Windows « BioIT

Solution for the Windows 64-bit VPN Problem

Thursday, November 19th, 2009, 9:43 am MT - posted by Ross Madden

It has been stated before and will be stated again, but here goes – Cisco will not be releasing a VPN client for Windows 64 bit computers. This leaves those running 64 bit windows in a bit of a bind when they need to access resources that are restricted to on-campus users. VPN allows those who are traveling and working from home to act like they are using a computer that is physically on campus, allowing their computer to access restricted resources. A few of these resources are Library journals, network drives, and Pangea (for the Department of Biology). The Pangea connection application will not work unless you are on campus, or using a VPN client from off campus.

Fortunately, there is now a solution! The Juniper Network SSL gateway that ACNS has set up has a (currently) unpublished feature called NetConnect. NetConnect will allow a full tunnel to be created through the SSL gateway. The way you access this unpublished feature is to append ‘netconnect’ after the SSL URL which creates the following:

https://secure.colostate.edu/netconnect

You will log in as usual with your CSU eID but will now notice a new section at the bottom of the page called ‘NetConnect’. You will also see a ‘Start’ button on the right side of this section. Clicking on this will create the secure tunnel onto campus, allowing you to run the Pangea connection application! Of course, the first time you run this option you will need to install the Juniper NetConnect client – this only takes a few minutes though.

Enjoy!

Posted in General BioIT, Tips and Tricks, Windows | No Comments »

New Computer? Old Computer? CCleaner!

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009, 3:53 pm MT - posted by Ross Madden

I am often asked these two questions.

I have a new computer, how can I remove all the CRAP that came preinstalled?

I have an older computer, how can I speed it up?

I will share with you a little IT secret, and that is CCleaner. In short, this program optimizes your system, by removed “crapware” that comes preinstalled on your new machine, cleaning up your Windows registry, as well as trashing temporary files that are not needed. Oh, and it is totally free! So, the next time you want to optimize an older computer, or polish up your brand new machine by wiping that crapware off – give CCleaner a try. The only drawback is for Mac users, since this is a Windows only computer. Luckily Macs don’t come with much crapware – so you shouldn’t be too disappointed.

http://www.ccleaner.com

Posted in General BioIT, Tips and Tricks, Windows | No Comments »

Chloroform Restart 11/6/2009 7:00 AM

Friday, November 6th, 2009, 8:16 am MT - posted by Ross Madden

I have restarting one of the Department of Biology’s Domain Controllers this morning at 7am on Friday, the 6th of November. This restart was necessary to apply a few security patches. Chloroform is one of two domain controllers within the Department. Fluoroform is the other domain controller and was not restarted during this maintenance. Domain controllers allow for the department to authenticate against the University’s Active Directory (eID). Chloroform also hosts the departmental workstation backup server. Please let me know if you have any trouble authenticating to Biology related resources with your CSU eID. Thank you for your cooperation!

Posted in General BioIT, Security, Windows | No Comments »

Symantec 11.0.5 for Windows

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009, 10:00 am MT - posted by Ross Madden

ACNS has just made available the new version of Symantec Endpoint Protection. This version not only solves the various firewall issues we were experiencing but also works properly with Windows 7. As I reported earlier, Windows 7 was popping up an annoying driver compatibility warning (http://rydberg.biology.colostate.edu/sites/bioit/2009/09/18/symantec-sep-windows-7-issue/).

If you are suffering from the 11.0.4 SEP installation that has disabled your Windows Firewall you must do one of the following when upgrading to SEP 11.0.5:

- Manual Intervention – upgrade to SEP 11.0.5 by downloading the installer from the link below and running it. Then turning on your WIndows Firewall from within the Control Panel manually.
- Manually Uninstall SEP 11.0.4 first, then download and install SEP 11.0.5

SEP 11.0.5 can now be downbloaded at the following URL: http://www.acns.colostate.edu/?page=downloads_sls_free

Sorry to all the Snow Leopard users – it still looks like January 2010 for version 10.3 to be released.

Posted in Apple, Security, Windows | No Comments »

How to: Work From Home

Thursday, October 8th, 2009, 9:03 am MT - posted by Ross Madden

No, I’m not pitching some “Google pays me $1,425 a week” foolishness. I am talking about how you can connect to your work computer from home if you find yourself sick, or if one of the campus’ emergency plans are implemented due to pandemic, weather, or whatever else you can think of.

I have created some instructions on how a user can continue to work from home by setting up Remote Desktop on their office computer. Remote Desktop will allow your computer at home to look and feel exactly like the computer you are connecting to (Your office computer in this case). This includes having access to all the resources (Pangea etc.) that you had on your work machine. There are a few requirements of course:

- Power. You cannot work from home if the power is out.
- You have a Cable or DSL Internet connection at home. Dial up will not provide adequate bandwidth for this to be useful.
- Your office computer is running Microsoft Windows XP or newer.
- Your office computer is left ‘On’ when you are not in the office and that it does not go into ‘Standby’ or ‘Hibernation’ after a specific amount of time.

The important action item for these directions is that we get this taken care of BEFORE you are forced to remain home. It is important that these steps are also tested ahead of time to make sure everything is set up properly.

These directions take advantage of the Juniper SSL Gateway that ACNS implemented a few years ago. The reason we will be using this is that it avoids the use of the problematic Cisco VPN Client which is still (and probably won’t ever be) available for 64 bit Windows operating systems. The remaining bit of this post will point to the FAQ I composed a while back for this topic.

Please take a look at these directions and give them a try ahead of time. Biology affiliates can feel free to contact me about any trouble you have in setting this up. I can usually help with the setup of your office computer if the need arises. If you are not a Biology affiliate, please contact your local IT personnel for assistance.

http://rydberg.biology.colostate.edu/sites/bioit-faq/2009/09/15/how-can-i-work-from-home/

Posted in General BioIT, Windows | No Comments »

Taking it to Netbook City!

Friday, October 2nd, 2009, 1:01 pm MT - posted by Ross Madden

What is a Netbook?

Netbooks are the term applied to ultra portable laptop computers which in turn come with a low price tag; typically, under $400. The low price means that these devices are comparably underpowered for the operations a more expensive “laptop” or desktop computer could typically handle. The ultra portable part means that these devices are very small, usually a 10″ screen or even smaller. Powered by an Intel Atom processor, these low power chips are great for battery life – as some netbook specifications boast 10+ hours of life on a single charge. These devices are great for Internet, photo and video viewing, social networking, and basic applications. Just don’t expect to do anything heavy like Photoshop or video editing.

I am aware of at least a few of these devices in the building – and anticipate more. In fact, I just recently picked up an Asus 1005HA model (shown above). This $300 machine is replacing an aging Apple Powerbook G4 12″. A netbook was attractive to me because of its ultra-portability, long battery life, and low purchase price. For my purposes I will be running Windows 7 32bit RC and Ubuntu Linux Netbook Remix.

It took me only a couple of hours to follow these dual booting directions (http://www.bauer-power.net/2009/06/how-to-dual-boot-windows-7-and-ubuntu.html). I use the Windows 7 side for the majority of my work on this device – Word, Excel, and web browsing. The Ubuntu side is available so that I can program of course.

The important thing to remember about these little devices is that they are UNDERPOWERED. Just like any low cost traditional laptop or cheap desktop setup – they are noticably slower when doing anything other than browsing the web and using services or resources that exist on the web. However, I would say that close to 90% of what I do on computers happens within a web browser. E-mail, Social Networking, Netflix – these services all exist in the “Cloud” (See the post for ‘What is Cloud Networking‘) – and with more and more services popping up online, netbooks seem like a good and affordable way to access these resources from wherever you are.

Posted in General BioIT, The Cloud, Windows | No Comments »

Photoshop vs Photoshop Elements

Friday, September 25th, 2009, 9:54 am MT - posted by Ross Madden

I often get asked if I can help users out with a copy of Photoshop for their lab or personal computer. Of course, I cannot – the Department of Biology does not have a site license for Photoshop nor Photoshop Elements. This leaves the burden of the license cost on the individuals using the software. The problem with Photoshop is that it is is fairly expensive. At the time of this writing RAMtech over in the LSC currently has a single computer license for Phtotoshop CS4 running at $185.84 (check their list if you are reading this at a much later date as these prices may have changed). This is of course an amazing price, as without this educational pricing CS4 runs around $500+. On the other hand Photoshop Elements runs a mere $48.69 for version 7 (Windows OS) and $32.94 for version 6 (Mac OS). It comes to my understanding that most users are unaware that Photoshop Elements exists and by default think they need the full blown and more expensive version. However, when it comes down to the work being done on Photoshop, most would be just fine using the less expensive Photoshop Elements.

I found this informative article on the differences between Photoshop Elements 7 and Photoshop CS4. It lists the tools included in CS4 that are missing in Elements. Overall, use this as a guide to see whether the extra $130 is worth it for the full blown version.

http://www.digicamhelp.com/processing-photos/advanced-editing/photoshop-elements-7-vs-photoshop-cs4/

Posted in Apple, General BioIT, Windows | No Comments »

Symantec SEP Windows 7 Issue

Friday, September 18th, 2009, 8:03 am MT - posted by Ross Madden

While is seems that almost everything related to the current release (as of the time of this posting) is working properly (scanning, updating etc), I am getting the Driver Compatibility popup show below. There are other accounts of this information on the Internet and apparently this is known to Symantec. They are working to solve it, hopefully by the officially release date next month.

SEPW7issue

Posted in Security, Windows | 1 Comment »

Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Experience & First Impressions

Thursday, September 17th, 2009, 10:50 am MT - posted by Ross Madden

I am cursed to be an early adopter, which typically bodes well for the Department of Biology in that I can usually give first hand accounts of the newest IT related phenomenon. So, when I learned that RAMtech, Colorado State University’s computer store already had RM (Retail Media) for Microsoft Windows 7 Professional available for MS Select licensed IT personnel, I immediately got in touch and was able to procure a license. Now, most IT folk would install this on a test machine and run it for a while very casually – I am wholly against that type of thing. In my mind, if you are going to test it out – then dive head first into it. This is why I chose to install this onto my main workstation and really see how it works in our environment. This method of course is a little reckless, however I feel it will pay off in the end as I work toward handling all the little issues that inevitably pop up. I should then be prepared when Windows 7 machines show up on our network in droves in the coming months.

First, a few bits of housekeeping before we get into my experiences. These are a few little FAQs regarding versions and migration strategy’s.

What version of Windows 7 should I get?
This is simple, I am going to recommend at least the Professional package for every user, because of a little thing called Windows XP Mode. This allows your Windows 7 computer to run a virtualized Windows XP session for all of those older software packages that may or may not run on Windows 7. Since most of the Department is still running Windows XP, we are hedging the bet that a lot of the software installed has not been updated to anything considered current. Using anything less than Professional is fine for your home machine, just don’t come whining to me when you need to spend hundreds of dollars on that new version of Photoshop.

32 bit or 64 bit?
This has a short and a long answer – check out this BioIT FAQ for an answer: http://rydberg.biology.colostate.edu/sites/bioit-faq/2009/09/17/32-bit-vs-64-bit-what-should-i-get/

What computer are you using for this test?
Good question! In short I am running a 1 year old Dell Optiplex 755 with an Intel Quad Core Q9550 2.83 GHz and 4 GB of RAM.

On with the show! I very rarely ever do a standard upgrade between Operating System versions. Upgrading typically leaves a lot of stuff (files and programs) I don’t need anymore laying around. I prefer to start clean and reinstall the stuff I really need. Of course, I first backed up all of my data to an external storage device (actually it was just a second hard drive in the computer). I started this whole process at around 2:00 pm and quickly realized this was not going to be as straightforward as I had intended. Stumbling block number 1 – the DVD media I got from RAMtech was not bootable – it lacked the ability to simply place the media in the DVD drive and boot from it. Crud. I now needed to created my own bootable media. I followed the directions from this site to turn my USB flash drive into a bootable Windows 7 64 bit device: http://kmwoley.com/blog/?p=345. These directions worked like a charm except that I needed a 64 bit version of either Vista or 7 in order to run the ‘bootsect’ program. I didn’t have one of those just then, so I needed to make one – I just used my Windows 7 RC 64 bit DVD to create one out of one of my test machines. Coincidentally, I also ran the ‘bootsect’ program off of this media to make the USB drive bootable. It is now 3:30 pm and I finally have bootable install media.

Commence Installation! Overall the installation was super smooth, you have to love the new Vista/7 setup process – very Mac-like in its simplicity. I was officially installed at 4:15 pm.

First Impressions
First, I love the new look of the taskbar and its Aero previews. The overall feel of Windows 7 is current and comfortable. I am once again using the built in weather Gadget since it is no longer constrained to the silly sidebar application – you can drag these Gadgets wherever you want them on your Desktop. On performance, I am also pleased – with any clean install there is typically a boost in load times and other operations. This seems to have a little more pep than the previous Vista 32 bit installation I was using. I also had success in easily joining the Biology domain for CSU eID authentication. The built in video and monitor support for my dual monitors worked fine too – since one of my monitors is landscape and other is portrait – I typically need to go into a NVIDIA control panel to get this working properly – one less piece of software to install! Overall, my first impression is positive.

Problems
Pangea – I have previously documented this problem with connecting to Pangea on the Windows 7 RC – Users will get an Error 86 upon authentication attempts – I had hopes that this would be fixed, although there may be a security reason that it isn’t, all I know at this point is you can find a solution here: http://rydberg.biology.colostate.edu/sites/bioit-faq/2009/09/04/windows-7-pangea-error-86/

iTunes 64 and my iPod Touch – I do not synch my iPod with this computer, but do use it to play podcasts through my speakers in my office. However, it seems that the iPod is not being recognized by My Computer nor iTunes (version 9, 64 bit). There is some chatter on the Internet about this problem on the Apple discussion boards – no concrete solution yet though. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2134302&tstart=0
UPDATE: I got my iPod working – what I did? Uninstall iTunes and the Apple Mobile Device Driver, then reinstalled… who knows what went wrong the first time I did this.

Well, that is it for my initial report. I’ll be updating with shorter more specific posts as the need arises. In any event, Windows 7 Professional is running on my main computer – fell free to stop by and chat about it!

Posted in Tips and Tricks, Windows | 4 Comments »

32 bit versus 64 bit computers

Monday, August 31st, 2009, 10:59 am MT - posted by Ross Madden

This is in response to a number of questions about 32 bit versus 64 bit computers (operating systems, and processors in specific).

The official Microsoft explanation states that “The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the way a computer’s processor (also called a CPU), handles information. The 64-bit version of Windows handles large amounts of random access memory (RAM) more effectively than a 32-bit system.” (http://windowshelp.microsoft.com)

Essentially, what this means is that a 32 bit operating system works better when you have a small amount of memory (RAM) and 64 bit operating systems work better with large amounts of RAM. So, what is a large amount of RAM? The answer to this question changes every year. At the time of this writing, 4GB or more is considered a large amount of RAM. Conveniently, this is also the realistic boundary at which you will choose one or the other architecture. If your computer has at least 4GB of RAM, choose a 64 bit OS. Any less and you should stick with 32 bit.

Here are some other FAQs related to 32 bit vs 64 bit computing:

- Most 32 bit software programs will run fine on a 64 bit OS but NOT the other way around
- You CANNOT upgrade a 32 bit OS to a 64 bit OS. You must format and install the 64 bit OS fresh
- Most computers that have 4GB or more have a 64 bit compatible processor and can run a 64 bit OS
- A list of all 64 bit processors is listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit
- All 64 bit OS require 64 bit device drivers in order for their hardware to work. 32 bit device drivers will not work correctly
- Mac users don’t need to worry about this, Mac OS X is fully compatible for both 32 bit and 64 bit software

Here is another link to a Microsoft site which compares the different Vista operating systems. This information and advice should stay relevant through the Windows 7 release – due October 22nd 2009. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/64-bit.aspx

64bit

Posted in Apple, General BioIT, Windows | No Comments »