September 23rd, 2008

Posted by Jason Perlow

One month and still going strong. I guess.

One month ago, I pledged that I would try Windows Vista on my new PC for a month before deciding whether I would keep it or revert back to Windows XP as my primary desktop OS.

The verdict? I’m sticking with Vista, begrudgingly.

Since I resolved my initial issues with the machine, obtaining a faster video accelerator to do digital photo and video editing and upgrading to the 64-bit edition with all of Dell’s crapware removed, its been running propecia sale pretty smoothly. Of course, I’ve tweaked the box considerably, disabling UAC and adding a number of other housekeeping programs such as Advanced SystemCare and Norton Internet Security 2009 (Which I will note is a MAJOR improvement in terms of performance and systems overhead over previous Norton programs in the past, it’s practically a complete rewrite). Besides photo, video and sound editing with Open Source applications such as GIMP and Audacity I primarily use my Vista box for running Microsoft Office 2007 and Internet browsing. Recently I’ve been experimenting with TVersity which is this slick free multimedia gateway application that allows your PC to be the central video, audio and feed hub for all your consumer electronics devices, such as DVR set top boxes, PS3s and XBOX units.

Still, there isn’t much I do on that Vista machine that works any better than on my Windows XP systems. None of the software I run “requires” Vista. My company issued Lenovo T60 laptop runs on XP and most of the same software, although it’s only a 32-bit Core Duo and not a 64-bit Core 2 Quad, so naturally it’s not as snappy. My 4GB Athlon 64 X2 that my wife is using to run many of the same applications as the Vista box is also running smoothly, although it can only take advantage of 3.5GB of its total memory due to 32-bit limitations in the OS.

My servers all run various virtualized versions of Windows Server and different flavors of Linux, running the hypervisor of the week that I happen to be playing with, whether it be KVM, Xen, or Hyper-V.

I have no intention of reverting to XP on my Vista machine because at this point it would be a major hassle to re-install the system now that everything is stabilized. But that doesn’t mean I am necessarily HAPPY with Vista or that I think my current computing experience is any better than my previous setup. I’m simply resigned to stick with it because there would be no net benefit for me to downgrade at this point. The machine was designed to run Vista, and its working, so I’m not going to mess with it. I’ll note however that with 4GB of total system memory, I hover between 50 and 60 percent RAM available when I have Norton, Skype, Pidgin, UltraVNC and Advanced SystemCare running in the background with Aero fully enabled and my wife’s 3.5GB  XP machine is 70 or 80 percent free with the same system processes running.

Now the question begs, do I intend to upgrade any of my other PCs to Vista? No, at least not until I need to get new desktop PCs. My wife is happy with XP SP3 and I have no desire to disrupt her perfectly stable computing environment  — but if it goes south at some point, I’ll probably put her on a combination of Linux and virtualized Windows applications using some sort of Thin Client.

My laptop Windows XP OS is corporate managed, and my employer provides me with patches and updates. I have a removable hard disk that I can use to run Linux on it when I need to, and the company I work for supports Linux for most of our internal applications, so I might consider migrating to it as my full time work OS once we get all the Microsoft Office format issues licked with Symphony to the point where we can completely eat our own dog food and safely exchange files with customers without things getting botched in the process. But in my current role as a Systems Architect I pretty much live in Visio and many of our customer deliverables are in complex Word and PowerPoint documents with lots of embedded stuff, and I just don’t feel like virtualizing XP or or running CrossOver to make that stuff work in Linux on a 2GB laptop to futz with it right now. Maybe when they give me a new laptop that has 4GB of RAM on it.

Have you too “begrudgingly” accepted Windows Vista? Talk Back and let me know.

Your network administrators have to be able to incorporate Windows, Apple, and Linux workstations.

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Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Macs are likely to be on your network. Fortunately, advances within Apple’s OS X operating system simplify connecting Windows XP and Macs on the same network. Windows administrators can follow these steps to add Macs to Windows workgroups.

This blog post is also available in the PDF format in a TechRepublic download.

Verify the PC side

After confirming the Windows and Mac systems all have Ethernet connections and required switches or wireless connectivity, begin by verifying the Windows workgroup name (Figure A):

Figure A

Verify the Windows workgroup name by right-clicking My Computer, selecting Properties, and clicking the Computer Name tab.

Next, confirm the Windows workgroup is sharing the appropriate files within the workgroup:

1. Click Start.
2. Double-click My Computer.
3. Verify the appropriate folders are shared (look for the folder held by a blue hand icon (Figure B), thereby indicating the resource is being shared).

Figure B

The blue hand icon notes shared resources.

Once you’ve confirmed the right Windows files are being shared, or if you only wish to share a printer, check to ensure a printer or printers are being shared by:

1. Clicking Start.
2. Clicking Printers and Faxes.
3. Confirming a printer is being shared (look for the same blue hand icon indicating the printer is a shared resource).

 Before connecting the Mac units to the workgroup, you need to review the users/groups and permissions associated with the shared resources (to ensure you can properly configure the Macs to connect to the resources). For each shared resource:

1. Right-click the shared resource and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
2. Click the Security tab (Figure C).
3. Note the group or user names receiving access to the resource.
4. Note the specific permissions each group or user receives.
5. Make any required adjustments to group and user permissions using the supplied Add and Remove buttons.
6. Click OK (if you’ve made any changes or just close the window).

Figure C

Use the Permissions tab to configure specific permissions for users and groups.

If you don’t see permissions listed specifically for each user, your Windows XP system is likely set to Simple File Sharing. To turn Simply File Sharing off and enable more granular control of file and printer shares:

1. Click Start.
2. Select My Computer.
3. Click Tools.
4. Click Folder Options.
5. Select the View tab.
6. Within the Advanced settings window, scroll toward the bottom, find the Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended) check box, and ensure it’s deselected.
7. Click OK.

Mac

Now you’re ready to move to the Mac. To connect the Mac to an existing Windows workgroup:

1. Click on the Dock’s Finder icon.
2. Click on Network in the Finder’s left sidebar (Figure D).
3. Click on Workgroup.
4. Select the system hosting the resources you wish to connect to.
5. Click the Connect button.
6. Enter the workgroup name and a user name and password possessing permissions to access the resource within the SMB window that appears and click OK (Figure E).
7. Select the resource you wish to connect to, then click OK (Figure F).
8. Once the Windows-based resources appear in the Finder, simply drag an item from the Finder to the Mac Desktop to begin using it (Figure G).

Figure D

Use Finder on the Mac to begin sharing resources.

Figure E

You’ll have to provide the workgroup name and a valid Windows user name and password to connect to Windows resources from the Mac.

Figure F

Specify the resources you wish to connect to on the Windows network.

Figure G

Windows resources will appear within Finder once the Mac completes its connection to the Windows system.

Often, workgroup names won’t match up perfectly. Many Windows XP systems are set to use “MShome” as their workgroup, while others use the standard “Workgroup” workgroup name. The Mac uses the default Workgroup name. However, if you wish to change the Mac’s default workgroup name, follow these steps:

1. Click the Dock’s Finder icon.
2. Click Applications.
3. Scroll to the Utilities folder and select it.
4. Double-click Directory Access (Figure H).
5. Enable changes by clicking the padlock.
6. Provide an Administrator account user name and password.
7. Double-click SMB/CIFS.
8. Enter the workgroup name you wish to use in the resulting window or select it from the provided drop-down menu.
9. Click Apply.
10. Close Directory Access.

Figure H

Use the Mac’s Directory Access utility to turn on Windows Sharing.

Sharing resources

To share Mac-based resources with the Windows systems within a workgroup, sit at the Mac and perform these steps:

1. Click the Dock’s System Preferences icon.
2. Click Sharing within the Internet & Network section.
3. Ensure the checkbox for Windows Sharing is checked.
4. Click the Accounts button.
5. Check the boxes to specify which Mac accounts are authorized to use Windows Sharing.
6. Ensure Windows Sharing is on; if it’s not, click the Start button.

Next, move to a Windows system from which you wish to access Mac resources and do the following:

1. Click Start.
2. Click My Network Places.
3. Click View Workgroup Computers from the Network Tasks window; the Mac system may appear.
4. If the Mac system didn’t appear within My Network Places, go to plan B; click Add a Network Place within the Task Pane.
5. When the Add Network Place Wizard appears, click Next.
6. Highlight Choose Another Network Location and click Next.
7. Within the Internet or network address box, specify the Mac system’s IP address (which can typically be found by clicking the Dock’s System Preferences icon on the Mac, selecting Network, and choosing Built-in Ethernet from the Show drop-down menu), followed by the Mac user name, then click Next. Note this is an absolutely critical step: the network address must be entered as \\10.0.0.1\john if the Mac’s IP address is 10.0.0.1 and the user name is john (Figure I).
8. Specify a name for the network place and click Next.
9. Click Finish.
10. The Mac resources will then appear within Windows.

Figure I

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Once configured, accessing Mac resources from a Windows system is just like accessing resources on another Windows box.

Finally, to print to a printer hosted by a Windows system using a Mac:

1. Click the Dock’s System Preferences icon.
2. Click the Print & Fax icon within the Hardware section.
3. Click the Lock (if it’s closed) to enable changes (and provide an administrator user name and password).
4. Click the Plus icon to add a printer.
5. Click the More Printers button.
6. Ensure Windows Printing is selected from within the first drop-down menu.
7. Ensure Network Neighborhood is selected from within the second drop-down menu.
8. Highlight the workgroup possessing the printer you wish to print to and click Choose.
9. Highlight the Windows workstation hosting the printer and click Choose.
10. Enter a Windows user name and password possessing permissions to print to the printer and click OK.
11. Select the printer from the Printer Browser menu.
12. Specify the printer model using the supplied drop-down menu (or select the Generic listing).
13. Click the Add button.

Do you ever get tired of the startup and shutdown jingle that plays on your Windows XP or Vista computer? If you said yes, here's a better solution! Now, you can use your favorite song or dialogue for your PC’s shutdown and startup music. It can be done with four simple steps, so let's get right to it!

Step 1

Choose the track you want to play during your computer's startup and shutdown times. The only limitations are that it should be in the .WAV format and the size of the file shouldn't be too big. You should keep it within 1 MB or your startup time will be much longer. If the file you want to use is not in the .WAV format, you can easily convert it by using a file converter.

Step 2

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Next, rename the files as “Windows XP (or Vista) Startup.WAV” and “Windows XP (or Vista) Shutdown.WAV,” respectively.

Step 3

Now, go to C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA and you will find your new files listed there. Go ahead and move them to another location of your choice. That's required, just in case you need to revert back to those files at any time. They'll be much easier to find if you put them somewhere you can easily remember.

Step 4

To move them, just copy and paste them into the new location. That's it. Now, you can enjoy a new sound every time you start and shut down your computer!

So, I guess there's just one thing left to ask: What will you use for your new startup and shutdown jingle?!

The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) application provides you with an interface shell into which you can insert various tools called snap-ins to create custom consoles. While custom consoles can come in handy for performing any number of tasks, Windows XP’s MMC 2.0 convoluted console-creation process often seems counterintuitive.

Fortunately, Microsoft has made the new MMC interface developed for propecia ed color=”#003399″>Windows Vista available for Windows XP. Version 3.0 of the MMC application provides more functionality for snap-ins than prior versions and sports a smoother-looking user interface that makes it much easier to create and use consoles.

One of the biggest changes in MMC 3.0 for Windows XP is the new Add or Remove Snap-ins interface. Instead of having to use a tedious procedure that involves two separate dialog boxes to build a custom console, the new MMC 3.0 provides a single dialog box that makes it much easier to create custom consoles.

Downloading and installing the MMC 3.0 for Windows XP is a breeze. However, you must manually enable the new user interface by adding a key to the registry. Here’s how:

Now, when you launch MMC.exe from the Run dialog box, you’ll be able to take advantage of the new Add or Remove Snap-ins interface. You simply scroll through the available snap-ins in the left panel and click the Add button to build your custom console in the right panel.

Notes: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Professional but requires that Service Pack 2 or 3 is installed. Editing the registry is risky, so be sure you have a verified backup before making any changes.