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There are versions of the Update for Windows 7 (KB974674) utility for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 as well as for all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 R2 and all supported IA-64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 R2.

References:

1. Windows NT Backup - Restore in Win 7?
   Date: June 5, 2009
   Microsoft TechNet: Resources for IT Professionals
2. Description of the Windows NT Backup Restore Utility for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2 Article ID: 974674
   Last Review: January 27, 2010
   Revision: 2.0
   Microsoft Support

[/os/windows/win7/Backup] permanent link

c:\>reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sierra OnLine\Hallmark Card Studio\De
luxe\1\Paths" /v DataPath

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sierra OnLine\Hallmark Card Studio\Deluxe\1\Paths
    DataPath    REG_SZ    c:\program files\Sierra\CardStudio\Data

You can change the location by editing the registry with regedit or by using the reg add command. E.g., if you wanted to have Card Studio Deluxe store events at a shared network location where multiple computers running the software could use the same data, you could alter the registry to point to that location. E.g., to point to a shared directory \\Server\Sierra\CardStudio\Data, you could use the following:

c:\>reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sierra OnLine\Hallmark Card Studio\Delu
xe\1\Paths" /v DataPath /t REG_SZ /d \\Server\Sierra\CardStudio\Data /f
The operation completed successfully.

References:

1. Sierra's Hallmark Card Studio Deluxe Data Location
   MoonPoint Support

[/os/windows/software/graphics/sierra] permanent link

Direct Connect allows you to share files over the Internet without restrictions or limits. The client is completely free of advertisements and has a nice, easy to use interface. Firewall and router support is integrated and it is easy and convenient to use functionality like multi-hub connections, auto-connections and resuming of downloads.

The software is licensed under GNU GPL 2.

DCPlusPlus 0.75 uses the Nullsoft Install System (NSIS) v2.31. Since it uses NSIS, you can perform a silent installation by using the /S option. It will install in C:\Program Files\DC++ by default, but you can perform a silent install and still select the destination location by using the /D=directory option. E.g., to install the software in C:\Program Files\P2P\DC++, you could use the following:

DCPlusPlus-0.75.exe /S /D=%PROGRAMFILES%\P2P\DC++

Note: you have to use a capital "S" for the silent installation and the /D must appear at the end of the line. Also, don't use quotes even if the directory path has spaces in it, e.g., if you aren't using the variable %PROGRAMFILES%, which equates to C:\Program Files on most systems (you can see its value by issuing the command echo %PROGRAMFILES% at a command line). And, if you don't use %PROGRAMFILES%, you need to use the drive location also, e.g., C:\Program Files. Any interventing directories that don't exist will be created.

When you first run DC++ after the installation, you may be prompted to allow DC++ network communications.

You can uninstall the software by running uninstall.exe from the directory where you installed the software, e.g. %PROGRAMFILES%\P2P\DC++\uninstall.exe /S. You can use the /S for a silent uninstall, but you will still see a window asking "Also remove queue and settings?"

A package file for a silent install using WPKG, is shown below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<packages>
      
<package
   id="DC++"
   name="DC++"
   revision="0750"
   priority="1"
   reboot="false">
 
   <check type="uninstall" condition="exists" path="DC++ 0.750"/>
 
   <install cmd='%SOFTWARE%\P2P\DCPlusPlus-0.75.exe /S /D=%PROGRAMFILES%\P2P\DC++"'/>
 
   <remove cmd='"%PROGRAMFILES%\P2P\DC++\uninstall.exe" /S'/>
 
</package>

</packages>

References:

1. DC++
2. Direct Connect (file sharing)
   Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3. Advanced Direct Connect network
   Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
4. Nullsoft Scriptable Install System
   Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
5. WPKG | Open Source Software Deployment and Distribution

[/os/windows/software/wpkg] permanent link

Places.sqlite is used in Firefox 3 instead of the older bookmarks.html and history.dat files (the older files are left in the profile folder for backward compatibility).

I opened a places.sqlite file with SQLite. Note: Firefox must be closed when you try opening the file or you will get the error message "Error: database is locked".

C:\Users\Administrator\Downloads>sqlite3 C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Roaming\
Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\q3wdrb9w.default\places.sqlite
SQLite version 3.6.23
Enter ".help" for instructions
Enter SQL statements terminated with a ";"
sqlite>

I then used .tables to see what tables were in it.

sqlite> .tables
moz_anno_attributes  moz_favicons         moz_keywords
moz_annos            moz_historyvisits    moz_places
moz_bookmarks        moz_inputhistory
moz_bookmarks_roots  moz_items_annos

The places.sqlite file contains the following tables:

• moz_anno_attributes - Annotation Attributes
• moz_annos - Annotations
• moz_bookmarks - Bookmarks
• moz_bookmarks_roots - Bookmark roots i.e. places, menu, toolbar, tags, unfiled
• moz_favicons - Favourite icons - including URL of icon
• moz_historyvisits - A history of the number of times a site has been visited
• moz_inputhistory - A history of URLS typed by the user
• moz_items_annos - Item annotations
• moz_keywords - Keywords
• moz_places - Places/Sites visited - referenced by moz_historyvisits

You can see what the columns are in a table using the .schema command, so I can use .schema moz_bookmarks for further information about the "bookmarks" table.

sqlite> .schema moz_bookmarks
CREATE TABLE moz_bookmarks (  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, type INTEGER, fk INTEGER D
EFAULT NULL, parent INTEGER, position INTEGER, title LONGVARCHAR, keyword_id INT
EGER, folder_type TEXT, dateAdded INTEGER, lastModified INTEGER);
CREATE INDEX moz_bookmarks_itemindex ON moz_bookmarks (fk, type);
CREATE INDEX moz_bookmarks_itemlastmodifiedindex ON moz_bookmarks (fk, lastModif
ied);
CREATE INDEX moz_bookmarks_parentindex ON moz_bookmarks (parent, position);
CREATE TRIGGER moz_bookmarks_beforedelete_v1_trigger BEFORE DELETE ON moz_bookma
rks FOR EACH ROW WHEN OLD.keyword_id NOT NULL BEGIN DELETE FROM moz_keywords WHE
RE id = OLD.keyword_id AND NOT EXISTS ( SELECT id FROM moz_bookmarks WHERE keywo
rd_id = OLD.keyword_id AND id <> OLD.id LIMIT 1 );END;

A diagram of the layout of the tables provides further information as does the The Places database.

I can see that there is a column named "title". So I can view the value for "title" for all entries in the table with select title from moz_bookmarks. Note: you may see a lot of what may appear to be extraneous bookmarks, i.e. webpages not bookmarked by the user. That's because you also see what you would see if you clicked on Bookmarks, Bookmarks Toolbar, Latest Headlines.

You can exit from sqlite with .exit, .quit, or Ctrl-C.

If you prefer a GUI to browse SQLite databases, you can use SQLite Database Browser, which can provide a graphical interface for browsing the databases on a Windows system.

To install the program, just unzip the files in the .zip file, once you've downloaded it, to the directory you want to use for it.

References:

1. SQLite
2. Locked or damaged places.sqlite
   MozillaZine Knowledge Base
3. Places.sqlite
   MozillaZine Knowledge Base
4. The Places database
   Mozilla Developer Center
5. SQLite Database Browser
   SourceForge
6. Improving Iceweasel Performance
   April 3, 2009
   Zenwalk Support

[/network/web/browser/firefox] permanent link

1. Click on the Start button.
2. Select All Programs.
3. Select Accessories.
4. Select Remote Desktop Connection.
5. When the Remote Desktop Connection window opens, click on Options.
6. Click on the Local Resources tab.

   

7. Click on the More button.
8. Click on Drives to share all drives. If yo only want to share some local drives, click on the "+" to the left of drives and select only the drives you want to share.

   

9. Click on OK.
10. Click on Connect.

If you go to My Computer on the remote system or use Windows Explorer, you should see the drives on the local system from which you connected listed among the drives visible on the remote system.

References:

1. Transfer files via the Remote Desktop
   Setup32.com

[/os/windows/software/remote-control/rdp] permanent link

Note: you need to display hidden files and folders to see the directory - see Show hidden files for instructions on how to do this under Windows 7, if you don't know how to do so.

[/os/windows/software/audio/winamp] permanent link

After downloading it, I examined it with FileAlyzer . I saw "Nullsoft Install System v2.45.1" within the file. Winamp is installed with the Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS), which is to be expected given that Winamp was developed by Nullsoft.

For a default installation, Winamp will be installed in C:\Program Files\Winamp and Winamp Toolbar will be installed in C:\Program Files\Winamp Toolbar.

A "silent" install can be peformed by using a /S option. Note: it has to be a capital "S", e.g. winamp5572_full_en-us.exe /S. If you use the silent install option, the Winamp Toolbar will be installed by default within Internet Explorer and Firefox. During the installation any open instances of the browsers will be closed automatically. When you reopen the browsers you will see the Winamp toolbar within the browsers.

The Winamp and Winamp Toolbar uninstall strings in the Windows registry for a default installation are at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall are shown below:

A silent uninstall can be performed for Winamp with "C:\Program Files\Winamp\UninstWA.exe". A silent uninstall can be performed for the toolbar with "C:\Program Files\Winamp Toolbar\uninstall.exe" /S. Use a capital "S" for the silent option. Note: a silent uninstall of the Winamp toolbar will close any open browser windows.

One can specify the installation directory with /D=installdirectory I could specify winamp5572_full_en-us.exe /D=C:\Program Files\Audio and Video\Winamp at the command line and the GUI installation method would show the directory I picked. I had to put the C: there for that to occur, though. For a silent install, I could use the following to specify the location:

winamp5572_full_en-us.exe /S /D=C:\Program Files\Audio and Video\Winamp\

Again, I needed to have the C:\ at the beginning of the directory location. Also, don't use quotes even if the directory path has spaces in it and the /D option has to be the last option on the line.

Unfortunately, the toolbar is still installed and goes into its default location of C:\Program Files\Winamp Toolbar. But I remove it with "C:\Program Files\Winamp Toolbar\uninstall.exe" /S. Unfortunately, that only removes the toolbar from Internet Explorer and I have to manually remove it from Firefox.

References:

1. WinampWithoutEMusic
   Last modified: February 13, 2010
   Jurand Nogiec
2. Super Bowl XL, Download Winamp without Emusic
   Date: February 6, 2006
   INeedAttention.com
3. Nullsoft Scriptable Install System
   Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
4. Winamp Media Player 5.56 Installation
   Date: November 24, 2009
   MoonPoint Support

[/os/windows/software/audio/winamp] permanent link

The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows. However, you can download a program that will allow you to view Help created in the Windows Help format.

On computers that are running Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2, you may be unable to open Help files that require the Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) program. This article contains information about a download that helps you fix this problem.

Microsoft stopped including the 32-bit Help file viewer in Windows releases beginning with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. To support customers who still rely on legacy .hlp files, the Microsoft Download Center provides WinHlp32.exe downloads for Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2.

The version of the program for Windows 7 can be downloaded from Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) for Windows 7. That page provides the following overview statement:

Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) is a Help program that has been included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with the Microsoft Windows 3.1 operating system. However, the Windows Help program has not had a major update for many releases and no longer meets Microsoft's standards. Therefore, starting with the release of Windows Vista and continuing in Windows 7, the Windows Help program will not ship as a feature of Windows. If you want to view 32-bit .hlp files, you must download and install the program (WinHlp32.exe) from the Microsoft Download Center.

There are two versions of the software available, one for 64-bit systems and one for 32-bit systems. The download files are .msu files. You can install the software by just double-clicking on the downloaded file from the Windows Explorer, which will open a Windows Update Standalone Installer window, where you would see the propmpt "Do you want to install the following Windows software update? Update for WIndows (KB917607)". During the installation, winhlp32.exe is placed in %systemroot, e.g. C:\Windows.

For a silent installation, you can use the Windows Update Standalone Installer, wusa.exe, with the /quiet option (quiet mode, no user interaction, reboot as needed). It isn't necessary to reboot after installing Windows Help. You can specify /norestart (when combined with /quiet, installer will NOT initiate reboot. You can see other options by using wusa /?.

The following command performs a silent install for the 32-bit version:

wusa /quiet /norestart Windows6.1-KB917607-x86.msu

To silently uninstall the software, you can use the command below.

wusa Windows6.1-KB917607-x86.msu /uninstall /quiet /norestart

A package file that can be used with WPKG to silently install Windows Help for Windows 7 is shown below. Note: though Windows Help will no longer work after the uninstall, c:\windows\winhlp32.exe isn't actually removed, though other files installed with it, such as c:\windows\system32\ftlx0411.dll are removed. You may have to take ownership of winhlp32.exe to remove it - see Add "Take Ownership" to Explorer Right-Click Menu in Win 7 or Vista, since otherwise only TrustedInstaller has full rights to the file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<packages>

<package
  id="WinHelp"
  name="Windows Help"
  revision="1"
  reboot="false"
  priority="10">

  <check type='logical' condition='and'> 
     <!-- The uninstall process doesn't remove winhlp32.exe, but does remove
     ftlx0411.dll -->  
     <check type="file" condition="exists" 
      path="%SystemRoot%\system32\ftlx0411.dll" />
     <check type="file" condition="exists" 
      path="%SystemRoot%\winhlp32.exe" />
  </check>
  <install cmd='wusa %SOFTWARE%\utilities\miscellaneous\Windows6.1-KB917607-x86.msu /quiet /norestart ' />
  <remove cmd='wusa %SOFTWARE%\utilities\miscellaneous\Windows6.1-KB917607-x86.msu /uninstall /quiet /norestart' />
  <upgrade cmd='' />

</package>

</packages>

References:

1. I cannot open Help files that require the Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) program
   Article ID: 917607
   Last Review: October 27, 2009
   Revision: 20.3
   Microsoft Support
2. Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) for Windows 7
   Version: 1.0
   Date Published: 10/14/2009
   Microsoft Corporation
3. Is it possible to silently run the Vista installation package for MSI 4.5?
   Windows Installer Team Blog
4. silent installation paramters for Windows6.1-KB958559-x64.msu
   Date: July 7, 2009
   Microsoft TechNet: Resources for IT Professionals
5. Permission from Trusted installer!
   Date: May 18, 2009
   Mcirsoft TechNet: Resources for IT Professionals
6. Add "Take Ownership" to Explorer Right-Click Menu in Win 7 or Vista
   How-To Geek

[/os/windows/software/wpkg] permanent link

<check type='logical' condition='and'> 
     <!-- The uninstall process doesn't remove winhlp32.exe, but does remove
     ftlx0411.dll -->  
     <check type="file" condition="exists" 
      path="%SystemRoot%\system32\ftlx0411.dll" />
     <check type="file" condition="exists" 
      path="%SystemRoot%\winhlp32.exe" />
</check>

In this case, WPKG will only consider the software installed if both files exist. If only one of them exists, the installation will proceed.

References:

1. Packages.xml
   WPKG | Open Source Software Deployment and Distribution
2. Re: [wpkg-users] Check command
   Date: June 11, 2009
   wpkg-users

[/os/windows/software/wpkg] permanent link

If WPKG is showing an incorrect list of installed software, e.g. it shows a program is installed, but the program is no longer installed because it was removed outside of WPKG, you can correct the problem by editing C:\Windows\System32\wpkg.xml on the system where the software was installed. Just remove the section of the file applying to that package. E.g. from the package id="pkgid" name="pkgname" revision="1" reboot="false" priority="0"> to the </package> for the particular package. Then, if you use wpkg.js /show:pkgid the package will no longer be shown as installed.

[/os/windows/software/wpkg] permanent link