Adobe Updater Preferences

In a managed environment, an administrator may not want any software to update itself for any number of reasons. The automatic check can be switched off in the Adobe Updater preferences, but it can be a nuisance to find and requires as many as 9 clicks.

Adobe Updater can be launched from within Adobe products by clicking Help | Check for Updates (note that in some products, the path is Help | Updates, but in either case, you can use the keystroke Alt+H, U). Click Preferences, then uncheck the box next to Automatically check for Adobe updates and click OK, then close the Adobe Updater window. You may have to click Quit in a subsequent window before the application closes.

For a more direct route, the Adobe Updater executable installed with Reader 9 resides at
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Updater6\AdobeUpdater.exe on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine, and at
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Updater6\AdobeUpdater.exe on a 32-bit Windows XP machine.

All of the configurable settings are saved to a file named AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat in the user profile, rather than as registry keys. The .dat file extension suggests a binary file, but it’s actually just an XML document that can be opened in any text editor.

The preferences file resides at
C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Adobe\Updater6\AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine, and at
C:\Documents and Settings\[USERNAME]\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Updater6\AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat on a 32-bit Windows XP machine.

The minimum lines that need to exist for the file to be valid and for “Automatically check for Adobe updates” to be disabled are:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<AdobeUpdater>
<AutoCheck>0</AutoCheck>
</AdobeUpdater>

To disable the auto update check programmatically, this file can be saved as AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat and a script used to later overwrite the file in the user profile. A rather geekier approach would be to use a batch file to rename AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat and then write a new file. I prefer the latter method because it requires only a single file and because it could be easily modified to insert lines that would change other settings, such as the location of the aum.log log file or the download directory, which are located in the user profile by default.

A batch file to back-up and then remake the file might look like this:

:: A batch file for writing a new Adobe Updater settings file "AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat"
@echo off

%SystemDrive%
cd\
SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion
if exist "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Adobe\Updater6\AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat" goto WIN7Updater6
if exist "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Adobe\Updater5\AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat" goto WIN7Updater5
if exist "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Updater6\AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat" goto XPUpdater6
if exist "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Updater5\AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat" goto XPUpdater5
goto NOTFOUND

:WIN7Updater6
cd "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Adobe\Updater6"
goto REWRITE

:WIN7Updater5
cd "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Adobe\Updater5"
goto REWRITE

:XPUpdater6
cd "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Updater6"
goto REWRITE

:XPUpdater5
cd "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Updater5"
goto REWRITE

:REWRITE
:: Configure Adobe Update to not check for updates
:: Delete any temp file that this script may have created in the past
if exist AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat.temp del AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat.temp
:: Backup the old file
rename AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat.temp
:: Write a new minimum settings file (the other data will be filled in when Auto Updater runs)
echo ^<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?^> >> AdobeUpdaterPrefs.txt
echo ^<AdobeUpdater^> >> AdobeUpdaterPrefs.txt
echo ^<AutoCheck^>0^</AutoCheck^> >> AdobeUpdaterPrefs.txt
echo ^</AdobeUpdater^> >> AdobeUpdaterPrefs.txt
:: Rename the new file
rename AdobeUpdaterPrefs.txt AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat
goto :EOF

:NOTFOUND
@echo.
@echo The AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat file was not found, no changes have been made.

@pause

Modifying the preferences file could have other benefits as well. Imagine the time and disk space that could saved by having all of those incremental Adobe updates saved to a network location, rather than downloading them to each workstation.

To get the filename just right, I use Advanced Renamer, a free program for renaming multiple files or folders at once. Advanced Renamer can read information from the image file (like the date the picture was taken).

Importing the images

Connect the device or memory card to your computer. In the AutoPlay dialog box that appears, click Import pictures and videos using Windows.

Windows 7 AutoPlay dialog box

The default settings will create a single folder with today’s date, which is not what we want. To change the settings that are used when importing pictures and videos, click Import settings in the Import Pictures and Videos dialog box.

Windows 7 Import Settings dialog box

Under the Folder name menu, choose Date Taken + Tag and click OK. The import process will restart and you’ll be prompted to enter a tag. The tag isn’t important, so just click Import.

Configuring Advanced Renamer

It takes two methods to get the names the way I want them. The first method changes the filename to use the year, month, and day information, and increment a trailing number. The second method changes the new filename to lowercase. If you prefer your file extensions to be in uppercase, you can skip the second method.

Advanced Renamer - Renaming method list

Under Add batch method, click New Name, and either select the desired date conventions from the options, adding any separator characters you wish, or copy the code below to use YYYY.MM.DD_001.EXT.

<IMG Year>.<IMG Month>.<IMG Day>_<Inc NrDir:001>.<Ext>

Under Add batch method, click New Case and then choose Set lower case. In the Apply to menu, choose Name and extension.

Click the Add button and browse to the parent folder. The files should appear in the list, and the new filename will be displayed. Check for any errors or problems with the filename, then click Start Batch.

Move the files into a single directory

Now that the pictures are all correctly named, I no longer need them to be in date-based folders. It’s more convenient to have them in a single folder from which I can organize them.

To do this, I use a batch file that moves any files in a sub-folder into the parent folder.

Set sOriginFolder="PATH\TO\PARENT\DIRECTORY"

For /f "Tokens=*" %%a in ('Dir %sOriginFolder% /a-d /s /b') do (
	move "%%a" %sOriginFolder%
)

Replace PATH\TO\PARENT\DIRECTORY with the full path to the parent folder, then run the batch file.

That’s it. Now I have a single folder of images that are uniquely named according to date taken.

Adobe Flash Player Version Information

This page reports the version of Flash Player currently running on the browser, along with the latest available version.
http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/

Install the latest version of Flash Player

To install the latest version of Flash Player, visit http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/.

How to download the offline Flash Player installer

To download the offline Flash Player installer (*.exe) for Internet Explorer or Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera:

1. Go to the download page at
   http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/.
2. Click on the link:
   Different operating system or browser?
3. Select an operating system from the menu and click Continue.
4. Select your browser.
5. Click on the “Agree and install now” button to initiate the download.
6. Run the installer file.

Install Adobe Flash Player

The direct link to the current version of the Flash Player installer (for Windows) for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera:
http://fpdownload.adobe.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player.exe

The direct link to the current version of the Flash Player installer (for Windows) for Internet Explorer:
http://fpdownload.adobe.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player_ax.exe

Flash RSS Feeds

Recent documents: http://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/rss/recent.documents.xml
Top issues: http://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/rss/top.issues.static.xml
Developer Center: http://rss.adobe.com/developer_center_flashplayer_tutorials.rss?locale=en_US
Flash Player news: http://rss.adobe.com/resources_flashplayer.rss?locale=en_US

Distribute Adobe Flash Player

You may post Adobe Flash Player on company intranet sites or local networks.
The Adobe Flash Player is available for for distribution and use beyond single-user installations. This includes, for example, distributing to workstations within your department or organization, or on fixed media with your software product or multimedia experience.

http://www.adobe.com/products/players/fpsh_distribution1.html

Adobe Flash Player Settings Manager

The Settings Manager is a special control panel that runs on your local computer but is displayed within and accessed from the Adobe website. Adobe does not have access to the settings that you see in the Settings Manager or to personal information on your computer.

To change your settings, click the tabs to see different panels, then click the options in the Settings Manager panels that you see on the web page.

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager.html

Error messages in Internet Explorer

“Internet Explorer has encountered a problem with an add-on and needs to close. The following add-on was running when this problem occurred: Flash10a.ocx”

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/408/kb408620.html

The regular forum thread URLs contain a nofollow, noindex robots meta tag and end with ‘ShowPost.aspx’, but if you click on the Print button, you’re taken to a URL that ends with ‘PrintPost.aspx’. These printer-friendly pages have no such tag.

If you Google this – site:forums.xbox.com – you’ll see what I mean. There are currently less than a thousand results in Google.

This post is just to test whether I can get a PrintPost.aspx page indexed in Google by linking to it, and whether I can create an inbound link from forums.xbox.com by linking to the printer-friendly version of a thread that contains a link back to a page on ardamis.com.

The URL to the normal thread: http://forums.xbox.com/31685195/ShowPost.aspx
The URL to the printer-friendly page: http://forums.xbox.com/31685195/PrintPost.aspx

The URL to the normal thread: http://forums.xbox.com/31685953/ShowPost.aspx
The URL to the printer-friendly page: http://forums.xbox.com/31685953/PrintPost.aspx

To test, as of 03.17.2010…
Your search – site:forums.xbox.com ardamis – did not match any documents.

Update: 03.18.2010

Both PrintPost.aspx pages are now indexed. Google Webmaster Tools still doesn’t know of any inbound links to my Final Fantasy post, although there are probably a handful by now.

Update: 03.19.2010

The PrintPost.aspx pages are now showing up as the first two results in Google for final fantasy xiii xbox freeze. My post is the third result.

Update: 03.31.2010

My post is now the first result for final fantasy xiii xbox freeze. The PrintPost.aspx pages are now showing up as the second and third results.

Update: 06.26.2010

The answer is Yes, it is possible to get inbound links that show up in Google Webmaster Tools from forums.xbox.com.

Toll free: (800) 4MY-XBOX or (800) 469-9269
9:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M. Eastern Time
Have your console serial number ready.
Be in front of your console for troubleshooting.

My Xbox 360 started freezing up last night after a few hours playing Final Fantasy XIII. Either the screen would suddenly go snowy/blank with a bluish-gray tinge, or it would freeze/lock up but keep displaying the last ‘frame’ of whatever was happening. This happened maybe three times, and each time I had to power off at the console, because while the first segment of the ring on the console and the controller stayed lit, the console stopped responding to the controller. There was no discernible difference in the CD ROM activity at the point of lock-up, or before or after it.

I figured that maybe the unit was overheating, and I was falling asleep anyway, so I called it a night.

Today, I turned it on, loaded my last saved game, and no more than turned my character around to face the other direction when it froze and gave me a blank screen.

Because the unit had been on for less than 4 minutes, it seemed that overheating was pretty unlikely. I started to Google around to see if this was affecting other Final Fantasy owners, but didn’t find much. My game is freezing during Chapter 3: Branded, at Lake Bresha – The Waters Stilled. Each time I turn toward a group of Cie’th, it freezes. If I just sit at the spawn point and watch the fireflies for awhile, I don’t seem to have any problems.

Microsoft’s support page for Screen freezes when you use your Xbox 360 console has 7 steps for troubleshooting this sort of issue. I’ve gone through each one.

I checked the DVD and it’s pristine – it has been handled exactly once, when I removed it from the case and carefully put it into the drive.

I tried another game (Lego Star Wars) and played it for about half an hour with no problems. I’ve messed around in the Dashboard menus for about 5 minutes with no issues.

I haven’t been connected to Xbox Live since I bought the game. It’s not even connected to my router.

I set the console upright instead of on its side, well away from anything that might be blocking airflow and still crashed.

I cleared the system cache, tried again and locked up.

I made it back to the save point, saved the game to a memory card, and then crashed.

I loaded the game from the new save on the memory card and crashed.

I removed the hard drive, loaded the game from the memory card save, and played for about 2 minutes before crashing again.

I loaded the game from an earlier save point and it crashed within a minute at a point that I played through fine the night before.

At this point, I’m out of ideas. It’s gotta be the game making the Xbox do something that it can’t handle, or a defect with the disk that is not due to mistreatment. My Xbox was actually one I got in exchange from Microsoft when I shipped back a unit suffering from the RRoD. Its date of manufacture is 2006-12-16, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Update: 13 March 2010

I called Xbox support last night and asked if anyone had reported freezing in Final Fantasy, and the guy said I was the first. He suspected the disc, and suggested I return the game or try the disc in a different Xbox. He was pretty surprised to hear that the freezing occurred while the hard drive was disconnected. I asked if they still did replacements like in the RRoD days, and he avoided answering, pointing out that the problem seems to be isolated to the one game.

In a last ditch effort, I decided to install the game to the hard drive and run it from there. It didn’t make any difference – the lockups continued to happen within a minute or two of loading a saved game.

I also figured I’d get on Live and see if there were any patches or updates to download, but none are available so far.

I air dusted the Xbox and the power supply brick, too.

My feeling is that it’s a GPU issue. The last time it froze, instead of blank/snow or a frozen frame, I got a series of blue vertical lines.

If the problems continue today, I’m going to:
a) exchange the game and try different discs,
b) put my hard drive on another unit and test, and
c) bug Xbox support again.

Update: 13 March 2010 (Part 2)

I exchanged the game, popped in the new disc, removed the hard drive, loaded from the save on the memory unit, and it froze. So, to rule out a corrupt save somewhere, I started a brand new game from the DVD with the hard drive still disconnected and it froze in the middle of the second battle. It is not a media issue, a hard drive issue, or a corrupted save issue.

The only thing potentially odd about my setup is that I’m running at 1280 x 720 widescreen resolution output to VGA via a Microsoft Xbox 360 HD AV Cable instead of the usual component output. I’m running Dashboard: 2.0.8955.0.

Update: 14 March 2010

I tried changing the resolution to 1024×768 and it still froze.

I called Microsoft for the second time.

The tech support girl on this call also was unaware of any other reports of Final Fantasy XIII freezing, and sent me through the same basic troubleshooting script, with the addition of disconnecting and reconnecting the cables (something I’d already really done) and verifying that I had enough free space on my hard drive to install any updates (check, 5.9 GBs free). She asked me to turn the console on and off, which I did. While I didn’t realize it until after the call was over, Final Fantasy had started up and then froze at the title screen. I pointed out that I had logged 4 hours of game time without any problems, and haven’t been able to play for more than 3 or 4 minutes at a time since the first freeze, that I was freezing in brand new, unsaved games, with and without the hard drive attached, while online and offline. At every opportunity, she countered with “If it plays other games, then it’s not broken.”

All she could offer was a recommendation to first verify that the game disc was fine by playing it in another console, then send mine in for a $99.99 out-of-warranty repair.

She asked me when I bought the Xbox, so I got to tell her that I didn’t buy it – Microsoft sent it as a replacement to my RRoD’d unit. This makes me think they should offer a life-time replacement guarantee on their replacements, rather than a 1-year warranty.

After I got off the phone, I played two hours of BioShock without any problems.

Basically, the situation is this: I need to get my hands on another Xbox, prove to myself that the disc is fine, then decide whether to have my unit repaired or buy a new one.

Option 1 – Repair: I give them my 2006 Xenon Xbox and $99.99, wait for them to troubleshoot it and then ship me a replacement. This will most likely be a refurbished unit of unknown age (probably an Opus).

Option 2 – Replace: I keep my otherwise perfectly fine Xbox, go to Target and buy a brand new Jasper Arcade for $199.99, or roll the dice with a refurb from Gamestop for $159.99.

Ideally, Microsoft will come around and replace the unit for free, but if it won’t, I’d rather pay the extra $100 and get a second unit, a new power supply, and another controller.

Update: 15 March 2010

I submitted a support ticket to Square Enix at https://support.na.square-enix.com/ after 10 unsuccessful minutes trying to find a phone number.

I began to wonder if the problem was with my 64 MB memory unit, so I moved my profile from the memory unit to the hard drive, removed the memory unit, and put the second disk in. (It’s bad troubleshooting procedure to change two variables, I know.) I started up Disc 2 and tried to open the Settings menu and it froze with the blue vertical stripes. I guess this rules out the disc and the memory unit.

I air dusted the CD ROM drive again for good measure.

I did notice a good deal of heat buildup at the bottom of the console toward the back, right underneath the fans. I checked to make sure both were spinning, and they were. I see only a very little bit of dust on the fan blades and heat sink fins. But this puppy does pump out hot air like nobody’s business.

I played another 2 hours of BioShock tonight, and about 1.5 hours in, the game hiccupped a few times – freezing momentarily, for maybe half-a second or so, but then resuming. Eyebrow-raising, but not enough to convince me that the system was bad. But at the 2 hour mark, it completely froze. This wasn’t entirely unexpected, but I’m bummed none-the-less, because it was working fine for 2-hour (or longer) sessions of Modern Warfare 2 just a few weeks ago. Still, why would I be able to play one game for hours before having problems, but another game freezes before I even have a chance to load a save? And was FFXIII the straw that broke the camel’s back?

Update: 16 March 2010

Now I’m worried that the unit is really damaged, that even if a software patch comes out, it will be too late. What’s more, I don’t want to test the game in my nephew’s Xbox for fear of causing similar damage to his system.

I spent some time Googling today. There are lots people reporting this issue, and many of them have exchanged their discs. None of the posts that mention exchanging the game report that it resolved the issue. Of all the dozens of reports of problems, there are no known resolutions and no acknowledgement by Microsoft, Sony, or Square Enix that a problem exists. Hilariously, a number of people have posted that their calls to various tech support numbers have all been ‘the first they’ve heard of this’. Another surprisingly common observation is that while the problems were first noticed in FFXIII, both Xbox and PS3 consoles quickly began exhibiting problems in other games. Most of the problems occur on older, out-of-warranty consoles, but some newer machines are affected.

On the other hand, I’ve found a few threads wherein people claim that mass breakdowns of consoles occur with each large release. There’s some substance to that, I suppose. Consoles probably wear out at a pretty consistent rate, but around the time of a release, you get lots of people playing a single game and if a console happens to fail at that point, the game is blamed. But I don’t think that this is what’s happening here. Too many people are noting that they’re not playing FFXIII more than say BioShock 2 or Modern Warfare 2, which were other recent big releases. Their systems were operating normally until they started playing FFXIII, and in many cases continued to play other games normally. Less often, but still not uncommonly, once the problems begin, they happen in other games. I was in the former group (and may still be, with luck), and still feel that the game itself is problematic.

The game is also freezing on PS3s, maybe moreso than on the Xbox, and that community seems much more vocal about it. There’s a 7-page thread at http://boardsus.playstation.com/t5/Final-Fantasy-Series/Final-Fantasy-XIII-Freezing/m-p/45391106 and a 5-page thread at http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/Technical-Help/Final-Fantasy-XIII-problems/td-p/10379629 of people having problems, mostly with older systems. Here’s a video of it freezing, but more exist.

In an attempt to document the scope of the problem, I’ve put together a list of links:

Final Fantasy XIII freezes/locks up
http://forums.xbox.com/31685195/ShowPost.aspx

Final Fantasy XIII | Final Fantasy XIII Freezing Up
http://forums.xbox.com/31660983/ShowPost.aspx

Issues with GPU begin after playing FFXIII
http://forums.xbox.com/31681685/ShowPost.aspx

Final Fantasy XIII Crashing Consistently
http://forums.xbox.com/31660975/ShowPost.aspx

Final Fantasy XIII | Game Freezing
http://forums.xbox.com/31627724/ShowPost.aspx

Final Fantasy XIII | Annoying Freeze Issue?
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?p=2890734

Xbox 360 | Final Fantasy XIII | freezing issues
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=950899&topic=53897064

PS3 | Final Fantasy XIII | Warning !! PS3 old fat 40g version , Game freeze!
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=928790&topic=53841505

Update: 17 March 2010

I played another 2.5 hours of Bioshock without any issues at all. My fear that FFXIII’s freezing did some lasting harm to the Xbox may be unfounded.

It’s heartening to see that the problem is getting some attention from sites like Kotaku and GamesRadar. Many of the comments to those stories are from people who aren’t experiencing the crashing. While only a small percentage of FFXIII owners are getting the freezing, it’s still quite a real and annoying problem.

Update: 17 March 2010 (Part 2)

Square Enix emailed me this:

Dear Customer,

Regarding your request for technical support. Please find your answer below.

We hope this letter answers your questions.

We apologize for the problems you are having with your SQUARE ENIX Xbox 360 game stalling. Here are some things I would recommend to clear up the problem:

*Be sure to check if there are any scratches or damage to the disc which could cause the laser to have a problem reading it.

* If you’re experiencing problems in some other area of the game, or it is inconsistent to WHERE the game is freezing, it might be something within the system. You may want to try using a cleaner for your system, which can generally be purchased at any video game retailer.

* If you are playing with your Xbox 360 laying flat, you may want to try placing it on its side and playing with it vertically.

* If none of those tips work, try the game in another Xbox 360 at that point to see if it does the same thing. Video game retailers usually have systems for demonstration purposes, and they are usually cooperative when this type of request is made.

*We do highly recommend to install this game on your HDD (which the new Xbox Dashboard update will allow). Doing so here in the office did assist in a smooth gameplay with no problems of frame-rate or graphic/loading problems.

*If you have already installed the game, please now try to uninstall the game and try playing. Another suggestion to correct this may even be to change the resolution of your display. This can be done within the Xbox 360′s display settings under “My Xbox”.

If the problem persists after that, then you may have a defective or damaged disc. Contact our customer support at http://support.na.square-enix.com and if your game is still within the 90-day warranty period you can obtain a replacement.

We hope this information has been of assistance.

Thank you for contacting the SQUARE ENIX Support Center.

I may pursue the replacement discs, but I really doubt that it will make a difference. I’ll confirm that the discs are fine on another machine this weekend. With the exception of cleaning my DVD drive with a lens cleaner, I’ve exhausted their suggestions.

This state of being not-quite-broken is pretty frustrating, and it reminds me of Yossarian’s jaundice in Catch-22.

Yossarian was in the hospital with a pain in his liver that fell just short of being jaundice. If it became jaundice they could treat it. If it didn’t become jaundice and went away they could discharge him. But this just being short of jaundice all the time confused them.

If my Xbox would just completely fail, I would replace it and be happy. But because the problem is with just one game, I keep waiting for a logical explanation and a fix.

If a representative from Microsoft or Square Enix would like my system and discs for troubleshooting, just ask.

Update: 20 March 2010

Here are a few more threads:

Loading/Freezing issue
http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11664

This game and freezing up!
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?p=2900889

Final Fantasy XIII Freeze issues
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=27230003

Per the email from Square Enix, I uninstalled the game from the hard drive. When I tried to launch it from the disc, I got an unreadable disc error. I removed the DVD and cleaned it, but no joy.

My DVD drive is shot. When the tray closes, it makes two thumping noises and then a little whir. The disc never spins up. This affects all discs.

I rather doubt that FFXIII is to blame for this hardware failure. I acknowledge that systems wear out with use and it could be simply coincidence that my system failed after I bought FFXIII. I’m still looking for an explanation as to why the game played normally for a few hours before freezing the first time, then failed dozens of times within a few minutes of starting up, while other games continued to play for hours.

Certainly, some of the PS3 owners believe that the game is burning out their lasers, but the PS3 game is on dual-layer Blu-ray while the Xbox game is on standard DVD, so it doesn’t seem likely to me that the Xbox DVD drive is working harder to play this game than any other.

I tested the Disc 1 and my most recent save on a different console and everything played perfectly.

I’m left to wonder how much longer my system would have kept going if I hadn’t bought FFXIII. Would it have still failed on the next game purchase?

In the next few weeks, I’m going to buy an Arcade, but my lasting impression of this is that FFXIII is going to end up costing me over $260.

Update: 1 April 2010

I bought an Arcade back on March 21st, and it’s been playing FFXIII from the hard drive without any problems since. It seems that the brief flurry of attention given to the problems associated with FFXIII has died down, too.

The choice of an Arcade instead of something with a HD seems pretty savvy in light of the news that USB memory support for the Xbox 360 is coming on April 6th. So I’ve gone ahead and ordered a 16 GB stick that should look pretty slick.

For real-time protection that is always running on your computer, I like Microsoft Security Essentials.

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that helps guard against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx

If you don’t want to install software that runs all the time, but just want to run a scan now and then, I’d suggest Windows Live OneCare safety scanner.

Windows Live OneCare safety scanner is a free service designed to help ensure the health of your PC.
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

If you don’t trust Microsoft, SUPERAntispyware has a terrible name but a good track record.

The SUPERAntiSpyware FREE Edition offers real-time blocking of threats.
http://www.superantispyware.com/

The SUPERAntiSpyware Portable Scanner can be run from a USB flash drive or CD without installlation.

The SUPERAntiSpyware Portable Scanner does not install anything on your Start Menu or Program Files and does not need to be uninstalled. Just download it and run it whenever you want.
http://www.superantispyware.com/portablescanner.html

Personally, I run Microsoft Security Essentials, and then do supplemental scans with the SUPERAntiSpyware Portable Scanner.

In this post, I’ll explain how to programmatically fix problems caused when Word disables add-ins. I don’t attempt to determine why Word isn’t able to successfully load an add-in in the first place. However, I’ve watched Word fail to properly start up and blame it on an add-in that has worked without issue for weeks on end. What’s more, after re-loading the add-in, Word and the add-in will work fine for weeks more. So, it may not be a particular add-in is malfunctioning, but that Word’s handling of add-ins generally is flaky.

Microsoft explains the differences between Hard Disabled vs Soft Disabled in a MSDN article at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms268871(VS.80).aspx, but I’ll paraphrase here.

Hard-Disabled Add-ins

Hard-disabling occurs when the add-in causes the application (Word) to close unexpectedly. The problem was so serious that Word crashed.

If an add-in has been ‘hard-disabled’ by Word 2007, it will appear in the Disabled Application Add-ins list. To see which add-ins have been hard-disabled, click on the Office Button -> Word Options -> Add-Ins, and scroll down to “Disabled Application Add-ins”.

To manually restore a hard-disabled add-in, first enable the add-in by selecting “Disabled Items” in the Manage menu, clicking Go, selecting the add-in to re-enable, and clicking the Enable button. Then load it by selecting “COM Add-Ins” in the Manage menu, clicking Go, and placing a check in the box next to the Add-In.

Each hard-disable add-in will have an entry in the DisabledItems registry key at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Resiliency\DisabledItems

The entry name is some sort of hash/random binary value, rather than the name of the add-in. You can look at the hex of each and identify the specific add-in, but programatically re-enabling them is most easily done by deleting the entire Resiliency key. This makes it an ‘all or nothing’ situation.

Disabling adds a binary value for each addin with a name that’s randomly generated. The Resiliency key exists if there is at least one disabled item, but if you re-enable the addin then the Resiliency key and DisabledItems subkey are both deleted. So the presence of the Resiliency key serves as a general test for the existence of disabled items. You can re-enable the addin by deleting the specific binary reg value, or by removing the whole key.
http://help.lockergnome.com/office/Outlook-constantly-disabled–ftopict876175.html

Soft-Disabled Add-ins

Soft-disabling occurs when an add-in throws an unhandled exception, but the application (Word) does not unexpectedly close.

If an add-in has been ‘soft-disabled’ by Word 2007, it will NOT appear in the Disabled Application Add-ins list. It can be enabled by selecting “COM Add-Ins” in the Manage menu, clicking Go, and placing a check in the box next to the Add-In.

When you re-enable a soft-disabled add-in, Word immediately attempts to load the add-in. If the problem that initially caused Word to soft-disable the add-in has not been fixed, it will soft-disable the add-in again, and the box will not stay checked.

When an add-in has been soft-disabled, the LoadBehavior value in the registry will be changed. It seems that this value can exist in either of two locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\

A LoadBehavior of 2 = unloaded (this corresponds to an unchecked box)
A LoadBehavior of 3 = loaded (this corresponds to a checked box)

Here’s more information from Microsoft on the various LoadBehavior registry entries.

Restoring disabled add-ins programmatically

Hard-disabled add-ins can be promoted to simply soft-disabled status, by creating and running the following registry merge file to delete the Resiliency key:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Resiliency]

By way of example, the key to load the Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Addin installed with Acrobat 8 Standard would look like:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\PDFMaker.OfficeAddin]
"LoadBehavior"=dword:00000003

By enabling the add-ins you wish to always load through the Word GUI, exporting the Word\Addins registry keys to capture the correct LoadBehavior, and combining those keys with the instruction to delete the Resiliency key, you’ll be able to fix all of your add-in problems and restore Word to a working state with a single click.

A macro to display a message box with all currently loaded COM add-ins

You can use the following macro to display a message box with all currently loaded COM add-ins.

Sub ShowAddins()
'
' ShowAddins Macro
' Display a message box with all currently loaded COM add-ins
'
   Dim MyAddin As COMAddIn
   Dim i As Integer, msg As String

   For Each MyAddin In Application.COMAddIns
      msg = msg & MyAddin.Description & " - " & MyAddin.ProgID & vbCrLf
   Next

   MsgBox msg

End Sub

Source: Some COM add-ins are not listed in the COM Add-Ins dialog box in Word

Forcing add-ins to be disabled by Word

You can cause add-ins to be disabled by forcibly ending the winword.exe process as Word opens. It might require crashing Word a few times, but eventually you’ll get an error:

Microsoft Office Word
Word experienced a serious problem with the ‘[add-in name]‘ add-in. If you have seen this message multiple times, you should disable this add-in and check to see if an update is available.
Do you want to disable this add-in?
[Yes] [No]

If you click Yes, the add-in will be hard-disabled and an entry will be created in

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Resiliency\DisabledItems

I’ve used this method on a number of occasions to test whether my registry file is repairing Word as expected.

An easy way to crash Word is to create a batch file that contains the line TASKKILL /F /IM WINWORD.EXE and run it as Word starts up.

Step 1: Get the RTM Windows 7 release

Windows 7 RTM is build version 6.1.7600.16385. This version was released to Microsoft TechNet and MSDN subscribers in the summer of 2009 and quickly made its way onto BitTorrent.

64-bit (x64) Windows 7 Ultimate RTM English Retail DVD ISO Image

http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/5021075/7600.16385.090713-1255_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCU.5021075.TPB.torrent

File Name: 7600.16385.090713-1255_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULXFRER_EN_DVD.iso
Size: 3224686592 bytes
CRC: 1F1257CA
MD5: F43D22E4FB07BF617D573ACD8785C028
SHA-1: 326327CC2FF9F05379F5058C41BE6BC5E004BAA7

32-bit (x86) Windows 7 Ultimate RTM English Retail DVD ISO Image

http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/5021073/7600.16385.090713-1255_x86fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCU.5021073.TPB.torrent

File Name: 7600.16385.090713-1255_x86fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULFRER_EN_DVD.iso
Size: 2501894144 bytes
CRC: C1C20F76
MD5: D0B8B407E8A3D4B75EE9C10147266B89
SHA-1: 5395DC4B38F7BDB1E005FF414DEEDFDB16DBF610

Below are the official SHA1 hashes of these releases copied and pasted from technet.microsoft.com. I’ve checked them against the actual files from the torrents and they match.

64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate
File Name: en_windows_7_ultimate_x64_dvd_x15-65922.iso
Date Published (UTC): 8/6/2009 9:59:56 AM Last Updated (UTC): 8/24/2009 8:59:33 AM
SHA1: 326327CC2FF9F05379F5058C41BE6BC5E004BAA7 ISO/CRC: 1F1257CA

32-bit Windows 7 Ultimate
File Name: en_windows_7_ultimate_x86_dvd_x15-65921.iso
Date Published (UTC): 8/6/2009 9:59:56 AM Last Updated (UTC): 8/24/2009 8:59:33 AM
SHA1: 5395DC4B38F7BDB1E005FF414DEEDFDB16DBF610 ISO/CRC: C1C20F76

More links to torrents of build version 6.1.7600.16385 can be found at My Digital Life.

As a general rule, don’t download just any torrent that you come across, and do use a hash calculator (like HashCalc) to verify that the hash of the file you’ve downloaded matches that posted by a trusted source. Download the file, calculate the hash, copy it, find a trustworthy web site that displays the hash, and then do a Find on that page for the hash you’ve copied. If the hash you calculated matches the trusted one, you can trust the file is legit.

Step 2: Prepare the USB drive

You’ll need a 4 GB flash drive to hold the installation files. Microsoft offers a neat little program that will extract the ISO to a USB drive and make it bootable. It can also burn the ISO to a DVD. Download the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.

If you’re currently using a 32-bit version of Windows and want to create a bootable USB drive containing the 64-bit (x64) version of Windows 7, you’ll need to obtain the bootsect.exe file from the 32-bit (x86) version of Windows 7.

If you want to get this file yourself, first download the 32-bit ISO. You can use any number of applications to open the ISO, but I recommend 7-Zip because it’s a great free alternative to WinZip. Open the ISO and then copy the /boot/bootsect.exe file into the same folder as the Windows7-USB-DVD-Download-Tool.exe (e.g. %USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Apps\Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool).

If that’s too much work, you can Google 32-Bit Windows 7 Bootsect.exe and take your chances.

Run the tool (%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Apps\Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool\Windows7-USB-DVD-Download-Tool.exe) and follow the prompts. After Windows 7 has been loaded on the USB drive, you will be able to boot from it and install Windows 7 Ultimate. (You may have to change the boot order in the BIOS to boot from USB Storage Device.)

Step 3: Configure the installer

What if you want to install something other than Ultimate?

Both the 32-bit and 64-bit ISOs contain all the different versions of Windows. The version you actually install is determined by a tiny text file named ei.cfg in the /sources/ directory of the install media. If you want to install a different version of Windows, you just need to browse the USB drive and open the /sources/ directory. Open the ei.cfg file in Notepad and change the EditionID to whatever version you wish to install. The contents of the file will look like this:

[EditionID]
Ultimate
[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
0

The options for the EditionID are:

Starter
HomeBasic
HomePremium
Professional
Ultimate

In the alternative, if you delete ei.cfg, you’ll be asked to choose which version of Windows to install during the installation process, which is probably much more useful.

For more information and links to some software that will modify the ISO for you, see How to Select Any Edition or Version (SKU) of Windows 7 to Install From Single Edition DVD Disc Media or ISO.

I would strongly recommend installing the version that you intend to purchase, as you cannot enter a Home Premium product activation key on a system running Ultimate. You’d have to do a clean install of the version that matches the key you bought.

Step 4: Extend your pre-activation trial for 120 days

Microsoft allows anyone to install and use any version of Windows 7 for 30 days without having to enter a product activation key. This 30-day trial period can be extended three times for a total of 120 days before the installation must be activated to continue functioning. This extension is done using a Microsoft utility called the Software License Manager (slmgr) that ships with Windows.

If you haven’t entered a product activation key, you can click Start, then right-click Computer and choose Properties to see how many days are left before activation is required. When that number approaches 0, click Start | All Programs | Accessories. Right-click Command Prompt and choose Run As Administrator. Enter your administrator password, if asked.

Type the following command and press Enter:

slmgr -rearm

Be sure to include the space after slmgr and the hyphen in front of rearm.

Restart Windows 7.

In Summary

The last days of Windows 7 RC are approaching, and I’m probably going to end up buying Home Premium. Professional would be my first choice, but it’s probably not really necessary. However, after using Ultimate for so long, I want to know that I’ll be able to get by with a reduced feature set, so I definitely want to test-drive Professional and then Home Premium before I buy.

Although it would have been simple to just treat the camera as a mass storage device and browse the files in Explorer, I wanted to use the wizard to create a folder for each date. Why can’t we have a button to import the same images again and again, as many times as we want?

Disconnecting and reconnecting the device didn’t help, and deleting the files and containing folder from my computer didn’t do it, either. Obviously, something was keeping track of which images were being transfered. So I started digging around and found this interesting file in my user folder:

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Photo Acquisition\PreviouslyAcquired.db

I renamed it to PreviouslyAcquired.db.old, then reconnected the camera and went through the wizard and lo, I was able to import the pictures a second time.

Citrix Online Plug-in – Version 11.2
Release Date: 9/29/2009
Windows 7, XP, Vista, 2003, & 2008
11 MB
Download CitrixOnlinePluginWeb11.2.exe from ardamis.com

XenApp Plugin (Client) – Version 11.0.150
Release Date: 11/11/2009
Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 2003, & 2008
4.9 MB
Download XenAppWebPlugin11.0.150.exe from ardamis.com