Posted by & filed under Linux.

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.

  1. 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:~# cat .smbpasswd
    username=username
    password=password
    
  2. Now you want to protect this file so that only root can read it:
    root@ubuntu-server:~# chmod 400 .smbpasswd
    root@ubuntu-server:~# ls -al .smbpasswd
    -r-------- 1 root root 36 2009-07-21 00:24 .smbpasswd
    root@ubuntu-server:~#
    
  3. Open /etc/fstab in a text editor (make sure you’re root still!)
    root@ubuntu-server:~# cd /etc
    root@ubuntu-server:/etc# joe fstab
    
  4. Add a similar line to the end of the file (don’t forget to leave blank line at the bottom!)
    //serverip/sharename  /mnt/path/filedrive    smbfs    credentials=/root/.smbpasswd  0       0
    
  5. Now just tell the system to mount all points defined in fstab:
    root@ubuntu-server:/etc# mount -a
    
  6. That’s it, you should now have your drive available!

Posted by & filed under Mac.

To resize your bootcamp partition, you:

  1. convert the filesystem to ntfs (convert c: /fs:ntfs).
  2. clone the windows partition using the free program Winclone.
  3. open bootcamp assistant and “restore” drive to original state (remove bootcamp partition)
  4. reboot, open bootcamp assistant, create larger bootcamp partition
  5. reboot, restore original image to new partition

If you have VM Fusion, you will still need to delete your virtualized bootcamp before Fusion will load it.  If you fail to do this step, you will get an error about changes in disk size. To do this:

  1. Close Fusion
  2. Open a terminal and do the command:
    rm -dfr “/Users/${USER}/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/Virtual Machines/Boot Camp”
  3. Open Fusion, load bootcamp partition
  4. Party like its 1999!

Now

Posted by & filed under Calendar, Google, Sunbird.

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 properly, install GCALDaemon as a service

Posted by & filed under Vista, Windows, XP.

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:

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 block the automatic installation of the service pack for 12 months. After that, the service pack will install automatically.

If you change your mind later, follow these steps:

1. Open up Notepad and copy the following:

2. Save the text file and rename it to “Allow Windows SP.reg?“. Then merge it into the registry by double clicking it.

Posted by & filed under Vista, Windows, XP.

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:

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 block the automatic installation of the service pack for 12 months. After that, the service pack will install automatically.

If you change your mind later, follow these steps:

1. Open up Notepad and copy the following:

2. Save the text file and rename it to “Allow Windows SP.reg?“. Then merge it into the registry by double clicking it.

Posted by & filed under Office 2007.

From time to time a user may have disabled Word’s built in proofing (spelling and grammar checking).

To re-enable it, highlight all the words in the document, goto the REVIEW tab and select Set Language.

You will likely see a checked checkbox labeled Do not check spelling or grammar. Removing this check will re-enable the proofing on this document only.

To re-enable for all new documents by default, click on the button labeled Default..
Click YES and you’re done!

Posted by & filed under Office 2003.

Microsoft Access, Excel, Photo Draw, Power Point, and Word:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab.
2. Clear the Recently used files check box, and then click OK.
3. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab.
4. Select the Recently used files check box, and then click OK.

(Toggling the setting off then back on again removes the MRU lists)

Posted by & filed under Vista, Windows.

In Windows Vista, how do I configure the firewall to allow pings?

Windows Vista includes Windows Firewall and enables that firewall by default. The graphical interface to the firewall settings does not include an option to respond to pings. To allow Vista to respond to pings without disabling the entire firewall, follow these steps:

  1. Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, from the Start menu, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.

Enter: netsh firewall set icmpsetting 8 enable

Posted by & filed under Office 2007, Windows.

Clearing the lists of recently used documents in Windows and in Microsoft Office Applications

Windows will show recently saved documents on the Start menu under either My Recent Documents (in Windows XP with the default XP Start menu), or Documents (in all other versions of Windows). Office will also show those documents near the bottom of the File menu of each program, above the Exit command.
Follow the appropriate steps to remove these lists of recent documents:
Clear the document list from the Start menu

In Windows XP

1. Right-click the Taskbar and select Properties.
2. Select the Start Menu tab. At this point, the instructions depend on which radio button is selected:

If Start Menu is selected:

1. Click the adjacent Customize… button.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click the Clear List button.
4. Click OK, and then OK again.

If Classic Start Menu is selected:

1. Click the adjacent Customize… button.
2. Click Clear.
3. Click OK, and then OK again.

In Windows 2000

1. From the Start menu, select Settings, and then Taskbar and Start menu… .
2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Clear.
3. Click OK, and then OK again.

In Windows 95, 98, Me, and NT 4.0

1. From the Start menu, select Settings, and then Taskbar… or Taskbar and Start menu… .
2. Click the Start Menu Programs tab, and then click Clear.

Clear the document list in Microsoft Office applications

Office 2007

1. Launch an Office application (e.g., Word or Excel).
2. Click the Office Button at the upper left.
3. Click Program Name Options, where Program Name is the name of the program you are using, for example, Word Options.
4. In the window that opens, on the left, click Advanced. Then, on the right, scroll down to display.
5. Next to “Show this number of Recent Documents:”, enter 0 (zero).
6. Click OK.
Note: The user interface for Office 2007 programs is significantly different from that of older versions, and new terms and concepts apply to this Office suite. For information about the new terminology and features, see For Office 2007, what are some new interface features?

Older versions of Microsoft Office

1. Launch an Office application (e.g., Word or Excel).
2. From the Tools menu, select Options… .
3. Click the General tab. Either uncheck the box next to Recently used file list:, or select 0 (zero) from the drop-down menu on the right.

Please see this page for more ways to remove the doc list from not just Word, but all Office products:
How do I quickly remove the recent documents from Office 2007 programs?

Posted by & filed under Vista, Windows.

This is the cure for toshiba laptops going black after bootup.

(Originally posted at http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm )

Option #4 is probably the easiest to try to explain over the phone.

This is the cause of black screens after login on Toshiba laptops running Windows Vista!!

Although UAC clearly improves the security on Windows Vista, under some scenarios you might want to disable it, for example when giving demos in front of an audience (demos that are not security related, for example). Some home users might be tempted to disable UAC because of the additional mouse clicking it brings into their system, however I urge them not to immediately do so, and try to get used to it instead.

Anyway, if required, you can disable UAC by using one of the following methods:


Method #1 – Using MSCONFIG

1. Launch MSCONFIG by from the Run menu.
2. Click on the Tools tab. Scroll down till you find “Disable UAP” (this should probably change to UAC in next Vista beta builds and in the RTM version). Click on that line.
3. Press the Launch button.
4. A CMD window will open. When the command is done, you can close the window.
5. Close MSCONFIG. You need to reboot the computer for changes to apply.

Note that you can re-enable UAC by selecting the “Enable UAP” line and then clicking on the Launch button.


Method #2 – Using Regedit

1. Open Registry Editor.
2. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version?\Policies\System
3. Locate the following value (DWORD): Enable LUA? and give it a value of 0.

Note: As always, before making changes to your registry you should always make sure you have a valid backup. In cases where you’re supposed to delete or modify keys or values from the registry it is possible to first export that key or value(s) to a. REG file before performing the changes.

4. Close Registry Editor. You need to reboot the computer for changes to apply.

In order to re-enable UAC just change the above value to 1.


Method #3 – Using Group Policy

This can be done via Local Group Policy or via Active Directory-based GPO, which is much more suited for large networks where one would like to disable UAC for many computers at once.

If using Local Group Policy you’ll need to open the Group Policy Editor (Start > Run > gpedit.msc) from your Vista computer.

If using in AD-based GPO, open Group Policy Management Console (Start > Run > gpmc.msc) from a Vista computer that is a member of the domain. In the GPMC window, browse to the required GPO that is linked to the OU or domain where the Vista computers are located, then edit it.

In the Group Policy Editor window, browse to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options.

In the right pane scroll to find the User Access Control policies (they’re down at the bottom of the window). You need to configure the following policies:

You’ll need to reboot your computers.


Method #4 – Using Control Panel

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Under User Account and Family settings click on the “Add or remove user account”.
3. Click on one of the user accounts, for example you can use the Guest account.
4. Under the user account click on the “Go to the main User Account page” link.
5. Under “Make changes to your user account” click on the “Change security settings” link.
6. In the «Turn on User Account Control (UAC) to make your computer more secure» click to unselect the «Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer». Click on the Ok button.
7. You will be prompted to reboot your computer. Do so when ready.

In order to re-enable UAC just select the above checkbox and reboot.

Posted by & filed under Vista, Windows.

Change the Windows Vista Power Buttons to Shut Down

The default action for the Power button on the start menu in Windows Vista is Sleep, which isn’t necessarily useful for everybody. You can configure this setting easily by using the advanced power settings panel, which is a little tricky to get to normally, but we’ll take the shortcut.

Open a command prompt (type cmd into the start menu search bar), and then type in the following

powercfg.cpl,1

You could also take the long route:
Control Panel -> Power Options -> Change Plan Settings -> Change Advanced Power Settings

Once you get to this dialog, browse down as shown to “Power buttons and lid”

 (43 Kb)

From here, you can change the options:

  • Power button action – Changes the hardware power button action
  • Start menu power button – Changes the power button on the Start Menu

You can change the power button to either Sleep, Hibernate or Shut Down, or even nothing for the hardware power button.

The Control Panel path could also be Control Panel -> Power Options -> Change power-saving settings -> Change plan settings (of the plan currently selected) -> Change advanced power settings. Then you can do the rest of your steps.

Posted by & filed under Google, Mail.

If you’re anything like me, you often end up with a lot of extra “spam” type mail from mailing lists, etc, that you don’t end up reading.

To quickly find unread messages, simply search for “is:unread” in the search box.  You can also double this up to find only unread messages in the inbox by searching for “label:inbox is:unread

It’s that easy.

Posted by & filed under fileserver1, LU Specific.

From time to time, a users SMB password will expire for fileserver1, while the normal user password will still work for FTP/SSH.  This occurs because it is also tied to the storm server.  In Thunder Bay, you can log into a storm account, change your password and be on your merry way.  In Orillia however, there are no more storm machines and you cannot connect to the TSC domain tree.

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