A well documented problem that I just recently came across. One of my users upgraded a personal Windows XP machine to Service Pack 3 and found that he was missing his address bar in the Windows taskbar. SP3 got rid of it to "comply" with anti-trust laws. I'm not sure how much I buy that, but it's plausible.
In any case, there are several third-party add-ins that address this problem (no pun intended). However, I'm documenting a native fix. Credit for this goes to Mark Kaelin over at Tech Republic. Here's the nitty gritty:
1. Find a SP2 copy of the file called browseui.dll located in ~\Windows\System32.
2. Copy it to the same location on the SP3 machine.
Make sure to this in Safe Mode as the System32 folder will not allow changes while. Also, make sure to reboot.
Here's the full directions laid out by Tech Republic:
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=683
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
TIPS & TRICKS: SAMBA Printing in OS X
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1404
Mostly this was for myself, but might be useful for others. There's been some hiccups in printing as Apple comes out with updates. In 10.5.1, the method for adding networked Windows printers changed from the method in 10.4.x. The 10.5.2 release broke that change and in 10.5.3, everything worked again. In a previous post, I also noted that in 10.5.4 printing from Firefox was no longer working.
The key to SAMBA printing on OS X is the addresses used. The link to the Apple support page above is helpful and, mostly, I wanted to keep track of this information:
smb://user:password@workgroup/server/sharename
smb://user:password@server/sharename
smb://workgroup/server/sharename
smb://server/sharename
I may post the other steps, some of which are listed in the support page above, at a later time.
Mostly this was for myself, but might be useful for others. There's been some hiccups in printing as Apple comes out with updates. In 10.5.1, the method for adding networked Windows printers changed from the method in 10.4.x. The 10.5.2 release broke that change and in 10.5.3, everything worked again. In a previous post, I also noted that in 10.5.4 printing from Firefox was no longer working.
The key to SAMBA printing on OS X is the addresses used. The link to the Apple support page above is helpful and, mostly, I wanted to keep track of this information:
smb://user:password@workgroup/server/sharename
smb://user:password@server/sharename
smb://workgroup/server/sharename
smb://server/sharename
I may post the other steps, some of which are listed in the support page above, at a later time.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
RANTS: Firefox 3.x Printing to Windows Printers over AD in OS X.5
We have a printing system that uses PCounter to handle accounting for individual users. Our users use Active Directory credentials to authenticate through our server to the various printers. I'm working off OS X 10.5 and using Firefox 3.0.1.
Printing from OS X 10.5 through our system throws up a window that asks for Active Directory credentials for authentication. This should occur through any application. It worked fine in Firefox 2.x. Since Firefox 3 was installed, I no longer have that option, though printing from other apps still work fine. When the print job is sent to the local queue, the user shows System Administrator, not even the name of the user who's logged in. Something in Firefox is bypassing the need for credentials and Firefox is passing along some default information.
I've already verified this on 2 different machines now. I need to investigate further.
Printing from OS X 10.5 through our system throws up a window that asks for Active Directory credentials for authentication. This should occur through any application. It worked fine in Firefox 2.x. Since Firefox 3 was installed, I no longer have that option, though printing from other apps still work fine. When the print job is sent to the local queue, the user shows System Administrator, not even the name of the user who's logged in. Something in Firefox is bypassing the need for credentials and Firefox is passing along some default information.
I've already verified this on 2 different machines now. I need to investigate further.
TIPS & TRICKS: 49.4C02 Error on HP Laserjet 2420dn
Had a user who encountered this error when printing a particular PDF (everything else printed normally). The print job stayed in the queue even after the printer was reset because the option to let the job render on the computer was checked. Deleting the print job was how I got around it. But, it still didn't allow for printing the PDF document.
The real work around ended up to be substituting the print driver. The one we were originally using was the HP Laserjet 2420 PS. Apparently, PS was not happy with this particular document. I switched the existing driver with an PCL6 driver from HP and the document printed normally.
Will need to monitor if other print jobs become a problem as a result of the driver switch.
The real work around ended up to be substituting the print driver. The one we were originally using was the HP Laserjet 2420 PS. Apparently, PS was not happy with this particular document. I switched the existing driver with an PCL6 driver from HP and the document printed normally.
Will need to monitor if other print jobs become a problem as a result of the driver switch.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
RAVES / RANTS : iPhone, First Impressions
Here are my first impressions on the iPhone 3G:
Good:
- Synced with local contacts and calendar on Outlook. Since I kept my contacts in Outlook updated and organized, this was probably the best improvement over a separate PDA and phone combination.
- GPS is not bad for a phone. Dedicated devices are still better.
- Typing on the on-screen keyboard is better than on my old iPaq.
- The widescreen mode helps a lot when typing.
- Basic web browsing is fine. I've found lots of pages that are optimized for mobile devices and some specifically for iPhone.
- Being able to customize the home screen was a good feature.
- Conversations in SMS works well (i.e. being able to view entire conversation with a particular person in one screen as opposed to hunting for particular messages from a person) and is useful.
- Secondary reminder in calendar items is useful, especially since reminders can't be snoozed.
- Visual voicemail saves from having to listen to many messages to get to the the one you want.
- Apps store has potential.
Bad:
- Contacts and calendar items don't retain any of the categories from Outlook.
- Widescreen mode typing not available in all areas in iPhone.
- Battery is terrible. I run with 3G and wi-fi off most of the time and it's still won't make it through 2 days of normal usage.
- Anything more complicated than basic web browsing, I needed to go to computer.
- Can't do any basic editing of Excel/Word documents. Sometimes, I just need a basic spreadsheet to keep tabs of things while I'm on the go. I've been doing this fine on my 6 year old iPaq.
- Reminders can't be snoozed.
- From Apps store, I haven't found any terribly useful, yet stable apps. Would love to see a spreadsheet app.
Good:
- Synced with local contacts and calendar on Outlook. Since I kept my contacts in Outlook updated and organized, this was probably the best improvement over a separate PDA and phone combination.
- GPS is not bad for a phone. Dedicated devices are still better.
- Typing on the on-screen keyboard is better than on my old iPaq.
- The widescreen mode helps a lot when typing.
- Basic web browsing is fine. I've found lots of pages that are optimized for mobile devices and some specifically for iPhone.
- Being able to customize the home screen was a good feature.
- Conversations in SMS works well (i.e. being able to view entire conversation with a particular person in one screen as opposed to hunting for particular messages from a person) and is useful.
- Secondary reminder in calendar items is useful, especially since reminders can't be snoozed.
- Visual voicemail saves from having to listen to many messages to get to the the one you want.
- Apps store has potential.
Bad:
- Contacts and calendar items don't retain any of the categories from Outlook.
- Widescreen mode typing not available in all areas in iPhone.
- Battery is terrible. I run with 3G and wi-fi off most of the time and it's still won't make it through 2 days of normal usage.
- Anything more complicated than basic web browsing, I needed to go to computer.
- Can't do any basic editing of Excel/Word documents. Sometimes, I just need a basic spreadsheet to keep tabs of things while I'm on the go. I've been doing this fine on my 6 year old iPaq.
- Reminders can't be snoozed.
- From Apps store, I haven't found any terribly useful, yet stable apps. Would love to see a spreadsheet app.
Monday, August 04, 2008
RANTS: iShieldz iPhone 3G case protection
First of all, never buy anything in a hurry. More often times than not, I get the short end of the stick. This was definitely the case with the case protection set I purchased. The purchase was made at a kiosk called i Play Tunes UTC (V-Tex Global INC), which is right in front of the Westfield UTC shopping Center in La Jolla, CA. The product is the iPhone 3G Shieldz (ishieldz.com).
Application on the front of the screen was a breeze, though I did have a bubble that didn't seem to want to go away. My first impression was that the screen was not crystal clear at all. It seemed hazy and was definitely not as smooth to the touch as the original screen. Installation on the back was hopeless. Most of the back went down just as smooth as the front. The problem was the edges. The iPhone 3G has much more rounded edges and the edges of the film just did not want to stay down at all, almost like it wasn't specifically made for the 3G model. Also, the coverage of the back of the screen, as well as a bit of the front, leaves some areas still exposed.
Overall, I would definitely stay away from this product, especially when I ended up paying almost double for the product, when the website shows the price as almost half the price. Again, do not make purchases when you're in a hurry, especially this product. I'm going to have to try to go back to the kiosk to see if I can remedy this problem, even though the receipt says "all sales are final". Let's see how good these people really are with standing by the products they sell and taking care of the customer.
UPDATE: I was finally able to get the corners down on the back film. However, there are a ton of blemishes. In first usage after letting it sit overnight, the screen quality has degraded quite a bit over not having the screen cover. Here's a picture:
Notice the bottom of the picture. Those blemishes show up all throughout the screen when light hits it and when the device is turned on. According to the manufacturers, I'm supposed to wait a day or two. But, I highly doubt that will go away with time.
Also, my fingers don't move over the screen cover nearly as smoothly as the original screen. One positive note, is that the lack of smoothness creates a less slippery device overall. It basically adds a bit of grip to the device, which means it's less likely to slip out of my hand in normal usage.
I still have not changed my stance on this product. It's not worth the $24.99 on the website, or the $40+ that I paid for it at the mall. I may still go back to try to salvage something out of this purchase, but I may just leave this on until it degrades and I need to add a new one. Good luck.
Application on the front of the screen was a breeze, though I did have a bubble that didn't seem to want to go away. My first impression was that the screen was not crystal clear at all. It seemed hazy and was definitely not as smooth to the touch as the original screen. Installation on the back was hopeless. Most of the back went down just as smooth as the front. The problem was the edges. The iPhone 3G has much more rounded edges and the edges of the film just did not want to stay down at all, almost like it wasn't specifically made for the 3G model. Also, the coverage of the back of the screen, as well as a bit of the front, leaves some areas still exposed.
Overall, I would definitely stay away from this product, especially when I ended up paying almost double for the product, when the website shows the price as almost half the price. Again, do not make purchases when you're in a hurry, especially this product. I'm going to have to try to go back to the kiosk to see if I can remedy this problem, even though the receipt says "all sales are final". Let's see how good these people really are with standing by the products they sell and taking care of the customer.
UPDATE: I was finally able to get the corners down on the back film. However, there are a ton of blemishes. In first usage after letting it sit overnight, the screen quality has degraded quite a bit over not having the screen cover. Here's a picture:
Notice the bottom of the picture. Those blemishes show up all throughout the screen when light hits it and when the device is turned on. According to the manufacturers, I'm supposed to wait a day or two. But, I highly doubt that will go away with time.
Also, my fingers don't move over the screen cover nearly as smoothly as the original screen. One positive note, is that the lack of smoothness creates a less slippery device overall. It basically adds a bit of grip to the device, which means it's less likely to slip out of my hand in normal usage.
I still have not changed my stance on this product. It's not worth the $24.99 on the website, or the $40+ that I paid for it at the mall. I may still go back to try to salvage something out of this purchase, but I may just leave this on until it degrades and I need to add a new one. Good luck.
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