Shandy's Blog

If you choose not to install MSDN you can install it later on by going to the Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs, Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition - ENU, Change/Remove, Add Optional Products, Microsoft MSDN 2005 Express Edition. At this point you have a choice to select a location from the installation CD or if, like me, you don't have this, you can select to download it off the internet. Note that when I downloaded the MSDN it was 248Meg.

At work, after just over 3 years of using an Inspiron 8500 laptop I have replaced it with a Latitude D620. Complete with a bluetooth keyboard, mouse, docking station and 19" flat screen monitor it is a huge improvement.

So far the only fault I can find with the system is that if the laptop screen is raised when connected to the docking station the monitor loses the picture and I haven't found a reliable method of getting the picture back to the monitor without rebooting the PC.

One minor irritation with the laptop setup was that it came with Google Desktop Search and Google Toolbar pre-installed. I really dislike non-essential software being pre-installed. Suffice to say the Google Desktop Search was immediately uninstalled. I did leave the Google Toolbar installed as I do find it useful (if only for the spell checker).

After almost two years without using .NET I have just installed VB.NET 2005 Express (complete with SP1) on my work PC so I can start to have a look at .NET during my lunchtime and bring myself a little more up to speed with recent technologies as we are still programming using VB.Classic at work. I registered my installation so I can have a look at some of the benefits offered for registered users.

To register your version of VB.NET 2005 Express you will need a windows live ID. Simply by logging into the registration page using your windows live id will provide you with a registration code. Note that this must be done within 30 days of installing VB.NET 2005 Express.

Once you have registered your copy of V.NET 2005 Express you will receive an email with a link to a web page where there is a short form to fill in. After this is filled in you can access the Visual Studio 2005 Registration Benefits Portal.

There are a number of free and discounted products available. To download any of the products you will need to install the Microsoft File Transfer Manager.

When I tried to log into our company network as a domain user with my new Latitude Dell 620 pre-loaded with Windows XP Pro I couldn’t as the laptop refused to acknowledge that the domain I was trying to log into existed. It appears that the Intel PROSet Wireless Software that is pre-installed cannot start until the PC is logged in and I can’t login until the Intel wireless manager has started. A classic catch 22.

 

The solution I found was to enable the native windows wireless manager (which can start before the PC is logged in), login and then change back to the wireless manager. Once you have logged in once your login is cached and so when you login in the future a network connection is not required to login. The cached login can be used for the initial login and then once you are logged in using the cached login the Intel wireless manager has chance to start up and actually establish the connection to the domain network.

 

I have outlined the process involved in this.

 

The first issue is to allow the native windows wireless manager to manage the laptop’s wireless connection. To do this login as the local administrator, load the Network Connections form and right click on the wireless network connection.

 

 

Select the View Available Wireless Networks option. This will display the Wireless Network Connection form and although the form indicates you should choose a wireless network none are listed but a helpful message is.

 

As the message suggests you need to start the WZC service. To do this you need to load the Services form. This is located in the control panel. In Administrative Tools when using Classic View and in Performance And Maintenance and then Administrative Tools when using Category View. Locate the Wireless Zero Configuration service and you should find the status column is blank. Right click on the WZC entry and select the Start option.

 

This will change the status to Started.

 

Reloading the Wireless Network Connection form will now display a different message.

 

Activating the Change advanced settings link will display the Wireless Network Connection Properties.

 

Activate the Wireless Networks tab.

 

And tick the Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings tick box.

 

Reloading the Wireless Network Connections form should now list the available network connections.

 

The next step is to logoff the laptop as the local administrator and then log back on as the network domain user, which should now be possible as the native windows wireless manager can connect to the domain network before you actually login. When you login the login should be cached. You can then clear the Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings tick box.

 

If you now logoff and then log back in as the domain user you should be able to do so with the Intel wireless manager managing the wireless connection.

 

I did find that an alternative method is to simply use a wired connection for your first login as a domain user but this can be a bit of a nuisance if you have no wired connection handy.

 

Note that you have to follow this procedure for the first domain login for EVERY domain user.

 

If anyone knows how to configure the Intel wireless connection manager to allow a domain user to login without having to use the procedure outlined above or using a wired connection I’d be interested to know.