SSHd is one of the most versatile applications I use in my day. Whether I’m looking for a quick commandline to a remote machine or tunneling traffic from a public network, SSH or Putty are almost always open in some fashion on my systems. To facilitate easier logins and make use of scripts such as… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Software
Software Tip: Use existing .vmdk vmware images in VirtualBox
Hello World! After well over a year of tips.timscomputer.com being offline, I decided I wanted to migrate it and a few other old web projects over to one of my hosted accounts. Problem — These sites lived on a virtual machine and I’m no longer running VMWare Server and have since had multiple OS reinstallations… Read more »
Windows Tip: Batch script for local backups using xcopy
Over the years I’ve used all sorts of various scripts to automate mundane processes and backup procedures. Today I’m sharing a simple .bat file that xcopy’s 2 folders to a backup location. This script can easily be added to the windows scheduler to run at desired intervals. @echo off cls set staffbackup=e:\NAS-BACKUP\staff set groupbackup=e:\NAS-BACKUP\groups set… Read more »
WordPress Tip: Posting via google apps email addresses
After spending at least 20 minutes pulling my hair out today, I stumbled across some cryptic post that made a whole lot of sense. When setting up wordpress to accept posts via a google apps email address (or any gmail address I would assume), you enter the host as ssl://pop.gmail.com instead of just pop.gmail.com. Funny… Read more »
Software Tip: Disable VIA HDeck welcome popup message
Building some new PCs at work, there are a few annoyances that I’m removing before imaging. Here’s the first one; how to disable the via hdeck.exe welcome message popup. Open \Program Files\VIA\VIAudioi\HDeck.ini Find the bShowWelcomeMsg=1 line and change it to bShowWelcomeMsg=0 Save and close the file No more annoying popups when you reboot!
Linux Tip: Resize an ext3 partition with gparted
Recently I embarked on a cleaning spree prompted by full capacity on my filedrive (where all my digital media lives). After shuffling files all around the system, deleting old OS files that were no longer needed, etc, I had 3x 100gb partitions with just a little bit of stuff in each. What I wanted was… Read more »
Firefox Tip: Install AdBlock Plus for all users
As Firefox still is pretty vaguely suppored in an enterprise environment, it is handy to install AdBlockPlus for all users when setting up the Default User profile. This post over in the AdBlockPlus FAQ describes the process a little more indepth, but the barebones of it is: Download & Extract current AdBlockPlus.xpi file to a… Read more »
NOD32 Tip: Disable orange icon for system updates
At work I have to install NOD32 in conjunction with DeepFreeze. One annoying thing about this, is the orange icon and annoying messages telling the user they should update the computer. Turns out, it’s super easy to turn off this feature. Just go turn on the advanced settings tree and navigate to Tools > System… Read more »
Linux Tip: Create a bash script to archive web folders and mysql databases locally and remotely
Update – May 2013: I’ve received a few emails asking how to prevent this script from continuously eating up disk space… Rather than re-invent the wheel, I just use built in Linux commands in my root crontab that run once a day: 0 4 * * * find /home/tim/backups/ -mtime +10 -exec rm {} \;… Read more »
FreePBX Tip: Setup an external PSTN number as an internal extension
Frustrated with errors trying to upgrade my aging Trixbox CE installation, I decided to build a new virtual machine and take PBX in a Flash for a testrun. Now I’d tried PBXIAF in the past, but I was turned off by the (lets face it) juvenile look. (I’ve also tried Elastix, and was not overly… Read more »
VMWare Server Tip: fix VMWare after a kernel upgrade
When you upgrade the kernel on a linux based host, you have to do a reboot for the system to actually start utilizing the new kernel. One thing you’ll notice, is that when you restart, your virtual machines, including the webaccess are unavailable and stopped responding. What do you do? Panic!!(?) No. You simply have… Read more »
Software Tip: Removing McAffee EPO/Framework manually
At work we’re changing our anti-virus protection over from the McAffee VSE 8.5i with EPO framework out and moving to ESET’s nod32. While the majority of machines are fine if you just remove the program using add/remove programs, then follow up with the McAffeeCleanupTool.exe, although many machines (especially Vista based) are having difficulty removing the… Read more »
Atrium Tip: Installing Open Atrium
If you haven’t checked out Open Atrium yet, you really should. Dubbed as an opensource “out of the box intranet”, it is a very polished and slick looking fork custom installation of Drupal designed to assist in establishing efficient collaboration within working groups, and most importantly as an important building block towards your own customized… Read more »
Linux Tip: auto mount remote hdd via fstab
To map a remote samba share in Linux with read-write access and a username and password, you will require samba. In debian based distros, this is easily obtained via sudo apt-get install samba. Create a secure credentials file: tim@ubuntu-server:~$ cd /root tim@ubuntu-server:/root$ su Password: root@ubuntu-server:~# echo username=username > .smbpasswd root@ubuntu-server:~# echo password=password >> .smbpasswd root@ubuntu-server:~#… Read more »
MySQL Tip: How To Sterilize a MySQL database
To sterilize the any mysql database and reset auto increments to 0, without deleting the table you can: Login to database: mysql -u dbusername -p Delete all rows: DELETE FROM databasename; // (not specifying terms deletes all rows) Reset Auto-inc: ALTER TABLE databasename AUTO_INCREMENT = 0;
Sunbird Tip: Syncing to gCal with offline support
Using GCalDaemon, SunBird and google, can work together nicely! install SunBird install GCALDaemon and configure account (including @domain.com) run GCALDaemon standalone bat file to configure/test copy each URL from GCALDaemon account list setup calendars in SunBird individually (new calendar -> network -> paste ical url) install FG Printers extension for enhanced print support once working… Read more »
Office Tip: Interactive 2003 to 2007 Tool
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9044790b-4e24-4277-b714-66d7b18d0aa1&displaylang=en
Windows Tip: Block SP upgrades for a year!
If you want to wait until you’re sure that all the bugs are out of the latest Windows service pack for your OS, you can use a registry entry to block the automatic installation. 1. Open up Notepad and copy the following: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate] “DoNotAllowSP”=dword:00000001 2. Save the text file and rename it to “Block Windows SP.reg?“. Then merge it into the registry by double clicking it. Note: This registry entry will only… Read more »
Thunderbird Tip: MozMAPI32.dll errors
If you receive an error stating MozMAPI32.dll cannot be written to while installing or upgrading Thunderbird, do you use Logitech products? Check the background processes for QuickCam.exe. Kill that process and installation should complete.
Win Tip: Block SP upgrades in XP or Vista for 1 year
If you want to wait until you’re sure that all the bugs are out of the latest Windows service pack for your OS, you can use a registry entry to block the automatic installation. 1. Open up Notepad and copy the following: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate] “DoNotAllowSP”=dword:00000001 2. Save the text file and rename it to “Block Windows SP.reg?“. Then merge it into the registry by double clicking it. Note: This registry entry will only… Read more »