Category: Freelance

Freelance work related.

Windows 8 net shares: “An extended error has occurred,” “System error 2148073478”

So if you attempt to path to a share (eg: \\10.92.22.44\myshare) and are met with An extended error has occurred, or you use a DIR command with a network path and receive Invalid Signature, or your NET USE attempt is met with System error 2148073478 has occurred, here’s a fix.  Turn off required secure negotiation.  Copy the following into a text file and name it whateveryouwantto.reg.

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Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters]
"RequireSecureNegotiate"=dword:00000000

Double click the file to insert into the registry.

Or if you like, add it manually: open regedit and path to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters.  Create a DWORD value named RequireSecureNegotiate and leave it set to the default 00000000.

Windows 8 – Classic Shell and the Auto Reboot Irritation

I’ve moved on to Windows 8 on my primary laptop and desktop because, well, time marches on. Microsoft did well with 7. 8, not so much. 9 will probably be better. But I have to admit that things seem peppier on 8, especially my virtualbox vms. That may just be the byproduct of a fresh build though.

Two things I absolutely have to do with a fresh 8 install are to wrest control of the UI from the poorly conceived desktop-for-a-tablet, and stop the damned thing from force rebooting after updates.

When it comes to the UI, Classic Shell is your savior. And it’s free! Can’t recommend it enough.

Stopping the auto-reboot is a simple reg hack. In the editor, head to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

Create the dword value NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers with a hexi value of 1. Or even easier, slap the below into a text file, rename it .reg and double click it to insert into the registry:

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Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU]
"NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers"=dword:00000001

Toying with the SickBeard database – SQLite

I’m moving around a bunch of data managed by SickBeard because I’m running out of drive space.  While SickBeard nicely allows for mass changes, it isn’t so friendly when it comes to gleaning certain information, such as a list of shows that reside in a common path.  SQL to the rescue.

Currently SickBeard uses SQLite as its default database.  Head to SQLite’s download page and grab the appropriate copy of the command line shell (in my case, Precompiled Binaries for Windows).  Stick it in the install path for SickBeard, where sickbeard.db resides.  Because I like to be safe I made a copy of my database, which I named sickbeard_2.db, just in case I did something stupid and broke it.

In a CMD window, path to the aforementioned location and fire up SQLite:

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SQLite3.exe

Open the database with

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.open filename.db

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You can list tables simply with

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.tables

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We’re after the information found in the tv_shows table. Want to see the columns in that table?

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pragma table_info(tv_shows);

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This simple query gets me what I am after, which is all the shows located in the Toons directory:

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SELECT location, show_name FROM tv_shows WHERE location LIKE '%Toons%';

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To dump the data to a file rather than to the screen:

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.mode csv
.output FILE.csv
SELECT location, show_name FROM tv_shows WHERE location LIKE '%Toons%';
.output stdout

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Find FILE.csv in the directory containing SQLite3 and the db.

Google Authenticator Application Passwords

I use Google Authenticator extensively, as I’m a big fan of multi-factor authentication.  In fact, I wish I could use it everywhere I’m required to input a password.

But when using it with your Google account it can get in the way of applications requiring access.  A thick mail client, for instance.  An app that publishes to YouTube.  An addon that syncs contacts.

They’ve solved this problem by allowing the creation of app specific passwords.  Works great.  But, as per usual with Google, finding the information you need can be problematic.  So, log into your Google account and head here:

https://security.google.com/settings/security/apppasswords

Windows 8.1 Clean install : We couldn’t find any drives. To get a storage driver, click Load Driver.

“We couldn’t find any drives. To get a storage driver, click Load Driver.”  That’s the message I got trying to install Windows 8.1 on a slightly used drive for my heavily used desktop.  Simply cleaning it in Diskpart solved the problem.

EDIT: LET ME CLARIFY.  Doing the following is preparing your drive for a CLEAN OS INSTALL.  This means you’re losing any data currently on the drive (technically you’re not erasing the drive, you’re just marking all the data as “gone” or “overwriteable,” so if you don’t continue and install an OS you can most likely recover it, but let’s just not go there).  Don’t do this to a drive that has data you want to keep!

  • Open an elevated CMD window
  • Diskpart
  • List disk – find the disk you want to clean
  • Select disk XX – where XX is that disk number
  • Clean

that’s it.

Resizing a VirtualBox VDI

Expanding drive space in VirtualBox has gotten easier!  Just clone the VDI (this step isn’t required, but if something goes wrong you’ll be happy you did it), then zap the clone with this:

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VBoxManage modifyhd <absolute path to file> --resize <size in MB>

Fire up the clone.  If you’re running a modern Windows OS you can use Disk Manager to expand the partition to fill the volume.  Otherwise check out gparted.

 

Change the Windows Sticky Note Font

The Windows sticky note font is hideous.  Every rebuild I do (and I do many, as I use virtual machines) means me looking up how to change this font, because Microsoft hasn’t made it easy, or even possible, without drastic action.  It uses the font Segoe.  So you could go in and try to delete that font altogether (which could be an arduous process unto itself, as it’s protected).  It’s easier, however, to go into the registry and repoint that font title to another font (and this way you can choose the font you want for sticky notes.

  • Open the registry and head to HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts
  • If you’re the nervous type, make a backup of this container of settings by right clicking the Fonts folder.
  • Find the item titled either Segoe Print (TrueType) or Segoe Script (TrueType) – it was the latter on my latest 7 64 bit build – and double click it.
  • Change the value to the .ttf of the font you’d prefer.  The example below changes it to the Consola font.  Remember, you’re pointing to the actual ttf file, not the friendly font name.
  • Repeat the process for Segoe Print Bold (TrueType) or Segoe Script Bold (TrueType).

fonts

That’s it.

Rebuilding Workstation Tips

New hard drives have arrived for my workstation and laptop.  They’re desperately overdue for a rebuild.  I love rebuilding and I hate it.  I love it because newly built machines run so smoothly, so cleanly, and have that new-machine smell.  It’s like virtual spring-cleaning.

I hate rebuilding because there’s so much stuff on my machines.  I’ve done a better job over the years of compartmentalizing (and even backing up) my data, but there’s still a lot of it – more than I’d like.  And the applications.  I use so many applications!  Every rebuild I think “I don’t need 3/4 of these apps.  I’m not putting them back on.”  But eventually, inevitably, as I work on this and that my installed app list grows, and I find myself installing a significant amount of the apps I insisted I wouldn’t.  Such is the curse of the breadth of things I work on, I suppose.  Just this morning a coworker from a completely different department commented that I’m the bitch for my department.  I work on whatever needs working on.  My boss generously calls me his “tool belt.”  Bitch is, honestly, more accurate.

Anyway, here are a few things that make my rebuild process less arduous.

  • I always build fresh onto new drives, holding onto the old ones.  Drives are cheap.  There’s nothing worse than blowing your drive away, rebuilding, and suddenly remembering something of Significant Importance™ that you forgot to back up.  Don’t sweat that.  Take the time to decrypt your current drives (you do encrypt them, don’t you) and set them aside. Build on a new drive, and keep your old ones around for a few weeks just to be sure.  Then you can wipe them and use them as scratch drives or external storage or replacement drives for that friend whose drive craps out or whatever.
  • Make a list of your installed applications.  It’s easy:
  1. Open a command prompt with elevated rights (Start > Run > type in CMD.  When the CMD icon appears, right click and Run as Administrator).
  2. Type in WMIC.
  3. Type in /output:c:\path\to\installed_list.txt product get name,version where path\to is, well, the path to wherever you want to write your installed_list.txt.
  4. Wait for it to finish. Enjoy list of apps.

I’ll add more to my list as my latest rebuilds commence.

Avast Port Redirect

When it comes to anti-virus, I’m a cheapskate.  I’m always using the latest highly rated free option.  And these days, that’s Avast.  I installed it on the little media box I run awhile ago.  Today I gave it a reboot per updates and – surprise! – SickBeard refused to start.  Port 8081 – the port I configured SB to run over – was in use, it said.  A quick netstat proved otherwise.

Avast does a redirect on a number of ports, it turns out.  So if you’ve recently installed Avast and have discovered port related problems, here’s your fix:

In the Avast console (obtained by double clicking the Avast icon in your tray):

  1. Choose Settings > Troubleshooting
  2. Expand Redirect Settings
  3. Observe this stuff here and make changes as per necessary.

avastAfter you OK your way out give it a couple of minutes for Avast to pick up your changes.