Installing Agris Software on Windows 7 64-bit

I contacted John Deere about Agris and asked whether they supported installing the current version of their software on Windows 7 64-bit edition.  They had said that it would work under Windows 7 after the next update (I think he said R15) but it would not be supported in the 64-bit Windows 7.

Don't forget that there is an XP Mode, and the system runs fine when it is in XP Mode!  Visit Microsoft's XP Mode Download Page and install it per the instructions on the Microsoft site.  Next find and run Windows XP Mode under the Windows Virtual PC Folder in your Start Menu.  The XP Mode initially uses an IP Address that cannot reach your Agris server so you will need to then go to the Menu Bar and Select Tools -> Settings ->  Networking then select Adapter 1 and change it to your wired or wireless network adapter depending on how you connect to your Agris server. 

This is an XP Virtual Machine, an imaginary computer within your computer - use it just like you did XP, map the network drive and install Pervasive SQL, Agris, and the Agris updates.  Run Agris from the XP Mode desktop and verify that it functions properly.

You will need to add any printers to the XP Mode using the traditional methods available to XP users.

Working?  Good!  Select CTRL+ALT+Delete from the XP Mode menu bar and select Shutdown.  Go to Start -> All Programs -> Windows Virtual PC -> Windows XP Mode Applications and you will see an Agris shortcut - copy it to your desktop for a quick way to run Agris without the apparent hassle of running the XP Virtual Machine.

W3SVC Log Files are Filling Up Your SBS's System Drive

I can't believe that I haven't encountered this sooner:  The system drive on an SBS 2003 was full.  I used my trusty SequoiaView and found that the W3SVC1 folder was 6.14GB - OUCH!  A quick Google search yielded an excellent discussion of how to deal with the matter.


At a command prompt enter this all on one line:


at 12:00 /EVERY:Su Forfiles.exe -p C:\WINDOWS\system32\LogFiles\W3SVC1 -m *.log -d -30 -c "Cmd.exe /C del @path\" 


This will schedule a job that will run every Sunday and remove W3SVC1 log files that are >30 days old.


Thanks to Tom Watson for posting this gem!

"Power Outage"-Proof Your Mac

Ah, spring has sprung, the flowers are making me sneeze, and the birds are singing way too loud, way too early.  Spring showers have brought not only May flowers but frequent power failures that have rendered my lovely Mac unavailable when I'm out and about.  "This moron needs an UPS!" you say - I've been a little slow on the uptake, I'll admit, and after an entire life without one I've been aggravated enough to plunk down my $100 and get one.  I'm definitely not proud that I've gone for so long without one - it's been on the list, but it's always been put off then remembered the next time the power went out.

I opted for a unit from CyberPower because it said that it supported Mac and was $30 cheaper than a comparable model from APC.  I've always gone with APC and Tripp-Lite for my customers because, frankly, I don't know and trust CyberPower like I do the the other two.  But $30 is enough to convince me to try it, and it's my own computer, so noone but me will be aggravated when it breaks.  Hopefully I'm in for a pleasant surprise and the unit will be higher quality that I anticipated.

I plugged in the new unit (CyberPower 850VA model CP850AVRLCD), plugged in all my cords and wall warts (Linux box and iMac on the battery side, router, switch, and WAP on the surge only side), plugged it in, hooked up the USB cord to my iMac, and was pretty much done.  Surprisingly enough, OS X comes with built-in UPS management software that is under Apple -> System Preferences -> Energy Saver -> UPS tab.

But what about my open programs?  I want to run VirtualBox and save the state of the machine if my computer gets interrupted.  Safe Sleep seems like a good bet - it functions in MacBooks iMacs like Hibernate does in PC's - the contents of the RAM are saved to the HDD and the computer goes to sleep, powering the RAM and ready to wake in a moments notice.  If power is interrupted there is no loss because the RAM was saved to the hard drive and it is simply recovered the next time the computer powers up.  It's helpful to set your "Start up automatically after a power failure" option under Energy Saver so that can pick up where it left off automatically.  There is no Safe Sleep or hibernate function available on iMacs out of the box, but SmartSleep fixes that.  Download it, install it, then set your sleep state to Sleep & Hibernate.  I tested this by opening some apps, putting my iMac to sleep, pulling the plug, plugging it back in, and feeling the joy.

Next you will go to the UPS settings under Energy Saver and set your Computer Sleep to a sane amount of time.  5 minutes to 1/2 hour depending on how big your UPS is.  I've opted for safety and went with 5 minutes.   DO NOT go the extra step and configure any shutdown options - this will quit your programs and shut down.

Your computer will now go to sleep with the RAM contents saved after it has been on battery for the time you set.  If the battery runs out of juice the computer goes off.  When power is restored the computer comes back on.  Hopefully the power remains on for a while and allows the battery to recharge because too soon a repeat outage and your sleep timeout won't be reached before it's cut off.

How to find out which user is using which computer on a Windows domain.

Provided you have access to the domain controller this can be easy.  If you don't it gets a bit more complicated.

If you are on the domain controller then you may use your Security Event Logs.  I don't know about you, but the Security Logs are the last place I want to dig for information.  If the user in question is using shares on the server you will be presented with the username and IP's of computers accessing those shares.  On your server go to Computer Management (right-click My Computer, select Manage) and drill down System Tools -> Shared Folders -> Sessions.

If you don't need to know immediately, but you desire a log of login/logoff times.  Free Windows Network User Accounting is the tool for the job.  Though it is a bit of a challenge to set up, it's worth the effort.  This web interfaced system is useful in finding out who is currently logged in and which computer they are using.  The log is never cleared unless you clear it, so the history of who used which computer when can provide a lot of insight.

If you only have access to the local computer then checking the Security Event Log and checking the last modified times of the folders in c:\documents and settings\ can provide important clues.

If you are using NetBIOS (which is becoming less and less common) and you know the user's computername or IP address then you can use your trusty command prompt.

nbtstat -A [target ip address]

nbtstat -a [netbios name]

32 Bit ADPrep for Migration to Server 2008

There's a lot of misleading/frustrating information out there regarding where to find a 32 bit version of ADPrep.  Allow me to define the problem:  http://www.petri.co.il/windows-server-2008-adprep.htm (excellent info!) states that the Server 2008 DVD is strictly 64 bit and and will not run on a 32 bit server.  One must download the 32 bit evaluation version of Server 2008 then extract the \support\adprep folder to some medium that is then mounted on your Win2k (or Win2k3) server and executed.

I didn't want to download a massive ISO and extract files, etc. as I'm on a T1 and time is of the essence.  I checked the Server 2k8 DVD's \support\adprep folder and found a adprep32.exe - woohoo!  Copy the adprep folder to something that is mountable on your old server, execute adprep32 instead, and feel the joy!

AT&T Global Dialer and Verizon Access Manager Don't Get Along

If you use Verizon as your cellular Internet provider and you are going to install and use the AT&T Global Dialer on your computer you may run into some issues.  Typically users who have Verizon Access Manager (VZAccess) installed cannot install AT&T Global and get it working - it will stop installing then roll back the install.  In some cases it also prevents VZAccess from functioning properly even though it was removed.

This has to do with the way AT&T Global Dialer inserts itself in the network stack - their process is messy and dangerous to put it nicely.

So you've installed AT&T and now VZAccess doesn't work?  Uninstall AT&T Global  if it managed to install, uninstall VZAccess, then restore your system to a point prior to the installation of AT&T' Global.  Once the system restore is finished you may reinstall VZAccess and it whould work.

So you can't live without AT&T Global?  You will need to download the installation app, but don't install it yet.  Uninstall VZAccess, reboot, THEN install AT&T.  Once AT&T is safely installed and your system has been rebooted you may then install VZAccess.

Do not taunt AT&T Global Dialer.

Server 2003 Enterprise Edition R2 x64 Terminal Server Software Installation/Uninstallation Slow

Link goes to post that helped the most (I don't make this stuff up myself)!

I found that my Server 2003 x64 Enterprise Terminal Server was taking a stupid long time to install and remove applications.  It was making me crazy!  This server has 1TB of hdd space (500+GB free), hardware RAID (with a battery, so write-back wasn't an issue), dual Quad-Core Xeon's, and 8GB of RAM.  Everything I installed took an eternity (7-Zip took 45 minutes!)

After much reading I found a forum post saying that someone had used Process Explorer while removing software and was seeing huge amounts of data being copied out of the registry that contained Hewlett-Packard in its key.  Further searches have found that when users connect to a Terminal Server and fallback drivers are configured it will try to install the users print drivers in the server, fail, go for the fallback driver, then never remove the installed (nonworking) driver info from the registry.

All the extra info in the registry was being read and written to a backup of the registry during software installs, taking a really long time.  Deleting these keys and their subkeys fixed the trouble.

REMEMBER TO BACK YOUR REGISTRY UP BEFORE MAKING CHANGES TO IT!

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\RefHive\Hewlett-Packard]

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Hewlett-Packard]


Reboot and feel the joy!

Intalling IPCop + USB Keyboard = Headache

Link goes to a bug report in the ipcop-devel board.

IPCop 1.4.20 has trouble installing on computers with USB keyboards - on mine it was sticking at the blue screen just prior to the language selection dialog.  Unfortunately many new computer don't come with PS/2 ports, so USB is a must.

If you unplug your USB keyboard after hitting ENTER to start installation it will start properly (minor errors regarding the keyboard will be seen in the boot messages).  When you see the language dialog you may plug in the keyboard, wait a few seconds (I press the NumLock to see if the light toggles) then proceed normally.

How to make your IVANS Medicare Submissions Less Painful

FISS, IVANS, whatever you call it, Medicare submissions don't seem to go as well as we would hope.  Slow often doesn't begin to describe the process.  It seems like the PasyDES (also known as Passport IP) just won't work.  It won't connect.  It hangs.  It . . . doesn't work.

First up, if you haven't already, get a VPN account and use the VPN connection  - see my previous post on this subject.  Alright, everyone's using the VPN?  Great - next, check that you have the latest AT&T Global Network Client.  OK, now that you're ducks are in a row, let's figure out which servers actually work.

1. Connect to AT&T and wait for Passport IP to open.  
2. Hit Escape and abort the connection attempt.
3. Go to Start -> Run -> and type cmd and click OK.  A command prompt will open.
4. Now ping the 1st Chicago server by typing ping 204.146.91.80 and then pressing enter.
5. Do you get a reply, or does it time out?  If it times out, you can try the next IP.  If it replies, congrats, you have a working server  - make a note of it and keep on trying until you get a second one.

Here are the server IP ranges:

 Chicago: 204.146.91.80 - .88

 Los Angeles: 204.146.91.148 - .154

 New York: 204.146.91.50 - .58

Don't give up until you have two of them!  Enter your two addresses into the Connection Setup window, and enjoy a connection that works!  If it begins to behave badly, you can repeat the process and find another working server.  Happy submitting!
Update 26-Aug-10
Ivans is doing away with the Passport IP system and is instead opting for a system called Lime.  They've used Blue Zone for a while, and the users have really liked it, so Ivans has repackaged Blue Zone in a Web interface and is calling it Lime - you may already be able to use it.
Connect with your AT&T Global Client (Ivans Connect), open you web browser then visit https://limecportal.ivans.com.  When prompted input your user ID and password - if it proceeds you know you have it.  If it doesn't work, call Ivans (or even better go to their Support Chat) and get a new contract.

Internet Usage by Residents in Long Term Care

As our ever more technically inclined population are aging they are bringing their technical skill set and favorite leisure activities with them into the long-term care facilities.  Among these is a desire to use a computer and access the Internet.

The Internet has proven to be a valuable link for nursing home residents and their families.  Phone calls and visits in the day room are increasingly replaced by emails and online chats.  Boredom is combatted and lives enriched by allowing residents to while away the hours pursuing information about their favorite hobbies, reading the news, or just playing games.

What could possibly go wrong?  A Q&A with myself on this subject:

Could a staff members or visitor use a resident's computer to steal their identity or otherwise negatively influence them?

This is a big issue.  Many of us save our usernames and passwords to our favorite online haunts in our browser, allowing us to enter them conveniently without the hassle of authenticating each time.  However, if it isn't the computers' owner accessing the site we have a situation where someone has successfully masqueraded as the computers' owner.  The potential exists for an unauthorized individual to acquire personal and financial information about the resident, or to even manipulate the resident's banking and finances.

Residents who own their own computer should be encouraged to password protect their computer.  Furthermore they should be encouraged to lock their computer with a password if they will be leaving it unattended.

What level of service must we offer? Can we ethically prioritize our own Internet traffic over the residents'?

I believe that a minimal commitment of hardware and resources to resident Internet access is all that is necessary.  What is more necessary is keeping the business and healthcare functions going at full-speed - not only is this good business, but it is necessary for the staff to be as efficient as possible.

This situation is avoidable if a second Internet connection is established solely for use by residents - an expensive option.  What is more affordable, and certainly keeps the business and medical data more secure, is setting up a second network that is logically separate from the facility's business/medical network.  If you are using an IPCop you would set up your wired business network in the Green Zone and your wireless resident network in the Blue Zone.

Is it ethical, maybe required, to filter or monitor resident Internet usage?

It depends.  One good argument against filtering and monitoring is that we're dealing with free-willed adults.  So long as the equipment and time is theirs they should be allowed to do as they please so long as it doesn't do any harm.

But there is a lot of harm that we may prevent by filtering and monitoring access.  Many facility administrators have felt that the Internet access restrictions that apply to the staff should, in large part, be applied to the residents with a couple of notable exceptions:  online chat and social networking.

Blocking access to shopping, gambling, and potentially dangerous sites serving up viruses and spyware are certainly desirable.  Many are in long-term care because they don't have all of their mental faculties - they could drain their life savings if they could shop or gamble online and never realize what they've done.

How prevalent will pornography be?

Probably not very.

I'm certain that we will need to address the social and biological interests of our more amorous residents, as well as the well-being of our staff - the orientation of a resident's computer monitor will be very important.  So long as the equipment and time are theirs they should be allowed to do as they please so long as it doesn't do any harm.

I've heard of many residents possessing and viewing a personal store of pornography, and in one case a female resident has regularly provided pornographic DVD's for group viewing by her male peers.  The staff did not feel that this resulted in a sexually charged atmosphere or any undesirable public behavior.  These are adults with the vices and desires common to most of us.

That said, it is still up to the facility administrator.  I've had almost every one that I work with say that they did not feel comfortable allowing access to pornography using the facilities computer network.  If they want pornography they'll have to get it elsewhere.

Will our staff be expected to provide technical support the residents' computers?

Absolutely not!  In fact it should be actively discouraged.  All interaction between staff and the residents' computer equipment should be discouraged.  There are so many problems that can arise from good-intentioned assistance with a minor technical issue that the mind boggles.  The door to potential ill feelings and financial headaches opens wide if there is a problem and it is blamed on the facility staff.  So: Aide Frances helps Mrs. Cardigan install a new game; congratulations Aide Frances, you are now the proud owner of every problem that computer will ever have going forward.  Mrs. Cardigan knows that she didn't do anything to it, it must be what you've done.

Residents must seek help from family or paid technical staff from outside of the organization.  We can't get involved - there's too much risk.

Are there potential income opportunities for the facility, such as a setup fee or monthly fees?

I've wondered at this long and hard and think that it's not a bad idea.  The facility is investing in the well-being of its residents.  That investment should pay off.

While additional fees may not be appropriate, it is a feature that will appeal to many residents and will help to fill beds.

What liabilities can this incur? What happens if a resident has equipment that is damaged or stolen?

I'm certain it will matter if the damage is from a staff member, another resident, visitor, or act of God.  I'm afraid that every issue could be blamed on the facility staff.  It's just the nature of computer users to look for an issue beyond themselves as the cause of their problems.

A comprehensive set of policies will be needed to avoid these pitfalls.  Residents that bring computers should be informed that the facility is in no way liable for their computer or the information that it contains.  Period.  Stick to this line, it will be all that you have.

The facility staff need to make sure to keep themselves from becoming liable - a housekeeper who drops a laptop while cleaning a room is in a bad position indeed.

And what about when another resident breaks the computer?  Facility administrators will need to be prepared for this eventuality.  If you figure out a good answer to this one, drop me a line!

What if the residents computer is used for criminal activity?

The facility and the residents both would be best served by devoting every reasonable resource to exposing the criminal, the extent of the crime, and prosecuting the offender to the fullest extent of the law.  Whether a resident is guilty of using their computer for criminal hacking or possessing child pornography, or another person had used a resident computer to perpetrate a crime or fraud, society's best interests are served by involving law enforcement and seeing that justice is served.  Just try to keep it away from the press - no nursing home needs bad publicity, the press is already out to get them.

What about wireless networks – won't the homes and businesses adjoining the facility may be able to join open networks?

The operative word here is Open.  Basic WEP or WPA encryption is enough to keep all but the most skilled and determined attackers away.  Sure it's inconvenient, but security is never convenient.  Your wireless password should be an open secret - shared with anyone who asks.  This makes it convenient for residents and visitors to use the valuable and convenient service that you are offering.  Since you're keeping the resident's network separate from the business network there will be little gained from attacking the wireless residents network.

What about resident computers provided by the facility in the common areas?

Computers in common areas of the nursing homes will need special treatment so as to avoid issues of ownership, suitability for a particular use, appropriate usage, resident tolerance of frustration, time sharing, software installation, spyware, adware, viruses, etc.  Be sure to use a technology such as Microsoft Steady State to prevent as much headache as possible.  Even better, ditch Windows and use a Linux LiveCD like Hospitality Machine.