Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Wednesday January 30, 2008
-8F appears to be the high temp as of now (4.25p). Windchill is "only" -28F.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday January 29, 2008
Well, from a beautiful weekend we have slid into the arctic.According to the NWS we have a current temp of -9 with winds out of the nw at 30 mph with windchill at -35. I'm not looking forward to going out to my car to go home.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Monday January 28, 2008
Here is how to make a PC connect to a secure wireless network BEFORE the user logs in.
Requirements: Must have WinXP SP 2 installed and have some way of getting the files to the PC whether via wired network or USB Drive and be logged into the PC with Admin privileges.
1. Install the Microsoft patch WindowsXP-KB893357-v25-x86-ENU.exe available to Genuine users at the M$ download area.
2. (Edit the registry at your own risk!!) In HKLM Software Microsoft EAPOL Parameters General Global create a new DWORD Value "AuthMode" Data=2.
3. Import your Certificate to the Computer Certificate Store (not the User Store!) by opening MMC, adding "Certificates" and choosing "Local Computer" Then import the cert into the "Trusted Root Certificate Authorities" store.
4. Install the latest software available from the wireless client manufacturer.
5. Open the Service Manager and disable the manufacturers software configuration service and enable the M$ "Wireless Zero Configuration" service.
6. Reboot the PC, log in with admin privileges again.
7. (Your settings will differ depending on your configuration, these are mine) Open the "Wireless Network Connections" screen. Open "Advanced settings" Enter your SSID, select WPA2 and AES and click the Authentication tab. Select "PEAP", "Authenticate as Computer" and click the "Properties" button. Check "Validate" and select your certificate. OK to close everything.
8. Restart the PC in Wireless mode and you should be connected to the network.
Simple, once you know how. I must say, it is much easier to do this in Vista. Not possible (I don't think) in W2K since it does not support WPA2.
Requirements: Must have WinXP SP 2 installed and have some way of getting the files to the PC whether via wired network or USB Drive and be logged into the PC with Admin privileges.
1. Install the Microsoft patch WindowsXP-KB893357-v25-x86-ENU.exe available to Genuine users at the M$ download area.
2. (Edit the registry at your own risk!!) In HKLM Software Microsoft EAPOL Parameters General Global create a new DWORD Value "AuthMode" Data=2.
3. Import your Certificate to the Computer Certificate Store (not the User Store!) by opening MMC, adding "Certificates" and choosing "Local Computer" Then import the cert into the "Trusted Root Certificate Authorities" store.
4. Install the latest software available from the wireless client manufacturer.
5. Open the Service Manager and disable the manufacturers software configuration service and enable the M$ "Wireless Zero Configuration" service.
6. Reboot the PC, log in with admin privileges again.
7. (Your settings will differ depending on your configuration, these are mine) Open the "Wireless Network Connections" screen. Open "Advanced settings" Enter your SSID, select WPA2 and AES and click the Authentication tab. Select "PEAP", "Authenticate as Computer" and click the "Properties" button. Check "Validate" and select your certificate. OK to close everything.
8. Restart the PC in Wireless mode and you should be connected to the network.
Simple, once you know how. I must say, it is much easier to do this in Vista. Not possible (I don't think) in W2K since it does not support WPA2.
Monday January 28, 2008
Gorgeous day yesterday, mid 30's for the high. Replaced the shift cable in Stripez ('92 Voyager) over the weekend, the column end was bent so it was nearly impossible to to shift into Park. The cable was $50 at O'Reilly's. Wasn't nearly as difficult as I was afraid it was going to be. Generally, when the Haynes manual doesn't tell you how to do the job it means that they don't think that the home mechanic is capable of successfully doing the job.
Don't know why the cable was bent, wish I did. Everything moves freely separately, and feels normal all together, and I don't see anything else wrong with the old cable. I would think it should have taken considerable force to bend that chunk of metal but it is well protected. I dunno.
Don't know why the cable was bent, wish I did. Everything moves freely separately, and feels normal all together, and I don't see anything else wrong with the old cable. I would think it should have taken considerable force to bend that chunk of metal but it is well protected. I dunno.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Wednesday January 23, 2008
Because I use Vista I must occasionally use IE7. Most of the time I use Firefox, but occasionally the need for IE7 arises, such as today, when I needed to upload some documents to the teams sharepoint website. Sharepoint will not allow Firefox to do it, only IE. One of the problems I have with IE7 is the nag about "your security setting level puts your computer at risk" because I have certain features disabled. So, I went hunting for a way to disable the nag, and here is what I found.
Open the Group Policy Object Editor. Browse to the Local Computer Policy, Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Internet Explorer. There you will find 3 settings that need to be "Enabled"":
1. Prevent "Fix Settings" functionality
2. Turn off the Security Settings Check feature
3. Prevent performance of First Run Customize settings
Does the trick!!
Open the Group Policy Object Editor. Browse to the Local Computer Policy, Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Internet Explorer. There you will find 3 settings that need to be "Enabled"":
1. Prevent "Fix Settings" functionality
2. Turn off the Security Settings Check feature
3. Prevent performance of First Run Customize settings
Does the trick!!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Tuesday January 22, 2008
Got my Pocket PC connected to the network and the Phone system finally. I did a hard reset of my Pocket PC, put everything back the way I wanted it. I did NOT use any of the hacks to get the cert installed but instead installed it cleanly by my previous instructions (no problem) then connected to the network with no problem. Installed the Soft Phone and used the Road Warrior profile and it works. My only problem is that the Pocket PC does not like to let go of the AP until the AP is out of range. So there is a moment of silence and then the connection comes back up with no connection loss, just a pause in the conversation.
Then I went on to my laptop. Since my "good" work laptop died I brought in my old one from home. Installed the wireless card on it and imported the cert. No connection. Heck, I couldn't even see the guest network. Fiddled around and still couldn't get it to work, tried a couple of reboots, nothing. Finally uninstalled the driver, rebooted and re-installed the driver. Now I could see the guest network. Then I found a tutorial at the U of Texas/Dallas that explained that in Windows 2000 you have to turn on the 802.1x service. Did that and everything started working.
Ran into another interesting problem that has kept me busy today. A PC was brought in, maybe 4 or 5 years old, with Win2K installed, wouldn't boot, had a strange error message on it. I looked up the error message in the M$ KB and learned something interesting. Because of limitations of the hardware and software, Win2K on Intel cannot use more than 16M of RAM at the beginning of the boot process, during which time the OS must load the System Registry hive, the boot loader, HAL, and kernel. In this case, the System hive was over 34MB in size! So, I copied the default system hive in and booted the PC. It still has other problems, but I didn't know that there was a memory limit during this part of the boot process, makes sense though. The problem has been fixed in W2k3 by moving the size limit to 200MB and by moving some items that are not essential to the boot process from the system hive to the software hive (see KB articles 269075 & 302594). I will have to keep my eyes open for this problem, there are quite a few W2K PC's still in service that have been around this long and could expect to see this issue.
Time to go home now. I was just figuring, here it is only Tuesday night and I have already worked for 27 hours this week. Yeeesh!
Then I went on to my laptop. Since my "good" work laptop died I brought in my old one from home. Installed the wireless card on it and imported the cert. No connection. Heck, I couldn't even see the guest network. Fiddled around and still couldn't get it to work, tried a couple of reboots, nothing. Finally uninstalled the driver, rebooted and re-installed the driver. Now I could see the guest network. Then I found a tutorial at the U of Texas/Dallas that explained that in Windows 2000 you have to turn on the 802.1x service. Did that and everything started working.
Ran into another interesting problem that has kept me busy today. A PC was brought in, maybe 4 or 5 years old, with Win2K installed, wouldn't boot, had a strange error message on it. I looked up the error message in the M$ KB and learned something interesting. Because of limitations of the hardware and software, Win2K on Intel cannot use more than 16M of RAM at the beginning of the boot process, during which time the OS must load the System Registry hive, the boot loader, HAL, and kernel. In this case, the System hive was over 34MB in size! So, I copied the default system hive in and booted the PC. It still has other problems, but I didn't know that there was a memory limit during this part of the boot process, makes sense though. The problem has been fixed in W2k3 by moving the size limit to 200MB and by moving some items that are not essential to the boot process from the system hive to the software hive (see KB articles 269075 & 302594). I will have to keep my eyes open for this problem, there are quite a few W2K PC's still in service that have been around this long and could expect to see this issue.
Time to go home now. I was just figuring, here it is only Tuesday night and I have already worked for 27 hours this week. Yeeesh!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Monday January 21, 2008
Had a very trying day today. Got our WLAN setup with security for the business network. Security means that you need to come see me to get a certificate installed to validate your device on the WLAN.
One of the things we want to do with our new & secure WLAN is setup wireless VoIP phones. I even have a device that is capable of this feat, a Pocket PC 6700 from UT Starcom. First, I went to Avaya's website and downloaded and installed their Softphone for Pocket PC. That was easy.
Now to configure my device to connect to the network I need to download and install the certificate. I copied the cert to my PC and then used (Vista) Sync Center to transfer it to my Pocket PC. Then, I opened File Explorer on the Pocket PC and clicked the cert. "Invalid Certificate". Crap, it worked on my PC.
I started to research. Seems that by default Windows Mobile 5 is locked and WILL NOT import "self-signed" certificates. OK, so I went to the M$ website and downloaded the SmartPhoneAddCert.exe program. Still says "Invaild Certificate". Found a RegHack for the Pocket PC, that didn't work. Then I finally found a blog by Mark Mulvaney at sbslive.spaces.live.com with the correct procedure:
1. Import the Certificate on your PC. You can do this by copying the cert to your PC then doubleclick the cert. It will pop up a screen that should give you the option to "Install Certificate", do it using the provided wizard and accept the defaults (unless you know better).
2. Start, Run "certmgr.msc". Browse thru the window to find the certificate (you do know what it is called, right???). Right click on the cert, select "All tasks", then "Export". Accept all the defaults and make note of where you store the new *.cer file.
3. Copy the *.cer file to your Windows Mobile 5 device. Open file Explorer and click on the *.cer file and it should import it successfully.
Now I still have one problem. Even though the certificate is installed I still cannot connect to the network. I will work on that one tomorrow.
One of the things we want to do with our new & secure WLAN is setup wireless VoIP phones. I even have a device that is capable of this feat, a Pocket PC 6700 from UT Starcom. First, I went to Avaya's website and downloaded and installed their Softphone for Pocket PC. That was easy.
Now to configure my device to connect to the network I need to download and install the certificate. I copied the cert to my PC and then used (Vista) Sync Center to transfer it to my Pocket PC. Then, I opened File Explorer on the Pocket PC and clicked the cert. "Invalid Certificate". Crap, it worked on my PC.
I started to research. Seems that by default Windows Mobile 5 is locked and WILL NOT import "self-signed" certificates. OK, so I went to the M$ website and downloaded the SmartPhoneAddCert.exe program. Still says "Invaild Certificate". Found a RegHack for the Pocket PC, that didn't work. Then I finally found a blog by Mark Mulvaney at sbslive.spaces.live.com with the correct procedure:
1. Import the Certificate on your PC. You can do this by copying the cert to your PC then doubleclick the cert. It will pop up a screen that should give you the option to "Install Certificate", do it using the provided wizard and accept the defaults (unless you know better).
2. Start, Run "certmgr.msc". Browse thru the window to find the certificate (you do know what it is called, right???). Right click on the cert, select "All tasks", then "Export". Accept all the defaults and make note of where you store the new *.cer file.
3. Copy the *.cer file to your Windows Mobile 5 device. Open file Explorer and click on the *.cer file and it should import it successfully.
Now I still have one problem. Even though the certificate is installed I still cannot connect to the network. I will work on that one tomorrow.
Monday January 21, 2008
Cold weekend, lows about -20-25, highs -10 to -5. Cars don't like to start.
Gas is at 2.78.
Gas is at 2.78.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Wednesday January 16, 2008
As usual, I'm way behind.
Gas: 1/4 3.04
1/11 2.99
1/12 2.91 in Bemidji
1/16 2.89 in GR
From my stack of recent gas receipts.
Cheers!!!
Gas: 1/4 3.04
1/11 2.99
1/12 2.91 in Bemidji
1/16 2.89 in GR
From my stack of recent gas receipts.
Cheers!!!
Friday, January 4, 2008
Friday January 4, 2008
By the time I got off work Wednesday, gas was at 2.949. Thursday on my way to work I thought to myself "I need to fill up on my way home". By the time I got off work Thursday gas was at 3.049. WTF????? And I do need to get gas now. Win some, lose some, I guess. I need to fill up on my way home tonight since I didn't yesterday.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Wednesday January 2, 2008
Busy Holiday, now back to the grindstone.
Gas: Filled up on 12/26 at 2.879, then gas jumped to 2.999. Went to Bemidji on 12/29, gas there was at 2.869 so filled up there. On 12/31 gas in GR was at 2.979, but filled up in Bemidji at 2.949. Bemidji gas ranged anywhere in price from 2.92 to 2.999, all GR stations are at 2.979.
Had a 'panic' over Christmas, no candles for my "Christmas Pyramid". Made some that worked by hand-dipping, then went on-line and started searching, found some at "Old World Christmas". $20 for 50 inc shipping. I couldn't find any in GR or Bemidji with much searching. Now I should have enough for a few years.
Need to look now for a "Swedish Royal Angel Chime".
Got the replacement glass in the Tempo on 12/27. That was fun. At least the weather was warm (20's?). 6 below 0 F here and now.
Found a cool website, www.alpharubicon.com. Not much accessible to non-members, but what there is is very good.
Oh yeah, the grindstone. I need to start cranking now.
Gas: Filled up on 12/26 at 2.879, then gas jumped to 2.999. Went to Bemidji on 12/29, gas there was at 2.869 so filled up there. On 12/31 gas in GR was at 2.979, but filled up in Bemidji at 2.949. Bemidji gas ranged anywhere in price from 2.92 to 2.999, all GR stations are at 2.979.
Had a 'panic' over Christmas, no candles for my "Christmas Pyramid". Made some that worked by hand-dipping, then went on-line and started searching, found some at "Old World Christmas". $20 for 50 inc shipping. I couldn't find any in GR or Bemidji with much searching. Now I should have enough for a few years.
Need to look now for a "Swedish Royal Angel Chime".
Got the replacement glass in the Tempo on 12/27. That was fun. At least the weather was warm (20's?). 6 below 0 F here and now.
Found a cool website, www.alpharubicon.com. Not much accessible to non-members, but what there is is very good.
Oh yeah, the grindstone. I need to start cranking now.
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