David Vielmetter

Adventures in stupid technology

  • NTSTATUS Error Code List

    Ever wonder about those error codes displayed in kernel level messages? Device driver developers these codes when they make calls into Windows APIs as well as when driver developers return error codes to Windows. Below is a comprehensive list of NTSTATUS codes defined in ntstatus.h: Status Value Description STATUS_WAIT_0 0x0 STATUS_SUCCESS STATUS_SUCCESS 0x0 STATUS_SUCCESS STATUS_WAIT_1…

  • Dell keyboard height is too low in the back

    I deploy a lot of Dell computers and one gripe I hear over and over is that the new Dell keyboards don’t adjust high enough in the back. The problem is a design flaw where on newer Dell keyboards the extendable legs or feet in the back don’t extend far enough for most users. As…

  • Remove the MoneyPak FBI virus

    A couple of weeks ago, one of my clients had a machine infected by the MoneyPak FBI scam virus/malware. The MoneyPak variant works by suppressing all computer programs basically rendering the system unusable while displaying a fake warning message from the FBI stating that all activities on the PC are being recorded/encrypted. The fake message…

  • Recover data from a damaged drive

    This is my guide for recovering data off of a damaged hard drive. It comes with absolutely no guarantees or warranties, however the procedure has helped me recover data in cases where others believed all data to be completely lost. I’m not going to go into the reasons why hard drives fail, but I’ll cover…

  • Dual monitor configuration reset after reboot

    I’ve been having this problem with my system ever since I added a second monitor. I set up my display settings such that my monitor 2 is my default display and the display is extended to monitor 1 and arrange them how I like them to be. Then I reboot the system at some point…

  • AppAssure 5 does not adhere to the default retention policy

    I’ve had an issue recently where a new installation of Dell AppAssure 5 did not keep the correct number of snapshots based on a chosen retention policy. The issue after working with a awfully slow tech support over the course of three weeks was to update to a specific newer release of Dell AppAssure Version…

  • Postini message center freezes IE8/IE9

    Got a lot of reports about the Google Message Center freezing in IE8/IE9 this week and determined that this is a problem with an older version of the Java JRE. To resolve this issue simply download and install the latest version of the Java JRE. You may also want to take this opportunity to remove…

  • Adobe Acrobat 9 blank error message

    I hate Acrobat 9. Among it’s many shortcomings is this idiotic incremental upgrade procedure, but I digress. Unfortunately many penny wise business owners don’t understand that up-to-date software is inexplicably tied to employee productivity and insist that they want to keep using that Acrobat 9 license they purchased in ’06. So as an IT guy…

  • Tivo Slide Bluetooth remote for SageTV

    Yes, I’m still using SageTV. I just can’t get away from it, plus the 6 or so terabytes of recorded content are going to take me years to go through. So to make a long story shot, the Firefly wireless remote I had been using to control SageTV got progressively worse and I finally replaced…

  • Salesforce for Outlook on Windows 2008 Server

    Say you’re building a new Terminal Server with Windows 2008 R2 x64 Remote Desktop Services for your mobile sales people to use. Maybe they want to use Outlook 2010 on this Terminal Server and be able to add emails from Outlook to Salesforce. Well they CAN’T! For some stupid reason the Salesforce for Outlook add-in…

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