Fix Windows 7 Not Genuine Error

If you see an error on you screen stating that your version of windows 7 is not genuine or you receive a pop up that you may have a counterfeit version of windows then you can easily fix this by running the command below.

• Open command prompt as Administrator. The easiest way to do this is to type cmd in the start-menu, then right click on cmd and click Run as Administrator.
• In the cmd windows type SLMGR /REARM  and press  Enter and wait till it executes.
• Click Ok to restart your system.

When you restart your system you will not see the error.

Windows cannot find drivers for usb devices

I noticed that when I connected any usb memory keys or usb hard drives windows failed to install the drivers. Usb devices I used previously continue to work correctly. Repeated attempts to install drivers failed to resolve the problem.

After a lot of searching I came across somebody mentioning the usbstor.inf and usbstor.pnf files. These should be located in the Windows\Inf folder. A quick search revealed the these files were missing on my system.

I replaced the files and performed an update driver in Device Manager and my system detected the new USB hard drive, no reboot was required.

Exchange 2007 Shell Commands

Here are some Exchange 2007 shell commands that you may find useful.

Get client version used to connected to mailbox

This command will list the user name and the client version and export it to a csv file.
Get-MailboxServer | Get-LogonStatistics | Select UserName,ClientName,ClientVersion,LogonTime | Export-Csv -Path c:\ExchangeClientVersions.csv

Windows 8 Mail Gmail with 2 Factor Authentication

If you have 2 factor authentication enabled on your gmail account then you maybe receiving an incorrect password error with trying to connect using Windows 8 mail.  To resolve this simply create an application specific password in your Google account and then use that password in Windows 8 mail.

K9 Web Protection Parental Control Software

K9 Web Protection is a completely free and very easy to use piece of software for filtering web traffic. It installs very quickly and sits in the background and does not appear to slow down your web browsing. It blocks 24 categories of websites including porn, gambling, and nudity. It also forces ‘safe search’ mode for search engines like Google or Bing.

locked out of windows pc

Image via Wikipedia

I recently could not log in to a pc when its trust relationship with the domain was broken and I did not have the local username or password.  A colleague recommend a utility called NTPassword which can be booted from a CD, USB, or floppy disk.  With this I was able to clear the password of the local administrator and also enable the account.  It is linux based and doesn’t look very pretty but it is menu driven and relatively easy to use.

http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

dell inspiron not powering up

I was recently asked to look a a Dell Inspiron 6000 which refused to power up.  If the battery was charged in another system it ran fine from the battery.  After a quick check on the internet it appears that the DC power jack is a common fault with these laptops.  I purchased a replacement jack and set about replacing it.  Dell provide a service manual for all their systems including the 6000 and it has details on how to strip down the laptop and rebuild it.

Spiceworks for Network Management

Image via CrunchBase

For small to mid size business it can be difficult to keep track of whats happening on your network.  There are plenty of solutions out there but they can be expensive and difficult to configure and support.  Spiceworks is a free browser-based network management and administration program. It provides the user with a single dashboard from which he or she can inventory, monitor and troubleshoot the network and even track Helpdesk calls.

Switching from VB.Net to C#.Net

I am finally making the switch from VB.Net to C#.Net a move that is long overdue.  I have never felt the need to switch because VB.Net did everything I needed, and was easy and fast to develop with.  This is especially useful when developing prototypes.  Most experienced .Net developers appear to use C#.Net and I am also working on some Android projects in Java which has a similar feel.  So now felt like the right time to make this decision.

Ubuntu 11.10 Released

Canonical have release version 11.10 of their desktop Linux distribution.  I have been using Ubuntu for quite a while now but was not a fan of the unity desktop released in 11.04 and had switched to the standard Gnome desktop.  I am glad to say that with the latest release Canonical are back on track and a lot of the issues have been resolved.  The first thing that strikes you is how well it looks.  It is very polished and professionally finished.  The unity desktop now works as it should and is seamless you will be comfortable using it within minutes.  This version comes with Libre Office 3 and Firefox which for most people is all they need.  Performance is also good and desktop animations are very smooth.

If you are a Ubuntu user it is definitely worth upgrading.  For me I am now only using Windows for .Net development.  Everything else is available on Linux.