Friday, 25 May 2012
Thursday, 24 May 2012
Received notice to update my VMware Workstation 8 setup to 8.0.3 build 703057.
I downloaded and installed the update. It didn't require a reboot in the middle as it used to do with 7.x (which is nice).
When finished, I launched it. None of my "Favorites" were shown. I had to re-open all of my stored VM's one by one.
Each one I opened said it couldn't open the VMX because it was in use by another process, even though no virtual machines were powered up (before or after the update).
I rebooted.
Went to open one of my VM's and it said the VMX was not a "valid configuration file" and refused to open it.
I was able to open several other VM's. Each one prompted to update VMware Tools.
I updated VMware Tools in each one, did a VM restart on each, and saved new Base Snapshots for each one.
Total time consumed: 1 hour.
I downloaded and installed the update. It didn't require a reboot in the middle as it used to do with 7.x (which is nice).
When finished, I launched it. None of my "Favorites" were shown. I had to re-open all of my stored VM's one by one.
Each one I opened said it couldn't open the VMX because it was in use by another process, even though no virtual machines were powered up (before or after the update).
I rebooted.
Went to open one of my VM's and it said the VMX was not a "valid configuration file" and refused to open it.
I was able to open several other VM's. Each one prompted to update VMware Tools.
I updated VMware Tools in each one, did a VM restart on each, and saved new Base Snapshots for each one.
Total time consumed: 1 hour.
Thursday, 10 May 2012
I know I was going to "retire", and then I was convinced not to, and then I said I was going to tone down my volume of posts, and well, I have. But lately I've been more quiet than I expected. Mostly because I'm really buried in several projects and dealing with personal matters. Nothing bad, just busy as hell. I promise I'll post something interesting as soon as I come up for air.
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Another sample interview quiz. Have fun. No Google/Bing/Yahoo cheating...
1. Name the Registry key (path) where "Add or Remove Programs" entries are found on a 32-bit Windows 7 client.
2. Name the Registry path where 32-bit applications shown in "Add or Remove Programs" are found on a Windows 7 64-bit client.
3. Name the actual path most often identified by system variable %AllUsersProfile% on Windows XP as opposed to Windows 7.
4. What are the path differences for where the "All Users" Desktop folder resides on Windows XP as opposed to Windows 7? Also where the "All Users" Start Menu path is on each.
5. For Windows XP and Windows 7, name the "most common" path for each of the following environment variables:
%WINDIR% %SYSTEMROOT% %PROGRAMFILES% %PROGRAMDATA% %TEMP% %USERPROFILE%
6. Describe each of the following types of testing:
Installation Testing
Deployment Testing
User Acceptance Testing
7. Describe as many ways as you possibly can to "deploy" a Windows Installer package to Windows 7 computers over an Active Directory domain network, wherein NONE of the end users have administrative rights to install their own applications. You can include both "free" built-in capabilities included with Windows and Active Directory, as well as commercial products.
8. You need to install "fubar2012.msi" silently on a group of computers over your network, while also specifying a custom input parameter "LicenseKey=123456". Describe at least two ways you can execute the installation with the custom input parameter.
9. You attempt to install a software product from a CMD console or via a script, but the installation fails with a 1603 or 1619 exit code. What basic information can you determine from either of those two codes?
10. The product identifier code for each Windows Installer package installed on a particular computer often has a format of {B8AD779A-82DA-4365-A7D0-AD3DCFC55CFF}. What is this type of identifier most often called?
1. Name the Registry key (path) where "Add or Remove Programs" entries are found on a 32-bit Windows 7 client.
2. Name the Registry path where 32-bit applications shown in "Add or Remove Programs" are found on a Windows 7 64-bit client.
3. Name the actual path most often identified by system variable %AllUsersProfile% on Windows XP as opposed to Windows 7.
4. What are the path differences for where the "All Users" Desktop folder resides on Windows XP as opposed to Windows 7? Also where the "All Users" Start Menu path is on each.
5. For Windows XP and Windows 7, name the "most common" path for each of the following environment variables:
%WINDIR% %SYSTEMROOT% %PROGRAMFILES% %PROGRAMDATA% %TEMP% %USERPROFILE%
6. Describe each of the following types of testing:
Installation Testing
Deployment Testing
User Acceptance Testing
7. Describe as many ways as you possibly can to "deploy" a Windows Installer package to Windows 7 computers over an Active Directory domain network, wherein NONE of the end users have administrative rights to install their own applications. You can include both "free" built-in capabilities included with Windows and Active Directory, as well as commercial products.
8. You need to install "fubar2012.msi" silently on a group of computers over your network, while also specifying a custom input parameter "LicenseKey=123456". Describe at least two ways you can execute the installation with the custom input parameter.
9. You attempt to install a software product from a CMD console or via a script, but the installation fails with a 1603 or 1619 exit code. What basic information can you determine from either of those two codes?
10. The product identifier code for each Windows Installer package installed on a particular computer often has a format of {B8AD779A-82DA-4365-A7D0-AD3DCFC55CFF}. What is this type of identifier most often called?
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
A friend texted me a few days ago, asking for help when his windows laptop wouldn't boot. His IT guy insisted he drop the laptop off so he could "reload it" and that would "fix it", or so he said. My friend decided to call me for a second opinion.
I asked: "Well, what's the problem with it?"
He replied: "Since installing a particular update, I can no longer connect to my home wireless network."
Wow. I mean: Wow! For that, his IT guy felt it necessary to "reload" the laptop from scratch. Losing all sorts of valuable data, files, etc.
I suggested a System Restore from the day prior to when the update was installed. (for the record, it was NOT a Microsoft update, but rather a third-party trashware crapplication update).
I explained over the phone how to power it back up, and when to start frantically and hysterically smacking the F8 function key like a Tourette's patient with an IV drip of Red Bull and a bottle of caffeine pills in his stomach. Then choose the option to restore the laptop to a previous system state. After the restore finished and rebooted, I advised him to remove that particular piece of crapware entirely and life would be good. Oh, and to also take a few minutes to back up all his valuable files from his laptop in case something bad ever happens again (laptops often have bad things happen to them).
Needless to say, that worked perfectly and he was thankful enough to ignore everything else his IT guru would ever suggest to him ever again. We also drank a few celebratory beers.
Lesson: Wiping your computer to recover from a mishap should never be option 1, or "plan A". It should be way down your list of options to try. That is, unless you really don't care about saving anything off of it before you wipe it out.
I asked: "Well, what's the problem with it?"
He replied: "Since installing a particular update, I can no longer connect to my home wireless network."
Wow. I mean: Wow! For that, his IT guy felt it necessary to "reload" the laptop from scratch. Losing all sorts of valuable data, files, etc.
I suggested a System Restore from the day prior to when the update was installed. (for the record, it was NOT a Microsoft update, but rather a third-party trashware crapplication update).
I explained over the phone how to power it back up, and when to start frantically and hysterically smacking the F8 function key like a Tourette's patient with an IV drip of Red Bull and a bottle of caffeine pills in his stomach. Then choose the option to restore the laptop to a previous system state. After the restore finished and rebooted, I advised him to remove that particular piece of crapware entirely and life would be good. Oh, and to also take a few minutes to back up all his valuable files from his laptop in case something bad ever happens again (laptops often have bad things happen to them).
Needless to say, that worked perfectly and he was thankful enough to ignore everything else his IT guru would ever suggest to him ever again. We also drank a few celebratory beers.
Lesson: Wiping your computer to recover from a mishap should never be option 1, or "plan A". It should be way down your list of options to try. That is, unless you really don't care about saving anything off of it before you wipe it out.
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
1. You have pull tissue from the roll gently to avoid tearing it too soon.
2. The tissue roll is about the same width as a roll of adding machine paper.
3. If a drop of water gets on the roll it swells up enough to make the entire roll useless.
4. The tissue is thin enough to require unrolling three feet of it, and then doubling it over, so your fingers don't punch through.
5. When you lay a square of tissue on top of a newspaper, you can still read the news through it.
2. The tissue roll is about the same width as a roll of adding machine paper.
3. If a drop of water gets on the roll it swells up enough to make the entire roll useless.
4. The tissue is thin enough to require unrolling three feet of it, and then doubling it over, so your fingers don't punch through.
5. When you lay a square of tissue on top of a newspaper, you can still read the news through it.
Monday, 30 April 2012
Something that has always bothered me about a lot of folks who work in the "IT" field is this: They insist that "newer is better" as knee-jerk perspective, while many of them drive old cars... by choice. For example, when I had a discussion with a colleague who was adamant that VBScript and BAT are "dead" and PowerShell is the "future". I countered that they are not dead, but that PowerShell is simply another guest at the party. Then he countered with the "newer is better" mantra. Then I asked why he still drives a 1968 Chevy Camaro SS. He started to answer and then stumbled. I followed with the following rationale...
It really doesn't matter which two, or three, or six languages you want to compare and contrast. Languages are tools. Nothing more. PERIOD. Anyone who gets into a heated argument over which programming language is "best" deserves an open-hand smack. Ok, enough of that, back to the discussion...
The ideal approach is to learn as many options as you can. The more options the better. You CANNOT learn too many options in any profession. That is the crux of becoming a master at any trade. Whether you are a carpenter, a painter, a brick mason, a surgeon, a soldier, or a programmer... the more options you learn the better equipped you'll be at facing unexpected or unfamiliar problems, and the faster you'll be at addressing the familiar problems, and more efficiently. That is what they call "value-add". Learning.
So, before you write something (or someone) off as obsolete, think again. Maybe it's still useful. Maybe it's not really "broke". Maybe the newer alternatives offer clear advantages in some situations, but not in *all* situations. Rather than throwing out old options as a standard practice isn't really so good after all. If it's still there, at least give it consideration. You never know when the "old" option might be the "better" option.
Now, this is where my Perl colleagues will say "I can do that in one line" and chuckle. I hate those guys.
- Surely the "new" Camaro is engineered better (more efficient, safer, etc.)
- The "new" Camaro has newer technology features
- The "new" Camaro is built with more modern materials
So, why then does he not dump his '68 model for the 2013 model?
A-ha!
To be fair, it's not even about PowerShell. It's not about any ONE language or technology. It's about the whole mindset that one thing MUST replace another, rather than be enjoined to the community of potential tools to solve problems. Medicine is a great example of this. Even with the newest modern advances in medical technology and medical procedures, many of the most commonly used procedures date back decades, even centuries. While the tools become more advanced, a drill is still a drill and a saw is still a saw. Hopefully, you get where I'm going with this.
One tiny, little, itsy-bitsy example is this all-too-common approach to dealing with the Registry. Someone says "hey! I need you to delete a few Registry keys with a script... fast!"
You pull out the tool you know best, maybe it's VBScript, and you do something like this...
Dim WshShell, Value1, Value2
Value1= "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Fubar 2013\StupidKey1"
Value2="HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fubar 2013\StupidKey1"
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
On Error Resume Next
WshShell.RegDelete Value1
WshShell.RegDelete Value2
There's obviously nothing wrong with that approach. But why not just do it with TWO lines of code using REG.exe and a CMD shell script? Command Line tools are often very powerful and often more compact with regards to syntax. Some that come to mind are DISM, APPCMD, REG, WMIC, SC, ROBOCOPY, and even CACLS and REGINI.
reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Fubar 2013\StupidKey1" /f
reg delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Fubar 2013\StupidKey1" /f
It really doesn't matter which two, or three, or six languages you want to compare and contrast. Languages are tools. Nothing more. PERIOD. Anyone who gets into a heated argument over which programming language is "best" deserves an open-hand smack. Ok, enough of that, back to the discussion...
The ideal approach is to learn as many options as you can. The more options the better. You CANNOT learn too many options in any profession. That is the crux of becoming a master at any trade. Whether you are a carpenter, a painter, a brick mason, a surgeon, a soldier, or a programmer... the more options you learn the better equipped you'll be at facing unexpected or unfamiliar problems, and the faster you'll be at addressing the familiar problems, and more efficiently. That is what they call "value-add". Learning.
So, before you write something (or someone) off as obsolete, think again. Maybe it's still useful. Maybe it's not really "broke". Maybe the newer alternatives offer clear advantages in some situations, but not in *all* situations. Rather than throwing out old options as a standard practice isn't really so good after all. If it's still there, at least give it consideration. You never know when the "old" option might be the "better" option.
Now, this is where my Perl colleagues will say "I can do that in one line" and chuckle. I hate those guys.
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