David Vielmetter

Adventures in stupid technology

  • Microsoft Office executable version numbers

    If you’ve ever had to figure out what version of Excel a particular executable is (i.e. pre-SP1 or not), you know how long it can take to find all that information. To make things easier, here’s a table of all the version numbers I found. I’m posting it here as well because it’s priceless when…

  • Flashback trojan hits OSX

    Flashback is a new trojan virus that automatically infects Mac OS X when users visit certain websites. It is one of the first signs that hackers and creators of malware are starting to pay attention to the growing market share of Mac users. Most (myself included) don’t even bother getting an anti-virus program because infections…

  • Why is my windows xp computer running slow?

    I work on a lot of older PC’s. Whether its the overall price tag of an upgrade or the fear of having to deal with something new, people tend to prefer the status quo. And for many that remains Windows XP. The “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke approach” has some advantages…a familiar environment,…

  • WSUS won’t uninstall or re-install

    I don’t like Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), but it’s the free alternative many companies select over the higher cost alternatives like Intune or Systems Center. So, today I had to repair a damaged WSUS installation. Turns out someone uninstalled SQL Server 2005 Express not realizing WSUS was using it. Now firing up the WSUS…

  • ATI catalyst and driver update breaks SageTV

    My DVR runs on an ATI Radeon 4550 adapter from MSI and SageTV. The video card works fine, supports HD Video and HDMI output and is completely fanless allowing my DVR to be super-quiet. Last time I rebooted my machine (I reboot about once every 6 months or so) the system asked me if I…

  • CTRL+Click Signature to edit HTML outlook signature

    So you’re using Outlook 2010 or 2007 and want to edit your e-mail signature…but *really* edit your signature…like edit the actual HTML in Notepad++. Mostly because the editor available in Outlook->Options->Mail is pretty dismal if you want to create a nice HTML signature.  Here’s how to edit the actual HTML of your signature for HTML…

  • HP P2035n prints multiple copies of documents

    The HP P2035n printer has a known issue that is not well documented. If you install the printer as a network printer on a 64 bit operating system like Windows 2008 Server and share it, multiple unintended duplicate copies of documents may be printed if users print to the shared printer. Here’s how to resolve…

  • Adding the content of a Google Plus Profile to your site

    So a while back Google killed Buzz and eschewed in Plus in an attempt to dominate the social media space. Only time will tell if Google+ will ever reach popularity levels similar to Facebook…so far it seems to be in the fizzing out phase of most new hot internet fads. But, if you’re using Google+…

  • All Windows drivers suddenly appear unsigned

    So I saw a strange one today and got to exercise my noodle. An XP SP3 system where all windows drivers including mass (USBSTOR.SYS) suddenly appear unsigned. So, install a printer or pop in a thumb drive, and you get to click “Continue” a gazillion times. As if XP on a production Dell Optiplex 330…

  • IOS5 printing with FingerPrint

    I recently got an iPad2 and I upgraded to IOS5 pretty shortly after I got it to take advantage of iCloud. Since the upgrade, I haven’t been able to print via my previously setup AirPrint service on Windows. After wasting three days of poking around on the Internets researching ways to fix printing on IOS5…

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