Jul162010

Today's Tip - Solving "Sever Execution Errors" in Windows Media Player

You won't find a lot of help for this in the Microsoft Forums unfortunately.  A surprisingly common problem you may see in Windows Vista and Windows 7 is failure of Windows Media Player to open and play a file.  If you reboot the machine, you may be able to successfully play a single file after restart, but the problem returns and you get an ERROR message stating "Sever Execution Error".  This error also presents in some Wireless networking instances.

Resolve this issue by opening a command window with elevated (administrator) access.  There are many ways to open command prompt as administrator.  One simple method is to click on "START" and type "CMD" in the search box.  At the top of your start menu under "Programs", you will see "CMD.EXE".  Simply right click on it and choose "Run as Administrator".  You will receive a UAC prompt (User Account Control) to confirm you wish to proceed.

Once you are at a command prompt, enter the following command (including quotes):

net localgroup "Administrators" "NT Authority\Local Service" /add

If you entered the command correctly, you will receive a reply that the command executed successfully.  Close the command window and the issue is resolved.



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Apr082010

Today's Tip: Danger, false security ahead

OSX Logo"Bad data is worse than no data as it induces one to proceed in the wrong direction with a false sense of confidence." Unknown

The last few days I have been involved in some spirited debate with regard to the new iPad. People who have them are generally "in love" with the device. People who write techonolgy reviews for a living, not so much. The inability to multi-task, absence of support for Flash (sorry, no Farmville on your iPad), no USB port or camera for video conference are the common complaints that render the iPad little more than a beautiful and expensive gizmo to show off and establish your status as someone "cool".

Of course this has once again stirred the MAC vs. PC debate. The battle cry of MacNoids everywhere (other than "it's so easy to use") is "I love my Mac because I don't have to worry about Viruses and spyware like on a PC".

I was browsing Facebook today when I came across the gem at the top of this post. There is an antecedent to that maxim, penned by Arthur Conan Doyle, and placed on the lips of Sherlock Holmes: "It is a capital offense to form theories before one has data. Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts." Now I'm not here to suggest you should NOT own a MAC, nor am I suggesting one platform is superior to the other (MAC vs PC). What anyone contemplating the purchase of an Apple product NEEDS to know is the data you may have read or heard that "MAC is more secure than PC" is BAD data and you would do well to proceed with caution on BOTH platforms. As the MAC footprint grows, so too do the threats and malware targeting OSX.

Windows 7I repaired two PC's in the past week that were poorly maintained and severely compromised with rogue security software. Some might say this is proof the PC is less secure. That's called "twisting the facts to suit the theory". In each case the problem was not the PC (the hardware), it was not the operating system. The problem was a combination of exposing the system to known dangerous parts of the Internet (P2P networks and torrents) while failing to run regularly updated security software from a reputable provider, failure to properly update the operating system against known vulnerabilities, and failure to recognize social engineering at it's finest (fake security pop ups previously discussed on this site). Of course all three contributing factors are the responsibility of the User or Owner of the computer, but taking personal responsibility is not popular or in fashion with so many people. Easier to blame it on that pesky Bill Gates! If not for the failures noted, there would have been no repairs necessary. Penguin

As I have stated before, anyone who will fall for a phishing scheme, or who can be tricked into installing rogue security software, can be tricked regardless of their preferred computing platform. New vulnerabilites in OSX, Windows, and Linux are discovered every day.

The moral of the story? Don't proceed towards Macintosh with a false sense of security based on the "data" you've read or heard... proceed with an abundance of caution every single time you sit down to see what your Facebook and Myspace friends are up to, irrespective of your preferred computing platform! YOU are resonsible for the health and protection of your computer, not Steve Jobs, not Steve Ballmer, not Linus Torvalds.

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Jul132009

Why ChromeOS won't matter

Published by dave at 8:01 AM under Opinion | privacy | technology | video

Great way to start out the week, with a HUGE belly laugh!  Some strong language.  Don't watch if easily offended!



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Jul092009

Beware of shiny objects

Published by dave at 7:58 AM under computers | Internet | Microsoft Operating Systems | Opinion | privacy | technology

You're living in a cave if you haven't at least heard about G's intention to "build" a new computer Operating System based on their highly promoted and little used "Chrome" web browser.  Based on the reaction in the blogosphere, there doesn't seem to be a lot of "wait and see" attitude from the people actually paying attention to this stuff.   The Google fanboys and girls have soiled themselves in naivete` while the nay sayers are raising privacy concerns and question the motivation of such a plan.  Drudge went so far as to headline it as a "death blow" to Redmond, WA based Microsoft.   God knows Drudge has never been over the top.

I'm open minded enough to wait and see what ultimately comes out of Mountainview, but I for one am not holding my breath that this is going to be a "game changer" on a large scale.  Google conveniently omitted any real detail in the press release so one can only guess the new OS, in reality will be a shell or GUI running on top of Linux or other Open Source OS.  Not even the whiz kids can build a viable operating system from scratch and take it to market in the time frame announced.  If I am right, it won't be a true stand alone "Operating System", but rather akin to Windows 3.0 and 3.1 in that it will be a "Chrome" based GUI running on top of Linux, and we all know how painful that was.

Here is what I want to know:  Is Google really trying to build disruptive technology, or just trying to be disruptive?  Is this just a ploy to deflect the watchful eyes of Wall Street away from the sinking earnings reports and other failures?   Memo to Eric (Schmidt, CEO of Google), not EVERYONE has a stick up their ass for Bill Gates and Microsoft like you do.  Don't presume that the typical PC user sees Microsoft the same way you do.  Many of us are starting to see you as the new predatory and evil empire.

What's your take?



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