The Techie Generation?

My 12 year old daughter, whom I have built a PC from the ground up with, just asked me if she could have accidentally "unplugged" the flash plug-in. As in, physically, because she was under the desk plugging in another laptop.

/facepalm

Burning mp4 files to DVD

I have some mp4 files that are encoded with H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video codec and mp4a: MPEG-4 AAC LC audio codec - according to GSpot Codec analyzer. I am using Windows 7, and want to burn these files onto a DVD using the DVD standard (not just data that will play in a PC). The built in DVD maker states it does not support these files. Handbrake errors out when I try to convert them, and a couple shareware programs just have not worked. Any ideas?

EDIT - ConvertXtoDVD 3

Remove Servers That Report Offline

Situation: You have your clients configured to synchronize files with servers. For whatever reason, one of your file servers does not exist anymore, however, your clients still try to connect to it and it reports offline.

Solution:

1. We need to remove the locally cached copies of those files. Open "My Computer", click "Tools | Synchronize...". Highlight the Offline Files folder, then click the properties button. This will bring up the magic Offline Files folder. To make it easier to read, on the menu bar, click "View | Details". If you scroll to the right, you will have a column named "Location". Click that header to sort on that field. Now, find the files that are referenced on your old server, highlight and delete. You may get a warning, say OK. If you are not a user with rights to the file, you may have to log in as administrator to perform this. WARNING - Someone probably knows why, but this delete takes FOREVER. So be prepared for a wait.
   
2. While you may think you're done, you're wrong! There is a registry key that holds the shares you sync with that needs to be addressed, and it's tricky! It is stored under the local user hive, so, you have to be logged in as the user with the folder share that syncs to the missing server. Once logged in, open regedit, navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\NetCache\Shares\. If you expand shares, you will see entries for all the connections. Simply pick the offending server, right click > delete. You will have to RESTART the computer to reload the hive. (There is a way to access the user hive from administrator, under HKEY_USERS, but it is hard to decipher the "S-1-5-18" etc.)

My Firefox Extensions (Add-ons) - Update May 2009

It's been a while since my original "My Firefox Extensions" listing, so here is an update. I put this out there for a couple reasons.

• It helps me reinstall add-ons since I am all the time messing with my computer


• List some add-ons I find helpful that other users may

NEW: Firefox Addon Collection Pack!

I am now using Firefox 3.0.10 on Windows 7 RC Build 7100. However, I do run the same add-ons to my work and laptop which run XP. Now,on to the add-ons (trying not to use the term "extensions")!

• AVG Safe Search - Comes with AVG Free Edition antivirus
• Better Gmail2 - Makes Gmail better with user suggested features, fully customizable
• Better YouTube - Same as above
• ColorZilla - Web Developer tool to pick a color and get it's code from a webpage
• DownThemAll! - Better download manager than the default
• Fission - Eyecandy, creates a "progress bar" while page loads, ala Safari style
• Google Enhancer - Make Google better
• GooglePreview - Make Google better
• Greasemonkey - Allows user defined scripts to be run to enhance webpages. There are TONS of them out there, a "Greasemonkey Scripts" search on Google should suffice.
• IE Tab - Put Internet Explorer in a Firefox tab
• MeasureIt - Web developer tool, measure a web page for pixel dimensions
• Morning Coffee - Open a predefined set of tabs to websites you open everyday
• Tab Mix Plus - Adds extra tab functions
• Stumbleupon - Fun, lets you explore different websites
• Web Developer - Web developer tool, A LOT of tools to help with website creation
• Xmarks - Bookmark Sync
• Wisestamp - Inserts HTML signatures with formatting in webmail accounts (Gmail, etc)
  

Know of one I missed? Let me know in the comments!

Windows 7 RC First Look

So far, I like it. Have not had one error, drivers were found. But always, there is a "gotchya".

Here are a listing of things that are not working as they should: (I will be adding to list as I find issues)

CONS:
5/13/09 - Windows Live Sync - This sync's files between PC's. It "says" it installs, but no icon, interface, or acknowledgment.
5/13/09 - Wk7 took over my system, even though I had it partitioned and told it what partition, Wk7 is the only OS available. I am transferring things over so might not have to worry about it, but it bugs me.
5/13/09 - Sharing is weird. They try to make it easier by assigning users to owner / contributor/ or reader. You can still get to the old interface by clicking properties then sharing tab.

PROS:
5/13/09 - LOVE the new taskbar preview interface.
5/13/09 - The tray management has improved.
5/13/09 - An address bar built into the task bar that uses the DEFAULT browser and not just IE
5/13/09 - Windows Media Player supports out of the box Xvid, DivX, MOV (in h.264 with stereo). It also has a stream feature that is suppose to connect directly to the XBOX 360. Will test that later.
5/13/09 - So far does not seem to be a resource hog. I have AVG on it with firewall turned on. Ran World of Warcraft, Ventrillo, and a browser with no problems.

Software
Out of the Box - No "Extra Work" - No Particular Order

• Firefox
• Dreamweaver CS3
• Photoshop CS4
• Vuze
• Picasa
• World of Warcraft
• Ventrilo
• Notepad++
• Cisco VPN Client 5
• UltraVNC - Still as buggy as in Vista though
• Acrobat Reader 9
• Amazon MP3 Downloader
• AVG Free Edition Antivirus
• Curse Client
• Aptana
• Windows Live Sync
• Google Talk
• "Official" NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT Driver
• Windows Media Player Stream Xvid / DivX to XBOX 360
• Dropbox
  

Works - With "Extra Work"

• HP Officejet J4680 All-in-One - I use this MFP in wireless mode. I was able to install the printer using traditional Windows add network printer methods, but, I want to use the scan to any station over the wireless feature. You need the Full HP driver for this. Currently (5/17/2009) there is not a Windows 7 driver. I had to get the Vista driver and run it in Vista compatibility mode. On my first scan, I received and error. I closed and reopened, and so far so good.

Does NOT Work

• Windows Update states there is an update for my HP printer, it tries, then fails, and the help goes nowhere
  

If anyone has a solution or better way of doing something, PLEASE, let me know.

Thanks,

Jeremy

Slipstreaming XP SP3 into a Volume Product

FYI - If you slipstream XP service pack 3 into a volume license product, the key no longer works. If there is a workaround, please, let me know!