PHP On Windows 7
Last week I decided to take the plunge and install the release candidate of Windows 7 on my office workstation where I happen to do a lot of web development and testing. My development stack consists of Netbeans IDE, PHP 5.2.8, and IIS 7. There are plenty of other quality tutorials out there explaining how to get PHP working on IIS 7 so I won't bother beating that particular dead horse. However there was one quirky difference between installing PHP on Vista and installing PHP on IIS 7 that developers may want to be aware of before they follow my lead.
The Problem : Editing php.ini as a Standard User
During the process of installing PHP on Windows 7 you will be required to copy php.ini into the C:\Windows directory, and later point you'll most likely need to edit this file to suit your needs.
On Windows Vista I simply wasn't allowed to edit files under the \Windows directory (specifically php.ini) when logged in as a Standard User. Windows 7 was more than happy to allow me to modify and save this file in the same location, logged in with the same credentials. But even after restarting IIS my configuration changes never took effect.
The problem was caused by something called the Virtual Store, an application compatibility feature that existed in Windows Vista but works a little bit differently in Windows 7. Where Vista wouldn't let me edit this file at all, Windows 7 happily lets me modify it but transparently saves the changes in a different location. The updated php.ini was stored in %UserProfile%\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows\php.ini. The service account which IIS runs under can't see this updated file
The Solution: Run As Administrator
When editing php.ini, don't simply double-click it and make changes. You must run your text editor as an administrator to edit the file, otherwise the changes will be saved to the Virtual Store.
Video: Finding Your Network Settings in Windows Vista
A YouTube member who watched my video about Finding Your Network Settings on Windows XP requested that someone make a similar video for Windows Vista. This video is quick and dirty, but it walks users through each step of finding their network connection settings both through the Windows user interface as well as through the command prompt.
Speed Up Your Internet Connection Using Open DNS
Have you ever noticed that large downloads go quickly on your broadband Internet connection but websites still seem to load at dial-up speeds? I have a 10Mb/s DSL connection which--in theory anyway--is about 182 times more bandwidth than a 56k modem. Yet loading my Facebook profile took can take up a minute, which by todays standards feels like a lifetime. The problem was caused by slow DNS servers at my ISP and I solved the problem using Open DNS.
The Difference Between Downloading a Large File and Viewing a Website
When you download a single large file from the Internet like a music album or an episode of your favorite show, the download is a single continuous stream of information, all originating from the same location. But have you ever noticed that when you view a website, all of the sudden your web browser's status bar starts going a little crazy? That's because when you view a website, it needs to download not just the "web page" but all of the supporting images, videos, and other external resources. Each resource is downloaded individually, and they may or may not be downloaded from the same central location.
Why DNS May Become a Bottleneck
When a webpage is requested the domain name (like google.com) must be translated to a numerical address (called an IP Address) which can be understood by the computers and devices that make up the Internet. This translation is done by a special service called DNS which your Internet Provider automatically assigns to your Internet connection. DNS must be consulted each time a resource is requested, hence if a web page contains 20 supporting resources DNS could possibly be called 21 times to translate names to numerical addresses. If your Provider's DNS servers become bogged down this can increase the time it takes for resources needed by a web page to be located.
OpenDNS to the Rescue
I discovered a service tonight called OpenDNS that hosts free DNS servers that you can easily configure on your own Internet Connection. If you find that your web surfing seems sluggish, visit OpenDNS and follow their instructions for using their service on your computer. If you find that it doesn't help, it's easy to switch back to your ISP's DNS servers.
An Odd Server Migration Issue
Over the weekend my boss replaced the server which holds all of our student's user data. Though the operating system version, server name, domain membership, share names, and permissions all stayed identical from the old server to the new server none of our students could access their data when they came to school this morning. After a few hours of troubleshooting I realized that an nslookup of the server wasn't getting beyond our Extreme Network switches. Five minutes after rebooting our switches everyone was back up and running, and the users were able to access their data. Has anyone else experienced this? And if so, can someone explain to me why this has happened so I know when to expect it in the future?
How Long do you Try Repairing Before Reformatting?
As a small-time computer consultant I've dealt with dozens of customers who bring me computers loaded with viruses and spyware. I'm of the school of thought that a reformat is never neccessary, that--given enough work--any infestation can be overcome. But there is a point of diminishing returns, and I'd like to know where others think that point lies.
I've arbitrarily decided that at my current rates it's no longer worth my customer's hard-earned money to try and root out an infestation beyond two hours of labor. After that I suggest a reformat. Where do you draw the line?
Enabling Network Discovery on Vista Without Windows Server 2008
This problem has been making my life a living hell since we deployed Windows Vista to a handful of workstations several months ago. According to Microsoft, "Network discovery is a network setting that affects whether your computer can see (find) other computers and devices on the network and whether other computers on the network can see your computer." What this means to a network administrator is that, even with correct firewall rules in place, communication between your Vista workstations and 2000/2003/XP workstations and servers will basically cease to function. Apparently Windows Server 2008 has a GPO policy that resolves this, but the fact that it hasn't been released to the public yet tends to keep up from upgrading. In the meantime you can solve this problem by applying a couple of registry entries to your workstations.
[Update]: For those of you fortunate enough to be using Server 2008, check out this page over at the MSDN Blogs about turning on Network Discovery via Server 2008 Group Policy.
Troubleshooting PostgreSQL Connection Problems
I've been using PostgreSQL for years as the back-end database for my company's intranet, and though I haven't had to reinstall it once in the past five years on the production server, I inevitably need to reinstall it on my development workstation at least once or twice a year. Of course when the time comes for a reinstall, the steps I've taken to make it work have been completely forgotten. Performing a basic install of PostgreSQL which communicates only over the loopback interface (127.0.0.1) is simple, and so I won't explain that here. Because the platform's configuration is spread across several files, network configuration can get a bit confusing. This article will explain how to open up PostgreSQL to communicate with other computers on your network.
Video: Find Your Network Settings in Windows XP
This video is a visual guide through my previous tutorial about locating your network settings in Windows XP. It also happens to be my first attempt at creating a video on my PC. The video discusses some of the reasons you might need to find your network settings, then guides you through each click in the process of finding your network configuration.
Find Your Network Settings in Windows XP
Eventually while using your computer a situation will arise when you may need to know a little information about your network connection. You may need this information for a tech support call, to configure a networked video game system, or to add a new PC to your home network. This article will explain how to determine view your network configuration on a PC running Windows XP.
[Update: I've created a video to visually guide you through this tutorial. It will show you the actual click-by-click process of locating your Windows XP network configuration.]
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