Vista "SP0.5" (KB938979 & KB938194) Now Available on MS Downloads

Update for Windows Vista (KB938194)

"This is a reliability update. Install this update to improve the reliability of Windows Vista in certain scenarios. Additional information about this update can be found in KB Article 938194. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer."

Update for Windows Vista (KB938979)

"This is a performance update. Install this update to improve the performance of Windows Vista in certain scenarios. Additional information about this update can be found in KB Article 938979. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer."

An update is available that improves the performance and reliability of Windows Vista [KB938979]

"...

By applying this update, you can achieve better performance and responsiveness in various scenarios. This update also improves the reliability of Windows Vista.
This update resolves the following issues on a Windows Vista-based computer:

• You experience a long delay when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
• A memory leak occurs when you use the Windows Energy screen saver.
• If User Account Control is disabled on the computer, you cannot install a network printer successfully. This problem occurs if the network printer is hosted by a Windows XP-based or a Windows Server 2003-based computer.
• When you write data to an AVI file by using the AVIStreamWrite function, the file header of the AVI file is corrupted.
• When you copy or move a large file, the "estimated time remaining" takes a long time to be calculated and displayed.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, it takes a long time to display the logon screen.
• When you synchronize an offline file to a server, the offline file is corrupted.
• If you edit an image file that uses the RAW image format, data loss occurs in the image file. This problem occurs if the RAW image is from any of the following digital SLR camera models:
• Canon EOS 1D
• Canon EOS 1DS
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, the computer loses its default gateway address.
• Poor memory management performance occurs.

..."

An update is available that improves the compatibility and reliability of Windows Vista [KB938194]

"...

This update resolves some compatibility issues and reliability issues in Windows Vista. By applying this update, you can achieve better reliability and hardware compatibility in various scenarios.
This update resolves the following issues:

• The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver.
• The computer stops responding, and you receive a "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" error message. You can restart the computer only by pressing the computer's power button.
• The computer stops responding or restarts unexpectedly when you play video games or perform desktop operations.
• The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) stops responding when the computer is under heavy load or when very little memory is available. This problem prevents diagnostics from working.
• The screen goes blank after an external display device that is connected to the computer is turned off. For example, this problem may occur when a projector is turned off during a presentation.
• A computer that has NVIDIA G80 series graphic drivers installed stops responding.
• Visual appearance issues occur when you play graphics-intensive games.
• You experience poor playback quality when you play HD DVD disks or Blu-ray disks on a large monitor.
• Applications that load the Netcfgx.dll component exit unexpectedly.
• Windows Calendar exits unexpectedly after you create a new appointment, create a new task, and then restart the computer.
• Internet Connection Sharing stops responding after you upgrade a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista and then restart the computer.
• The Printer Spooler service stops unexpectedly.
• You receive a "Stop 0x0000009F" error when you put the computer to sleep while a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection is active.

..."

Wow, those are some updates.

Take a look at the number of files updated in these two updates and you'll know why it's being called Vista "Pre-SP1" or "Mini-SP1", or "SP0.5"

I'm downloading and applying them both now. Keep your fingers crossed... :)

Four Year Blog-aversary

This is the end of my fourth year of active blogging, and my 2,469th post, and has become my tradition, today I look back on the past year and think about what I've learned...

But first, I'd like to thank you. Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for your blogging.

Thank you all...

 

1) It's not a sprint, its a marathon

Remember to pace yourself, but also remember to keep going, even if it's at a walk... Technology, business, the world, etc will not stop if you do. But again, it does not hurt to husband your strength and set a steady pace for yourself. Sprinting is a good way to max your stress and burn out...

2) There's always room to rescue one more cat

'nuff said...

3) Don't be afraid to delete comments (and don't let the attack comments get you down...)

Look, it's YOUR blog. If you don't like a comment, delete it. If someone throws trash into your yard, you throw it away, right? Same deal.

Also when (when, not if... blog long enough and Mr. Anonymous will drop an attack comment... just a matter of time... sigh...) you get attack comments, try not to let them get you down too much. I know, it's hard to not let those effect you. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt... If it's time to stop blogging, then stop, but don't let the anonymous rabble control you. You control you!

4) If you're a developer, code on the side. Code for the joy of it...

Tech is moving way to fast to assume that everything you'll need to learn you'll learn at work. (LOL... that sounds like an idea for a Dilbert strip or something...)

Take charge of your future and your learning. And apply it! That's the trick. Pick a personally interesting project and start coding. And don't worry, just code.

My OSS projects that I've worked on in the last year have saved my sanity and reminded me why I'm a developer. It's reminded me just how much I love to code. Reminded me of the joy of programming...

5) Remember that teenagers will usually grow out of it

'nuff said...

6) Don't blog/email/comment/im when you're angry or something you wouldn't want your kids or parents to see.

Yeah, it's common sense, but common sense is rarely all that common. Remember, electronic data NEVER dies.

7) Save for retirement NOW

It's pretty simple. The sooner you start saving, the sooner you'll be able to retire... Your retirement is your reasonability. Do you really expect the Social Security (for those of us in the US) to be there for you? Your company pension? Take the time now to start putting away for your retirement...

8) Build your Disaster Kit NOW

Start building your Disaster Preparedness Kit now. And keep building it. Like security, it's not something that's ever done. Again during a major disaster, do you really believe the government will be there as soon as you need them? Your, and your family's, disaster safety and preparedness is, in part, YOUR responsibility...

I've made it my tradition that every Christmas each family group gets more disaster stuff. So each year our kits keep building, growing and getting better. Our kits are not perfect, but something it better than nothing...

I hope you are never involved in a disaster, but it seems smart to prepare for one just in case, doesn't it?

 

Okay, I think that's enough for now. ;)

Take care...

Related Past Post XRef:
Three Year Blog-aversary...
Two Years and Counting...

AsmZip - Compressing and Hiding Assemblies/DLL's in your .Net EXE

Francesco's blog - Compressing and hiding DLLs

"I like the ability to extend the power of my applications by simply adding a reference to an assembly that contains the functions or the controls that I need. I like much less, however, the need to distribute and deploy many DLLs together with my executables. In this post I show a technique that I use to compress (nearly) all the DLLs of a Windows Forms application and "merge" them with the main EXE.

All the files you need are in this ZIP archive, which contains the AsmZip.exe utility (which you run from the command prompt) and two source files, Unzipper.cs and Unzipper.vb. I suggest that you copy the AsmZip utility in a directory listed on the system path, to run it easily.

..."

An interesting deployment approach, sort of the same, yet different from, ILMerge. 

I like that it compresses the DLL's, making the entire package smaller (but of course the EXE bigger).

The main EXE needs to be updated to include the provided UnZipper class (C# and VB.Net versions are provided)

For me, the most interesting thing about this is how it shows .Net's flexibility in loading assemblies.

(via /egilh - Compressing and hiding DLLs)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Gilma - GUI for ILMerge Branched for .Net 2.0
VS2005 Power Toys Pack Installer
MSBuild and ILMerge
"Gilma - GUI for ILMerge Application"
ILMerge Updated
The Code Project - Merging .NET assemblies using ILMerge - .NET

"Team Development with Team Foundation Server Guide" Released (RTW, v1, Final version, etc)

J.D. Meier's Blog - New Release: patterns & practices Team Development with Team Foundation Server Guide

"Today we release the final version of our patterns & practices: Team Development with Visual Studio Team Foundation Server.  It's our Microsoft playbook for Team Foundation Server.  It shows you how to make the most of the Team Foundation Server.  It's a compendium of proven practices, product team recommendations, and insights from the field.

• Download the guide.
• Read the guide online.

Key Changes Since Beta 1

• We added guidelines for build, project management and reporting.
• We added practices at a glance for build, project management, and reporting.
• We added a chapter to summarize key Visual Studio 2008 changes.
• We revamped our Internet access strategies.
• We did a full sweep of the guide.
• We completed more thorough product team reviews for key chapters

..."

Free 6.6MB, 496 page PDF filled with outstanding TFS information.

As I said when the beta version came out, this is a "must read" for anyone using or considering TFS.

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Team Development with Visual Studio Team Foundation Server Guide (Beta 1) - Free PDF from Microsoft and TFS Community
Visual Studio Team System (TFS) System Guidance Codeplex Project Download Index Now Available
Branching Guidance on CodePlex
New Guidance in the Visual Studio Team System Guidance Project

Search your Internet Explorer History/Cache via Windows Desktop Search

Microsoft Support  - Availability and functionality of the Windows Desktop Search: Add-in for Internet Explorer History

"The Windows Desktop Search: Add-in for Internet Explorer History add-in indexes the history of the Web pages that you visit in Microsoft Internet Explorer. Specifically, this add-in creates, maintains, and indexes cached pages that correspond to the Web pages that you visit. This functionality lets you search the contents of these Web pages.
Additionally, if you visit the same Web page on two different dates, two versions of this page will appear in the cache and in the index. Therefore, you can search the contents of this Web page as it existed on the two different dates.

Prerequisites

To install the Windows Desktop Search: Add-in for Internet Explorer History, the computer must have one of the following installations:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003

• Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) or a later version

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4)

• Windows Vista

..."

Microsoft Downloads - Windows Desktop Search: Add-in for Internet Explorer History

"...

 This Add-in indexes the history of the web pages you have browsed using Internet Explorer.
By downloading this Add-in, your Internet Explorer History will be indexed by Windows Desktop Search when your PC is idle or when you select ‘Index Now’. Once the index is updated you can immediately search your Internet Explorer History.

..."

I missed this when it came out last December (December 2006).

One tip, if you want to limit your search to just your IE history/cache, use the "iehistory" qualifier in your search. So lets say you installed this, and then visited my blog, and now wanted to search JUST your IE History for those visits, "iehistory coolthing" would do it for you...

(via Technical Weblog of Eric Charran -  Searching IE History with Windows Desktop Search)

 

Update #1 8/4/2007 @ 5:34PM PDT:

You can also use "store:iehistory" to limit the searching to just the IE History/cache...
(for example, "store:iehistory coolthing")

For additional advanced Windows Desktop Search information, check out this page, Windows Desktop Search: Advanced Query Reference for 3.x

Five Time Zones updated in the "August 2007 cumulative time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems"

Microsoft Support - August 2007 cumulative time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems

"Important This update supersedes and replaces update KB931836, released in January 2007. This update also includes additional time zone changes that were signed in to law after update KB931836 was created. Customers who have already deployed update KB931836 should evaluate whether any of the five specific time zone changes that are addressed in the update described by this KB article merit deploying this update immediately. If systems are not directly affected, you can schedule deployment at the next available opportunity. We recommend that all customers standardize on the most current Windows cumulative time zone update to guarantee the consistency of the time zone database on all systems.

...

Updates from the previous cumulative Windows time zone update

The following changes have been made since the previous Windows cumulative time zone update, described in KB931836:

• Caucasus Standard Time
Changes display name to Caucasus Standard Time as cities in the previous display name have separate time zones, and removes DST settings.

• Armenian Standard Time
Creates a new time zone for Armenia to better align with different DST changes in the Caucasus Region.

• New Zealand Standard Time
Adjusts DST start and end dates according to changes signed in to law after the prior cumulative time zone update was created (February 2007).

• GTB Standard Time
Correct the display name for GTB Standard Time on Windows Server 2003 SP2 to include Bucharest.

• Jordan Standard Time
Adjusts DST start and end times and dates according to changes signed in to law after the prior cumulative time zone update was created (February 2007).

..."

I saw this Time Zone update on Microsoft Downloads and was wondering what its deal was and if I should rush to apply it... Thinking others may have the same question, above is a very hacked and slashed version of the KB article.

(via Satisfy Me - Your questions: Is KB 933360 a required Windows update for Daylight Saving Time and Time Zones?)

Sigh, I guess it was only a matter of time? My 360 is a victim of the 3 Red Rings of Death...

Turn on my 306 this morning and the 3 Red Rings greeted me. sigh... And here I was starting to suck less at Guitar Hero II.  ;)

After only about 30 minutes waiting on hold for an agent, and 10 minutes going through the "unplug the unit, remove the HDD, yada, yada" I got my reference number and the return shipping box is on the way. Three to four weeks was the return estimate I was given...

While I'm not all that happy that it died, I am glad that the warranty for the 3 rings of death issue was extended. 

Sigh, now I have this 300 HD-DVD that I can't watch. grr... So I guess it's time to buy an 360 Elite?
(When I suggested that I got "the look" from my wife. LOL... ).

But I guess it's good it happened now and not after just getting Halo 3.  :)

Related Past Post XRef:
Three Year Warranty for Three Red Rings of Death (i.e. XBox360 Warranty Extended to Three years for Three Red Ring Problems)

Los Angeles Fire Department = Tech Rockers

LAFD News & Information - LAFD Turns the Tables on a Tech Interview

"The Los Angeles Fire Department has earned a great deal of buzz this week regarding the Department's nascent on-line offerings, including our increasingly popular LAFD_ALERT service, Twitter Feed, Flickr Photo Gallery and YouTube Channel.

Earlier today, we received a call from Heather Havenstein, a Senior Reporter for Computerworld Magazine, seeking an interview by telephone to discuss the use of technology in LAFD Media and Public Relations.

Sure we said... but why be conventional?
Most LAFD stakeholders have seen the end result of such interviews. What if instead - in the spirit of Web 2.0, they could actually listen on-line as the interview took place, and then had an opportunity to speak with the reporter?

Heather kindly agreed. So, on Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 7:00AM Pacific Time, we'll be activating our internet-based LAFD TalkRadio to allow you to listen in and later participate, as we discuss present and future LAFD internet offerings with Computerworld Magazine.

..." [Post leached almost in full]

You go LAFD!

Since it started, I've found their blog very informative and their recent additional Web2 presence is also pretty darn cool. Now this? These guys are on the tech-ball.

I like how they are saying in the interview how, that besides their time, they are using free services. That all this coolness is not costing us, the taxpayers, big bucks (or hardly any bucks at all for that matter).

Remember this is a civil organization, and yet they seem to be more technology agile and aware than many (most?) companies...

Great job guys. You officially rock.  :)

 

[Listening to LAFD TalkRadio]

Standalone Downloads for Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) 1.2.1 and MAPI Client Libraries

Microsoft Downloads - Collaboration Data Objects, version 1.2.1

"Beginning in Exchange 2007 Beta 2 and Outlook 2007 Beta 2, CDO 1.2.1 will no longer be provided as a part of the install of the product. As a result, there is functionality missing that many applications depend upon. CDO 1.2.1 is a package providing access to Outlook-compatible objects through a COM-based API.

..."

Microsoft Downloads - Microsoft Exchange Server MAPI Client and Collaboration Data Objects 1.2.1

"Starting with Exchange 2007, neither the Messaging API (MAPI) client libraries nor CDO 1.2.1 are provided as a part of the base product installation. As a result, there is functionality missing that many applications depend on. Microsoft Exchange MAPI and CDO 1.2.1 provide access to these APIs, which, in turn, provide access to the contents of MAPI stores

...

The Messaging API is a COM-like API that provides access to the contents of messaging stores. CDO 1.2.1 (Collaboration Data Objects, version 1.2.1) is a package providing access to Outlook-compatible objects through a COM-based API. Using either CDO or MAPI, a program can connect to a MAPI store, and then perform operations against that store. Starting with Exchange 2007, Microsoft will distribute the MAPI client libraries and CDO 1.2.1 as a Web download

..."

I know I'm going to need these downloads one day in the not too distant future...