Running Explorer as Admin in Vista makes it Crash if Links Bar contains off-line files

A small issue I discovered this night is about the Internet Explorer on Vista.
Some programs ask for admin privileges in order to let Explorer show their interface (through IIS7).
One among others is Virtual Server 2005.
I usually synchronize (and Vista offers a huge quantity of tools to do it) Documents folders as well as Favorites or Pictures Folders.
With XP this kind of features were available through group policy management (in SBS environment) or changing some registry keys.
With Vista, create symbolic links is a normal everyday job easily achievable by right-clickin the special folders in the Start Menu.
And if you redirect your Favorites Shortcut in the start menu to a mapped network folder with "off-line" items inside, share your work among multiple machines becomes very comfortable.
I love Vista even for this.

The problem is that, for some reasons I'm investigating, if the mapped network is not connected and the Links Bar shows the off-lines files instead of the original network folder content, Explorer crashes if run as admin.
Deactivating the Links Bar from Explorer makes it start with no problems

Right Click on Explorer Quick Launch Bar to run Explore as admin


And then, the sad result....

ATI openGL Drivers, Second Life and Vista. What a shame!

This is not an article. This is only the nth blog to exhaust ATI and convince them to release a ?&%&% openGL Vista compatible driver…

We’re talking about ATI. Not of small unknown Korean hardware company.

For some more details on this issue, please, pick an article randomly among the tons available on the net.

I suggest this one from Kelly Adams, another guy a little bit nervous with ATI….

In the meanwhile, appreciate the fabolous 3D effect of Linden Second Life app:



Of course I tried. Very faithful in the Vista openGL emulation sytem.

And this is the magic moment, my entry in Linden Country:



Nice, isn’t it?

For news duty, I have an Acer Aspire Notebook with 2 GB of RAM and an ATI Radeon X700 driver board

Ah….. I was missing….

If you try to run Second Life on an XP Guest OS hosted by Virtual PC 2007 in Vista, no miracle’s allowed.

italian

Questo non è un’articolo, bensì l’ennesimo tentativo di stimolare ATI a produrre un driver openGL per consentire agli utilizzatori di Vista di fruire di alcune funzionalità 3D, previste a prescindere in alcune applicazioni tra cui Linden Second Life.

Ovviamente, ci permettiamo sarcasmo e critiche perché parliamo del colosso ATI e non dell’ultimo produttore coreano un po’ sf…ortunato.

Nella marea di articoli disponibili, ne consiglio uno a caso, quello del buon blogger Kelly Adams: anche lui leggermente incavolato con ATI.
Nel frattempo godetevi quel paio di instantanee sopra riprodotte che frustrano i desideri d’accesso al fantomatico mondo Linden.

Per dovere di cronaca, informo che l’evento occorre su un Notebook Acer Aspire 9502 con 2 Gb di RAM dotato di una fiammantissima, ma priva di benzina, ATI Radeon X700.

Per evitare l’esperimento a qualcuno, Second Life non funziona nemeno su XP SP2 ospitato da Virtual PC 2007 installato su Vista. Nessun miracolo, quindi…

An IT Prof. among the many.....

Is it possible to spend the second day of the year at your work desk?

Here’s an answer:

Padua, Italy (January the 2th - 8.45 p.m.): A not so young italian IT prof, formatting a company server, taking advantage of the missing employees



The same honest person, in her home scenario, December the 31st (morning time…. ehm 1 p.m.):



The stainless one bedpals: Freddy (my sister’s pug) and Silvio (the dominican lucky one…. picked up by me during 1999 in Santo Domingo, when he was going to die completely derfed - the breed, as Dominicans told me, is “mira-lata”, “the one that watch at the empty throwed cans”… :-((( - despite of this disparaging pet name, his blue-blooded nature means the story’s a little bit different…



Freedy, bothered by Vista “brightness” ;-))



The soundtrack of that particular sweet day:

Windows Live Mail (Desktop) Beta: a Wonderful Swan

I must be honest.

I don’t appreciate too much the Microsoft “live” product line….

On average, the products seem lower than the competitor’s ones.

Less functions, poor setting abilities etc….

More and less the same sensation that new Vista sidebar users’ feel, if they’ve been using the marvelous and free, Desktop Sidebar for XP.

In Italy we use an example that’s everywhere understandable: switching car model, from Ferrari to Fiat.

From the best to the fair…

Small play tools: this is my products related average feeling.

Three exceptions, however, I must point out; a sort of white swans among common ducks: the editor I use for typing this modest mine (Live Writer Beta), One Care, and the new Live Mail Desktop Beta, on which I’ll spend some lines…

Live Mail (Desktop) Beta is an IMAP, POP, HTTP mail client, simple, light but fast and reliable.

For people like me, with years of Outlook fights behind my shoulders, seem to go back to teens.

sI’m testing LMDB in an environment that involves a Server Side managed by Altn MDaemon on a Win 2003 Server R2 Xeon machine, and Vista RTM as host OS for LMDB client loaded on an Acer Aspire Notebook equipped with a 1,73/2 Gb normal Centrino.

I overloaded both Outlook 2007 and LMDB with 4 IMAP accounts, containing each one an average of 10000/15000 messages each, and 6 lighter Pop3 Accounts (in the North East of Italy are largely diffuse bad administered companies with such a kind of mail caravan…;-)).

It’s early to express final comments, but my first impression is that the new Vista indexing service, as well as the Vista environment in its whole, spread their max with LMDB.

It’s faster. Much more faster than Outlook and, ’til now, it never crashed. (I prefer to draw a veil over Outlook failures with PSTs of 1 Gb and more).

I performed a test search, among the 40.000 (fully downloaded and) unread items, in less than 10 seconds. A sort of miracle.

The positive experience, keeps on running over the users when they change folders and items. In 2 second LMDB’s ready, offering the contents quickly but safely.

A lot of missings, of course, “make the difference” between Outlook and LMDB. They are different products for different targets. But small enterprises generally use the 20% of Outlook automation resources, and suffer from the side effects of this complexity.

One difference, that’s already in my wish-list for future LMDB releases, is the faculty to taylor the IMAP synchronization LMDB performs (a feature already available to manage newsgroups).

When you synchronize your mail, you can’t preset if LMDB will act an “header only” download, a full body of “new messages” one, or start a DSL-killer session, trying to grab 5 Gb of full messages stored on IMAP server folders.

This kind of choice can be however done with a stupid trick: clicking on the Imap Folder, only headers will be sync; clicking send/receive will start a full download.

An important evolution to point out, is the attribution of a separate set of folders for each account (inbox, sent items, outbox etc…)

To get this simple, but absolutely useful, setting, Outlook and OE users had to manually set rules.

With a different colour for each set (I provide a capture of this particular), the accounts management become easier and lighter….



A final consideration must be done: not casually, the three swans of the Microsoft ”Live Family” are software applications.

Microsoft is a great, probably the greatest software house of this age.

When Micrsoft persists in promoting itself as a service provider, it fails.

It’s not its core, the core of its mission.

Live services products are worse than Live apps products. And I don’t understand why Microsoft things goes this way.

If I was a decision maker in Microsoft, I would buy services companies, but I would leave them to work on their missions apart.

I would not label their creativity with a brand that means “code”, “order”, something reliable but localized.

Microsoft is the strong and affordable structure where the fantasy of services projects can hold on.

Ok. But I’m not a MS decision maker, neither a low level developer, only an happy customer with a Vista RTM expiring as soon as I’m afraid to think…. :-((

Anyway, long life to the bad, capitalist, profitable, dear Microsoft :-))

Here’s a small capture of the swan “Live Mail Desktop Beta”, at work on my notebook.

Widcomm BT Drivers on Vista

I didn’t mean to suffer so much, this morning (January the 2th), when, still in bed, I pushed by mistake the Blue Tooth button on my Acer Aspire Laptop (Broadcom 2045 USB 2.0 with Widcomm drivers).

I tried, some times ago, to make BT work with the native Vista Drivers, and it was a failure.

The rough BT Vista interface is the same of XP, so user can’t appropriately control services and devices features.

Casually, there was over my bed, together with my dogs and my laptop, a CD folderbook open casually in a page showing the original Acer Widcomm Drivers (you know…. a lucky shot… ;-).

I turned off the BT device, and launched the Widcomm app absolutely unfaithful.

I remember how annoying thsi process was in XP, with tons of not signed driver to explicit allow.

Well, what’s annoying in XP, become tedious in Vista. But at final, incredible, it works. I turned on the BT device, and connected a Sony BT headset. I tried to make a phone call through Skype and it works.

Just say yes a dozen of times to dialogs like this:



And wait other 10/15 minutes tll Vista completes installs.

That’s it….

Ah…. these are the dogs and my bedpal laptop…. ;-)))



Stefania

Offlines Files deleted but still visible on a mapped folder - File fuori linea e in una cartella mappata, cancellati ma ancora presenti

The New year starts with an issue that involves offline files stored on a Vista mapped folder.

The problem can occurr if you use this Technet source magic workaround or this one (with the use of symbolic links feature) by Attila Megyeri. The goal of both is to move the offline files cache to a different path/position.

My “informal lab” is built around two machines, a desktop and a notebook, both running Windows Vista Ultimate 6000 (RTM), and a common folder (Favorites in this case).

The pool of problems turn around the CSC folder and its subfolders control.

One of these problems, as in subject, involves the faculty to completely delete a file that’s cached in the new choosen storage position.

If you decide, as I did, to take a look at your “new” CSC content, you have to deal with the NTFS security features: ownerships, permissions and so on; as CSC folder, for design, is not accessible to local machine administrators but only to “system” account.

After a little bit of work right clicking folders and setting new ownerships and permissions, it may happen that the “system” account (the one that manage the sync processes) and the administrator one, are both not able to completely manage those folders anymore…. Sometimes, I’m such a lazy girl… :-((

So a dialog like this can occurr:



The file has been deleted by me (the administrator) but it still remain visible in explorer. Any effort to make it disappear is unsuccessful.

Resync doesn’t do the job and nothing happens even if you run scandisk etc…

Don’t panic, and get back to CSC folder and start another session of right-clicking over folders, subfolders and even files (I highly reccomended to temporarily disable the UAC to safe your healthness)…. This will let you improve your ownership and permissions to reach the goal.

At final you’ll succeed in sweep away those hated ones from your view!!!

Happy new year to all the crazy Vista pioneers!!

Italian:

Il nuovo anno parte con la descrizione di una problematica che riguarda file fuori linea salvati su un unità mappata di Windows Vista.

Il problema può insorgere se si è utilizzato questa procedura descritta nei forum Technet o quest’altra di Attila Megyeri. Obiettivo d’entrambe, spostare la posizione predefinita della cache dei file fuori linea.

L’ambiente di lavoro è costituito da un Notebook e da un Desktop con installato Windows Vista Ultimate RTM 6000 ed una cartella condivisa con attivata l’opzione ”file fuori linea”: la cartella, in questo caso, è quella dei “preferiti”.

Le problematiche che possono insorgere riguardano il controllo della nuova cartella CSC (quella della cache dei file fuori linea), progettata per non subire accessi da altri account se non quello di sistema.

Se si decide, come io ho fatto, di curiosare all’interno della cartella CSC, bisogna cominciare un’estenuante battaglia con le caratteristiche NTFS di sicurezza: proprietà, permessi d’accesso etc…

Può succedere, dopo l’imponente mole di click a cui si è sottoposti, che nè l’account di sistema nè gli amministraori siano più in grado di avere un controllo completo della porzione di file system coinvolta. Mi capita di essere un po’ cialtrona alle volte.

Può succedere quindi di trovarsi davanti ad uno scenario simile



ho cancellato il file come amministratore, ed in effetti non c’è più, ma continua ad essere visibile. Ogni tentativo di eliminarne completamente la presenza, fallisce.

A nulla vale risincronizzare il tutto.

Nemmeno Scandisk risolve la questione.

E’ inutile lanciare improperi. Bisogna tornare ad occuparsi dei permessi e della “proprietà” sui file e cartelle che non vogliono sparire.

A furia di click col tasto destro (è consigliato disabilitare momentaneamente l’UAC per non impazzire), si riuscirà a far sparire gli odiosi fantasmi dalle cartelle.

Un augurio di Buon Anno a tutti i pionieri di Vista!!

Merlin VMC Card and Virtual PC

The environment is Vista Ultimate RTM as Host Os and XP PRO SP2 as Guest.

Thanks to Exertrack workarounds posted on ”Solved! Windows Vista and Vodafone 3G“ and to the marvelous MWConn app, that works to me better and lighter than Vodafone Mobile Connect software, the problem to connect a Vista Notebook to the most reliable UMTS service (at least in Italy) seems, for the moment, resolved.

For “academic” curiosity, nevertheless, I tried to install VMC Software (VMC 4.02.0006) in a Windows XP Guest OS running on Virtual PC 2007 hosted by Vista Ultimate RTM and make my Merlin Quadriband board work without any of the described workarounds.

As easily can be imagined the problem is the PCMPCIA control on a Guest OS.

Mapping the correct COM ports, that allow MWConn to perfectly work on Vista (Host), doesn’t do the job.

The physical ports are Com4 and Com5, and Virtual PC gives the chance to map the guest Virtual ports to the physical ones.

However, the systems desesperately hangs using the 99% of CPU resources; CTRL-ALT-CANC is the only way-out for the issue.

Disabling physical ports in Device Manager, obviously, avoids the COMs mapping; and, finally, I can’t see other chance to succeed in doing my test.

Any suggestion?



L’ambiente è costituito da Vista Ultimate RTM come Host ad XP PRO SP2 come Guest.

Grazie ai consigli di Exertrack pubblicati in “Solved! Windows Vista and Vodafone 3G“ ed alla meravigliosa applicazione MWConn, a mio avviso migliore è più leggera dello stesso software Vodafone, le problematiche di connessione ad Internet attraverso la migliore rete UMTS (perlomeno in Italia) sembra, per il momento, risolta.

Per curiosità accademica, tuttavia, ho provato ad installare il software Vodafone (VMC 4.02.0006) in un sistema operativo Guest (Windows XP PRO SP2) gestito da Virtual PC 2007 ospitato da Vista Ultimate RTM 6.0.6000 Build 6000 al fine di far funzionare, senza i trucchi dei post più sopra segnalati, la mia scheda Merlin Quadriband

Com’è facilmente immaginabile il principale problema è il controllo dello slot PCMCPCIA da un sistema operativo Guest.

Mappando le corrispondenti porte COM, che consentone a MWConn di lavorare perfettamente su Vista, non si riesce ad ottenere il risultato sperato.

Le Porte fisiche sono la COM4 e la COM5 e Virtual PC prevede la possibilità di “mappare” le porte virtuali a quelle fisiche.

Purtroppo, però, il sistema si blocca utilizzando il 99% delle risorse CPU e terminare Virtual PC, attraverso CTRL-ALT-CANC, è l’unica possibilità percorribile per riprendere il controllo della macchina.

Disabilitando le porte fisiche in Device Manager, ovviamente, non consente il mapping delle porte COM e, in finale, non vedo altra strada per poter riuscire ad elaborare il mio test.

Qualche consiglio?

Vista, Virtual PC and OneCare

Hello.
Bad News for the ones intentioned to use MS OneCare as a Virus/Worm barrier for a Guest OS managed through Virtual PC 2007 on Vista Host.

The Issue concernes the Virtual Network Adapter.

After the Virtual Machine Reboot (Guest OS, in this case, Windows XP PRO SP2….but the same strange event happened also with Ubuntu Linux install and, obviously, no OneCare in it), the IP Address of the Network Adapter reports a strange IP Address (from an unknown DHCP source) surely not present in any segment of my LAN.

The address is 192.168.131.65. My Local Lan (and so the Host Os, in this case Vista RTM) has a different IP Class.

No other adapter on the machine (an Acer Aspire Notebook), has got a static IP or a configuration that can explain the event.

No way to surf or to differently use the network, even if a static address is forced in the Guest Network Adapter.

An interesting amount of data are exchanged between the Guest Adapter end the environment; which kind of data and for which reason is not avoid to know (I don’t have net tools installed and the needed time to analize them, at the moment).

In any case, the Guest Network Address is attributed by DHCP.

So, it could be nice, for me and the community, if someone could know and tell what’s behind this..
One Care, in my opinion, is a reliable tool (even too much paranoid, in some ways….), but sure an healthy friend of basic user PCs.



Ciao,

non ho buone notizie per quanti intendessero usare Microsoft One Care per proteggere Sistemi Operativi Guest gestiti da Virtual PC 2007 su Sistemi Host Vista.

Purtroppo devo segnalare una problematica che affligge la scheda virtuale di rete del sistema operativo ospitato (Guest).

Dopo aver installato One Care (su sistema Guest Windows XP PRO SP2, ma la stessa questione accade, per assurdo, anche con Ubuntu Linux, ovviamente senza OneCare), ed effettuato il riavvio di routine, la scheda (in DHCP, naturalmente) presenta un indirizzo strano ed alieno alla mia rete locale.

Tale indirizzo è 192.168.131.65. La mia rete locale, così come il sistema operativo ospitante (Host), ha un’altra classe di IP.

E nessun altro adattatore di rete riporta indirizzi statici o configurazioni che possano spiegare l’evento.

In ogni caso non c’è modo di utilizzare la rete, né per navigare né per altro. Tuttavia una consistente mole di dati è scambiata, dalla scheda del Guest, con l’ambiente; anche se non ho potutto effettuare un analisi, per mancanza di strumenti di rete e di tempo, su tale traffico che ne spieghi la natura e le ragioni.

Se qualcuno conosce le ragioni dello strano comportamento di Virtual PC 2007 in questa occasione, potrebbe felicemente comunicarlo alla community.
OneCare è un ottimo strumento di protezione (a volte fin troppo paranoico) per il PC di utenti con skill informatici non troppo “affilati”.

Vista Network Bridge and WET

If you’re on a Lan and you try to transfer file and setting using the marvellous and comfortable tool “Windows Easy Transfer”, be sure that the machines involved in this action are not part of a Network Bridge.

During the acknoledgment phase, with the key exchange between the two PC involved, the system hangs and the machines can’t communicate.
So, delete the bridge for the time WET needs to transfer infos, and then rebuild it….

If, by chance, you find some more evoluted solutions, let me know….




Se cerchi di trasferire i files e la configurazione di Vista tra dua macchine Vista su una LAN, sii sicuro/a di disabilitare ogni Bridge di Rete che coinvolga le macchine impegnate da “Windows Easy Transfer”.

Durante la procedura di riconoscimento, nello specifico nella fase di scambio delle chiavi, il sistema si blocca ed un messaggio comunica l’impossibilità per le macchine di “trovarsi”.

Tutto funziona alla perfezione (o quasi) se viene cancellato momentaneamente il Bridge e ripristinato non appena WET abbia terminato il suo compito.
Se incappi in qualche soluzione più “progredita”, ti prego di farmelo sapere….