- The four basic components of any computer are input, output, storage and processing
- ASCII = American Symbolic Code for Information Interchange. 128 char. Extended 255 char.
- Six fundamental microcomputer components: processor, bus, memeory, disk, video, input/output
- Old school bus types ISA,EISA,VESA, MCA
- Another name for a system board is the planar board
- The nucleus of the PC is the CPU
- A measurement of speed is MegaHertz
- Clock speeds are measured in megahertz
- The larger the cache, the faster the processor
- the 80286 is equated with the AT and ISA busses
- The MCA bus was predominatly used by IBM
- EISA took the most popular features from other busses and expanded on them.
- the VESA bus is also klnown as the VLbus
- PCMCIA cards were designed for notebook use
- Memory is a storage area for fast access. Continue reading “CompTIA A+ Exam Notes”
Wii Strap Dye Job
The Nintendo Wii controllers are great but is is not easy to tell them apart. I had a small piece of blue painter´s tape on one to mark it as my secondry controller which worked well enough but was not pretty by any strech of the imagination. A few weeks ago, I used Rit dye to colorize the Wii straps. The process is simple and the results are excellent.
Mix up some dye according to the instructions on the package. I used a bit more dye solution the the package stated to get a nice dark color. Now, bring the dye to a simmer on the stove, and throw in the straps. Stir constantly; keep them moving. After about 15 minutes, take the straps and hang them to dry.
You may want to rinse out the straps after they have dried once, this should help prevent any dye coming off if they get wet. Once they have dried again, hook them to to the wiimotes and enjoy!
Users Log In To Domain Workstation, But Windows Creates A New Profile For Some Ungodly Reason
This issue occurs occasionally, as if the logging in user has never logged into a machine before. The old profile is still in in Documents and Settings, along with the newly created profile. Suspicions point to ntuser.dat becoming corrupted.
How to return to the old profile Continue reading “Users Log In To Domain Workstation, But Windows Creates A New Profile For Some Ungodly Reason”
Stuck in Ghost Virtual Boot Partition
Getting stuck in the ghost virtual boot partition is not an uncommon event. The client boots into DOS to do some work, fails, and the client does not boot back into windows- it just sits there looking stupid.
Try Ctrl-x, give it a minute
Didn’t work?
Try Ctrl-C, give it a minute.
This should do the trick. If it doesn’t, the Symantec knolwedgebase also offers this advice: Continue reading “Stuck in Ghost Virtual Boot Partition”
Sonicwall Licensing Synchronization Failure Codes
The following entry appears in the Sonicwall log file:
‘The SonicWALL Security Services on your SonicWALL appliance have failed to synchronize license information with the SonicWALL Licensing Server’. This is followed by a failure code in parenthesis (100x)
1000 – Unspecified error. If you receive this error repeatedly, contact SonicWALL technical support.
1001 – DNS resolution failed. Check DNS configuration settings and the availability of the currently configured DNS server.
1004 – Internal firmware error. If you receive this error repeatedly, contact SonicWALL technical support.
1005 – Failed to initialize a list of Root certificates. Check that time and date are correctly set on the SonicWALL appliance. Also check if NTP functions properly.
1006 – Failed to connect to SonicWALL License Manager server over HTTPS (SSL). Check that time and date are correctly set to the unit. Also check if NTP functions properly. Also check network connectivity to the outside locations. This may be a sporadic entry based on availability of the licensing server.
1007 – There was a problem receiving a response from the SonicWALL License Manager server. This error is temporary. If this error appears during a registration failure, you should try registering again.
1008 – Current SonicWALL appliance has invalid or illegal registration. All licensing has been reset.
Windows Updates and WSUS will not work through SonicWall firewall
When accessing Windows update through a SonicWall firewall, Windows Update or WSUS may fail to download updates. The event log entry may look something like this:
Description: Content file download failed. Reason: The server does not support the necessary HTTP protocol. Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) requires that the server support the Range protocol header
This is caused by the default settings for the gateway antivirus service enabled on the Sonicwall.
To get around this issue, you need to access the hidden diagnostic page in the SonicWall managament site. To get there, log on to your SonicWall and then replace the trailing “main.html” in the URL with “diag.html” and hit enter. On this page, you need to adjust the settings on the following two items:
enable FTP ‘REST’ requests with Gateway AV
enable HTTP Byte-Range requests with Gateway AV
Updates should now flow through the SonicWall.
Symantec’s NoNav Utility
NoNav is a utility provided by Symantec tech support. Sometimes, a Symantec Corporate AntiVirus installation fails for a client, and one of the recommended remediation practices is to remove the app manually. The problem with doing this is the number of steps in the process, including visiting hundreds of locations in the Windows registry to see if certain keys exist and if so, deleting them. For one box, this is a process. For five boxes, this is a project. You could try scripting this, or you can contact Symantec Tech support and get a copy of NoNav. This utility- Current Version 2.6- will clean out most of the settings left by Symantec Corporate versions 4,5,6,7,8,9,and 10. It should be noted that Norton (retail) products are not covered with the NoNav tool.
Running Nonav is simple, click on the executable file and it will ask for some input about what you would like to remove- Live update, virus definitions, etc. Some other input is required, options for scanning for .msi leftovers, rebooting the box at program end, and more. Each of these choices has an explanation and a recommended or not recommended note to guide the user. Let the program do some work, and if you have selected the option to do so, the machine will reboot automatically.
After the machine comes back up, you want to delete some directories left behind. These are outlined in the readme file included with NoNav- Symantec’s install directory, some shared file locations and some staging areas. Kill any that you find. Finally, delete everything in the system’s Temp directory (start, run, %TEMP%). Reboot again, and you can now reinstall the latest version of SAV and patch it to the right level.
NoNav can be acquired from Symantec Tech Support. If you have a valid support contract, call in and the technician will provide a link to download the latest version.
Sas70 Choosing An Audit Firm
About The SAS70
SAS70 is short for Statement on Auditing Standards Number 70. It defines the standards used by an auditor to assess the internal controls of an organization that provides services. In many cases, the controls that are audited are related to transaction processing, and the transactions are specific to the type of service being provided.
A SAS70 type 1 report is concerned with the controls that are in place in an organization and the auditor’s opinion of the effectiveness of the controls. The type 1 SAS70 report may include background information about a business and its processes, along with a detailed list of controls (broken out into subsections) and information about how the processes are interrelated, along with information about how the controls meet the specified goals.
A SAS70 type 2 report is issues after a period of observation of the practices specified in the type 1 report. The type 2 SAS70 will also include an opinion issued by an auditor on whether the controls were in operation during the observation time period. Type 2 reports are usually issued on an annual basis. Continue reading “Sas70 Choosing An Audit Firm”