VB6 startup annoyance: 'Please wait while Windows configures Microsoft Visual Studio 2010'

If you are still maintaining old VB6 code and have newer versions of Visual Studio installed, you may be dealing with this annoyance every time you launch your IDE:

What is happening is there is an installed VS.NET component referenced in your system registry which itself references xml configuration files which may or may not exist on your system - even if the installation of that component has been successful.  When one of these xml files is not found, Windows Installer kicks in and tries to "fix" things.  Uh thanks MS.  Of course VB6 itself does not care about any of these xml files.

Fortunately, creating zero byte files with the paths and names it is expecting should make the problem go away.  To find the names of the missing files, open your Event Viewer (just type "Event Viewer" in the Windows search bar or go to Control Panel\System and Security\Administrative Tools > Event Viewer) and navigate to Windows Logs > Application.  You should see a pair of yellow triangle "Warning" icons attributed to Windows Installer near the top of the list - the missing file will be shown in the first (lower) of the two events.

Create that missing file and run VB6 again.  Refresh the Event Viewer and look for the next missing file, create it, etc. until the error no longer appears.

Note that due to folder security settings, it is probably easiest to create each file in a location which you have full access to (e.g. your Desktop) and then copy the new file into the destination folder.

The missing file names themselves may vary, but this is what I had to create to solve the error with VS 2010:

• C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\WPF\System.Windows.xml
• C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\Microsoft.VisualBasic.Vsa.xml
• C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.Build.Tasks.v3.5.xml
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.0\en\Microsoft.ManagementConsole.xml
• C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\en\System.Configuration.Install.xml
• C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\RedistList\VSList.xml

Hope this is helpful.

Qt error LNK1181: cannot open input file 'debug\main.obj'

Qt is great, but if you're just getting started playing around with the framework in Windows, you may have come across this ridiculous problem:

1) You make a 'Hello World' which works
2) You copy the project, or rename/move it
3) 'Hello World' no longer works with LNK1181 error

This seems like one of the dumbest things ever, and it is related to an option in the project's Build Settings (click on the Projects tool button with the green wrench) called Shadow build:

This seems like quite a useful option for advanced users, but having it set as the default is crazy... I've wasted a couple hours with it and still can't figure out what I'm supposed to do to make it work when I've made a copy of the original project (probably when the project is first created, some entry is made somewhere to add the new 'shadow' location to the environment when the compiler is called... but I don't give a %&@$, I am just trying to make a basic little forms app).  So just disable it, and the build directory will be the same as the project directory, and it should compile fine.

Hope this helps someone out there, and maybe Qt will rethink having this as the default setting.

Z

Strum-strum 1.1 Released

Strum-strum 1.1 is now in the App Store.  Slow strumming has been improved significantly, and an issue with playback lag in the Chord Editor has been fixed.

Happy strumming!

Strum-strum Virtual Guitar App in App Store

I have just released my first iOS app, Strum-strum, in the App Store.  Strum-strum is a virtual guitar that allows you to program any chords you like, organize them into groups and play lightning-fast rhythms on your mobile device.  Additionally, you can play the strings individually (finger-style) or do slow strums by swiping up and down over the fretboard.  Here is the description as seen at the App Store:

The world's fastest guitar app! Whether you are an experienced performer/songwriter or a complete beginner, Strum-strum has everything you need to play along with your favorite songs, compose new ones, or just have fun.  

Features:  

- Real guitar sounds  

- Chord library containing standard chords  

- Intuitive chord editor for creating, modifying and saving any chord  

- Group editor for creating and saving custom chord groups  

- Alternate, user definable tunings  

- Low latency chord and single string playing; Strum-strum is as quick as you are  

- Supports high-speed flamenco techniques 

Strum-strum is compatible with all iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices running iOS 7.0 and higher.

You can view a quick demonstration video here: Strum-strum demo

The website for Strum-strum is located here: http://zachwestfall.com/strum-strum

This app is free, so check it out!

Commuting by bike

Since I already spend 8-9 hours every day stuck motionless in my computer chair, the last thing I ever want to do before and after work is sit in my car, strapped into a similar chair and stuck in traffic.  Such a lifestyle is frustrating and terrible for your mental and physical health.

I discovered the many benefits of bicycle commuting a few years back, and I am now doing it every day (with the odd exception on days when I am feeling lazy, there is a wind storm or I need the car for errands).

In brief, it is friggin' awesome.  It's that feeling of being a kid again, every single day.

I picked up a GoPro Hero 3 recently and decided to record my work commute.  I thought it turned out quite well for a first attempt, so here it is:

I hope this will inspire someone out there to try biking to work for the first time.  You'll be hooked in no time!

Authentication methods are not supported by server - bug in Android 3.2 email client

I recently picked up an Asus Eee Pad Transformer which I am having some fun with.  I was stuck last night, however, on an annoying Honeycomb glitch which prevented me from setting up my email.  After entering the outgoing settings, the setup would refuse to finish, giving the error message described above.  The solution is simple: before unticking the checkbox about requiring authentication, you need to clear the username and password fields that have been automatically filled in for you.  THEN untick the checkbox and continue.  That's it!

How to clean hidden sectors on your hard drive

WARNING: If you have not backed up all your important data somewhere else, stop right here. I will not be held responsible for lost software licenses, precious pictures of your late dog Fluffy, etc. Do the following at your own risk!

I strongly recommend creating a backup file of your hidden sectors before cleaning. See this post for instructions.

When you install certain software products (cough cough Autodesk), secret entries are made on a hidden sector of the computer’s hard drive. These entries are looked for when you attempt to install the software again and are not removed even if your reformat the drive or install a fresh image of your operating system.

To remove these “permanent” records, you need to use a low-level disk utility to zero out the affected sectors. Fortunately, this can be done quite easily using a Linux rescue disk. The following example uses Ubuntu Rescue Remix 10.10:

1. Insert the rescue disk and reboot the computer. At the “boot” prompt, press Enter and wait for Linux to start (~ 1 minute).
   
   
2. At the command prompt, type the following command:

sudo fdisk -l

(Note: the character at the end is the letter ’l’, as in “lettuce”)

You should see a list of connected drives and their partition information. Find the name of the drive you need to fix (looking at the drives’ capacities should give you a good hint). The drive name will be something like /dev/sda, or /dev/sdb etc.

3. Now we will zero out some of the sectors on that drive where sneaky programs could be hiding data.

CAUTION: Be very careful with the dd command! One small typo or omission can render the entire drive unreadable! (dd has the nickname “disk destroyer” for a reason)

Type the following command, replacing “/dev/sdx” with the actual drive name:

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdx seek=32 bs=512 count=30

This zeroes out 30 sectors, starting at sector 32, and leaves the last hidden sector (62) alone. The reason for this is that Norton Ghost hides its license information in sector 62, and zeroing it will cause problems for you if you use that product.

           If you want to zero out all hidden sectors except the Master Boot Record, use the 

           following:

     sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdx seek=1 bs=512 count=62

Whatever you choose to do, make sure 'seek' is at least 1, and that 'seek' plus 'count' is no more than 63!  Also, don't forget to replace "/dev/sdx" with the actual drive name.

NOTE: Linux bootloaders, like GRUB and LILO, also write code to these hidden sectors. If you use Linux on this hard drive, you may be destroying information needed to boot the operating system.

ALSO NOTE: These examples assume the hard drive has 512-byte sectors. Next generation hard drives may have 4096-byte sectors, in which case you will need to update the “bs=512” parameter accordingly.

4. Reboot the machine (sudo reboot) and proceed to do whatever it was you were doing.

Useful Links:

Ubuntu Rescue Remix: http://ubuntu-rescue-remix.org/

dd manual: http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/dd-invocation.html