I’m failing at blogging big time at the moment. I’ve had several ideas for posts recently but I seem to start them and can’t finish them.

Anyway, this one seemed to write itself so hopefully it’ll be a bit of a kick start!

I took a call earlier in the week as someone wanted to print on both sides of the page while using Word 2010.

This is what she was expecting to see in the print options.

As you can see there are options to flip on either the long edge or the short edge.

This is what she was seeing instead.

My first thought was that the duplex option hadn’t been enabled on the printer driver but this wasn’t the case. Clicking through to the printer properties allowed the user to choose double sided printing which came out as expected.

I’d like to say I could take the credit for figuring this out but a search helped me out.

I found this thread on a Microsoft support forum which detailed the same problem.

It suggested the cause was down to a missing DLL

c:\windows\system32\prntvpt.dll

It was indeed not the system.

I upgraded the .NET framework on the PC to version 4 but this still didn’t solve the problem

The thread suggested two other options,

1) Uninstall .Net Framework and reinstall.

2) Copy the dll from another PC.

I went for option 2.

I found a PC that was on the same .NET version, copied the DLL and ran the following from a command prompt

REGSVR32 c:\windows\system32\prntvpt.dll

I reopened Word 2010 and the double sided options reappeared.

This was a Windows XP system but I’m pretty sure the same thing would apply for Vista/Windows 7.

Had a bit of weird support query I wanted to blog about in case I need it again, it helps anyway else or for further comment!

Client called as she’d setup some shortcuts on her desktop to some files she uses on a regular basis and they had disappeared.

I wasn’t sure where they’d gone, maybe she’d deleted them by mistake, so put it down to one of those things and we re-created them and left it at that.

She called me about a week later with the same problem. We re-created the shortcuts again and I setup auditing on the PC to track file deletes from the desktop.

She called back about a week later with the same thing.

After I’d setup auditing I went away and did some more research and found this Microsoft support article,

Desktop shortcuts disappear in Windows 7 (KB 978980)

Basically there is a “System Maintenance Troubleshooter” task that runs periodically and one of the areas of maintenance is to tidy up broken desktop shortcuts (a shortcut whose target doesn’t exist). If it finds more than four broken shortcuts on the desktop it deletes them all.

The thing is as far as I could tell they weren’t broken shortcuts – the missing shortcuts all pointed to files on the network but they were all accessible, she uses them on a daily basis!

The annoying thing about this is the “workaround” provided by the support article.

Method 1 – Keep the number of broken shortcuts to four or less

Method 2 – Disable the System maintenance troubleshooter

Click Start and then click Control Panel

Under System and Security click Find and Fix Problems

On the left navigation pane click Change Settings

Set Computer Maintenance to Off

As far as I can tell the shortcuts aren’t broken so how can I keep them to less then four!

Disabling system maintenance is something I’m not inclined to do either.

So what to do instead?

One option is to follow the details in this post.

The system maintenance tasks are basically powershell scripts stored in c:\windows\Diagnostics\Scheduled\Maintenance

The scripts are viewable and after tweaking the permissions to allow you to edit them you can make any changes you like.

The article suggests deleting a section of the code so that it will always return an empty list of broken shortcuts hence there will be nothing to delete.

My preference is to change the parameter on the threshold for broken shortcuts as it’s a little less drastic than chopping code out.

if(-not([String]::IsNullOrEmpty($brokenDesktopShortcuts) -and [String]::IsNullOrEmpty($brokenStartupShortcuts)) -and (((Get-ListLength $brokenDesktopShortcuts) + (Get-ListLength $brokenStartupShortcuts)) -gt 100))
{

The bit in bold was 4 originally.

The comments in the article have similar suggestions including a batch file you can use to do the whole thing for you.

My only concern about this is that the scripts could be changed in a future service pack or software update and you’d end up with the same problem.

I also don’t understand why the System Maintenance Troubleshooter has no configurable options other than “On/Off”.

I haven’t actually implemented this for the customer as I provided my own couple of workarounds to try.

The first is that if you create a folder on the desktop and put the shortcuts in there the problem goes away entirely – it’s an extra click so again this isn’t always desirable.

The second is that since this Windows 7 why not make use of the “Jump Lists” feature – it’s designed exactly with this scenario in mind!

I ran through jump lists and she was very pleased with that as it was easier than having to navigate to the desktop to find the shortcuts.

Anyone else come across this? Any other suggestions for something I’m missing.

Yeah you read that right – Windows XP.

We’ve been installing some new PCs for a client recently and we needed to install Windows XP (the reasoning behind this is best saved for a separate discussion).

So we inserted the Windows XP installation CD, booted from the disk and waiting while Windows setup loaded. The PC then “blue screened” with the stop error 0x0000007b.

This particular error is “Inaccessible_Boot_Device” and if you do a quick search this is normally pretty straight forward to sort.

In the BIOS look for the AHCI settings, switch to IDE/Legacy/Emulated whichever your BIOS allows and try again.

After saving the settings and trying again all continued as normal.

Windows XP doesn’t support SATA AHCI out of the box as it requires specific drivers which is why changing the mode works. Once the OS is installed you could then install the correct drivers and re-enable AHCI if needed.

A couple of days later the same client asked for another PC where we ran into exactly the same problem.

However, switching from AHCI mode didn’t fix the issue.

It didn’t take long to figure out the main difference between the two PCs was obvious.

The first PC was an INTEL based PC whereas the second one was AMD.

The problem is that Windows setup doesn’t know anything about the AMD chipset. Whereas the generic Intel one provided with the setup routine while running in IDE mode was enough to install Windows.

I downloaded the drivers from the HP website (the PC manufacturer) but was unable to use them during setup (by pressing F6) as it was the chipset driver I needed to load, not a storage device driver.

So how to get around this?

I used a brilliant tool that has been around for ages.

nLite

This tool is for slipstreaming items into the installation CD. Generally this means service packs, hotfixes, etc but the tool also has the capability to add drivers.

You could do all this by hand but the tool makes it very simple and will even burn the CD directly or create an ISO file to use later.

Using my brand new CD i was able to install Windows XP without further issue.

This slipstreaming probably would have solved the same problem on the Intel based PC but it’s probably not worth the extra effort to create a custom install CD if temporarily switching modes works ok.

Further to my last post on this I’ve had still had mixed results getting my Three modem to connect to my Windows 7 systems.

Now that Windows 7 is on general release I had a quick look on the Three support website and find a support article specific to my problem

A quick firmware upgrade is all that is needed

From http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/Mobile_Broadband_Help

If you have a ZTE MF627 and have already upgraded to Windows 7 or Snow Leopard, your modem will not work until you download the firmware updates. You will be able to install the dashboard software (and you should do this!) but you will not be able to connect. Once you have installed the dashboard, using an alternative connection, or on another computer, go to www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/About_my_mobile/Downloads and select ZTE and then MF627. You will then have the option to download the correct firmware for your modem – either Driver Setup – For Windows 7 Only or Driver Setup – For Mac 10.6 Only. Click the correct link to download the .exe/.zip file, and if you are using an alternative computer, transfer the .exe/.zip file to the computer that has Windows 7 or Snow Leopard already installed.

Plug in your modem, double click on the .exe/.zip file and follow the on screen instructions to install the firmware. It is very important that you do not remove the modem during this process, and that you do not switch your computer off before it is finished. If you have a laptop, make sure it is plugged into the wall, or you have at least an hour of battery charge left.

Once installed, remove your modem and restart your computer. Your modem will now work.

The firmware update is was straight forward to install and only takes a few minutes. It does mean you lose the whole “plug and play” aspect of Three’s mobile broadband offering but I imagine new subscribers will get devices with the latest firmware

Just a quick one!

I recently acquired a 3 Mobile broadband dongle

The specific model of the dongle is ZTE MF627

When i ran the installer program on my laptop (which is running Windows 7 Professional) everything seemed to install ok but it refused to pick up the modem

I tried it on my netbook which is also running Windows 7 and had exactly the same problem

I then tested it on XP SP3 and Vista SP2 systems and they worked fine

Having decided it must be something to do with Windows 7 I tried running the connection program as administrator (as helpfully suggested by Vijay via Twitter) but this didn’t seem to make any difference for me either

So I went back to the beginning, removed the software and when i re-installed and I changed the compatibility settings to run as XP SP3 and to run as administrator (which it would have done anyway, since it was installing a program)

I did try Vista SP2 initially but this didn’t want to run at all

On my device the installer program is called “VersionControl.exe”

It then re-installed and it worked!

Now that it is installed the connection program doesn’t appear to need any compatibility settings and I’m able to connect ok

I had about three hours sleep last night though so your milage may vary

Minor Update:
When you connect to the Internet the software will automatically update.
Since the software is an auto-updater there is no way to force compatibility settings. I did an update and promptly couldn’t connect again

Uninstalled and followed my original method and i reconnected ok

In case you have been living under a rock Windows 7 RTM was made available to Technet and MSDN subscribers yesterday

I grabbed my ISO’s this morning and was thinking about how best to approach the upgrade on my netbook.

I then remembered that when Vista was first released there was a tool for letting you know if your system would be up to the task and thankfully there is also a Windows 7 version.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (Beta)

Here a grab of the final report,

No major problems.

It’s suggesting I do a backup as I’ll need to do “custom install” (i.e a clean install). Since the netbook is running XP this is to be expected.

It also says that ActiveSync isn’t compatible with Windows 7. This isn’t a surprise either as it was replaced with Windows Mobile Device Manager in Vista.

At the top of the report it says that the system meets all four of the system requirements. Drilling into it you see this,

I haven’t installed any extra RAM in the netbook yet, so was pleased it didn’t kick up too much of fuss about that. I was also glad to see that it’s Aero capable!

Guess what I’ll be doing this weekend?

There has been an series running on Channel 4 this week on sex education with a specific focus on young people and how they gain all the information about “the birds and the bees” from Internet porn

They are also started a campaign called “Protect Kids from Porn”

I had a whole post drafted out in my head about the features built in Windows Vista and Windows 7 but the excellent Mark Wilson blog got his post online before i did

His also shows how to turn on parental controls in Mac OS X. He didn’t show the windows equivalent as all his machines are domain joined so i thought I’d help out. These screenshots are for Windows Vista but the principles will be same in Windows 7

Click the Start button and start to type “Parental Controls”, click it (or press enter) and then click continue at the UAC prompt

Click on your child’s user account (or create one first, then click it!)

The parental controls screen is displayed and the very first option is to turn on the controls. By default activity reporting is turned on too

If you click OK now that’s actually enough to get you started

Here is what the settings will be configured for

Web Filter – defaults to the medium level

Time Limits – none

Games – no restrictions

Programs – Any

At this level anything unrated will get blocked as will categories such as pornography, drugs, weapons, etc

If you wanted to get a bit more specific you can customise the web filter first by click the “Windows Vista Web Filter” link which will display this screen

I’ve changed the web restrictions to the custom setting so we can see the categories available

On this screen we can pick one of the predefined categories

From the Vista help files

There is a disclaimer at the top of the help page

The Parental Controls web filter rates the content of websites, and it can block some websites based on the content categories you decide are objectionable. Turning on the web filter should significantly reduce the number of objectionable websites your children might view, but it does not offer absolute protection. Because objectionable content is subjective, the filters might not block all of the content that you want them to block.

Which is sort of understandable – we can’t block spam 100% accurately so don’t expect it with the content filter

What you can also do is setup blocked and allowed lists by clicking the “Edit the allow and block list”

From here you can make specific decisions about websites. Let’s say i was worried about my child using Facebook. I could add the domain name in here. There is also a setting here that only allows sites to be viewed if they are on the allowed list. You can also export your lists here so that you can take them to other computers (or for multiple accounts on the same PC)

The final two options on the parental controls main screen allows you to stop file downloads and also vist a web site that allows you to request a rating for a site

If someone tries to visit a blocked site they’ll see this

If they think the page has been blocked by mistake they can shout “DAAAADDDDD!!!” or “MOOOOMMM! and click on the “Ask an administrator for permission”

You’ll get a UAC prompt, you enter your password and you can then choose to allow or block the site

Other parental controls include setting time limits (no computer use after bed time), place restrictions on the games that are played (if a game is Games for Windows certified it’ll have an age rating and content categories

As with the web filter you can block or allow access to specific games and block a game if doesn’t have a rating

Finally you can block the actual applications that run the PC. If your worried about them using peer to peer applications and being exposed to questionable material you can setup a list of applications they are allowed to use (Microsoft Office for doing their homework for example)

Once this is all setup you can then view reports that keep a track of the user accounts computer usage

It’ll let you know which websites they use the most, which games they are playing, when they are logging on, what changes are being made to the system,etc,etc. You get summary reports as well as full details. You can even get the system to remind you to view the reports by clicking on the family safety options button

Very powerful stuff considering it’s built into the operating system. You can also take a layered approach to this

OpenDNS allows you allow and block web content based on categories (you could use this in conjunction with the Windows filter)

Many home routers as allow you to setup restrictions there

You can also buy third party software (NetNanny for example)

Lots of ISPs have protection systems you can take advantage of

However the important thing is to take a proactive approach to this

In the first show the presenter asked the question

“Why aren’t these controls turned on by default”

I think this shows a naive approach to computer safety (as well a misunderstanding of some basic principles)

When you get in your car does your seat belt plug itself in?

When you buy a brand new computer the first account that gets created becomes the system administrator (how would you set it up else?)

This means it doesn’t really matter if the parental controls are on or off. You would have the power to turn them off anyway

As my children gets older this is something I’ll be giving a lot of thought to.

The Channel 4 program pointed out that many parents probably don’t know what their kids are doing with their computers

While there are a lot of systems in place to protect children it’s still ultimately down to the parent to make use of these systems.

Hopefully the Channel 4 campaign will raise some awareness

Some links of interest from the Channel 4 campaign site

ParentsCentre

www.parentscentre.gov.uk/usingcomputersandtheinternet This site directs parents to links and articles on a broad range of topics surrounding internet use and the associated dangers that exist.

Know IT All (KIA)

www.childnet-int.org/kia A Government-funded suite of educational resources from Childnet designed to help educate parents, teachers and young people about safe and positive use of the internet.

Kidsmart

www.kidsmart.org.uk Aimed primarily at parents and people who work with children, this site includes top tips, resources and some "SMART" rules to help teach children how to stay safe online.

Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI)

www.fosi.org FOSI aims to make the online world a safer, better experience for the whole family. The site promotes best practice, tools and methods in the field of online safety.

Thinkuknow

www.thinkuknow.co.uk A set of sites, each aimed at a different audience (children aged 5-16, parents and teachers) with age-appropriate safety tips. Includes a place which young people can use to report experiences where they feel uncomfortable or worried about someone they are in contact with online.

Can’t believe how long it’s been since my last blog post! I’ve really no idea where the days are going at the moment

I’ve had a few problems with my work PC recently. It becomes very unresponsive and gets progressively worse during the day

I fired up the trusty task manger and the CPU was at 100% usage

I switched to the Processes tab and sorted the list so i could see which process was causing the problem

At the top of the list were various Trend services (We use Worry Free Business Security – I’m not a fan of the product name to be honest!)

When i stopped the Trend client the CPU usage went down and back up when i started it again

I trawled various online resources to see if could get to the bottom of it with very little luck

I was planning on submitting a support case with Trend but decided to have one last go myself

This time i looked a bit closer at the process list a saw multiple entries for TASKENG.EXE

The total process count was at 2675 – that couldn’t be right

I knew that TASKENG is the Vista task scheduler so had a look in there

Turns out this is a pretty common problem and it’s simple to fix (it’s in various different blog posts and forums)

• Go to the start menu.

• Type task scheduler and press enter.

• Press continue on the UAC prompt.

• In the left pane of task scheduler, right-click on Task Scheduler Library.

• In the view submenu, make sure the Show Hidden Tasks option is selected.

• The hidden task that is likely at fault has a name that starts with User_Feed_Synchronization.

• Select the scheduled task

• To verify that this task is creating all the taskeng.exe processes, select the History tab in the middle pane near the middle of the screen.  If you expand out the Level and Date and Time Columns, you should see errors and that are about 5 minutes apart.  If that’s the case, then this task is the problem.

• Right click the task and select Disable.

Obviously this will stop your RSS feeds from updating (the Windows list – this has nothing to do with Outlook 2007)

If you do want to use your RSS feed list you can also try deleting the task and then from an elevated command prompt enter

msfeedssync enable

This will re-create the task for you if the problem with causing by the task being corrupt

Once I’d deleted the task i used

TASKKILL /IM TASKENG.EXE /F

This killed off all the extra processes that had been created. I know i could have just rebooted the PC but it was a nice feeling watching them all disappear

My process count went down to 67 and the system suddenly got a lot more responsive

A did eventually reboot and Trend started up happily without taking too many of my system resources

My guess is that Trend became overwhelmed with trying to monitor so many processes which why it was the one that initially seemed to be the cause of the problem

Just wanted to share as I had this exact problem…thanks Tim!

Also it’s so I don’t forget how to do it!

Installing SQL Management Studio Express on Vista x64 – Tim Long

It’s still very annoying that 64-bit Vista/XP still isn’t on a par with 32-bit brethren as this isn’t the first time I’ve ran into problems installing software but that rant can wait for another time

Not the first time you’ve heard this story but thought I’d share

One of our clients is just about to change all their PCs as part of a larger IT project

They currently don’t have any Vista PCs so we had a chat about that. Obviously the client has heard all the usual press stories and second hand tales of woe but wanted to know what I thought. I told him my only concerns were his line of business applications as we’d need to make sure there were no compatibility issues

I received a document with details on compatibility for server/database/client and this bit jumped out (names protected)

“Note: It is a requirement of the ****** install with Vista 32bit a) to use SQLServer ODBC driver, not the SQL Native driver that comes with Vista; b) to ensure the selection for User Account Control (in Control Panel, Security Settings) is switched OFF for that user in the user admin area prior to running the ****** Installshield (else below errors will occur) and remain off, otherwise ****** will not work (creating the ODBC within the UserDSN may resolve this, however that ODBC is then only available to that specific Windows user).”

Not exactly clear to be honest so I asked for some clarification

Does this mean you want us to UAC off permanently or just for the installation?

The response was,

“By this we mean that if you leave it off it will work and therefore our recommendation, but we do have one client who has left it on and instead created the ODBC’s in the UserDSN and have, in their specific instance (so far as they are not live yet), successfully used ****** using Vista with UAC on.   UAC has not been without its problems and we therefore cannot give a definitive guarantee ****** will work with UAC on in all cases.”

So this is the “you must lower your security to make our app work” response

I ignored the “UAC has not been without it’s problems” line (for now) and replied to ask when they expected the program to be 100% Vista compatible so I’ll post back here when I get a response

I’ve still got to ask about their other LOB application so will be interesting to see what the response is there