tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050267820688737472024-03-08T10:49:14.141-05:00Steve's Tech BlogJust a small tech blog of information i have found handy.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-15437001038199074852013-08-12T16:23:00.001-04:002013-08-12T16:23:17.369-04:00Replacing Text in Word that contain superscript and subscript.<html>
<head>
<title></title>
</head>
<body>
I have been writing some reports recently that include have a floor
number in the information provided. &nbsp;Now that is all fine,
but when I edit text it changes from something like 2nd floor to 2<sup>nd</sup>
floor. This is all fine, but the problem is that I have this
multiple times in the document. So, that leaves me with two
options, either not have it do the superscript, or find a way to easily
change all of the other instanace with Word's replace funciton.
I choose the later and found that it was pretty easy.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Edit one of the instanaces to be properly formated</li>
<li>Copy this corrected instance using (Shortcut Key: <span style="font-style: italic;">CTRL+C</span>)</li>
<li>Open Word's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Find
and Replace</span> (Shortcut Key: <span style="font-style: italic;">CTRL+H</span>)</li>
<li>In the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fi<span style="text-decoration: underline;">n</span>d</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">what: </span>field
enter the imporperly formatted text</li>
<li>In the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Replace
w<span style="text-decoration: underline;">i</span>th:</span>
field enter <span style="font-weight: bold;">^c </span>(carat
c - the c must be lowercase)</li>
<li>Click the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Replace
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">A</span>ll</span> </li>
</ul>
Now all the instance of the string you specify will be replaced with
the contets of your clipboard.
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-90761130956625923432013-04-26T13:50:00.002-04:002013-07-18T09:40:28.531-04:00Chrome Bookmark SpacingI recently noticed that when I was viewing my bookmarks in Chrome, they took up the entire window and I was forced to scroll to see all of them. Well, I did not like that and thought at first that it was related to my theme. But after messing around with that for a while, I realized it was not related. So, I started searching for solutions to the problem. Most of my searches returned results of how to change the font settings from Chrome's Advanced Settings. But this changed the font size for the text on a page, not a menu. Finally after getting the correct terminology in my search query, i found the solution I was looking for. Apparently, during a recent update of Chrome, new "<i>features</i>" were added presumably for readability. <br />
<br />
To disable this, and make the bookmarks bar go back to fitting a single page:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Find the application shortcut for Google Chrome.</li>
<li>Edit the properties of the <b>Target</b></li>
<li>Add <i style="font-weight: bold;">--disable-new-menu-style</i> after the executable name.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
** Update - 7/18/2013</div>
<div>
Apparently this has changed with the newer versions of chrome. </div>
<div>
Now the correct flag for the shortcut is:</div>
<b><i> --force-fieldtrials="NewMenuStyle/Compact2/"</i></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-7377834167709845962013-02-04T17:37:00.001-05:002013-04-26T13:51:46.098-04:00Thunderbird using GMail Calendar for MeetingsI have been using Thunderbird for quite some time and have grown to like it very much. The only issue I have had in the past is the ability to accept invitations. I can easily receive and accept the invitations, but I don't want them stored on the local calendar, I want them stored on my Google calendar. If I accept and copy/move the invitation, then all users get updates seeming to show me as the organizer. I have tried to change this in the past, but I was unsuccessful, until today.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Most of the time, when accessing my Google calendar through Thunderbird I was using lightning and the Provider for Google Calendar. This sets up an iCal connection, and when I edited the config to make the Google Calendar the default, it never worked. So, I have moved to a new method, setting up the calendar using a CalDAV connection and then modifying the config to make this calendar default.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Setup CalDAV </h3>
<div>
I followed the information in this <a href="https://support.google.com/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=99358">post </a>to setup the CalDAV connection. </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Open your Calendar pane and select <b>New Calendar</b> from the menu on the left.</li>
<li>Choose <b>On the Network</b></li>
<li>Select <b>CalDAV </b>from the options and for the location enter <b><i>https://www.google.com/calendar/dav[Your Google Calendar ID]/events</i></b></li>
<ul>
<li>If you are using your standard calendar, Your Google Calendar ID is your email address.</li>
<li>Since I am using a specific calenader, I had to enter the Calendar ID found on the Calender Settings page, it will be [long string of number]@group.calendar.google.com</li>
</ul>
<li>Click <b>Next </b>and complete the wizard. </li>
</ul>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Google Calendar as Default</h3>
To set the newly created calendar as default takes a bit of under the hood configuration of Thunderbird.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Open <b>Tools / Options / Advanced / Config Editor</b></li>
<li>Search for <i>calendar.registry</i></li>
<li>You will be present with a list of items that show you all your calendars. The one thing to pay attention to is the number in each string. The values all relate to the same calendar.</li>
<li>Find the string associated with your current primary calendar and look for a value <i>calendar.registry.[srting of numbers].calendar-main-default</i></li>
<ul>
<li>Toggle this value to <b>False</b></li>
</ul>
<li>Find the string associated with the calendar you want to make your default.</li>
<ul>
<li>There should be a string <i>calendar.registry.[string of numbers].calendar-main-in-composite</i>, right click on this and select <b>Copy Name</b></li>
<li>Right click again and select<b> New -> Boolean</b></li>
<li>In the preference pane, past the copied string and then modify it to say <i>calendar.registry.[srting of numbers].calendar-main-default </i>and click <b>OK</b></li>
<li>When prompted for the value, set it to <b>True</b></li>
</ul>
<li>Restart Thunderbird </li>
</ul>
<div>
Now when you accept an email invitation, you should be able to toggle which calendar the event will be applied</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-37643619953666827772013-01-11T12:48:00.001-05:002013-01-11T12:48:43.399-05:00Local SMTP TestingSetting up SMTP server on local windows machines for web services is a pretty simple task. In Windows 2008 you have to remember to install IIS 6.0 tools to be able to manage the SMTP instance.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The issue I have been working with is just to make sure the SMTP server is actually sending out information. You can test it by using Telnet (which is not installed by default)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>From the command prompt, <i><b><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">type: </span>telnet localhost:25</b></i></li>
<li>type: <b style="font-style: italic;">EHLO </b>and press enter</li>
<li>type: <b style="font-style: italic;">AUTH LOGIN</b><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>if you are using credentials and enter the appropriate information</li>
<li>type: <b style="font-style: italic;">MAIL FROM:somesender@somedomain.com</b> (the mail address you are sending from)</li>
<li>type: <b style="font-style: italic;">RCPT TO:somesender@somedomain.com</b> (the mail address you are sending to)</li>
<li>type: <b style="font-style: italic;">DATA </b>Enter the information you want to have in the body of the message.</li>
<li>Press Enter and <b>type a single period (</b>.)</li>
</ol>
If mail is working properly you will get a 250 2.6.0 infomration message and an email in your inbox.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-71675732884254693942012-12-14T11:56:00.002-05:002012-12-14T12:00:09.697-05:00Windows Hung ServiceToday I had an issue where a windows service was stuck in a "starting" state. Since this was an email server and the service in question was IMAP, doing a reboot wasn't a good option. So i searched around and found this useful piece of information:<br />
<br />
You can force kill an service if you know the services PID.<br />
To get the PID, you can run the following to query the service and output them to a text file to make it easier to search.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><i>sc queryex > C:\Running_Services.txt</i></b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Once the command completes, use a text editor (Notepad++) to find the service you are looking for. You will see the Service Name, Display Name, and the PID. Now that you know the PID, you can issue the following to kill the process. For our example, lets say the PID is 12345</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b><i>taskkill /PID 12345 /F</i></b></li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
Now the process should be terminated, and a restart can be attempted.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-29647056485042754452012-11-09T12:39:00.000-05:002012-11-09T12:39:44.275-05:00BGInfo Useful Custom StringsRecently I have been using BGInfo a bit more to get a better handle on what servers I am currently working on. Most of the time the standard definitions work well enough, but there are the few occasions when I want to show additional details or to hide information.<br /><div>
<br /><div>
One such case that has come up often is when a server has multiple NICs, but only one is in use. BGInfo by default show all, so you have to add custom WMI queries to show only the info you want. I found a site that listed several useful queries as follows:<br /><br /><ul>
<li>Active DNS - WMI Query - SELECT DNSServerSearchOrder FROM Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration where IPEnabled = 'True'</li>
<li>Active IP - WMI Query - SELECT IPAddress FROM Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration where IPEnabled = 'True'</li>
<li>Active MAC Address - WMI Query - SELECT MACAddress FROM Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration where IPEnabled = 'True'</li>
<li>Active Subnet Mask - WMI Query - SELECT IPSubnet FROM Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration where IPEnabled = 'True'</li>
<li>Manufacturer - WMI Query - SELECT Manufacturer FROM Win32_ComputerSystem</li>
<li>Model - WMI Query - SELECT Model FROM Win32_ComputerSystem</li>
<li>OS and Edition - Registry Value - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProductName</li>
<li>OS Architecture - WMI Query - SELECT OSArchitecture FROM Win32_OperatingSystem</li>
<li>OS Architecture XP2K3 - Registry Value - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment\PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE</li>
<li>Workgroup - WMI Query - SELECT Workgroup FROM Win32_ComputerSystem</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
I also added one of my own to show the IIS version on the desktop:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>IIS Version - Registry Value - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InetStp\SetupString</li>
</ul>
<div>
Using these in combination with the predefined queries has allowed me to display all relevant information that I want. </div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-77362293066602870202012-09-04T16:46:00.000-04:002012-09-04T16:46:17.915-04:00Enabling/Disabling NIC via Command lineI recently found that I need for my system to be on multiple VLANs at different times. Now, my NIC supports this and it is fairly easy to do in Windows 7, but I wanted to make it easier. To accomplish this I wrote a little batch file that simply enables or disables the network interface card via wmic.<br />
<br />
The NIC is configured with the following commands:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>To determine the index value (##)</li>
<ul>
<li><b>wmic nic get name, index</b></li>
</ul>
<li>To Enable</li>
<ul>
<li><b>wmic path win32_networkadapter where index=</b><i><b>##</b></i><b> call enable</b></li>
</ul>
<li>To Disable</li>
<ul>
<li><b>wmic path win32_networkadapter where index=<i>##</i> call disable</b></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<div>
I then have the batch file with a <b>choice </b>statement that allows me to select the option I want.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I found the original information on how to accomplish this task <a href="http://itcookbook.net/blog/enabling-and-disabling-nics-commandline-windows">here</a>.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-80126979158583942872012-08-03T09:43:00.001-04:002012-08-03T09:44:07.443-04:00Ghost Network Interface CardsRecently, I imported a bunch of virtual machines. After the import was complete, only one nic showed up under network adapters but when making any changes to the static IP's a warning was shown stating duplicate information. After doing some digging, I found that there were actually 2 NICs in the system, but only one was being display. I tried multiple ways to get the second card removed, but had no success until I came across a few posts mentioning devcon. <br />
<br />
Using devcon you can perform the following command line options to remove the ghosted nic:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Run this command to list all the network hardware</li>
<ul>
<li> <b>devcon findall =net </b></li>
</ul>
<li>This will output a bunch of information in the format <i>PCI\VEN_xxxxx : Adapter Name</i></li>
<li>Copy the string before the colon.</li>
<li>Run the devcon command to remove the nic</li>
<ul>
<li><b>devcon -r remove "@PCI\Ven_xxxxxx"</b></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<div>
The biggest issue I ran into was getting devcon for the correct architecture. The inital post I read linked to Microsoft for the x86 and ia64, but my systems were running x64. So, I managed to find the tool on a Windows Server installation media for x64. But I have also found it online as part of the <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=11800">Windows Driver Kit</a> with instruction on how to extract it here <a href="http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/182.how-to-obtain-the-current-version-of-device-console-utility-devcon-exe.aspx">How to Obtain the Current Version of Device Console Utility (DevCon.exe)</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-60230584870750581622012-03-08T09:18:00.000-05:002012-03-08T09:19:11.704-05:00DHCP InformationI came across a recent little command that helped me out a lot. I was trying to determine all of the information of a DHCP server that had multiple reservations. Now, I could use the management console and just export the IP and reservation name. But this did not give me the MAC addresses or any additional information. I also wanted to just have the basic info of the DHCP scope. So, after some searching I found a fairly easy way to do it. I ran the command:<br />
<br />
<b>netsh dhcp server dump >> C:\DHCP_Info.txt</b><br />
<br />
This created a file DHCP_Info.txt in the root drive that contained all the information i needed. I just had to parse the section that listed reservations and import it into a table.<br />
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, 'BitStream vera Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-109756943316578062012-02-15T10:27:00.000-05:002012-11-09T12:41:35.201-05:00Windows 7 Activation Issues<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, I have been working at my new job for a few weeks now and one of the things I have been doing a little is upgrading Windows Installations offline. I have used <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoPatcher">Autopatcher</a> and the <a href="http://www.wsusoffline.net/">WSUS Offiline</a>. Both have been great when we can not connect the system to the network.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">However, I have been running into a problem. When Activating windows, the activation fails. You get an error message in the typical cryptic Microsoft style of </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">error code 0x8007007b</i><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Basically, you can not activate windows and you only have your grace period to use the system. This is a result of us using volume licensing, the solution that works best for me is as follows.</span><br />
<ul>
<li>Run the following commands </li>
<ul>
<li><b>slmgr.vbs /ipk <product key from MSDN (MAK)></b> (This installs the product key) </li>
<li><b>slmgr.vbs /ato</b> (This activates windows) </li>
<li>Optional - <b>slmgr.vbs /dlv</b> (Shows current activation status)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="line-height: 15px;"><br /></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-50335607116699778022012-02-06T23:35:00.000-05:002012-02-15T10:28:18.322-05:00Google TakeoutI have been looking for a while for a good way to export all my Google data, since my previous company was using Google Apps for email, and while this doesn't get everything, it is still pretty inclusive.<br />
<br />
Check it out at <a href="https://www.google.com/takeout/#custom">Google Takeout</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iu4vkCWKTr4?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-78816342655621155792011-11-22T15:18:00.001-05:002012-02-15T10:28:35.574-05:00Windows Profile LocationThis is another one of my favorite techniques when setting up a new system. What I generally like to do is take the existing hard drive and re-partition it into 2 drives. I do this using the excellent freeware <a href="http://gparted.sourceforge.net/">GParted</a> I generally do an even split, but it doesn't have to be, just giving the second partition as much space as possible to store user data. I then name the second partition something like <b>Storage</b>. For sake of instructions, lets just say it is assigned the drive letter D<br />
<br />
One that is done, before logging in as the systems user, I edit the registry as follows:<br />
(This is for Win 7 system, but an XP system is very similar)<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>On the D:\ create a new folder Users</li>
<li>Using regedit, navigate to:</li>
<ul>
<li>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList</li>
</ul>
<li>Edit <b>Profiles Directory</b> from <i>%SystemDrive%\Users </i>to <i>D:\Users</i></li>
<li>Log Out of the system</li>
<li>Login as a new user</li>
</ul>
<div>
This allows the new user to have their information stored on the 2nd partition so that when you want to reinstall everything you can without worrying about losing all your data.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
From that same registry key, you can also edit the profile locations of the existing users of the system such that if you already logged in as a user, you can easily change it from the default location. You will just have to look at the subkeys of ProfileList that display GUIDs instead of names and find the one with the appropriate path.</div>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-3365743805348282782011-11-01T15:08:00.000-04:002012-02-15T10:28:46.521-05:00Active Directory Change Password IssuesWe had a new employee start and I have been asking her to change her password. She has told me that she has been unable to do so as every time she tries, she gets an error about not meeting requirements.<br />
She is using a Dell Latitude running Windows 7 32-Bit. <br />
I tried to do the same thing on multiple systems with my account and getting the same error. When I tried form an XP system, the error message was a little clearer. I searched all over for an answer and finally foudn the solution.<br />
It seems that a few changes were made to the Default Domain group policy to enforce password age. Well, the only issue is that the minimum password age was not set, and defaulted to 30 days. Once I reset this to 0 as a test, I was able to have her successfully set her password. <br />
Guess it goes to show, make sure you know what your GPO says. :-)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505026782068873747.post-57678233009470814592011-10-31T10:21:00.000-04:002011-10-31T10:21:29.648-04:00QuickBooks ShortcutsWell, had to do some installation with Quickbooks 2012 the other day and had a few issues with licenses. After calling tech support found a few interesting shortcuts that are handy.<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Press F2 on the main Quickbooks screen.</li>
<ul><li>This gets you to the information about QuickBooks. Shows you the license and current running information.</li>
</ul><li>To enter a verification code is really tricky.</li>
<ul><li>Go to the Help/About screen</li>
<li>From there press CTRL+R+P simultaneously</li>
<li>There you can enter your verification code.</li>
</ul><li>The last item was related to messages of QuickBooks already running. This was driving some of the accountants mad. Although the fix is quite simple.</li>
<ul><li>Kill the existing QuickBooks task from the task manager (QBW32.exe)</li>
<li>Start a new Quickbooks session and log onto a company</li>
<li>Open the Preferences from the Edit menu</li>
<li>Select General and My Preferences</li>
<li>Clear the check box that says Keep QuickBooks running for quicker startups.</li>
</ul></ul>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982675009008681708noreply@blogger.com2