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06 Dec 09 Speccy gives you detailed system info

From Piriform, the makers of CCleaner, comes a very useful and promising system information summary tool.

It’s called Speccy:

image 

You can Download Speccy Here , including a handy portable version

30 Sep 09 Generating GUIDs from Visual Studio 2008

I find I have to generate GUIDs often (mostly due to using WiX) and the in-built Tools > Create GUID tool is too cumbersome for this.

I found a blog post that has a simple macro you can customize to bind a keyboard shortcut to paste in a new GUID

Here are some full instructions, using their simple macro code:

  1. Tools > Macros > Macro Explorer (or hit ALT+F8)
  2. Right click Macros, choose New Macro Project…
  3. Choose a location for the Macro project and give it a meaningful name then click Add
  4. Rename Module1 to something more meaningful, then double-click to edit the module
  5. Insert the code to paste a new GUID into the current cursor position / selection:

    Public Sub PasteNewGuid()
    DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.Text = "{" & System.Guid.NewGuid().ToString("D").ToUpper() & "}"
    End Sub
  6. Save the macro project and close the Macro IDE
  7. In Visual Studio: Tools > Options, select Environment > Keyboard
  8. Find the macro command you created (you can use the Show commands containing: to search on guid)
  9. Select the command in the list
  10. Ensure Use new shortcut in: has Global selected
  11. Place the cursor in Press shortcut keys: and hit the shortcut (ALT+G for me)
  12. Hit OK
  13. Test it out

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02 Sep 09 Opera 10 Final Released

As promised, Opera 10 final was released on Sep 1st

http://www.opera.com/

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19 Aug 09 Solution: Explorer open each folder in same window error and SQL Management Studio, IE and Team Explorer errors

Problem(s):

  • When attempting to open a folder in Windows Explorer, the folder opens in a new window, even if “Open each folder in the same window” is selected in Folder Options.
  • Some links in Internet Explorer don’t open correctly
  • Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio: An error with a message like “Unable to cast COM object of type ‘System.__ComObject’ to interface type ‘Microsoft.VisualStudio.OLE.Interop.IServiceProvider’. This operation failed because the QueryInterface call on the COM component for the interface with IID ‘{6D5140C1-7436-11CE-8034-00AA006009FA}’ failed due to the following error: No such interface supported (Exception from HRESULT: 0×80004002 (E_NOINTERFACE)). (Microsoft.VisualStudio.OLE.Interop)
  • Visual Studio Team Explorer: When browsing using the Team Explorer window, you may get COM errors similar to those in the SQL Management Studio error above

Explanation:

I’m not sure of the exact details, but this is what I think I’ve found. Perhaps someone at Microsoft would correct or elaborate on this.

Previously, actxprxy.dll (ActiveX Interface Marshaling Library) was used as the proxy for a multitude of system interfaces, such as IShellFolder and IServiceProvider.

In Windows 7 (and probably Vista also), the GUID of this library has changed from {B8DA6310-E19B-11D0-933C-00A0C90DCAA9} to {C90250F3-4D7D-4991-9B69-A5C5BC1C2AE6}

Secondly, there is also a new Proxy/Stub provider found in ieproxy.dll of Internet Explorer (IE ActiveX Interface Marshaling Library). Some interfaces that previously used actxprxy.dll are now registered to use ieproxy.dll.

Now various problematic software (such as Vault 3.x) will try to register against actxproxy using the old GUID, and for interfaces now proxied by ieproxy.dll.

Solution

You must use regsvr32 to re-register the two proxy DLLs, then reboot

You can use the below batch file to do this.

You must run this batch file with administrative privileges (right click on the file and choose Run as administrator):

RunAsAdministrator

If you don’t run the batch file as an administrator, you will get an error as pictured:

ActxprxyRegisterError

[Download RegisterActxprxyAndIeproxy.cmd]

RegisterActxprxyAndIeproxy.cmd source:

@echo off

:: 32 bit and 64 bit
IF EXIST "%SystemRoot%\System32\actxprxy.dll" "%SystemRoot%\System32\regsvr32.exe" "%SystemRoot%\System32\actxprxy.dll"
IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\ieproxy.dll" "%SystemRoot%\System32\regsvr32.exe" "%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\ieproxy.dll"

:: 64 bit only (32bit on 64 bit)
IF EXIST "%WinDir%\SysWOW64\actxprxy.dll" "%WinDir%\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe" "%WinDir%\SysWOW64\actxprxy.dll"
IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Internet Explorer\ieproxy.dll" "%WinDir%\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe" "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Internet Explorer\ieproxy.dll"

Don’t forget to reboot after re-registering the DLLs!

Edit: The script has been updated to support 64-bit Windows

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19 Aug 09 Using batch parameter modifiers to get specific portions or file info from a full filename

From Using batch parameters [microsoft.com]:

Cmd.exe provides the batch parameter expansion variables %0 through %9. When you use batch parameters in a batch file, %0 is replaced by the batch file name, and %1 through %9 are replaced by the corresponding arguments that you type at the command line

These batch parameter modifiers variable arguments are immensely useful.

That document is missing some examples, so I’ve put together a simple table:

%1

Original argument

“C:\Users\DMoore\Documents\Document Name.txt”

%~1

Expands %1 and removes any surrounding quotation marks (“”).

C:\Users\DMoore\Documents\Document Name.txt

%~f1

Expands %1 to a fully qualified path name.

C:\Users\DMoore\Documents\Document Name.txt

%~d1

Expands %1 to a drive letter.

C:

%~p1

Expands %1 to a path.

\Users\DMoore\Documents\

%~n1

Expands %1 to a file name.

Document Name

%~x1

Expands %1 to a file extension.

.txt

%~s1

Expanded path contains short names only.

C:\Users\DMoore\DOCUME~1\DOCUME~1.TXT

%~a1

Expands %1 to file attributes.

–a——

%~t1

Expands %1 to date and time of file.

19/08/2009 02:53 p.m.

%~z1

Expands %1 to size of file. (bytes)

9

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11 May 09 iTunes Lite

iTunes without the bloat, and the invasive Quicktime installer + annoying Bonjour service.

Install Quicktime Alternative, then the iTunes installer from Ajua Online.

That’s currently 17.8MB for the iTunes installer, and 10.8MB for Quicktime Alt. As opposed to the 80MB of bossy Apple iTunes installer.

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26 Nov 08 20 of the best optical illusions

20 Top Optical Illusions [Telegraph.co.uk]

Some I haven’t seen before, and some of the most famous. Trippy!

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26 Jun 08 London Visa News

News on the London front! I still have quite a few months left on my visa, but my 12 months of allowed work are nearly used up. This means I can still stay in London but won’t be allowed to work.

My job wants to keep me on, so I will basically have to come back to NZ for a short time soon. From there, work will arrange sponsorship for me, and I will then re-enter London on a work visa that lasts for up to 2 years and is then renewable.

So, I will be coming back in the next month or 2, provided the money situation at work gets sorted out. This time I will try to arrange to stay for at least 2 weeks to make the trip worthwhile.

I will keep things up to date once I get some more money and can choose some dates and book flights.

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12 Jun 08 Green Tea Pills are like, whoa

So my workmate offers me a green tea pill this afternoon. I like green tea, and a green tea pill sounds healthy and good enough (if not a strange way to be getting your green tea).

He then checks on the bottle, and notes a warning saying “Do not take after 4pm” and tells me about it after I’ve already downed the pill.

Turns out the pill has got caffeine, guarana and every other possible legal stimulant and anti-oxidant you could name.

It’s just after 11pm now and I feel like I could stay up for another 5 hours.

Well, at least the buggers work. I’ll just try to make sure if I try one again, it’s in the morning.

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