IT Services UK: April 2014

Monday, 14 April 2014

Windows XP Recovery Console – KB310994 download

Windows XP Recovery Console – KB310994 download

To manually install the Windows Recovery Console, you have to have the necessary updates. It seems Microsoft have removed the link to the recovery console that used to be linked to from here.

This makes running tools like ComboFix for example, quite difficult.
I’ve sourced the files (at least for SP2 and up) they are mirrored here: windowsxp-kb310994-sp2-home-bootdisk-enu.exe – For Windows XP Home SP2 and newer. windowsxp-kb310994-sp2-pro-bootdisk-enu.exe – For Windows XP Professional SP2 and newer. - See more...

Office 365 – Set the default domain

When you first setup Office365, Microsoft provides you with a default domain – usually companyname.onmicrosoft.com – for example, the Jaytag domain is jaytag.onmicrosoft.com.

This can cause a small headache – as it’s not obvious when you have added your companies domain where to set this as default – so when you add new users, the primary email address will be emailaddress@companyname.onmicrosoft.com.

To set the default domain to the domain you have added, login to Office365 and click into the adminin - See more...

Turnpike Six v6.07 entire.exe download

Since Demon internet discontinued support for Turnpike, it has been impossible to source a copy of the software – especially since the Demon FTP site has also gone the way of the Dodo.

However, we have sourced a copy of the installer for Turnpike Six v6.07 it is downloadable here:
http://www.jaytag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/entire.exe
See more...

Installing Ubuntu 8.04 on a Viglen MPC-L

The Viglen MPC-L (<– PDF link) is a low powered (both in terms of CPU speed and power consumption) compact computer. They are extremely similar to the Linutop machine (i.e. identical) and are actually an FIC ION 503 under the hood. It comes preinstalled with xubuntu, a version of ubuntu that substitutes the gnome window manager with XFCE. Better still, email Duncan Hargreaves at Viglen (tell them the ubuntu podcast sent you) and you can pick one up for a mere £79. If like us, you are a stickler for utilising similar OS environments for support reasons (including the window manager) then a full install of ubuntu is the way to go. - See more...

Conficker Virus – Think you have it?

The Conficker virus has to be one of the most difficult to get rid of. But how can you quickly diagnose if you have it? There are some well known signs: Windows Update and Automatic Updates are blocked System Restore has been turned off You cannot access anti-virus websites (such as Symantec, McAfee, AVG etc.) There is now also an even quicker way: Click Here Think you might be infected? - See more...

OSX Citrix Client Installation – Auto open ICA files from Safari

We have come across an issue recently with the new version of the Citrix online plugin (now called Citrix Reciever). Installation of the Citrix Reciever software from the OSX App store is not sufficient to allow the downloaded ICA file to auto open. The result is, you install Citrix Reciever and login to the Citrix site only for the ICA file to download, but not open. This makes it look like Citrix isn’t working properly.

The fix is simple:

First, you have to modify what Safari considers as a “safe” file. Ensure that in Safari’s Preference panel that ‘Open “Safe” files’ is checked.

Next, download this zip file: http://www.jaytag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Auto_Open_ICA.zip Extract the plist (preferences file) from the downloaded zip file

Drag and drop the file to /Library/Preferences. (On OSX Lion, type \library in the ‘Find’ box and double-click into the preferences folder)
Restart Safari

A simple MySQL Backup Tool

If you administer a website (or indeed a number of websites) you may need a tool which will allow you to simply backup a MySQL database on a regular basis. Although there are a number of tools available online, none quite fit our needs. As a result, we’ve quickly written a simple MySQL backup tool in PHP. Features

Tested compatible with PHP version 5.2.14 and MySQL 5.0
Allows for SQL and ZIP export of a single MySQL database
Lists previous backups made This is version 0.1a – it is no doubt buggy.

We would appreciate any feedback if you do decide to use the tool. The application is fairly self explanatory in its usage.

Installation

Extract the Zip file
Copy the contents to a directory on your server
Browse to the directory you saved the files to with your browser

Features to be added in v0.2a (Release date 4th February 2011) Improved documentation Backup multiple databases Additional security (password for created ZIP files, and password for the utility) - See more...

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This WordPress error message appears when a plugin update fails half way through. The fix is extremely simple: FTP to your WordPress installation directory Delete the .maintenance file at the root wordpress folder (where wp-config.php lives) Login and retry the plugin operation - See more...

Sage Accounts

Sage Accounts: Username in use

This is a very common issue with Sage – if the program crashes for whatever reason, you are unable to log back into the program. Before you start! I’d always recommend taking a backup of the company files before making any changes to Sage program or data files – just in case! The Sage file database system is a little antiquated and can be temperamental. The fix itself is simple: Browse to the Sage company file directory on your computer (this will vary, although if you check the COMPANY file in your install directory, it will be listed) Open the ACCDATA directory Delete the queue.dta file - See more...

Updating WordPress with 1&1 hosting

WordPress plays nicely with most web hosts, although 1&1 are a little different. If you try to update a freshly installed copy of WordPress on 1&1 hosting without making this change, some functions (mainly the automatic update processes) will not complete successfully. The key is to edit the .htaccess file in the WordPress installation directory: FTP to your WordPress installation directory Download the .htaccess file Edit the file, adding the following line: AddType x-mapp-php5 .php Upload the file to the server, overwriting the old .htaccess file - See more...