IIS using unexpected (incorrect) Integrated Windows Login

This has just recently become a major problem for me because I created an app that uses the Windows login to access my intranet web tool. For some reason, it was accessing an admin account that I also use instead of my logged in user.

I found this really strange because I never put in the password. I tried to clear my cookies and rebooted my machine, yet somehow it retains my admin account.

I spent an hour figuring this out eventually giving up and worked on something else. Then somehow which seems almost randomly, I thought about checking the credential manager.

Solution

I use the credential manager to manage my user and password for different network solutions. At my place, they use a different login to access these resources for security purposes. I find it such a pain because a few applications are not designed for this scenario. I put in the network folder, user, and password so I thought this couldn't be the solution but I had nothing else to try.

I did notice on closer inspection that it changes the network path \\servername to just servername. I just removed the one related to my tool and suddenly my tool was working as expected again.

Buggish: MS Excel not autofit row with wrap text

Symptom: When I double-click on the left row index where you normally click to resize the row, nothing happens. In most cases this works, but for some "random" reason this does not work all the time.


Possible workaround: Make sure the zoom is at 100%


Notes: I tried to find a solution online but almost all the pages either say to make sure wrap text is enabled/checked/high-lighted/etc or that there are no merged columns.

I cannot believe I lived all these years with this problem with such a simple "fix".

Although some say only with 2010, I want to say that I have faced this problem with all versions of Excel or the very minimum the last several iterations before 2010. I have not had the pleasure of using later versions.

Reference

Found a reference with the same fix.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/autofit-row-height-doesnt-work/ca2a86b8-585a-46fd-a8a7-377e76ac5528?page=2

Buggish: BMC Remedy Error - User Preference Server must be the same as Server 'xxx' for IGWL

User Preference Server " must be the same as AR Server 'xxxxxx' for IGWL

IGWL Has Failed to Load Properly. Please Exist Remedy and Try Again.

If you have already changed your Log File,  make sure to include the preference server and TCP/RCP port in the login window. You may have to click on the "Options >>" button to see the options.

 

Blogger's Ads Location Change after Implementing Google+ Comments

For a while, I was wondering why all of a sudden my CPC disappeared. Especially with a sudden increase in traffic, I should have statistically maintained approximately the same rate. I was only getting perhaps one click to two clicks per month so I thought maybe it was a fluke.

Then I realized that in the single post view, the ad's location changed from middle of the page between comments and post to the very end of the page (after the comments). In addition, the Google+ style comments take up more space than the default blogger comments thus pushing the ads further down.

Then I started looking into how to move the ad back to being above the comments. This actually took a little longer than I expected. The code needed is in Template > Edit HTML, not under Layout. In the Edit HTML mode, there were a lot of tags to filter through so I searched for ad. After going through a few, I found this block for posts (e.g. <!-- posts -->).

Took me a couple minutes to wrap what is going on here. I saw a section that would be near the location of where the ads were (i.e. near the bottom). I thought about moving this block, <b:if cond='data:post.includeAd'>. Then noticed it has some end statements.

Seeing <data:adCode/>, I guessed this was the specific line for the ad. I moved this up between posts and comments. I included additional parameters to mimic the original location:

        <b:if cond='data:post.includeAd'>

          <div class='inline-ad'>

            <data:adCode/>

          </div>

        </b:if>

I am not exactly sure what <data:adStart/> is supposed to end so I left that in its original location. It is odd because adEnd is above that line and when it is not the first post. Either case, I tried the code at this point and seems to have moved it to where I want it to be. Now I just have to wait and see if the clicks return to know if it worked completely.

Here is my hacked up code block I eventually ended up with:

    <!-- posts -->

    <div class='blog-posts hfeed'>

      <b:include data='top' name='status-message'/>

      <data:defaultAdStart/>

      <b:loop values='data:posts' var='post'>

        <b:if cond='data:post.isDateStart'>

          <b:if cond='data:post.isFirstPost == &quot;false&quot;'>

            &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

          </b:if>

        </b:if>

        <b:if cond='data:post.isDateStart'>

          &lt;div class=&quot;date-outer&quot;&gt;

        </b:if>

        <b:if cond='data:post.dateHeader'>

          <h2 class='date-header'><span><data:post.dateHeader/></span></h2>

        </b:if>

        <b:if cond='data:post.isDateStart'>

          &lt;div class=&quot;date-posts&quot;&gt;

        </b:if>

        <div class='post-outer'>

        <b:include data='post' name='post'/>

        <b:if cond='data:post.includeAd'>

          <div class='inline-ad'>

            <data:adCode/>

          </div>

        </b:if>

        <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;static_page&quot;'>

          <b:include data='post' name='comment_picker'/>

        </b:if>

        <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>

          <b:include data='post' name='comment_picker'/>

        </b:if>

        </div>

        <b:if cond='data:post.includeAd'>

          <b:if cond='data:post.isFirstPost'>

            <data:defaultAdEnd/>

          <b:else/>

            <data:adEnd/>

          </b:if>

          <data:adStart/>

        </b:if>

      </b:loop>

      <b:if cond='data:numPosts != 0'>

        &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

      </b:if>

      <data:adEnd/>

    </div>

Buggish: BMC Remedy Error - Log file did not open, IGWL Has Failed to Load Properly. Please Exit Remedy and Try Again

BMC Remedy User (version 7.6.04 SP3)

Error Messages

• Log file did not open
• IGWL Has Failed to Load Properly. Please Exit Remedy and Try Again

Fix

1.     Enter User Name
2.     Enter Password (do not hit enter or OK)
3.     Click Accounts
4.     Click Users
5.     Click Add
6.     Enter your User ID
7.     Enter a Home Directory
1. EX- C:\ProgramData\HOME\[[User ID]]
8.     Click OK (accept users settings)
9.     Click OK (accept accounts settings)
10.     Click OK (to sign in to AOTS)

Cause

My system was just "reimaged." By re-imaged, he meant that he installed OS onto a new laptop then copied the user files to the new laptop. There have been several other missing settings that were missing which only enforces my suspicions. 

Buggish: User Profile Service service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded. (Microsoft Vista)

I was called to assist a family friend's mother who ran into an error with her laptop. Here the problem would have been a little more useful if they had told me what the problem was before I arrived there. The problem is that the user received an error the the profile cannot be loaded once they enter their password.

This made it rather difficult to troubleshoot because I cannot log in to figure what information is missing. Unfortunately, this was also the only user created on this machine. So to get into the machine, I had to reboot the system into safe mode. For Vista, this is F8 during the OS load screen.

Once in the OS, I looked up the error which I came across reference-1. I picked the registry fix:
1. F8 in Windows load screen
2. Safe Mode
3. Open to registry location: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\
4. Look for profile that matches the login in question and there should also be a bak version of the key
5. Rename the main key to another name (I added .bad)
6. Rename the backup key without the extension (remove .bak)
7. Reboot, and this fixed my problem

I then created a backup of the registry file (saved in a folder in the documents folder) so that it could be easier for the user to fix this problem in the future:

1. F8 in Windows load screen

2. Safe Mode with Networking

3. Open My Documents

4. Open old computer backup

5. Double click FixUserProfile.reg (although .reg may not show but should be the only file in the folder)

6. Reboot, and this should fix the problem

Worst case if you dont have a problem to work with, below is the keys needed within the registry profile (modified some values to remove identification):

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-21-XXXXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXX-XXXX]

"ProfileImagePath"=hex(2):00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\

  00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

"Flags"=dword:00000000

"State"=dword:00000000

"Sid"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\

  00,00,00,00,00

"ProfileLoadTimeLow"=dword:00000000

"ProfileLoadTimeHigh"=dword:00000000

"RefCount"=dword:00000002

"RunLogonScriptSync"=dword:00000000

Reference

1 - http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-security/user-profile-service-service-failed-the-logon-user/4ed66b21-c23e-42f1-98b2-706dcf931fae

Life: MayTag Refrigerator Fixed Finally (Broken Fridge, Working Freezer)

My bottom-freezer refrigerator (MBF2258XEB6) was broken for almost a month. The first week, I was not available for the first week. Second week, I supposedly filled out the service form incorrectly. I should have figured something was wrong when I didn't get an email. I may have been distracted by a very highly urgent call from my mother that turned out not to be important at all. So finally the third week, I correctly scheduled a service through Maytag.

The work was contracted out to a local company. The time range was between 1-4pm. The technician (Vince) came around 2pm and finished by 2:40pm. Although he said it was better to have had the fridge turned on (I turned it off since I figured it was better that way and I wasn't using it for 3 weeks). [Advice to anyone with a fridge problem - leave fridge on at least 24 hours prior to service]

To reiterate the problem (see reference 1), the freezer was working but the refrigerator (top portion) was not cooling. Vince was able to find the problem and replaced a motor that blew the air into the fridge. Supposedly the one that I had would turn on for a few seconds but then would shut down. He explained that it was just a mechanical problem. To my ears, I did not do anything wrong to cause the problem.

He had to take out quite a few parts of the freezer to get to the motor. There was the freezer door, then the shelves, then the ice maker, then the back panel, and finally some other electronic piece.

Reference
1 - http://douglastclee.blogspot.com/2014/08/review-maytag-bottom-freezer.html

HOWTO: Google Chrome Remote Desktop - Change Pin/Password, Forgot Pin

This took me a while to figure out and could not find a satisfactory solution. I was testing at first and just used a test pin since I didn't have a 6 digit pin readily thought through, so forgot what PIN that was.

1. Open Google Chrome
2. Go to Settings
3. Click Extensions
4. Find Chrome Remote Desktop > Click Visit website
5. Click Launch App
6. At the bottom of the page, there is a link at the bottom of the page "Change PIN"


This is on Google Chrome on Windows 7.

Reference

If the above does not work, try the links below in Google Chrome, but I'm not sure if these will work. It works on my pc but unsure if keys are specific to my install
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-remote-desktop/gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp

You may have to copy/paste this manually:
chrome-extension://gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp/main.html

Key Search Terms

Forgot Chrome Remote PIN, Forgot Chrome Remote Desktop PIN
Change PIN for Remote Desktop

Update (4/25/2021)

Please note this post was created in 2014. Many of this information is probably obsolete. I may have used Google Remote Desktop another month after this post, so I cannot share what the new process is. If someone would like to provide a link to a modern process, I will post this here.

Review: SharePoint 2010 - Check DateTime Field is Blank (solution)

My preference in setting up flags is to use a datetime field. If there is a date, then the flag is set. If it is null, the the flag is not set. My problem is using SharePoint Designer to check if the datetime field is empty.

Solution

After some searching, I found the second solution in Reference-1 to work for me. The solution is to create a text field variable, then set the datetime field to the variable. The text variable will have the options to check if it is null, and will be null if the datetime field is null. For me the important step was making sure that the variable is of a type that triggers the conditional statement to include null checks.

Analysis

For whatever reason, the conditional statement does not include null for datetime fields. My guess is that there is something about checking datetime field as null because I did try the first checked solution in Reference-1 by setting a variable as null then comparing it to my datetime field.

As I write this, I think I may have created the variable as a datetime variable. There is a possibility that this may work if compared to a text variable set to null. I would check if I was not already frustrated with working with SharePoint and if I still had that example. Perhaps, I'll try this at a later time.

There was another alternate solution which I did not get around to doing. It requires another column. .

Reference

1- http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/6dc36021-5c7d-4d70-8ead-afa36c45dfd5/how-to-check-for-the-date-is-null-in-sharepoint-designer-condition-?forum=sharepointcustomizationlegacy
2 - http://howardmcd.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/how-to-check-if-a-date-field-is-blank-in-a-sharepoint-designer-workflow/

Work Life: SharePoint 2010 - Creating Workflow Error

The list of workflow actions on the server references an assembly that does not exist. Some actions will not be available. The assembly strong name is Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Actions, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c. Contact your server administrator for more information.

For me, I had to restart my SharePoint Designer which fixed the problem. My guess is because I opened it yesterday and left it open overnight. My VPN disconnected as usual when my machine goes to sleep-mode.

Here's another site that looked promising, but appears to require access to the server:
http://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/68769/sharepoint-2010-sharepoint-designer-notification-the-list-of-workflow-actions

Buggish: Motorola Droid RAZR Google Maps not switching to Landscape Mode

Solution

Updated to latest version, forced stop the application, restarted phone. Forced stop may or may not be required but it was a step that I did before restarting. Since I cannot reproduce the issue, I cannot confirm any or all steps.

Story

For the last month, I have not been able to get Google Maps on my Droid RAZR (the first version) to switch to landscape mode. Other applications are able to switch between portrait and landscape normally. I've restarted my phone and forced stopped the application.

Nothing seems to fix this problem. This is quite a problem for me because I'm able to squeeze the phone in landscape position into the dashboard of my car only thus not requiring any type of docking station.

On the bright side, I've gotten better at judging turns even with my phone appearing sideways. I have my map on a locked north position.

So while writing this post, I restarted my phone just to verify my tests and, behold, Google Maps can now switch to landscape mode. I had restarted my phone a couple times before. The only thing I can think of was that I did just download an update. Then, I forced stop the application. At this point, the problem still exists. After I restarted, the problem has gone away.

This makes me question how applications are executed after an update. Why did the update not autocorrect the problem? Even if the update did not trigger the change, the forced stop should have ended the process. This seems to indicate to me that there is some cached memory, probably on the OS level. That hypothesis does not explain why my other applications do not have the same problem.

Life: Detached Life, Attached Life, What Life Do I Want?

Do I want to rage in my life or observe from a detached point-of-view? Here I want to differentiate "I" from "us" because I want to be clearer that this is a choice that an individual cannot take both extremes. Most of us will fall in between the two, but we will likely lean more towards one than the other.

And as I ponder on this thought, my curiosity is more on what made me decide the path to take and what made you who you are. The more that I think on it, the harder it was to imagine that I made my choice without the world around me. It is like a void that I filled.

My life has taken me towards a path, while my talents have driven me towards a subset of those paths. Given all the choices I've made and the choices of the people around me has made, my one single path is the one that I lived. My future may have infinite paths, but not all paths are available to me.

I will never know what it was like to be homeless, parent-less, and the same time I will also not know what it is to be king or wealth beyond my imagination. I can guess, but I'll never know. It is just life to me because there is nothing I can do about what is. This does not make me sad or happy.

By the same thought at the more extremes, do criminals exist because of the situation they were put into? I am not perfect. Assuming that everyone is imperfect, there are bound to be "cracks" in society that almost seem like it necessitates the existence of "evil" within our world.

So to solve our worldly issues, we cannot "not" care about the world around us. To me, the solution is to strive to be self sufficient and be able to help at least one other person so that my idea can survive. If I can help at least two other people, then I have at least made the world a better place. Eventually those two people can help at least one other person.

I can choose to be a more pro-active person or an indirect person. I believe both paths can solve our problems. To reach the point to safely guide someone else, we need to reach a point where we are comfortable with our existence. Whether you find your sufficiency through a god, multiple gods, no gods, science, nature, personal faith, or even questionable existence, I believe we all seek a greater truth and we can all reach there faster with everyone. For a Buddhist monks see things that a pope does not see which neither can truly see what you nor I see. By sharing our vision, we can see a bigger picture... hopefully, we'll see that none of us are wrong. We just saw it differently.

Reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb-OYmHVchQ

“Man is literally split in two: he has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness in that he sticks out of nature with a towering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground a few feet in order blindly and dumbly to rot and disappear forever.” -Ernest Becker