Thursday, February 24, 2011

Connecting Oracle in VB2010 using OLEDB

I am attempting to establish a connection with the db using the default user with the code below:

Imports System.Data.OleDb

...
Dim myConnection As OleDbConnection
myConnection = New OleDbConnection("Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;" & "Data Source=servername:portNumber;" & "UserID=odb;" & "password=odb;" & "database=tnsname")
Try
myConnection.Open()
myConnection.Close()
Catch ex As Exception
MessageBox.Show("Connection Error")
End Try
...

Beleive it or not I continue to have the exception thrown

Monday, February 21, 2011

mohanishappy sent you this page: http://www.ariel.com.au/jokes/The_Evolution_of_a_Programmer.html

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Thursday, February 17, 2011

icon replacer

We have seen number of free tools to personalize folder icons, taskbar and start menu icons. What if you want to change the icon of an application? Though you can use resource tweaking tools such as Resource Hacker and Anolis Resourcer, here is portable utility which does the same job with a click.

Icon Replacer

Icon Replacer is a portable utility for Vista and Windows 7 operating systems to quickly change software icons with in a jiffy. The tool lets you change the default icon with custom one. For instance, you can replace Firefox browser icon with your desired one.

 

Before using this tool you need to remember a few things. Make sure that the application is not running before changing its icon. And, also note that it can only use icons that are 24-bit depth or lower.

 

The tool creates a backup of the original file before replacing the icon so that you can revert to the default one without any problems.

 

You might also like to try AdSeven Icon Changer to customize default Windows 7 icons.

Download Icon Replacer

USB Blocker

Another good free application to prevent unauthorized use of USB ports on your network. USB blocker is a free product of NetWrix (Microsoft Gold Certified Partner) corporation.

 

USB blocker comes in handy, especially, for organizations to control the use of confidential information, secure their network and comply with regulatory requirements. You can use this freeware to block all USB ports on the network easily. Using this tool you can prevent unauthorized use of removable media that connects to your computer USB ports, for example, USB drives, portable media players, and more.

USB blocker

Another advantage of this tool is simplicity, you can finish configuring USB Blocker with a couple of clicks. The program couldn't be much simpler to use. You can include or exclude any computer from block USB devices list easily.

|Download USB Blocker|

Win 7 TaskBar for XP

If you have been trying out various programs and tweaks to get the Windows 7 taskbar functionality and look in Windows XP, here is one excellent freeware that imitates Windows 7 taskbar in XP.

viglance_graphic_front

Into Windows posted transform Vista taskbar into Windows 7 taskbar guide just after the release of Windows 7 build 6801, back in October 2008. The guide was simple and it was very effective since there were no Windows 7 themes available for Vista at that point of time (was the first guide available on the web at that time).

 

Since then, we posted many guides related to Windows 7 taskbar including get Windows 7 taskbar shuffle feature in XP & Vista which helps you add Windows 7's shuffle taskbar feature to XP & Vista.

viglance_startorb_small

ViGlance is an free application for Windows XP (read it as only for XP), which can turn around your Windows XP taskbar into Windows 7 taskbar.

 

Key features:

* Replace Windows XP button with 7's start orb.

* Replace old taskbar with superbar

* Adds Windows 7's grouping feature

* Shows larger taskbar icons

* Adds transition effects

 

This application doesn't take much of system resources and it's also a standalone application that requires no installation.

|Download ViGlance|

Downgrading from Win7 to XP

With the Windows 7 Release Candidate expiration date is just a few days away, many of Windows 7 RC users are asking a way to downgrade to Windows XP/Vista. In this guide, we will show you how to downgrade from Windows 7 to XP.

downgrade from Windows 7 to xp

And if you want to downgrade to Vista from Windows 7, please refer our how to downgrade from Windows 7 to Vista article.

 

1. Open your Windows 7 drive (usually C drive) and make sure that you haven't deleted the Windows.old folder, which was created by Windows while installing Windows 7 on XP drive. Note that without the help of Windows.old folder you won't be able to downgrade from Windows 7.

Windows old folder

2. Now check the size of Windows.old folder by right-clicking and then selecting properties. Make sure that Windows.old folder size is less than two times the amount of free space available on Windows 7 drive (C drive). If the Windows.old folder size is two times as large as the Windows 7 drive free space, disable system restore feature and also disk cleanup to get some free space.

Windows old folder size

Please note down your Windows 7 drive letter and also DVD drive letter before proceeding to the next step.

3. Insert your Windows 7 installation disc in the drive and reboot your machine. Press any key when prompted to do so.

 

4. Select your language, time, keyboard type and then hit Next button to continue.

 install Windows screen

5. In the Install Windows screen, click Repair your computer option to open System Recovery Options.

repairyourcomputer_thumb

6. Here select your Windows 7 OS and note down your Windows 7 Drive letter before clicking Next.

select Windows os

7. In the following window, click Command Prompt to start downgrading from Windows 7 to XP.

select command prompt

8. First you need to move all the contents of your Windows 7 drive to a folder. So type the following commands one by one and then hit enter after each command (here "D" is your Windows 7 drive letter).

D:

Md Win7

Move Windows Win7\Windows

Move "Program Files" "Win7\Program Files"

Move Users Win7\Users

Attrib –h –s –r ProgramData

Move ProgramData Win7\ProgramData

Rd "Documents and Settings"

commands first

9. Next you need to copy all the contents of Windows.old folder to the drive. Again, type all the commands mentioned below one by one and then hit enter after each command.

move /y d:\Windows.old\Windows d:\

move /y "d:\Windows.old\Program Files" d:\

move /y "d:\Windows.old\Documents and Settings" d:\

Commands second

10. Next task is to restore the boot sector by entering the following command:

E:\boot\bootsect /nt52 d:

(Where E is your DVD driver letter & D is OS drive letter)

bootloader successfully updated

11. Finally restore the boot.ini file by executing the following commands:

Attrib –h –s –r boot.ini.saved

Copy boot.ini.saved boot.ini

 

12. Type Exit and reboot your machine to start using your Windows XP again. You are done! If you want to free up some disk space, delete Win7 folder in the root of your XP drive. Good luck!

downgrading win7 to Vista

We have already shown you how to downgrade from Windows 7 to Windows XP so that you can get back to your earlier Windows XP state from Windows 7.

downgrade from Windows 7 to Vista

This articles describes you how to downgrade from Windows 7 to Vista. The procedure is pretty much similar to that of downgrading to XP from Windows 7 guide.

 

1. Open your Windows 7 drive and make sure that you have Windows.old in the root of the drive. We use Windows.old folder to restore Windows Vista from Windows 7. So without Windows.old folder you can't downgrade to Vista from Windows 7.

Windows old folder

2. Next make sure that you have enough free space on your Windows 7 drive (generally "C" drive) as your need to move all the contents of Windows 7 to a folder and then need to copy Vista contents from the Windows.old folder.

Jot down your DVD drive letter and also Windows 7 installed drive letter.

 

3. Insert your Windows 7 installation disc in the DVD drive and reboot your PC to boot into the recovery environment.

 

4. In the first screen, select your language, time and currency format and keyboard input method and click Next.

install Windows screen

5. In the Install Windows window, click Repair your computer option to launch System Recovery Options dialog-box.

repairyourcomputer_thumb

6. Select your Window 7 OS and click Next.

select Windows os

7. Here click Command Prompt to launch the same.

select command prompt

8. Now type following commands one by one and hit enter after each command to move all the contents of Windows 7 to a new folder (here "C" is your Windows 7 drive letter).

C:

Md Win7

Move Windows Win7\Windows

Move "Program Files" "Win7\Program Files"

Move Users Win7\Users

Attrib –h –s –r ProgramData

Move ProgramData Win7\ProgramData

Rd "Documents and Settings"

downgrade to Vista from Windows 7

9. In this step, you will copy the contents from Windows.old folder to the drive. Now type following commands one by one and hit enter after each command (here "C" is your Windows 7 drive letter & D is your DVD drive letter).

move /y c:\Windows.old\Windows c:\

move /y "c:\Windows.old\Program Files" c:\

move /y c:\Windows.old\ProgramData c:\

move /y c:\Windows.old\Users c:\

move /y "c:\Windows.old\Documents and Settings" c:\

 

10. You are almost done! It's time to restore the boot sector of your Vista OS by entering the command given below (again, "D" is your DVD drive letter):

D:\boot\bootsect /nt60 c:

11. Finally type exit and then reboot your PC to start using your Windows Vista OS. You can now safely delete the Win7 folder in the root of your "C" drive to free up disk space. Good luck!

Win 7 Transparency Locking

We see users having transparent lock screen for their Windows Phone, Android, and iOS devices. Why not one for our Windows 7 desktop? If you are having a mobile device with transparent lock screen, you will love this transparent screen for your Windows 7 and Vista desktop as well.

ClearLock

ClearLock is a tiny and standalone lock screen with password protection for Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. The purpose of this tool is to provide a way to disable input to your Windows while still allowing you to see what's going on.

ClearLock Locked

The lock screen is very simple with a transparent background which shows your desktop in the background. If you enter an invalid password for 3 times, you will not be allowed to enter the password for the next 5 minutes. And, when you access the system after entering the correct password, it shows the number of invalid login attempts as well.

As this is a standalone tool, you needn't to install it. Simply download and run the tool tool . On the first run, you will be asked to set a password for the screen. Also checkout how to bypass Windows 7 logon password.

Download ClearLock

how to Bipass Win7 Password

Have you forgot your XP, Vista or Windows 7 logon password? Sure, there are a few workarounds to access your account using a bootable Linux CD but they are time consuming and boring as you need to go through a long procedure.

 Bypass windows 7 logon password

In this guide, we will show you how to bypass a Windows 7 logon password in just two steps. And we are using a free tool to make this happen. So, here is the procedure to bypass Windows 7 logon password:

 

1. Download the Kon-Boot CD-ISO ZIP file (it's a tiny file) and extract it to get the ISO file. Burn the ISO file to a CD/DVD to create a bootable Kon-Boot CD/DVD.

 Bypass windows 7 logon password in two steps

2. Before inserting the CD/DVD make sure that you have made necessary changes to boot priority setting in the BIOS so that you can boot from CD/DVD. Insert the CD/DVD into the optical drive and restart your machine. In a few seconds you will see the following screen of Kon-Boot.

 bypassing windows 7 logon password

Simply hit Enter and wait for a few seconds.

 

3. You should see the logon screen and with a password prompt. Simply press Enter key to bypass the forgot logon password. That's it!

How to bypass windows 7 administrator logon password

We have tested this tool on Windows 7 Ultimate x86, but it should work fine on XP and Vista too. Good luck!

 

Note: Use this method and tool for your personal use only. 

Win 7 StartUp Repairing

Repairing an unbootable Windows 7 can be a difficult task as you can't use Windows tools or third-party tools like Easy BCD to repair Windows startup.

Windows 7 new logo

In most of the cases, troubleshooting Windows 7 startup is very simple if you know a few Windows troubleshooting tools. XP users will be surprised to see that the GUI based Windows Recovery Environment.

 

Windows 7 automatically installs the Startup Repair tool onto the operating system partition, so you will always have access to it. After an unsuccessful boot, Windows 7 automatically loads Startup repair, which scans your PC for issues, automatically repairs when possible, and then reboots as normal.

 

If your Windows 7 is not booting, you can follow the instructions given below to fix the problem. But before proceeding make sure that all system hardware is working fine.

1. Turn on your PC, insert the Windows 7 installation DVD and then reboot your machine. If you have created bootable Windows 7 USB flash drive, insert it to start the process.

press any key to boot from cd or dvd

2. Press any key when prompted to do so. Once you press any key, you will see Windows is loading files.

Windows is loading files

3. Once you see Install Windows screen, select your language, keyboard or input panel, and time format and finally click Next button to proceed to the next step.

install windows

4. In the following screen, you will see Install now button along with repair your computer option at the bottom of the screen. Click Repair your computer option to see System Recovery options box.

repair your computer

5. Select your operating system also select Use recovery tools that can help fix problems.

system recovery options 

6. Under System Recovery options, you will see tools such as Startup Repair, System Restore, Windows Complete PC Restore, Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool, and Command Prompt.

system recovery tools

How to use these tools:

Startup Repair- This option allows you fix missing or damaged system files that might prevent Windows from starting correctly. In most of the cases, you will be able to boot Windows 7 with this option. Startup Repair will check your system for problems, and if found Startup Repair will fix them automatically. Your computer might restart several times during this process.

startup repair in action

System Restore- You can use this feature to restore your Windows 7 to an earlier state. Note that you can use this feature only if you haven't disabled System Restore. System Restore uses restore points to return your system files and settings to an earlier point in time without affecting personal files.

 

System Image Recovery- As you may know, Windows 7 lets you restore your computer using a system image backup that you created earlier. If you would like to restore your computer using system image backup (if you have created one), use this feature.

system image backup option

Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool- Scans your computer's memory for errors. It might take several minutes for the tool to finish checking your computer's memory.

memory diagnostics

Command Prompt- Advanced users can use Command Prompt to perform recovery-related operations and also run other command line tools for diagnosing and troubleshooting problems. Here is list of helpful commands that help you fix boot problems:

BootRec /ScanOS
BootRec /RebuildBcd
bcdedit
BootRec /FixBoot
BootRec /FixMbr

How to add Repair Option to Win7 Boot Loader

Most of Windows users don't know the fact that Windows 7 automatically installs the Startup Repair tool onto the operating system partition and can easily be accessed without using the installation DVD or USB.

Add Startup Repair Option To Windows 7 Boot Menu

Though one can easily access Startup Repair by just pressing the F8 key during system boot, many users want to see the same option in the boot menu itself. And also, there are some users who are getting the following error while trying to access Startup Repair:

Windows was unable to locate the required installation file [boot.wim]. Verify that the installation source is valid, and restart the installation.

 

If you are looking for a way to get the Startup Repair option right at the boot menu or want to fix the above mentioned error, here is the procedure:

1. Download Windows Repair ISO from here. Different ISO are available for both x86 and x64 versions of Windows. So, make sure that you download the right one.

 

2. Extract the ISO (use 7-Zip) to a folder in your "C" drive or any other drive.

Add Startup Repair Option To Windows 7 Boot Menu Step1

3. Download, EasyBCD (free) tool from here. Install and run the application.

 

4. In the left side, click Add New Entry button. Under Portable/External Media box, switch to WinPE tab. Here, select the Type as WIM Image and enter a name for the new Startup Repair tool. Next, you need to browse to the WIM Image file located in the folder where you have extracted the Windows Repair ISO.

Add Startup Repair Option To Windows 7 Boot Menu Step2

For example, if you have extracted the ISO to C:\Startup Repair folder, then the path to WIM Image would be "C:\Startup Repair\sources\boot.wim"

Add Startup Repair Option To Windows 7 Boot Menu Step3

5. Click Add Entry button to complete the procedure. Close the EasyBCD program, and reboot your machine to see a new entry in the boot menu.

 

Repair Windows 7 Startup

How to use Startup Repair tool to repair Windows 7 startup issues guide may also interest you.

How to change win7 Login Screen background easily

Finally Microsoft has incorporated a new feature in the latest build (7057) of Windows 7 which supports the end user to change the logon screen background without using any hacks or third-party tools.

In previous version of Windows, user had to use third-parry tools like Tune-Up-Utilities to change the logon screen background easily. Windows 7 now supports customization of Windows 7 logon screen officially. Replacing the old logon screen is just another task like changing wallpaper (Desktop background). Thanks to withinwindows for finding out this excellent feature.

Windows 7 logon background

Follow the procedure below to change the Windows 7 logon screen.

1. Download the registry file from here. Extract the file and double-click on the file to enable this feature (Alternative method: right-click, select Merge).

2. Now, head over to the following folder:

C:\Windows\System32\oobe ("C" is your Windows Seven Installation drive)

3. Here, create a new folder named Info. Again, create a new folder inside the Info folder and rename it as backgrounds.

4. Copy your favorite image file to this folder and rename it as backgroundDefault. Note that the image must be in JPG format and the size should be less than 256 KB.

5. You are done. Reboot your system and see the change.

The following files (sorted by width-to-height ratio) are supported in  C:\Windows\System32\oobe\Info\Backgrounds folder:

* backgroundDefault.jpg
* background768×1280.jpg  (0.6)
* background900×1440.jpg  (0.625)
* background960×1280.jpg  (0.75)
* background1024×1280.jpg (0.8)
* background1280×1024.jpg (1.25)
* background1024×768.jpg  (1.33-)
* background1280×960.jpg  (1.33-)
* background1600×1200.jpg (1.33-)
* background1440×900.jpg  (1.6)
* background1920×1200.jpg (1.6)
* background1280×768.jpg  (1.66-)
* background1360×768.jpg  (1.770833-)

How to make win7 USB

This guide works 100% for Vista & Windows 7 unlike most of the guides out there. I have seen many sites/blogs that have "Install Vista from USB guide" but either with incomplete steps or not working guide. I have also seen some guides that don't' use proper commands in this guide. After spending many hours I have come up with this 100% working guide.

Bootable USB drive

I just did this method on one of my friends machine and installed the new Windows 7 BETA. The main advantage is that by using USB drive you will be able to install Windows 7/Vista in just 15 minutes. You can also use this bootable USB drive on friend's computer who doesn't have a DVD optical drive.

The method is very simple and you can use without any hassles. Needless to say that your motherboard should support USB Boot feature to make use of the bootable USB drive.

Requirements:

*USB Flash Drive (Minimum 4GB)

*Windows 7 or Vista installation files.

Follow the below steps to create bootable Windows 7/Vista USB drive using which you can install Windows 7/Vista easily.

1. Plug-in your USB flash drive to USB port and move all the contents from USB drive to a safe location on your system.

2. Open Command Prompt with admin rights. Use any of the below methods to open Command Prompt with admin rights.

*Type cmd in Start menu search box and hit Ctrl+ Shift+ Enter.

Or

*Go to Start menu > All programs > Accessories, right click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

3. You need to know about the USB drive a little bit. Type in the following commands in the command prompt:

First type DISKPART and hit enter to see the below message.

Bootable USB Drive

Next type LIST DISK command and note down the Disk number (ex: Disk 1) of your USB flash drive. In the below screenshot my Flash Drive Disk no is Disk 1.

4. Next type all the below commands one by one. Here I assume that your disk drive no is "Disk 1".If you have Disk 2 as your USB flash drive then use Disk 2.Refer the above step to confirm it.

So below are the commands you need to type and execute one by one:

SELECT DISK 1

CLEAN

CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY

SELECT PARTITION 1

ACTIVE

FORMAT FS=NTFS

(Format process may take few seconds)

ASSIGN

EXIT

Don't close the command prompt as we need to execute one more command at the next step. Just minimize it.

Bootable USB Drive

5. Next insert your Windows7/Vista DVD into the optical drive and check the drive letter of the DVD drive. In this guide I will assume that your DVD drive letter is "D" and USB drive letter is "H" (open my computer to know about it).

6. Maximize the minimized Command Prompt in the 4th step.Type  the following command now:

D: CD BOOT and hit enter.Where "D" is your DVD drive letter.

CD BOOT and hit enter to see the below message.

7. Type another command given below to update the USB drive with BOOTMGR compatible code.

BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 H:

14

Where "H" is your USB drive letter. Once you enter the above command you will see the below message.

8. Copy your Windows 7/Vista DVD contents to the USB flash drive.

9. Your USB drive is ready to boot and install Windows 7/Vista. Only thing you need to change the boot priority at the BIOS to USB from the HDD or CD ROM drive. I won't explain it as it's just the matter the changing the boot priority or enabling the USB boot option in the BIOS.

Note: If you are not able to boot after following this guide means you haven't set the BIOS priority to USB. If you got any problem in following this guide feel free to ask questions by leaving comment.



Mohan..