Scott Hanselman

"A Repair Install is not foolproof and should not be considered the cure-all fix for non-boot situations." says an XP Repair FAQ. This is true.

If you've got a spot on your carpet, should you rip up the floor and lay new carpet?

I updated the wife's computer's network drivers yesterday and got this lovely error on reboot:

Blah blah Systemroot/system32/config/Software is either missing, corrupt or has an error.

You'd think they'd know if it were missing or not. ;) I thought seriously about doing reinstall/repair install, but then thought there might be a simpler, less drastic solution.

I held down F8 and tried "Last Known Good Configuration" and that didn't work. I also couldn't get into the system via Safe Mode, but I could get into the Recovery Console. The Last Known Good and Safe Mode not working (via my gut) told me that there was probably a disk corruption error around the area of the registry file, rather than a corrupt hive.

From within the console I changed directories down to system32/config and saw that SOFTWARE (the Registry Hive) was in fact there, and was of a reasonable size for this simple machine (about 26 megs). I ran chkdsk /p (it's /p, not /f, inside the Recovery Console) and it found and fixed errors. Rebooted and was were back in business.

(Had this not worked, the next step would have been a purchase of ERD Commander)

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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Here's a clever service from the makers of 43 Folders (a favorite getting things done site), it's http://www.thanksno.com.

It's a friendly one page site that you would send to that friend, family member, or co-worker who sends you chain letters, jokes, pictures, videos, or other crap.

I think it's a pretty clever idea. I'm not sure what Miss Manners would think about it, but it feels reasonable from a netiquette point of view.

I seem to remember a number of other "one page sites" that were basically brochures presenting one point of view or the other.

Here's the few I remember:

• Web Standards - A tasteful (used to be) page that you could redirect your users to, gently prodding them to download a decent browser. (A recent "standards-based redesign" now causes retinal damage. Be warned.)
• Feed Icons - One page and a lot of images promoting the new standard icon for representing feeds. DasBlog uses these now.
• Common Errors in English - I'm stretching here, as this is an index into many pages, but this is (to me) the definitive colloquial english site, highlighting common errors. I've sent this link to a few well meaning writers. I've also sent the link to myself at least a dozen times.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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I'm going to be posting a number of book reviews this week as I used a chunk of the weekend while Z slept to catch up on my reading. Some'll be technical, some not.

I've just finished a haunting book called kindred by the amazing and prolific Octavia Butler. This is the 25th anniversary edition from 2004 - this book was written in 1979.

The premise is that Dana, a modern Black woman, is called back to the early 19th century to save the life of a white ancestor. In the present her husband is White and at one point is pulled back with her. The dynamics of their relationship change dramatically as it is assumed that she is a recently enslaved freewoman from the North travelling with her owner (in fact her husband.)

Their relationship is tested as they are forced to live dramatically different lives. Most painfully to watch is how quickly and believably they slip into their expected roles, that of slave and slave owner. As an interracial couple they've typically swept awareness of their differing ethnicities under the rug, but those differences and associated race memories are pulled to the forefront when the extraordinary circumstances drag on.

There are sadly few books to compare this to, although the language has similar texture to that found in The Intuitionist. (Another racial allegory that I recommend, using science fiction and alternate reality to explore difficult questions.)

I would suggest this book to nearly anyone, but especially young people over 15-16 of any race, as long as a parent, mentor or book group that is well-versed in the time period can help some of the deeper nuances. I really would have enjoyed teaching this book at the high-school level either for Social Studies, History or English Literature. I took a number of Black Studies classes in college, did some teaching/tutoring, and looked into the PSU Black Studies major when computers found me. Perhaps one day I will teach again.

This is a fantastically powerful book and well worth the read. My next Octavia Bulter book will be Dawn.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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A little trick that I like to use when I install Firefox on a family member's computer is having multiple homepages.
In FireFox from Tools|Options|General, enter in the homepages you want, separated by pipes "|".

This will make the day of spouses, parents, great uncles and cousins who only visit three or four sites a day. Rather than trying to teach them the wonders of RSS, just show them how tabbed browsing works and send them on their merry way.

The WAF on this tip is high.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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We just upgraded to a rocking sweet new printer, but I just didn't feel right throwing the old Canon S300 away. It had become totally useless, unable to print black and yellow.

The printer was only a $50 printer and the local printer place said they'd repair it by soaking the print head for, you guessed it, $50. No way, says I. Instead I got a small plastic container and a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and soaked the print head (minus ink) overnight.

Amazingly, the printer has been brought back from the dead and prints better now than in years. I took it to my office and replaced the old Canon BJ200ex at work with my shiny new-to-me-at-work S300 Color.

New printer at home, well-loved printer at work and now an orphaned B&W inkjet on my shelf...gotta find a home for that...

Isn't recycling of techie equipment great? I just can't stand to throw anything away if it can be put to some use.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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