General Computing

SQL Server / Visual Studio Install Order

Colin Angus Mackay — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:02:10 GMT

Yesterday I paved my laptop in order to upgrade to Windows Vista. I've now started to reinstall everything from scratch again. However, one thing that didn't work out was the installation of SQL Server 2005. No matter what I tried I could not seem to get it to install the SQL Server Management Studio - somehow it was convinced that it already existed. I eventually figured out why.

I'd installed Visual Studio 2008 first, and as part of that installation it installed SQL Server 2005 Express edition. The express edition does not come with SQL Server Management Studio. When I went to install SQL Server 2005 it refused to install the management studio saying that more up-to-date versions of the tools were already available on the machine. (Well, I suppose some of them were, at least the ones installed by Visual Studio 2008's installer). Running the Service Pack 2 upgrade did not help either. It concluded that the client tools were not valid as part of the upgrade and refused to install them.

Eventually I came to the conclusion that it would be quicker, given my recent wiping of my laptop to just start afresh again and install things in the correct order. I suppose I was lucky to have that option. I am also lucky that I don't activate Windows until I'm sure everything is installed correctly - after all I do have 30 days to activate Windows. I'd hate to have lost an activation of Windows because of a dodgy install.

So what is the installation order I've now used that works:

Windows Vista SP1
Windows Update (my install required 33 updates)
SQL Server 2005
SQL Server 2005 SP2
Visual Studio 2008

Technorati Tags: sql server,sql server 2005,visual studio,visual studio 2008,windows,vista,windows vista,sql server 2005 express,sql server express,installation,install

A Cautionary Tale

Colin Angus Mackay — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:17:54 GMT

XKCD can be variable in quality (or maybe I just don't understand all the jokes), but it has this cautionary tale about Linux:

Technorati Tags: xkcd,catroon,linux,caution

Tip of the Day #7 (SysInternals)

Colin Angus Mackay — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:47:33 GMT

I've visited the SysInternals site a few times over the course of my career because of some strange problem that I just couldn't track down. The amount of information about what is actually happening on your system that the SysInternals tools provide is phenomenal. The site was run by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell until they got hired by Microsoft. However, the tools are still available and being updated, only now they are hosted by Microsoft themselves.

So, today's tip is to visit the SysInternals page on Microsoft's TechNet site and familiarise yourself with what is available. You might find that one day it will save you hours of frustration.

Tip of the Day #6 (Keyboard Shortcuts in IE)

Colin Angus Mackay — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:56:57 GMT

If you prefer to use your keyboard more than your mouse then you may be interested in this set of keyboard shortcuts for Internet Explorer 6 and 7.

Technorati Tags: ie,internet explorer,keyboard,keyboard shortcut

Aggressive Spam Filters

Colin Angus Mackay — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:06:33 GMT

Today I discovered quite by accident that I have 9 genuine emails sitting in gmail's spam trap that were sent to me over the last 24 hours. The genuine emails were from Microsoft, Quest, Redgate and Scottish Developers! I hit the "not spam" button for each of them so hopefully gmail learns and I'll get them in future, but for the next few days I'll be watching my spam folder for potential genuine messages disappearing.

Technorati Tags: spam,gmail

Behave yourselves!

Colin Angus Mackay — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:42:11 GMT

Here is some advice on how to behave properly on internet forums:

How To Behave On An Internet Forum

Technorati Tags: behave,forum,internet,video

Spam messages are down

Colin Angus Mackay — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:28:53 GMT

It seems that the spirit of the season of goodwill is also bestowed on us by spammers too. I've seen a noticeable fall off in the amount of spam my blog gets over the last 36 hours or so. The same is true when I look in the spam folders of my gmail and Yahoo accounts. I wonder how much faster the Internet is running as a result...

Technorati Tags: spam

Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key

Colin Angus Mackay — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:27:59 GMT

I keep pressing the Caps Lock key accidentally. I don't know why, but I do. I think it is the most despicable key on the keyboard, but I am not willing to go to the measures that a former colleague did. He hacked the key off his keyboard.

There are ways to get notified that the button has been pressed accidentally. In the control panel there is a setting that means that each time a "lock" key (Caps Lock, Num Lock and Scroll Lock) is pressed you get notified with a beep. The setting (known as "Toggle Keys") is part of the keyboard accessibility options.

There are two routes to the setting. The Classic route and the modern route (it depends on how you've got your Control Panel configured).

Modern Route

If you are taking the modern route (the default) you need to open the control panel and select "Ease of Access"

Then click the link that says "Change how your keyboard works"

Classic Route

If you are taking the classic route you need to select the "Ease of Access Center"

Then click the link "Make the keyboard easier to use"

Finally

Both routes will eventually lead to the same screen. You need to ensure that "Turn on Toggle Keys" is checked (ticked). Once the setting is turned on you can "Apply" or "Save" the settings.

Technorati Tags: vista,caps lock,toggle keys,windows

A problem with Windows Live Writer

Colin Angus Mackay — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:39:19 GMT

I have an external USB hard disk that I use to store all my documents on. I move it between my laptop and my desktop PC so that when I'm out with my laptop I still have access to all my files. And when I get back I don't have any synchronisation issues.

However, I don't seem to be able to tell Windows Live Writer where to save my drafts (e.g. A blog folder on my external HDD) so it all ends up in My Documents.

I don't suppose it will be too difficult to take a USB stick and copy the posts from one to the other, but I'd rather just plug the HDD in and go.

Technorati Tags: USB HDD , Windows Live Writer , Blog

Stupid Thunderbird

Colin Angus Mackay — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 01:10:51 GMT

A few hours after Thunderbird decided that it really MUST download all the messages all over again for my Yahoo account. It has now decided that it must do so AGAIN! Why?! Was the thrill of downloading 16000 emails not enough the first time round? Must it do so again? And how often will I find my email box bulging with more duplicates of 4 year old emails?