Interface Blogs

For some people, the automated Desktop Cleanup Tool is an annoying little popup that begs to be turned off. This article is not for you . . .

The Disk Cleanup Tool (aka Cleanmgr.exe) may be customized at a command line using a couple of switches, namely:

/d driveletter (selects the drive which you would like Disk Cleanup to clean.This switch is NOT used with /sagerun.)

/sageset:n (displays the Disk Cleanup Settings dialogue box. creates a registry key to store the settings you choose. the n value is any integer from 0 to 65535.)

/sagerun:n (runs the selected tasks assigned to the n value using the /sageset switch.)

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Example:

Open a command prompt dialogue and customize the items you want cleaned up by typing:

cleanmgr.exe /sageset:24

The Disk Cleanup Settings dialogue opens allowing you to choose the categories of items to be cleaned (i.e. Setup Temp Files, etc.). Select the items then click OK.

In the command prompt now type:

cleanmgr.exe /sagerun: 24

This will run the Disk Cleanup Tool with the settings you saved previously by using the /sageset switch.

Ahhh, now the point: You can now take the command 'cleanmgr.exe /sagerun:24' and created a scheduled cleanup that runs in the background at a time which is convenient for you using the Scheduled Tasks program.

Now go clean your room! 

Do you remember when Windows 95 was released?

All the wailing and gnashing of teeth over . . .

• Upgrading
• Buying new hardware
• Fear that older apps wouldn't run

Well, guess what folks . . . here we go again!

Then it was a 16 to 32 bit translation, now were seeing the real beginnings of the transition from 32 to 64 bit.

There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth over . . .

• Upgrading
• Buying new hardware
• Fear that older apps wouldn't run

Deja Vu all over again!

 

On one of my machines at home which runs Windows XP Media Center, I have 'Automatic Updates' set to fully automatic. This downloads new Windows Updates and installs them. I've had the machine for a couple of years now and never had an issue until a few weeks ago.

I happened to be sitting at my PC when the update was downloaded and so watched the system through the reboot required for the 'updates du jour'. While booting, I suddenly got a Blue Screen of Death ('stop error', BSOD) . . . arrrgghh! Of course I had a pretty good idea what the issue was but one never knows until a solution is applied.

This is what worked:

1) Take a deep breath.

2) Restart the machine in 'Safe Mode'. Make sure that Automatic Updates is not set to both download AND install. It should be set as 'download but waiting for you to install'.

3) Select 'Start\All Programs\Accessories\System Tools\System Restore'.

4) When the 'System Restore' wizard starts, make sure the 'Restore my computer to an earlier time' radio button is selected, then click 'Next'.

5) When the calendar appears, select the date of the suspected update and find a restore point that is called 'Software Distribution Service 2.0' (the version may be different from the one I'm illustrating).

6) Select the restore point and then click 'Next'.

7) A warning dialogue comes up letting you know that Windows will reboot to reverse the system prior to the restore point. Click 'Next' to reboot the system.

8a) Once you are back to your desktop, open Internet Explorer, select the 'Tools' pull-down menu and select 'Windows Update'. Let the system detect if you have the correct version update software and when this check is done, choose 'Custom'. Windows Update will then scan your computer and the update should display once again the evil update that gave you the BSOD.

8b)  Or if you have Automatic Updates set to download but not install AND you're connected to the Internet, you should see a yellow shield in the notification area indicating that Updates are being downloaded to your PC. When the download is complete, click the notification (or double-click the yellow shield) then select 'Custom'.

9) Inside the 'Custom' dialogue, uncheck the offending update. You will have the opportunity then to choose to hide the update and Windows Update will not put it in a list of required updates from then on unless you go back to Windows Update, select 'Hidden Updates' and choose to use the update previously hidden.

That should do the trick. It is also possible to remove the offending update while in 'Safe Mode' by going to 'Control Panel' and selecting 'Add and Remove Programs'. Be sure to check the 'Show Updates' check box at the top of the 'Add and Remove Programs'  to reveal the Windows Updates applied. Then remove the update by using the 'Remove' or 'Change/Remove' button to the right of the offending update. From here follow the steps above beginning with either step 8a or 8b.

Have fun!

One way or another I have been teaching and explaining the ARC Naming convention as it used in the Windows 'boot.ini' file for about 10 years.

Most of the recipients groan as soon as this lecture commences and are completely absorbed with questions like: "How do I know when to use 'multi' or 'scsi'?" and "Once I figure that out, do I use 'disk' or 'rdisk'.

Sample ARC Naming paths follow:

scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)

Recently, after finishing the conversation, one student piped up with this question: "What does 'rdisk' stand for?"

I know at one time I knew the answer to this (about 10 years ago) but over the years it has gone to the place in my memory where things like my telephone number from 15 years ago went. Probably accessible through hypnosis, but otherwise just a glimmer in the face of the question. I went searching for the answer using, of course, the ever present Internet.

What I discovered was that no one (as far as I can tell) has asked this question in some time based on the response I got for several search terms on a number of search engines. Almost all the hits I got lead to pages which discussed the 'ordinal number' (that's the number following the term 'rdisk' (ex. rdisk(0)). I read through a couple of descriptions of the ARC Naming path and in a couple of these little online lectures found the term 'ROM-enabled' . . .

Maybe the reason that this information seems to be difficult to find is because it's rated . . . 'R'?

(OK, you can groan now!) 

As I drive back and forth to work everyday, I've noticed the increasing number of drivers with one hand up to their ears, cradling a cellular phone.

At first, I became increasingly irritated with this phenomenon. Several thoughts began to cross my mind; "I know this isn't making people better drivers" and "How come the only people I see with "hands-free" devices are walking down the street."  Of course this is my view of the world and it only includes what I can see but there you go . . .

At the same time I have been noticing a decrease in the use of manners, you know, common courtesy . . .

When I was growing up, we addressed adults as Mr., Mrs. or Miss So-and-So. We had 'magic words' (besides 'abracadabra'); 'please' and 'thank you' unlocked otherwise closed doors.

After a couple of months it occurred to me that the world has moved on and it also occurred to me that people are living in a new world; an unseen world, a 'cell world'.

I looked up the word 'cell' and while there are a few definitions for this word, the ones that stood out were: 1) "Any small compartment", 2) "The room where a prisoner is kept". . . No wonder people are irritated and impolite! You might be too if you were required to spend much of your time confined to a small space. Maybe one day, the requirement to hold these devices up will be gone and people can spend their lives in "there", where ever "there" is . . .

Then we wouldn't have to worry anymore about the driving skills of so many people. No travel would be required and people could enjoy 'cellular living'.

More about this later . . .

As I have been studying and preparing myself for upcoming course delivery, I have been pondering the idea of mastery. Delivering the courses I teach and the constant refinement of techniques and procedures is a practice of the 'art' of mastery. All of my students, whether they know it or not are engaged in the 'art' of mastery by simply attending a course.

We are engaged with mastery early on in life when we learn how to walk, brush our teeth or tie our shoes. I assert that we rarely bring mastery into our lives consciously, or do so in some areas (brilliant career) and not others (failed relationships). It seems when mastery is applied conciously, we have our hands on the steering wheel of our destiny and right or wrong, can apply direction towards the outcome. When mastery is not conciously applied it's a bit more like attempting to steer with the rearview mirror of destiny and being puzzled when it doesn't work.

Mastery seems to be 'the development of a being in the proficiency of a discipline through discovery and practice'. Mastery is not necessarily a thing attained so much as it is expanding growth and development in an a specific area.

It is not reasonable to consider that we practice something before we discover it, so we must start with discovery.

Discovery may be defined as 'the act of unconcealing what is out of view'.  How do we 'discover' something which is out of view? Someone may tell us something ("you need a breath mint"), we may examine clues and find something ("the small, dark scat on my kitchen floor led me to the mouse nest under the sink") or we may stumble upon something accidentally while looking for something else altogether ("while looking for a snack in the refrigerator, I found my missing cat").

 Once we have discovered something, we need to decide if we will act on it. If our intent is to become proficient in an area, we need to practice and measure our results along the way.

Practice may be defined as 'performing or working at repeatedly so as to become proficient'.  Practice alone will not necessarily bring about proficiency and it is an essential ingredient. We also need measurements or milestones to give us some sense of progress in the attainment of mastery in a given area. Sports uses statistics constantly as a measure of a player's worth and proficiency; without measurements there would be no score and no point to any game played.

So, what's the point of all this?:  To begin having the conversation about mastery out loud. To invite you and encourage you to be a stand for your own excellence and proficiency. To invite you to explore what's possible.