RyanTAdams.com

Technology Advice by Ryan Taylor Adams

Entries posted in 'Technology'

Virtual PC 2007 Command Line Options

February 19th, 2008 · 3 Comments

Virtual PC.exe is the Virtual PC command-line utility and can be used to perform a variety of Virtual PC and virtual machine tasks. By default, it is located in \Program Files\Microsoft Virtual PC. The following is a list of all supported command line options for Virtual PC 2007.

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Posted in: Guides

How to Set a Static IP Address in Windows

February 4th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Every computer connected to a network has an IP address. An IP address is the digital equivalent of a street address. It allows information to be delivered to the appropriate computer. Normally, your computer is automatically assigned a unique IP address by your Internet service provider, or the router on your network. This normally works […]

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Posted in: Guides

How to Install Vista on a M200 Without a CD Drive Using TFTP

February 1st, 2008 · 9 Comments

Recently, my Toshiba M200 stopped booting. I needed it reinstall Windows, but the M200 doesn’t have a CD drive. I tried everything from booting from a Secure Digital card to external USB drives (which weren’t recognized at the BIOS level). Finally I came across information about PXE booting, also know as booting from a network […]

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Posted in: Guides

Troubleshooting Error Messages When Trying to Send And Receive E-mail in Outlook Or Outlook Express

January 28th, 2008 · 1 Comment

If you receive an error message when performing a Send and Receive in Outlook or Outlook Express, examine the message for the error code. The following error codes are the most common: 0x800ccc15 0x80042108 0x800ccc0e 0x8004210b 0x800ccc0b 0x800ccc79 0x800ccc67 0x80040900 0x800ccc19 0x8004210a 0x80042109 0x800ccc0f 0x800ccc0d All of these error codes are typically associated with Outlook […]

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Posted in: Guides

Change the Registered Owner And Organization in Windows XP & Vista

January 26th, 2008 · Comments Off on Change the Registered Owner And Organization in Windows XP & Vista

When you first install Windows XP or Vista you are asked to enter the name owner of the computer and the organization it is associated with. Sometimes you need to change this information (particuallry if Windows came preinstalled on your computer and the registered owner is something like “Dell Customer”).

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Posted in: Guides

Creat Your Own Vista Recovery Disk

January 26th, 2008 · Comments Off on Creat Your Own Vista Recovery Disk

The retail version installation disk for Windows Vista contains more than just installation related files. There is also a “recovery center” included on the disk which lets you repair start up problems, restore backups, and lots more. However, if you bought a computer with Windows Vista preinstalled, chances are you weren’t provided with a Vista […]

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Posted in: Downloads · Guides

VundoFix

January 22nd, 2008 · Comments Off on VundoFix

VundoFix is a simple, automated tool for fixing infections caused by the Vundo (or similar) viruses. A Vundo infection bombardes the user with pop-ups for WinFixer, Amaena, WinAntiVirus, ErrorSafe, SystemDoctor and DriveCleaner. You may also notice multiple “pos.tmp” files on your computer, particularly in the “My Documents” folder.

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Posted in: Downloads

Removing DRM (aka “Copy Protection”) From Ruckus Music Downloads

January 20th, 2008 · 6 Comments

Ruckus is a free music download service offered by several universities and colleges. The service requires you two sign up with an approved .edu email address. After signing up, you can download their proprietary music player (“Ruckus Player”) and use it to download music and videos from the Ruckus website. The idea is that by […]

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Posted in: Guides

Keep Your Programs Up-to-date with SUMo

January 18th, 2008 · Comments Off on Keep Your Programs Up-to-date with SUMo

SUMo is a free program from KC Softwares that scans for programs installed on your computer and then informs you if updates are available. It is similar to File Hippo Update Checker, except this program shows you all the information that you need right in the program, where as File Hippo redirects you to a […]

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Posted in: Downloads

Keyboard Not Working Due to Missing Or Corrupt Drivers (Code 39)

January 18th, 2008 · 58 Comments

If your keyboard is not working, and its status is listed as “Code 39” in device manager, there is a good chance a simple registry edit can fix the issue. Here is what you need to do:  ***UPDATE: I’ve created a REG file that when run should fix the problem. However, I’ve only tested the […]

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Posted in: Guides

Should I Use USB Or Ethernet to Connect My Cable Modem?

January 15th, 2008 · Comments Off on Should I Use USB Or Ethernet to Connect My Cable Modem?

With broadband access expanding to new areas and being accepted by new customers daily, one question seems to come up frequently. Most cable modems include ports to connect the modem with ether an Ethernet cable or a USB cable. If the cable modem is being connected to a router, switch, hub, or other network device, […]

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Posted in: Guides

Fixing “lsDelete Program Not Found – Skipping Autocheck” Error on Start-up

January 15th, 2008 · 30 Comments

There is a bug in Ad-Aware that can cause users to receive the message “lsDelete program not found – Skipping Autocheck” (that is Lsdelete, not Isdelete or 1sdelete) while their computer is booting. This seems to occur after the user has uninstalled Ad-Aware. While it presents no immediate problems (other than a slight start-up delay), it […]

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Posted in: Guides

All About Cisco Clean Access Agent (and Circumventing It)

January 12th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Cisco Clean Access (CCA), is an access control system that is becoming popular on many school networks. Originally, the system was produced by Perfigo and marketed under the name of Perfigo SmartEnforcer. After being bought out by Cisco, the system was renamed to Cisco Clean Access. Recently, Cisco has renamed its product to Cisco NAC […]

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Posted in: Guides

SIW – System Information for Windows

January 8th, 2008 · Comments Off on SIW – System Information for Windows

SIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner. You can download the latest version here: http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html

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Posted in: Downloads

Windows 98 Pseudo Repair Install

January 6th, 2008 · 1 Comment

If you are familiar with the Windows XP Repair install option, you probably know that you can often restore a damaged Windows XP installation to a working state without losing data. Windows 98 has a similar, but fairly undocumented/unrecognized feature. To restore the critical Windows files, but leave your data intact, do the following:

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Posted in: Guides

Internet Explorer Only Prints Source Code

January 6th, 2008 · 5 Comments

It seems that after uninstalling AOL, many people experience an issue with Internet Explorer (version 6 and 7) that causes source code to be printed instead of the normal page view. If you are trying to print from Internet Explorer and are only getting cryptic code, instead of the page view you expect, try the […]

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Posted in: Guides

Troubleshooting a Stop 0x0000000A Error in Windows XP

January 4th, 2008 · Comments Off on Troubleshooting a Stop 0x0000000A Error in Windows XP

If you are receiving a STOP error message with the code 0x0000000A during the installation of Windows XP, take a look at this Microsoft article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314063

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Posted in: Guides

Microsoft Windows XP Screen Flashes Blue, Then Restarts…

January 3rd, 2008 · Comments Off on Microsoft Windows XP Screen Flashes Blue, Then Restarts…

Windows XP has an option to automatically reboot the computer when a STOP error occurs. This convenient because it ensures your computer doesn’t stay “frozen.” However, this feature also means you won’t be able to read any of the information present on the STOP error screen. If you are trying to troubleshoot a STOP error, […]

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Posted in: Guides

Install Microsoft XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) Early

December 30th, 2007 · Comments Off on Install Microsoft XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) Early

Microsoft may not have officially released their latest service pack for Windows XP yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get it.

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Posted in: Guides

How Do I Get Adobe Forms to Return the Whole PDF to Me, Not Just the Data?

December 30th, 2007 · Comments Off on How Do I Get Adobe Forms to Return the Whole PDF to Me, Not Just the Data?

If you are creating digital forms with Adobe Acrobat, you probably are including a submit button that returns the form to you via e-mail. By default, when an end-user clicks that button, only the form data is returned as an XML file. This is fine if you are also using Acrobat to collect the forms, […]

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Posted in: Guides

My Gallery2 Website Doesn’t Work When “www.” is Prefixed to My Domain

December 17th, 2007 · 2 Comments

I’ve just finished moving my old Gallery2 (picture management system based on PHP) installation to a new server. For some reason, viewing said gallery using http://www.gallery.ryantadams.com worked, whereas using http://gallery.ryantadams.com (notice no “www.”) would prevent any of my pictures from being displayed. I searched the Gallery2 support forums, but there were only a few related […]

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Posted in: Guides

How to Encrypt BitTorrent Traffic

December 13th, 2007 · Comments Off on How to Encrypt BitTorrent Traffic

 Encrypting your torrents will prevent throttling ISP’s from limiting your BitTorrent bandwidth and potential stop packet snooping. The  encryption obfuscates not only the header but all the BitTorrent data. This makes it very hard for your ISP to determine if that data coming to your computer is from BitTorrent. Read on to find out how […]

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Posted in: Guides

Firefox Web Browser

December 13th, 2007 · Comments Off on Firefox Web Browser

Firefox is a popular alternative to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser. The developers claim that end users will get a better, faster, safer web experience by using Firefox over Internet Explorer. Web developers favor Firefox for its adherence to web standards. Firefox is free to use. Download here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

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Posted in: Downloads

How to Resolve the Missing Or Corrupt Hal.dll Error in Windows XP

December 13th, 2007 · 3 Comments

If one of the following error messages is displayed as Windows is booting up (before you see your desktop, but after the POST screen), you have a corrupt HAL.dll file: “Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll. Please re-install a copy of the above file.” Winnt_root>\System32\Hal.dll missing or […]

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Posted in: Guides

How to Enter the Windows XP Recovery Console

December 13th, 2007 · Comments Off on How to Enter the Windows XP Recovery Console

Locate your Windows XP CD and insert it in your primary CD or CD/DVD drive. Turn your PC on or restart your PC if it’s already running. Instead of loading Windows XP, your computer should boot from the Windows XP CD and you should see a message to Press any key to boot from CD, […]

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Posted in: Guides