RND(tech) - Windows

disabling NetBIOS over TCP/IP in Windows via DHCPD

khanh@khanh.net (Khanh) — Thu, 27 May 2010 08:31:40 -0700

This is scarce information on the Internet, so I'm reposting!

NetBIOS can be disabled now that it's fairly ancient networking. You're using TCP/IP and DNS right?
I don't use Microsoft DHCP or DNS servers, so finding the information to set this is hard to come by. To disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP in an ISC DHCP server, add the following to your dhcpd.conf:

option vendor-encapsulated-options 01:04:00:00:00:02;

It's that easy!

Windows XP doesn't support WPA2 by default?

khanh@khanh.net (Khanh) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:08:25 -0700

I can't believe that at this point Microsoft doesn't have the WPA2 support for Windows XP in the automatic updates. Apparently, they decided this needs to be downloaded separately. Woe is the person who actually needs to set one up on their primary wireless access point. Even with the release of Service Pack 3, this still is not included, even as a rolled in package.

Download it from here if you need it, or scale back to WPA if you want to have decent support for random visitors to your wireless network:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917021

ActiveSync Internet Passthrough not working...

khanh@khanh.net (Khanh) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:52:35 -0700

I've got a few more software packages I've been playing with to make my new Tilt look more like an iPhone. These are some nice plugins/themes that make the AT&T (HTC) Tilt look and function much better. Stay tuned for that and my comments on using the Tilt to replace my iPod. I received my 8GB MicroSD card in the mail the other day, but I'm still waiting on the audio adapter for mini jack output. By the way, MicroSD cards are REALLY TINY. Amazing.

On a more functional note, I noticed Internet Passthrough wasn't working via ActiveSync. The default not for modern Windows Mobile and ActiveSync versions is to disable the wireless connectivity when connected to ActiveSync on a host PC. However, it wasn't working without the help of this tip about bypassing LSP (Layered Service Provider) and this AT&T Tilt forum post

Installing Windows XP on a Dell Inspiron 1525 (downgrading from Windows Vista)

khanh@khanh.net (Khanh) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:36:46 -0700

I recently came by a new Dell Inspiron 1525 that someone I know purchased. It originally came with Windows Vista Home Premium loaded from the factory, but the owner (like many others) preferred Windows XP Professional. With a little help from the links below, you can install all of the necessary drivers needed to get this laptop working with Windows XP!

First off, you'll need the SATA drivers on a USB floppy. There are other means of satisfying the Windows XP installer's lack of SATA drive support, but you're own your own past this link:
SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)

Once XP is installed, I went straight for the wireless card driver:
Dell Wireless 1390 (Broadcom BCM 4311)

Windows Update has the Creative Labs Webcam (built in to the top of the screen) and the Marvell Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller drivers. If you need the wired ethernet controller driver before the wireless, you can try the Marvell site and search for the Yukon family driver. It will have the driver, plus other utilities if you need support for things like 802.1q VLANs, etc.

Finish out the drivers, chipsets, and Dell hotkey support with:
SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio
Chipset
Conexant D330,HDA,MDC,v.92,modem
Touchpad
Intel GM965 (Video Card)
Dell Quickset
Ricoh R5C833 (Flash Drive controller)

This particular Dell Inspiron didn't have bluetooth installed (the BIOS showed no card, even though there was an LED for it), but if your's has the Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module, you'll need the XP Downgrade patch to enable Bluetooth and then the actual Windows XP Driver

How to make Windows print to a Linux CUPS IPP printer

khanh@khanh.net (Khanh) — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 12:07:51 -0700

Network printing is a daunting task. Network printing in Linux is tricky. I have a Linux server with a shared CUPS printer (one of those HP PSC printers). Making OS X print to it was somewhat simple because it's BSD under the hood, so it has CUPS/IPP support. Adding your server's hostname to your hosts file was the trick to making it work.

I set out to make Windows print to the Linux CUPS/IPP printer. You should add your hostname and IP to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC\HOSTS. This allows for name to IP resolution. Windows doesn't come with CUPS/IPP printing support out of the box. The key to making this work was found in a free Adobe PS driver found here. I chose Adobe Universal PostScript Windows Driver Installer 1.0.6 - English. Run the installer, select "Network Printer", and enter the URL of your printer queue. It will be something like http://hostname:631/printers/PrinterName. Select "yes" when prompted. You can use the Generic PostScript Printer option or you can use the PPD file created by CUPS for your printer with the Browse button. Your PPD file should be in /etc/cups/ppd on your Linux server.

I've only tested this under Windows XP, but other versions of Windows should work similarly.

LaCie brings Lightscribe to the rest of us

khanh@khanh.net (Khanh) — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:16:33 -0700

LaCie announced today that they now offer a complete Lightscribe solution for all platforms. That means now Mac OS X and even Linux users can write labels to Lightscribe media with Lightscribe drives. Lightscribe is a technology that allows you to etch silk screen quality images on the label side of CD/DVD media. Up until now, the technology was limited to Windows users due to lack of software. Now with the LaCie LightScribe Labeler for MAC OS, SureThing for Windows and LaCie LightScribe Labeler for Linux, we have software available to the three major OS platforms. Did I forget to mention the software is free from LaCie? Yes, it really is.

See:
http://www.lacie.com/lightscribe
http://www.lightscribe.com

Apple supports Windows XP on Intel-based Macs

khanh@khanh.net (Khanh) — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 10:06:22 -0700

Apple is now supporting Windows XP on their Intel-based Macs! No more hacked bootloaders required. Apple just released its beta of "Boot Camp", which will provide not only the bootloader, but a driver set as well. All you've got to do is provide your copy of Windows XP SP2.

I don't have an Intel-based Mac, but this is a huge step in the acceptance of a great OS, with support for some of those applications that are only available on the Windows platform. Now if only we could get better virtualization or emulation (like WINE), inside of OS X! Dual boots are nice, but switching back and forth requires an investment in time to reboot, especially if all you want to do is use Outlook!

More info can be found:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1808055
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303572