iMac G5 Review - the definitive Macintouch version

iMac G5 Review

They like it.

Windows Product Activation (WPA) - wpa.dbl and wpa.bak

Windows Product Activation (WPA) - wpa.dbl and wpa.bak

HINT No. 3: It is valuable to back up the two files WPA.DBL and WPA.BAK from the Windows\System32 folder.Then, should they get damaged, or should you do a ‘Repair’ reinstallation of Win XP, these files can be copied back to restore the prior activation status. However, this only works in those limited circumstances. The contents of these two files is matched to the specific Windows setup; therefore, contrary to what many journalists and members of the user community have written in recent months, restoring these files will not restore your activation status following a reformat and clean install.

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Gee, I thought it sounded too easy ...

Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Unable to open the Outlook window. The set of folders could not be opened ...

Microsoft Outlook: Cannot start Outlook 2003 after reboot

I have recently installed Microsoft Office 2003 on my XP Pro client. I do not use Microsofte Exchange Server. Since upgrading from XP Office Pro I find that whenever I restart the client I lose access to my Outlook 2003 files. After restarting and attempting to open Outlook I get the following error messge:

'Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Unable to open the Outlook window. The set of folders could not be opened. The server is not available. contact your administrator if this condition persists.'

This is no help of course because I am the administrator. I find that I cannot even use a backup of the .pst file because the existing Outlook.pst file is locked and and cannot be renamed, deleted or accessed in any way. If I attempt to use the scanpst utility it says that the file is in use and cannot be opened. In order to correct the problem I need to:
1. Restart in safe mode
2. Run scanpst.exe on the Outlook.pst file and fix errors (errors are always found)
3. Rename the file. If I do not rename it the file will still be locked when I restart and Outlook will still not open.
4. Restart XP in normal mode
5. Rename the file to Outlook.pst
6. Open Outlook and all is well.

The problem is consistent but I cannot find what process is locking the .pst file. Can anyone help. I cannot find any reference to this problem at MSDN.

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I got this problem after a complex issue related to outlook sync mode vs. OST mode. I'm going to try scanpst after backing up.

Update: See http://support.microsoft.com/?id=822503

In older versions of outlook one could context click on the outlook icon to get access to the configuration data editor. In 2003 there's a mail icon in the control panel. Didn't know that!

Update 1/24/05: Bad Dog posted a more detailed fix in the comments section. Here it is:

Run Outlook from a command line with the /cleanprofile switch appended to the command.

To find the correct command line, right click on a shortcut for Outlook and go to Properties. Copy the information in the Target field and Paste it to the command line. If there is already a command option, remove it and add /cleanprofile after the closing quotation mark. (Add a space before /cleanprofile)

For example, go to Start: Run. . and enter something like "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\OUTLOOK.EXE" /cleanprofile .

Then add a new profile. Be sure to check the check box for "Set as default profile". Note: You cannot see this option unless you click on the "Options >>" button.

This should fix the problem.

How to switch XP machines without doing a full reinstall and reconfiguration of OS environment and applications: Mirror and Repair Install

Usenet thread on this topic
I was able to migrate from one laptop to a very different laptop using the drive mirror and then repair install method. I created an XP SP2 slipstream CD. Here are the overall steps and them some important references. I used some of the techniques from Thurrott's site and some from TACKtech.

Here's the overview on switching machines without reinstalling software.

0. Create slipstream XP boot disk w/ updates and service packs. Have product key.
1. Prepare or acquire CD with all drivers for new system
2. Recipient drive must be formatted.
3. Mount source drive on machine -- create image on bkup disk.
4. Put source drive back in old machine.
5. Mount target drive, apply image.
6. Return to new machine.
7. Boot from new install CD. Do Repair Install.
8. Uninstall unwanted software (often drivers).
9. Turn off indexing.
10. Remove "dead" hardware items.
11. Reboot, begin driver updates and installs.
12. Apply post-SP security updates.

It does work. I have web documents on how to create the slipstream boot CD -- that step is a bit odd. The repair install is pretty straightforward.

IF one already has the drivers and the slipstream CD and the recipient drive has been formatted -- then one can go from the old machine to fully operational on the new machine in about 4 hours of machine time and about 1 hour of personal time. Versus about 20-40 hours of the time it takes me to fully recreate my work environment using a conventional approach.

Key references:

1. http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=296
2. http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=342 (I didn't see any different behavior with different volume labels)
3. http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp
4. http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
5. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q328874

john
jfaughnan@spamcop.net

meta: jfaughnan, jgfaughnan, machine transfer, migrate, change, platform, microsoft windows xp, slipstream CD, boot CD, install, update, mirror

Outlook file locations

Microsoft Office Assistance: Outlook file locations: "The following is a list of data store and configuration files used by Microsoft Outlook. Some of the folders might be hidden folders. To view them, do one of the following:"

Web page complains when I use Firefox!

Creating bootable Windows 2000/XP/2003

Creating bootable Windows 2000/XP/2003 Disc (Nero 5.5) (Windows 2000/XP/2003) - TACKtech Corp.

Another approach, this one supplies the boot image and uses Nero 5.5. It also provides a list of volume labels: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=342

such as ...

Windows XP Professional (SP2) VLK/Corporate/Volume VRMPVOL_EN
Windows XP Professional (SP2) Retail VRMPFPP_EN
English Windows XP Professional (SP1a) Upgrade X1APCCP_EN

Making a Bootable XP SP2 CD

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Slipstreaming Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)

I'm definitely going to try this!