Tell your friends how to burn ISO files properly
I have no idea how many blank CD's I've seen wasted on having a file system with a single .iso file on them. Then, I found this page: http://iso.snoekonline.com/iso.htm
It tells you how to burn an image with basically any Windows-based software out there. If someone runs Linux, I assume they can figure it out for themselves.
Archived for my convenience right here.
Remote desktop does not support colour depth 24; falling back to 16
rdesktop on Linux will give this warning message when connecting to a Windows machine which has not been configured for 24-bit color RDP connections. This has, amongst other things, the effect of showing some horrible, jaggy desktop icons. See the pictures on the right for reference.
On Vista, Windows 7 and later (?), the solution is simple: Use 32-bit colors (-a 32)
On XP, which doesn't support 32-bit colors, it gets a little more complicated. XP does support 24-bit connections, but this mode is disabled by default because of bandwidth concerns and bad choices.
To fix this problem on XP (nothing needs changing on the Linux or Windows client) you need to access the Local Machine Group Policy editor.
If you're lucky, going to Start -> Run -> "gpedit.msc" will work for you. Type "gpedit.msc" without the quotes (and click "Run").
If that does not open the group policy editor, this is the long way around:
- Start -> Run and type in "mmc"
- Add the Group Policy snap-in by going to File -> Add/Remove Snap-in -> Add -> Group Policy Object Editor -> Add -> Finish (Local Machine) -> Close -> Ok
In the Group Policy Editor, navigate to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Terminal Services, and double-click on the 'Limit maximum Color Depth' object.
Set the item to "Enabled" and set "Color Depth" to "24 bit"
Click OK, then log in with the remote client. If the changes haven't been applied, reboot the server.
Rejoice with your new, shiny desktop icons and full 24-bit desktop.
How to Hide a User Account from the Welcome Screen
- Use RegEdit (start->run->"regedit") to go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\ - Add, if one does not exist, a key called "SpecialAccounts"
- Under that, add a key called "UserList"
- Create new DWORD (32-bit) keys for each user you want to hide in your newly formed
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\Userlist
Make the name of each DWORD the EXACT username you want to hide, and set their values to 0 (a value of 1 makes them show)
Putty keeps disconnecting
On a recent vacation, taking a train across the entire country, I was using my cell phone's 3G connection to provide my Internet connection. Every little tunnel and other signal interference along the way would cut off the SSH connection I was sending all my traffic through.
While googling, still on the train, I found the PuTTY FAQ, which says this is actually a Windows problem. In short, the solution is to increase the amount of times Windows will attempt to resend lost TCP packets.
This is done by going into the Windows registry, using "regedit" or another suitable tool You can launch regedit by typing WinKey+r, then entering "regedit" into the dialog box.
Once in, browse to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\
In there, change (or create, if missing), the following keys and values:
TcpMaxConnectRetransmissions => 16 TcpMaxDataRetransmissions => 32
Depending on your registry tool, it might ask you to specify a type for the (new) variables. Use DWORD, and the 32-bit kind of DWORD if your tool allows you to specify that.
Reboot and try again.
After doing this, no railroad tunnel could break my SSH connection. Everything would just pause for a few seconds while Windows was sending the same packets over and over, trying to reach the server.
You can probably set these variables to higher numbers too, but I already increased them quite a bit from the values the PuTTY FAQ told me to use, and these are the ones that worked for me.
Windows XP activation doesn’t pop up after repair or ghost
Also, how to log on without activating Windows 
------------------------------------------------------------
Ghosted a machine to a new harddrive today, as the old one was failing.
Windows activation pops up on the first boot, as is to be expected, but when I clicked "Activate", nothing happened. The activation wizard simply wouldn't continue. And of course I couldn't get in and activate the system normally, because Windows didn't let me log on without activating. Gah!
The solution, it turns out, is the following:
- Start the machine, while repeatedly hitting F8 from just after the initial BIOS image disappears
- Choose "Safe-mode with command prompt"
- When the command prompt appears, type "explorer" and press <enter>
You're in!
Now you need to (re-)install a hotfix, and Internet Explorer 8. Download them on another machine, and put them on a CD, a USB-stick, or whatever you have available. Install the hotfix first.
Hotfix KB946501: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/946501
Internet Explorer 8: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx
The files you need are called (for English Windows XP):
WindowsXP-KB946501-v2-x86-ENU (hotfix)
IE8-WindowsXP-x86-ENU (Internet Explorer 
Anyway, after they're installed, reboot and activate as usual.
Worked for me
Error -6003 during Creative X-fi driver install
So the installer says something like:
---------------------------------------
Setup has experienced an error.
Please do the following:
- Close any running programs
- Empty your temporary folder
- Check your Internet connection (Internet-based Setups)
Then try to run the Setup again.
Error code: -6003
---------------------------------------
What do you do to solve this?
Why, erase any folder with a number as it's name (mine was named "09", but I'm sure it can be something else) in the following directory:
%System Drive%\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Professional\RunTime\
No, it doesn't make sense, but it worked perfectly. No reboot or anything. Just remove (or simply move) that folder, and things will start working. Brilliant.
Windows 7 autologin
Short and simple: to allow automatically logging in on Windows 7, you need to press Win+R to open the run menu, then type "control userpasswords2" without the quotes and run it.
Fixing Windows Update errors
The ultimate .bat-file for completely resetting and fixing all sorts of stupid Windows Update errors
VMware Server and Windows Firewall
VMware server uses port 902/TCP for remote connections. It is easy enough to allow outside connections to this port through the Windows Firewall interface in the Control Panel.
However, if you want to do it the "Windows Way (TM)" the trick is to add "vmware-authd.exe", found in the VMware Server folder in your installation directory, to the list of allowed programs. Then, even if you change which port number VMware should use, the Windows Firewall will allow it.
Intellisense issues in Visual C++ 2005
This content has been deliberately stolen from http://blogs.msdn.com/yash/archive/2007/09/19/intellisense-issues-in-visual-c-2005.aspx and saved here for personal reference.
All credits to that page.