The system message when updating gets to “Configuring Updates Stage 3 of 3 100% complete”.

So far the only methods of fixing this is to use the Microsoft System Recovery Options, found on the bootable Vista DVD, to restore to the last point.

Or, if you don’t have a resent restore point you can go into command prompt in System recovery options and delete/move C:\Windows\winsxs\pending.xml

You will still get the ‘configuring updates’ screen, but it will eventually finish and move to your desktop.

Form there,  you could disable updates and wait for Microsoft to fix the bug, or try and install the updates manually.

I cant wait for windows 7 to come out later on this year.

1. Download the XPI of the Flash Player plugin. An XPI is generally a plug-in for FireFox which is in fact a ZIP archive.
2. (Rename to .zip if you want and) extract the files in the XPI.
3. Go to Start » Run » enter “%APPDATA%” » OK
4. Navigate to Mozilla\Plugins\, if this directory doesn’t exist, create it.
5. Copy flashplayer.xpt and NPSWF32.dll from the extracted files to %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Plugins.
6. Restart FireFox and flash will be installed!

Thanks to ce3c.be.

There seems to be a lot of steps, and would probably need to be done on a rainy day, with plenty of coffee!

I assume, once this delicate tutorial has been completed, one could easily download game backups elsewhere, and run them straight from the external HDD without having to burn it to DVD..

What would be cool is if this data was taken live and inputted into your electric shock suit!

Boom headshoot! would seem a lot more realistic!

I have tested many many stand-alone server packages out there and the best by far is XAMPP which runs on Windows 98, NT, 2000, 2003, XP and Vista and includes;

Apache, MySQL, PHP + PEAR, Perl, mod_php, mod_perl, mod_ssl, OpenSSL, phpMyAdmin, Webalizer, Mercury Mail Transport System for Win32 and NetWare Systems v3.32, Ming, JpGraph, FileZilla FTP Server, mcrypt, eAccelerator, SQLite, and WEB-DAV + mod_auth_mysql.

Now lets get an understanding of those tools included…

Apache - Is the main brain of the web-server, it serves the http server, and hosts the local domain http://localhost where you website/server will be based.

MySQL - Is a database management system that is used by most dynamic websites to store information, many open source applications use mysql such as drupal, wordpress, Joomla, SMF, PHPBB and millions more.

PHP + PEAR - And what codes are those open source applications written in? that would be PHP, PHP is an open source server-side scripting language used to create dynamic websites, PEAR is a PHP Extension and Application Repository (or PEAR) framework comprises reusable components. which cover most development problems to save time, more information can be found at http://www.pear.php.net.

Perl - is also a server-side scripting language, one of the first, and still used today.

phpMyAdmin – Is a very popular open source programme to manage MYSQL databases via a web browser.

Webalizer – web server log file analysis program, included for tracking visitor information.

Mercury Mail Transport System for Win32 and NetWare Systems v3.32 – This has many detailed operations but the simplese and most used reason is it includes a mail-server that lets you send and receive emails straight from your windows machine, a lot of php applications need to send emails, and this is the programme that makes that happen.

FileZilla FTP Server - FTP,  File Transfer Protocol server is used to transfer files over a network (WAN, LAN or Internet using the FTP protocol)

So how do i get this working!!?

Its as easy as installing a normal application, all these packages have been put together in exe or zipped format, just visit the XAMPP for windows website and download http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html.

So go ahead and install your version of xampp, depending on your operating system and what version you want, the easyest method for windows users is the instillation from the installer.

After the instillation is complete you will find the XAMPP control panel under your start menu, start >programmes > XAMPP

Or type XAMPP into windows vista start menu search bar.

You can start your web server by hitting “Start” on Apache, this runs Apache (see above for explanation) and Start MySql.

Testing local web server, using Joomla! ( or whatever cms you wish! )

The fastest and easiest way to get a website started and running, is to use a free open source php & MySql application, there’s billions out there, but today were going to start with joomla, as its highly supported and used around the net!

Im not going to go deep though the instillation as its quite straight forward, but if you don’t know how to do this i have provided links to a step by step screenshot instillation!

1. Download the latest Joomla release Here
2. Go to where Joomla was downloaded on your PC, right click on the Zipped joomla download, and hit extract.
3. Go into the joomla main directory and copy over all the files to your new xampp installations Htdocs directory.
   For example mine is at C:/xampp/htdocs, yours will depend on where you installed xampp, you can always go to your xampp control panel and click on “explore” then go into Htdocs.
4. Go into your favourite web browser, and head to http://localhost make sure you have started up Apache and MySql first, and you should be presented with the web based joomla installer, fill in the correct details and you will have a fully functioning interactive website, live to start editing from your home computer.
5. You can start playing with new test website, installing themes and extensions

How do i get this online?

Now, some people will be thinking, I have a web server, how do set it up with a free domain?
These two simple steps will open your web server to the world, not that this is the safest thing to do.

Step 1

Port forwarding your router

You need to open a couple of ports on your router (if you have one) to point to your LAN computer on port 80 (http). At present your router probably blocks incoming connections on all ports for security, First of all we need to find the LAN address of your computer usually something like 192.168.0.4.
One thing beginners always fumble over, is the difference between a LAN ip and a WAN ip, LAN is your Local Area network, that’s everything connected to your router internal, and your WAN, wide area network, is your IP to the world (inter-webs =p ).

1. as were in windows open up RUN (start > run, or win+R) and type “cmd”.
2. This will open up command prompt, you need to type in ”ipconfig” to find out our internal LAN address.
3. In CMD, you need the IPv4 or IPv6 address, or whatever version you are using. mine is 192.168.0.4, so I’ll use that as an example.

Step 2

Next You need to login to the admin panel of your router, all routers are different so this will vary, Although to our disposal is this database of port forwarding for a range of routers:

http://www.portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm

Once you have found your router, if it asks you what programme your port forwarding, its “Apache” and the port we want to forward is port 80 to your LAN ip (e.g. 192.168.0.4)

Yay were done! you can now give a friend your external ip address (wan) whats my external ip address? and they should be able to view your CMS install on your home windows web server!

If you dont have any friends, then you can check if its worked by using this cool service http://www.canyouseeme.org

How to setup a free domain

Now, there are not many of us that memorize IP addresses for websites, that’s why domain names were invented! so head on over to http://www.no-ip.com and grab yourself a free account and some free sub-domains, you can have up to 5 free sub domains that link direct to your home server, if you have a static WAN ip then you can put that IP in for each domain, but if you have a normal Internet connection, then you’ll probably have a dynamic IP, that means that it changes from time to time!

No worries, no-ip’s here to help! Just download there free Dynamic IP software, install and login, your sub-domains will show up, and update your dynamic IP to there servers automatically!
sorted, now you can send out your cool, witty free sub-domains to friends, to access your free hosted website, running free CMS software.

How to setup a .com or Top domain with my hosting

You can also upgrade your no-ip account and buy a cheap .com .net .co.uk or whatever. register and upgrade No-ip account.

]]> http://www.lifeburner.com/2009/03/14/how-to-install-a-full-xampp-webserver-inside-windows-for-development/feed/ 6 http://www.lifeburner.com/2009/01/15/how-to-really-free-up-hard-disk-drive-space-properly/ http://www.lifeburner.com/2009/01/15/how-to-really-free-up-hard-disk-drive-space-properly/#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:25:25 +0000 Tom http://www.lifeburner.com/?p=89

Now, there are many ways to freeing up space on your hard drive, and this is just a bunch of method’s combined work well, Best with Microsoft Os’s is to use the built in software first, then finish the job with some free 3rd party apps, im gonna focus this on four applications, get a cuppa and lets begin!

I recently covered how vista’s shrink hard drive volume is crap (resizing partitions on hard drives), I had about 30GB free on my hard drive and it was only letting me shrink up to 75MB, I kinda fixed this by defragging my computer, it took about 9 hours, but then again i haven’t don’t this, ever? 
One thing i wasn’t expecting from defragging, was it to clean up disk space, and somehow 30GB managed to appear from nowhere, i was amazed!

So Here we go, first we want to go through manually, and delete all the old rubbish that we have accumulated over the years, old music we don’t listen to, old trailers to moves, old pod-casts on Itunes, un-installing games we haven’t played in years, also if you have steam you can un-install a game, and re-install it at any time on any PC, if you play online games, Like Counter-strike: source, you download gigabytes of maps, music, skins and extras, you can clean this up (steam games only) with steam cleaner.
While your at it, Organize your documents, put things into folders, and backup things you really need, and would be gutted if you lost, pictures, documents, creative pieces etc etc. 

Steps, Programmes and Downloads after the jump.

Before Screenshot
 

1. Once you have done all this, were going to run the built in Windows Disk cleaner, this gets deep down and dirty, removing all those un-used old files from your system.
   - Windows Vista Type “Disk Cleanup” into the Start menu search, then “Files from all users on this computer”, Continue, C:/ (your HDD).
   - Windows XP “Start > All programmes > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup“.
   
   
2. Next,  were going to need to run Ccleaner (Site), I have covered Ccleaner before, so i wont go into details, but its a must, as it cleans out so much rubbish!
3. Jogging on, its time for the defrag, now depending on how long ago you defragged your system, your system specs and the size of your hard Disk, the time this takes to run could be anywhere between 20 Min’s to 10 hours!
   So, you might want to start this before you go to work/school,  Bookmark this page (Scroll to bottom of the post for many options),  Close down any un-used applications, and run the built in windows Defragmenter, and wait.
   - Windows Vista Type “Disk“  into the Start menu search, Click “Disk Defragmenter“, Continue “Defragment Now”
   - Windows XP ”Start > All programmes > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter” Then Defragment.
    
4. Once your HDD has been defragged, were going to run another defragger software over your hard disk drive, why do we do this? because the built in windows software is a bit pants, and we will get much better end results with a second defrag from this, so go and grab a copy of Power Defragmenter (totally free & safe) , no instillation needed, just download, unzip and run, it will probably prompt to download some needed files, unless you have them already, OK this, and your ready to rock.
   

This second run will be unbelievably faster, mine ran in about 10 Min’s! And that’s the end of this tutorial, Look at how much disk space i got back after a cleanup (below)!

From now on, keep your computer clean each month or so, just repeat the steps above, but miss out Step 3, This will keep your computer in tip-tip shape, create more space, get rid of the crap, and you’ll also see speed improvements.

So i was digging around like i do most days, and i came across a article that documented well over 5000 Amazing resources for photoshop, and these are not just any odd load, these are the best, the most downloaded the free’est, one of the best “round-um ups” of this year.

So if your looking for a ton of the best free;

Photoshop textures, Photoshop patterns, tutorials, brushes, actions, down-loadable .psd files and photoshop cheat sheets, then look no further than this hyperlink;

http://www.noupe.com/photoshop/60-most-wanted-photoshop-tutorials-brushes-psds-and-resources.html

With the web browser being the main application that many people use the majority of the time while being on a computer, hackers are always trying to find new vulnerabilities that can exploit, and they found a big one recently.

Internet explorer, which is shipped with Microsoft windows, has the largest user audience of all web browsers, steaming ahead with 46% (this November from W3Schools) which is a great surprise to me, as I still thought IE still owned 80% of the browser market!

Now, this is scary since this security flaw is pretty harsh, as it allows hackers/ criminals to take control of people’s computers stealing there passwords and login credentials.

Other browsers are safe from this exploit, including Firefox, opera, safari and chrome, you are advised to switch as soon as possible, how about now?

Firefox is a very secure and an amazing web browser, plus it’s FREE, also being supported by 44% of the world’s web accessing people, which is pretty neat.

Just click this button to get going!

For more information reguarding this security issue you can visit:

• BBC Artical
• Microsofts Technet
• Trend Micro
• Shadow Server list of dont visit websites / servers

from internet explorer, windows explorer, system files, Firefox, many many other applications, multimedia, internet, utilities and the operating system itself, cleaning that unused junk from all this software frees up hundreds of megabytes of data on your HDD.

This temporary data is usually created from a mash up of all these programs and utilities, just running, performing updates downloading whatever, but it all adds up to clogging your system up.

Now, i have been using Ccleaner for well over two years now, There are tonnes of reasons that i still love it for one; its so easy and quick to use, you can right click on your recycle bin and there’s a link to the program! in a couple of seconds you can load the program and run it! seconds later that’s everything cleared “just like that”, i normally do this once every two weeks to keep things tidy, and it really does make a difference in your system, the first time a ran this program cleared a whopping 2gb crap off my system, i was dead chuffed.

Its also small within itself so you are not overloaded with unnecessary features, and extras, there are no Trojans malware or spyware so its perfectly safe, and totally free, plus there are always updates, so ccleaner keeps up to date with new programs released around the world and improving the application.

It also comes built in with a registry cleaner, which can check for problems within your registry.

I highly recommend this software for anyone using windows, its fast effective and takes up little space on your HDD, and you will see results pretty quick after cleaning out that crap!

Features

(from homepage, Current Version 2.08.588)

Cleans the following Windows components:

• Internet Explorer
  - Temporary File Cache
  - URL History
  - Cookies
  - Hidden Index.dat files
  - Last download file location
• Firefox
  - Temporary File Cache
  - URL History
  - Cookies
  - Download manager
• Recycle Bin
• Clipboard
• Windows Temporary files
• Windows Log files
• Recent Documents (on the Start Menu)
• Run history (on the Start Menu)
• Windows XP Search Assistant history
• Windows XP old Prefetch data
• Windows memory dumps after crashes
• Chkdsk file fragments

Advanced Options allow cleaning of:

• Menu Order cache
• Tray Notifications Cache
• Window Size and Location Cache
• User Assist history
• IIS Log Files
• Custom Folders

Application Cleaning:

As well as cleaning up old files and settings left by standard Windows components, CCleaner also cleans temporary files and recent file lists for many applications. Including:

• Firefox, Opera, Safari, Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, Microsoft Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat Reader, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and more…

Registry Cleaning:

CCleaner uses an advanced Registry Cleaner to check for problems and inconsistencies. It can check the following:

• File Extensions
• ActiveX Controls
• ClassIDs
• ProgIDs
• Uninstallers
• Shared DLLs
• Fonts
• Help File references
• Application Paths
• Icons
• Invalid Shortcuts and more…

Safety:

CCleaner was designed from the ground to be safe and secure to use. It has multiple levels of checks in place to ensure that it cannot delete any useful information or documents you may still need. We also certify that it contains no Spyware or Adware.

High Security:

For the super cautious users we also offer secure file erasing. By overwriting the files before deleting them, making it impossible to recover the data.

Multiple Languages:

Thanks to the translators, CCleaner is available in 35 different languages:

English, Albanian, Arabic, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech/Slovak, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Serbian Cyrillic, Serbian Latin, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.

Screenshots

Requirements

Windows 98/NT4/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista.
Completely Free

Where to download from?

Homepage: www.ccleaner.com

Download URL: www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/