Category: Windows

Everything – fast file/folder search in Windows

by scmgalaxy KWindowsLeave a Comment on Everything – fast file/folder search in Windows

 

It is hard and time consuming to search a file/folder in Window 7 and 8. “Everything” is a great tool to solve this issue.

Here are some of the benefits of Everything search engine:

  1. Small installation file
  2. Clean and simple user interface
  3. Quick file indexing
  4. Quick searching
  5. Minimal resource usage
  6. Share files with others easily
  7. Real-time updating

 

Details….URL 

http://www.voidtools.com/

 

1.1 What is “Everything”?

“Everything” is an administrative tool that locates files and folders by filename instantly for Windows.
Unlike Windows search “Everything” initially displays every file and folder on your computer (hence the name “Everything”).
You type in a search filter to limit what files and folders are displayed.

1.2 How long will it take to index my files?

“Everything” only uses file and folder names and generally takes a few seconds to build its database.
A fresh install of Windows XP SP2 (about 20,000 files) will take about 1 second to index.
1,000,000 files will take about 1 minute.

1.3 Does Everything search file contents?

No, “Everything” does not search file contents, only file and folder names.

1.4 Does “Everything” hog my system resources?

No, “Everything” uses very little system resources.
A fresh install of Windows XP SP2 (about 20,000 files) will use about 3-5mb of ram and less than 1mb of disk space.
1,000,000 files will use about 45mb of ram and 5mb of disk space.

1.5 Does “Everything” monitor file system changes?

Yes, “Everything” does monitor file system changes.
Your search windows will reflect changes made to the file system.

1.6 Is “Everything” free?

Yes, “Everything” is Freeware.
If you use “Everything” in a commercial environment and find it useful a donation would be appreciated.

1.7 Does “Everything” miss changes made to the file system if it is not running?

No, “Everything” can be closed and restarted without missing changes made to the file system (even across system restarts).
“Everything” updates the database when it is started.

1.8 What are the system requirements for “Everything”?

“Everything” will run on Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista and Windows 7
“Everything” will only locate files and folders on local NTFS volumes.
“Everything” requires administrative privileges for low level read access to volumes.

1.9 How do I convert a volume to NTFS?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881

1.10 Can “Everything” index a mapped network drive?

No, “Everything” only indexes local or removable NTFS volumes.

To search a networked computer you will need to run Everything on both computers.
One computer will need to Start an ETP server.
The other computer will need to connect to that ETP server.

To start an ETP server:
1. In Everything, On the Tools menu, click Start ETP server.

To connect to an ETP server:
1. In Everything, On the Tools menu, click Connect to ETP Server….
2. Type in the ETP server name.
3. Type in the ETP server port.
4. Type in the ETP server user.
5. Type in the ETP server password.
6. Click OK.

1.11 How do I install the language pack?

Download the language pack Everything.lng.zip
Unzip the language pack into the folder where “Everything” is installed.
Restart Everything.
In “Everything”, On the Tools menu, click Options.
Click the General tab.
Select your language from the Language dropdown list.
Click OK.
In the “language change” popup, Click OK.
Restart Everything.

1.12 How do I bypass the UAC to run “Everything” with administrative privileges on system startup?

Disable run on system startup in “Everything”.
Follow the Make Vista launch UAC restricted programs at startup with Task Scheduler guide at
http://blogs.techrepublic.com/window-on-windows/?p=616
Make sure you use -startup in the Add Arguments box

1.13 How do I bypass the UAC to run “Everything” with administrative privileges when I start it from a shortcut ?

http://blogs.techrepublic.com/window-on-windows/?p=730

2 Searching

2.1 How do I search for a file or folder?

Type the partial file or folder name into the search edit, the results will appear instantly.

2.2 How do I use boolean operators?

AND is the default boolean operator.
For example, here is how to search for foo and bar: foo bar
To search for either of two search terms, add a | between the terms.
For example, here is how to search for .jpg or .bmp: .jpg | .bmp
To exclude something from the search include a ! at the front of the term.
For example, here is how to search for abc and not 123: abc !123

2.3 How do I use wildcards?

Using a * in your search will match any number of any type of character.
For example, here is how to search for files and folders that start with e and end with g: e*g
Using a ? in your search will match one character.
For example, here is how to search for files that have a 2 letter file extension: *.??

2.4 How do I use regex?

| A vertical bar separates alternatives. For example, gray|grey can match “gray” or “grey“.
() Parentheses are used to define the scope and precedence of the operators (among other uses). For example, gray|grey and gr(a|e)y are equivalent patterns which both describe the set of “gray” and “grey“.
? The question mark indicates there is zero or one of the preceding element. For example, colou?r matches both “color” and “colour“.
* The asterisk indicates there are zero or more of the preceding element. For example, ab*c matches “ac“, “abc“, “abbc“, “abbbc“, and so on.
+ The plus sign indicates that there is one or more of the preceding element. For example, ab+c matches “abc“, “abbc“, “abbbc“, and so on, but not “ac“.
. Matches any single character except newlines (exactly which characters are considered newlines is flavor, character encoding, and platform specific, but it is safe to assume that the line feed character is included). Within POSIX bracket expressions, the dot character matches a literal dot. For example, a.c matches “abc“, etc., but [a.c]matches only “a“, “.“, or “c“.
[ ] A bracket expression. Matches a single character that is contained within the brackets. For example, [abc]matches “a“, “b“, or “c“. [a-z] specifies a range which matches any lowercase letter from “a” to “z“. These forms can be mixed: [abcx-z] matches “a“, “b“, “c“, “x“, “y“, and “z“, as does [a-cx-z]
[^ ] Matches a single character that is not contained within the brackets. For example, [^abc] matches any character other than “a“, “b“, or “c“. [^a-z] matches any single character that is not a lowercase letter from “a” to “z“. As above, literal characters and ranges can be mixed.
^ Matches the starting position within the string. In line-based tools, it matches the starting position of any line.
$ Matches the ending position of the string or the position just before a string-ending newline. In line-based tools, it matches the ending position of any line.
{m,n} Matches the preceding element at least m and not more than n times. For example, a{3,5} matches only “aaa“, “aaaa“, and “aaaaa“. This is not found in a few, older instances of regular expressions.

2.5 How do I include spaces in my search?

To include spaces in your search enclose your search in double quotes.
For example, here is how to search for foo<space>bar: “foo bar”

2.6 How do I search for a file type?

To search for a file type, type the file extension into the search edit,
ie to search for the mp3 file type, type *.mp3 into the search edit.
To search for more than one type of file type use a | to separate file types,
ie *.bmp|*.jpg will search for files with the extension bmp or jpg.

2.7 How do I search for files and folders in a specific location?

To search for files and folders in a specific location include a \ in your search string.
For example, here is how to search for all your avis in a downloads folder: downloads\ .avi
You could alternately enable Match Path in the Search menu and include the location in your search string.
For example, here is how to search for all your avis in a downloads folder with Match Path enabled: downloads .avi

3 Results

3.1 How do I jump to a file or folder in the result list?

Make sure the result list has focus by tabbing to it with the keyboard or clicking in it with the mouse.
Type in the partial or full name of the file or folder you want to jump to.
For example, to jump to files or folders begining with “New” type New into the result list.

4 Customizing

4.1 How can I change the “Everything” icon?

Requires “Everything” 1.2.0 beta or later.
Copy your icon file into “Everything”‘s installation folder and rename it to “Everything.ico”.
Restart “Everything”.

4.2 How can I set “Everything” to use an external file manager?

Requires “Everything” 1.2.0 beta or later.
Exit Everything.
Open Everything.ini in “Everything”‘s installation folder.
Add the following 2 lines to the bottom of the ini:
open_folder_command=$exec(“ExternalFileManager.exe” “%1”)
open_folder_path_command=$exec(“ExternalFileManager.exe” “$parent(%1)”)
Replace the text ExternalFileManager.exe with the full path and file name of your file manager executable.
Check your external file manager help for any required command line parameters.
Restart “Everything”.

5 Troubleshooting

5.1 Everything requests for administrator privileges in Windows Vista SP1

“Everything” requires administrator privileges because it needs raw read access to your hard drives.
Click accept to allow “Everything” to continue running.

5.2 The result list is empty

Make sure you have atleast one local NTFS volume.
See How do I convert a volume to NTFS.

Make sure “Everything” has administrator privileges.

To manually enable all local NTFS volumes for indexing:
1. In Everything, On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Volumes tab.
3. For each volume in the Local NTFS volumes list:
4. Check Check Media.
5. Check Enable USN Journal logging.
6. Check Include in database.
7. Check Monitor changes.
8. Repeat for each volume.
9. Click OK.

5.3 Right clicking on a file or folder crashes

Please replace your Everything.exe with the following beta to workaround the problem:
http://www.voidtools.com/Everything-1.2.1.375b.zip.

 

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23 Ways To Speed WinXP, Not only Defrag

by scmgalaxy KWindowsLeave a Comment on 23 Ways To Speed WinXP, Not only Defrag

Since defragging the disk won’t do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers’ PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.

1.) To decrease a system’s boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software — the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine — and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

 

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

 

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you’re not sure, here’s how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it’s important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

 

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a “searchable keyword index.” As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

 

The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP’s built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

 

Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you’re a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

 

Here’s how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching.” Next, apply changes to “C: subfolders and files,” and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as “Access is denied”), click the Ignore All button.

 

5.) Update the PC’s video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

 

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can “prefetch” portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That’s fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

 

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here’s how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button — it’s just to the right of the Capacity pie graph — and delete all temporary files.

 

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to “DMA if available” for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

 

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support “cable select,” the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

 

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.

 

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here’s how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don’t want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

 

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

 

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here’s how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer — only its responsiveness.

 

14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

 

15.) Visit Microsoft’s Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

 

16.) Update the customer’s anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

 

17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts — that is, anything over 500 — will noticeably tax the system.

 

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP’s NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called “D drive.” You’ll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won’t be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won’t need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

 

19.) Check the system’s RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC’s memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

 

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer’s Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you’ll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it’s free.

 

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

 

22.) If you’re sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to “Launch folder windows in a separate process,” and enable this option. You’ll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

 

23.) At least once a year, open the computer’s cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you’re in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.

 

 

Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers’ computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

 

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How to Resolve Windows Installer Problem

by scmgalaxy KWindowsLeave a Comment on How to Resolve Windows Installer Problem

Installation of a program means inserting that particular program in your computer so that it can be executed properly. Some of the software programs can be simply copied to the computer and executed without doing anything further; they don’t require any kind of installation process. Many programs come with an executable suite, which requires to be installed. Installation is the process where you will have to unpack some files, copy them to desired locations, tailor the software to suite your hardware and give the desired information to the operating system.

Installation often means that once a program is installed, the user can run the program over and over again, without reinstalling it again before using each time. Until one does not uninstall the program or the program does not allow further execution, you will have to install it again. However, sometimes one can encounter problems while installing a program. Here are some simple steps that will help you in resolving windows installer problems:

teps:

  • First thing to do for resolving windows installer problem is identifying it. When you are trying to install or uninstall something, you might get a warning message like:

“The windows installer cannot be accessed”

“Windows installer service cannot be started”

“Could not start the windows installer service on Local computer. Error 5:

access is denied.”

  • These error messages will often appear on the screen when the installation of the MSI package has failed or when the windows installer service is disabled.
  • Method 1: first unregister windows installer, and then you will have to register it again. For resolving windows installer problems of such a nature, just do the following things. Go on the ’start’ menu and click on the ‘run’ option. In the dialog box start typing ‘msiexec/unreg’, and then press the enter key.
  • Go on the ’start’ menu again and click on the ‘run’ option. In the dialog box start typing, ‘msiexec/regserver’ and then press the ‘enter’ key.
  • Method 2: you can upgrade the windows installer to a higher version or a newer version. For this, open the internet explorer page, and go to the Microsoft website. Go to the link, http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads. On the left side you will get an option of ’setup and system administration’ and now click on the ’setup’ option.
  • Select the ‘windows installer’, and then choose the appropriate link for your operating system. Now click on the ‘download’ option and install the new version or install the higher version of windows installer.
  • Method 3: for resolving windows installer problem, you might have to uninstall the failed product with the help of an installer cleanup. The description for the windows installer cleanup utility is, http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301
  • Method 4: if the windows service is disabled on your computer, then go to the ’start’ menu, select ‘run’ option and type ’services.msc’ and click enter. Now, double click on the option of windows installer.
  • Method 5: check the DCOM and the permission by the system through http://support.microsoft.com/?id=319624
  • Method 6: another thing you can do for resolving windows installer problem is
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Customizing the Firefox Installer on Windows

by scmgalaxy KUncategorized / WindowsLeave a Comment on Customizing the Firefox Installer on Windows

One of the questions I get asked a lot is how to customize the Firefox installer on Windows and how to bundle extensions with it. I’ve spent the past few days learning a great deal about this subject, so I thought I would take this opportunity to provide a refresher on working with the Firefox installer on Windows. I’m going to do it as a Q&A so hopefully folks will get answers to the common questions they have.

Standard disclaimer: Under no circumstances should you use this information to create a custom Firefox install and redistribute it to anyone outside your organization. If you want more information, you can consult the Mozilla Foundation Trademark Policy.

What tools do I need to work with the Firefox installer?

The primary tool you need is 7-Zip. I install the MozillaBuild package which gives me all the tools I need. Even though the Firefox Installer is NSIS based, we will not need to use NSIS for most customizations. I’ll talk a little bit about the end about what kinds of things you would need NSIS to do.

How do I unpack the Firefox installer?

The Firefox installer is created using 7-Zip. So you can grab any of the Windows installers that end in EXE and unpack them. Any of the Windows installers on the Firefox download page will work. Once you’ve downloaded the EXE, create a temporary directory and type:

7z x "Firefox Setup 3.6.3.exe"

This will unpack the contents of the installer so we can modify it.

How do I bundle my extension with the Firefox installer?

Bundling your extension with the Firefox installer is just a matter of putting it in the right place. Then when we package up the installer at the end, it will get installed along with Firefox. For most extensions, the right place is nonlocalized/extensions. Inside that directory, create a subdirectory that corresponds to the ID of the extension you want to preinstall with Firefox. Then unzip the XPI into that directory. You can find the ID by looking at the install.rdf file inside the XPI. You can add as many extensions as you want into the installer.

What are some useful extensions I can bundle with Firefox

I’ve created two extensions that create interesting things to bundle with Firefox. The first is the CCK Wizard. The CCK Wizard can be used to change various defaults in Firefox so that you can customize it for deployment in your organization. The second is Rebrand. Rebrand allows you to change the internal branding used in Firefox.

Can I change the names used in the installer?

Yes, you can change the names used in the installer. To do this, you need to create a directory called distribution inside the localized directory that was created when you unpacked the installer. Create a file called setup.ini in this directory. Here’s what it looks like:

[Branding]
BrandFullName=Mike's Browser
BrandShortName=Browser

BrandFullName will be used to replace “Mozilla Firefox” and BrandShortName will be used to replace “Firefox”.

Can I change the images used in the installer?

Yes, you can change the images used in the installer. In that same directory where you put the setup.ini, you can put two files, modern-wizard.bmp and modern-header.bmp. The first images corresponds to the large image on the first page of the installer. The second image corresponds to the small image that is used on later pages of the installer. You can use the linked images as a reference to know what size to make these images.

How do I repackage the installer?

To repackage the installer, first you need to zip up the changes that you made. Type:

7z a -r -t7z app.7z -mx -m0=BCJ2 -m1=LZMA:d24 -m2=LZMA:d19 -m3=LZMA:d19 -mb0:1 -mb0s1:2 -mb0s2:3

This will create a file called app.7z that has all the changes we made. Now we need to package that file with some other files to create the final EXE. We’ll need the file 7zSD.sfx which you can download from Mozilla. And we’ll need a file called app.tag which you can create. It looks like this:

;!@Install@!UTF-8!
Title="Mozilla Firefox"
RunProgram="setup.exe"
;!@InstallEnd@!

Once we have these files, we can run the command:

copy /B 7zSD.sfx+app.tag+app.7z our_new_installer.exe

to package them all as an EXE. Don’t forget the /B. It indicates that the files are binary so Windows won’t put an EOF marker on them.

Can I change the defaults that are set in the installer like the install directory or the checkboxes?

At this time, there is no way to change the defaults in the installer without rebuilding the installer. There’s a bug open on this with a patch, so hopefully this will be fixed for Firefox 4.

Can I make my totally rebranded Firefox coexist nicely with an existing Firefox?

There are a couple ways to do this. The easiest way is to use the -no-remote parameter when you start Firefox. This causes the Firefox you are starting to not connect to the Firefox that is currently running. When you do this, you have to specify a different profile using the -P parameter. Alternatively, you can change the internal identifiers that Firefox uses. Then it will be considered to be a completely different browser. If you choose to do this, you should be aware that you will not receive updates and there will be other side effects. This is not a decision that should be taken lightly. Also, your profiles will be stored in different locations as well. If you want to do this, check out the file application.ini in the nonlocalized directory. The variables you want to change are Vendor and Name. Again, you do this at your own risk.

What can I do if I’m willing to rebuild the installer with NSIS?

If you are willing to rebuild the installer, you can change things like the name of the entry in the Add/Remove programs list, as well as the install directory and other defaults. This is a nontrivial exercise because some of the required files are built as part of the Mozilla build proces and are not available in the build tree. If you’re really interested in doing this, you can contact Kaply Consulting and we can talk about it.

I hope this answered some questions folks have. If anyone has any more questions, please don’t hesistate to ask.

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Bootstrap a Microsoft Windows node using Chef

by scmgalaxy KWindowsLeave a Comment on Bootstrap a Microsoft Windows node using Chef

Bootstrap a Microsoft Windows node, the “knife windows” plugin is required, 

More info about knife window tool, http://docs.chef.io/plugin_knife_windows.html

knife bootstrap windows winrm uvo1eak9a5geec05f7z.vm.cld.sr –winrm-user administrator –winrm-password ‘Rx4m7W4PQu’ –node-name firefox_win –run-list ‘recipe[snc_firefox]’

nife bootstrap windows winrm uvo1eak9a5geec05f7z.vm.cld.sr -x administrator -P Rx4m7W4PQu

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Introduction of Windows Internal | Windows Internal Overview | Windows Internal Quick Guide

by scmgalaxy KWindowsLeave a Comment on Introduction of Windows Internal | Windows Internal Overview | Windows Internal Quick Guide

Windows Resource Kits
The Microsoft® Windows Resource Kit Tools are a set of tools to help administrators streamline management tasks such as troubleshooting operating system issues, managing Active Directory®, configuring networking and security features, and automating application deployment.

Task and Responsibilities

  • Deployment
  • System administration scripting
  • Directory services
  • Networking and internetworking
  • Internet services
  • Custom and automated installations
  • Registry
  • Security
  • Policy-based administration
  • Server management
  • Clustering and load balancing
  • Performance management
  • Troubleshooting

About the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit
Once you have download and installed the resource kit (very easy process), you are pretty much set up, now all you need to do it work with each tool so you know what they can do, and that’s the intention of this article series.

After the installation, go to Start => All Programs => Windows Resource Kit Tools => Command Shell

Download – http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=17657

If you do a dir, you will see the directory listing for all the files listed here. Each file has a brief description of what it does:

Clearmem.exe: Clear Memory
Compress.exe: Compress Files
Confdisk.exe: Disk Configuration Tool
Consume.exe: Memory Consumers Tool
Dh.exe: Display Heap
Delprof.exe: User Profile Deletion Utility
Diskuse.exe: User Disk Usage Tool
Gpmonitor.exe: Group Policy Monitor
Instsrv.exe: Service Installer
Memmonitor.exe: Memory Monitor
Vrfydsk.exe: Verify Disk

Reference – http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles-tutorials/windows-2003/Windows-Server-2003-Resource-Kit.html

What is Windows Service?
Windows Service applications run for a long time and are mostly used in server environments therefore they are usually called long-running applications. Capability to create windows service is one of the powerful features of .net.

Windows Service applications do not have any user interface or they do not produce any visual output. Services can run in the background while a user is performing or executing any other task in the foreground. If any user messages are generated, they are written to the Windows Event Log.

Windows Services are controlled by the Service Control Manager that helps to start, stop or pause the windows service, as needed.

Examples of windows services include task scheduling, running message queues, file indexing, plug and play device detection etc.

In the source code, Windows Service extends the System.ServiceProcess.Service class.

All Windows Services that are built in .NET need to extend this class. Visual studio includes the following methods by default, which are overridden by the service when it is created.
Dispose – clean up any managed and unmanaged resources
OnStart – control the service startup
OnStop – control the service stoppage

How to create Windows Service?

  • Select a new project from File menu.
  • Expand “Visual Basic” tab and select “Windows”.
  • Then select Windows Service in it and specify the name of the service.
  • Then right click on the form and select Add Installer.
  • Project Installer gets added.
  • Select ServiceInstaller1, go to properties and set DisplayName, ServiceName and set StartType as Automatic.
  • Then select ServiceProcessInstaller1 and set Account property as LocalSystem.

Windows troubleshooting For Build Issues

  • OS Environment issues
  • Application Configuration settings
  • OS Memory Utilization
  • Disk I/O activies
  • Services running
  • Network issues

Chkdsk
The Windows Chkdsk (check disk) utility can find and fix common problems with disks and storage devices.

Disk Cleanup utility
The Disk Cleanup utility is a simple tool in Windows XP and Windows Vista that can remove temporary files from your PC, thus freeing up hard disk space.

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Make for Windows: NMake | What is Nmake?

by scmgalaxy KWindowsLeave a Comment on Make for Windows: NMake | What is Nmake?

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Make for Windows: NMake

What is Nmake?
NMAKE is Microsoft’s implementation of the make tool. The Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility (NMAKE.EXE) is a 32-bit tool that builds projects based on commands contained in a description file.

Another definition found on web as well
nmake is the “make” program for Visual Studio. A “make” program builds (makes) an executable and/or package by reading a set of “make” files. These files are essentially scripts that specify what is to be made, what files (header, source code, resource) are needed for each output file, etc. So nmake can be used to completely automate the process.

A frequently asked question: “Where can I find make for Windows?“. The answer is: “Download and use NMake“.

Downloading NMake
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q132084

Direct Downloan Link of Nmake
http://download.microsoft.com/download/vc15/patch/1.52/w95/en-us/nmake15.exe

Installing NMake

Run the downloaded executable to extract the files. Copy both the NMAKE.EXE and the NMAKE.ERR file to your Perl bin directory, normally C:\Perl\bin. Make sure that you copy the NMAKE.ERR file as well.

1. Download nmake15.exe

2. Double click on nmake15.exe. It will generate 3 files: nmake.exe, nmake.err and readme.txt.

3. Copy nmake.exe and nmake.err to \perl\bin, which is where ActivePerl executable files are located.

4. Now try the nmake command in a command window. If you see the following message, NMake 1.5 is installed correctly:

>nmake
Microsoft (R) Program Maintenance Utility   Version 1.50    Copyright (c) Microsoft Corp 1988-94. All rights reserved.
NMAKE : fatal error U1064: MAKEFILE not found and no target specified    Stop.

Example of an NMake session

Normally building Perl modules and installing them consist of the following steps:

perl Makefile.pl
make
make test
make install

Reference:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd9y37ha%28v=vs.71%29.aspx

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Read About Windows 7 Deployment Best Practices

by scmgalaxy KWindowsLeave a Comment on Read About Windows 7 Deployment Best Practices

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Windows 7 Deployment Best Practices

This week, I and my colleagues are at the IT Business Edge Midmarket CIO Summit, where we are focusing on the needs and concerns of CIOs in mid-sized businesses and government organizations. I’m doing the talk on Windows 7 deployment best practices and to prepare for that talk, I’ve interviewed around 10 companies that have either deployed Windows 7 or are in trials with it. In Don Tennant’s CIO panel last night, he asked how their trials were going and the CIOs who responded gave answers that are consistent with what I have found. The trials are going vastly better than expected and a high percentage of CIOs appear to be major fans of the offering. Given that I couldn’t find a single CIO that liked Windows Vista, this is certainly a dramatic change.

Let’s talk about what is going right and I’ll make recommendations at the end.

The Advantage of a Maintenance Release

Windows 7 is a Maintenance Release — and Maintenance Releases historically — are more reliable and vastly better liked by IT and users than the initial release of a new product. Windows 98, Windows XP and Windows 7 were all maintenance releases and generally were better received than Windows 95, Windows NT and Windows Vista. Windows 2000 and Windows ME were exceptions. Windows 2000 was a primary release but because of the massive testing for Y2K it actually went in reasonably well, and Windows ME should have been a second Maintenance Release but they made too many changes and didn’t do enough testing and it was horrid. As a result, Windows 2000 behaved more like a Maintenance Release and Windows ME a primary, almost a 1.0, release. The first was widely deployed; the second was avoided like the plague.

A Maintenance Release seems to work better because it focuses on tuning and user-interface simplification. The core aspects of the product remain largely unchanged from the prior service patched product. As a result, the Maintenance release is a vastly more mature product out of the gate. Windows 7, based on testing results, is behaving consistently well, like a Maintenance Release should.

Key Benefits

The review and deployment sites indicated they were seeing a number of strong benefits with Windows 7 over Windows XP. These benefits include much stronger IT control, which has resulted in better reliability for the product because there are fewer employee-driven problems. IT can better block unapproved activities and IT is better able to remotely correct mistakes that do get through.

CIOs appear to be using Windows 7 to significantly extend their PC use cycles for at least another three years and for up to 10 years total. They are seeing performance improvements and getting good installation results on hardware that is up to seven years old.

Security improvements, particularly for government sites, are one of the big reasons for moving to the product and Bitlocker is being used widely in the trials and deployments to protect company data. In addition, the protections against malware are making it much harder for employees to install it, reducing breakage.

With the reduction or elimination of support for Windows XP, problems with that platform are now increasing and the quality of support for Windows 7 appears higher. This is consistent with Microsoft practice, as it tends to put its best support resources on the new platform and discontinue support for any platform that is two versions back. Sites are reporting almost no driver issues — they had been experiencing increasing driver problems with new hardware and Windows XP as core vendors stopped doing driver updates for XP some time ago.

One feature of Windows 7 that dovetailed very well with Windows Server 2008 is Branch Cache for companies that were using it successfully to improve remote office performance. Windows Server 2008, in most cases, was either being rolled out before or concurrently with Windows 7 in most of the sites I spoke with.

Best Practices

The most compelling justification, from a financial standpoint, to rolling out Windows 7 this year is extending the life of existing hardware up to four additional years. Against the avoided hardware cost, the cost of the OS and deployment services appears trivial. Be aware, however, that system memory needs to be assured on any system built before 2008 because both Windows Vista and Windows 7 use memory heavily. If the memory is faulty or mismatched, intermittent and hard-to-diagnose failures will result. After 2008, the vendors put in practices that better tested system memory before shipment.

Big Bang deployments continue to work better because everyone is put on the same software platforms and support is better able to deal with any problems consistently. However, Windows 7 interoperates well with Windows XP and phased deployments remain the most common way these CIOs plan to roll out the offering.

Extended trials are showcasing few problems but also showing that the benefits of putting a contained group on Windows 7 for an extended period before deployment is worth the effort. Most sites are deploying to their own IT organizations first and then six or so months later, after all problems are fully understood and most mitigated, rolling out to the rest of the company.

Tools

There are a number of Microsoft tools that companies are recommending based on their experiences. Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager is being used heavily to properly provision reimaged PCs in large numbers. This tool, which was developed with extensive feedback from IT, has proven to be a huge help in terms of matching the PC configurations to the organizations and employees they have been deployed to.

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit has formed the basis for early adapter installations and been one of the primary reasons so few applications have failed after deployment or stalled deployments. This tool goes to the core of why an impressive number of CIOs seem to like Windows 7.

The Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack has helped early adopting organizations to move up to two-thirds of their desktop applications to servers and off the desktop itself. hey are primarily using App-V.

Other Considerations

As companies begin to think about rolling out Windows 7, there are a number of other things that they are considering at the same time. Remote access is expensive and paying for multiple remote data plans excessively expensive. As a result, they are revising WAN access policies and starting to favor plans and phones that allow tethering.

Some of the firms that are significantly trying to extend aging hardware cycles are looking at employee purchase and access to some corporate resources by employee-owned machines so that individuals who feel they need something newer can purchase the solution themselves.

In much the same fashion, firms are looking at PC alternatives and thinking of starting trials with tablets, smartphones or smartbooks to supplement their PC products.

Bundled bids are being considered, given that Windows Server 2008 is often deployed in the same window to both eliminate vendor complexity and get the strongest volume discounts for both the servers and desktops.

Recommended Considerations

Based on my experience, I suggest you consider some additional items. First, if you are eliminating a vendor, make sure there are no dependencies you don’t know about. One of the worst problems I ever ran into was when the CIO of a firm I was working for eliminated a vendor who also turned out to be our largest corporate customer. That was nearly a career-ending decision.

Look at monitors and interfaces if you are rolling out new hardware. DisplayPort is an increasing option but your existing monitors may not support it, and it isn’t yet universally used.

In looking back at my conversations with these early deployment and trial sites, a number of things occurred to me. One is that if ROI is used consistently for purchases like this, the competency in doing ROI analysis improves and the success rate with the CFO improves as well. This deployment is a huge opportunity to rethink what actually goes on the desktop and you can use it to reduce your desktop complexity and desktop operating costs significantly.

Vendors should be held to the results they share with you for ROI calculations and if the sold benefits don’t result, this should be taken into consideration for future business. So many deployments like this are managed tactically and often the results suffer.

Spend some time talking to similar firms who have already deployed Windows 7 or who are also in trials. Events like this CIO forum are a great place to meet folks like this.

Generally deployments like this work vastly better with new hardware and given the relatively low cost of that hardware, you may be better off with it rather than extending the life of the existing stuff. As vendors focused on cost containment several years ago, they designed for three-year life cycles. The chance of catastrophic hardware failure goes up sharply after thee years as a result.

Particularly in the first half of the year, Microsoft is looking for early deployment sites and will make available resources for free that can substantially reduce your cost of deployment. In addition, because you will then be visible, it will tend to go to greater lengths to keep you happy. Firms have found that invaluable in the past.

Make sure you have enough system memory,. Systems with less than 2 GB of memory are very slow and users will likely complain about the result. With a focus on putting applications and data on servers, consider low-capacity SSD drives over high-capacity magnetic drives. They are more reliable, dramatically faster, and help force the employee to put information on servers where it belongs.

 

Wrapping Up

It amazes me that I found no CIO who didn’t like Windows 7 and an impressive number that seemed to actually love it. Don’t be surprised that, after your testing and deployment, you actually think better of the platform and Microsoft as a result. That seems to be the outcome so far.

Article Source:

http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/blogs/enderle/windows-7-deployment-best-practices/?cs=40045&page=1

 

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Windows XP/2000 Commands & Tools | Windows XP Command-line Reference

by scmgalaxy KWindowsLeave a Comment on Windows XP/2000 Commands & Tools | Windows XP Command-line Reference

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Here’s the ultimate Windows XP/2000 command list that will make any Linux user feel at home at the command prompt. A lot of these commands are intended for administrating a network, but they are great for savvy home users as well.  We even listed which OS you need for these commands.

Many thanks to the digg users who ‘dugg’ our site and care to leave comments of helpful commands that we have left out!

  • at (windows XP/2000)
    Scheduling utility.
  • bootcfg (XP only)
    This utility allows you to set up your boot options, such as your default OS and other loading options.
  • cacls (XP, 2000, & NT4.0)
    Changes the ACLs (security Settings) of files and folders. Very similar to chmod in Linux. 
  • comp (XP & 2000)
    This utility is very similar to diff in Linux.  Use the /? switch to get examples of command usage.
  • contig (works with NT4.0 and newer)
    A great defrag utility for NTFS partitions.
  • control (XP only) – unpublished!
    Allows you to launch control panel applets from the command line.      control userpasswords2, for example will launch a helpful local user admin utility.
  • defrag (XP only – NT4.0 and Win2k use contig)
    Yes, XP comes with a command line disk defrag utility. If you are running Win2k or NT4.0 there is still hope. Contig is a free defrag program that I describe on the defrag page.
  • diskpart (XP only)
    Use this command to manage your disk partitions.  This is the text version for the GUI Disk Manager.
  • driverquery (XP only)
    Produces a list of drivers, their properties, and their versions. Great for computer documentation.
  • eudcedit (XP only) – unpublished!
    Private Character editor.  Yes with this program built into Windows XP you can create your own font!
  • fsutil (XP only) – unpublished!
    This is a utility with a lot of capability.  Come back soon for great examples.
  • getmac (XP & 2000)
    This command gets the Media Access Control (MAC) address of your network cards.
  • gpresult (XP & 2000)
    This generates a summary of the user settings and computer group policy settings.
  • gpupdate (XP only)
    Use this utility to manually apply computer and user policy from your windows 2000 (or newer) domain.
  • ipconfig (XP, 2000 & NT4.0)
    This handy tool displays IP settings of the current computer and much more.
  • MMC (XP, 2000 & NT4.0) – Microsoft Management Console
    This is the master tool for Windows, it is the main interface in which all other tools use starting primarily in Windows 2000 and newer systems.
  • more
    Utility used to display text output one screen at a time. Ex. more c:\windows\win.ini
  • msconfig (XP only)
    The ultimate tool to change the services and utilities that start when your Windows machine boots up. You can also copy the executable from XP and use it in Win2k.
  • msinfo32 (XP &smp; 2000)
    An awesome diagnostic tool. With it you can get a list of running processes, including the residing path of the executable (great for manually removing malware) and get detailed information about hardware and system diagnostics.
  • narrator (XP only)
    Turns on the system narrator (can also be found in accessibility options in control panel).  Will will allow your computer to dictate text to you.
  • netsh (XP & 2000)
    A network configuration tool console.  At the ‘netsh>’ prompt, use the ‘?’ to list the available commands and type “exit” to get back to a command prompt.
  • nslookup (all)
    A DNS name resolution tool.
  • openfiles (XP Only)
    Allows an administrator to display or disconnect open files in XP professional. Type “openfiles /?” for a list of possible parameters.
  • Pathping (XP & 2000)
    A cross between the ping and traceroute utilities. Who needs Neotrace when you can use this? Type “pathping <ip address>” and watch it go.
  • recover (XP & 2000)
    This command can recover readable information from a damaged disk and is very easy to use.
  • reg (XP & 2000)
    A console registry tool, great for scripting Registry edits.
  • sc (XP & 2000)
    A command line utility called the Service Controller.  A power tool to make service changes via a logon/logoff or startup/shutdown script.
  • schtasks (XP only)
    A newer version of the AT command.  This allows an administrator to schedule and manage scheduled tasks on a local and remote machines.
  • secedit (XP & 2000)
    Use this utility to manually apply computer and user policy from your windows 2000 (or newer) domain.  Example to update the machine policy: secedit /refreshpolicy machine_policy /enforce
    To view help on this, just type secedit.
    NOTE: In Windows XP SP1 and news, this command is superceded by: gpupdate /force
  • sfc (XP & 2000)
    The system file checker scans important system files and replaces the ones you (or your applications) hacked beyond repair with the real, official Microsoft versions.
  • shutdown (XP & 2000)
    With this tool, You can shut down or restart your own computer, or an administrator can shut down or restart a remote computer.
  • sigverif (XP only)
    Microsoft has created driver signatures. A signed driver is Microsoft tested and approved. With the sigverif tool you can have all driver files analyzed to verify that they are digitally signed. Just type ‘sigverif’ at the command prompt.
  • systeminfo (XP only)
    Basic system configuration information, such as the system type, the processor type, time zone, virtual memory settings, system uptime, and much more.  This program is great for creating an inventory of computers on your network.
  • sysedit (XP/2000)
    System Configuration File Editor.  An old tool that was very handy for the Windows 9X days.  msconfig is what you want to use now.
  • tasklist (XP pro only)
    Tasklist is the command console equivalent to the task manager in windows. It is a must have when fighting scumware and viruses. Try the command:
    tasklist /svc
    to view the memory resources your services take up.
  • taskkill (XP only)
    Taskkill contains the rest of the task manager functionality.  It allows you to kill those unneeded or locked up applications.
  • tree (XP & 2000)
    An amazing experience everyone should try!  This command will provide a ‘family tree’ style display of the drive/folder you specify.
  • WMIC (XP & 2000)
    Windows Management Instrumentation Command tool.  This allows you to pull an amazing amount of low-level system information from a command line scripting interface.
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