Adventures in stupid technology
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Find a string and copy its whole line to new file
The other day I got a zip archive of a hundred xml files. The task was to identify a single key word/phrase (STR_RESTORING_FILE_FAILED) in each xml file that indicated a failure to restore a file (part of a larger job) and create a new file with just line in each xml file that matched the…
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Quickly deploy Microsoft Office customizations post install
There are a number of ways to deploy custom Microsoft Office installations using the Office Customization Tool (OCT), but what if Office has already been installed and you need to make some global changes? I’m talking about custom dictionaries, quick access toolbars, save location, backstage, etc. Here’s how to do just that using Group Policy…
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Deploy Adobe Flash Player using Active Directory GPO
In this article I’ll be covering how to deploy Adobe Flash Player using a Windows active directory environment. [requirements] Windows Server (2003/2008/2012) Active Directory at functional level 2003 or higher. Windows Professional (XP/VISTA/7/8/8.1) Basic understanding of Group Policy Objects (GPO) and group policy management. Basic understanding of Active Directory, Windows Server and Windows Professional. …
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OS X Mail App does not allow creation of some E-mail accounts
Granted, some of the domain suffixes out there seem like they’re kind of on the fringe of being legit (.xxx, .wtf, .tattoo), but Apple has apparently decided that in OS X 10.10.2 (Yosemite and others) you cannot add an exchange email account with an email address ending in some of those fringe suffixes. Either that,…
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Office365 planning – don’t change the region
According to Microsoft customer support, to change regions on a Office365 subscription, you must backup and then destroy the entire subscription and all account data, then recreate it in the region you want to move to. Sound crazy? I thought so. Let’s take this example: You’ve got a large international firm with several offices around…
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Reinstall Microsoft Office 2010 on a Dell
If you purchased a Dell with Microsoft Office pre-installed in the past few years, chances are all you got in the box was a Operating System recovery DVD and small paper card with the Microsoft Office product key on it. Should you find yourself in the situation where the systems hard drive has failed and…
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Calendar events added on phone don’t show in Outlook
With Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) options at an increasing number of workplaces, it’s become almost common practice to have your email, calendar and contacts on your personal device. It’s great for employers that want to get additional hours out of employees constantly tethered to their smart phones and it’s great for those employees who…