Lenovo Z370 laptop Atheros AR9285 wireless not connecting to networks

Strange problem with two identical Lenovo Z370's (well one pink, one black). The pink one always connects, the black one sometimes fails to connect - it just reports a generic connection failed error. Tried reinstalling drivers, deleting wireless settings, removing anti-virus/security.

It also fails on other wireless networks, so its not down to the router. Both laptops had dentical drivers - the AR9285 v9.1.0.314 dated 12 Aug 2010 (Windows 7 64 bit) which is the latest that Lenovo list for that model. I also tried imaging the laptop from pink to black - but same problem, which started me thinking it was a hardware fault.

However before I went down that route I spotted an updated HP driver for the AR9285, which seemed to go as high as 9.2.0.444 for the EliteBook 6930p. Having a good search around the Lenovo site uncovered a 9.2.0.115 dated 24 Nov 2010 for a Lenovo G470 (also available for the IdeaPad Z570)
http://consumersupport.lenovo.com/uk/en/DriversDownloads/drivers_show_4134.html
I had to run the installer twice (first time uninstalls) and then the laptop connected immediately.

Wireless connects reliably now.

'sent on behalf of' user@gmail.com with own domain name - stop gmail doing that

Just set up a couple of gmail accounts for friends' kids and registered their own domains for them. You can easily add the new email address to gmail so it uses their own domain (eg kid@kidsname.com) instead of a generic gmail.com one (look under Gmail Settings > Accounts & Import > Send As)

However using the standard setup which specifies using Gmail's own SMTP server to send mail out, the message arrives in Outlook with a 'sent from user@gmail.com on behalf of kid@kidsname.com. Looks a bit messy and gives away the gmail username.

You can stop that sent on behalf of from appearing by changing the Gmail settings slightly. Go back into the Send As setting mentioned above then click Edit info for the own domain name entry (kid@kidsname.com).

Specify that you want to use the domain's own SMTP but delete the smtp.kidsname.com entry and change to smtp.gmail.com (yes yes, same server as before, but it doesn't add that sent on behalf of label sent like this). Use the user@gmail.com login and password, specify TLS and port 587.

Symantec 12.1 LiveUpdate incorrectly reports low disk space

I've got 23GB free on this laptop and Symantec EndPoint Protection Small Business 12.1 keeps insisting I need to run disk cleanup to free some disk space.

I found this recent Symantec post that talked about proxies causing that problem
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH157197
but I don't think that applied on this site

I then found this old (!) 2008 post talking about the same problem with Symantec EndPoint 11.02 and how to fix it by removing the check from the registry
http://www.symantec.com/connect/forums/live-update-low-disk-space
except I couldn't find that value in my registry.

I did work it out in the end, I'm on 64 bit Windows 7. The equivalent location to check in the registry is
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
where I found the entry for ALUAlert and deleted it :-)

I did also note that in the Control Panel under Symantec LiveUpdate Settings > Update Cache, the max cache size was only 10MB so I bumped that up to 100MB.

Only thing is I don't know which fixed it now :-(

HP PSC 2410 Photosmart keeps clicking when turned on, won't print

An HP PSC 2410 photosmart all-in-one printer (thats the printer fax scanner copier model) won't print anything. When its first turned on you can hear a constant clicking sound. If you look closely at the scan head its lit up and moving slightly, almost like its jammed.

The problem was caused by dirty glass and the scan sensor not responding correctly. Dismantling the top of the scanner to clean it is straightforward - once you know the magical HP sequence to dismantle the top and take the 5 screws out.

You'll need a Torx T-10 screwdriver and to take a look at the photos in this HP document
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00553775&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=303753&dlc=en&lang=en
Basically, unclip the scanner cover, undo the 3 screws, prise the control panel cover off from the front edge. Gently push the catch into the hole below the Black copy button. Slide the panel towards the front. You'll find 2 more screws under there that will release the glass. Clean the underside and re-assemble.

Unexpected shutdown after restart of SBS 2011 on Hyper-V with Remote Desktop

Got a client with Small Business Server (SBS) 2011 running on Hyper-V Server Core 2008 R2. I always remote in to load updates by using Remote Desktop (or Terminal Services client or Remote Desktop Services or Client or whatever its called this year)

I noticed this particular server always gives an Unexpected Shutdown after I click Restart once the updates are loaded. Also if I manually choose to Restart.

Couldn't see what was causing it until I came across this thread where a load of people with Blackberry Enterprise Server were having the same problem (this is a Dell Poweredge by coincidence too).
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winservergen/thread/d10b8ba4-5b1a-440f-bc3c-2e8d02d10896

Scroll most of the way down for the post from JakesRNC. Its a quick and dirty fix but does the job. Putting 'net stop "Blackberry Controller" in the shutdown script for the server with Group Policy.

On the server,
Start > Run > gpedit.msc
Computer Config > Windows Settings > Scripts > Shutdown
Add a script with
   name = net
   parameters = stop "Blackberry Controller"

Symantec Mail Security ate all my disk space

An SBS 2008 server running on Hyper-V Core just ran out of disk space on the system volume. When I checked I found a 10GB Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange (SMSMSE or is that Information Foundation for blah blah) log file hiding in C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\SMSMSE\6.5\Server\logs.

I deleted it, but within a couple of minutes the free disk space had gone again. A scan of folder sizes using my old trusty dirsize.exe (and a second opinion from FolderSize) didn't show the culprit. The space had just disappeared. After rebooting the server and stopping the Mail Security services another log file appeared in the same directory.

Installed the latest version of SMSMSE (6.5.6.268) but it was still a problem. Turned out to be corrupt virus definitions and corrupt spam rules (Brightmail)

Shut down all three SMSMSE services,
delete the VirusDefs0000000x folders from C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Symantec Shared\definitions\AntiVirus
and delete the following from C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\SMSMSE\6.5\Server
- bm_ruleset folders
- .sequence.0 and .sequence.2
- hashes
- blrm

Then run Liveupdate with certified definitions from SMSMSE Admin Status page

IE 9 won't open or save attachment in OWA webmail on SBS

That new locked down IE9 is giving me hell on the SBS servers. Latest was to stop me saving a licence file on a remote server I was logged into. No errors, just wouldn't open or save or save as.

Messed with security xones, trusted certificates, activex filtering

Found the answer on Andy Grogan's blog

Internet Explorer > Internet Options > Advanced

scroll most of the way down the list, and untick this option

Do not save encrypted pages to disk option

I can't open the Word/Excel attachment in email

If you receive an email with a file attached and the filename ends with DOCX or XLSX or PPTX that you can’t open with your version of Word/Excel/Powerpoint, its probably because the file is saved in the new format for Office 2007 and Office 2010.

The older versions of Office 2000, 2002, 2003 can’t open these without an update.

Microsoft have made a converter available as a free download:

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=3

Alternatively you can upgrade to the latest Office 2010 Home and Student (3 pack) for around £89 or
if there’s a pupil or older student using the computer, buy the special education version of Office 2010 Professional Plus from
www.software4students.co.uk approx. £40
You just have to specify the school/college/uni and students name

QR code generator for address details

Wouldn't have thought it was that hard but something like the first six hits from Google all failed to generate a working QR code. Was only after something basic with Name, Email, Mob and Website. Got lots of spurious characters appearing in the text fields :-(

Anyway the winner was http://goqr.me/

Simple to use, variety of formats and sizes and the QR works - shock! Tested successfully with red Laser on the iPhone.

(I would reproduce here but seeing as it has my son's mob, email and facebook page, maybe not)

AVG 2011 Internet Security Business Edition reports NDIS driver not found

Just upgraded a client from AVG 9 to AVG 2011. This was to the Business Edition of AVG Internet Security (and Anti-Virus) 2011.

One of the laptops running Windows XP SP3 failed to uninstall the previous version properly then screwed up the install of the new one.

When you opened the AVG Console, the Firewall reported an error 'NDIS driver not found'.

Running a repair install didn't help and that article about manually installing the AVG Network Filter Driver from Local Area Connection properties didn't work either.

I did an unistall of AVG and was still connected to the Internet and network ok, however when I looked in Network Connections there was no Local Area Connection and no Wireless Connection.

To fix that I went into the Device Manager and uninstalled both LAN and WLAN devices. Then did a Scan fro Hardware Changes to reinstall them. That did the trick and AVG 2011 reinstalled successfully after that, presumably finding the NDIS that had been MIA.

Rather than doing a full AVG uninstall and reinstall, maybe worth testing if uninstalling and reinstalling the LAN and WLAN devices recovers the NDIS error ...