After much searching and sifting through several programs that forcefully terminate processes, I finally located this article that mentions a simple program named close that does a great job of asking an application to shut down. I tested it on notepad with some unsaved changes and instead of killing it off, notepad asked if I wanted to save the document. My main focus was for a program called HideIt. It will hide programs automatically, but only when it is first launched. If HideIt is already running, it won't hide the other windows. This is expecially annoying for some scheduled tasks that run that I don't need to see the window or that I don't want to take focus away from what I'm already doing.

Now, the scheduled task launches a batch file. The batch file closes HideIt and then opens HideIt again which hides the batch file from view and returns focus to the previous application (usually something I'm typing). Perfect!

Previously, I had to either wait for the batch file to finish or click back on the window I was keying in text. I had tried using PSKILL from SysInternals, but it left the system tray icon each time and eventually there were several duplicated icons. Now, the icon goes away and comes back so fast it appears to not even change.

 

 

( close windows application gracefully )

Free viewer for AutoCAD formats.
View and measure DWG, DWF and DXF files in one viewer.

This AutoCad viewer does a fair job viewing simple DWG files. Printing is disabled, but looks like it can be added through purchasing a license. Drawings that include portions of other files produce an error and fail to load completely. This works great for being able to look over a drawing on a PC that doesn't have AutoCad installed.

AutoCad DWG Viewer
Other free viewers from Brava! software

 

 

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Yes, I am excited about this one. After performing a normal data recovery and finding very little data that shows it had been obviously deleted, the Deleted Items.dbx folder began drawing attention. No, the data wasn't in there to grab easily. Instead, the file showed to be empty, but was sitting there all fat and happy at a whopping 346 megabytes. Since there are so many scams claiming to Recover Outlook Express corrupted .dbx files, I thought it would be nice to share one that does actually do the job.

Use "DBXtract" To Extract Messages In Outlook Express DBX Files... has good information on using DBXtract, but offers only a pay-to-download link. The free download of DBXtract v4.50 from PCWorld.com seemed better to fit my requirements. The software is free, but a donation is recommended .. I'll be sure to inform the customer that they need to donate some $$ to the cause. (alternate download link)

Be sure to check the Recover Mode box and give it several minutes to run. So far, this one had recovered 700+ messages. I am now noticing the Sent Items folder is quite large even though no messages show up there either. Good luck!

Other articles of interest:
This one doesn't work .. dont' even try it
The Other E-Mail Threat: File Corruption in Outlook Express

 

 

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Dell PC with Windows XP appears to hang when launching Dantz Retrospect Express HD.

After paging through several suggestions, locate the following document on the Dantz support website: Fixing Updating Status messages in Express HD. You can also locate the information by looking for "Fixing Updating Status" in the EMC Retrospect Knowledgebase.

I haven't tried it yet, but should know tomorrow if it works or not.

apparently .NET 2 breaks Dantz Retrospect Express HD:

 

 

( retrospect updating status )

MSN internet client was giving me a fit and, basically, refusing to dial up to get online. After much frustration, a message appeared stating that by pressing [Ctrl] + [ALT] + [F12], all the previous dial-up information would be cleared. I did this and was guided through the setup wizard which set everthing up just fine. (after about two tries that is)

 

 

( MSN 9.0 dialup )

The stories of these two people just caught my attention:

Lt. Ehren Watada

Raising Yousuf: a diary of a mother under occupation

 

 

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Use the SVDATA command to copy company an entire company's data to another (or new) company. Key it in inder File .. Run while logged in to Mas90 versions prior to 4.0

 

 

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This list is of all the Firefox Extensions that I use regularly on my computers. I have placed them here for convenience and as a reminder of what I use when I'm introducing someone to Firefox.

If you don't have Firefox, I suggest you check it out. I tell people that it's kind of like Netscape was back when it was better than Internet Explorer. Firefox is the best web browser and is even better when customized to your preferences with some of the free additional features available online.

• IE View Lite
• SyncMarks 0.3 is not compatible with 1.5.02, but this patch seems to do the trick
• NoScript blocks Java and Javascript from unsafe websites
• Tiny Menu
• PopupMaster
• Content Area Focus
• NumberFox
• Tab Mix Plus
• HideTabBar
• Fasterfox
• Locate in Bookmark Folders
• Ez Sidebar
• FireBug - web developers only
• -dumy link (don't use)-

This image was taken before a few additions and an upgrade ..

 

 

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Hit [Escape] followed by keys 1234567890-= for F1 through F12
Hit [Escape] followed by [shift] 1234567890-= for F13 through F24
[Ctrl]+R is reset
[Ctrl]+F is page up
[Ctrl]+B is page down
[Ctrl]+P is print screen

( I haven't tried these yet, but I didn't want to lose them either ! )

( AS/400 AS400 )

When trying to connect to the I-Series access software, receive error "unable to connect to data base server due to communications error 6060"

Took down this proposed solution:

• Get the Session name
• Use the wrksbs command
• Locate Qinter
• Use 8
• Key in 4
• Press F4
• Change to *immed
• Try to reconnect

Turns out, the help text following the error CWBDB0058 listed above mentioned the following point number 4 in "Recovery"

• key in STRHOSTSVR command
• followed by the *DATABASE selection

After discussing this item with our resident '400 guru, he tells me that "*ALL" would have been fine since it won't start services that are already running. He also mentions this command should be present in the startup command file of the '400 and should have been running already.

He also mentioned using the NETSTAT command followed by option menu 3 .. then look for AS-something (avgdata or signon? .. files) .. these are part of the Client Access Host Server. If no one can connect using Client Access, this area might prove helpful.

Either way, the file transfer was broke and now it's fine :)

by the way, the file transfer produced this informational message a few times before the transfer program recognized the data properly: CWBTF0004 - No data was matched to the specified options.

( AS/400 AS400 )

Upgrading RAID firmware from a really old version to 8.0 first requires upgrading to 7.00 and then making the step up to 8.0 .. this applies to versions 4, 5 and 6

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I had some trouble locating the software CD for a UPS at a customer location. Everything labeled Compaq, but the software has been difficult to locate.

Here's a good link to download the software HP Power Manager

I had been on the hunt for HP Rack and Power Manager when I stumbled across this forum at HP where Scott Robey had this to say:
"...Would you be willing to try power manager 4.0? This I think is the best option. ...power manager 4.0 is designed for the single UPS multi agent environment (similar to lansafe)."

Other notable links discovered on this trek:
HP R1500 XR UPS

Compaq ProLiant DL360
Compaq ProLiant DL380

 

 

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Arrive on site and discuss trouble with customer. Look over her configuration and notice Bossanova card showing up in "other devices" in Device Manager. Research online and download driver patch for device. Install driver and reboot. System still appears to have trouble connecting to System 36. Look through settings on emulation software and click "Disconnect" button which results in a login screen.

 

 

( IBM System/36 )