Ignore the man behind the curtain » IT Knowledge

LogMeIn Can’t install DPMS enabled monitor driver – Fix

Brian Seekford — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:14:10 +0000

I was using LogMeIn and I disconnected one of my monitors when we moved to a new office. Just haven’t hooked it up yet. I also installed the new NVIDIA drivers, so haven’t figured out the root cause of the DPMS error yet.

Anyway, I couldn’t blank my screen when I logged in and the LogMeIn DPMS driver installation failed every time.

It turns out the fix was pretty simple. LogMeIn by the way is no help, which is why I am posting this here.

Right click My Computer -> Manage.

Go to Device Manager.

Go to Monitors.

Uninstall each monitor. Right click, hit uninstall.

After you removed EVERY monitor.

Click the computer name at top, Right click and hit Scan for Changes.

Now. Log out and back in. Honestly, you can hit the Blank Screen toolbar button in LogMeIn and it "should" prompt to install the DPMS drivers. If not, log out and remote back in.

Enjoy!

Pretty funny take on a Developers life

Brian Seekford — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:53:21 +0000

I ran across this post and thought it was pretty damn funny.

Enjoy!

http://martinvalasek.com/blog/pictures-from-a-developers-life

Windows Live Mesh Remote Connection no longer works

Brian Seekford — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:34:38 +0000

Well, I noticed my Live Mesh stopped working for remote connections. Did the software say why? Of course not.

I found this blurb from the jack a$$e$ at Microsoft who just silently killed the whole service. Could you they have sent us an email, notification, something?

"Windows Live Mesh was retired on February 13, 2013, and remote desktop and peer-to-peer syncing have stopped working. If you still have files in your Mesh online storage (called “Mesh synced storage” or “SkyDrive synced storage”) make sure you have copies of them on your computer. On August 13, 2013, all files in Mesh online storage will be permanently deleted."

Awesome,eh?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/skydrive/mesh-users

Time to look for an alternative then.

Windows Defender after being Disabled gives "This Program has been turned off" on startup

Brian Seekford — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:10:32 +0000

I kept getting this very annoying message on startup."This program has been turned off". Well, yeah. I turned you off. Why do you need to tell me?

Well, like a bad girlfriend who stalks you, you want to find a way to get rid of her.

It turns out in my case, the stupid thing was being launched still on run.

Here are the simple steps, lifted from a friendly MS forum by Dalv49. (Gotta give props)

1. Launch regedit (Win+R, type "regedit", hit return)

2. Locate the Key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

3. Delete Value "Windows Defender"

note: could be a good idea to check "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" as well

You can also just run MSConfig. My favorite handy startup killer. Less work. Point and click.

Happy Coding!, errr. Disabling.

Windows Update error 80070003

Brian Seekford — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:00:11 +0000

I got this error after purging my software distribution folder.

It is an easy fix. open Services.msc, Go to Windows Update, then Hit restart.

How to Convert a PDF to Black and White in Adobe Acrobat Pro

Brian Seekford — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 03:59:24 +0000

You sometimes want your PDF to be in GreyScale or black and white as it were. It can make it look more uniform, or if you had a flaky scanned document and the color looks off.

Anyway, it is quite easy to convert a document to Black and White in Acrobat Pro 9.

1) Open document. Duh.

2) Click Window –> Preproduction –> PreFlight

3) CLick the down arrow under PDF Fixups.

4) CLick the Convert to grayscal row/option.

5) CLick Analyze and Fix(bottom right hand corner).

6) Pick new filename. Voila! You are done.

Happy coding…err..converting?

How To Fix: Windows Update Blocked by Group Policy

Brian Seekford — Wed, 04 May 2011 11:41:09 +0000

Problem: I cannot check for updates, it says “Some settings are managed by your system administrator”

Solution:

So, you can’t get windows update because some yahoo in IT blocked your access, eh?

First, type gpedit.msc in run,
In the window drill down User configuration>administrative templates>windows components>windows Update. In the right pane double click on remove access to access all windows update features and make it disabled.

If that doesn’t work, change the following key:

Disable and remove links to Windows Update

(User Configuration\AdministrativeTemplates\Start Menu & Taskbar)
NoWindowsUpdate

(HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer)

There are a few other keys and settings that could affect it.

Check this link out for all the registry locations for Group Policy.

How to restore your missing or disabled control panels? Screw GPO.

Brian Seekford — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:24:05 +0000

Your company have a tight GPO preventing you from running your beloved control panels? Well, here is a simple app to give them back to you.

This simply iterates the disable keys and removes them. NOTE: Completely free.

Click to download Restore Control Panels

Enjoy!

Lotus Notes JVM Terminated Error=8096

Brian Seekford — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:29:42 +0000

We all know Lotus Notes is a big pile of crap. Well, I kept getting this lovely error JVM Terminated Error=8096 after a power failure.

Good times.

It turns out, that after much head banging, simply blowing out your TEMP folder will fix it.

Just open your TEMP folder and delete the folder called XPDPLAT.

You will then be on your way.

Easy way to get there: Type %TEMP% into your Explorer and hit ENTER.
Happy Coding!

How to fix the McAfee SVCHOST crash from the virus definition update

Brian Seekford — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:22:21 +0000

I was able to fix the virus definition debacle McAfee that is hosing a bunch of people.

It turns out, that they put in a bad signature that quarantines your SVCHOST.exe which could cause your explorer to crash. Good times, right?

So, the fix is pretty easy:

1 Restart into safe mode with networking

2 open a Command window. If your explorer isn't started, hit CTRL - ALT - DEL  and hit Task Manager. Hit File, run. CMD.EXE and enter.

3) type DEL C:\Program Files\Common Files\McAfee\Engine\avvscan.dat

4 type cd c:\windows\system32\dllcache

5 type copy SvcHost.exe ..\

6 Restart your PC. You are good to go!

NOTE: If you need help getting into safe mode, click here. Or, pull the power cord during the boot after seeing the LOGO. Then boot normal, which will give the boot mode option screen. Pick Safe Mode with Networking (Without networking, you can’t use your cached domain account).
Happy Coding!