Published at May 28, 2007
in Random.
To All those who have fallen while in battle and those in the past, you are remembered today.
I was watching a TV special about the Lima Company, which is a set of Marines and it was so sad to watch and learn about all those who had passed during battle. I know you are all in a much better place, free from harm, free from IEDs, free from tyranny, free from hurt and pain. To those who have family members that you’ve lost, God bless and my heart and prayers go out to you. I hope you all enjoy this wonderful Memorial day in remembrance of our fallen heroes.
Published at May 25, 2007
in Random.
I bought another APC UPC from Amazon. This UPS is for work and will be powering a file server and my PC.
The past few months since I’ve been here I’ve been noticing over the weekends that there have been power outages. This becomes a very big problem, especially if when dealing with clients’ data.
If you were wondering what UPS I got, here’s a direct link to the Amazon site in which you can purchase the same UPS. It comes with the ability to shut down the computer without anyone being there. So if you leave the computer on overnight and the power dips or goes out for an extended amount of time, the computer will know and start saving your documents and then shut the computer down safely. This again will save your computer in the long run. It’s a very good investment.
It is currently listed at around $230.00. I can honestly tell you that is the best investment I’ve ever made. I’ll take pics of the unit and show you guys what it looks like and how slim it is. Again, it is a life saver.
Published at May 25, 2007
in Random.
I’ve encountered this on more than one occasion. I’m dealing with it as I type this. It is an Compaq Presario 2100 laptop. The client reports prior to losing sound he was doing Windows Update. This just struck me but often times Windows Updates will try to install “newer” drivers for the computer. I wonder if this has anything to do with it. I’m trying to install the latest driver available from the HP website. I’ll report back with my success or failure.
Published at May 25, 2007
in Random.
I updated the original K2 theme to be more like my own style. I love bright colors. If it’s too bright and hard to read, let me know, I’ll change it. I like feedback whether it’s good or bad.
Send me an e-mail, ryan AT random[remove]fix dot com.
Published at May 24, 2007
in Random.
If the site is down for an indefinite amount of time, I apologize.
So, I’ve finally found a fix for the ever elusive “Access Denied” error message that plagues many a people when they try to install SP2.
Originally the fix was to install the network version of SP2 in Safe Mode. However, today, I came across a unit that this would just not work. A bit of scourging online and I came across this website. I don’t plan on posting the fix on RF as it isn’t really my fix but rather this guy’s and I want to give credit where credit is due. Just a warning/note, in his post he does ask for a donation and also he asks that you pay for an already pre-made .cmd file.
You can easily open up Notepad and cut/paste the text that he has on his site, save as, change the format from .txt to all files and then type in reset.cmd as the file name you want to save it as.
Hope this helps!
Published at May 23, 2007
in Random.
At work I switched from OneCare to Active Virus Shield along with Comodo firewall. I have to say things took a turn for the worse. The combination didn’t work too well.
I started to receive weird problems like programs crashing randomly including AVS and Comodo. I then uninstalled Comodo. After that I still had issues popping up.
I tried burning a CD today using Alcohol 120% and my system crashed. After viewing the mini dump file, I found that Alcohol and AVS had conflicted and ended up crashing my system.
This is not the only time I’ve had AVS mess up on me. I have a hard time recommending it to anyone now. My confidence in this product has diminished greatly. I think that although OneCare has a crappy find rate it is overall a much stable and solid product over the two [Active Virus Shield and Comodo Firewall] that I’ve recommended in the past.
My subscription to OneCare is just about to run out. I found a great deal over at CompUSA. You can basically get OneCare for free after rebates. At CompUSA, OneCare is $49.99. There is an instant $10.00 rebate and then two $20.00 mail-in rebates. The first mail-in rebate anyone can send. The second is an “upgrade” mail-in rebate in which you need to be eligible for. Eligibility requirements state that you are a Symantec, McAfee, Computer Associates, Trend Micro, Kaspersky or Webroot customer. You cannot be upgrading from a previous version of OneCare.
And, like always, in any case, with proper prevention you should not have any problems with being infected with spyware or viruses. I know I haven’t.
Published at May 22, 2007
in Random.
I am writing this while I also have VMWare server going and in it I am installing Windows 98. The reason why I am doing this is that a client came in today and said he had an issue with his Windows 98 box. He then told me that he believes his hard drive is failing; I believe every single word he told me. I then informed him that due to the age of the unit that it is not worth fixing at all. First things first, his reply was I have a printer and a scanner that only works with Windows 98. I was tempted to say to get rid of both of those items and start from scratch. However, I remembered someone talking about running Windows 98 in a virtual machine and using it that way. So, I am here right now trying to do just that. I am going to see if I can install printers, scanners, faxes, etc just as quick or easy and if it runs just as quick and easy as it being on a Windows 98 box.
Wish me luck, I will post my progress. If you’re interested in trying this out, you can get a free virtualization software over at www.vmware.com. You will need to register with your information, name, address, etc. and you can then download the VMWare server software (FREE VERSION). You will also need legitimate media like the Windows 98/2000 install CD and a CD-Key. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment and I will try to address them to the best of my ability.
Published at May 18, 2007
in Random.
According to this article over at Neowin.net, Dell has stated it has plans to release a Latitude tablet based notebook. What does this mean? Possibly cheaper than average tablets.
I’m certain glad to see another big name computer such as Dell move into this market. I believe that this is the future. I got to use a tablet at work and the hand writing recognition is unbelievable. I was able to draw, write, and do whatever just like I would do with a regular paper and pencil.
Now if only Apple would come out with their highly anticipated tablet Mac notebook.
Published at May 15, 2007
in Random.
I woke up and checked my normal set of sites. One thing that caught my attention was this article on Digg.com. The article pertains to Attorney General, Alberto Gonzalez. He is proposing a new bill to increase the penalties of copyright infringement. Currently, IMHO, copyright infringement is viewed as a minor crime; however, the RIAA and the MPAA would LOVE to see the penalties for downloading a movie increase to 10 years minimum in a federal prison and or life or even possibly death – ALL OVER A DOWNLOAD? THE RIAA AND THE MPAA SUCK!
Anyway, the bill goes on to talk about many different topics and many different increases in punishment. The bill would include criminalizing the “attempt” to infringe copyright. From that context this is what I gathered, if you even go and visit a Torrent Site or a Newsgroup site, and your IP is logged, you’re in violation of this law and will be punished accordingly. Now if that isn’t 1984ish then either I’m dumb or you’re too blind to see this! This is insane! How much more of our freedom are we going to give up? I’m not talking about politics here I’m talking about legitimate freedom that we are in jeopardy of being taken away completely!
This bill goes on to include life in prison for anyone who uses pirated software that causes death or harm! The example cited is one of a hospital that uses a pirated piece of software that eventually leads to a death. What the freaking is going on in this guy’s head? Or anyone even remotely sane to even considers passing this bill!
Call your Congressmen and tell them that you do not want this bill passed! Tell them that this is infringing on your FREEDOM! Do it, do it now!