Change Windows XP Logon Wallpaper

This is a simple Windows tip that many look for. You want to change the logon wallpaper on a Windows XP computer. This tip provides how to change it, remove it, tile it, and/or center it.

Be sure you are comfortable using the Registry Editor and understand what problems you can create by improper use.

• Open Registry Editor - click Start, Run, Type regedit, click OK
• Navigater to HKEY USERS\ .DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

To change the image

• Double click the wallpaper value, and type in the full path of your image and the filename.

To remove the image

• Double click the wallpaper value, and delete any filename in the space.

To tile the image

• Set "TileWallPaper" to 14

To Stretch the wallpaper

• set "WallPaperStyle" to 25

Close the registry editor and the changes will take place when you restart the computer.

What is MAME - Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator

Years ago Nicola Salmoria developed MAME and it is one of my favorite computer creations of all time. Those of us lucky enough to experience the early-mid eightys first hand will remember the days of the video arcade and all the classic games that existed. All games were 25 cents and with a hand full of quarters one was set for a while of electronic bliss.

At the time, home game consoles sucked. Atari, Coleco, and Intellivision were the main players but didn't come close to what was really out there in the arcades. If only we could bring them home.

Well 20 years later and consoles now rival arcade games and yet I find myself stuck in the old times when games were simpler and just plain fun.

Getting back to MAME. This emulator allows a modern computer to act as if it were the old processor boards that mad up so many of the old video games. The ROM codes were able to be retrieved (and preserved) to allow the emulator to reproduce the original game in all detail.

Of course one cannot legally own the ROM codes unless on owns the original game.

Visit www.mame.net to obtain the emulator and read more.

HP Photosmart R927 Camera Review

I am catching up on some reviews and the HP R927 digital camera is the last one on the to-do list. Some details first:

• Resolution 3296 x 2480 pixels
• Bit depth 42-bit
• Lens system HP Precision Lens; 24x total zoom (3x optical, 8x digital); 7.8 to 22 mm focal length; approximately 35 to 105 mm (35 mm equivalent); f2.8 to f7.8 m (wide); f5.0 to f8.5 m (telephoto)
• Picture mode Auto (default), Action, Aperture priority, Beach, Document, Landscape, Manual mode, My mode, Night Scenery, Night Portrait, Panorama left, Panorama right, Portrait, Shutter priority, Snow, Sunset, Theatre
• View finder None
• Imaging technology AE bracketing, AE metering, auto focus area, color bracketing, contrast, EV compensation, image quality, ISO speed, saturation, sharpness, video quality, white balance
• Image control functions Off, date only, date and time
• Memory card compatibility Secure Digital

Review: This is a nice and compact digital camera that is easy to use and provides excellent image quality. The rear display is very large (3") and is easy to see even in bright light. Like most digital cameras there is a slight delay before the shutter so some action pictures may not be what expected unless there is a lot of light and the camera is in sports mode. The buttons are simple and well located. The on screen menu can be a bit cumbersome but complete.

The included dock makes charging and image retrieval a snap. One complaint, by a techie, you can't access the memory card as if it was a drive. It is accessed as a device making some retrieval slower and less flexible.

I'd give this camera a 8 out of 10.

Garmin StreetPilot c330 GPS Review

The StreetPilot "c-series" GPS navigators feature a simple touchscreen interface, with automatic route calculation to any destination and turn-by-turn voice-prompted directions along the way. Selecting a destination is straightforward and requires only a limited amount of input from the user. Plus, the StreetPilot c330 allows you to choose between a three-dimensional navigation view or the more traditional “bird’s eye” overhead view. For the ultimate out-of-the-box convenience, the StreetPilot c330 comes preprogrammed with highly detailed City Navigator® street data. The database features nearly six million points of interest including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, and attractions.

StreetPilot c330 Features:
Receiver: WAAS-enabled 12 parallel channel GPS
Display: 2.8” W x 2.1” H (3.5” diag.), 320 x 240 pixels; QVGA transflective TFT with 16-bit color; 64K colors; bright white LED backlight and touch screen
Unit dimensions: 4.4” W x 3.2” H x 2.8” D
Weight: 9.45 ounces
Battery life: up to 8 hours; rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Preloaded maps for all of North America or Europe
Fingertip touchscreen interface
Look up addresses and points of interest
Choose 2D or 3D map perspective
Upload custom POIs, including alerts for speed zones and safety cams
SD memory card expansion slot

Review

We had an opportunity to use one of these for a bit of time. We found using this thing to be relatively easy and intuitive. The screen is large enough to see from a small distance and bright enough to see even on a sunny day. Inputting destinations was easy but the virtual keyboard was arranged alphabetically, not in a keyboard style. The voice was pleasing and easy to understand. One annoyance we found is if you get off track, perhaps intentionally, the GPS continued to try to get you back to the pre-determined route. The mount was easy to deal with and configure for varying locations. Battery life was acceptable.

NETGEAR Wireless-G Router Review

NETGEAR WIRELESS-G ROUTER

Specs...
Good for surfing the Internet, email and online chat
Simple and secure way to share your high-speed Internet connection
Easy set-up with Smart Wizard® installation CD

Features

Internet sharing broadband router and 4-port switch
Configurable for private networks and public hotspots
Double Firewall protection from external hackers attacks
Touchless WiFi Security makes

Physical Specifications:

Dimensions: 6.9 x 1.1 x 4.7 in (175.3 x 27.94 x 119.4 mm)
Weight: 0.26 kg (0.57 lb)
Routing Protocols:

Static & Dynamic Routing with TCP/IP, VPN pass-through (IPSec, L2TP), NAT, PPTP, PPPoE, DHCP (client & server)
Application Support:

Works with most Internet gaming and instant messaging applications
Functions:

Automatically detects ISP type, Exposed Host (DMZ), MAC address authentication, URL content filtering, logs and e-mail alerts of Internet activity
Interface:

Internet/WAN: 10/100 Mbps (auto-sensing) Ethernet, RJ-45
LAN: 4 ports 10/100 Mbps (auto-sensing) Ethernet, RJ-45
Wireless:
Network Speeds: 1, 2, 5.5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, & 54 Mbps (auto-rate capable)
Modulation Type: OFDM with BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, DBPSK, DQPSK, CCK
Frequency:
2.412 ~ 2.462 GHz (US)
2.412 ~ 2.484 GHz (Japan)
2.412 ~ 2.472 GHz (Europe ETSI)
2.457 ~ 2.462 GHz (Spain)
2.457 ~ 2.472 GHz (France)
Firewall:

Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), DoS Attack Protection
Encryption:

40-bit (also called 64-bit), 128-bit, and 152-bit (802.11g only) WEP encryption, WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)
Antenna:

2 dBi
Power Adapter:

12.0 VDC, 1.0 A; plug is localized to country of sale
Warranty:

NETGEAR 1-year warranty
Package Contents

Wireless-G Router (WGR614)
Setup CD
Power Adapter
Ethernet Cable
Vertical Stand
Warranty/Support Information Card

REVIEW
I installed one of these several months ago after a miserable existance with a Linksys. Installation and setup was easy and I don't think I have had to reset it or mess with it since. I am sold on the netgear product for home use.

Windows Vista XP Transformation Pack

Do you like the look and feel of Windows Vista but can't afford or want to upgrade? If you currently have Widnows XP but desire your operating system to look like Windows Vista, download a copy of Vista Transformation Pack 5.5. It basically turns Windows XP into Windows Vista from a visual perspective. After loading the software, I got the Vista look and feel of my Windows XP Boot screen, wallpapers, media player, toolbars, desktop, logon screen, and more.

How To Reinstall Windows Movie Maker

Somehow either Windows Movie Maker wasn't on my computer or I removed it along the way but here's how to get it back.

NOTE: You must be logged on as Administrator or as a member of the Administrators group in order to perform this procedure.

1. Click Start , click Run , and then type the following command: %systemroot%\inf
2. Click OK to open the INF folder.
3. Locate the file moviemk.inf
4. Right-click the file, and then click Install . This will reinstall the files that Search needs to proceed normally.
5. You will be asked to place your Windows XP CD Rom in the drive.
6. After the installer completes Windows Movie Maker should appear in the Start Menu.

Windows XP and 2000 User Profile Tutorial

When setting up a workstation image for a computer that may be used by many different users setting a standard profile is a great time saver. Getting this done is quite easy if you know the procedure. I get many questions on doing this so I am putting together a little how to.

Using a single user (probably Administrator) on a computer not joined to a Windows domain set up all your applications preferences, printers, and permanent drive mappings (not the kind from a logon script). Also, run any applications that require agreements to licenses, clean all the user menus, set all the proxy settings, and what ever else may show up the 1st time a user uses it.

Now, you need to restart the computer and log in as a different user with local administrator rights. I usually create a second administrative user for this purpose. As this second user you would need to allow the user to see all files including system and hidden ones. Open Windows Explorer and go to the C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator folder (this is assuming you used Administrator as your set up user) Find the file ntuser.dat and copy it to the C:\Documents and Settings\Default User folder. You may overwrite the original file, or rename the original to keep a backup.

What this just did. The ntuser.dat file contains all the stuff that you set up during the initial setup. Now whenever someone new logs onto the computer the local profile will be created using the ntuser.dat you copied. You can also add Favorites and other files to the Default User folder so that it is applied to all users.

Windows Logon Scripts got you down? Try KiXtart - A better way to logon scripts

Years ago I stumbled onto KiXtart and have loved it ever since. Being a seasoned Novell guy I enjoyed the possibilities with Novell login scripts. When the Microsoft Server became stronger and stronger I realized my Novell dealings would diminish.

Anyone coming from the Novell world to the MS world soon learns that the MS logon batch files are very limited in what you can do at logon, enter Kixtart. From the KiXtart.org site... " KiXtart is a free-format scripting language and has rich built-in functionality for easy scripting. It supports COM (providing access to ADSI, ADO, WMI, etc) and thus is easily extensible. Since version 4.50 KiXtart comes with inbuild pre-tokenization system for faster loading and smaller scripts and providing some level of intellectual property protection through obfuscation.

In simpler terms it allows you to code simple logon scripts to meet practically any demand. KiXtart supports Windows 3.1 all the way to Windows Vista.

How you use it...down and dirty method.

• Download it from www.kixtart.org, expand the .zip file.
• Copy the files...kix32.exe, kx16.dll, kx32.dll, kx95.dll to the following folder on one of your domain controllers (windows system folder)\SYSVOL\DOMAIN\SCRIPTS. Copying the files here will cause them to replicate to the other domain controllers (if present).
• Create a logon batch file such as logonKiX.bat and assign it to a user.
• Edit the file to look something like this...(this file is for 32 bit Windows)
  

@echo on
kx32.exe logonKiX.kix

• Create a text file with a .kix extension such as logonKiX.kix
• Edit the file to contain your commands, a simple one is as follows...; indicate a comment and are ignored.
  

; check a group membership and if present map a drive
if ingroup("Domain Admins")
use i: "\\ad01\technology$" /PERSISTENT
endif

; map some drives
use f: "\\ms02\apps$"
use v: "\\ad01\district$" /PERSISTENT

; Set the local workstation time to the domain time
run "net time \\dc01 /SET /Y"

; Make sure group policy is current
run "gpupdate /force"

What happens then. At logon the domain controller runs the .bat file you created for the user. The .bat file calls the kix32.exe script application which executes the script. There are several variables that can be added to the kix32.exe command to add to the script execution.

This is a very simple script that is just a start, try it out it works wonderfully. The possibilities are maybe limitless.

Visit the KiXtart site for a full manual, examples, forum, and more. www.KiXtart.org

Windows Server Remote Desktop Connection - The Console

Did you ever need access to your server's console remotely and only have remote desktop? Knowing that remote desktop on a server is actually a terminal session and you can't get to see what is actually running on the desktop. Sometimes this is needed if there is a data engine or what not running that is only accessible from the console.

There are some solutions like install VNC in a remote desktop session and start the VNC server. Then connect to the server console using VNC viewer. This method is pretty effective but what if you didn't want that installed?

Try this click, Start, Run. Type "mstsc /console" without quotes. The "mstsc" command is Microsoft Terminal Server Client, aka Remote Desktop but the /console allows full access to the console similar to Windows XP remote desktop. Try it out.

HP Proliant Server G5 Series Tid-Bit - BBWC Enabler

I bought several HP Proliant DL380 and DL360 servers. All equipped with the new small form factor SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) drives. Some servers had 2 to 5 drives. As with any new server install I wanted RAID 5 on all the servers equipped with more than 3 drives. In usual fashion my HP reseller wasn't aware that the Proliant series servers don't come with a controller capable of RAID 5 right out of the box! Yes, that means there is another component that needs to be purchased and installed. Personally, I can't imagine why a server with 8 drive slots doesn't come equipped with all you need (HP this is a tip) I mean, the part is only about $200 but it's the time involved waiting for the part to get ordered and arrive. The part is a 128MB BBWC Enabler for Smart Array 641/642. You should double check with HP for an exact part for your particular server.

Accessing an Exchange Server with a WAP capable cell phone

I wanted to be able to check my Exchange based e-mail from my Verizon LG8300 cell phone. Recently, I switched from Nextel which had a fancy e-mail interface that ran on a computer at my work. This interface continuously syncronized my Exchange e-mail with the Nextel on-line service. This allowed me to send and receive e-mail from my phone. Since it sync'd both ways deleting a message on the phone also deleted it from the Exchange mailbox.

Verizon doesn't offer any service like that but I figured out how it can be done. First, I needed to get the Verizon on-line service. Verison offers two versions, a $4.99 that gives access but uses air time, and $15.00 that gives access without using airtime.

Accessing an Exchange 2003 server is rather easy and can give a similar experience to what I was used to with Nextel. The Exchange 2003 server must be configured to allow Outlook Mobile Access (OMA). This is enabled within the Exchange System Manager.

From the mobile device (yes this will work with a Windows CE device) go to the URL for the Exchange server and add the extension /OMA onto it.
Example: "http://www.mailserver.com/OMA"

That should work, you may need to check the selection on the OMA setup in the Exchange System Manager to allow non-supported devices.

Microsoft Exchange Outlook Web Access - OWA - Can't Log On

I was recently troubleshooting a problem for a client were they couldn't access Outlook Web Access (OWA) from the outside of the network. I turns out the problem was caused by the means of authentication defined in Internet Information Services (IIS) was defined as Windows Integrated Authentication. This allows Windows clients on the Windows domain the ability to login to OWA without a user or password. The authentication is passed to the webserver by Windows. When outside the local network or on a computer not joined to the domain the authentication is not passed.
Solutions:
1. Have the users login using the domainname\username at the login prompt. This is the easiest solution.
2. Using IIS Admin, right click the website properties, click the Directory Security tab, click the Edit button under Anonymous access and authentication control. Add Basic Authentication, click the Edit button and add your Windows domain, and remove the Integrated Windows Authentication check box. There is the warning about passwords being sent in clear text, if that is a concern consider using SSL.

Moving Windows Shares - Windows Server 2000 and 2003

I needed to move user folders from one server to another. I needed to maintain proper file level security permissions, shares, and share permissions. After doing some searching and testing heres how it works.

BACKUP: Use a good backup software. I used Backup Exec. Make sure you back up the file security. What this will do is backup the entire file structure along with the folder / file level permissions but not shares.

RESTORE: Restore the file structure to the new server. In order for this to work properly the folder structure must be in the exact same place. This will put all the files and folders along with their permissions on the new server.

Now that the files and folders have been added to the new server the shares and share permissions need to be migrated.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows to correct them. I cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.

REGEDIT: Open Regedit and drill down to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Share. With the pointer on the Shares key, right click, and click Export. Name the file with a .reg and put it in a place that you can get to from the other server.

From the new server: Double click the .reg file you created, answer yes to the warnings.

REBOOT: You could restart the server service but I prefer a fresh reboot. The shares with their proper permissions should show up then.

Notes: If you changed the file location you can manually edit the .reg file and correct the paths.