Everyday Nerd

Source: askvg.com

Here is a beautiful theme for Windows XP, in a nice Blue color.  This is an official theme, so no file patching needed to make it work.  Simply install, and choose the theme!

  Download  Mirror

Windows XP SP3 is finally here for those that use Windows Update, and here is a direct link to the stand-alone version of SP3 for x86 XP systems (32 bit).

Windows® XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customers’ experience with the operating system. This white paper summarizes what is new in Windows XP SP3.

Download: Stand-alone installer for Windows XP SP3 English, 32 Bit (316 MB)
Link: Service Pack 3 for Windows XP via Windows Update (Size varies)

If you have not heard, Windows XP has a brand spanking new service pack coming up - really soon! It’s been a long time coming. Here are the dates:

• April 14, 2008: Support is available for the release version of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP
• April 21, 2008: Original Equipment Manufacturers, Volume License, Connect, and MSDN and TechNet subscribers
• April 29, 2008: Microsoft Update, Windows Update, Download Center
• June 10, 2008: Automatic Updates

Windows XP Service Pack 3 Overview

Recently Microsoft released an update (also in SP1 for Vista) to the RDP (Remote Desktop Client) that seemed to break the /console.  I found this out earlier this week when trying to connect to the console of a server, but would not - would only connect to the normal RDP non-console session.

Well, after verifying that my shortcut to with the /console switch was there, and I wasn’t going crazy, I ran mstsc.exe /? from the run line, only to find this:

/admin — Connects you to the session for administering a server.

Needless to say, I think Microsoft should have given some warning about this, or at least keep /console active until the next release - to give people a chance to the change.  But that is my opinion…

Have you ever had software that shows up in Add/Remove Programs, but doesn’t have the Remove/Uninstall button? 

I recently had a program (a custom repack of WinZip) that only had the Repair option.  Well, I use WinRAR exclusively,  so I wanted to remove it.

To fix this open Regedit (Start, run Regedit), and navigate to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\

From here, you can either go through each sub-folder, looking for the software in question, or highlight Uninstall, go to Edit, Find and type the name of software you are looking for.

Once you find it, look for two keys:  NoModify & NoRemove - they are pretty self explanatory as to what each key does.  Change the key value from a 1 to a 0 (zero) to deactivate the key.

Next, open Add/Remove Programs again, and you will see the Uninstall button now!

This works for Windows XP / Vista (Probably 2000 as well, but not tested)