Windows 7
I just installed Windows 7 on my desktop. My first impressions are pretty good. I might actually use this version of Windows.
Yesterday evening I had a problem, I wanted to access my desktop computer to install a program that I will be using for one of my classes. I was on my laptop in the house, so I usually just use the Remote Desktop Connection tool which works great if nobody else is using the computer you are logging on to. My problem was that my wife was using the computer, and wouldn’t let me log on long enough to do anything. The internet can be a wonderful resource of information when you want to do something.
I found a blog post, actually several, that gave step by step instructions on how to enable a feature in Windows XP pro that Microsoft disabled for the release. One of the blogs mentioned something about with the license agreement only allowing one user being the reason for disabling this feature. I always thought it odd in the task manager the users tab; it alludes to allowing for multiple users connected at the same time. This of course is not possible in the current release of XP.
I used this blog’s steps to accomplish the task of enabling the older beta version which allows multiple users to connect at the same time. There are a lot of steps which include restarting the computer in safe mode, disabling the remote desktop connection among others, that I found unnecessary. Here is what I did:
- Download a copy of the older beta version of termsrv.dll (Terminal Services DLL).
- Disable hide protected operating system files in folder options -> view. (Allows you to see one of the folders in the next step).
- Rename, in this order, the current versions located in C:\windows\system32\dllcache\ and C:\windows\system32\ (I renamed them to termsrv.dll.release).
- Copy the downloaded termsrv.dll into the C:\windows\system32\ folder. Again you will get the waring that you are using an unknown version of a file and to insert the installation disk to fix it. Again continue using the version you just copied.
- Open the registry editor regedit.
- Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\Licensing Core.
- Add a DWORD key named EnableConcurrentSessions, give it a value of 1.
- Close the registry editor.
- Open the Group Policy Editor gpedit.msc.
- Go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Terminal Services and double click Limit number of connections.
- Select enable, and select the number of users you want to connect at the same time. (Many comments on the blog I got this from say that they can only get 3 at once, one said he got 5).
- Restart the computer, and you’re done.
*Doing this will cause windows to pop up a waring message saying you are using an unknown file version and need to insert the installation disk to put the current versions of the files. Choose the responses that you want to continue with the current unknown version. Booting into safe mode would allow you to do this without the warning.
These are about half the steps that are given in the blog, and it works. Last night after doing this I tested it and was able to log into my wife’s session on the desktop computer, and log into my session on the desktop through the remote desktop connection.
***WARNINGS***
The termsrv.dll file has no verification. It may or may not be a clean file from the earlier beta version of XP.
Editing the system registry without knowing what you are doing can break your system be careful.
These last three weeks have been very busy and stressful. On the 26th of July at about 5am my wife woke me up saying that we needed to go to the hospital; her water broke. We went to the hospital and there the doctors and nurses monitored her. She had had previous c-section, so we were planning a c-section from the beginning. They scheduled it for 10am, but another lady that had come in had some complications, and the moved her in, and that bumped us back about an hour. At 11:57am Jay was born. I was in the room, but tried not to watch to closely the surgery; blood and guts make me woozy. They took him into the room next door where a couple of nurses watched him to see how well he was doing. This was to determine if he needed to go to the NICU. He did very well, and shortly after that they let me take him back in to show him to mom while the doctors stitched her up. A few days later on the 29th the doctors all gave the ok to go home. For the first few days Jay evaded the NICU, but unfortunately being 6 weeks early he did not start eating very well in that first week, and his bilirubin levels were high. They had us take him in on the 31st to the NICU. He was there for 8 days while we was treated for the high bilirubin, and got to the point where he was eating well. We have now had him home for 9 days. He is doing very well now, and we are very happy to have him with us.
Jay Matthew Faerber
July 26, 2009
5lbs 5oz
18in
This photo was taken at 2 1/2 weeks:
New photos
Today I was out taking some more photos to post, and the snake (or one of the snakes) that lives near the house was out sunbathing in the driveway, so I tried to get a good picture of him. All of the pictures I took of it turned out blurry, but here is the one that turned out the best. The other photos are in my photo section.
Been busy
I’ve been pretty busy this last week, and this next week will be busy also. Today we are going to the zoo, then on Thur-Fri we are going camping (in a cabin). Then Sat is the 4th, which will be lots of fun. I’m going to try to get some good pictures today to put up on the site. When I find some time I’m going to see if I can make some improvements on my site. I am thinking of doing stuff to make administration easier, so it wouldn’t be anything the public will see.
I have recently updated my site to allow for comments on each of my photos. Since my last post I’ve placed links to larger desktop wallpapper versions of my photos, and allowed for posting comments. Since doing that I haven’t had a lot of time to think about what else to do.
Plans for what’s next
As suggested by my lovely wife I will be adding public comments for each photo. I haven’t yet thought of exactly how I will be doing this, but I do have some good ideas. I will be making efforts to not allow spam comments. Currently my idea is to not allow comments to show up until after being reviewed by me. That is how I have this wordpress blog setup now. I can’t put a time on when this will actually get done, but it is in the works.
New Photo
I took this photo earlier today, and thought that it would make a good desktop background. I uploaded a small 700 x 525 in the general section photo gallery. I decided to put a 1280 x 1024 version of this photo. Looking at it as my desktop background just makes me want to share this one. The small version is here. To get the larger version click here.
Updated Photo Navigation
I just updated the photo gallery navigation, now when you are looking at the larger size photos you can go to the next and previous photos without having to go back to the thumb nail view. It should be easier to look at the larger photos now. Check it out http://www.kevinfaerber.com/photos.php.
New Photo
I just uploaded a new photo of some flowers. It is actually the same as the one just before it, but I enhanced the color just a little bit. I think I’m going to start doing that a little more. I prefer the colors to be as much from the camera as possible, but flowers really do look better when the colors are made a little more vibrant. The link to see the new photo is listed below.
