Tag: Geek Stuff

Used Linux Mint Bootable USB to Fix Windows Server 2003

Post author By George
Post date July 28, 2010
No Comments on Used Linux Mint Bootable USB to Fix Windows Server 2003

Image via Wikipedia

Today I was asked by one of our server administrators who was off site, if I knew how to reset the local administrator account on a Windows 2003 Server that was not communicating with the domain. I said yes, “let me get my Linux Mint USB stick and I can reset the password.”

The server was an old HP ML370 with a RAID configuration and 4GB of RAM. Once I was in Linux Mint 9, I mounted the local hard drive and navigated to the %systemroot%\System32\config folder. I right click that folder and selected Open Terminal here. Here is the reference document I use:

Open Nautilus and mount Windows HDD.
Right click Windows folder and select Open in Terminal.
Type cd System32/config and press Enter.
If account is Administrator enter sudo chntpw SAM.
If any other account enter sudo chntpw -u <account> SAM.
From menu select function.
Write hive files.

After rebooting the server I was able to log in as the local administrator and complete the repairs. Another justification for every IT Technician (server administrator or on-site workstation support) should have multiple tools to repair any computer on-site.

Tags Geek Stuff, Linux Mint, Windows Stuff, Work

Geek Stuff Sager Software Virtual Machine VirtualBox Windows Vista

Resize Virtual HDD in VirtualBox

Post author By George
Post date July 23, 2010
No Comments on Resize Virtual HDD in VirtualBox

Several weeks ago I created a VM of Windows Vista with SP2. It ran great on my Sager NP8690. Unfortunately when I created the virtual hard drive I made it a 20GB drive. After all the patches were installed, I was down to about 3GB free. So I read a few posts from VirtualBox Forums about how to resize the drive. Here are the steps I used from the post:

Close you virtual machine, leave VirtualBox running.
Create a new virtual hard drive with the new size (I went with a dynamic size with a maximum size of 80GB).
Download Gparted-Live CD ISO file.
Add the Gparted-Live CD ISO file as a new virtual CD in VirtualBox.
Adjust your virtual machine settings to add the second larger hard drive and the Gparted-Live CD.
Start the VM and boot from the Gparted-Live CD file.
Choose all the defaults and wait for Gparted to start.
Select the second hard drive and set the partition to msdos.
Select the first hard drive, right click on the graph and select Copy.
Select the second hard drive, right click on the graph and select Paste.
This will take some time.
Once completed, shutdown the VM.
Adjust the settings for the VM by removing the old hard drive and the Gparted-LiveCD. Add your Vista CD or ISO file.
Boot the VM and press any key to start from the Vista CD.
Select the option to Repair the OS.
Once it repairs, reboot the VM and do not press any keys. Vista should boot and run a check disk of the VM.

Now when I boot into Vista, I have a 80GB hard drive with plenty of free space.

Thanks to gushy and bwh1969 for the original posts.

Tags Geek Stuff, Sager, Software, Virtual Machine, VirtualBox, Windows Vista

FaceBook Geek Stuff Home PC LinuxMint Sager Thunderbird Ubuntu Windows 7 Windows Vista Windows XP Work

Busy IT Month

Well it’s been a busy month for me at home and work. I migrated my Sager NP8690 to Ubuntu 10.04 and created three virtual machines; Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. To my surprise Windows Vista SP2 is extremely stable as a VM. I disabled UAC because I don’t like being asked “are you sure you want to do this” from my PC. Both Windows 7 and Windows XP SP3 ran well also. Over all I was pleased with the performance from each VM. Of course that changed when I tried to run two VMs at the same time, I was running out of RAM. I think if I had 8GB installed, running two VMs would have worked fine.

However, I was never able to get get Blu-Ray running in any VMs or in Ubuntu. This bummed me out since I wanted I watch Star Trek. Maybe I’ll ask Santa to bring a Blu-Ray player for Christmas. Then I was informed by my wife that she needed Windows in order to work from home. Plus she was not too thrilled that I didn’t create a account in Ubuntu for her. Oops!

So I backed up everything (again) and reinstalled the image I took before wiping out my hard drive. Since I am dual booting between Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.04, I deiced to leave Windows with a larger partition and keep all my videos there. I can access then easily enough from Ubuntu without much hassle. I still need to install a few application in Ubuntu (Thunderbird, Filezilla) but for the most part I am finished.

Instead of trying to use Gwibber a buddy of mine said I should look into TweetDeck. TweetDeck requires Adobe Air to install and run. Being Adobe has issues with x64, there were no .deb files for my OS. I downloaded the .bin file and from a Terminal window I typed ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin. Now I can install TweetDeck and have access to my LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz accounts.

At work, I was asked to test a kickstart install script for RHEL 5.3 (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) client install on a test PC. I used a Dell Precision 370 which has a Intel P4 3.4 GHz single core, 2GB of RAM, 80GB Sata drive, Nvidia Quadro FX 1400 card, and a DVD drive. Installation took about 30 minutes. I test several applications, accessing network shares, and printing to several network printers. I still prefer Ubuntu or Linux Mint over RHEL, but it was fun to be part of a Linux project.

I also help with installing a new Dell server this week. The job required us to install a keyboard/mouse tray, move an existing server and tape library up, install a new IP console KVM, and install the new ESX server. Due to space limitations, we placed a LCD monitor on the side of the rack. Because I hurt my back several day earlier I was asked not to lift anything. So for me it was more of a learning experience. Hopefully I will be asked to assist with other data room projects.

Right now I’m downloading openSuse 11.3 x64 on DVD. Maybe this weekend I’ll try it out on a VM to see some of the new improvements I’ve read about.

Tags FaceBook, Geek Stuff, Home PC, Linux Mint, Sager, Thunderbird, Ubuntu, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Work

Geek Stuff Humor Video Windows Stuff

Developers, developers, developers, developers

Post author By George
Post date July 16, 2010
No Comments on Developers, developers, developers, developers

Posted because I saw it today while having lunch at my desk.

Tags Geek Stuff, Humor, Video, Windows

Geek Stuff Motorola Droid Personal Smartphone

Post using Droid

A few days ago I purchased a Motorola Droid from amazonwireless.com. I’ve been loyal Verizonwireless customer for about 10 years. I like their service, it is rare that I drop a call, Customer Service always assisted whenever I called, and the local store is OK.

I’m writing this post using my Droid and the free WordPress app I installed. Typing is a little tricky for me’ and I find my typing skills are slow. Practice makes perfect.

The Droid is the coolest and best phone I’ve ever had. Battery life is not that great, but I blame it on me exploring the phone. I also bought a holster from the local Verizonwireless store.

Tags Geek Stuff, Motorola Droid, Personal, Smartphone

Geek Stuff Video

Droid

Post author By George
Post date December 4, 2009
No Comments on Droid

Looks like I found my new phone.

I’ve been looking into getting a new phone when my contract comes up in 2010. Need to head over to a Verizonwireless store to check one out. I’ven been please with my current phone (LG Chocolate 8550) but I want something new. Besides, anytime a commerical mentions duct tape, SCUD missile, the use of power tools, it’s got to be good. Right??