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If you are not using 7-zip, you need to install it.  It will unzip just about anything, including install shield files, msi files, gzip files, tar files, rpm, deb, iso – over 20 different kinds of files.  It will create compatible compressed files, but it also has it’s own 7z format that has a higher compression ratio that zip.  It will make encrypted files and self-extracting executables with better encryption that regular zip.  Of course it’s open source, mostly LGPL.

Example:  The other day I needed to install a printer driver on a machine that a customer connects to with remote desktop.  HP had the humongous 205 MB download with all the utilities, but all I needed was the driver, so I downloaded the huge basic driver package, which was only 61 MB.  It was an executable, so I tried running it and it complained that the USB was not working while looking for the printer.  This was a virtual machine and I didn’t need USB.  I tried renaming the file to .zip and unzipping it using the Vista built in feature, but it could not read it.  So I installed 7-zip and was able to extract all the files and just install the driver. One more happy customer.

Desktop Restore is a free shell extension that records the position of desktop icons and lets you restore your favorite layout when things have been rearranged by things such as having the screen resolution change.  [more]

www.midiox.com/desktoprestore.htm

This is a context menu where you can save or restore the desktop but there is also a custom save/restore option that saves multi-monitor information:

I was recently configuring an ISA server for a network support customer including automatic configuration using WPAD.  The customer had a 2008 SBS server and a 2003 ISA server (running ISA 2006).  I added a "wpad" alias (CNAME) to the DNS server on the SBS box to allow clients to automatically detect the new ISA server.  However, when I tried to resolve the entry on the SBS server as well as other hosts on the network, it never would resolve.  I tried other CNAME entries on the server, and they all worked fine.  I tried removing the entry and reading it, but got the same behavior.  I decided to let it sit overnight to see if it was a timing issue.  The next day, I still couldn’t resolve "wpad" or "wpad.bofc.local".  I started digging and found that the DNS service on Windows Server 2008 has a built-in "block list" for some potentially dangerous DNS names.  The default list includes "wpad" and "isatap".  Gotcha!  Since I wasn’t concerned with blocking any DNS names, I decided to turn off the "block list".  I used the following dnscmd command: [more]

dnscmd /config /enableglobalqueryblocklist 0

Other helpful commands when dealing with this include (from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc995158.aspx):

To check whether the global query block is enabled, type the following:
dnscmd /info /enableglobalqueryblocklist

To display the host names in the current block list, type the following:
dnscmd /info /globalqueryblocklist

To disable the block list and ensure that the DNS Server service does not ignore queries for names in the block list, type the following:
dnscmd /config /enableglobalqueryblocklist 0

To enable the block list and ensure that the DNS Server service ignores queries for names in the block list, type the following:
dnscmd /config /enableglobalqueryblocklist 0

To remove all names from the block list, type the following:
dnscmd /config /globalqueryblocklist

To replace the current block list with a list of the names that you specify, type the following:
dnscmd /config /globalqueryblocklist name [name]…

Have you run MSINFO32 to get OS information and been greeted by this error: "Windows cannot open Help and Support because a system service is not running. To fix this problem, start the service named 'Help and Support'."  You then go to the services listing and find that 'Help and Support' is not there.

Microsoft indicates this is a known issue on SBS 2003 after installing SP2 (I have seen and resolved this same behavior on Standard Edition as well).  Here is the fix: [more]

1. open a command prompt and change directory to %windir%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries
2. -run 'start /w helpsvc /svchost netsvcs /regserver /install'
3. -once complete, refresh your Services listing and you should see 'Help and Support' ready to be started
4. -after starting that service, run MSinfo32 again

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555912

NTFS Undelete is a free software utility that recovers deleted files that are no longer in the recycle bin.  Of course, you're hoping something hasn't overwritten any of the deleted file.  An ISO image is also provided if you want to run NTFSUndelete from a CD rather than installing the program after deleting a file.  (The ISO image is not bootable, just used to run NTFSUndelete from the CD.) [more]

http://ntfsundelete.com

The user interface is easy to understand and there are some helpful advanced search options (date, size filters as well as file names, etc.)

 

Find the container for the software within the Uninstall path in the registry.  Usually there is a description within that says what program it is tied to.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*Install Container*

Registry DWORD values that can be added are “NoRemove”, “NoRepair”, and “NoModify”.  Setting these values to 1 enables the setting or use 0 to disable.  You can use these settings to keep users from manually being able to remove, repair, or modify specific programs.

It has always baffled me as to which converter to use, the “free standalone” or the “paid integrated with vcenter” converter.  In the past, I have assumed that the paid converter was more capable and I believe it was for some period of time. However, at VMWorld, it was a strong consensus that at this time the standalone converter was much better than the vcenter-integrated converter.

I am doing an SBS 2008 install at a customer and have run into the whole x86 / x64 print driver problem. The SBS box is x64 and that is where I wanted to install the network printers. The terminal server is x86. I did some research on the driver compatibility and universal printer drivers and decided for simplicity sake to use the HP universal print driver. I got everything installed, but during testing a couple of the printers (specifically the HP 4050 series LaserJet), I had a very weird problem come up. Every time I printed something, the printer would display “waiting on manual feed tray” as if the job was specifically targeting that tray. Even when I statically set the default tray in the driver config, it would try to pull from the manual feed tray….ahh the joy of printers. Well, after about an hour of troubleshooting, I tried changing what seemed like a very unrelated setting. [more]

Notice the Paper type is unspecified. By default that is set to "HP Tough Paper" on this model of printer. If that setting is not changed, it defaults back to the manual feed tray NO MATTER WHAT. Does the gremlin in the printer know what type of paper is loaded…well, apparently so. Do yourself an favor and set it to “Unspecified”.

Array Configuration Utility:  If you install the ACU (v8.28), it will  not work with IE8. You must install v8.30.  The error report states that there is already an instance of the ACU running, and will not let you run a second copy. 

The new version of ACU is completely different from the earlier version. Here is a list of changes: [more]

• Diagnostics (ADU - Array Diagnostic Utility) is now integrated with ACU (Array Configuration Utility)
• GUI interface and icon updates
• Tabs control for major task categories...Configuration, Diagnostics, and Wizards
• Controller/Device Dropdown control for selecting controllers and devices
• System Status section displays the overall issue status count
• Transactions from tasks are committed to the controller as soon as the Save or Next button is clicked
• This behavior is new for ACU but similar to how HPACUCLI has always performed
• Systems and Devices Tree supports right mouse click for faster access to available tasks
• Systems and Devices Tree section can be extended by dragging the mouse to show more text information
• Available Tasks section supports a Mini-FAQ description to guide users for task selection
•  ACU now supports context sensitive Help when in a task
• Supports collapsible header sections to simplify viewing of information
• Keyboard controls for accessibility
• Keyboard shortcuts for common tasks
• Scripting for captures and inputs is no longer supported in ACU
• HPACUCLI is now responsible for Scripting
• New SSP (Selective Storage Presentation) interface accessible from the Access Control (SSP) Tab if applicable