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  1. RebateMonger

    Disk boots XP but when connected to another PC, I'm told the disk isn't initialized

    A friend's XP computer suddenly wouldn't boot XP. I scanned it with Seagate's DOS version of SeaTools and it passed the short and long scans. SMART alarms had not been triggered. I also scanned the disk with F-Secure's Rescue CD and it said the MBR and 60,000 of the files on the disk were...
  2. RebateMonger

    Corporate AV Licensing - Are there commercial "free updates forever" licenses?

    In the past, I've run into small offices where they already have Symantec Corporate or other Corporate-type commercial AV licenses installed on their server. I'm pretty sure that the ones that are Symantec Corporate Version 7 (or something like that) are hacked copies of the old Symantec...
  3. RebateMonger

    Dual PCI-E Adapters and Three Monitors? - Second system trashed by second Video card!

    Edit: A second, brand-new, installation of Windows 7 has now been trashed by this two-PCI-E video card system. Details in posts below. This is beginning to get on my nerves. 4/3/10: Got a new ATI Radeon 4550 with HDMI and am trying that. Report is in Post #14. 4/15/10: Update in Post #17...
  4. RebateMonger

    Solved? -Anybody else seeing a "Delete Message" screen come up when Editing a post?

    I'm a compulsive "perfectionist", so I often edit my posts. With vBulletin, I'm seeing a weird page come up about one-in-five times I edit a post. When I edit the post and click "Save", instead of taking me back to the thread, I get a "Delete your Messge" (or something like that) screen...
  5. RebateMonger

    Windows 7 Upgrade Q&A

    For months now, everybody's been wondering how Windows 7 Upgrade-only packages and other upgrade options will work. Microsoft itself has been pretty quiet on this topic. But folks are finally receiving their Win7 Pre-Order Upgrade packages and we'll all have answers to our questions soon...
  6. RebateMonger

    Anybody Have Windows Experience with EFI-capable Motherboards and GPT Partitions?

    Recent questions of a Microsoft technical rep didn't indicate that Microsoft has any solutions for working with "larger than 2 TeraByte" disks other than GPT partitioning. But GPT partitions aren't bootable unless you have an EFI-capable (versus conventional BIOS-based) motherboard. I have...
  7. RebateMonger

    Answered - Do HighPoint 2xxx Series RAID Controllers Allow "Duplication" of an Existing Drive?

    Edit: In my next post, I reached HighPoint Support and they provided an answer. The answer is "No". I've got a HighPoint 2310 RAID controller that I purchased a while back. I planned on creating a RAID 1 (mirroring) array on my Server 2008 Hyper-V server. As I was exploring it, I was...
  8. RebateMonger

    Free download eBook: Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions

    Free eBook download (PDF) from Microsoft: Microsoft Press: Understanding Microsoft Virtualzation Solutions - from the Desktop to the Datacenter http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urmvs17u33 Looks like a decent overview of the entire collection of Microsoft virtualzation offerings. 400+...
  9. RebateMonger

    Windows 7 "Family Pack" and "Anytime Upgrade" Pricing

    Microsoftt Windows Team Blog "The Windows 7 Family Pack will be available starting on October 22nd until supplies last here in the US and other select markets. In the US, the price for the Windows 7 Family Pack will be $149.99 for 3 Windows 7 Home Premium licenses. That?s a savings of more...
  10. RebateMonger

    NTBackup and HP 16 GB USB Flash Drive

    Are there known issues with Windows NTBackup and a large (16 GB) USB flash drive? I've formatted two different HP v125w 16 GB flash drives to NTFS. The drives work perfectly, writing and reading files. They behave normally: On insertion they light up and appear in Disk Management and My...
  11. RebateMonger

    Microsoft Offers Beta of Power Pack 3 for Windows Home Server

    Microsoft has announced Power Pack 3 for Windows Home Server and is offering a Beta download on Microsoft Connect. A free update, PP3 is scheduled for final release some time before the October release of Windows 7. Key features include Windows 7 Backups and Recovery and compatibility with the...
  12. RebateMonger

    Windows 7 Beta and RC Expiration Dates

    Hopefully everyone using Windows 7 Beta and RC versions knows that they have expiration dates. The expiration dates were announced when the software was made available for download on Microsoft's sites. The expirations now take two forms: First - The PC starts rebooting very two hours...
  13. RebateMonger

    Hackers "Destroy" Flight Sim Site

    BBC - Hackers destroy flight sim site "Flight simulator site Avsim has been "destroyed" by malicious hackers. The site, which launched in 1996, covered all aspects of flight simulation, although its main focus was on Microsoft's Flight Simulator. The attack took down the site's two...
  14. RebateMonger

    Nothing but audio noise playing DVD with Intel G45, HDMI X4500HD, and Windows 7.

    Update: Audio problem fixed with Windows 7 RC. See later posts. I'm unable to get usable sound from a new Foxconn G45M-S motherboard when playing DVDs over the HDMI output. MP3, MP4, Flash, etc. videos and music play back fine. But I've tried several commercial DVD disks and two brand-new...
  15. RebateMonger

    Open-Source iSCSI Targets

    I want to look at open-source iSCSI targets as a target for backups of virtual servers. Microsoft's Hyper-V, in particular. While Hyper-V itself is working well for me, there are currently severe limitations on where backups can be directed. One of the few options is an iSCSI target. I'd like...
  16. RebateMonger

    Solved - WD SATA drive works when directly attached, but won't work in housings or with adapter cable

    Edit: Solved. Sort of. There was a protected 39MB Dell EISA Diagnostics partition that was screwing things up. I deleted it using DiskPart.exe from the Command Prompt on a Server 2008 Install DVD. It didn't fix everything....I STILL can't get the external housings to work, but at least I can...
  17. RebateMonger

    Free download of Microsoft "Understanding IPv6" e-book

    Free Microsoft Press E-Book Offer - "Understanding IPv6", 2nd Edition. 554 pages of free goodness. I realize this Forum isn't a "Bargain Site", but I thought it might be more useful here than in the "Hot Deals" section. I could be wrong... Edit: Offer has expired. But you can follow the...
  18. RebateMonger

    Question about battery for Dell 4/Di RAID controller

    I've got a Dell 2600 server with a Dell PERC 4/Di RAID controller. It's just reporting that the PERC backup battery has exceeded its recharge limit. It's got something like 1130 charge cycles, where the warning triggers at 1100 cycles. These are, I believe, Li-Ion batteries and Dell says they...
  19. RebateMonger

    What could cause this hard drive corruption?

    I'm helping a friend out by upgrading a PC for little money, I volunteered a new ECS GF7050VT-M motherboard (Socket 775 with NVidia MCP73V chipset), a new Intel E2180 processor, some known-good memory, and a pair of used IDE hard drives. The problem is that this rig has corrupted its hard...
  20. RebateMonger

    Basic Performance Test

    It's very common to hear Users complain "My PC is slow". When confronted by this statement, I'll run a few basic tests to give me a general feeling for performance. Something like: 1) Open up Internet Explorer and see how long it takes to open a web page. 2) Open up "My Computer" and see...
  21. RebateMonger

    How would you do data recovery from a WD MyBook RAID array?

    A caller asked me to recover their data from a nearly-new Western Digital MyBook Premium II RAID box. Lots of important company data was on the array, with no backups (of course). The WD device is no longer functioning. It wasn't clear whether they had it set in the default, 1 TeraByte, RAID...
  22. RebateMonger

    Bare Disk (clean) install of Vista Upgrade Version still works with integrated Vista SP1

    I've been curious if a Vista SP1-integrated Install DVD could still be installed on a "bare" hard drive using an "Upgrade-only" license Key. Microsoft had acknowledged last spring that there was a way to do this with Vista RTM. The procedure, while not widely publicized by Microsoft, still works...
  23. RebateMonger

    Moving Vista to new Motherboard

    My apologies if this has been discussed. I follow this Forum pretty closely, and don't recall any discussion. I'm moving my office systems to Vista, and am trying to move an almost-new Vista Business installation from one motherboard to another one. The "old" board (Asrock 775i65G) has an...
  24. RebateMonger

    Desktop PC Migration Software

    I'm wondering if anybody has tried recent desktop PC migration software? I mean the stuff that claims to move one's entire PC (INCLUDING APPLICATIONS) from XP to Vista, etc. You are starting, for instance, with a working XP computer, you buy a new Vista PC, and want to move EVERYTHING to the new...
  25. RebateMonger

    Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 and Data Corruption Fix

    I don't nomally post "news", but the timing of the release of Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 versus the "Data Corruption Patch" has been of interest in these forums. This Microsoft TechNet blogger (Windows Home Server Team) says that the current (4/2/08) plan is to combine the release of...
  26. RebateMonger

    What's the deal with X-Fi and NVidia video cards?

    A friend bought a Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer sound card. He also has an NVidia 7600GS video card. The OS is XP Professional. He immediately lost the ability to load drivers for the NVidia 7600GS. Windows Device Manager reports "Not enough free resources". As soon as he pulls the X-Fi card...
  27. RebateMonger

    Why does DHCP work this way?

    There's something about DHCP networks that I don't understand and I'm hoping someone can explain the behavior that I see. Today I turned off the DHCP Server in a SOHO router and turned on DHCP on a new Windows 2003 Server. Both the DHCP Servers were on the same subnet and both had the same IP...
  28. RebateMonger

    Sensitive miliary files readily available online

    An Associated Press investigation found several anonymous ftp sites with sensitive U.S. miliary documents openly available: Sensitive military files readily available online One site belongs to SRA International, a government contractor. The AP found a document the Defense Department said...
  29. RebateMonger

    Moving a Windows software RAID1 array to a hardware RAID controller.

    I'm trying to move a Windows Server 2003 software RAID1 partition (the System partition) to a hardware RAID controller. I'd like to use drive imaging software for the move. But the original software RAID partition seems to be a tiny bit LARGER than the maximum hardware RAID partition that I can...
  30. RebateMonger

    Request for help with VLAN basics

    I'm a bit embarrassed to ask this question, but I would appreciate some help with some VLAN basics. I know zilch about VLANs. They just aren't used in "my world" of small businesses. I'm trying to learn, but I don't have any hardware to play with. I've done some reading on VLANs, but I could use...
  31. RebateMonger

    SATA Controller Driver seems to be causing BSOD - SBS 2003

    Last week I installed a PCI SATA controller (with a Silicon Image 3512 Chip) in one of my SBS 2003 (SP1) Servers. I've used SI 3112- and 3132-chipset PCI SATA controllers in several SBS 2003 Servers, and have always gotten the drivers from the Windows Update option in the "Found New Device"...
  32. RebateMonger

    Toshiba Laptop BIOS doesn't work with Vista

    Installation of Vista Business RTM on my 2-year-old Toshiba laptop (Satellite M35X-S149) failed. I encountered a bluescreen right after the Vista Installer started up. The message is that Windows stopped to avoid damage and that the BIOS is not fully ACPI-compliant. It advises contacting the...
  33. RebateMonger

    Computer Repair Fraud Video

    Youtube.com:Computer Repair Fraud I don't recall seeing this here. Sorry if I missed it. An "investigative report" on computer repair shops, including BestBuy and CompUSA, and what happened when they were handed a PC with the hard drive IDE cable disconnected.
  34. RebateMonger

    Can't connect MS Remote Desktop to ONE Server

    Edit: Problem solved, with help from stash and spidey07. Disabling and then re-enabling ISA 2004's VPN Client Access fixed the problem. Edit2: Well, not completely solved. Turning off the SBS/ISA VPN Client Service fixes the problem. But if I turn the VPN Service back on, the problem...
  35. RebateMonger

    New Video: Hard Drive Recovery and Physical Rebuilds

    Scott Moulton, of Forensic Strategic Services, has made seven nine-minute videos available on how to recover hard drives. These are from a recent (October 2, 2006) presentation. The videos are free, are on YouTube.com and on BitTorrent, and are linked from his site: MyHardDriveDied.com This...
  36. RebateMonger

    Windows Genuine Advantage Notification Starts This Week

    The new "Windows Genuine Advantage Notification" system will begin implementation this Tuesday, April 25. This will be used on Windows XP. This program applies to OEM, Retail, and Volume License versions of XP. Not everybody will see this change immediately. There will be a phased...
  37. RebateMonger

    Article: "Microsoft Says Recovery from Malware Becoming Impossible"

    http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1945782,00.asp "In a rare discussion about the severity of the Windows malware scourge, a Microsoft security official said businesses should consider investing in an automated process to wipe hard drives and reinstall operating systems as a practical way...
  38. RebateMonger

    Is this the world's hardest-to-repair PC?

    Argh! I just finished removing the hard drive from a Gateway 610 Media Center. This monstrosity is an all-in-one with motherboard, drives, speaker system (including subwoofer), and LCD monitor in one assembly. I was asked to remove the hard drive and try to recover data from it, since the...
  39. RebateMonger

    How to back up ALL the current device drivers in an XP installation?

    I've never seen this question asked and I can't find an exact answer. Is there any simple way to back up ALL the current device drivers in an XP installation? Let's say I'm going to reformat a hard drive and completely re-install XP. And there are lots of non-standard devices installed on...
  40. RebateMonger

    Firewall - The Movie - Coming February 10

    Firewalls are making news! "Computer security specialist Jack Stanfield (HARRISON FORD) works for the Seattle-based Landrock Pacific Bank. A trusted top-ranking executive, he has built his career and reputation on designing the most effective anti-theft computer systems in the industry...