Windows GodMode

Nope, this is no kind of geeky joke. There actually excists a GodMode in Windows Vista and Windows 7.
So, how can you access it? That's pretty easy. Just create a new folder and name it "GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}" (without the "").
And what does it do? It gives you a folder full of shortcuts for any kind of settings you might need.
As for me, that's pretty nifty and I think it is another example how Microsoft unfortunately leaves stuff that is more than helpful simply undocumented... :-(
Well, now you know ^^

Windows Server 2008 on a laptop

Yesterday evening I started a new project. Since my old server in the basement doesn't for about 4 months, I decided to install Windows Server 2008 on my "old" laptop. The tech specs doesn't sound so old though... 1.8 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, 250GB HDD etc...
Anyway, if it works as planned I will have an ultra-silent, energy saving server in the basement :-D
All I have to do so far is to download all the needed drivers in advance. I am wondering by the way if the integrated webcam will still work... ;-)

UPDATE: Everything worked just fine :-)
Only problem that occured at the beginning was the deactivated wirless lan setting. This feature has to be installed manually.

For further information regarding installation Windows Server 2008 as a desktop OS you can have a look here at.

Free Windows 7 Beta available

Microsoft released their Beta version of the Windows Vista successor Windows 7 today.
Get it here. So far it looks more than just a even more shiny version of Vista but take a look by yourself.



UPDATE:
Only 2.5 million beta user accounts are available so better hurry up.
Oh yeah, and at this very moment the servers are more than just busy. Hope Microsoft gets this to work soon.

UPDATE 2:
Microsoft put the download website offline temporary... :-(

How to change your cellphone's keyboard layout to German QWERTZ on Windows Mobile 6.1

Wow, what a headline... Anyway, I've upgraded my HTC S730 / Wings yesterday from Windows Mobile 6 to 6.1 and noticed the keyboard layout was set to QWERTY with no natural support for Umlauts :(
So I did some research and found a way to solve this problem.

1. Download 'Koteshi's Windows Mobile 6.1 customizing pack' and unzip it.
2. Go to 'german keyboard layout' and copy the file 'eT9.Wings.0407.kmap.txt' to your cellphone's 'Windows' folder
3. Start your favorite registry editor for windows mobile devices. Mine is CeRegEditor which can be downloaded at ceregeditor.mdsoft.pl
4. Locate 'HKLM\Software\Tegic\eT9\IME\KeyboardLayouDlls'.
5. Change the value of '000007FF' to 'eT9.Wings.0407.kmap.txt'.
6. Reboot.
   

Done! ^^ Wasn't that hard, was it?

How to install German T9 on your Windows Mobile 6.1 cellphone

This also works on Windows Mobile 6. Here we go:

1. Download 'Koteshi's Windows Mobile 6.1 customizing pack' and unzip it.
   
2. Goto 'german T9' folder, copy the 'german.cab' file to your cellphone and start the installation from there.
3. After you rebooted you will be able to use German T9 :-)
   

How to install a Chinese font on your Windows Mobile 6.1 cellphone

First of all: This also works on Windows Mobile 6.
So, let's begin.

1. Download 'Koteshi's Windows Mobile 6.1 customizing pack' and unzip it.
   
2. Goto 'chinese font' folder, copy the 'wm6szh.cab' file to your cellphone and start the installation from there.
3. After you rebooted your cell, you are able to read chinese characters.
4. Remember you can only read them. If you want to write chinese you propably need 'CE-Star' or 'Monster Chinese' cause they provide an IME

Known issues with 6.1:

• Background of your homescreen looks plain green.

Solution:

• Switch your Home Screen at 'Start\Settubgs\Home Screen' to 'HTC', go to the homescreen and then switch it back to 'Sliding Panel Media'

That's it ;)

How to upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1 on HTC s730 / Wings

I've created a little package which includes all the files needed for installing Windows Mobile 6.1 on your HTC S730 / Wings cellphone. Kudos to Alcaline over at xda developers who have cooked this wonderful rom.

REMEMBER: BACKUP YOUR FILES BEFORE YOU PROCEED CAUSE THEY WILL BE GONE AFTER THE UPDATE. USE AT OWN RISK!

Now let's have some fun:

1. First of all you need to install something on your cell called 'HardSPL'. This will allow us to install our flash rom.
2. Download windows-mobile-6.1-htc-s730-wings.rar so you'll have all the needed files and unzip it.
3. Remove all SIM and SD CARD!
4. Connect the USB cable.
5. Start the 'SDA_ApplicationUnlock.exe' file located in the unzipped HardSPL folder to unlock your cellphone.
6. Create a SPL backup by running 'spl-backup.bat' from SPL-backup-kit folder.
7. Copy 'sspl-0.91-wings.exe' to your cellphone and run it from there. Your cell will reboot and you get the 'dev mode color screen'. After some time USB will appear on the screen.
8. To make sure everything will work fine, unplug and replug the usb cable. Your PC might want to install the cellphone and if it asks for some driver, use the 'htcrt_devices.ini' file.
   
9. Now it is time to flash the 'hardspl-0.91-wings.nbh' by running 'CustomRUU.exe' from flash-hardspl-wings folder.
10. Cross fingers ;)
11. OK, if this worked we are now able to upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1 :)
12. Run the before mentioned 'sspl-0.91-wings.exe' on your cell. Your mobile will once again reboot and you get the 'dev mode color screen' you already know. After some time USB will appear on the screen.
    
13. Now start 'ROMUpdateUtility.exe' which is located in the RUU_Wings_HTC_WWE_Alcaline_61 folder.
14. If everything goes well, your cellphone reboots and you have done it! Congrats ^^
    

PS: MAYBE your phone behaves a bit strange after the first start mine did so. Simply reboot again and everything is normal.

1337 yeah baby ;)

Wohoo, I finally did it. I've managed to install Windows Mobile 6.1 on my HTC s730 (or Wings how it is called in other countries). I don't wanna know how many nerves that costed me in the last few attempts but I really have to say: The phone feels totally different now. Maybe it is just a placebo effect but all the menus really feel a lot smoother now. Stay tuned for nice pictures and tutorials^^

The following link provide more than just big help:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=383617

Only thing I have to do now is:

- set the default keyboardmapping to QWERTZ - done!
- install German T9 support - done!
- install Chinese font support - done!

Update Windows Mobile 6 to 6.1 on your HTC S730 / Wings

Today after work I will do it. I had several attempts but was never successful :(

It can't be that difficult, or can it...?

Will koteshi be more successful this time, or will he cry like a baby like he did in the last 3 attempts? Find out in the next posting here tomorrow.

PS: Here's a video showing Windows Mobile 6.1 running on the HTC S730 / Wings.

How to change the RDP listening port on a server

Maybe you just set up a Windows Server. And maybe you want to change the Terminal Services listening port. But how?
Well, it is easier than you might think:

1.	Run Regedt32 and go to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.
2.	Find the "PortNumber" subkey and notice the value of 00000D3D, hex for (3389). Modify the port number in Hex and save the new value. To change the port for a specific connection on the Terminal Server: • Run Regedt32 and go to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\connection NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.
3.	Find the "PortNumber" subkey and notice the value of 00000D3D, hex for (3389). Modify the port number in Hex and save the new value.

Don't forget that you now have

Automatic Login on Windows Vista

Maybe you have a Media Center PC in your living room or simply use your Windows Vista computer just for you alone. If so, you might have wondered, how to avoid this annoying "inputting your password" procedure.
Well there's hope ;)
Simply follow these upcoming steps:

1. Click on Start, type netplwiz into the search field and press Enter.
2. Now there should appear the User Account Control window.
3. Mark now the user you want to log in automatically.
4. Clear the Users must enter a username and password to use this computer option and click OK.
5. Provide the password for your user account when prompted and restart your computer.
6. From now on Vista will automatically log on with your user account.
   

Et voila, next time you start your Media Center relax and enjoy ^^

one more nifty Google tool 'Google Pinyin Pad'

More than a year ago everybody's IT nightmare or darling (depends on your point of view) Google released their cool IME (Input Method Editor) for Chinese out of nowhere.
With this tool you can easily input, suprise suprise: traditional and simplified Chinese characters on your Windows PC. Since I tried it the first time I'm loving it because the built-in dictionary is really awesome. Unfortunately shortly after the release there were some rumours about plagiarizing from a tool by Chinese internet Company Sohu. Well in the end, I don't really care about that because all that matters is that you get a wonderful Input pad ^^

Move on to download it here.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 download - FINALLY

Yesterday I had the chance to download the new and shiny Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista which had been released as a RTM (Release to Manufacturing) version a few days ago.
The download package is about 1.3 GB big in case you download the version that includes the x64 and the x86 Service Pack.
The x86 version just alone, is about 600 MB big and the installation on my laptop took about 30 minutes.
Well so far I haven't noticed many differences but two.
First, the file transfer rate really has increased :)
Second, the remote desktop client now offers the option not to see the "the client you are connecting to doesn't use Windows Vista" anytime you take control of an remote PC or Server.
All in all I am happy about these changes, but I really hope there's more than just these few features...
By the way: The official release date for this major update is March 2008.
In case you already want to receive it via Windows Update here's a nifty little trick, but be warned before because you have to restart your system about 4 times:

• First of all check your version of Windows Vista. An easy way for that is to input "winver" into your startmenu. If you already installed a Release Candidate before, it is now time to uninstall it. After the uninstall don't forget to restart your PC.
  
• Now check your current installed updates. KB935509 must be installed so far, because it reconfigures the bootloader. Without that, installation of the Service Pack 1 is impossible.
• Install all the "important" and "recommended" marked updates. KB935509 can be one of them.
• Download the Vista Registry Hack here. This .cmd file's code isn't really complicated. It simply deletes two keys in the registry that prevent your PC from downloading the update automatically, and starts the 'wuapp.exe'.
• Right-click the just downloaded 'vista-reg-hack.cmd' and select 'run as admin'
• The command prompt should open now, Windows Update should give a life sign and asks you to restart your system. Listen to your PC ;-)
• After the restart, start 'Windows Update' and install the newly appeared 'KB938371'. Again you have to restart your PC.
  
• Another new update appears now: 'KB937287'. Simply install that aswell.
  
• What comes now? You guessed right: RESTART.
• After four restarts, it is now time to start 'Windows Update' one last time. Oh look what's there: 'KB936330' aka Windows Vista Service Pack 1 :)
• In case the Service Pack does not appear at the first try, simply click on 'search for updates' for several times. The download size can vary between 60-600 MB.
  
• All you have to do now is to follow the instruction that will appear on your screen.
• Et voila, that's it.

Have fun :o)

Update your Windows XP to Windows Vista

Well, you are a proud owner of the newly released Vista and want to upgrade your old Windows XP machine to Windows Vista? As for me, I tried several Vista RC (Release Candidates) and pre beta builds in the last 2 years but for the more common user this could become a pain in the ass a little bit more difficult.

For that reason Microsoft released two nice usefull tools.
The one is called WindowsVistaUpgradeAdvisor and the other one is Windows Easy Transfer for Windows XP and Windows 2000.
Well i guess the names make it quite clear what these applications do.

The Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor scans your system for installed software and hardware and tells you after the scanning process if programs will run in Vista, or if there is a need to reinstall them. As for me there was some trouble with the Vodafone Connect Now software, that was needed for using UMTS on my notebook. So I decided to wait for a Vista version of the application. Drivers are scanned too, so you will know in advance what vista compatible drivers you should get.



As for the Windows Easy Transfer for Windows XP and Windows 2000 its one of these simple programms that can make the admin's life so much easier. It "simply" backups the user and configuration files from your Windows XP PC and make them Vista compatible.


Seems, like Microsoft has done something really good in releasing this easy to handle tools.


Downloads:
Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor
Windows Easy Transfer