are put to shame by the N10Jb, and this is good news for those who seek for a 10-inch netbook capable of doing much more than what it’s meant or paid for.

Installing Nvidia Mobile GPU Display Driver on Notebooks Upgraded to Windows 7 x86 / Windows 7 x64

2010-04-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

This article is a guide on how to install the latest Nvidia GeForce Notebook Driver on any Nvidia mobile GPU originally not supported by the INFs included in official Nvidia mobile GPU drivers.

Upgrading laptops powered by Nvidia GPUs to Windows 7 has become annoyingly tormenting. Windows’ own WDDM driver—installed by Windows 7 Setup during a fresh Windows 7 install, or provided by Windows Update—is no good, lacking many features an original Nvidia Windows Display Driver contain. That’s when all drivers OEMs provide their clients with are rather old.

The latest Nvidia notebook/netbook display driver known as the Notebook GeForce Driver is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Microsoft Windows 7. Please note this Nvidia display driver release also supports Microsoft Windows Vista x86 / x64 operating systems.

Nvidia declares in its WHQL-certified notebook driver download page that “As part of the NVIDIA Verde Notebook Driver Program, this is a reference driver that can be installed on supported NVIDIA notebook GPUs. However, please note that your notebook original equipment manufacturer (OEM) provides certified drivers for your specific notebook on their website. NVIDIA recommends that you check with your notebook OEM about recommended software updates for your notebook. OEMs may not provide technical support for issues that arise from the use of this driver.”

Answering “I can’t hear you,” the common practice is to download the latest Nvidia notebook driver (32-bit / 64-bit), create a System Restore Point, and run the downloaded driver executable file.

The Nvidia setup will extract to C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\…, but because all hardware/software companies do exist for one and only one reason and that’s to make consumers suffer, the following message is shown:

The NVIDIA Setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit.

The Solution: Modded INF File ^{[Updated October 29, 2011]}

LaptopVideo2Go.com has patched the display INF file out of the original Nvidia GPU driver INF file. All you need to do is to download the right INF depending on your Windows architecture edition (i.e., 32 bit or 64 bit), copy it at the same folder your non-working Nvidia display driver had previously extracted (e.g., C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\version\WinVista_Win7\language\Display.Driver) and run setup.exe just inside of its upper folder.

Press F7 during Windows 8 startup to allow the installation of modded drivers. By default, Windows 8 doesn’t allow unsigned drivers to install.

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 314.22 WHQL for Windows 8 / Windows 7 / Windows Vista x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwin.inf, 3/14/2013, 9.18.13.1421)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 314.07 WHQL for Windows 8 / Windows 7 / Windows Vista x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwin.inf, 2/9/2013, 9.18.13.1407)

310.90 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated January 9, 2013]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 310.90 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 9.18.13.1090, 12/29/2012)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 310.90 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 9.18.13.1090, 12/29/2012)

310.70 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated December 24, 2012]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 310.70 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 9.18.13.1070, 12/3/2012)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 310.70 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 9.18.13.1070, 12/3/2012)

306.97 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated December 7, 2012]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 306.97 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 9.18.13.0697, 10/2/2012)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 306.97 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 9.18.13.0697, 10/2/2012)

306.23 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated September 16, 2012]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 306.23 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 9.18.13.0623, 8/30/2012)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 306.23 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 9.18.13.0623, 8/30/2012)

301.42 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated May 26, 2012]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 301.42 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.13.0142, 5/15/2012)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 301.42 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.13.0142, 5/15/2012)

296.10 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated March 17, 2012]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 296.10 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.9610, 2/29/2012)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 296.10 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.9610, 2/29/2012)

295.73 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated February 24, 2012]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 295.73 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.9573, 2/9/2012)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 295.73 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.9573, 2/9/2012)

285.62 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated October 29, 2011]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 285.62 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.8562, 10/15/2011)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 285.62 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.8562, 10/15/2011)

280.26 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated August 16, 2011]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 280.26 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.8026, 8/3/2011)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 280.26 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.8026, 8/3/2011)

275.33 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated June 4, 2011]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 275.33 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.7533, 5/20/2011)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 275.33 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.7533, 5/20/2011)

270.61 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated May 9, 2011]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 270.61 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.7061, 4/7/2011)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 270.61 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.7061, 4/7/2011)

267.76 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated March 30, 2011]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 267.76 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.6776, 3/17/2011)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 267.76 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.6776, 3/17/2011)

266.58 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated March 5, 2011]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 266.58 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvaa.inf, 8.17.12.6658, 1/7/2011)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 266.58 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvaa.inf, 8.17.12.6658, 1/7/2011)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 266.58 WHQL for Windows 2000 / Windows XP x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nv4_disp.inf, 6.14.12.6658, 1/7/2011)

260.99 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated November 30, 2010]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 260.99 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.6099, 10/16/2010)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 260.99 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 8.17.12.6099, 10/16/2010)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 260.99 WHQL for Windows 2000 / Windows XP x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nvwi.inf, 6.14.12.6099, 10/16/2010)

259.47 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated September 8, 2010]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 259.47 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nv_whql.inf, 8.17.12.5947, 8/21/2010)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 259.47 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nv_whql.inf, 8.17.12.5947, 8/21/2010)

258.96 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated July 9, 2010]}

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 258.96 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nv_disp.inf, 8.17.12.5896, 7/9/2010)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 258.96 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nv_disp.inf, 8.17.12.5896, 7/9/2010)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 258.96 WHQL for Windows 2000 / Windows XP x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nv4_disp.inf, 6.14.12.5896, 7/9/2010)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 258.96 WHQL for Windows XP x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nv4_disp.inf, 6.14.12.5896, 7/9/2010)

197.16 WHQL Driver Download Links

Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 197.16 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x86 (32-Bit) modded INF file (nv_disp.inf, 8.17.11.9716, 3/16/2010)
Download Nvidia Notebook Display Driver Version 197.16 WHQL for Windows Vista / Windows 7 x64 (64-Bit) modded INF file (nv_disp.inf, 8.17.11.9716, 3/16/2010)

Setup Instructions

Step 1: Welcome If the modded INF file (nv_disp.inf) works correctly, Setup will show its first dialog box: Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for NVIDIA Drivers Welcome to NVIDIA Setup. This will install NVIDIA Display Drivers on your computer. Click Next >.
Step 2: License Agreement Click Yes.
Step 3: Windows Security Confirmation The original driver is a WHQL-certified package, but because the added driver’s INF file is modified, Windows can’t verify the original publisher of the driver security catalog (nv_disp.cat) against it, so Windows Security will show a message indicating “Windows can't verify the publisher of this driver software,” click Install this driver software anyway.
Step 4: Installing Display Driver and Utilities “Installing driver components...” is shown, indicating the time-consuming display driver installation process. Your screen might blink or turn black during this process. All you need to do is to be patient.
Step 5: Restart Your Computer Select Yes, I want to restart my computer now and click Finish to restart your computer.

Don’t forget to enable Windows Aero once your computer booted up.

The following information have been copied from Nvidia’s site. Please note despite Nvidia’s claim that the Sony VAIO support will be added in a later release, you can use the modded INF with the Notebook GeForce Driver on your Sony VAIO laptop making use of Windows 7. Two Sony VAIOs—VGN-SZ650N and VGN-FZ290N—have been tested and upgraded successfully.

Verde Notebook Release 197 Highlights

This driver supports the following NVIDIA GPUs (please refer to the Products Supported tab for exceptions):

ION notebook GPUs.

GeForce 8M, 9M, 100M, 200M, and 300M-series notebook GPUs.

Quadro NVS-series notebook GPUs (only those that support DirectX 10 or higher).

Quadro FX-series notebook GPUs (only those that support DirectX 10 or higher).

New in Version 197.16:

Adds notebook support for 3D Vision on external displays. GPU and display requirements for notebook PCs can be found here. 3D Vision drivers for notebooks can be found here.

Adds or improves SLI support for top new gaming titles including Assassin Creed II, Avatar, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Command and Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight, Dirt 2, Mass Effect 2, Metro 2033, Napoleon: Total War, Supreme Commander 2, World of Warcraft and more.

Upgrades PhysX System Software to version 9.10.0129 for new PhysX titles like Dark Void.

Upgrades HD Audio driver to version 1.0.9.1 (for supported GPUs).

Increases performance in several PC games from v195.62 WHQL. The following are examples of measured improvements. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:

Up to 13% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with a single GPU

Up to 30% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with SLI technology

Up to 13% performance increase in H.A.W.X with single GPU

Up to 15% performance increase in H.A.W.X with SLI technology

Up to 30% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with single GPU

Up to 28% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with SLI technology

Includes numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release notes on the documentation tab for information about the key bug fixes in this release.

Existing support:

Supports GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with the new Adobe Flash 10.1 beta. Learn more here.

Supports for DirectCompute with Windows 7.

Supports OpenGL 3.2.

Supports OpenCL 1.0 (Open Computing Language).

Supports CUDA Toolkit 3.0 features and performance enhancements. See CUDA Zone for more details.

Supports NVIDIA PhysX hardware acceleration on GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory and 32 processing cores.

Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL.

Supports NVIDIA SLI Multi-monitor support, giving you the ability to use two monitors with your GeForce graphics cards in SLI mode. Learn more here.

Verde Notebook Release 197 Supported Products

GeForce 300M series:
GTS 360M, GTS 350M, GTS 250M, GT 335M, GT 330M, GT 325M, 310M, 305M

GeForce 200M series:
GT 230M, GT 240M, G210M, GTX 285M, GTX 280M, GTX 260M, GT 220M

GeForce 100M series:
G 110M, GT 130M, GTS 160M, G 105M, G 103M, G 102M, GT 120M

GeForce 9 series:
9600 GT, 9400

GeForce 9M series:
9400M G, 9650M GS, 9200M GS, 9500M GS, 9400M GS, 9800M GS, 9300M GS, 9800M GT, 9100M G, 9800M GTS, 9500M G, 9700M GT, 9600M GS, 9650M GT, 9400M, 9300M G, 9800M GTX, 9600M GT, 9700M GTS

GeForce 8M series:
8800M GTS, 8600M GT, 8400M GT, 8200M G, 8800M GTX, 8800M GS, 8600M GS, 8400M G, 8700M GT, 8400M GS

Quadro FX Notebook series:
FX 3800M, FX 3700M, FX 360M, FX 1600M, FX 380M, FX 370M, FX 3600M, FX 2800M, FX 2700M, FX 880M, FX 770M, FX 570M, FX 1800M, FX 1700M

Quadro NVS Notebook series:
NVS 5100M, NVS 3100M, NVS 150M, NVS 160M, NVS 140M, NVS 320M, NVS 130M, NVS 135M

ION series:
ION LE, ION

Note:

The following notebooks are not supported in this release:

Notebooks supporting Hybrid Power with Intel chipsets.

Fujitsu notebooks – support will be added in a later release. Fujitsu Siemens (FSC) notebooks are supported in this release.

Sony VAIO notebooks – support will be added in a later release. Sony VAIO Windows 7 users can click here for driver update support.

Any notebook that is launched after the release date of this driver.

Fixing KB974417 Installation Failure—Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Security Update for Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP

2010-03-17T03:46:00.001-07:00

این نوشتار به فارسی نیز موجود است.

Microsoft’s KB974417—.NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Security Update for Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP—fails to install in Windows Server 2003 SP2 / Windows XP SP3 reportedly when computers are part of a domain using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).

Consequently, the Windows Update log file (WindowsUpdate.log) ought to contain the results of the failed installation:

2010-03-16	21:37:55:476	 916	154	Agent	*************
2010-03-16	21:37:55:476	 916	154	Agent	** START **  Agent: Installing updates [CallerId = AutomaticUpdates]
2010-03-16	21:37:55:476	 916	154	Agent	*********
2010-03-16	21:37:55:476	 916	154	Agent	  * Updates to install = 1
2010-03-16	21:37:55:486	 416	788	Misc	===========  Logging initialized (build: 7.4.7600.226, tz: +0330)  ===========
2010-03-16	21:37:55:486	 416	788	Misc	  = Process: \??\C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
2010-03-16	21:37:55:486	 416	788	Misc	  = Module: C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuaueng.dll
2010-03-16	21:37:55:486	 416	788	Shutdwn	WARNING: AU will install 1 updates.
2010-03-16	21:37:55:837	 916	154	Agent	  *   Title = Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Security Update for Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (KB974417)
2010-03-16	21:37:55:837	 916	154	Agent	  *   UpdateId = {395869ED-BB5D-4090-B52C-48006E1FA682}.103
2010-03-16	21:37:55:837	 916	154	Agent	  *     Bundles 1 updates:
2010-03-16	21:37:55:837	 916	154	Agent	  *       {FC3988E7-824B-47A5-A971-49F2B336E4C0}.103
2010-03-16	21:37:56:037	 916	154	Agent	WARNING: LoadLibrary failed for srclient.dll with hr:8007007e
2010-03-16	21:37:56:478	 916	154	DnldMgr	Preparing update for install, updateId = {FC3988E7-824B-47A5-A971-49F2B336E4C0}.103.
2010-03-16	21:37:57:419	1184	 d8	Misc	===========  Logging initialized (build: 7.4.7600.226, tz: +0330)  ===========
2010-03-16	21:37:57:419	1184	 d8	Misc	  = Process: C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe
2010-03-16	21:37:57:419	1184	 d8	Misc	  = Module: C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuaueng.dll
2010-03-16	21:37:57:419	1184	 d8	Handler	:::::::::::::
2010-03-16	21:37:57:419	1184	 d8	Handler	:: START ::  Handler: Command Line Install
2010-03-16	21:37:57:419	1184	 d8	Handler	:::::::::
2010-03-16	21:37:57:419	1184	 d8	Handler	  : Updates to install = 1
2010-03-16	21:38:06:672	1184	 d8	Handler	  : WARNING: Command line install completed. Return code = 0x0000066a, Result = Failed, Reboot required = false
2010-03-16	21:38:06:672	 916	878	AU	>>##  RESUMED  ## AU: Installing update [UpdateId = {395869ED-BB5D-4090-B52C-48006E1FA682}]
2010-03-16	21:38:06:672	 916	878	AU	  # WARNING: Install failed, error = 0x80070643 / 0x0000066A
2010-03-16	21:38:06:672	1184	 d8	Handler	  : WARNING: Exit code = 0x8024200B
2010-03-16	21:38:06:672	1184	 d8	Handler	:::::::::
2010-03-16	21:38:06:672	1184	 d8	Handler	::  END  ::  Handler: Command Line Install
2010-03-16	21:38:06:672	1184	 d8	Handler	:::::::::::::
2010-03-16	21:38:06:943	 916	154	Report	REPORT EVENT: {34E718F3-2AED-4ABF-BB7F-F130709124BF}	2010-03-16 21:38:06:692+0330	1	198	101	{395869ED-BB5D-4090-B52C-48006E1FA682}	103	80070643	AutomaticUpdates	Failure	Content Install	Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with error 0x80070643: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Security Update for Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (KB974417).
2010-03-16	21:38:06:983	 916	154	Agent	*********
2010-03-16	21:38:06:983	 916	154	Agent	**  END  **  Agent: Installing updates [CallerId = AutomaticUpdates]
2010-03-16	21:38:06:983	 916	154	Agent	*************

Trying to manually install the update via Windows Update, you’ll get the Event Log error “Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with error 0x80070643: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Security Update for Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (KB974417).”

Downloading NDP20SP2-KB974417-x86.exe from Microsoft and manually installing KB974417 will give you the message “None of the products that are addressed by this software update are installed on this computer. Click Cancel to exit setup.”

Solution

You need to uninstall KB976569 (issued on February 22, 2010), install KB974417, and reinstall KB976569.

Uninstall KB976569—Inside Control Panel, open Add or Remove Programs. Check the Show updates checkbox. Under Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2, locate and uninstall KB976569. This will remove Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Update for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP x86 (KB976569).
Install KB974417—From the notification area, open Windows Update, then locate and install KB974417.
Reinstall KB976569—Using Windows Update Auto-Update Client command wuauclt /detectnow force WSUS to give your Windows the uninstalled KB976569. From the notification area, open Windows Update, then locate and install KB976569.

Pioneer MVH-P8200BT/MVH-P8200 Mech-Free Digital Media Receivers Review (MVH-8200BT/MVH-8200, MVH-8250BT/MVH-8250 Varietally)

2010-03-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

این نوشتار به فارسی نیز موجود است.

This article is a review of the Pioneer MVH-8200 family of music video headunits—Pioneer’s first steps towards tossing out the often-unused CD drive. These single-DIN mech-free receivers include MVH-P8200BT, MVH-P8200, MVH-8200BT, MVH-8200, MVH-8250BT, and MVH-8250.

Still refusing to accept the fact that the next generation in-car entertainment master units have to be carputers, Pioneer has introduced their first mech-free multimedia hub on January 6, 2010 at the CES 2010.

Setting the landmark for a new domain of Music Video Headunits (model names prefixed with MVH), these media centers are compatible with a wide range of audio and video digital sources such as SD memory cards, USB storage devices, portable media players, iPod, and iPhone.

The Bluetooth enabled variations include Pioneer MVH-P8200BT targeted for the American market, Pioneer MVH-8200BT aiming at the European Union, and the Asian MVH-8250BT, while the cheaper no-Bluetooth variations include MVH-P8200, MVH-8200, and MVH-8250 respectively. Surprisingly, the device is not available in the Japanese market under the Carrozzeria badge.

Lacking the model number prefix “P” in both the European and Asian variations, they do not offer IP-Bus connectivity for add-on devices with Pioneer’s traditional IP linkage, such as CD changer (CDX-P1280/CDX-P680), AUX-in (CD-RB10), USB adapter (CD-UB100), Bluetooth wireless adapter (CD-BTB200), and iPod interface adapter (CD-IB100II). Looks like they’ve decided not to milk Americans for those few bucks on this occasion.

Certified by the DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ: DIVX) on December 9, 2009, it’s a Home Theatre 720x576 Profile supporting DivX AVI player. Features that I like include the 8-band graphic equalizer, the trio of 4-volt RCA preouts, 113-color selectable background image and button illumination, the 7-way rotary commander, and last but not least, its whimsical yet attractive looks.

Connectivity

The device controls the iPod/iPhone pretty fine. Using Pioneer CD-IU50V USB+A/V direct iPod/iPhone extension cable, the audio/video is transmitted via the 4-pole 3.5-mm AUX-AV-in—with decoding being done in the iPod/iPhone itself, leaving the quality of sound as-is—and the iPod is simultaneously controlled via USB. So you can control everything right from your steering wheel.

Having no control over what’s been playing, the 4-pole 3.5-mm AUX-A/V-in on the front panel (without using the USB-A jack) works with Nokia mobile phones equipped with a 3.5mm A/V output jack (Nokia N97, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N95, etc.) as well as every other cellphone or PMP (portable media player) having the same jack—you have to find yourself a male-to-male 3.5 mm 4-pole TRRS extension cable in this regard.

The SD and USB sections run on the same back-end chip, so every annoyance and limitation either one is faced with, is prospected in the other, like partitioned HDD/flash memories not being supported, NTFS-formatted HDD/flash memories not being supported, and H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC) MP4 videos being simply ignored, to complain a few. Apart from those, and the annoying pop-ups requiring your action when a multimedia file’s playback is not supported, SD/USB functions work pretty awesome. This way you can also use USB MSC (USB mass storage device class) to connect your cellphone or PMP via USB, browse its flash memory/HDD and play from within each MP3, WMA, AAC, and DivX AVI file you desire. Discreetly positioned behind the partially detachable front panel, the SD card slot can also be used as a source to the aforementioned media. I’m bewildered by how they make file browsing rocket science, ever since they’ve come up with the idea of the list feature, quoting Jeremy “Jezza” Clarkson, “How hard can it be?”

SD or SDHC

There’s no SDHC logo carved on the front panel, and the owner’s manual clearly states it’s a 2 GB maximum capacity SD specification 1.1 physical format supporting device, so you might think there’s concededly no SDHC (SD spec 2.0) support. For a today’s SD-capable product, a lack of SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity, up to 32GB) support is very disturbing, let alone the fact that the next generation Secure Digital eXtended Capacity or SDXC in short (up to 2TB) was unveiled at CES 2009. But contrary to Pioneer’s declaration, this device actually does support SDHC.

It’s strange when a manufacturer underrates its own product, but I tested various class 2, class 4, and class 6 FAT32-formatted 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB SDHC cards and microSDHC cards (inserted inside microSD to SD/TransFlash adapter) from SanDisk, Silicon-Power, Transcend, Panasonic, Canon, Nokia, and Kingston, and the MVH-8250BT managed to recognize and read all their capacity flawlessly.

Annoyances

I’m going to be carping and nagging on this, since I don’t want to see these flaws next year. Keep in mind no other car audio manufacturing company—including the ostentatious Alpine—cannot come close to what Pioneer has achieved, so to me, these flaws are unbearable.

Partially detachable face—things that I dislike about it start with the front panel being partially detachable. If it’s “for additional peace of mind,” why didn’t bother designing it fully detachable in the first place? Replacing the traditional hard carrying case, Pioneer is providing MVH-8200/MVH-8200BT consumers with a small cloth bag, which honestly feels cheap.
Bluetooth audio streaming not supported—a sensible consumer electronics Bluetooth-enabled product should support Bluetooth audio streaming and controlling, not in this product line’s BT-enabled variations (MVH-P8200BT/MVH-8200BT/MVH-8250BT) though. They dropped the proven Bluetooth chip—used in their old flagship DEH-P980BT/DEH-P9800BT/DEH-P9850BT/DEH-P810—and went for the French, and like always picked the worst and the cheapest out of Parrot’s line, so A2DP is not supported, and neither is AVRCP. A2DP or Advanced Audio Distribution Profile could be conveniently used to stream stereo music from a Bluetooth mobile phone to the head unit, while AVRCP or Audio/Video Remote Control Profile could let you have control over what’s being played. According to this, you’ll only have control over your cellular activities.
No rear USB-in port available—we’ve been hearing complaints about the USB device fractures caused by a strike of a driver’s or a passenger’s hand over the USB flash drives inserted inside front panel USB ports. For cautious people, a rear USB port is more adequate. The lack for a rear USB is more evident in case of hooking up a portable USB hard disk drive.
No rear AUX-in port available—the AUX-in is on front, right beside the front USB, for a reason, and that’s because Pioneer’s CD-IU50V USB/AV interface cable for iPod (Audio/Video) and iPhone has two connectors in one end, one 3.5mm A/V TRRS 4-pole mini jack, and one USB-A. So if you’re not an iTard, and you want to hook up your 3.5mm “normal” player, you have to setup an ugly cable-going-all-over-the-dashboard configuration.
MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) MP4 video not supported—sadly it’s not a carputer (car PC), I know, but having Matroska Video (MKV) in the wish list, H.264 support is essential, if you’re targeting kids-turned-drivers.
Awkward screen ratio—one of the things that seems wrong is the MVH-8200 family’s screen. It has a 3.0-inch wide/16:9 (1.778:1) TFT active matrix display, nothing wrong, yet. How about I tell you it’s not 16:9? Read the story below:

The specifications sheet says the MVH-8200 family has 1440x240 or 345,600 pixels. That’s—kind of—a lie, since they have a tradition of counting R/G/B sub-pixels (thin film transistors) separately. So let’s divide 1440 by 3, and get 480. Now that’s how one’s supposed to count pixels: 480 × 240 or 115,200 pixels. So, it’s a 2:1 aspect ratio (480 ÷ 240) looking into the pixels, and that’s worrying when you look into the specifications’ wide/16:9. Pixels are not square; this requires a ratio correction procedure, something Pioneer has shamelessly omitted in almost every screened in-car DVD player they have produced so far. So wait up, it’s gonna get ugly!

Having a diagonal measurement of 76.2 mm or exactly 3.0 inches, the screen’s viewable physical dimensions are 66.8 × 36.7 mm—a specification called effective display area. This results in a screen physical display aspect ratio (DAR) of 1.82:1 (66.8 ÷ 36.7). This is in contrast with their screen aspect ratio of 1.778:1 (wide/16:9) stated in the specifications sheet.

When pixel configuration aspect ratio differs from physical display aspect ratio, pixels are not square, which in MVH-8200 family’s case, they have a pixel aspect ratio (PAR) of 0.91:1 (1.82:1 ÷ 2:1).

The picture describes how frames should be designed 109.9% wider than what the designer has originally drafted in mind, with an SAR of 2:1, and how a PAR of 0.91:1 is applied to the frames, so it conforms to the 1.82:1 DAR screen. Notice the horizontally-stretched album art (with the frog), which should naturally be square shaped.

Given the screen width of 66.8 mm, it should’ve been 37.575 millimeters high, just to meet the wide 16:9 (1.778) screen aspect ratio criteria. But we all know it’s a 1.82:1 screen instead, making it 0.875 mm shorter than being a real 16:9 screen (37.575 − 36.7). This might be less than a millimeter, but that’s in a small 3.0″ screen, making it an impermissible 2.3% error. To give you a hint of how ridiculous this is, think of it as a half-inch height shortage in a 42″ plasma TV!

There are rare models where pixel dimensions and screen dimensions are of the same ratio, eliminating the need for a ratio correction procedure. An example is the 800 × 480, 152.4 × 91.44 mm, 7-inch wide 15:9 (1.66:1) screen on the mighty ¥220,000 Carrozzeria AVH-P900DVA, and its predecessor, the ¥250,000 Carrozzeria AVH-P90DVA, varietally Pioneer AVH-P7900DVD, AVH-P7950DVD, AVH-P7800DVD, and AVH-P7850DVD, respectively.

Audio Quality

For analog broadcasting, it’s got an AM tuner’s signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio) of 62 dB (IHF-A network), and an FM tuner S/N ratio of 72 dB (IHF-A network), but the specs don’t provide quality measures for multimedia sources (i.e., SD, USB, and AUX).

Considering its amplifier section’s signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 91 dBA (reference 1 W into 4 Ω), it’s not what you’d call RS-alike high-quality, but still way beyond almost every CD/MP3 in-dash head units manufactured by the others, and add to that the fact that if you add a USB adapter (Pioneer CD-UB100), a Bluetooth wireless adapter (Pioneer CD-BTB200), and/or an iPod interface adapter (Pioneer CD-IB100II) to a nice head, say DEH-P88RS family (Asian DEH-P80RS/DEH-P80RSII, European DEH-P88RS/DEH-P88RSII, American Premier DEH-P880PRS, and Japanese Carrozzeria DEH-P910/DEH-P930/DEH-P940), apart from controls driving you crazy over inconvenience, you’ll lose quality twice:

All those add-on devices are low-quality by nature, at least lower than what you embeddedly get in an MVH-8200BT, let alone the 105 dB (1 kHz) (IHF-A network) Audio CD section of DEH-P88RS.
Analog IP-Bus cables used to hook up those add-ons cause loss of quality. Read more:

To obtain sound fidelity, Pioneer engineers have employed best of 1990s technology in their IP-Bus extension cable—used to connect their state-of-the-art Audio CD changers back then. To overcome cancellation of inductively-coupled noise and electromagnetic interference, they used four-conductor low-resistance shielded cable with separate metal foil shield and drain/data wires. But that’s not good enough in the 2010s.

You need the analog IP-Bus male-to-male extension cable (Pioneer CD-IP600) to hook them up, and that cable is 6 meters (20 feet) long. So if you’re going to have them all, you’ll end up hooking them up over and over in series; that’s 18 meters of daisy-chaining if you’re using all three! And your AUX-in (Pioneer CD-RB10) is at the end of the chain, the lowest of the quality. Alternatively, Pioneer gives you the choice of a 1.5 meter male-to-male IP-Bus extension cable (Pioneer CD-IP150).

So you see, your high-end head is ruined, because you get your bragging -24/-36 dB/oct PRS digital network and the nasty analog add-ons at the same time! So forget PRS plus add-ons, and stick to this mechless head unit for now, if you’re a portable multimedia junkie…

Regarding sound quality, it’s the best mech-free headunit around, not the best all-rounder though.

Conclusion

I’m looking forward to an RS kind of mech-free headunit, where putting money aside, only quality and features matter: 13-band graphic EQ, 5-volt pres, Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP, rear USB, rear A/V in, completely detachable face, video out, dual SDHC slot, acceptable file system support, broader range of multimedia file types support, fast yet convenient file browse/search, a tray bay to keep portable media players inside, Microsoft Zune HD support, a true 16:9 FWVGA screen, and the return of DSP chips with Sound Field Control (SFC).

Sony’s TuneTray is a storage mechanism for an iPod or other USB devices that allows users to keep their PMP inside of the DSX-S100, rather than flopping around in the glovebox or a cupholder. Internal storage bay eliminates loose wires and allows for a cleaner appearance.

.NET Virus/Botnet “tt6ynew.exe” Database Policies Revised by the Virus Author

2010-02-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

این نوشتار به فارسی نیز موجود است.

Today as I was playing in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, my eyes rolled to the Server Explorer Data Connections and the database connection I had created to sneak in to the backbone database of the tt6ynew.exe virus written by some jerk in .NET—which luckily Sadjad has reflected it to its source code and investigated its database connections earlier.

I have previously emptied its whole database hosted @ ok8.com.ru, which surprisingly had multiple tables of data filled by the tt6ynew.exe virus, one with a mind-blowing 235-million records. My DELETE commands addressed his (it has to be a man, no woman could or would ever f**k things up like this) insecure SQL server nicely, and within the first few hours of the Monday night, February 1, 2010, his SQL server was breathing serenely, since it has nothing to store anymore!

Tomorrow morning, the jerk has changed the “reader1006” password to the database user “dreader” in rush, because the thief was robbed. For days the password remained altered, resulting an abortion in the online database operation of his wicked botnet—previously spread all over the world.

Now that the jerk .NET botnet/virus programmer’s grown up a bit, he thought “Gee! Why not change database policies, so not only the old instances of tt6ynew.exe spread all over the world can connect and send their swept data, but also records cannot be deleted.” Wise choice, jerk!

Now if you try to alter or delete anything, the SQL server will return a database connection error message indicating “拒绝了对对象 'users'（数据库 'allusers'，所有者 'dbo'）的 DELETE 权限。,” which in human language means “DELETE privileges for object 'users' (database 'allusers', owner 'dbo') was not authorized.”

What the jerk didn’t realize was that we have his source code in C#.NET, so we have his other database username “idata” and password “haha8591”.

So once again, his database is plain clean:

Shown on the left is the tt6ynew.exe .NET virus database “users” table containing 30,317,338 records, and the same table after it’s been erased, is shown on the right.

Suggestion for jerks out there: Find yourselves proper jobs, and if bad economy took your jobs, don’t bother writing impotent viruses in VB or C#.NET. Learn to program in Assembly and C++!

Google Social Search: Customer Connections Now Important for Google Search Results

2010-01-28T09:55:00.000-08:00

In spite of having the beta tag on, Google Social Search obviates any doubts about how important the business uses of social media are. If searchers were already seeing different search engine results page (SERP) from one another based on location (client IP), that’s gonna be real, now that searcher’s social circle is consequential.

Since the introduction of Social Search experiment, demoed at the Web 2.0 Summit by Marissa Mayer, Google’s Vice President of Search Products & User Experience, it was obvious that SEO is changing, and it would appear that any business hoping for a gimmick in SERP appearance, would need to have as many connections set up as possible, via various social networking sites.

Once logged in to Google, Social Search combines results from your friend’s blogs, Picasa Web Albums, Flickr, Twitter, FriendFeed, and a wide variety of other social media sites with Google’s regular search results—so long as your friends have connected their social accounts to their Google Profiles.

It pulls connections from your Google Contacts, and any services you have listed on your Google Profile—assuming you have services listed on your profile. As opposed to social networking websites boasting private connections such as Facebook, if you have Twitter listed for example, anyone you are connected to through one of those services is a fair game for potential search results.

With this, Google’s also aiming at the social networking corner of the market, obligating web users to pay strict attention to Google Profiles, thus they may find themselves getting sucked into using Google as more of a social tool, rather than just search.

Added to Google Images, and who knows what else, Social results might always be marked as such and listed under results from your social circle at the bottom of SERP, yet sounds like one more thing to compete with for traditional SEO.

Tips for Appearing in Social Search Results

Make sure you have all of your important links listed on your Google Profile.
Make as many connections as possible.
Encourage customers to follow you via social networks.
Participate in social media so people will engage with you.
Encourage sharing of content using social media buttons.
Include social network information on online advertising, business cards, and signage.

Sony VAIO SZ Series Bluetooth Driver Knocked Down by Windows Update “IVT Corporation - Other hardware - Bluetooth USB Controller (ALPS/UGPZ6)”

2010-01-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

Sony VAIO SZ Series has been one of my favorite laptops ever, and in its heydays, given the choice between a “Made in Japan” VAIO VGN-SZ650N and say anything else, I’d choose the VAIO every time.

Microsoft has released an update yesterday, titled “IVT Corporation - Other hardware - Bluetooth USB Controller (ALPS/UGPZ6),” and if you own one of these incredible machines, you should be careful with that.

VGN-SZ650N’s built-in Bluetooth is in fact an ALPS PCI-based Bluetooth adapter. Listed under Bluetooth Radios in Device Manager, Windows 7 detects it as Generic Bluetooth Adapter, and if you dig inside, it’s functioning based on Microsoft Bluetooth driver 6.1.7600.16385 (6/21/2006).

The hardware IDs for the SZ’s BT adapter are USB\VID_044E&PID_300D&REV_1915 or USB\VID_044E&PID_300D in general, with the vendor ID of 044E belonging to ALPS • Alps Electric Co., Ltd.

Installing the 38 kB update titled “IVT Corporation - Other hardware - Bluetooth USB Controller (ALPS/UGPZ6)” published 1/14/2010 will update the driver to your ALPS BT adapter, but Windows 7 default Microsoft Bluetooth Stack would become paralyzed. The Bluetooth icon will disappear from the Notification Area, and you won’t be able to use Microsoft Windows Bluetooth Stack anymore.

To fix that, the dumbest act would be to install some other stack, including Toshiba Bluetooth Stack, Widcomm Bluetooth Stack, or the bloated BlueSoleil.

So, VAIO SZ owners, stay away from the aforementioned update, hide the update, and let your Sony live happily…

How to Acquire Your Symbian Smartphone’s Certificate (.cer) and Private Key (.key) from OPDA

2010-01-11T07:47:00.000-08:00

Nokia Symbian Certificate Closed since June 23, 2011^{[Updated August 25, 2011]}

Bad news are aplenty for Symbian users these days, the latest one being that OPDA (and countless similar sites) has stopped working since June 23, 2011 to give them an IMEI-specific cer/key file, required to sign an unsigned app sis/sisx file. This is because some now rules and procedure is used by Symbian certification.

The following article is a step by step picture guide on how to acquire the certificate and private key for your Series 60 Smartphone using OPDA free service.

This article describes how to sign/unsign S60 Symbian SIS/SISX package files with your own certificate signature using SISContents by Aquarius.

The prerequisite to signing S60 Symbian applications (.SIS/.SISX files) is to have both your phone’s certificate (.CER) and private key (.KEY) files in hand.

One of the reliable free services around to obtain your CER/KEY is using cer.opda.cn service.

Step by Step Picture Guide

View screenshots album here.

Here’s your comprehensive step by step guide on obtaining your OPDA CER/KEY:

Step 1: Opening cer.opda.cn in Chinese Browse http://cer.opda.cn/, so it shows the website in Chinese.
Step 2: Changing cer.opda.cn’s Language to English Click on the UK flag on the upper right corner, so it changes the language to English.
Step 3: Register Click on “Register” on the upper right corner, so it shows the registration form.
Step 4: Registration Data Entry Fill in your desired username, password, email, and the CAPTCHA, and click “Submit and register.”
Step 5: Registered Successfully If your information is correct, it should display “Registered successfully.”
Step 6: Login Now it will automatically redirect you to the login form.
Step 7: Login Data Entry Fill in your username and password, and click “Login.”
Step 8: Login Successfully If your information is correct, it should display “Login successfully.”
Step 9: Certificates Table Now it will automatically redirect you to your empty certificates table. Click on the “Apply cer” button.
Step 10: Apply for Certificate Now it shows apply for certificate form.
Step 11: Apply for Certificate Data Entry Fill in your cellphone brand/model, its IMEI (dialing *#06# on your cellphone), and a short remark of your phone, and click “Submit application.”
Step 12: Operation Successfully If your information is correct, it should display “Operation successfully!”
Step 13: Applying State Now your certificates table contains your S60 Smartphone’s certificate in “Applying” state.
Come back in a while (a few hours or more), and follow steps 1 and 2. Then click on “Login” on the upper right corner, so it shows the login form. Now follow step 7 to login.
Step 14: Normal State Now if the certificate is ready, the state should be changed from “Applying” to “Normal”.
Step 15: Download CER file Click on “.cer” to download your phone’s certificate.
Step 16: Save As CER File Save the certificate, selecting a proper filename with “.cer” extension.
Step 17: Download KEY file Click on “.key” to download your private key.
Step 18: Save As KEY File Save the private key, selecting a proper filename with “.key” extension.

Fixing Broken MPEG-2 and MPEG Transport Stream (MPEG-TS) Files

2010-01-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

Standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) video data, packed as MPEG-2 and MPEG-2 TS or just TS in short, are transmitted digitally according to DVB-S and DVB-S2 specifications. Once received, the data is decoded to the moving picture frames displayed on the screen of the SDTV or HDTV.

The digital data packed in MPEG-2 or TS format can easily become broken during transmission and/or storing processes. A broken MPEG-2 or TS file could become quite disturbing when it’s being played or converted. Media players crash, pause, or get out of synchrony, and media converters refuse to open, partially convert, or get out of sync when dealing with such files.

Broken MPEG-2 or MPEG Transport Stream (MPEG-TS) video files are not necessarily transmitted or stored erroneously, since I’ve come across many MPEG2/TS files which are OK by the needs of say Media Player Classic - Home Cinema (MPC-HC), but have stuttering async frames when analyzed seriously.

To fix broken MPEG-2 or MPEG Transport Stream files, follow the instructions for the tools described below:

MPEG2Repair

MPEG2Repair is the lightest and fastest solution around.

Browse for the broken file, hit Find PID's, select an output file, and hit Start.

There are rare cases where its Find PID's button complains about the file being seriously broken, damaged, or incomplete: “Failed to find video PID. Try different program number or video track.” This is when you need to take DGIndex or Project-X steps.

VideoReDo Plus / VideoReDo TVSuite

VideoReDo Plus is proprietary software not specifically targeted to repair TS or MPEG-2 streams; a DVD authoring and editing tool, but able to do the repair as well.

Open the broken file, and from File menu, hit “Save Video As…” Then answer Yes to the dialog asking “There are no cuts defined. Do you wish re-mux the entire input file?” Now select your demanding output type from MPEG Program Stream (*.mpg), Elementary Streams (*.mpv), or Transport Stream (*.ts), and hit Save.

There are rare cases where VideoReDo Plus and VideoReDo TVSuite export only a portion of the stream, or misplace portions of the stream along the generated file, this is also desperately in need of DGIndex or Project-X to get fixed.

DGIndex

DGIndex, part of DGMPGDec package, is a powerful yet easy-to-use tool primarily designed to index MPEG video streams. DGIndex is able to decode and index most MPEG1/2 streams including elementary streams, program streams, VOBs, VCDs, SVCDs, PVA files, and transport streams. More importantly—at least to us—it supports video demuxing (m1v/m2v) and audio demuxing (ac3, dts, aac, mpa, and lpcm) as well as optimized iDCTs, luminance filtering, cropping, and more.

Open the broken file, and from File menu, hit Save Project and Demux Video. For a given MPEG2-TS containing MPEG-2 video and MPEG-1 Audio Layer II, DGIndex will generate an M2V video file, plus an MP2 audio file, also kindly providing you with the audio/video delay in milliseconds as a portion of the audio file name!

The only downside to DGIndex for the rookies is DGMPGDec DGIndex demuxes container’s video and audio apart, which is actually appropriate if you’re going to open it in VirtualDub. The M1V/M2V file feeds the VirtualDub’s “Open video file…” and the audio file—after it’s converted to a VirtualDub-friendly format—feeds VirtualDub’s “Audio from other file…”

To convert the MP2 file into a VirtualDub-friendly WAV file, use FFmpeg as follows:

ffmpeg.exe -i "input.mp2" -f wav -acodec pcm_s16le -y "output.wav"

The name of the audio file generated by DGIndex contains the audio PID, format, channel count, sample rate, bit rate, and generally ends to DELAY -{delay in milliseconds}ms (e.g., Cascada - Dangerous PID 060 L2 2ch 48 256 DELAY -362ms.mp2)

You need to put the delay preserving its sign inside VirtualDub’s audio option here: Audio \ Interleaving… \ Delay audio track by

Project-X

Project-X, a free DVB demux tool written entirely in Java, tries its best to handle and repair many stream types. Many users are looking for a Windows application, and ignore it just because it’s a Java executable (JAR), but believe me, it’s the most powerful MPEG/TS repair tool around supporting the vastest stream types.

If you’re looking for a Windows portable edition of ProjectX, just because you’re not willing to install Java Development Kit (JDK) or Java Runtime Environment (JRE), ProjectX 0.90.4.00.b32 Portable created by Dirk Paehl is downloadable here.

Please note under Aero-enabled Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2, the JRE behind Project X disables Windows Aero temporarily while it’s running, imposing Windows to show “The color scheme has been changed to Windows 7 Basic.” The reason is behind JRE’s incompatibility with Windows Aero’s composition.

Open the broken file, and on the upper-left corner of the GUI, hit QuickStart. This will demux the DVB file to a video (e.g., M2V) and an audio (e.g., MP2) file. An advantage of ProjectX over DGIndex is the demuxed audio file using ProjectX is artificially synchronized against the demuxed video stream, so there’s no need to specify a delay value when remuxing audio/video streams together.

Microsoft Releases Windows Help Program (WinHlp32.exe) for Windows 7 x64 and Windows 7 x86

2009-10-15T12:12:00.001-07:00

Microsoft didn’t wait for the October 22, 2009 Windows 7 RTM deadline and yesterday published Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) for Windows 7. A genuine validation is performed before the download can be initiated. Further information about the removal of the Windows Help Program is provided at the Microsoft Knowledgebase.

This replaces my temporary solution which I’ve patched together four months ago.

Before Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, Microsoft allowed third-party developers to include WinHlp32.exe with their Windows programs. This is no longer the case, and the utility is now available exclusively as a standalone download from Microsoft. WinHlp32.exe is set up to integrate with both the 32-bit and the 64-bit editions of Windows 7, as well as with the exclusive x64 version of Windows Server 2008 R2.

“Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) is a Help program that has been included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with the Microsoft Windows 3.1 operating system. However, the Windows Help program has not had a major update for many releases and no longer meets Microsoft's standards. Therefore, starting with the release of Windows Vista and continuing in Windows 7, the Windows Help program will not ship as a feature of Windows. If you want to view 32-bit .hlp files, you must download and install the program (WinHlp32.exe) from the Microsoft Download Center,” Microsoft stated.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10v (1011) Samsung SLC SSD and Windows 7 x86 Upgrade

2009-10-08T05:42:00.000-07:00

Last night, my brother bought our forth SSD—another Samsung SSD RBX Series 64GB MCCOE64G5MPP-0VAD1 SLC solid-state drive, disassembled from a Dell Latitude E Series—for $130. Having bought three of the same Samsung SSDs about a week ago from the same shop, the Dell dealer joked with my brother asking “do you have a research lab?!”

The device embracing this newly-purchased Samsung SSD is my sister’s Dell Inspiron Mini 10v (1011). The original operating system on the Mini 10 is Windows XP Home Edition ULCPC, and the hardware configuration comprises an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz with 512kB L2 cache CPU, 1GB DDR2 667 RAM, Intel GMA 950 64MB graphics adapter with VGA output, and finally a 160GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD1600BEVT-75ZCT2 HDD.

The first step was to patch Samsung MCCOE64G5MPP-0VA SSD with the PS105D15 firmware update (dated 3/25/2009) using my PC. Now that the SSD’s firmware is patched successfully, it’s time to view Mini 10v’s service manual, to know how to get into Mini 10v’s assembly safe and sound. Please note the Serial ATA controller in Dell Mini 10 doesn’t operate in SATA II mode, so you’ll see the SSD is detected as a SATA1 disk in Mini 10’s BIOS.

To install Windows on netbooks lacking DVD drive, the best practice is to prepare an external HDD having a few gigabytes of free space. Then you need to make an active FAT32 partition somewhere on the external USB hard disk drive, and copy the entire contents of your bootable Windows installation CD/DVD into the FAT32 active partition. Please note there’s no necessity for the active FAT32 partition to be the first partition. It can be the only partition on the disk, located somewhere between other partitions, or even the last partition on your USB portable HDD.

To clone recovery and OS partitions, I used “Acronis True Image Home 2010”, which I’m happy to announce is much faster, user-friendlier, and stabler than its previous version included in “Acronis Rescue Media” bootable CD. My tests also show not only it operates more supportive over AHCI, but cloning Windows 7 partitions between HDDs and SSDs, it doesn’t cause the “boot selection fail” with status 0xc000000f problem noticed before as “Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.”

After a fresh installation of Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit Build 7600, Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSAT) measured a Windows Experience Index (WEI) score of 6.1 for SSD’s disk data transfer rate. Now to make an SSD vs. HDD comparison benchmark, the Windows 7’s partition has to be cloned. While cloning the freshly-installed Windows 7 Ultimate x86 Build 7600 using Acronis True Image Home 2010 from the SSD (64GB Samsung MCCOE64G5MPP-0VAD1 SLC solid-state drive) into the HDD (160GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD1600BEVT-75ZCT2 hard disk drive) using my PC (ICH8 AHCI SATA 2), I observed True Image unbelievably finishing the cloning job in only 2 minutes!

The following table shows the accurate boot up benchmark for Dell Inspiron Mini 10v (1011) with its original Windows XP Home Edition ULCPC on HDD, Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit Build 7600 on HDD, and Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit Build 7600 on SSD respectively:

Windows / Disk Type	Windows XP Home Edition ULCPC / HDD	Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit Build 7600 / HDD	Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit Build 7600 / SSD
Total seconds elapsed to finish POST	7.77	7.50	7.65
Total seconds elapsed before Windows welcomes user	34.72	39.68	29.36
Total seconds elapsed before Desktop is shown	42.67	58.48	35.41
Total seconds elapsed before tray icons are completely displayed	58.91	1:04.41	42.60

Having allocated a total of 251MB graphics memory, Windows 7 enables it to play bigger graphics roles comparing to its original Windows XP. Now it plays wide full-HD (1920x1080) DivX/Xvid AVI videos with bitrates as high as 6Mbps without getting out of sync. Tried an 8Mbps Xvid HD video in Media Player Classic – Home Cinema, but after a few moments it got out of sync. Matroska video containers require more processing comparing to DivX/Xvid AVIs while being decoded, so I believe it’ll jitter playing an MKV sooner than a high-bitrate DivX/Xvid AVI.

Samsung MCCOE64G5MPP SLC SSD Installation Experience

2009-10-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I and two of my friends bought three Samsung SSD RBX Series 64GB solid-state drives for $130 each from a Dell laptop dealer. These fine SLC SSDs were disassembled from brand new Dell Latitude E Series laptops requested by stupid customers who preferred a 500GB slow, noisy, heavy, and power-hungry HDD over an agile, silent, light, and green SSD. All manufactured on 5/23/2008, the three of them revealed “Power On Hours Count” of less than 10 in HD Tune Pro. Dell OEM labeled MCCOE64G5MPP-0VAD1, they shockingly had around 40 reallocated sectors each, showing us how immature the SSD technology is.

Computers needing surgery were my Dell XPS M1330, my friends’ Dell Studio XPS 13 (1340) and Sony VAIO VGN-SZ650N. To preserve Dell/Sony recovery partitions and also our existing operating systems for the purpose of an accurate benchmark comparison between before and after the SSD replacement, I used “Acronis Rescue Media” bootable CD’s “Acronis True Image” to clone every laptop’s HDD into each SSD with the HDD still installed inside the laptop and its own Samsung MCCOE64G5MPP-0VA SSD hooked up with a SATA/USB converter. Then the three hard disk drives were replaced by the solid-state drives respectively, but out of the ordinary, Windows failed to start on all three machines, with both Dells operating Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit build 7100, and the Sony operating Windows Vista Business 32-bit Service Pack 2, showing the following error message:

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your computer.
2. Choose your language settings, and then click "Next."
3. Click "Repair your computer."

If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.

Status: 0xc000000f
Info: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.

For the Sony VAIO, operating Windows Vista Business 32-bit Service Pack 2, a simple try of the ERD Commander 6 bootable CD fixed the problem. Now the Dell laptops operating Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit build 7100 looked different. So I tried booting them with Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit build 7100 installation DVD. When it started “Install Windows,” I clicked “Next,” then clicked “Repair you computer,” and waited for the System Recovery to find my Windows installation. After a while, a dialog box was shown, displaying “Windows found problems with your computer’s startup options.” It was asking “Do you want to apply repairs and restart your computer?” I clicked “Repair and restart.” This fixed both Dell laptops’ SSD startup problem.

Searching Dell website, I found a firmware update for Samsung MCCOE64G5MPP-0VAD1, downloadable as R214180.exe for making a bootable CD/USB flash and BR214180.exe for making a bootable floppy disk. The update applies firmware PS105D15 (dated 3/25/2009) to the Samsung MCCOE64G5MPP-0VAD1 (64GB) and also MCBQE32G5MPP-0VAD1 (32GB) FlashSSD once executed over a bootable media.

Dell says the firmware upgrade reduces potential issues due to power mode transitions and improves internal error handling. This firmware will decrease the possibility of the drive not being detected and system hanging. The problem is Dell’s R214180 firmware upgrade doesn’t end up in a proper bootable CD once extracted for the moment. So I uploaded the fixed ISO file for making a Samsung 2.5 S2 RBX SSD PS105D15 firmware update bootable CD onto my SkyDrive.

My Dell XPS M1330 and Mohammadreza’s Sony VAIO VGN-SZ650N managed to upgrade their Samsung SSD RBX Series 64GB flawlessly, while Farshad’s Dell Studio XPS 13 failed right when Samsung ACube was trying to patch the drive with PS105D15.bin. Thanks to Samsung ACube programmers, Farshad’s SSD didn’t become a brick, and I managed to re-flash it in my Dell XPS M1330. What astonished us was Samsung’s trick in hiding ID 05 aka “Reallocated Sector Count” out of HD Tune Pro’s health status. ID 0C aka “Power Cycle Count” was reset, and ID 09 aka “Power On Hours Count” was also foolishly set to 1, making someone willing to buy a firmware-upgraded Samsung RBX solid-state drive unable to determine the exact amount of time the drive has been working, or how many reallocated sectors it has replaced so far.

The following table shows the three laptops’ configuration, and their accurate boot up benchmark, before and after the SSD installation:

Laptop	Dell XPS M1330		Dell Studio XPS 13 (1340)		Sony VAIO VGN-SZ650N
Owner	Komeil Bahmanpour		Farshad Shirazi		Mohammadreza Taghavi
OS	Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Build 7100		Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Build 7100		Windows Vista Business x86 Service Pack 2
CPU	Intel Centrino Duo T7500 2.20GHz 4MB L2 Cache		Intel Core 2 Duo P9600 2.66GHz 6MB L2 Cache		Intel Centrino Duo T7500 2.20GHz 4MB L2 Cache
RAM	2GB Qimonda HYS64T128021HDL-3S-B DDR2 667		4GB Nanya DDR3 1066		4GB Kingston DDR2 800
VGA	Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS 128MB		Hybrid-SLI Nvidia GeForce 9500M 256MB (GeForce 9400M G and GeForce 9200M GS)		Hybrid Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS 64MB and Intel GMA X3100
HDD	160GB Fujitsu MHY2160BH 5400RPM		320GB Seagate Momentus 7200.3 ST9320421ASG		160GB Seagate Momentus PSD ST91608220AS
SSD replacement	Before	After	Before	After	Before	After
Total seconds elapsed to finish POST	6.74	6.78	13.23	13.20	10.85	11.24
Total seconds elapsed before Windows welcomes user	34.39	22.72	38.20	32.88	1:06.66	38.71
Total seconds elapsed before Desktop is shown	49.31	25.86	44.50	36.55	1:13.68	43.75
Total seconds elapsed before tray icons are completely displayed	59.52	32.25	54.31	42.38	1:30.81	48.38

After a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate x86 Build 7600 onto my Dell XPS M1330—now equipped with an SLC Samsung SSD RBX Series 64GB—it boots up in less than 28 seconds (7.03, 20.74, 23.14, 27.72) from off state, twice faster than when it was using an HDD, also its disk data transfer rate assessed by Windows Experience Index has jumped to 6.2. The same measure’s jumped from 4.6 to 5.9 in the VAIO—now SSD-equipped—operating its OEM Windows Vista x86. Now all three laptops are faster, lighter, quieter, and their batteries last longer, but there’s also an unsought side-effect to this amazing SSD experience. Because the lazy HDD is now replaced with the agile SLC SSD, system’s bottleneck point is removed, causing CPU not to have enough time to idle (read rest and cool down), so laptop’s cooling fan needs to overwork!

Need for Speed: Shift

2009-09-30T17:13:00.000-07:00

Installed Need for Speed: Shift hoping for a realistic game, just like Need for Speed: ProStreet, something you might call a simulator. But sadly it wasn’t. Comparing to the ProStreet it’s a giant leap backwards. To me the only refinements are the new realistic feeling when a side of the car gets out of the track and tires are exposed to the dirt, and the highly detailed in-car view dropped since the Porsche Unleashed.

The steering response is numb and lacks the feeling it should have. It’s the exact opposite of what Need for Speed: Carbon was, where you could falsely turn a tight corner in that overrated BMW M3 GTR doing over 120MPH. This time though, in Shift, an Audi RS4 cannot stabilize itself at less than 80MPH along a very long and loose turn, giving you the handling feeling of whether you’re driving a Toyota Camry over a wet surface. Driving the same RS4 at over 120MPH along a straight, it feels like it cannot hold itself together and desires diversion any minute, which is not true.

Then it’s the brakes, where the premium brakes and the ABS on an RS4 feel exactly like a cheap Korean sedan. You don’t feel the Quattro AWD either.

Then it’s the dumb way they tried to simulate steering resonance in an outraged car. It’s completely wrong, falsely intensifying steering lock, sometimes slipping incurable strange understeers, where it should skid in oversteers to opposite directions multiple times before it’s cured and stabilized by forcing multiple accurate opposite steerings.

Removing Total Security (tsc.exe) Rogue Anti-Spyware

2009-09-26T01:12:00.001-07:00

This article is a guide on how to remove Total Security rogue anti-spyware. Please note the version I’m describing is different from an older Total Security 2009, with C:\Program Files\TSC\tsc.exe as executable and winsource.dll—GUID {D263FA6D-84CC-48A8-9AF6-C664362B7A5B}—as browser helper object.

“Total Security” aka “Total Security 2009” is a fake security software trying to ride off BitDefender Total Security’s trusted name. Total Security 2009 has no affiliation with BitDefender and is as useless as BitDefender is legit. Total Security 2009 is a new version of “System Security” rogue. This fake anti-spyware tool slips into your computer through a Trojan or a virus, launches a faux system scan, and detects inexistent infections to scare users, then shows popups and spoof system alerts, and prevents execution of legit programs. If you click any of these Total Security 2009 pop-up ads, you’ll be tricked into wasting money on the full version of Total Security 2009. Clicking on Updates button, the tool shows an “Updating” balloon message, but there is no network activity.

Removing Total Security / Total Security 2009 / Cyber Security Rogue using Chortkeh Virus Removal for Total Security

Download Chortkeh Virus Removal for Total Security and run “Chortkeh Virus Removal for Total Security.cmd” answering Windows confirmation dialogs “Allow” if asked. Please note it closes all running instances of Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer once executed, and restarts your system immediately after finishing virus removal, so save and close any unsaved works before proceeding with the removal. Run the CMD file once your system booted up to check to see if the virus still exists.

Download Link

Download Chortkeh Virus Removal for Total Security / Total Security 2009 (CMD file) by Komeil Bahmanpour

Knowing More about Total Security Rogue Anti-Spyware/Anti-Virus

Please note the version I’m describing is different from an older Total Security 2009, with C:\Program Files\TSC\tsc.exe as executable and winsource.dll—GUID {D263FA6D-84CC-48A8-9AF6-C664362B7A5B}—as browser helper object (Internet Explorer add-on). So if you can find the TSC folder—instead of TS—in your Program Files directory underwhich tsc.exe is nested, and winsource.dll instead of iehelpmod.dll in your System32 folder, your Windows is infected with an older version of this virus, somewhat different from what I’m describing.

The main executable is tsc.exe nested inside TS folder under Program Files folder. Also inside System32 folder, there’s an iehelpmod.dll file which is registered as a browser helper object (Internet Explorer add-on) with GUID {35A5B43B-CB8A-49CA-A9F4-D3B308D2E3CC}. The launch technique is using Task Scheduler “TS” job and is backed-up by the “IE Help” browser add-on.

How to Remove the Fake/Rogue Total Security Manually

Boot with a Windows ERD Commander 6 CD. When your Windows installation is detected, from System Recovery Options, click Microsoft^® Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset to launch MSDaRT Tools. “Choose a recovery tool” dialog shows up. To delete files/folders listed below, use Explorer, and to delete Registry entries listed below, use ERD Registry Editor.

Files/Folders to Delete

Path	Sample Path	Description
%ProgramFiles%\TS\tsc.exe	C:\Program Files\TS\tsc.exe	Main program file Remove the TS folder.
%SystemRoot%\System32\iehelpmod.dll	C:\Windows\System32\iehelpmod.dll	“IE Help” browser helper object (Internet Explorer add-on)
%SystemRoot%\Tasks\TS.job	C:\Windows\Tasks\TS.job	Task Scheduler “TS” job
%AllUsersProfile%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\TS\	C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\TS\	Start Menu links Remove the TS folder.
%CommonProgramFiles%\TSUninstall\Uninstall.lnk	C:\Program Files\Common Files\TSUninstall\Uninstall.lnk	Uninstall link Remove the TSUninstall folder.
%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\TS.lnk	C:\Users\{User Name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\TS.lnk	Quick Launch link

Registry Entries to Delete

Path	Description
HKCR\CLSID\{35A5B43B-CB8A-49CA-A9F4-D3B308D2E3CC}	Registered Class ID for iehelpmod.dll
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{35A5B43B-CB8A-49CA-A9F4-D3B308D2E3CC}	Registered Class ID for iehelpmod.dll
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{35A5B43B-CB8A-49CA-A9F4-D3B308D2E3CC}	“IE Help” (iehelpmod.dll) added as a browser helper object
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Stats\{35A5B43B-CB8A-49CA-A9F4-D3B308D2E3CC}
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\TS	Uninstall information for Programs and Features Control Panel item

A few Security Center-related Registry keys like AntiSpywareOverride, AntiVirusOverride, and FirewallOverride are likely to being modified by the virus under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\Svc, which are virtual and user-unmodifiable, so you need to open “Check security status” in Windows 7 or “Security Center” in Windows Vista, and set “Firewall” and “Malware protection” sub-items to “On”.

Good hunting!

How to Properly Convert Any Media to Early-Nokia-Compatible 3GP Using FFmpeg Komeil for Windows

2009-09-06T04:19:00.000-07:00

Most of the converted 3GP videos have a wrong aspect ratio, not to mention the audio incompatibility issue with different mobile phones from time to time. The following article describes fastidious details you should know, often omitted by converters while converting media to 3GP.

Since the early days of cameraphones, common 3GP video clips have been stored as QCIF-sized H.263 video and AMR-NB audio.

Video

QCIF (Quarter Common Intermediate Format) has a 174x144 dimension, and a 1.22:1 display aspect ratio. Having a squarer ratio comparing to normal 4:3 (1.33:1) and widescreen 16:9 (1.78:1) ratios, QCIF videos should be “padded” on top and bottom once converted from wider (nearly every other) sources.

Failing to properly pad a wider-than-QCIF video clip while converting to QCIF 3GP, you’ll end up with J.Lo’s bottom looking like Kate Moss’s.

Intervening precise height/padding calculations, FFmpeg requires even numbers for screen height, top padding, and bottom padding.

Height = Picture Height + Top Padding + Bottom Padding

Width = Height × Aspect Ratio

A standard 1.33:1 (4:3) video should be resized to 132 pixels in height and padded with 6 pixels in both top and bottom:

144 = 132 + 6 + 6

176 ≈ 132 × 1.33

A widescreen 1.78:1 (16:9) video should be resized to 100 pixels in height and padded with 22 pixels in both top and bottom:

144 = 100 + 22 + 22

176 ≈ 100 × 1.78

A flat widescreen 1.85:1 video should be resized to 96 pixels in height and padded with 24 pixels in both top and bottom:

144 = 96 + 24 + 24

176 ≈ 96 × 1.85

A CinemaScope 2.21:1 video should be resized to 80 pixels in height and padded with 32 pixels in both top and bottom:

144 = 80 + 32 + 32

176 ≈ 80 × 2.21

A wide cinema 2.35:1 video should be resized to 76 pixels in height and padded with 34 pixels in both top and bottom:

144 = 76 + 34 + 34

176 ≈ 76 × 2.35

Calculations Behind

Name	Aspect Ratio	Exact Dimensions	Calculations	Height	Paddings
QCIF	1.22:1	176×144.0000	144-144.0000=0.0000÷2=0.0000	144	0
Standard	1.33:1 (4:3)	176×132.0003	144-132.0003=11.9997÷2=5.9998	132	6
Widescreen	1.78:1 (16:9)	176×98.9998	144-98.9998=45.0002÷2=22.5001	100	22
Flat Widescreen	1.85:1	176×95.1351	144-95.1351=48.8649÷2=24.4324	96	24
CinemaScope	2.21:1	176×79.6380	144-79.6380=64.3620÷2=32.1810	80	32
Wide Cinema	2.35:1	176×74.8936	144-74.8936=69.1064÷2=34.5532	76	34

The maximum H.263 video bit rate for a flawless playback in an early Nokia is 339 kbps and the best practice for the frame rate is to use half its original. That is 12.5 fps (25÷2) for PAL and 14.895 fps (29.97÷2) for NTSC videos. Please note cheap 3GP/H.263/AMRNB-enabled Nokia cameraphones shoot QCIF video at 14.929 fps / 142 kbps.

Audio

The audio compatible with early Nokia phones is the monaural AMR-NB (Adaptive Multi-Rate Narrow-Band) with sample rate of 8000 and bit rate of 12.2 kbps.

FFmpeg 3GP Conversion Command

Important parameters including the “-f 3gp” forces the output format to 3GP, “-s 176xHEIGHT” defines video dimensions, “-aspect 176:144” corrects QCIF aspect ratio, “-padtop PADDING” and “-padbottom PADDING” define top and bottom paddings, “-vcodec h263” forces the video codec to H.263, “-b BITRATE” specifies the video bit rate, “-r FRAMERATE” specifies the video frame rate, “-acodec libamr_nb” forces the audio codec to AMR-NB, “-ac 1” specifies mono-channel (monaural) audio, “-ar 8000” specifies the audio sample rate, and “-ab 12.2k” specifies the 12.2 kbps audio bit rate.

Sample FFmpeg command to convert a PAL 4:3 AVI file into 3GP (H.263/AMR-NB):

ffmpeg -i test.avi -f 3gp -s 176x132 -aspect 176:144 -padtop 6 -padbottom 6 -vcodec h263 -b 339k -r 12.5 -acodec libamr_nb -ac 1 -ar 8000 -ab 12.2k -y output.3gp

Sample FFmpeg command to convert an NTSC 16:9 MP4 file into 3GP (H.263/AMR-NB):

ffmpeg -i test.mp4 -f 3gp -s 176x100 -aspect 176:144 -padtop 22 -padbottom 22 -vcodec h263 -b 339k -r 14.895 -acodec libamr_nb -ac 1 -ar 8000 -ab 12.2k -y output.3gp

Download FFmpeg for Windows with AMR Support

To download an AMR-enabled FFmpeg for Windows, visit my FFmpeg SVN-r17988-Komeil for Windows blog post.

Setting Up Sony VAIO Event Service on Windows 7 x86 / Windows 7 x64 for Brightness (Fn+F5/Fn+F6), Mute/Volume (Fn+F2/Fn+F3/Fn+F4), and Monitor Switching (Fn+F7) Control

2009-07-24T13:00:00.001-07:00

This article is a guide on how to enable Sony VAIO notebooks’ function keys to control audio volume level and muting, internal LCD monitor brightness, and monitor/projector switching.

Sony VAIO laptops—mostly powered by Phoenix BIOS—suffer from a design flaw: Display panel brightness, monitor switching, audio volume controls, and muting do not work in the event of a specific Sony software misconfiguration. Once Windows 7 is installed, volume controls and muting function keys will start to function, because Sony designers have used “PS/2 Scan Codes for Enhanced Keyboard Features” and Windows multimedia interface recognizes the following multimedia keyboard (hexadecimal) scan codes:

E0 20: Audio Muting Toggle—On/Off Control (OOC)
E0 2E: Audio Volume Decrement—Re-Trigger Control (RTC)
E0 30: Audio Volume Increment—Re-Trigger Control (RTC)

It’s reported by Sony VAIO users suffering from the function keys problem that you can benefit from Windows 7’s own Win+P keyboard strokes combination to toggle your screen output between Computer Only, Duplicate, Extend, or Projector Only modes—P is short for projector. Getting rid of them, brightness still remains uncontrollable, unless the graphics accelerator driver software (e.g., Nvidia Control Panel) can handle such feature.

Electronically speaking, volume, brightness, and projector-switching controls should interact with the built-in internal amp, the LCD’s LED-backlight/fluorescent tube, and the GPU respectively, but they don’t; they’re just a bunch of crude keys…

Dell laughs at the Japanese because such vital functions should be implemented at the BIOS-level, and with the elimination of high-level software dependency, the LCD screen brightness of a Dell laptop (e.g., my Dell XPS M1330) can be changed using Fn+Up/Fn+Down arrow keys in its BIOS, during POST, while starting Windows, once Windows has completed its cumbersome startup, or in whatever OS you’re operating, regardless of driver-dependency. Not acting as a driver and not necessitated to install, Dell QuickSet software only enables users to see an OSD of what they’re changing.

Solution

“It’s a Sony” though, so what should a typical VAIO owner do if they’ve upgraded to Windows 7? You need to download the following drivers and utilities for your VAIO’s specific model from Sony VAIO Support website, and using run as administrator install them exactly in the order specified:

Sony Firmware Extension Parser Device Driver (SODOTH)
Sony Shared Library (SOASSL)
Setting Utility Series (SOASUS)
VAIO Event Service (SOAVES)

Once every package’s installation is finished, there’s a chance for the Program Compatibility Assistant to pop up indicating the following message:

Program Compatibility Assistant

This program might not have installed correctly

If this program didn't install correctly, try reinstalling using settings that are compatible with this version of Windows.

Program: SOAVES-70192615-US
Publisher: Sony Corporation of America
Location: D:\Install\Drivers\Sony ...\SOAVES-70192615-US.exe

Reinstall using recommended settings

This program installed correctly

Carefully select This program installed correctly.

VAIO gurus suggest a restart once each one of the drivers and utilities finished installing, just to keep the VAIO software team happy.

Please note the four-tier installation order is crucial, and refusal to adhere to the installation order results in partial response of your Fn combinative keys:

A friend’s Sony VAIO VGN-SZ650N had only Fn+F2 (mute), Fn+F3 (volume down), and Fn+F4 (volume up) functioning—leaving Fn+F5 (brightness decrement), Fn+F6 (brightness increment), and Fn+F7 (monitor switching) not working at all. With no brightness control and sticking to maximum screen brightness, his precious Sony VAIO SZ Series has become an eyestraining piece of gadget.
Another friend wasn’t just able to increase or decrease the screen brightness of her Sony VAIO VGN-FZ290N using Fn+F5 / Fn+F6 ever since she has installed Windows 7, even though she’s been proud of installing everything Sony had to offer to download at its esupport website! Told her most of the packages she’s been installing were dispensable bloatware.

Also please note if all or some portion of these 4 packages have previously existed on your current Windows 7 installation, or even you’re suspicious about it, take no chances, and directly jump to the removal procedure described below.

Fixing a Hasty Disorganized Installation

You need to remove any instances of the aforementioned software installed previously, before methodically installing them fresh:

Leave Sony Firmware Extension Parser (SFEP) Device Driver alone. There’s no need to trace its footprints, and no uninstallation is required.
Utilizing Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features\Uninstall a program, locate and uninstall VAIO Event Service and restart your VAIO’s Windows.
Utilizing Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features\Uninstall a program, locate and uninstall Setting Utility Series and restart your VAIO’s Windows.
Sony Shared Library doesn’t leave any uninstall traces in Program and Features\Uninstall a program. Using the file listing appendix, locate and delete its files (i.e., %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Sony Shared\Sony Utilities, etc.)

Appendix: Sony Software Folders File Listing

Sony Shared Library

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sony Shared\Version.txt
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sony Shared\Sony Utilities\Data.prof
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sony Shared\Sony Utilities\Match.prof
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sony Shared\Sony Utilities\SnyUtils.dll

Setting Utility Series

C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\AppMonitorSetting.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\AutoDimmerSetting.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\BatteryCare.exe
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\DisplaySetting.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\HDDProtectionSetting.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\InputSetting.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\LEDSetting.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\PowerViewSetting.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\SBMsg.exe
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\SBRes.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\SpecialButtonSetting.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\SUSCommonSetting.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\SUSLaunchStartDes.exe
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\SystemSetting.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\VCCChecker.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\VCCMouseButton.exe
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\Version.txt
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\AppMonitorSetting.dll.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\AutoDimmerSetting.dll.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\BatteryCare.exe.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\colormode.chm
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\Display.chm
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\DisplaySetting.dll.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\HDDProtection.chm
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\HDDProtectionSetting.dll.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\InputSetting.dll.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\LEDSetting.dll.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\Perform.chm
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\PointingDevice.chm
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\PowerViewSetting.dll.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\SBRes.dll.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\Sbutton.chm
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\SpecialButtonSetting.dll.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\SystemSetting.dll.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\VCCMouseButton.exe.mui
C:\Program Files\Sony\Setting Utility Series\EN-US\zoombutton.chm

VAIO Event Service

C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\Activation.exe
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\Interop.NETWORKLIST.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\mfc80u.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\msvcp70.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\msvcp71.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\msvcp80.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\msvcr70.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\msvcr71.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\msvcr80.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\NWMultiTouch.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\pi.wav
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\RKConfig.ini
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\Version.txt
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESAppMon.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESAutoDimmer.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESBasePS.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESColorMgr.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESCommonUI.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESConfig.ini
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESGfxMgr.exe
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESHidDevice.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESHybridGfx.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESKBStatus.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESMgr.exe
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESMgrSub.exe
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESMgrSubPS.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESPerform.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESRemoteKey.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESRes.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESSetGamma.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESShellExeProxy.exe
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESStorageProtect.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESSuEvent.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESTransform.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESUSBKeyboard.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESWndMsg.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESWndMsgHook.dll
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VideoColorControl.exe
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\APPMONITOR\AppMonitor.xml
C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Event Service\APPMONITOR\AppMonitorSchema.xsd

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sony Shared\SSOSrv\SSOSrv.dll

Drivers and Utilities ^{[Updated November 20, 2009]}

The file listing revised for the new files Sony’s been providing for download at its Windows 7 selection of VAIO Support pages:

Sony Firmware Extension Parser Device Driver v8.0.1.1, 10/7/2009

SODOTH-70187337-32.exe (FZ Series)
SODOTH-70187339-32.exe (SZ Series)

Sony Shared Library v5.4.0.05200, 10/5/2009

SOASSL-70189398-US.exe

Setting Utility Series v5.0.0.07280, 11/18/2009

SOASUS-70201315-US.exe

VAIO Event Service v5.0.0.07130, 10/6/2009

SOAVES-70192615-US.exe

Tested the new files on an SZ, and the solution still works.

Windows Help Program (WinHlp32.exe) for Windows 7 x64 and Windows 7 x86

2009-06-14T07:42:00.000-07:00

این نوشتار به فارسی نیز موجود است.

The Windows Help program or WinHlp32.exe is a Windows utility needed when you’re using old software containing “.hlp” help files. For example I was faced with this problem with the “.hlp” files when I first used Borland C++Builder 6 on Windows Vista / Windows Server 2008.

The winhlp32.exe packed with the Windows 7 RC for example is a 9.50 kB (9,728 bytes) file detailed with version 6.1.7100.0 (same version as Windows 7 RC itself) which is slightly different from what’s distributed with Windows Vista, a 9.00 kB (9,216 bytes) file detailed with version 6.0.6000.16386 (Vista Service Pack 2 in this example), where both stubbornly reject HLP files, showing the following dialog box:

Why can't I get Help from this program?

[This content is preliminary and subject to change.]

The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows. However, you can download a program that will allow you to view Help created in the Windows Help format.

For more information, go to the Microsoft Help and Support website.

Starting with the release of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has decided to no longer include in WinHlp32.exe as a component of the Windows operating system. Microsoft made this decision because WinHlp32.exe has not had a major update for many years, and it does not meet their standards for all new Microsoft programs. Microsoft realizes that this may cause some problems for customers who want to upgrade to Windows Vista or to Windows Server 2008 but still rely on 32-bit .hlp files. Therefore, Microsoft is making WinHlp32.exe available as a download from the Microsoft Download Center.

Starting with the release of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, third-party software developers are no longer authorized to redistribute WinHlp32.exe with their programs.

Microsoft still refuses to support the WinHlp32 as an update to Windows 7, and cites that at this time, there is no WinHlp32.exe download available for Windows 7 or for Windows Server 2008 R2. However, separate downloads for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be offered after the RTM versions of these products are available to public.

Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) for Windows 7 64-bit and Windows 7 32-bit

I gathered both winhlp32.exe and winhlp32.exe.mui needed for the Windows 7 WinHlp32.exe installation and along with an installer batch file (CMD), created a package which will easily install Windows Help on Windows 7. Just extract the CAB file’s content into a folder and run (as administrator) Install.cmd.

Download Link

Download Windows Help (WinHlp32) program installer for Windows 7 x64 / Windows 7 x86 by Komeil Bahmanpour

The CAB file size is 151 kB (155,046 bytes) which will extract to a 325 kB (333,119 bytes) folder, containing the following 3 files:

winhlp32.exe, version: 50.0.6000.16387, size: 290 kB (296,960 bytes)
winhlp32.exe.mui, size: 30.5 kB (31,232 bytes)
Install.cmd, revision: 2, size: 4.81 kB (4,927 bytes)

Please note users who have tried to replace winhlp32.exe manually in Windows folder and winhlp32.exe.mui in Windows\en-US folder of Windows 7, was faced with overwrite restrictions due to ownership and permission problems. Also there’s a Microsoft known issue with macros and not opening HLP files over Intranet. My batch (CMD) file successfully overrides these problems, if it’s run as administrator. The Install.cmd file uses takeown and icacls commands to overrule ownership and permission restrictions only granted to the TrustedInstaller inside Windows Vista / 2008 / 7. It also fixes both the macro and Intranet restrictions and is able to terminate any possible running instances of winhlp32.exe right before the update process is set to begin.

Important Notice about .GID Files ^{[Updated July 25, 2010]}

If your .HLP file had been viewed on an earlier version of Windows (primarily Windows 95 / Windows 98) in the past, a hidden .GID file might have been created alongside. A .GID file has the same name as its corresponding Help file (but with a .gid extension) and is stored as a hidden file at the same folder as the corresponding Help file. If the Help file is in a folder to which you do not have write privileges (such as on a CD-ROM or network drive), the .GID file is created in the Windows\Help folder. This hidden file with the GID extension is a Global Index file created by Microsoft Windows help viewer engine to accompany WinHelp (.HLP and .CNT) files that helps speed up future access to help file topics. In other words, you can delete a GID file without harming your system, but Windows will automatically recreate the file next time you open the corresponding help file. As commenter Sampath stated, please note if exist, you may not be able to open .HLP files unless you delete their corresponding .GID files. Also please note aged .GID files are hidden by nature, therefore make sure to set the relevant Windows Explorer option so it’s capable of showing you any hidden files.

Windows Help Program (WinHlp32.exe) Archive ^{[Updated October 20, 2009]}

The archive can conveniently be used to replace the winhlp32.exe and winhlp32.exe.mui in the WinHelp Installer Package with another version, possibly to upgrade, downgrade, or rollback to a previous version (uninstall).

Download Link

Download Windows Help (WinHlp32) Program Archive

The 7-Zip archive file contains the following versions of WinHlp32:

Version	Files	Windows	Source	Opens HLP Files
50.1.7600.16386	winhlp32.exe, winhlp32.exe.mui	Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2	KB917607	✓
50.0.6001.18001	winhlp32.exe, winhlp32.exe.mui	Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008	KB917607	✓
50.0.6000.16387	winhlp32.exe, winhlp32.exe.mui	Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008		✓
6.1.7600.16385	winhlp32.exe, winhlp32.exe.mui	Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2
6.1.7100.0	winhlp32.exe	Windows 7 RC
6.0.6000.16386	winhlp32.exe, winhlp32.exe.mui	Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008
5.2.3790.3959	winhlp32.exe	Windows Server 2003		✓
5.1.2600.0	winhlp32.exe	Windows XP		✓

Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008

If you’re willing to download KB917607 from Microsoft, please note although the filenames for either of 64-bit or 32-bit files are the same for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, but the files are different in size and also refuse to install on a wrong OS, showing the following error:

“The update does not apply to your system.”

In other words, there are two different files with the same name of “Windows6.0-KB917607-x64.msu” for Windows Vista 64-bit and Windows Server 2008 64-bit, and also two different files with the same name of “Windows6.0-KB917607-x86.msu” for Windows Vista 32-bit and Windows Server 2008 32-bit.

Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout (kbdfa.dll) for Windows 7 x86 and Windows 7 x64

2009-06-10T04:01:00.000-07:00

این گفتار به فارسی نیز موجود است.

This old post describes why I needed to replace Microsoft Windows’ own Persian (Farsi) keyboard layout—kbdfa.dll.

The new Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout (kbdfa.dll) Revision 4, dated June 10, 2009, compatible with Windows 7, adds support for Arabic Hamza Above (U+0654) and Arabic Decimal Separator (U+066B) comparing to its predecessor, with the latter being only available in Type 3 (Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout with Persian numeric keypad), but is still installable using the preceding installer.

Please note both the x86 and x64 compilations are available in three types, representing Persian or Latin numbers on the main section of the keyboard and the numeric keypad.

Download Link

Installer

Download Chortkeh Keyboard Layout Installer for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 (chortkeh-install-kbdfa.cmd, Revision 3, November 4, 2008)

Type 1: Latin Numeric Keypad, Latin Upper Numeric Row

Download Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout with Latin numbers for Windows 32-Bit Family (x86) (kbdfa.dll, Revision 4, June 10, 2009)
Download Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout with Latin numbers for Windows 64-Bit Family (x64) (kbdfa.dll, Revision 4, June 10, 2009)

Type 2: Latin Numeric Keypad, Persian Upper Numeric Row

Download Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout with Latin numeric keypad for Windows 32-Bit Family (x86) (kbdfa.dll, Revision 4, June 10, 2009)
Download Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout with Latin numeric keypad for Windows 64-Bit Family (x64) (kbdfa.dll, Revision 4, June 10, 2009)

Type 3: Persian Numeric Keypad, Persian Upper Numeric Row

Download Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout with Persian numeric keypad for Windows 32-Bit Family (x86) (kbdfa.dll, Revision 4, June 10, 2009)
Download Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout with Persian numeric keypad for Windows 64-Bit Family (x64) (kbdfa.dll, Revision 4, June 10, 2009)

Komeil Bahmanpour

Microsoft Office Word 2010 Bug with Rendering Arabic Ligatures Using Sakkal Majalla Font

Combined Characters or Ligatures

Microsoft Office Word 2010 Bug with Rendering Arabic Ligatures Using Sakkal Majalla

Windows Fonts with Arabic Unicode Subrange

Fixing BMP/TIFF Image File Types Association Damaged by Adobe Bridge CS4/CS5 Installation

Chortkeh Windows Registry Fix for Image File Type Association

Download Link

Fixing PBK File Type Association Damaged by Adobe Pixel Bender Installation

Chortkeh Windows Registry Fix for PBK File Type Association

Download Link

Essential Multimedia File Types the Second Generation Pioneer MVH-Series Should Support

Broader Range of Multimedia File Types Support

Audio Streams

Video Streams

Container Formats

Nokia E7: Nokia’s Road to Nowhere Continues

ISIRI 9147 Persian Keyboard Layout by Chortkeh for Windows 7 32-Bit / Windows 7 64-Bit / Windows 7 64-Bit for Itanium / Windows 7 32-Bit on Windows 7 64-Bit

Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout Based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Latin Numeric Keypad

Download Links

Chortkeh Persian Keyboard Layout Based on ISIRI 9147:2007 with Persian Numeric Keypad

Download Links

How to Install

Download Link

Copyright Notice and Legal Disclaimer

Pioneer Kuro Plasma Still Better than Today’s Bests: the Kuro’s Dead, Long Live the Kuro!

Nvidia GeForce G105M vs. Intel GMA950: Your Netbook Can Be More than Just a Small Slow Laptop

N10Jb Specifications

Windows Experience Index (WEI)

CrystalMark 2004R3

HD Movie Playback

Installing Nvidia Mobile GPU Display Driver on Notebooks Upgraded to Windows 7 x86 / Windows 7 x64

The Solution: Modded INF File [Updated October 29, 2011]

310.90 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated January 9, 2013]

310.70 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated December 24, 2012]

306.97 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated December 7, 2012]

306.23 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated September 16, 2012]

301.42 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated May 26, 2012]

296.10 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated March 17, 2012]

295.73 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated February 24, 2012]

285.62 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated October 29, 2011]

280.26 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated August 16, 2011]

275.33 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated June 4, 2011]

270.61 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated May 9, 2011]

267.76 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated March 30, 2011]

266.58 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated March 5, 2011]

260.99 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated November 30, 2010]

259.47 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated September 8, 2010]

258.96 WHQL Driver Download Links [Updated July 9, 2010]

197.16 WHQL Driver Download Links

Setup Instructions

Step 1: Welcome

Step 2: License Agreement

Step 3: Windows Security Confirmation

Step 4: Installing Display Driver and Utilities

Step 5: Restart Your Computer

Verde Notebook Release 197 Highlights

New in Version 197.16:

Existing support:

Verde Notebook Release 197 Supported Products

Note:

The following notebooks are not supported in this release:

Fixing KB974417 Installation Failure—Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Security Update for Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP

Solution

Pioneer MVH-P8200BT/MVH-P8200 Mech-Free Digital Media Receivers Review (MVH-8200BT/MVH-8200, MVH-8250BT/MVH-8250 Varietally)

Connectivity

SD or SDHC

Annoyances

Audio Quality

Conclusion

.NET Virus/Botnet “tt6ynew.exe” Database Policies Revised by the Virus Author

Google Social Search: Customer Connections Now Important for Google Search Results

Sony VAIO SZ Series Bluetooth Driver Knocked Down by Windows Update “IVT Corporation - Other hardware - Bluetooth USB Controller (ALPS/UGPZ6)”

How to Acquire Your Symbian Smartphone’s Certificate (.cer) and Private Key (.key) from OPDA

Nokia Symbian Certificate Closed since June 23, 2011[Updated August 25, 2011]

Fixing Broken MPEG-2 and MPEG Transport Stream (MPEG-TS) Files

Microsoft Releases Windows Help Program (WinHlp32.exe) for Windows 7 x64 and Windows 7 x86

Dell Inspiron Mini 10v (1011) Samsung SLC SSD and Windows 7 x86 Upgrade

Samsung MCCOE64G5MPP SLC SSD Installation Experience

Need for Speed: Shift

The Solution: Modded INF File ^{[Updated October 29, 2011]}

310.90 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated January 9, 2013]}

310.70 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated December 24, 2012]}

306.97 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated December 7, 2012]}

306.23 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated September 16, 2012]}

301.42 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated May 26, 2012]}

296.10 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated March 17, 2012]}

295.73 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated February 24, 2012]}

285.62 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated October 29, 2011]}

280.26 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated August 16, 2011]}

275.33 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated June 4, 2011]}

270.61 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated May 9, 2011]}

267.76 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated March 30, 2011]}

266.58 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated March 5, 2011]}

260.99 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated November 30, 2010]}

259.47 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated September 8, 2010]}

258.96 WHQL Driver Download Links ^{[Updated July 9, 2010]}

Nokia Symbian Certificate Closed since June 23, 2011^{[Updated August 25, 2011]}

Drivers and Utilities ^{[Updated November 20, 2009]}

Important Notice about .GID Files ^{[Updated July 25, 2010]}

Windows Help Program (WinHlp32.exe) Archive ^{[Updated October 20, 2009]}