Archive for 2005
From the horse’s mouth: Install SP2!
If you’re still not sure whether SP2 will serve you well or not, here are some “reasons why” that you should seriously consider:
Top 10 Reasons to Deploy Windows XP Service Pack 2 [microsoft.com]
Since it’s release, I installed it on three completely different personal machines with no difficulties.
Please don’t ask why I have three computers. 
Custom Attributes: HTML Unrealized by Most.
Many developers who use client-side script for field validation don’t realize that IE and other newer browsers allow you to put your own custom attributes on any HTML tag.
For instance:
< input type=”text” name=”txtAge” id=”validation1″ value=0 minvalue=21 maxvalue=200 minerr=”you’re too young to drink” maxerr=”why are you still alive”>
This will allow you to write a generic piece of code that checks value entered against minvalue. If too low, you can display the minerr message. Then check the value against maxvalue, displaying maxerr if the value is too great. Don’t forget to check for the existence of minvalue.
If (form.validation1.minvalue != null ) {
if ( form.validation1.value < form.validation1.minvalue) {
alert(form.validation1.minerr);
return false;
}
}
…
Using this powerful feature, you could write truly generic form validation code that iterates through every field in a form, validates it, and displays field specific error messages based solely on the field’s attributes.
Now that’s handy!
Next time, I’d like to talk about another commonly unrealized feature: behaviors. While this feature is more geared toward intranet applications — for non-IE browser portability reasons — it’s still very powerful.
Don’t let your guard down.
You’ve installed SP2, and everything works! *whew*
But, it’s not the last of security updates your PC will require in order to maintain a healthy system.
Here’s an article that speaks to why it’s important that your operating system always has the latest updates installed.
I install every update that comes along, and can report confidently that my system remains intact with each download.
BIOS explained
I just came across a site that is really good at explaining all those odd cryptic settings you see in your BIOS.
It explains each one and recommends settings.
Click Here to view the site.
If you don’t know what BIOS stands for then you will likely be overwhelmed. However, if you have a little courage, you can learn a lot.
The rest of the site is full of additional useful information and reviews too. I am looking forward to reading it all.
Desktop Icon Madness (XP)
Okay. I installed a theme for my desktop. Wallpaper, folder icons, sounds, the works. Well, it turns out that I didn’t like the theme. So, I tried to return to the standard Windows XP theme.
Everything reverted back, except for the folder icons. Somehow, they were still displaying the picture from the theme I removed. I tried resetting the advanced properties for the folder, but no matter what, the unwanted icon was still there. And, it was showing up for all the user accounts on my computer — not just mine.
As it turns out, the unwanted icon was cached. There is an icon cache file for Windows XP that can be deleted. It will regenerate itself later. The icon cache is primarily used to increase the speed at which the Desktop loads.
To find this file, you have to look for a hidden file called: iconcache.db. It is found within the user account path DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\USERACCOUNT\LOCAL SETTINGS\APPLICATION DATA.
Since this unwanted icon was appearing for all the users on my machine, I performed a general search for the file on my hard drive (including hidden folders) and then I just deleted them all.
Finally, I have my happy yellow folder icon again!
XP Product Activation Tip
Everyone who has Windows XP should be familiar with the new Windows Product Activation (WPA) feature. This built-in feature of XP forces a Windows owner to “activate” their end-user license through the Internet to ensure that their copy cannot be used on any other PC.
Unfortunately, if you need to re-install Windows, you will need to contact Microsoft’s support staff and plead for them to re-activate your license. Scenarios when you might want to re-install Windows include (but are not limited to):
- Adding/removing many hardware devices, causing the system to hiccup.
- Upgrading or changing hard drives.
I don’t know about you, but I try to avoid contacting Microsoft’s technical support staff. They really don’t need to know when I reformat my hard drive.
That in mind, I discovered this site the other day http://www.aumha.org. It contains a lot of information, but of particular interest to me is the section on WPA. The hints listed under “What about formatting a hard disk?” explains exactly which files to back up and restore in order to re-activate windows — thereby eliminating the need to call Microsoft.
I highly recommend backing up these files immediately. You never know when your hard drive will give up the ghost.
