Posts

Showing posts from 2010

Repackage an Application - Silent Install - Batch to EXE Converter

Image
Repackage an Application – PDF-XChange Viewer PRO Deployment Methods -This example will use the program PDF-XChange Viewer PRO for demonstration purposes but you can use any other software that is compatible with this method of repackaging! Write a batch file with the following (desired) commands; @echo off "setup.exe" /VERYSILENT /NORESTART /COMPONENTS:"pdfviewer,Help,IEAddin" /KEY:"XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX" /PDFV /PDFVINBROWSER regedit.exe /s "settings.reg" exit The file "settings.reg" is the registry entries which contains some of the preferences and settings for this particular program. All software that we install on our computers has this kind of entries in the "Registry Editor". You can export this registry key for your particular program and add in your batch file in order to customize some of the settings silently right after the installation! Once your batch file is ready, let's save i

Using PowerShell to Export a List of all the Users in a Security Group in Active Directory

Image
  PowerShell is known with its power of Active Directory management. If you really into simplifying your daily complicated time consuming tasks, this might be very interesting for you. Lately, for a small project I needed to make a list of all the users in a “Security Group” in Active Directory. The security group is called “Color Printing” and we had about 20 users in that “Security Group”. I did not want to write down all the names one by one in a excel sheet so I’ve started to make a research about how to export the list of users in security group. I know that when your users are only in an “Organization Unit”, it’s very easy to do this task, but when it’s a security group, you don’t have the “Export” option. Here what I found to complete a task of this kind! You can download free cmdlets from http://www.quest.com/powershell/activeroles-server.aspx for “Active Directory” management tasks. Once the right setup is downloaded and installed in your computer (in my case X64 version bec

Use Google Search from Windows 7 Start Menu Instant Search Box

Image
This is a very cool idea. Think about it, you want to search for something on Google, usualy you would click on your browser’s icon, go to Google’s web page and finaly you can type in Google’s search box what you are looking for! It’s a very short process for some users but for some powerusers, this can be unacceptable on these days. Yes there are Google desktop or Windows Search, but the problem with this kind of software on your computer is it can decrease the performance of your daily tasks! By just indexing and re-indexing every single file on your hard drive! All these troubles don’t worth when all you want to do is search Google as quickly as possible. What if I tell you that you can use your Windows 7 or Windows Vista’s “Start Menu Instant Search Box” to search on Google? What about Yahoo or Wikipedia? You can find the step-by-step instructions below… Step-by-Step Configuring a Custom Search Engine in Start Menu Instant Search Box 1- Hit the “Windows   + R” on your keyboard

HOW TO MOUNT A .VHD FILE? (ATTACH VHD FILES IN WINDOWS 7)

Image
HOW TO MOUNT A .VHD FILE? (ATTACH VHD FILES IN WINDOWS 7) Windows 7 Ultimate can mount a .VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) file as a hard disk. So you can browse the files in the vhd file. You can also use virtual hard disks to boot your computer. This is called native vhd support for Windows 7. This means, you can create vhd files by command line, you can boot your computer to a vhd file without a hyper-visor. This method can be used as a backup system, all depending to the situations. In this tutorial, I will only show you how to mount a VHD file. The file that I'm going to use is coming from one of my old Server 2008 backup. So, if you are using the "Backup & Restore" feature of Windows 7 (all versions of Windows 7 has that feature), you might want to go back in your backup files and find just a little Word document that you deleted last week! Windows 7 built in feature can only back-up or restore. It cannot browse the backup files. It's right here that I'm going

Easy Way to Enable DreamScene in Windows 7

If you want to enable the greatest feature of Windows Vista Ultimate on Windows 7, you must read this article if you want to activate the “DreamScene” feature in Windows 7. http://bit.ly/blhyi7

NTP (Network Time Protocol) Related Problems - Update Your Computer’s Date and Time!

Image
Lately, I had a problem with my computers graphics card. It was making too much noise that it was unacceptable to work on a computer that is as noisy as your drill! So I had an RMA (Return Material Authorization) from XFX and I did a couple of days without my computer. Than remember that I bought an "Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT" video card for an old motherboard that used to be a test machine. So, after 3 days of being offline I changed the video card from a "ATI HD 4970" to a "Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT" and the problems starts right after the first boot with the new card! Windows asks me to restart… Windows will ask you this kind of questions only if there is really a need. I restarted the computer and my new graphics card driver was already installed and it took all my settings (because I'm using a monitor and an LCD television as a display). This is very nice of Windows 7…  But for some reason my "Windows Update" wasn't working, my "B

Windows 7 Activation Methods and Issues

Image
Recently we have reached more than 30 computers with Windows 7 Professional in our organization. This means that we can know use our KMS (Key Management Service) that requires 25 or more Windows 7 computer to be perfectly operational. As you all know, a lot of things have changed with Windows 7, including the licensing. For more information about Windows 7 licensing, you can look at this document (.doc) that comes from Microsoft. In our company, all the Windows licenses were activated by using a MAK (Multiple Activation Key). When we have reached enough computers to use the KMS, I quickly started to transfer MAK activated desktops to KMS licensing. This was the easy part. You can even do it without standing up from your chair! Thanks to slmgr.vbs command! Or there is even a better tool to manage your desktops licenses! Windows Automated Installation KIT (Windows AIK). There is a tool included with this program, "Volume Activation Management Tool" (VAMT). You can download

How to find Windows 7 Computers in your organization? – Applying Filters in “Microsoft Management Console”

  With the increasing sales of Windows 7, most of the companies have now more than 1 Operating Systems in their systems. Like Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. With all this mix of operating systems, sometimes, it can be hard to find something very easy. I recently had to find out all our Windows 7 computers in our organization to change all the MAK activated Windows 7's to KMS licensing server. Usually, to find out all the computers with some specific configuration, I would use a program like "Spiceworks" or "Windows System Center Essentials". But let's assume that we don't have anything else other than our famous Windows Administration Toolkit. So, to make a good .CSV report with all the Windows 7 clients inside of your organization follow the following instructions; Fire up your "Microsoft Management Console" with the "Active Directory" snap-in! Explore to the "Organizational Unit" of your client computers in Activ

When will XP finally fade away?

A cool article to read... See how Windows 7 is taking over on Windows XP and Vista... http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/when-will-xp-finally-fade-away/2334?tag=mantle_skin;content

HOW TO ADD A PRINTER FOR ALL USERS (PER MACHINE CONNECTION) – PrintUI.dll

HOW TO ADD A PRINTER FOR ALL USERS (PER MACHINE CONNECTION) – PrintUI.dll 1-) Log in as “Administrator” in Windows 2-) Browse once \\Print to enter the credentials of someone who has access to print server. 3-) Open “CMD” and type the following command to add a printer connection on the machine. Rundll32 printui.dll PrintUIEntry /ga /n\\Print\PRIXXXX   HOW TO REMOVE A PRINTER FOR ALL USERS (PER MACHINE CONNECTION) – PrintUI.dll 1-)Repeat the steps “1” - “2” and “3” as explained above. Enter the following command to delete a per connection printer from the machine. Rundll32 printui.dll PrintUIEntry /gd /n\\Print\PRIXXXX After these steps, you have to reboot the computer. Next time a user with an Active Directory account connects to this computer, the user will have all the printers that were added with this method. Kubilay Elmas

IE through the years

As Microsoft's browser turns 15, a look back at how it's evolved. 1995: Internet Explorer 1.0 The first version of IE came in August 1996, a month after Microsoft released Windows 95. The browser was not part of the operating system, but instead was included as part of an "Internet Jumpstart Kit" in the Microsoft Plus add-in. 1995: Internet Explorer 2.0 In November 1995, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 2.0, its first browser to offer both Macintosh and Windows support. IE 2.0 also added support for the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol, HTTP cookies, and Internet newsgroups. 1996: Internet Explorer 3.0 Released in August 1996, IE3 included support for e-mail, the display of GIF and JPG files, and direct playback of streaming audio without the need for additional applications. 1997: Internet Explorer 4.0 IE4 added support for Dynamic HTML (DHTML), which allowed for interactive Web sites where menus could be expanded or images could be moved around. IE4 also br

Fujifilm Unveils Its Second-Generation 3D Camera

Image
Fujifilm Unveils Its Second-Generation 3D Camera The Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3 shoots 720p high-definition video in 3D and lets you view three-dimensional content without glasses. "Three-dimensional everything" is shaping up to be the big trend of 2010 (or at least its most-prominent bastion of hype), but Fujifilm had an early jump on the 3D craze. The company introduced the 3D-shooting FinePix Real 3D WX1 all the way back in the 2D-centric days of 2009 , and it will stay a generation ahead of the competition with the just-announced FinePix Real 3D W3. From the looks of it, this is the most advanced 3D-capable digital camera we've seen yet, thanks to its manual controls, 3D display adjustments, and shooting-mode capabilities. Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3: Revamped Hardware and Shooting Modes The dual-lens, dual-10-megapixel-sensor W3 has many of the same specs as last year's W1, but with a few notable changes. The two-CCD camera can shoot 720p high-defin

Use the "Spike" Feature in Microsoft Word to Copy and Paste Text

Image
Microsoft Word has a hidden feature that most people probably don't know about: a way to collect text on the clipboard from multiple locations, and then paste it all at once into your document. The Help Desk Geek blog details how this feature works: You start by selecting a block of text, and then use Ctrl+F3 to copy it to the "Spike". Once you've selected a number of entries this way, you can then paste the combined set of copied text back into the document with the Ctrl+Shift+F3 shortcut key combination, or by typing the word "spike" and hitting F3. This trick actually uses Microsoft Word's Quick Parts feature which we've covered before , but this entry is automatically created behind the scenes. It's a useful trick that could come in handy the next time you're reformatting a long document. Use the Spike to Copy and Paste Text in Word [Help Desk Geek] Send an email to How-To Geek, the author of this post, at lowell@lifehacker.com .