Steve the IT Tech Guy

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Apple’s Openness

When I saw this first statement from Steve Jobs reasons on why he does not implement Flash on Ipod/Ipad I almost fell off my chair!:

“Openness

Jobs said that Adobe products are 100 percent proprietary because they are only available from Adobe. “By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system,” he wrote. He acknowledged that Apple also has “many proprietary products, too” but said that Apple believes all Web standards should be open. “Rather than use Flash, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript – all open standards,” Jobs said. He also touted the openness of WebKit, the open-source HTML5 rendering engine used in Safari.”

“Flash is a closed system” HELLO!!!!!! APPLE”S IPOD/IPAD IS A CLOSED SYSTEM!!!!!!!!!

Steve goes on about other reasons which might be correct but this first statement is really not an issue. Ipod/Ipad can only install apps from Apple’s ITUNES ONLY. The apps have to go through Apple’s testing. Must be developed on only Apple’s platform. And this is OPEN!!!! WTF!!!

I am not a mac fan, I have never used a mac product other than an apple ipod touch (which I like for many reasons) so I am not an expert. (I feel the mac system (even though there are some great features) is LIMITED in creativity/customization/openness compared to Microsoft/Linux)(There are good and bad parts of Apple’s reason for the Ipod/Ipad ways for an appliance). I don’t call it a computer and it will never be. I agree with many saying its not a laptop/netbook replacement but more of a niche that is great for people who are not tech savy and need something to work in front of a TV. When the price is lower and has a few more bells I will probably buy one. I love the factor to surf the net, play movies, music, etc easily while I am watching TV etc. BUT as a tech guy it will never replace a laptop. And more on the point of this blog it is a CLOSED SYSTEM. I like that it is a closed system because of the Windows system results in virus/spyware. The Ipad with its restriction basically prevents much of the problems with Windows. BUT there are some nice features with the Windows model that make it better in a business model. With Windows its a standard with business. There are a lot of free apps. Sure you have to watch for virus/spyware etc but the apps are a standard. The main issue is that Apple is calling Adobe that it does not want to implement Flash is because its a closed system is like telling the car indistry that I don’t like cars because it has wheels. I like my car because it has special wheels.!!

Sure it would be great if MS Windows did not have so many bugs/virus/spyware BUT for all the crap that they have to deal with backward compatible/OPEN system to write apps/built drivers for all the different platforms/peripherals/etc is amazing that they can do this.

Error When Printing Other Users Calendar In Outlook

Client got this error:

The messaging interface has returned an unknown error. If the problem persists, restart Outlook.

Found this on Microsoft website.

Method 1: Disable the TaskPad option

On the File menu, click Print.
Click Page Setup.
On the Format tab, click to clear the TaskPad check box.
Click OK to close the Page Setup dialog box.
With the Daily Style print style selected, click OK to print the shared calendar.

Method 2: Update the permissions of the user

Note These steps are to be completed by the user who shares his or her calendar and tasks.

To update the permissions for the user of the shared calendar, follow these steps:

In the Navigation Pane, click Calendar.
On the File menu, point to Folder, and then click Properties for “Calendar”.
Click the Permissions tab.
Click Add, and then add the user.
With the user selected, set the Permission Level to a minimum of Reviewer.
Click OK to close the Calendar Properties dialog box.

To update the permissions for the user of the shared tasks, follow these steps:

In the Navigation Pane, click Tasks.
On the File menu, point to Folder, and then click Properties for “Tasks”.
Click the Permissions tab.
Click Add, and then add the user.
With the user selected, set the Permission Level to a minimum of Reviewer.
Click OK to close the Tasks Properties dialog box.

Task Manager Greyed Out

Have a client that has this in their 2003 server. Caused by spyware. Ran Malwarebytes to remove the spyware. Also found this on the Internet. If you can get into the registry its a change.

Fix Greyed Out Task Manager

Slow Opening and Saving Office 2007 Files

This had been driving me nuts. My situation is I run Windows 7 Pro. Office 2007. Connected to a SBS 2008 Server. When I open an Excel document from the server the first time it would take minutes and sometimes would time out. After this it was fine usually for the rest of the day. Saving a file was the same way. Save it to the server the first time took minutes. If I saved it to a local drive it was fine. I tried everything from a previous post I blogged and nothing worked. Another computer at our store also had the same issue so I knew it was not just my PC. I finally found a solution on the web. Changing my drive map from a NetBIOS to a FQDN mapping. Actually my old drive map was \\SERVER NAME\SHARE. I changed this to \\FULL DOMAIN NAME\SHARE (ex. net use h: \\server\share to net use h: \\domain.local\share)

NetBIOS reference (e.g. \\DOMAIN\DFS\Share) to a FQDN reference (\\corp.domain.com\DFS\Share).

I found this from this website and this site. Others find the reverse fixes their problem.

AMMENDMENT:

After a little while it was still giving me issues even with the above changed. I think I now found the solution.

If you are running Windows 2008 as the server and running Windows Vista or 7 as the client then SMB2 can be causing the issue. Disable SMB2 on the server by doing the following:

Add a REG_DWORD entry named Smb2 with a value of 0 to
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters

Then restart the server. Reference if from this blog

Also information on SMB2 can be found here.

Google Threatens To Kill Users

About 1 Day

I just love the way Microsoft estimates when copying files on how long it will take. Usually at the very beginning its extreamly high and then as it gets closer to the end its closer to the actual time. Here is an example. I was backing up my 16 GIG USB drive that has approx. 12.7 GIG of data on it. From the following picture MS estimates that it will take About 1 Day to copy. It tells the amount of data of 10.2 GB left and the speed is approx. 10.1 MB a second. My calculations comes out to be around 17 minutes which is what it actually took (give or take a few minutes).

Antivirus Comparison

Everyone asks me whats the best antivirus program out there. Well the answer is there is not one program that can remove all the virus’s out there. There are Virus’s, Spyware and Malware. Today its hard to distinguish whats what. If it deletes files then its a Virus. If it pops up saying you have a virus but its a FakeAV then its Malware. If its trying to steal your credit card or take control of your PC then Spyware. Now the answer what AV software do I run. It would be MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials). Why? Well its very light weight. It will not bog down your system like Mcafee or Symantec (the newer Symantec I heard is not as blotware but I don’t trust them). Next MSE does not get in your face with popups, request you to update to the PRO version (AVG). Also its FREE. Now when I saw Microsoft offering a free Antivirus/Spyware program I was very skeptical. Look what they did to Giant Spyware remover and turned it into Windows Defender (Crap compared to what it was when Giant ran it). BUT I have checked some reviews and comparisons and I have to say it does a decent job. Check out the Comparisons here.

Now MSE and other AV software has spyware/malware removers but they never really do a great job. This is why I also use Malwarebytes. It catches a lot of the new Fake AV and other nasty malware.

This is my two cents. Anyone want to comment?

Fix .NET Framework To Fix Simply

I have a client that had an issue with Simply Accounting 2010 working. It would give an error on start-up about .NET Framework not working and the Simply Connection Manager failing. I believe the Connection Manager uses .NET. I could not uninstall Framework 3.5SP1 or reinstall. I found this on the Internet to allow me to remove .NET Frameworks and reinstall. Once I did this Simply worked.

After doing some research and many attempts and failures I was finally able to install .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.

My research disclosed Windows XP SP3 blocks .NET security patches. This problem forces XP SP3 users to apply patches manually to complete vital updates. Since my OS is Win XP Home SP3 I had to install .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 manually.

Here’s the procedure I used:

• Step 1: Download Aaron Stebner’s .NET Framework cleanup tool. The .NET Framework cleanup tool is available for download at the following location:
http://cid-27e6a35d1a492af7.skydrive.li … p_tool.zip
The download includes a Read Me file that explains how to use the cleanup tool.

• Step 2: From the Microsoft Download Center download .NET Framework Version 1.1 Redistributable Package, .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86), and .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1.

• Step 3: Uninstall all existing versions of .NET Framework.

• Step 4: Run the .NET Framework cleanup tool. When the cleanup tool finishes it prompts for a computer restart.

• Step 5: Install .NET Framework Version 1.1 and .NET Framework Version 2.0 in that order.

• Step 6: Do a computer restart.

• Step 7: Install .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1. Be patient it takes awhile to install.

After this the following versions of .NET Framework were installed on my computer: 1.1, 2.0 SP2, 3.0 SP2, and 3.5 SP1.

I then successfully installed Paint.NET. 3.36. Again be patient it takes awhile to install.

.NET Frameworks FILES

DOTNET 1.1

DOTNET 2

DOTNET 3

DOTNET 3.5SP1

Allow Outlook To Send or Receive .EXE Files

Found this on the Internet:

Outlook 2007, Outlook 2003, Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2000 SP3 (but not Outlook 98 or earlier Outlook 2000 versions) allow the user to use a registry key to open up access to blocked attachments. (Always make a backup before editing the registry.) To use this key:

1. Run Regedit, and go to this key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Security (change 10.0 to 9.0 for Outlook 2000 SP3 or to 11.0 for Outlook 2003, 12.0 for Outlook 2007 )
2. Under that key, add a new string value named Level1Remove.
3. For the value for Level1Remove, enter a semicolon-delimited list of file extensions. For example, entering this:

.mdb;.url

would unblock Microsoft Access files and Internet shortcuts. Note that the use of a leading dot was not previously required, however, new security patches may require it. If you are using “mdb;url” format and extensions are blocked, add a dot to each extension. Note also that there is not a space between extensions.

If you are using this registry entry, a glance at Help | About Microsoft Outlook will show Security Mode: User Controlled above the license information. See OL2002 You Cannot Open Attachments for more information on this registry entry.

To force users to save *.zip files to the hard drive before opening, add .zip to the extensions step 3. See How to configure Outlook to block additional attachment file name extensions for more information.

If you prefer not to edit the registry directly, you can use one of the tools below to make the change; not all support both Outlook 2002 and 2000.

After applying this registry fix or using one of the tools, the user still has to save the attached file to a system drive before opening it. In effect, the fix rolls the attachment behavior back to Outlook 2000 SR-1, with its included Attachment Security Fix. An end-user cannot bypass this “save to disk” behavior and open the file directly from the mail message, though an Exchange administrator can.