And one more

The release candidate for Windows XP service pack 3 is now also available for download here

It is not a final release, that one will follow sometime next year,
but this RC packs total of 1073 fixes.
Also includes four new features are included : 

• a new activation scheme,
• Network Access Protection Module
• Microsoft Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module
• Black Hole Router detection algorithm.
  

DirectX 10 for XP is not included, and probably won't in the final either.
For those running XP, download away!

Yet another release Office 2007 SP1

No RC this time :
Microsoft has released Office 2007 SP1,
It can be downloaded in Dutch and English.

SP1 contains all previous patches and updates, all the changes can be found here.

These are the release notes :

The 2007 Microsoft Office suite Service Pack 1 delivers important
customer-requested stability and performance improvements, while incorporating
further enhancements to user security. This service pack also includes all of
the updates released for the 2007 Office suite prior to December of 2007.

Vista SP1 RC1

Microsoft has released a script that will make Vista SP1 RC1 appear in Windows Update.
The script changes a registry key to make the SP1 RC1 visible.

You can find a full changelog here, or a shortened version here.

You can download the script here.

I will download the SP1 RC1 as soon as possible and post my findings.

Microsoft has released Volta

About a week ago Microsoft released Volta from the labs.


What is Volta :

Volta is a developer toolset for building multi-tier web applications using existing and familiar tools, techniques and patterns, It allows to make the decisions until the very last passible moment.

It also enables new end-to-end profiling and testing.

It makes that you can build your application as a .NET client application and then assign parts of your application to the client side or the server side. The compiler automatically creates cross-browser JavaScript, web services and all required code for the tiers to communicate.


Volta has the following advantages :
In the architectural dimension :
Language-independence. Write Volta code in any language that compiles into MSIL. For example, C#, VB, IronPython, etc.
Leverage the entire .NET toolchain. Use libraries; the IDE, Intellisense, auto-complete, snippets; FxCop; profiler; class browser; ILDASM; and so on.
Low entry barrier. Reduce your learning burden; use “only the languages in the room.”
Brown-field applicability. Volta-enable existing applications for the cloud.
Beyond 2 tiers. Refactor to as many tiers as you need using exactly the same mechanisms recursively applied.

In the execution-platform dimension :
Deep embedding of CLR semantics. Preserve exact CLR semantics across platforms.
Cross-browser support. Use one programming model across browsers.
Complete orthogonality with refactoring. Mix and match refactoring and retargeting.
Ajax-ready. Write Ajax patterns and idioms in familiar .NET languages.
Debugging transparency. Debug code with a specific browser.
Leverage browser-specific features. Where needed, access features unique to each browser.
Visual-Studio integration. Enjoy seamless integration with the IDE.


In the next post we will make our first Volta application.
Can't wait?
Download volta here : http://labs.live.com/volta/download/

My Lolcat

Following the hype,

here's our own lolcat (Gyzmo (aka Barbaque the cat))






more at IcanhasCheezburger

Outlook files

Today I received the outlook error :

Outlook exited without properly closing your outlook datafile

it also indicated that it was the ost file that was damaged
after that outlook closed, retrying gave the same problem. 

Lucky for us Outlook user Microsoft has added a well hidden recovery program :
Scanpst.exe
(when installed with the default settings this will be in : C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12  for office 2007 (a guess would be office11 for 2003 ) )

Just run this,
Select the file indicated in the error message (C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook, select the pst or ost file accordingly)
Scan it and repair it : voila problems gone!

PS : I found out there's a scanost.exe and a scanpst.exe, I used scanpst.exe for my ost file and it worked.

LoadTest troubles

After installing a loadtest Controller and an agent using the Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2

the controller indicated that the agent remained disconnected, 
after searching i found out that the user did not belong to the TeamTestAgentService user group on the controller, after adding this user the agent become ready.

another usefull utility is the AgentConfigUtil.exe tool.

You can also check the log files  for errors :   \LoadTest\agentConfigUtilSetup*.log file for errors.

Another possible error sis : “Rig failed to restart for controller . The following error was reported Cannot open VSTTController service on computer .”

This error occurs when the when the user tries to restart the rig from the Administer Test Controller dialog box, but the user doesn't belong to the Power User or Administrator group.

More info for loadtests :
Ed Glas's blog

It's finally here. Opera 9.5

It's finally here.

Opera 9.5 Alpha has arrived, and of course i had to install it. 

Just for safety I installed it separate from my 9.23 installation.

 
 When I started it I was pleasantly surprised, it is even faster than 9.23,

And this for an alpha build, this promises for the release build :)

 

Some new items are :

• Performance
  
• Full history search (quite usefull)
  
• Improved site compatibility
  
• Access for everyone
  
• Improved platform integration
  
• Preview of bookmark and Speed Dial synchronization (very nice )
  
• Magic Windows build number (very important of course ;-) )

For some statistics that it is indeed fast :

http://nontroppo.org/timer/kestrel_tests/ 
 

If you want to play with a new browser , or read about the new features:
http://www.opera.com/products/desktop/next/

 

Beware, it is an alpha build !

I have one problem and it crashes when I want to save a webpage to an mht file,

Otherwise I have no probems found yet, I will post if I find more.

Pricey Vista Boxes

Amazon is selling empty vista boxes, and although the design is nice,
the price is a bit much :)

Image.FromFile locks the file

When you use the picturebox to display pictures and fill it by using

Picturebox1.Image = Image.FromFile("somefile"),

You will find that it locks the image file.

There are 2 solutions,

The first is to dispose of the image :

Picturebox1.Image.Dispose()

Wich is ok when you are going to put another picture in the picturebox but can lead to surprising results in other cases.

The second (and advised way) is to use a file stream :

Dim fs As System.IO.FileStream

fs = New System.IO.FileStream("somefile", IO.FileMode.Open, IO.FileAccess.Read)

PictureBox1.Image = System.Drawing.Image.FromStream(fs)

fs.Close()

Vista needs your pc at 110%

100%  is not enough :)

Missing CD/DVD rom drives in Windows?

Trying to write a cd,
I noticed my DVD writer was missing,

Looking in device manager i got the following error message :

Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)

very strange, as this device has always worked perfectly before.

After some googleing I tried things to update the drivers, deleting the device from device manager etc.

Finally i found the answer :

Open regedit
Go to key :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Find the "UpperFilters" and "LowerFilters" (and "UpperFilters.bak" "LowerFilters.bak", if they exist) values and delete them.


After that reboot or delete the devices one more time from device manager and voila they were back!

WARNING : some CD / DVD writer programs may have to be reinstalled!!! but that's a small price to pay i find :)

Adding rows to another table

When you add a row from a datatable to another with

table(0).rows.add(theRow)

you will get the error

This row already belongs to another table

Instead of the table.add(theRow) command, you can use the table.importrow(therow) command

This will preserve the rowstate, so if the row was unchanged in the first datatable,
it will be unchanged in the new table.

this can be usefull for ecample after a select on a datatable

Own your very own 128 bit integer for free!

If your a digg user (or slashdot or ... ), you certainly will remember last week's fuzz about a certain 128bit number the movie industry claimed to own
(if not, you can find information here)

Exact details about how the process works and, to claim your own integer (get them while they're free ;-) )
you can find here

Anyway here is mine, all mine :)

1D D4 B6 5B FD 70 31 86 A4 92 F5 2C 04 1F A3 5F

Have fun!

Welcome to the family Scooby

Since sunday the family has a new member :
Scooby the Jack Russell Terrier :


Scooby is 2 and a half moths old and joins Louchka the golden retriever and Gizmo (aka Barbecue)  the cat.

More can be seen at the photo site

Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 Beta 1

Kaspersky has released a new beta version of their antivirus & internet security suite.

I have just updated the virusscanner on my Vista x64 machine and my XP SP2 machine,
and it is working great!

New things are  (this list is for the KIS suite):
what's new from v6:
1. Application GUI has been enhanced.
2. New heuristic analyzer detecting unknown threats has been added.
3. An opportunity for quick application setup with default settings has been added.
4. A new protection component (Parental control) has been added for supervision of user access to Internet resources.
5. Privacy control (Anti-Spy) has been supplemented with a module protecting confidential data and guarding against unauthorized access and transfer of such data.
6. Security wizard has been added for quick correction of problems in the application settings and operation.
7. Delivery of news from Kaspersky Lab via a new component (News Agent) has been implemented.
8. Proactive defense has been enhanced with a mechanism for detection of the newest keyloggers.
9. Protection against new types of leaktests has been added.
10. Extended search for the new generation rootkits has been added.
11. Firewall kernel has been improved and optimized for performance.

You can find the information to the beta FTP server in this forum thread : 
http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=11188


Be aware that this is an early beta and may contain bugs !

Vista slowing you down?

vista file actions (delete, copy, move, ... ) are very slow (calculating time remaining)

Not anymore!

When I reinstalled vista it had made a windows.old folder on my c: drive,
and when I was cleaning it out it took ages to delete a folder, 
then I found the solution ! 

HotFix 931770 (normally intended for network copying) fixed my local worries also,
it's blazing fast now !

Install at your own risk, it is not officially released,
but I didn't have any negative side effects, and I didn't read about somebody else having any. ..

You can find it at : http://thehotfixshare.net/download/index.php?dir=Language%20Neutral/Vista

Hidden network connections and other usefull shortcuts

Can't find the network connections in the new Vista? They are somewhere hidden in the new start menu,  the fastest way is to type in the search field in the start menu and type ncpa.cpl and you are there!

Some other things you can reach faster :

Ncpa.cpl : network connections

Eventvwr : Event viewer

Diskmgmt.msc : disk management.

Regedit : registry editor

inetmgr : iis manager

services.msc : services panel

…

If you know others, just let me know
By the way they should also work on XP (and maybe earlier)

Access the clipboard from a visual studio macro

Visual Studio macros can save a lot of time,
automating the workspace,
but when you try to access the clipboard,
the following error pops up :

Current thread must be set to singe threat apartment (STA) mode before OLE calls can be made. Ensure that your main function has STAThreatAttribute marked on it.

Not so nice,

The trick to solve this is create a new thread, have the STA flag set and let that thread access the clipboard.

I created a new macro module modClipboard with the following functions :

Private clipText As String

Public Property ClipboardText() As String
Get
RunThread(AddressOf GetClipboardText)
Return clipText
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
clipText = value
RunThread(AddressOf CopyToClipboard)
End Set
End Property

Private Function RunThread(ByVal fct As Threading.ThreadStart)
Dim thread As New Threading.Thread(fct)
thread.ApartmentState = Threading.ApartmentState.STA

thread.Start()
thread.Join()
End Function

Private Sub GetClipboardText()
clipText = Clipboard.GetText()
End Sub

Private Sub CopyToClipboard()
'The second parameter is required
Clipboard.SetDataObject(clipText, True)
End Sub

The module variable (cliptext) is required to transfer the data between the threads.

And now we can call the property in our other functions :
 
Copy to clipboard :
ClipboardText = "Whatever you want"

Get the clipboard data :
  strClipboard = ClipboardText

Lost the menu in Vista?

Can't find the things you want to do in Vista?

The menu gone with the wind?

Don't fear, in most programs, you can just press the Alt key to make the trusted menus visible.

This will not work in all programs,
but it will work in a good number of them (mediaplayer, Internet Explorer, folder windows, ... )
but not in office 2007

Automatic updates bugging you to restart?

Getting tired of having to click away the restart later button every 10 minutes when there is an update? 
I was,  and after some searching I found a solution on the internet,
you can't turn it off, but you can make it appear only once a day 

(that way you can shut down at the end of the day and the next day the reboot is done, 
when you boot the computer)

press Start, run
type in gpedit.msc
at the left side of the screen,  under the Local Computer Policy, choose Administrative Templates,   Windows Components, Windows Update

at the right side of the screen, doubleclick  Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations

You can disable it (Thanks to Charles : disabled means the default 10 minutes.),
or put a value in the enable field, I put it at the maximum value : 1440, so it will only bug me once per day.

Unfortunatly, this is only active when windows restarts, so you may still have the annoying screen for the moment.

To get rid of that temporarily :
press start, run, services.msc

then right click the Automatic Updates service en choose 'stop', it will now stop bugging you :)
(it is best to leave it at automatic, so it will restart when you reboot your pc, and the other 'fix' is active)

I could only test this on a Windows XP Professional with SP2, 
I don't think the home version has the gpedit.msc tool. If I find something for that I will post it.

Edit: This also works in Vista Ultimate (I tested it on the X64 Ultimate edition), but Vista lets you select to notify only every 4 hours
 

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my blog, 
on this page you will find interesting things that I find surfing the internet, 
about programming, vista and other interesting things. 

Have a good read, 

svenM