Firefox not picking up the wpad auto config file

I've decided to setup firefox on the new Windows image but it turns out it doesn't like the options:

• Use system proxy settings
• this is the one I prefer as I can set it using group policy/workgroup manager
• Auto-detect proxy settings for this network

Whenever either of these are ticked you cannot browse the internet.

Had a quick search and think I've found the problem. The browser looks for the file:

http://wpad/wpad.dat

Now when I typed this in the address bar of; Safari, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome; they all downloaded the wpad.dat file. But Firefox was the odd one out as it just displayed the "Unable to connect" and "Problem loading page" errors.

Did a quick search and found this Knowledge Base Article describing how all other browser now use DHCP to help find this address, but Firefox only uses DNS. Also found it here in a blog and more importantly in Mozillas bug reports here (takes a while to load).

The fix apparently is to put a "DNS record for the WPAD server" (described here under 7.2.2)

Imaging Windows XP on a Mac - filling (expanding) the partition

So, came to a machine today which I'd just re-imaged with windows XP using DeployStudio. Windows thought the partition was only 30Gb's  but was actually 110GB's. I had seen this before but never written down how to fix it.

First thing I tried was the Disk Checking utility. This did not fix the problem.

After this I didn't know what to do. I turned to google and found this forum answer. Turns out when re-imaging there is an option to "Auto Expand" windows to fill the partition but sometimes does not work. To fix, use WinClone. Unfortunately the latest version of WinClone now costs $19.99, but the older V2.2 was free. I eventually found WinClone V2.2 here.

You also need NTFSProgs so OS X can understand NTFS partitions. WinClone downloads them automatically, here is the link it uses.

Here's a screenshot of it in action:

WinClone Expanding windows file system

Go to Tools > Expand Windows file system.

Takes around 8 mins.

Worked. Cheers.

Setting all Apple Macs to use network time servers

So I wanted to change all the Macs here to use our specific network time servers so that their time is never out and so cause login issues. I did it by first finding the command line arguments, then making a shell script, then making a pkg file which the OS X task server sent to all the machines when they are powered on.

Here's the step by step guide:

1. finding the command line arguments:
1. sudo systemsetup -setnetworktimeserver your.time.server.ac.uk
2. sudo systemsetup -setusingnetworktime on
2. making a shell script
1. make a new plain text document using "TextEdit"
2. make the first line:
1. #!/bin/bash
3. paste the two lines from 1.1 and 1.2
4. save as (untick "add .txt file extension) and put .sh at the end
5. make it executable
1. in terminal type:
1. chmod 744 nameOfShellScript.sh
3. make a .pkg file which runs this script
1. I use Iceberg. Here are the screenshots:








2. When done, go to Build > build
3. navigate to the project folder in Finder and inside the "Build" folder you'll find the .pkg file.
4. test it on a computer
5. Send to all machine
1. I use Apple Remote Desktop Task Server for this

1. select the computers in a list
2. click "Install Packages"
3. select the package
4. select "run this task from: The Task Server on your.task.server.ac.uk"
5. sorted
2. sorted
6. sorted

Getting VirtualBox to use Bootcamp partitioned Windows XP on a Mac

So, I really wanted VirtualBox to use the Bootcamp partitioned windows XP. After a bit of trauling I found this but had a slight error "resource_busy" and found this with a reply sorting it out. Turns out you have to unmount the disk to create the .vmkd file.

1. make a new machine
2. when asked about disks, load up the terminal
3. find the disk and partition with windows installed
1. diskutil list
4. unmount it
1. I did this in disk utility
5. change permissions on it
1. chmod 777 /dev/diskXsY  (replace X and Y with numbers)
6. go into the folder where your new VirtualBox machine is
1. cd ~/VirtualBox\ VMs/VirtualComputerName
7. make the .vmkd file
1. sudo vboxmanage internalcommands createrawvmdk -rawdisk /dev/disk0 -filename "winXP.vmdk" -partitions 3
2. you have to find out how many partitions are on the harddrive. I've got 3
8. change permissions of the files created
1. chmod 777 winXP*
9. in VirtualBox, select the disk file you created.

Sorted.

Turns out the error I got was from not reading the bit where you have to unmount it.

sendLogon.app and installer

Well, after much troubles over getting NHR to also run sendLogon on startup, I decided to just make an application which ran the sendLogon script:

/usr/bin/sendLogon 145.xxx.xxx.xxx 5438 $(logname)

1. I simply made it in Automator:
1. 
2. Next I made an installation package to install it along with the sendLogon command program

I used Apple Remote Desktop's "Task Server" to install it on all managed machines. And finally I used Workgroup Manager to have it as a Login Item on the managed machines.

I think it works out better this way, as there is a little bit more control over it.

Powerpoint 2011 for Mac beeping with Ink Aware toolbar popping up

After just imaging a new computer suite with OS X 10.7.4 everything was going fine. That is until they tried to use Powerpoint 2011 for Mac. Every now and then the computer would pop up with "Ink Aware Toolbar" and constantly beep.

The only workaround for the time was to use Keynote which didn't have this problem.

After searching on the internet I found a few references to the problem and also and how to fix it. I first found this article describing how to turn this "ink aware" tool off. Seems it is related to SMART products, of which we have some Interactive Smartboards so the SMART software is installed, but not attached to these computers, so in theory it shouldn't run.

I also found this forum which describes the same problem with a solution much like the one previous.

Finally I looked into what Ink Aware was and found this official tutorial on how to remove it:

1. Press the SMART Board icon in the notification area, and then select Control Panel.
   Note 

   If your computer isn’t currently connected to an interactive product, the SMART Board icon includes an X in its lower-right corner .
2. Press Configure SMART Tools.
   
3. Press Ink Aware Program Settings.
   
   The Aware window appears.
   • If a check mark appears in the Aware Enabled column, the program is currently Ink Aware.
     
   • If the program is currently open, Running appears in the Status column.
     
4. Do one of the following:
   
   • To disable Ink Aware for a program, clear the check box in the Aware Enabled column.
     
   • To disable Ink Aware for all software programs, press Clear All.
     
5. Press OK.
   
   Note 

   To enable Ink Aware for all programs, open the Aware dialog box, and then press Select All.

Sharing a MS Access database

So I've got an inventory database but have about 8 people who need to use it. Thought this wouldn't be a problem but turns out this stuff is more complex then it appears. When more then one person opens it (it's on a networked drive) a message keeps popping up about permissions. I did a quick search and found Microsofts help page here and there are a few options:

• Put it on a network folder
• done this which is where the problem is
• Split the database to front end and back end
• Use SharePoint
• Use a Database Server

The ideal one would be a database server. But unfortunately I lack the knowledge to create the queries and forms for the web.

Next best is either SharePoint or splitting the database. Here's an article on SharePoint but I'm unsure whether we have SharePoint enabled somewhere and also how to do it.

My favourite option is Splitting the Database. Basically have the tables in on database (the backend) and the forms, queries and reports in another (front end). Heres a quick forum post on how to do it.