Dec
19
2006
Dell

OS Install Mode

I ran into a little problem today.  One of my test servers which has 4GB of RAM was giving me an error on boot.  This error indicated that I only had 256MB of usable memory.  Well, low and behold, Dell has a setting in their BIOS called “OS Install Mode”.  When set to On, memory is limited to 256 MB to allow the installation of older operating systems that have 2 GB memory limits.   I had never heard of such a thing, but those servers run a lot faster with it turned off, especially when you have 4GB RAM!

Dec
14
2006
Windows

Removable Drive Icons

I use several different types of removable media since both of my digital cameras each use a different type.  I decided to get rid of my several different card readers and buy the SanDisk ImageMate 12-in-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader at my local Best Buy.  This thing is cool, cause like the product name says, it supports 12 different types of media. It was confusing enough for me to having all these drives listed as “Removable Drive (n)” in My Computer, so I did a little search online and came across just what I was looking for over at Chris Pirillo’s Blog.  I was looking for a way to change the drive icon as well as the default volume label.  Chris has a link to a zip that he created which includes the cool icon images as well as a registry file that you can import after a little editing.…

Nov
14
2006
Windows

Concurrent Downloads in IE

Ever noticed that on a default installation of Internet Explorer that you can only have two concurrent downloads? According to the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 183110, this is to maintain compliance with HTTP specifications. WinInet limits the number of simultaneous connections that it makes to a single HTTP server. If you exceed this limit, the requests block until one of the current connections has completed. This is by design and is in agreement with the HTTP specification and industry standards. The KB gives you steps you can take to increase the number of concurrent downloads  (connections).  This involves editing the registry, so be cautious.

Nov
06
2006
Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile 5 and Root Certificates

I was trying to get my Moto Q setup the other day to attach to my Exchange Server.  When I tried to synch, I discovered that I was receiving some sort of error which was a result of problems with the certificate on my server. I didn’t use certs on my server until a couple years ago, and at that time, it was more of a safety measure than anything, but it was also more of a hobby.  I wasn’t going to buy the $500 certificate that VeriSign wants you to buy, instead, I purchased one through GoDaddy.com, my domain provider. Well, it was cheap, but also was not at the root the Certificate Authority chain.  It works fine on Windows XP because XP ships with a boatload of root certificates already on the system.  Windows Mobile, limited by space, ships with a handful of the most popular root providers.…

Oct
09
2006
General

Is $1.65 billion a lot of money?

I didn’t realize how popular online video really was until I read today that Google was purchasing YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion. YouTube seems to be another one of those companies that was going to wind up facing battles over copyright infringement, but before long they will have agreements in place, similar to those that we saw with offerings like Napster and Rhapsody which allow you to stay legal by purchasing the music they offer. I wasn’t all that familiar with YouTube other than occasionally receiving links to content from friends, so I went and checked it out for myself.  Here is what I found out: Founded in 1995 YouTube allows you to upload, tag, and share videos worldwide Browse others videos Create video groups with people who have similar interests Integrate videos on your own website Elect for videos to be public (share with everyone) or private (share with…

About JB

I’ve been a technologist for over 20 years, getting my start in IT with a large Fortune 100 international retailer in the 1990s. I love to talk about new technology, mobile devices, software development, photography, and the weather. The opinions expressed on this website are my own.

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