Posts Tagged Windows
Solving Spiceworks “Test Failed: Check account, password, or WMI configuration” in Windows 7
Posted by Mike Beach in Uncategorized on January 3, 2012
If you’re setting up Spiceworks and are having an issue authenticating to a remote Windows 7 system, this may be the solution you’re looking for. This will help you solve this issue in 3 steps: Step 1: Create a local user with admin rights and a password This is needed if you’re not using the [...]
Set up an encrypted VPN using DD-WRT
Posted by Mike Beach in Uncategorized on December 13, 2011
DD-WRT is feature-rich alternative firmware for a large number of home router models. It adds a wonderful array of new features, VPN being one of them. This walkthrough will show you how to quickly and easily configure a PPTP VPN server on your DD-WRT-powered router, so you can connect to your home network from afar, [...]
How to enable BitLocker TPM+PIN after encrypting hard drive
Posted by Mike Beach in Uncategorized on December 8, 2011
BitLocker by itself is great drive encryption, but unfortunately it has some shortcomings in its default configuration. Namely, there’s no safeguard at boot time preventing the drive from being accessed. If your computer is stolen or physically compromised, the drive is ready and willing to give access to your data. Fortunately BitLocker supports a PIN [...]
Does the number of downloads of an app or software reflect on its quality?
Posted by Mike Beach in Uncategorized on December 7, 2011
We’ve all seen apps which tout their usefulness, relevance, or popularity by their number of downloads, but does it really mean anything? “Number of downloads” means exactly that — the number of people that have downloaded your app — it doesn’t even attempt to represent the number of people who found it useful or continue [...]
How to create a multi-page PDF from multiple image files using OpenOffice
Posted by Mike Beach in Uncategorized on December 6, 2011
I ran into a scan a document to send it via email. PDF format would have been preferable, but Windows Scan and Fax wouldn’t export as a PDF. Fortunately OpenOffice is quite capable of converting a multi-page document to a PDF, and does it quite easily. I had already scanned my documents, so I wanted something [...]
Why Carrier IQ is doomed
Posted by Mike Beach in Uncategorized on December 1, 2011
“Carrier IQ: How the Widespread Rootkit Can Track Everything on Your Phone, and How to Remove It” — That was the title of one of LifeHacker’s posts this Wednesday, which is just one of countless articles on the now-controversial carrier metric-gathering tool Carrier IQ that some are calling “rootkit” and “spyware.” ” … a hidden application [...]
How to backup and restore Windows NTFS EFS certificates
Posted by Mike Beach in Uncategorized on November 29, 2011
Starting with Windows XP, the Encrypting File System (EFS) allowed for transparent, in-place encryption of files on your computer using automatically-generated certificates tied to your user profile. This would prevent access to encrypted files in case the data on the hard drive became compromised. However, if the user profile became corrupted or you were unable to log [...]
SSDs vs. Conventional HDDs – One users experience and recommendations
Posted by Mike Beach in Uncategorized on November 25, 2011
The OCZ Technology SSD drives are on sale at bargain basement prices. Do you want one? Well slow down. Here is the low down. I purchased a OCZ Vertex Plus 60GB SSD drive for $59.90 with a $10.00 Rebate so for $49.90 I thought this was in my budget to test and see what all [...]
Keep your data and identify safe. Learn how to protect the data you store on your drives.
Posted by Mike Beach in Uncategorized on November 24, 2011
Just bought a shiny new laptop? Don’t let a would-be data- or identity-thief cause you major heartburn if your laptop is lost or stolen. Read the following to learn about various ways to protect the data you store on your laptop, desktop, or other removable drive. Data security should be one of the top concerns [...]
Keeping your iTunes library synced to a Synology iTunes Server
Posted by Mike Beach in Uncategorized on November 22, 2011
I have a both Synology DiskStation with an iTunes Server and my own iTunes library on my PC. Since it’s too much of a pain to keep the files organized between the two, here’s a way I’ve found to have them kept in sync automatically. Note that once the music files are saved or updated on [...]
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