Digits 0 to 9 on a Four Segment Display

Recently when my father purchased a LED wall clock I wanted to find out if it was possible to reduce the number of segments (Seven segment display component) required to display the 10 digits from the decimal system.
I came up with a four segment version in which each segment has a value.

a = 1
b = 2
c = 3
d = 4

Digits 5,6,7,8, and 9 are represented by the segments that add up to that value.

5 = a+d
6 = b+d
7 = c+d
8 = a+c+d
9 = b+c+d

0 = Turn off all four segments.

This design requires more work before being implemented in a clock/watch but might end up as a geeky way of displaying time.

Prevent Windows 10 ( Pro, Edu, Ent) From Updating/Installing Specific Devices (Driver)

First open Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) and go to,
 Computer Configuration->Administrative Templates->System->Device Installation->Device Installation Restrictions

"Prevent installation of devices using drivers that match these device setup classes"
Using this option will let you input a globally unique identifier (GUID) which you can view using Device Manager

"Prevent installation of devices that match any of these device IDs"
This option will accept hardware ID or compatible ID, again use Device Manager to view one for your connected device(s).

Installing a device driver of  your choice and then enabling any of the above setting will help prevent any issue that you are facing due to Windows automatically updating that specific device.

How to Lock BitLocker Volume Quick and Easy

This method is for those who mostly put their PC/Laptops to hibernate or sleep and want the BitLocker volume locked when waking up the system from sleep or hibernation.
The simplest method is to create a text file (Notepad) with the following content and saving it with a .cmd extension on your desktop.

manage-bde -lock volume: -fd

-fd: ForcedDismount, use this parameter to lock the volume even if it's in use.

To lock the volume right click the .cmd file  you created and run it with Administrator privilege (If UAC (User Account Control) is set to Always Notify.
This method is to avoid launching the Windows Command Processor (cmd.exe) and typing the command  and hence saves time required to lock the volume.

To learn more about parameters for manage-bde command visit the following link,

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd875513(WS.10).aspx

Triple Boot: Ubuntu 11.10, Windows 8 (WDP), Windows 7

First of all change your default operating system through the OS selection screen displayed during the boot process to Windows 7, next boot into Windows 7 and use wubi.exe to install ubuntu 11.10 ISO image (wubi.exe and the ISO should be in the same directory) you downloaded or if you have the Ubuntu CD launch wubi.exe from within the media. Once its installed restart windows 7 and select Ubuntu to complete the installation.

A issue with having windows 8 (Windows Developer Preview) is that, you could at times not find Ubuntu in the startup boot menu, loading up Windows 7 then restarting bring Ubuntu back on the list.

Ubuntu Download:

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

Windows Installer (wubi.exe):

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/windows-installer

VMware Workstation 8 on a Local Account (Standard User)

If you get any of these errors while using VMware Workstation from a Local Account  (standard user) account on a guest (Windows 7) system,


"Could not get vmx86 driver version: The handle is invalid.
You have an incorrect version of driver "vmx86.sys". Try reinstalling VMware Player."

"Failed to initialize monitor device."

"Error while powering on: Cannot find a valid peer process to connect to"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adding the user you would like to be able to use the Workstation to " __vmware__ " group in windows will solve this issue.

I came upon this while reading the following blog post,

http://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2011/09/vmware-workstation-8-running-windows-8.html

(I suggest you read the above post.)

If you are a novice user open, Control Panel-> Administrative Tools->Computer Management, in the left pane select (Left Click) look for Local Users and Groups, select (Double Click) Groups, at very bottom you will find a group named "__vmware__".

Click on the add button, type the username and do not forget to click Check Names before clicking  OK. 

This post is primarily for Windows 7 and Windows Developer Preview users but is applicable to Windows XP as well.

How To Install VLC on RHEL6

This is going to be a lengthy post..
First visit http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ and see what information they have regarding RHEL ( Red Hat Enterprise Linux ) support, then if you have to, come back here and read rest of this post.

Now, as of today the package for VLC for RHEL is available on RPMforge so start by installing this repository, visit:

http://wiki.centos.org/AdditionalResources/Repositories/RPMForge

The information on the above site is related to CentOS but you should know (if you already don't) it's binary compatible with RHEL, as such works for RHEL as well.
You can download the RPMforge release package from,

http://pkgs.repoforge.org/rpmforge-release/

Look for latest build for you version of Red Hat, mine is 6 and on a 32 bit system (running on VMware Player) so as of today I will download,

rpmforge-release-0.5.2-2.el6.rf.i686.rpm

Use the rpm command to install,
eg. rpm -ivh ./rpmforge-release-0.5.2-2.el6.rf.i686.rpm
 yum check-update 

Use cd "path to the rpm file" without the quotes before executing the above command or simply add the path instead of ./ and don't forget  "su -" to execute all the commands as root.

You will also need ( if you don't have RHN subscription) to configure a repository or manually install dependencies from the RHEL6 DVD media ( "Packages" directory).

To configure a local repository follow the instruction given below,
Start by copying the contents of the Packages directory to a directory on you Linux file system, mine is saved under, /mnt/hgfs/Packages/
As you should already know I use VMware Player and as such had the "Shared Folder" option to have the path setup by the player.
Now to create the repository as root change your pwd to /etc/yum.repos.d/ and use a text editor to create a file, I named mine server.repo as I am running the Server release. (eg. vi ./server.repo)

My server.repo file has the following content,

[Server]

name=DVD packages

baseurl=file:///mnt/hgfs/Packages/

enabled=1

gpgcheck=1

Don't forget to put the correct path for "baseurl=file:///", as the one shown above is the one I created on my filesystem.

You might need to install the following packages from the DVD before you can continue,

deltarpm
python-deltarpm
createrepo

also import the GPG key from the DVD,

rpm --import RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-release

Go ahead and execute the following command make sure you provide the path relevant to your system,

createrepo -v /mnt/hgfs/Packages/

If you did everything right execute,

 yum install vlc

Mine ended by reporting missing dependencies, 

1. libcppunit-1.12.so.3

2. libglut.so.3  

1. libcppunit-1.12.so.3  is provided by cppunit-1.12.1-3.1.el6.i686.rpm

2. libglut.so.3 is provided by freeglut-2.4.0-9.el6.i686.rpm

both can be downloaded from,

http://mirror.centos.org/centos/6/os/i386/Packages/

http://mirror.centos.org/centos/6/os/x86_64/Packages/

Please remember the version number won't be relevent to you as newer packages keep coming, hence search by the package name, eg. cppunit, and download the most recent 32 or 64 bit version.

If you didn't break anything executing yum install vlc should end with something like shown below,

 Dependencies Resolved

================================================================================

Package Arch Version Repository Size

================================================================================

Installing:

vlc i686 1.1.11-1.el6.rf rpmforge 14 M

Installing for dependencies:

SDL i686 1.2.14-2.el6 server 200 k

SDL_image i686 1.2.10-1.el6.rf rpmforge 82 k

a52dec i686 0.7.4-8.el6.rf rpmforge 82 k

aalib i686 1.4.0-5.el6.rf rpmforge 167 k

dirac i686 1.0.2-1.el6.rf rpmforge 2.1 M

enca i686 1.10-1.el6.rf rpmforge 166 k

faac i686 1.26-1.el6.rf rpmforge 137 k

faad2 i686 2.7-1.el6.rf rpmforge 302 k

ffmpeg i686 0.6.1-1.el6.rf rpmforge 2.6 M

ffmpeg-libpostproc i686 0.6.1-1.el6.rf rpmforge 22 k

fribidi i686 0.10.9-1.el6.rf rpmforge 67 k

lame i686 3.98.4-1.el6.rf rpmforge 513 k

libXpm i686 3.5.8-2.el6 server 58 k

libass i686 0.9.11-1.el6.rf rpmforge 142 k

libcaca i686 0.99-0.1.beta17.el6.rf rpmforge 327 k

libcddb i686 1.3.1-1.el6.rf rpmforge 97 k

libdc1394 i686 2.1.2-3.4.el6 server 118 k

libdca i686 0.0.5-1.el6.rf rpmforge 127 k

libdvbpsi i686 0.1.7-1.el6.rf rpmforge 76 k

libdvdnav i686 0.1.10-3.el6.rf rpmforge 200 k

libdvdread i686 4.1.4-0.2.svn1183.el6 server 63 k

libebml i686 1.0.0-1.el6.rf rpmforge 242 k

libkate i686 0.3.7-1.el6.rf rpmforge 99 k

libmad i686 0.15.1b-4.el6.rf rpmforge 72 k

libmatroska i686 1.0.0-1.el6.rf rpmforge 590 k

libmng i686 1.0.10-4.1.el6 server 171 k

libmodplug i686 0.8.7-1.el6.rf rpmforge 376 k

libmpeg2 i686 0.5.1-2.el6.rf rpmforge 140 k

librtmp i686 2.3-1.el6.rf rpmforge 103 k

libupnp i686 1.6.6-1.el6.rf rpmforge 246 k

libva i686 1.0.6-1.el6.rf rpmforge 155 k

live555 i686 0-0.27.2010.04.09.el6.rf rpmforge 696 k

opencore-amr i686 0.1.2-1.el6.rf rpmforge 359 k

opencv i686 2.0.0-9.el6 server 4.4 M

orc i686 0.4.11-1.el6.rf rpmforge 297 k

phonon-backend-gstreamer i686 1:4.6.2-16.el6 server 124 k

portaudio i686 19-1.20071207.el6.rf rpmforge 258 k

qt i686 1:4.6.2-16.el6 server 4.1 M

qt-sqlite i686 1:4.6.2-16.el6 server 50 k

qt-x11 i686 1:4.6.2-16.el6 server 12 M

schroedinger i686 1.0.10-1.el6.rf rpmforge 555 k

svgalib i686 1.9.25-1.el6.rf rpmforge 718 k

twolame i686 0.3.13-1.el6.rf rpmforge 117 k

unicap i686 0.9.5-4.el6 server 157 k

x264 i686 0.0.0-0.4.20101111.el6.rf rpmforge 1.0 M

zvbi i686 0.2.33-2.el6.rf rpmforge 837 k

Transaction Summary

================================================================================

Install 47 Package(s)

Upgrade 0 Package(s)

Total download size: 50 M

Installed size: 165 M

 Is this ok [y/N]:

In case you want to download the vlc package and it's dependencies on another system and then transfer it to your system running Red Hat get the packages listed above from,

http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el6/en/i386/rpmforge/RPMS/

http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el6/en/x86_64/rpmforge/RPMS/

In case you find any error(s) in this post, technical or otherwise do inform me.

The author is not liable for any loss or damage you might incur by following the instructions provided here, try at your own risk.

VMware Tools: Manual Download and Installation

If you prefer to use your favourite download manager to do the job rather than the VMware Player's built-in update feature you are at the right place.

First get 7-Zip (www.7-zip.org) or any other utility that can extract *.tar files.

Open your web browser and head to,

http://softwareupdate.vmware.com/cds/vmw-desktop/

You will see a list of directories and files, do not click on them rather append player/ or ws/ to the address field of your web browser and hit Enter key, now enter the "latest version number"/ you find on this page (currently 3.1.4), then the "build number"/ next add windows/, and at last packages/, hit the Enter key after keying in each choice. If you wish you can take the path to the packages available for VMware Workstation (tools are the same for both products).

Path to packages as on 31Aug2011:

http://softwareupdate.vmware.com/cds/vmw-desktop/player/3.1.4/385536/windows/packages/

http://softwareupdate.vmware.com/cds/vmw-desktop/ws/7.1.4/385536/windows/packages/

Once you have the downloaded the tar package right click on it and extract the contents using 7-Zip, now run the .exe executable file you just extracted and it will install the tools ISO (windows.iso if windows package) and it will be available for installation via Easy Install or for manual installation.

The executable does not show any install completion message so launch Task Manager and make sure the .exe file has exited.
Look inside Program Files directory (Mine C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player\linux.iso) for the ISO's if you need them.

Code 19 on Windows 7 SP1 ( CD/DVD Drives)

"Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19) "
If you are looking for a solution for the above issue, head straight to:
http://support.microsoft.com/mats/cd_dvd_drive_problems/en-us

If you have multiple disc authoring apps installed (not good), one of them might be responsible for this issue.


Also visit the following link for hardware issues in general:
http://support.microsoft.com/mats/hardware_device_problems/

VirtualBox Guest Additions For Linux In RHEL 6.0 Server

To install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6 you will need to install the following packages from the DVD media,

1. kernel-devel-2.6.32-71.el6.i686.rpm
2. kernel-headers-2.6.32-71.el6.i686.rpm
3. glibc-headers-2.12-1.7.el6.i686.rpm
4. glibc-devel-2.12-1.7.el6.i686.rpm
5. mpfr-2.4.1-6.el6.i686.rpm
6. ppl-0.10.2-11.el6.i686.rpm
7. cpp-4.4.4-13.el6.i686.rpm
8. cloog-ppl-0.15.7-1.2.el6.i686.rpm
9. gcc-4.4.4-13.el6.i686.rpm

Use the following command to install the guest additions ,
[root@localhost ~]#./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run


Default Installation of RHEL: Desktop
Read instructions for RHEL 5 here: http://linopsys.blogspot.com/2008/11/installing-virtualbox-guest-additions.html

Learn Java : Official Tutorials

If you want to learn Java programming language the official tutorial available for download at the following link is a good starting point.

http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/

Look for the “Tutorial Resources” box to download the tutorials bundle(101 MB download).

VirtualBox: Installing Windows XP on SCSI Hard Disk

It’s something I had tried unsuccessfully in the past,and with the release of version 4.0 decided it was time to make it work. I am still not able to install Windows XP (SP3) on SATA hard disk, so here you will find all you need to install XP on virtual SCSI (Lsilogic) hard disk.

The driver(s) and the tools except Oracle VM VirtualBox is available at the following link:

http://cid-697fcc18fc1a3e61.office.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public/VBox 

You can also download the packages from their respective official sites (preferable).

1.First you need the SCSI driver for F6 install, I used Device Doctor to find the right one, you can download the driver from the previously mentioned link. Look for a file name starting with “LSI_SAS_MPT_Windows..”.

2. Now to create a virtual floppy disc get VFD at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/vfd . I have uploaded the floppy image I created to install 32-bit Windows XP SP3 ( xp_x86_lsi.vfd).

You will also find an appliance (XP_SP3.ova) without any attached hard drive to get you started quickly.

The trouble you have to go through to do this is the reason I prefer to use VMware Player but VirtualBox having a Open Source version is good enough reason to make things work and write this post. As far as the SATA installation is concerned I am not trying any time soon.

Device Doctor available at: www.devicedoctor.com

Use all this information and the files I have uploaded at your own risk, no liability.

DNS Configuration: Lookup and Testing

Here are a few websites you will find useful while looking for DNS information or testing your own DNS configuration.
1. http://dnssy.com
2. http://www.dnsstuff.com

VMware Tools for Windows Guests (8.4.4) ISO

VMware is yet make the updated vmware tools available in the package repository at http://packages.vmware.com/tools 

Use the following link to get the vmware tools tar package for windows,

http://softwareupdate.vmware.com/cds/vmw-desktop/ws/7.1.2/301548/windows/packages/tools-windows-8.4.4.exe.tar

7-zip is required for the method described here, get it at www.7-zip.org.( I am using the 9.17 beta release)

Use 7-zip to extract tools-windows-8.4.4.exe from tools-windows-8.4.4.exe.tar

Now open Windows Command Processor ( cmd ) , I have the above mentioned file on the D drive so I have to use the following command,

cd /d D:

( cd /d <drive having the tools-windows-8.4.4.exe file>: )

Change the working directory to the one holding the tools-windows-8.4.4.exe file using cd command.

create a folder named tools and at the command prompt type:

 tools-windows-8.4.4.exe /e <path to folder "tools">

Open the folder tools you created earlier, you will find a file named tools-windows.msi, right click on it and select 7-zip to extract the contents which includes the windows.iso file that you require to install the tools package in your windows guest(s). 

Update(8Nov2010): Visit or join http://communities.vmware.com to find answers  or post new questions regarding vmware products.

Update(3Aug2011): Visit: http://factsiknow.blogspot.com/2011/08/vmware-tools-manual-download-and.html

To find links for the tools download yourself  at least until VMware makes changes to the folder structure.

To get the ISO follow the instructions and look inside the Program Files to get them if you must!

Adobe Reader 9.4 Offline Installer

Looking for Adobe Reader 9.4 offline installer, here's the link to the official ftp site: 

                  ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/9.x/

for other platforms start here:

                  ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/


(21 NOV 2010) Update: 


Get Adobe Reader X (10) for Windows:
ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/10.x/

Windows Live Essentials 2011 Offline Installer

Use the following link to download Windows Live Essentials 2011 offline installer (Complete).

http://g.live.com/1rewlive4-all/en/wlsetup-all.exe

Messenger

Photo Gallery

Movie Maker

Mail

Writer

Family Safety

Windows Live Mesh

Messenger Companion

Bing Bar

Outlook Connector Pack

Microsoft Silverlight

To learn more go to:

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-essentials?os=other


Update (8-July-2011):
A newer build is available, visit the link provided below to download the offline installer file specific to your version of Windows and preferred language.
http://explore.live.com/windows-live-essentials-install-offline-faq

5 ASHAMPOO SOFTWARE FOR FREE

Get 5 Ashampoo software ( Full Versions) for free, visit www.ashampoo.com/gift and enter the coupon code.

COUPON CODE: ASH-444LW1

Ashampoo® Burning Studio 2010 Advanced

Ashampoo® Home Designer

Ashampoo® Snap 3

Ashampoo® WinOptimizer 6

Ashampoo® Photo Commander 7

Download and register to get free product keys. 

AVG ANTI-VIRUS FREE EDITION 2011 OFFLINE INSTALLER

Get AVG Anti-virus Free Edition 2011 offline installer here: http://free.avg.com/in-en/download.prd-afh
Or use the following direct links:

32 Bit Windows 135 MB

http://download.avgfree.com/filedir/inst/avg_free_x86_all_2011_1120a3152.exe

64 Bit Windows 153 MB

http://download.avgfree.com/filedir/inst/avg_free_x64_all_2011_1120a3152.exe

Direct Download Link For Yahoo Messenger 10

Add ymsgr_suite_setup.exe to process monitor and view the the log or simply search for ymsgr10_in.ini  in c:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Temp\
For India current link is: http://download.yimg.com/ycs/msg/dl/msgr10/in/ymsgr1000_1264_in.exe

Quick way to find Yahoo! Messenger 9 direct download link.

The previous post probably is too geeky so this one is meant to be simpler.
Download the installer for your favorite version (Region) execute the installer and follow the instructions until the installation progress bar is displayed. Let it reach 1% mark then open SUITELOG.TXT which you will find in the following path:
C:\Documents and Settings\"YourUserName"\Local Settings\Temp
Open it to get the link.
Operating System: Windows XP
Download it manually using any download manager.
To know the procedure read my previous post How I found Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta direct download link ?

Click on the image below to see the highlighted link in SUITELOG.TXT .

How I found Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta direct download link ?

Operating System :
Windows XP Professional SP3

Tools :
Process Monitor
TcpView

Get them here :
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx

Download the installer of your choice, I choose the Indian version msgr9in.exe.
http://messenger.yahoo.com

Windows XP:
http://messenger.yahoo.com/win/

Windows Vista:
http://messenger.yahoo.com/vista/

Now start TcpView (Tcpview.exe) to find the process that downloads the package from Yahoo's server. Start msgr9*.exe select the appropriate options and ones the installation starts you will notice a process named GLBE.tmp connected to a Yahoo server. Now launch Process Monitor (Procmon.exe), press Ctrl+L to open Process Monitor Filter window select Process Name from the drop down list and type GLBE.tmp in the third column, click on Add and then Apply, now press Ctrl+A to start or stop Auto scroll and Ctrl+E to capture. This way you will find a log file SUITELOG.TXT in the folowing path,

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp.


Partial log from File Monitor ( Process Monitor replaced File Monitor).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2579 7:02:25 PM GLBE.tmp:3788 IRP_MJ_CLOSE C:\DOCUME~1\Lin\LOCALS~1\Temp\SUITELOG.TXT SUCCESS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Partial content of my SUITELOG.TXT
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
06/18/08 19:02:05 http://download.yimg.com/ycs/msg/dl/msgr9/in/ymsgr900_1389_in.exe ymsgr_inst_in.exe 1 0 0
06/18/08 19:02:06 http://download.yimg.com/ycs/msg/dl/msgr9/in/ymsgr900_1389_in.exe ymsgr_inst_in.exe 1 0 0
06/18/08 19:02:08 http://download.yimg.com/ycs/msg/dl/msgr9/in/ymsgr900_1389_in.exe ymsgr_inst_in.exe 1 0 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Start downloading!