Admins eHow SysAdmin Tips & Tricks

January 9, 2022

Linux DNS dig utility for Windows x64 (update)

Filed under: dns,Windows — Tags: , , — admin @ 12:10 am

This installer installs the dig utility in Windows directory by default.
Download installer : Dig-x64-9.16.24-setup.exe

December 12, 2021

A Free & Great Window Manager For Windows

Filed under: Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 12:50 am

Managing windows on an ultra wide monitor can be tedious task, an ultra wide full screen window is odious and useless, that’s why I have been using divvy from mizage to compartment my desktop for several years now, but yesterday I checked my windows startup list and saw that divvy has a “High” startup impact and I thought it is an easy program so lets rewrite it for fun, so I started to write it in C# and actually it was 80% done and I just needed the coordinates and the size of my preconfigured windows in divvy, so I went on a search spree to find a program to get the info that I need easily I found out something much better! an unknown free divvy alternative called Sizer from brianapps.net. So I abandoned my program and started using Sizer.
Unfortunately the domain brianapps.net is expired right now and I managed to get the app from another source, but in order to keep this useful tool online and accessible, I wrote this post and will upload the latest file here, just in case 😉

sizer4_dev640

August 20, 2017

E2Streamer – Easily Stream from any Enigma2 based STB to your PC

Filed under: Windows — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 1:47 am

I have written a small C# program which makes it very easy to stream from any enigma2 based STB to your PC.
It retrieves the STB bouquets using the STB IP address and then you can stream the channels by double clicking on the channel names.
It uses VLC to stream the channels and VLC should be installed in the default location “C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe”.

20/08/2017 :
– Initial Release

05/09/2017 :
– Version bumped to 1.1
– Added “Zap to Channel” Checkbox
– Added “Minimize to Tray” Checkbox
– Added “UnZap !” Button
– Added Copyright info

06/09/2017 :
– Version bumped to 1.2
– Added OnScreen Icon
– Added Quit button
– Bug fixes

07/09/2017 :
– Version bumped to 1.3
– Added “Select Player” button
– Bug fixes

23/02/2018 :
– Version bumped to 1.4
– Bug fixes

26/09/2018 :
– Version bumped to 1.5
– Running the app twice, restores the app
– Bug fixes

Download links:
E2Streamer 1.5
E2Streamer 1.4
E2Streamer 1.3
E2Streamer 1.2
E2Streamer 1.1
E2Streamer 1.0

February 13, 2017

Excellent window manager for Windows/Mac OS X

Filed under: MAC OS X,Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 6:33 am

About 1 year ago I bought a 34″ LG ultra wide monitor (21:9). Ultra wide monitors are usually used as a replacement of multiple monitors and thus using a window manager is mandatory with them.
For the past year I was using LG’s crappy “Split Screen” software which comes with monitor until recently I found this great window manager called Divvy. It saved me from all issues I had with “Split Screen” and provides more features and flexibility, so I thought it is necessary to give them a shout-out.
If you are in need of a good window manager don’t hesitate to use Divvy and possibly support them by buying its license. It is worth every penny.
Here is the link :
DIVVY – WINDOW MANAGEMENT AT ITS FINEST

July 11, 2015

Fix Wireless lan lag/spike in Windows 7/8

Filed under: Windows — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 12:25 pm

If you are experiencing regular latency spikes on your WLAN in widows 7/8, it could be because of windows “Auto configuration logic”. the solution is to disable it by following command :

netsh wlan set autoconfig enabled=no interface="NAME_OF_WLAN_INTERFACE"

Replace NAME_OF_WLAN_INTERFACE with your own WLAN interface name.

March 22, 2015

Linux dig utility for Windows x64

Filed under: dns,General,linux,Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

I have created an installer for Linux DNS dig utility for Windows x64. it is extracted from BIND 9.10.2.x64.
It installs dig into system32 folder of Windows so it is already included in PATH and can be invoked from anywhere in command prompt.

Download : DIG_9.10.2.x64

March 28, 2011

Windows 7 32 bit PAE Patch

Filed under: Windows — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 2:19 pm

A lot of people still prefer to use 32 bit version of windows 7 , but 32 bit version of windows doesn’t allow you to use more than 3GB ( 4GB theoretically , 3GB practically ) of your RAM.
In fact there is a workaround for this problem on 32 bit OSes , it is know as PAE ( Physical Address Extension ) which already exists on Windows too but Microsoft has disabled it on purpose, my guess is to push 64 bit OS and some incompatibility problems with some drivers.

By the way for the people who are still in love with 32 bit windows but have more than 3GB of RAM installed on their PC. they can use the PAE patch for windows 7.

it is tested on Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP0 and Windows 7 SP1.

Download it here : PatchPae

After you install it , it is how it looks like :

and resource monitor :

March 26, 2011

Mac or Windows ? What is the right choice ?

Filed under: Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 7:33 am

People who know me closely know I am not a fan of Microsoft and its products at all , as a professional IT system administrator , I have been against Microsoft for my whole life and supported open source operating systems like Linux. You know the big fight between opensource softwares and Microsoft softwares has been going on for a long time. if you don’t remember anything , I can remind you of FireFox just as an example, competing against IE.

Until 5 months ago, I had almost tried every single OS for my desktop usage except Mac OS X , so I decided to go with Apple this time and got an Intel iMac with latest version of Mac OS X on it.
As you can see in the following image , it is very classy like other Apple appliances.

From hardware point of view I can say Apple has done a brilliant job.
As a professional user, it was not hard for me to get started using mac. I learned very fast how to install and use applications in Mac.
Apple has tried to invent its own way usage of operating system , for example window system buttons ( minimize , maximize , close ) are located in top left side of window except right side ! or when you press enter on a file, it renames the file instead of executing the file !
If you want my idea it is stupid , it is very clear that apple just wants to be different. even in a non sense way ! who does expect the Enter key to be used for renaming files !? there are many many differences too , but I bore with them , I said myself it is a different OS , so there is no reason for it to operate like others , I should get used to it.
But days after days , I found out how limiting is using Mac OS X. A lot of applications are missing and poorly developed for Mac OS X. you only have a few options to choose from.
I guess if I had used Mac from the first day of my computer life , I was a chef now instead of system administrator ! I don’t want to live in Apple’s jail named Mac OS X ! thats what Apple does to you. thats why many people try to jail break their iPhones 😀
Hopefully my iMac was Intel based and I installed windows 7 on it and I am posting this writing from windows now.
I am so glad that I am back to windows 🙂
but with the money which I paid for my iMac , I could buy a PC 16x more powerful and  faster than this.

Conclusion :

If you are a rich guy and your usage of PC is browsing the web , chatting with friends and watching movies. then Mac could be an option for you.
But if price matters to you or you are a professional user , forget about Mac , it is just a waste money. buy or make your own powerful PC yourself and install windows on it and enjoy it.

July 20, 2010

Configure auto time sync on windows 2008 r2

Filed under: Windows — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 2:48 pm

Run the following commands as admin in command prompt :

W32tm /config /syncfromflags:manual /manualpeerlist:"time.nist.gov"
W32tm /config /reliable:yes
W32tm /config /update
W32tm /resync
Net stop w32time
Net start w32time

April 30, 2010

Connect to PPTP VPN from Linux only by one command

Filed under: CentOS,Debian,General — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 1:03 pm

I’ve used this method to connect to a windows PPTP VPN server on PCLinuxOS 2010 , but I am sure it will work on other ditros too.
First make sure sure pptp-linux and ppp packages are installed on your client PC.
you may install them by yum or apt-get or package manager of your linux.
then use the following command to connect to VPN.

pppd pty "pptp IP_OR_FQDN_VPN_SERVER --nolaunchpppd" file /etc/ppp/options.pptp user USERNAME password PASSWORD

replace IP_OR_FQDN_VPN_SERVER with IP or DNS of your VPS server.
replace USERNAME with your VPN username.
replace PASSWORD with your VPN password.
wait for like 10-15 seconds , then run ifconfig command , you should see ppp0 interface there , if it is not there , you can troubleshoot by looking into syslog of your linux.
please note this command is good for connecting to a windows VPN server with default configuration , if you have any custom settings , you may need to edit /etc/ppp/options.pptp file.
to disconnect form VPN , use the following command :

killall pppd

if you need to route all of your traffic to VPN server ( use it as a gateway ) , do the following :
create a file named vpn-up in /etc/ppp/ip-up.d and put the following lines inside it :

#!/bin/bash
H=`ps aux | grep 'pppd pty' | grep -v grep | awk '{print $14}'`
DG=`route -n | grep UG | awk '{print $2}'`
DEV=`route -n | grep UG | awk '{print $8}'`
route add -host $H gw $DG dev $DEV
route del default $DEV
route add default dev ppp0

and make it executable by :

chmod +x vpn-up

create another file named vpn-down in /etc/ppp/ip-down.d and put the following lines inside it :

#!/bin/bash
H=`route -n | grep UGH | awk '{print $1}'`
DG=`route -n | grep UGH | awk '{print $2}'`
DEV=`route -n | grep UGH | awk '{print $8}'`
route del -host $H
route add default gw $DG dev $DEV

and make it executable by :

chmod +x vpn-down

now reconnect to VPN , and your routing will be done automatically.

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