Dashken's I-Blog

My Blog is in a mess...

dashken@gmail.com (Dashken) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:39:28 +0000

Was informed that the server that my blog was hosted crashed due to bad sectors... Damn! After recovering, all the plugins that I installed are gone. Thus, blog in a mess... will take some time before I get everything together again... And sorry for the lack of updates. Just changed to a new job not too long ago... :D Will start updating again once I clean up this mess...

Creating A DOS Bootable USB Key (All-in-One Package)

dashken@gmail.com (Dashken) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:44:06 +0000

Some have commented on the difficulty on the method of Creating A DOS Bootable USB Key (The Easy Way) that I posted like wow... 6 months ago. :surprised: Good news is, I found a better way. I promise, this one is much simpler and I've created a zip package so that you don't have to download pieces from various sites. It uses the combination of both HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool and DOS system files. This feature already exists since the beginning of HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool but I guess many don't use it. I didn't even notice it since I only browse for system files in DOS bootable floppy drive which was troublesome. Had to find a USB floppy drive, a bootable DOS floppy disk and all that. So, I've compiled the package which includes both the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool and DOS system files. No installation needed since I got the source from the installed HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. :D Ok, here goes...
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The Return

dashken@gmail.com (Dashken) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:00:56 +0000

Ok, I'm back! :wave: Not that I went anywhere far that I can't find time to post. Well, I did went to the WinHEC 2008 Conference at Taiwan to have sorta a first hand experience on Windows 7, its touch screen features, new driver installation experience where everything is done automatically now, its new Devices and Printers folder (a 1-stop for all devices connected to the PC) and so on. It's the first time that I laid my hands on a ASUS Eee PC too. :mrgreen: Windows 7 is what Windows Vista was supposed to be. Well, better 3 years late than never. It's scheduled to be release this late Q4 2009. But you know Microsoft, so I'll assume it's going to be released sometime in Q1 2010, just like Vista was back in January, 2006. :D May not have time to post much since Windows 7 is in Beta 1 and available publicly now. Have lots to do and prepare. I'll find time to post when I have more updates on anything at all. Until then, Happy New Year 2009! And do check back often. :beer:

Full List of Google Chrome 'About' pages Easter egg

dashken@gmail.com (Dashken) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:11:50 +0000

As with most software nowadays, programmers like to include some easter eggs for users to discover. Most of these have got something to do with the hidden processes of the software, hidden games or a joke (to make fun of its competitors discreetly of course) :mrgreen: So, you should expect Google Chrome programmers to include some as well. The famous one after a few days of its release is the about pages. Below is a list of currently known about pages of Google Chrome. I've included some partial screen captures as well. Do try it out yourself except maybe about:hang. :haha:
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Google Chrome - The Future OS of the Internet?

dashken@gmail.com (Dashken) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Google has just released the first beta version of their browser named, Google Chrome. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or "chrome", of web browsers. The open source project behind Google Chrome is known as Chromium. It was released on the 2nd of Sept, 2008 in 43 languages for Windows while the Mac and Linux versions are still under development. I've been using it all day and it's pretty good and the important thing is, it's REALLY fast, minimalistic and very pleasing to the eye. Although it's pretty basic at this initial beta stage, but the browser is quite ok for casual surfers (at the moment). I wouldn't recommend it for those who relies heavily on plugins for their routine work. Here are some of my takes after having a drive all day...
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Windows XP SP3 RC v3264 Does NOT Support High Definition Audio

dashken@gmail.com (Dashken) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:14:00 +0000

I posted this entry on 01/01/2008 and there are many who're still having the same problem. After some googling, I've added some updates below. Hope they help. Good luck! :D

In Windows XP, to add support for High Definition Audio, we have to install the Universal Audio Architecture (UAA) High Definition Audio class driver. This is either the KB835221 (for SP1) or the newer KB888111 (for SP1 or SP2). If you've already tried your hands installing the Windows XP SP3 RC v3264 and you have a High Definition Audio device on your computer, I bet you must be having problem with the audio drivers as am I. When you try installing the KB888111 which works for SP1 and SP2, it will not work for SP3, at least for the current SP3 RC v3264 and you will be prompted with a message saying that the current service pack installed is newer than the fix you are trying to apply. Even the older KB835221 doesn't work. So, is there a way to fix it? Fortunately, there is.
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New Chatbox - Converting From Cbox to ShoutMix

dashken@gmail.com (Dashken) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:03:02 +0000

It all started when Adrian told me I have pop-up on my blog. LOL! Of course I denied it. I don't have any f***ing pop-up on my blog man because I hate it too. It comes after pop-under on my hate list. :D I'm using Firefox 3 and 2 before that, so it sort of blocks pop-up by default. Maybe that's why I don't see any pop-up when I surf my own blog. It somehow struck me recently when I'm using IE7. There's pop-up on my blog! OMG! Then I went through some searching and found that cbox indeed has pop-up. Furthermore, I've been using it all this while. What a let down... :faint: You guys must be thinking I'm the culprit and support pop-up or something like that for revenue, right? :P It's nothing like that. I hate pop windows... doesn't matter if it's up or under. I don't like it, period. Hence, I've been around for a new chatbox, a free one would be great. Finally, I found ShoutMix. Actually there's not much around. Would love one that I can host on my site instead so that I can have the record of all the chats. Will continue digging, in the mean time, I'll convert to ShoutMix first. This one confirm no pop-up. :thumb: You can check out ShoutMix features here. Compared to cbox, I don't really see much difference except for the pop-up. For Premium user, you'd have to pay $2/month which will set you to $24 per year and that's like RM76.80/year, same with cbox. :faint: If you sign up for Premium, you'll get many 'Premium' stuffs like unlimited post quota, 3 months message archive, 5000 posts storage, IP/User banning, edit post, and more. I think the free version is enough for me. My chatbox isn't really active anyway. :mrgreen:

Enable or Disable Vista Screen Saver Toggle

dashken@gmail.com (Dashken) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:45:18 +0000

Yesterday, I felt paranoid suddenly that someone may want to access my notebook while I'm AFK or forgot to lock my notebook before I leave my desk. So, I went on and searched for something that can auto-lock my system while I'm away from my desk. Something that's easy to use and something that I can enable or disable in an instance (when I want to watch a movie or stare at a webpage or something like that). Nothing much came up though. So, I thought, hmm... I could use the Vista screen saver and play with it through the registry. Create 2 registry files, one to disable and one to enable the screen saver or something like that. To make it more 'secure' (at least for a while) I could just check the 'On resume, display logon screen' option. Well, anyone can hack the password but it takes time. Or the intruder can just access my notebook before the 1 minute timeout set in the screen saver. It's better than nothing anyway. LOL! :D Found the screen saver registry keys at [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] as I've created a script to install new screen savers and made one of them as Windows default before this, so I just looked back to my script to find the correct registry path.
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Creating A DOS Bootable USB Key (The Easy Way)

dashken@gmail.com (Dashken) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:56:45 +0000

[Updated on 4th February 2009] I've recently found an easier way which I didn't think about before. I don't know why. Anyway, you should read the new tutorial first, Creating A DOS Bootable USB Key (All-in-One Package). If it doesn't work, then try the one below. The new one should be much much easier. All in one package I have to say. :mrgreen: [Posted on 2nd July 2008] Been extremely busy lately and wow... the last time I posted was nearly 1 month+ ago. :faint: Recently I was asked by a colleague how to create a DOS bootable USB key without using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool because the PC on the other end doesn't have a floppy disk which is what you need if you want to create a DOS bootable USB key using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool (I think). :mrgreen: So, I went and searched for an easier way through my best friend, Google and found a way. A very easy way. I know many are already moving to Windows PE since the launch of Vista. But if you want to use your USB Key or USB Flash Drive (UFD) to flash BIOS, then as far as I know, doing it in DOS mode is the only way to go. We all used to use floppy disks to handle this kind of task but nowadays, a typical motherboard BIOS ROM file can easily take up to 1MB+. That leaves little for the other system files to reside on the floppy disk. That's why many are using USB key for this very task, flashing BIOS or just running simple batch file to flash stuffs or writing DMI information to the BIOS, etc. Here's a much simpler way to create a bootable DOS USB key...
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High Definition Audio Support on Windows XP SP3

dashken@gmail.com (Dashken) — Mon, 26 May 2008 08:26:50 +0000

Windows XP SP3 was released early this month, around 6th of May 2008. As I've mentioned earlier, the RC version of Windows XP SP3 didn't support high definition audio. Since the RTM version is released, one wonders if it supports high definition audio or Microsoft forgot to add it in again? :D Windows XP SP3 can be downloaded from Microsoft's download center. If you are having doubts on installing SP3 on your Windows XP because you fear that no sound will come out of your system, you can stop worrying now. Why? Well, here goes...
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