Patent Trolls

There are all sorts of people on the planet, some are better than others.  Others are Patent Trolls!

What is with these intellectual armed robbers?

Do they really just register any sort of fancy idea, of which they have no intention of actually making anything with.  And simply wait until some poor company (Poor? no actually they hope for rich ones!) to independently come up with the same idea.  AND Actually do something with it.

Simply wait around 5-6 years until other unsuspecting parties are also using 'Your' idea.  and then SUE SUE SUE!

Seriously, your idea?

But do you hate the player? or hate the Game?

I think the patent office needs to review how easily they are giving away the rights to 'idea' that basically are just common sense.

A plea to the companies being unjustly sued: Please fight! Don't settle out of court!  That is what is keeping this cycle turning!

Getting WHS to work!

I don't know about you, but getting computers to connect to WHS (Windows Home Server) can be quite tricky.  In fact it has almost always been that my laptop (Running Vista Ultimate) would connect easily, but my wife's computer (Running XP) just would not play nice.

In the recent reinstallation (which took 3 attempts to get right!) I decided that enough was enough. I WAS GOING TO CONNECT ALL PCs!

It turns out that it was actually easy.  First thing, straight after installing WHS on the Server, Connect all of your PCs.  Don't let the server upgrade anything! (Well at least make sure you have the critical device drivers)

I understand that WHS is meant to be just that, a file storage/backup server.  But it is too hard for a developer to resist using the underlining windows server 2003.

So if you are having problems connecting your PCs, and, if like me, you had tried everything under the sun to connect another computer to WHS.  Try a reinstallation  (I recommend the New Installation) followed by quick connections of all of your PCs

Installing WCF on IIS6

I have finally reinstalled WHS (Windows Home Server), now the tricky bits: Getting WCF and MVC working correctly.

Getting WCF Working

1. Install the latest .Net framework (3.5 SP1 in this case)
2. Launch a Command Prompt with full privileges

Right click on the command prompt short cut in the start menu

Uncheck 'Run this program with restricted access'

1. Go to 'C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727'
2. Run aspnet_regiis -i
3. Add a new web-site in IIS, check to see if the .svc extension is now available

1. The .svc extension is now appearing, if your WCF service is in a web-site that already exists (Default web-site etc) then just copy and paste the .svc information into the properties of your website.  Otherwise when you create your new site it should be working.

Re-Installing WHS now

Well I've backed up my databases and other shared folders onto another hard drive and turned the server off. 

This is a good time to get your vacuum cleaner out and give the box a good going over.  Especially the inside cooling fans and heat sinks.

This box seems to be more dusty than I would have expected.  And it is quite hot to touch.  I might have to rethink the server location.

Ok, Choosing a New Installation. I can now confirm that the installation WILL format all attached hard drives!  This is important to note as had I not disconnected the backup hard drive it would have been up for formatting.

Estimated time for installation: 50 minutes.

Re installing Windows Home Server

Ok, time to start the reinstallation of WHS (Windows Home Server) process.

From last time, I believe that Windows Home Server is particularly greedy.  Any (and by that I mean ALL) hard drives attached to the computer will be claimed by WHS.  It will potentially format all of the data.

[I will confirm this is the case when I get to this step.]

I believe there is an option to reinstall or new installation.  I plan to go with a new installation as I have previously hacked windows settings.  So in order to do this I need to back up onto a hard drive which I need to disconnect during installation.

To do this you need to remove a hard drive from the current pool used by WHS.  And it is not kidding when it says it can take hours!

This is a worry as this installation of WHS is restarting every hour! (due to expired trial licence)

Ordering Windows Home Server

Well my trial version of Windows Home Server is due to expire in 20 days.  I have order a OEM Copy for my home server which should arrive in a couple of days.

Funny thing, I showed my total ignorance the other day and ordered what I thought was a really cheap OEM copy of Windows Server 2008.  Only to find out it was just a sticker! (5 User licence)

Yeah, live and learn (We hope)

Anyway.  I will upload a blog about the upgrade process.  I have yet to decide if I will do a full reinstall or try and preserve the current installation.  At the moment it refuses to allow new computers to be connected (Connection/Backup service etc) which is a minor problem.

I brought the software from stonebridgecomputing.com.au I recommend these guys for cheap prices and excellent sales support.

Still alive

Quick blog to let you know I'm still alive.  :)

Was surprised today when I noticed that this blog actually gets some traffic! (well not much averaging 10 visitors a day).  This has given me some motivation to write more in the near future.