Windows

I'm not sure if this was related to my recent install of XP SP3 (I haven't done anything else of note recently...), but I found out today that I was unable to view CHM files on my system. Most of my manuals are stored in CHM format, so, this was something of a pain. While the file itself opened fine, and the content list pane was accessible, the content pane was not; I instead was greeted with a "The page cannot be displayed" error message.

WPA 2 is pretty much the default encryption standard for wifi networks nowadays. However, standard XP installations do not support it by default. To enable WPA2 support, an update - KB893357 - needs to be downloaded and installed.

If you are not keen on going through the whole Genuine Windows (sic) crap, googling for KB893357 should provide you with a direct download link for the update.

I had an issue earlier today where my microphone was not being detected on my semi-new Windows box. The system uses a Gigabyte motherboard with onboard Realtek audio. All drivers from the driver CD had been installed. But my microphone and front panel input options in the Windows Volume Control were all greyed out.

I am not sure what the exact solution was, but I did all the following things:

Unlike Linux where updates for both your hardware and software are taken care of neatly, Windows usually requires some manual labour when it comes to keeping drivers for your hardware up to date. This niche can be filled through the use of Driveragent, a service that checks your present hardware setup and recommends appropriate updates.

One of my linux boxen (my fastest with the best hardware) died a couple of days ago :( Motherboard issues. My two other Kubuntu boxen are stocked with hard drives and therefore, when I wanted to retrieve data from the hard drive of my busted PC, I didn't want to risk fucking around with the already overloaded PSUs of said boxen. However, my sole Windows box was pretty free, but obviously Windows does not understand Ext3.

If you ever run into an error along the lines of 1155 instmsi30.exe not found specifying a directory, usually your CD-ROM drive, you need to update your Windows installer.

I ran into this error earlier today while burning a Data DVD. This was caused because the amount of data being written was too close to the maximum capacity of the DVD. Reducing it by a couple of MB fixed the issue.

Beats me as to why it happens though ...

I usually have something along the lines of Adobe's PDF Writer or Flash Paper and such, to print stuff directly to a file. However, earlier today, I found myself needing similar functionality, but not having the afore mentioned software. Therefore, I had to resort to using the "print to file" check-box on the Windows print form that allowed me to save a document to a file on the hard disk.

I was asked by some dude online today as to what the difference was between typing command and cmd in the Start -> Run menu. To repeat my answer to him:

• Typing command runs COMMAND.COM. Typing cmd runs cmd.exe.
• command is basically the 16-bit command-line interface. It is essentially a legacy application. cmd, on the other hand is the 32-bit CLI, and is comparatively modern and more user friendly.

Problem: I've set up Samba on my Linux box and can access my Windows shares fine. However, every time I want to access a file from my Windows share, Linux, difficult motherfucker that it is, downloads the file, stores it in a temp directory and then plays it.. So, if I want to play .. say a 1.4 GB movie, I have to download the entire damn thing across my network to see it.. Not Good Enough.