Gateway Support Downloads Are… Special
14.May.08
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My work machine is a Gateway laptop running Vista Business. While I like the laptop a lot, I’ve been thinking about “upgrading” it to XP in the near future (here’s one reason). Being wise in the ways of the world, I figured I had better make sure there are drivers available for it before I begin.
I went to the Gateway Support site to check for drivers and then “personalized my experience” by giving it my laptop’s serial number figuring that would help filter things. Next, I selected XP for the OS and…
Hmm, the only drivers offered are Bluetooth and docking station. Uh oh… that doesn’t bode well for an XP install, does it?
Out of curiosity, I checked to see what drivers were offered if I chose Vista. Oddly enough, the same ones!
This seemed strange (there’s an understatement!) so I backed up a step and started over. But instead of entering my serial number, I clicked on the option “Browse all downloads.” From there, I choose my product type, model number and OS and click the link to display results. Lots more drivers now! Eighteen, to be precise.
Now, perhaps I’m overly fussy about such things, but that support experience seems a lot more of a hassle than it needed to be.
XP Service Pack 3 — Remote Desktop Change
13.May.08
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If you’re an XP user used to using the /console switch to manage your servers, be aware that going to Service Pack 3 will alter your Remote Desktop options a bit.
Specifically, you’ll now need to use the /admin switch instead.
This makes it very similar to using Remote Desktop with Vista, as I discovered earlier this year when I couldn’t get console access from Vista (the solution was provided in the comments).
For reference, here are the new command line arguments to mstsc (the command line equiv of Remote Desktop Connection):
Google Spreadsheets Functions Documentation
12.May.08
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The Google Docs blog mentioned the spreadsheet functions documentation today. Seems it has been around for a few months, but I had missed it. This could be just the thing I need to help nudge our more advanced spreadsheet jocks over to Google Docs.
Getting people moved over will save me money on licensing if I can do it before the next upgrade cycle. However, when I suggest that move, the typical response is, “Yeah but, does it do X?” Well, now I have documentation to look at to find out.
Where would the IT industry be if all responses didn’t start with “Yeah but…”? But I digress…
Oh, the the Google Docs blog post itself was more about the updated version of this documentation and soliciting contributions. Seems a little stagnant so hopefully that post will get more attention to the updated version.
Windows Update Not Updating?
11.May.08
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I was loading XP on a new machine this weekend and ran into a bit of a snag — twice. See, I figured the first time was a fluke so I recreated it an hour later. Ugh.
I’d run Windows Update on a freshly installed XP Service Pack 2 and get the Service Pack 3 option. I’d install that, reboot and go back. Everything’s cool.
Second time into Windows Update I’d get the IE7 option along with some other more minor stuff. Reboot and go back.
Third time it wouldn’t matter what options I chose, the download would be fine but the install(s) would fail with the message:
“Problem: A problem on your computer is preventing updates from being downloaded or installed.”
Very annoying. Some poking around the Microsoft support stuff didn’t turn up anything helpful, but a web search on the error message found a helpful blog article at Technipages.
Looks like some DLL’s get unregistered (or not at all) somewhere along the line. A 30 second fix got me back on track.
Pity I didn’t do that search before starting over from scratch!
Little Firefox Tip: Downloads Shortcut
10.May.08
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Here’s a simple little Firefox tip. I fear the rest of the world already knows this, but since I just noticed… well, I have to share.
You know the Firefox Download manager window, right? At the bottom it lists where files are downloaded.
See where I have circled in red? I just discovered that’s actually a button (or link). Click it and you go directly to your download folder.
Sure, I’m easily amused, but how handy is that?!? And why can’t it be styled to actually look click-able?
Well OK, it is obvious if you hover the mouse over:
… and that’s how I “discovered” it. After all these years of using Firefox, I learned something new!
