07 Jun 10 PDF conversions from Office Applications vice versa

Normally, we use PDF because they act like a photographic memory of a document and very much portable. From security point of view, they are secure, compact and do not execute anything. Above all, it can be viewed freely and fast. So, as far as I am against with Steve Jobs, I think Adobe is going onto right direction.

My professional involves giving support and I just wanted to share with you some of the adobe services.

Anyway, if you want to convert PDF files into text files or html files. Here are quick ways to do so, this is actually for those who mainly use email to transport files and documents.

* For conversion to plain text, e- mail the PDF file to pdf2txt@adobe.com
* For conversion to HTML, e-mail the file to pdf2html@adobe.com

All you need to do is, just simply attach the file and send to the email address above, if your conversion is successful, it will return with successful file and replied mail. It’s just as easy as chips.

For those who obtain files via Web Browsers, I think this would be more suitable method. Just go to

Online conversion tools for Adobe PDF documents

It is actually an online conversion tools that are already available on the Internet.

And another product I wanted to introduce after I tested several free PDF creators and readers, I finally have my say to all those free PDF creators/writers version. And I finally pick

Nitro PDF for reader and writer module. It is compact, about 22.6MB only, yet it has several great stuff that can simply match Adobe Acrobat Professional in many ways. Of course, you can’t beat Adobe Acrobat Professional, but isn’t it fantastic when you spend nothing and can use almost as same as Adobe product. So, basically you can do everything about PDF with these applications and email address, because it’s really working out well with me.

Thanks for reading.

Tags: compact, conversion, doc, docx, Linux, Mac, pdf, security, tips, Windows

25 May 10 Avira AntiVIR tips for all Windows OS

Many people love Avira AntiVir software. It’s comprehensive, It is awesome and it is easy to use. There is only one huge drawback from the software, the free version’s annoying message that is popping up so frequently every time we update or use the scanner.

So, as usual, I had to look around online and see what is the solution for this problem and I got it fixed. I am very happy with this and I wouldn’t want others to miss as well.

Windows 2000 / Windows XP Pro

• Go to Start > Run.
• Type gpedit.msc and click OK.
• Navigate through User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System.
• Double click “Don’t run specified Windows applications”.
• Enable it and click show.
• Add “avnotify.exe”.
• Click OK on all open windows.
• Restart your computer and it is done .

Alternate:

• Start > Run: secpol.msc (You can also access this program through ‘Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy’ this is useful if it is easier the location of this rather than the file name)
• Right click “Software Restriction Policies,” Choose “New Software Restriction Policies.” (Skip this step if there are subfolders in Software Restriction Policies already.)
• Right Click “Additional Rule” folder > New Path Rule.
• Where it says Path, Type the path of avnotify.exe on your computer, or use the Browse button to find it. (On XP64 using a default install of Avira, the path is: (C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avnotify.exe)
• Make sure the “Security Level” Dropdown menu is selected as “Disallowed”
• If you would like to make sure it went through correctly, open the Additional Rules folder, and verify the path and security level.
• Oh, enjoy after you restart your computer..

———————————————————————–
Windows XP if you have multiple users or using AD

• Boot into Safe Mode.
• Log into an account with administrator privileges.
• Open [driveinstalledon]:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic.
• Right click on avnotify.exe and go to Properties > Security > Advanced.
• Click on Edit-> Traverse Folder / Execute File-> deny-> OK.
• Repeat for all users.
• Reboot your computer normally.

another alternative solution is

• Run the command “cacls “%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Program Files\Avira\Insertpath\avnotify.exe” /e /d Everyone” to change the rights without restarting. Everyone can be exchanged with another user account when needed, but it is not totally guaranteed compared to do for all the users.

———————————————————————————————-
Windows 7 or Windows Vista Business/Ultimate
1. Open the control panel through Start > Control Panel.
2. Go to Administrative Tools > Local security policy.
3. Click on Software Restriction Policy > Action > Create new restriction policy.
4. Right-click, and go to additional rules > new path rule.
5. Click Browse and navigate to C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\ and double-click avnotify.exe.
6. Set the security level to Disallowed.
7. Click apply and OK. Restart the computer.
——————————————————————————
Windows Vista Home 64-Bit

• Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avnotify.exe for the current version, 9. For earlier versions, go to C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avnotify.exe.
• Right-click avnotify.exe and go to Properties > Security.
• Under the group or username SYSTEM, click edit.
• Put a checkmark under the DENY column for “read and execute”.

———————————————————————————–
Windows Vista Home 32-Bit
1. Go to C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avnotify.exe for the current version, 9. For earlier versions, go to C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avnotify.exe.
2. Right-click avnotify.exe and go to Properties > Security.
3. Under the group or username SYSTEM, click edit.
4. Put a checkmark under the DENY comlumn for “read and execute”.
——————————————————————————-

So, that is all about it, I must admit, I got this from various sources, blogs and forums, I am sorry if this looks unethical to some of the software developers, but I think if we really love particular software, we always buy it. It applies for me at least. On the other hand, this is quite a big of annoying with too much pop-ups. So, my recommendation is “Please buy the license edition” if you like what they offer in FREE version. That is how software companies can survive as well. I embraced all the people who are using free or limited version compared to using pirated versions.

Any comments or suggestions, you are always welcome to leave so.

Have a good one.

Tags: 2000, 2003, ads, advertisement, annoying, avira, nagging, pop up, upgrade, vista, windows 7, xp

24 May 10 How to find Make, Model and Serial Number on your computer or server

Well, as I have mentioned before, I would introduce another category on my blog, because my profession is actually sometimes linked with computer tips and tricks. I was thinking about naming tips and tricks and now here it is.

Nowadays, all over the world, we no longer use much of clone computers, because brand name computers are as cheap as clone computer. Moreover, branded ones can customize the specifications so easy, some companies even offer you online customizations. Anyway, having a computer means we sometimes run into some computer and hardware/software issues more or less & it is important to know the make, model and serial number of the hardware components of the computer to provide to the supplier or the company. Because sometimes you are at remote connection or lost your labels on your machine or calling to customer support, you will more or less need to identify what product or model is you are referring to.

This applies only in Microsoft Windows machines

1. In the command dos prompt… (start) and (run) and type “cmd”
“wmic bios get serialnumber”

In addition, You can use the command “wmic csproduct get name” to retrieve the local computer model or brand in same command DOS prompt.

2. Using a vbs script: you can use notepad in your windows and Save as “getSN.vbs” after you copy and paste into notepad that’s bold letter below. And then after you save it, just double click it to display on your screen.

On Error Resume Next
Dim strComputer
strComputer = InputBox(“Enter the name of the computer:”)
Set objWMIService = GetObject(“winmgmts:” & “{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\” & strComputer & “\root\cimv2″)
Set colSMBIOS = objWMIService.ExecQuery (“Select * from Win32_SystemEnclosure”)
For Each objSMBIOS in colSMBIOS
MsgBox strComputer & “: ” & objSMBIOS.SerialNumber
Next

Well, that’s all about it, it’s pretty neat and useful for me. I know people will need to use this command because it will come in handy one way or another. Oh, Another reminder, this is only for windows based computer. Below are the operation systems that are applicable to commands and script above. Hope you find this blog post useful and I too hope to post more useful stuff like this in the future as well.

Above commands and script are applicable in.

• Windows Vista Enterprise
• Windows Vista Business
• Windows Vista Ultimate
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter without Hyper-V
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise without Hyper-V
• Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems
• Windows Server 2008 Standard
• Windows Server 2008 Standard without Hyper-V
• Windows Web Server 2008

Tags: computer, model, Number, serial number

11 May 10 Twitter’s twists and turns

Twitter’s poor bug “accept” is probably taking its toll on the most popular micro blogging site. It has been so popular with “accept” key people are able to force and make other members of known ID to become their follower with the parameter “accept username” where username is a user who you want his/her to follow you automatically.

At the moment, all concerned members are now resett to zero, which would be a really painful process if you had built your account 3-4 years ago. However, there’s a little light in the tunnel at the moment, but I don’t really know if it is going to be sure. At twitter’s official blog,

“We’re now working to rollback all abuse of the bug that took place. Follower/following numbers are currently at 0; we’re aware and this too should shortly be resolved.”

So, hopefully, this thing will be resolved very soon. As a matter of fact, I can see many people will be leaving Twitter for this matter because of easy exploitation in security matter. It was just a coincidence of this bug when an “ACCEPT” fan (German Rock Band from 80s) typed “accept xyz“, and he suddenly had the follower with the login “xyz”, that’s when he posted this strange behavior on his blog and finally come to this as a bug. At the same time, hundreds of people are abusing like, they force and let high profile celebrities to follow them without their consent. Celebrities include Aston Kutcher, Oprah W. and Justin Bieber.

Luckily, I have not practiced that bug and I was not added by force from others, so my account is still working well and not being reset. So, at this moment, if your account following/followers are currently zero (0), don’t panic and give it a few days, I am very hopeful that it will come back to the normal soon.

So, what do you think about this massive bug from Twitter? I definitely they would have prevented this issue because twitter has been using # and @ signs since it is started, I think this “accept” is actually their shortcut to auto-follow when a command is triggered. The question is, for Twitter to find out, who abused the system and who were abused, so that they can differentiate and restore back to normal, if not, there will be heaps of disappointment from honest users, in my opinion.

Tags: accept username, auto follow, bug, turns, twists, twitter

07 May 10 AdSense Site Maintenance in Weekends

This weekend, Google will have site maintenance and AdSense site will not be available to access. However, as usual, You’ll be unable to log in to your AdSense account during this time, but we’ll continue serving ads to your pages and tracking your clicks, impressions, and earnings as usual. In addition, your ad targeting won’t be affected. So, no worries about that.

So, basically the effected time will be as follows;

London - 5pm Saturday
Alexandria - 8pm Saturday
Hyderabad - 10:30pm Saturday
Jakarta - 12am Sunday
Perth - 1am Sunday

It will be about a few hours tops, normally, but I just wanted to share that don’t be alarmed if you cannot access your AdSense account because if a legit click will be made, you will be paid accordingly.

Just a heads up for my readers, really. Have a nice weekend.

Tags: adsense, google, maintenance, schedule, weekend