Jakub Anderwald

I’m planning to switch from Windows 7 RC to the retail version on my desktop PC. I started wondering which version would I choose.

Theoretically there are 3 choices: Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. However, the price difference between Professional and Ultimate is only 12 euros, so I can choose between Home Premium (183 EUR) and Ultimate (294 EUR).

The biggest advantage of Ultimate over Home Premium is the Virtual PC and XP Mode. I use it to access my old scanner via USB (there are no 64-bit drivers) and play around with Active Directory and servers in my Windows 2003 test lab. Even though those come for free, in reality I have to pay 110 euro for the Virtual PC.

Yesterday I asked myself “do I really need it?” and I ran some tests.

It turned out VMWare has just released a new RC version of their free VMWare Player software. This new version can also be used to create virtual machines, so it’s a full-fledged type 2 hypervisor. It also can connect unregnized USB devices to the VM and provides desktop integration (a bit differently than Virtual PC, but it works). Additionally it has some extra little features, like more advanced network configuration (without the annoying DHCP server), automated unattended installer for Windows OSes and the ability to run different guest OSes than just Windows.

And there’s a free converter tool that lets you convert machines from VirtualPC to VMWare.

I have old unused Windows XP license, so the choice was simple – I’m staying on Home Premium edition.

I was setting up a test Windows 2003 domain network to play around with it. One of servers is a gateway server – hosting ISA 2004.

However, I found an issue there – the “Internal Network” card did not get IP address from DHCP server (installed on domain controller in the local network), but instead an address from APIPA pool.

The weird thing was, it said “Assigned by DHCP”, and the DHCP server itself had an IP address from APIPA range.
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I tried pinging this DHCP, sniff it etc. but with no results. Then I found some hint about a built-in DHCP server into Virtual PC. This DHCP server replies faster than my DHCP server on virtual domain controller, so it always won.

To remove this problem, you have to modify the System Policy Rule called “Allow DHCP replies from DHCP servers to ISA Server” to not allow the built-it DHCP server. To do this, go to ISA Server Management -> Firewall Policy and click “Edit System Policy” in Tasks pane. Go to DHCP rule (first one) and add a new exception.

Create a new computer with IP address 169.254.0.1 and add it to excetions. This way the built-in DHCP server will not be allowed to assign IP address to your virtual NIC and it will get the IP from other DHCP servers in your network. Which is exactly what we wanted.

Following the examples of Larry Page, Bill Gates and Jeff Atwood I just bought myself 2 additional 21 inch displays.

I can finally keep my email always open (on the left-hand side monitor), put IM communicator, desktop widgets and other trivia stuff to the right-hand side one and be focused on my main task. I had to precisely choose the side displays for my setup, so they match the resolution, physical dimensions (at least visible screen height) and color quality of the center one, which I already had.

I use two NECs at work, so having 3 monitors should be better, right? It is. I don’t have the small gap in front of me, just a wide 24″, 1920×1200 area waiting for me to do something.

I was searching for some task / ticket management system for my small project I’m doing with a friend. Previously we were using Nozbe but it became too small and it had its own glitches. I did some research and decided to go for Trac. It’s simple, expandable and integrates nicely with subversion.

I spent almost two days installing it on my Windows 2003 development / test server so I wrote a step-by-step manual for future reference.

It assumes you already have a Win2003 server with subversion repository. I also use SVNService to run it as a service. We’ll be using tracd web server with digest authentication for developer access.

Here we go.
Text written in constant-width font is a command you run from command prompt.
I’ll assume you’re creating a project called RuleTheWorld. Replace it with your project name.

1. Install Python -> c:\program files\python
2. Add “c:\program files\python” to %PATH%
3. Install Tools -> http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall#installation-instructions
4. Add “c:\program files\python\scripts” to %PATH%
5. easy_install Genshi
6. md c:\program files\trac, cd there
7. svn checkout http://svn.edgewall.org/repos/trac/trunk
8. cd trunk
9. python setup.py install
10. trac-admin "c:\program files\trac\RuleTheWorld" initenv
11. http://subversion.tigris.org/servlets/ProjectDocumentList?folderID=91
12. tracd -p 8080 "c:\program files\trac\RuleTheWorld"
13. go to http://localhost:8080 with a browser, check if it works
14. download Apache installation pack for windows, extract htdigest.exe from it
15. F25539_htdigest.exe -c passwd trac username
16. trac-admin "c:\program files\trac\RuleTheWorld" permission add username TRAC_ADMIN
17. easy_install TracSpamFilter – if you’ll be setting up a public Trac access
18. In trac.ini, add the following section at the end
    [components]
    tracspamfilter.* = enabled
19. download http://trac-hacks.org/changeset/latest/tracpygmentsplugin?old_path=/&filename=tracpygmentsplugin&format=zip
20. unzip it, cd that folder, run python setup.py install
21. In trac.ini add this line
    [components]
    tracpygments.* = enabled
22. In trac.ini modify this line
    [ticket]
    restrict_owner = true
23. download http://trac-hacks.org/changeset/latest/discussionplugin?old_path=/&filename=discussionplugin&format=zip
24. unzip it, cd that folder, run python setup.py install
25. In trac.ini modify this section
    [header_logo]
    alt = RuleTheWorld
    height = -1
    link = /RuleTheWorld
    src = /RuleTheWorld/raw-attachment/wiki/logo/logo.png
    width = -1
26. trac-admin "C:\Program Files\Trac\RuleTheWorld" upgrade
27. tracd -p 8080 -a "RuleTheWorld","C:\Program Files\Trac\RuleTheWorld\passwd",trac "C:\Program Files\Trac\RuleTheWorld"
28. Go to http://localhost:8080/RuleTheWorld, you should see main page of the project. Go to Admin / Plugins, enable discussion components
29. trac-admin "C:\Program Files\Trac\RuleTheWorld" upgrade
30. Go to Admin / Permissions, remove Anonymous access
31. Add “C:\Program Files\SQLite” to %PATH%
32. Install Trac as a service. Use SrvAny from Resource kit – follow the manual at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137890/en-us. Put tracd -p 8080 -a "RuleTheWorld","C:\Program Files\Trac\RuleTheWorld\passwd",trac "C:\Program Files\Trac\RuleTheWorld" as “Parameters” key, the service should start fine

That’s it! In 32 simple steps ;)

Having your new, shiny Windows Mobile phone, full of connectivity options must be a bless! Or it would be, if not the short battery life. You need to disable Bluetooth and use WiFi / GPS only when needed, right?

Not anymore.

There’s a small tool which I’ve just discovered – WiFi Locations. It allows you to automatically enable / disable WiFi or Bluetooth in selected locations. And it detects your location based on GSM (or UMTS) cell ID – no need for GPS.

It’s a battery and time (since you don’t have to tediously enable/disable WiFi at home) saver.

You can download it and see newest comments on the XDA-Developers thread.