Synaptic Touchpad - weird video plays after installing drivers...

Synaptics does a nice thing by making an all-inclusive driver package available on their website.  

Using the driver from their website enables a few features not found in the OEM driver, such as Horizontal and Chiral scrolling.  After installation of their driver package, I noticed an odd behavior.  A synaptics demo video would run at random intervals.  I couldn't figure out what triggered it.  

After some digging, I found that there were additional device properties on top of those enumerated in Control Panel > Mouse

How to kill the Batman random video:

1. Navigate to Control Panel > Mouse
2. Under your mouse properties, click on the last tab "Device Settings". 
3. Click "Settings" to pull up the "Synaptics Properties" window. 
4. Select "Tapping" and you will see a Gear symbol and a Question Mark to the right side. 
5. The Gear allows you to go into "Tapping Settings" 
6. If you have Tapping unchecked, you cannot access these settings.  For some odd reason these settings will still be in effect.  Note: This was what was keeping me from finding how to disable the random video.
7. Click into this and you can either uncheck "Enable tapping zones" or change the very last drop down box (with Top Right Action) to "No Zone". 
8. Proceed to back out, uncheck "Tapping" again if you so desire, and compute annoyance free.

~ fin ~

"Local Only" network in Vista 64-bit + 169.254 IP Address = headache

Problem: 169.254 IP address configuration "stuck" on a wired ethernet adapter.


OS:  Vista Ultimate 64-bit


What 169.254.x.x means:  It's an error message configuration of sorts.  The IANA reserved 169.254.0.0-169.254.255.255 for Automatic Private IP Addressing. In this case, if the NIC can't get an IP via DHCP, APIPA provides these addresses that are guaranteed not to conflict with routable addresses on the live network.  Definition ripped off from courtesy of chicagotech.net


Solution that worked:


Start: by typing "Command " in the Start Search block, then right click "Command Prompt" and select "Run as Administrator" - when/if prompted, click [Continue]


Next: Type "netsh [Enter]" then "winsock [Enter]" then "reset [Enter]"


This action resets the Winsock Catalog to a clean state.


Special Ingredient:  You must entirely power off your machine, not just restart the OS.  It may have been a bit overboard...  I went so far as to turn the power off at the Power Supply once the PC had powered off, just to make sure that it was not in a low-power-mode.  For some odd reason this fix doesn't work if you just "restart" the OS, performing a warm-boot.


What did not fix the issue:
"ipconfig /release" - the address remained 169.254.x.x - It would not change/release the offending 169.254.x.x address.

Octopi are as smart as house cats...

octopi are badass....

System Tweaks for improving XP OS performance

Came across these on paper, and want to put 'em up here for your perusal.

The "Standard Use and Abuse Clause®" is in effect on these Tweaks.

Link to Bootvis source @ Softpedia - Just a suggested link, google for it and select a site you 'trust'.

1. As always, before performing a major system tweak like this, at the very least you MUST create a System Restore Point. One caveat - BootVis is known to completely bork systems, and sometimes even even the venerable Recovery Console is unable to unhose it. So as an extra precaution, I suggest you perform a complete backup of your system partition with Norton Ghost prior to performing these tweaks..
   
2. That said, download the bootvis.msi installer, and doubleclick it to execute.
   
3. After installation, restart your system, and get a rough time of how long it takes to boot from initialization to finishing loading into the OS.
   
4. Click [Start] --> [All Programs] --> [Microsoft BootVis] --> [BootVis]
5. BootVis launches.
6. Now we make BootVis crank out a baseline of how fast the system boots.
1. In the BootVis window menu, select 'Trace' --> 'Next Boot' --> [OK] --> [Reboot Now]
2. Watch as BootVis times exactly how long it takes for each section of the bootstrap to complete, and reports the cumulative time taken to acheive complete bootness.
3. Examine the graph displayed, and write down the boot time.
   
7. Now, we make BootVis optimize your system. Here's where the rubber meets the road.
   
1. Click [Start] --> [All Programs] --> [Microsoft BootVis] --> [BootVis]
2. Again, BootVis Launches
3. Now, select 'Trace' --> 'Optimize System' --> [Reboot Now]
4. Your system restarts, BootVis plugging and chugging, optimizing your system.
8. Lastly, go ahead and track the improvements BootVis has made to your system.
   
1. These are the same instructions as under step #6, but what the heck, I'll repeat them in case you're too lazy to, uh.... gaze up a little bit......
2. In the BootVis window menu, select 'Trace' --> 'Next Boot' --> [OK] --> [Reboot Now]
   
3. Watch as BootVis, again, times how long it takes for each section of the bootstrap to complete, and reports the cumulative time taken to acheive complete bootness. Examine the graph displayed, and compare to the pre-optimized boot time.
4. Do a little dance since your system boots faster. Wipe hands on pants.

Registry Tweaks:

1. Disable constant updating of dates a file/folder was last accessed.
   
1. Launch Regedit
2. Drill down to the following registry section:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
   
3. Right click on the REG_DWORD named 'DisableNTFSLastAccessUpdate'. Note - if 'DisableNTFSLastAccessUpdate' is listed where I've specified, skip ahead to step 6.
   
4. Select 'Modify'
5. Change the 'Value data' field to 1 and select [OK].
6. Ok, so the REG_DWORD isn't there. That's okay, you're in good hands.
   
7. Rightclick anywhere in the Right-hand pane's whitespace, and select 'New' --> 'DWORD Value'.
8. A new key appears with the a name resembling "New Value #1"
9. Rename the New Value "DisableNTFSLastAccessUpdate"
10. [RightClick] on the "DisableNTFSLastAccessUpdate" value and select 'Modify'
11. Change the 'Value data' field to 1 and select [OK].
12. Close regedit, restart your system.
    

Linux Manuals and Documentation

Linux Manuals and Documentation - Red Hat, Mandrake, Debian, Slackware

Free Online Perl Training Courses Tryout - uses Quicktime

Online Perl Training Courses & Tutorials - learning the easy way

Spyware sucks

Short Media::Defeat Spyware - A definition and how-to for detecting and eliminating the spyware and adware that inevitably creeps onto Windows systems.

Notes for my own little network...

I found a few interesting things while looking for a cheap and easy firewall/routing solution.

Coyote Linux Floppy Firewall - A single floppy distribution of Linux that is designed for the sole purpose of sharing an Internet connection.

PORTKNOCKING - A system for stealthy authentication across closed ports.

Router Design Project - Information on building a low cost router.

Floppix - A very small distribution of Debian/GNU Linux that fits on two 3.5" 1.4Mb diskettes. It provides a platform to practice linux commands and experiment with simple system administration. Floppix has no hard drive support; you cannot access, modify, damage or destroy anything installed on the hard drive. For this reason, Floppix works safely in the lab, at home or at work.