Items filtered by date: Monday, 07 December 2015
No display adapter in Windows, VGAsafe present
This is caused by a via chipset problem where all the drivers are not loaded, you cannot reinstall the drivers because the PC crashes and they can not be installed in safe mode.
You will also note the use of Microsoft's VGAsafe driver in 'hidden devices', this is a failsafe by microsoft and is normal. It occurs when a basic VGA driver cannot be loaded.
The solution
Download the latest drivers for the motherboard chipset and graphics card.
Boot in safe mode.
extract the drivers out of the archive, sometimes running themm does this.
remove the via chipset drivers in device manager, right click and delete.
restart and reboot in safe mode.
the pc will now reinstall the drivers, you will probably find it asks for a file for 'agp to cpu', point it to the right directory for the extracted motherboard chipset drivers.
I updated the graphics card manually here before reboot.
reboot normally and then install both driver packeages to make sure all files are installed correctely.
problem fixed
Making Clean/Short URLs in MediaWiki
Given that Meta does a poor job making elegant URLs (several things, like ampersands and periods will no longer work in titles), here’s the method I’m using:
In .htaccess, add the following:
RewriteEngine on RewriteRule ^[^:]*\.(php|src|jpg|png|gif|css|js|inc|swf|pl|ico|html|shtml|zip|mp3)$ - [L,NC] RewriteRule ^index.php?title - [L] RewriteRule ^(.*)\&(.*)$ $1\%26$2 RewriteRule ^(.+)$ /index.php?title=$1 [L,QSA]
In the listing of various extensions, you’ll want to put up whatever extension of file you plan on using on the site: for Retro, we also have a lot of hacking-specific extensions like bin, gen, smd, etc.
Then, open up LocalSettings.php, and use the following:
$wgScriptPath = “”; $wgScript = “$wgScriptPath/index.php”; $wgRedirectScript = “$wgScriptPath/redirect.php”; $wgArticlePath = “/$1″;
From there, you should be set!
Article 2
This is a link to the official mediawiki short URL page.
How to reset activation timer in Vista
If you are running a copy of Vista that is not activated, you can see how much time is remaining by using this command:
slmgr -dli
To see the actual date and time that Vista will expire, run this command:
slmgr -xpr
You can reset that timer by running this command (as admin if you're using UAC) and rebooting:
slmgr -rearm
According to Microsoft's website, that rearm command will only work three times. So basically, you can extend your trial period up to 120 days.
How to make a Transparent iframe
I assume you have basic html skills and you know all about iframes.
Step 1
Insert your iframe code between body tags.
<iframe src="/yourpage.html" name="myframe" width="250" height="250" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>
Step 2
Now copy the code below, and paste it between <head> tags of the page you are linking to.
In this example this page is yourpage.html
<style type="text/css">
Body { Background: transparent; }
</style>
How to fix a blank capture of a movie player
Screen captures of movie players, such as Windows Media Player, sometimes turn out blank because the movie is projected onto what is called a hardware overlay surface. Capturing this surface results in a blank spot that's usually black, but can be any color.
The solution is to tell the player not to use hardware overlay by turning off "hardware acceleration".
How to backup a MySQL database?
The following PHP Script will backup the content of a MySQL Database in a GZip file:
{code class="brush: php"}{/code}If your database is too big and the script times out, here is another PHP script that gives you the opportunity to backup separate Tables.
You will need to create the folder called "DB_backup".
{code class="php"}Database Server could not be reached"); MYSQL_SELECT_DB($db) or die ( "Database not Available
"); $path = getenv('DOCUMENT_ROOT')."/DB_backup"; $result = MYSQL_QUERY("SHOW TABLES"); $numrow = MYSQL_NUM_ROWS($result); for($i = 0;$i < $numrow;$i++) { $table = MYSQL_RESULT($result,$i); echo "$table ... "; system(sprintf("mysqldump --opt -h $host -u $dbuser -p$dbpw $db $table | gzip > %s/$table.sql.gz",$path)); echo "DONE\n\n"; } MYSQL_CLOSE(); ?>{/code}Backup by SSH (untested but works on 1and1)
1. Using the Secure Shell interface to log in and run the following commands.
2. use the following command to dump the database to your web space:
mysqldump -h [hostname] -u [username] -p[password] [databasename] > [outputfile])
After pressing [Enter] the system will prompt you for the password of your database.
Once the dump has been completed you will find the outputfile in your web space.
Having filled in all the information the command will look like this:
mysqldump -h db73.oneandone.co.uk -u dbo42764332 -p XXXXXXXX db42764332 > db42764332.dump
Fix your LCD s dead pixels
Software Method
Try running pixel fixing software. Stuck pixels can often be re-energized by rapidly turning them on and off.
- JScreenFix - A web-based Java Applet that randomly turns on and off each pixel at up to 60 times a second to fix stuck pixels.
- UDPixel 2.1 - A free windows application which help you to locate and fix 1 or more stuck pixels.
If this fails, complete the following methods.
Pressure Method
- Turn off your computer's monitor.
- Get yourself a damp washcloth, so that you don't scratch your screen.
- Take a household pen, pencil, screwdriver, or some other sort of instrument with a focused, but relatively dull, point. A very good tool would be a PDA stylus.
- Fold the washcloth to make sure you don't accidentally puncture it and scratch the screen.
- Apply pressure through the folded washcloth with the instrument to exactly where the stuck pixel is. Try not to put pressure anywhere else, as this may make more stuck pixels.
- While applying pressure, turn on your computer and screen.
- Remove pressure and the stuck pixel should be gone. This works as the liquid in the liquid crystal has not spread into each little pixel. This liquid is used with the backlight on your monitor, allowing different amounts of light through, which creates the different colors.
Tapping Method
- Turn on the computer and LCD screen.
- Display a black image, which will show the stuck pixel very clearly against the background. (It is very important that you are showing a black image and not just a blank signal, as you need the backlighting of the LCD to be illuminating the back of the panel).
- Find a pen with a rounded end. A Sharpie marker with the cap on should be fine for this.
- Use the rounded end of the pen to gently tap where the stuck pixel is - not too hard to start with, just enough to see a quick white glow under the point of contact. If you didn't see a white glow, then you didn't tap hard enough, so use just slightly more pressure this time.
- Start tapping gently. Increase the pressure on the taps gradually for 5-10 taps until the pixel rights itself.
- Display a white image (an empty text document is good for this) to verify that you haven't accidentally caused more damage than you fixed.
Tips
- If the pressure and tapping don't work directly on the stuck pixel, start moving outward around the stuck pixel. If you see the pixel flicker while doing this then you know where you can focus the pressure and tapping techniques rather than directly on the pixel.
- Many people report success with this technique but these instructions won't work in every case. It may take a few attempts to make sure you are pressing exactly on the stuck pixel.
- These instructions will fix "stuck" pixels, not "dead" ones. Dead pixels appear black while stuck pixels can be one constant color like red, blue or green.
- An alternative, but similar technique involves gently massaging the stuck pixel with a warm damp (not wet) soft cloth.
- Alternative technique to tapping: Using a rounded pencil eraser, push with moderate pressure into screen at stuck pixel.
- If these instructions don't work, you can hopefully get the monitor replaced through your manufacturer. If your monitor falls under the specifications of replacement, get in contact with the manufacturer to set up replacement plans.
Warnings
- Do not attempt to open the monitor as it will void the warranty and the manufacturer will not replace it.
- Make sure you don't get any electrical equipment wet or it may break.
- Some people claim that touching the screen can cause more pixels to become stuck, although this has not been proven.
- Be prepared to suffer a complete loss; you may crack the glass when tapping or putting pressure on an LCD assembly.
Enable Right Click
Method 1
Create a favourite with the URL below, whenever the right click is disabled, click on the favourite.
javascript:void(document.onmousedown=null);void(document.onclick=null);void(document.oncontextmenu=null)
Method 2
When you right click on an object you get a box poping up to say right click is disabled, or something to that effect.
- Do not close the box, move the box so the 'OK' button is over where you want to right click.
- Press the left mouse button and hold, now press and hold the right button and hold.
- Now let go of the left button, then the right button.
- Now the right click menu should appear.
Cannot View Secure Web Sites (https:)
If you cannot view or access secure web pages (those beginning with an https:// URL) you may experience an of these symptoms:
- You cannot get into hotmail and yahoo email accounts.
- Cannot view secure web sites
- Cannot get into pay pal
- Cannot do a windows update
- Cannot get into bank web sites
Use Dial-a-Fix or:
To resolve this problems, these steps to reset a dll file required to view secure web sites.
- Click Start.
- Click Run.
- Type regsvr32 softpub.dll
- Click OK. A pop-up should display with the message Dll Register Server in softpub.dll Succeeded.
- Click OK.
Acer Ferrari Series - screen color and contrast adjustment
I'd like to share with everyone a way to tweak your gamma, brightness, and contrast for your LCD screen. As you know, the Ferrari keyboard only allows you to adjust the overall brightness of the picture. Using ATI's Catalyst control panel, you can further adjust the individual levels to help you find just the right settings.
Depending on your tastes, the default screen settings might appear a bit bright and not very saturated with color, at least to my liking. After I updated my ATI Mobility Catalyst drivers to the latest and greatest, I updated the following settings in the ATI control panel as follows:
Gamma: 1.00
Brightness: -45
Contrast: 95
To adjust your settings:
1. Load up the ATI control panel (either right-click the desktop and select the ATI Catalyst Control Center or get to it via Display Properties)
2. On the "View" button on the toolbar, make sure you have 'Advanced View' selected
3. In the "Graphics Settings" area (the treeview), select "Color"
4. Adjust the sliders until you find the levels that suit you best.
After doing so, the screen is much more readable and I can easily see higher color contrast and definition.
ATI Mobile Catalyst drivers:
http://www.ati.com/online/mobilecatalyst/