Recovering data from a failed hard drive

The following is not .net related, however, it's information that can come in handy to all PC users.

Q: The Hard Drive on my PC stooped working and I have no backup. What data recovery services can I use to retrieve the lost data.

A: There are several services, each with a slightly different twist, but all can help recover data from a failed drive.
http://www.ontrack.com/Homepage.aspx?id=3&pagename=Software
http://www.runtime.org
http://www.Quetek.com/

Thanks to the Berbee team for their help with this.

Tip on Error Handling

When developing class libraries, it's best to develop those routines without error handling. By doing so, any errors encountered will be sent to the calling function, where they should be handled there. By handling errors in commonly used routines, the calling routine will receive a success since the error was handled by the routine called. This could result in multiple subsequent errors and the error messages will not clearly indicate the cause of the error.

December TechNet

I want to encourage you to attend the upcoming TechNet event on December 15th. Go to www.technetevents.com for more information, and look at Brooklyn for the local event. This is the best event for SQL 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 you’re going to find in the immediate area and it’s free! Each attendee will receive:

1. Visual Studio 2005 standard
2. SQL Server 2005 standard
3. Biztalk Server 2006 Enterprise (or a download)
4. Coupon for a free certification exam.
   
   

What is WOW64?

Q: What is WOW64?

A: WOW 64, short for Windows on Windows 64-bit, enables you to run 32-bit applications on x64 Edition. It translates applications to 64-bit, provides higher performance for 32-bit applications, and features 4GB virtual memory space for each process. WOW64 launches and runs 32-bit applications seamlessly by isolating32-bit applications from 64-bit applications. This includes preventing file and registry collisions. Console, GUI, and service applications are also supported. The system provides interoperability across the 32/64 applications for scenarios such as cut and paste and COM. However, 32-bit processes cannot load 64-bit DLLs, and 64-bit processes cannot load 32-bit DLLs.
For more information, visit http://www.digitalproducer.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=32196 and http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/win64/win64/running_32_bit_applications.asp

Fuzzy Lookup/Matching in SQL Server 2005

One of the new features of SQL Server 2005 is Fuzzy Lookup/Matching. This allows a query to return results that may not be an exact match, but close enough. Many people began to wonder how does this feature work. Microsoft published an article that explains this feature in detail, http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnsql90/html/sql2005ftsearch.asp.

Microsoft Windows Defender

Microsoft anounced last week that the infamous Antispyware, currenly in Beta 1 testing, will be renamed to "Windows Defender" when completed and released in 2006. The RTM (Release To Market) product will not only scan a system for spyware but will also look for malicous code like keystroke loggers. Defender will be part of Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest operating system scheduled for release next year. It will also be available for download for users with Windows 2000, XP, and 2003.

For more information, please visit the TechNet blog at http://blogs.technet.com/antimalware/archive/2005/11/04/413700.aspx or ComputerWorld at http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,106048,00.html?from=story%5Fkc.

New Microsoft Patches

Microsoft recently released two new patches/updates.

1. Security update for Windows XP (KB896424)Size: 0.9 MB - 2.5 MB
   A remote code execution security issue has been identified in the Graphics Rendering Engine that could allow an attacker to remotely compromise your Windows-based system and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
   More information for this update can be found at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48901. ComputerWorld has also published an article that explains it in more detail, http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,106063,00.html?source=NLT_PM&nid=106063.
2. Windows Malicous Software Removal Tool - Novemeber 2005 (KB890830)Size: 198 KB
   After the download, this tool runs once to check your computer for infection by specific, prevalent malicious software (including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom) and helps to remove any infection found. If an infection is found, the tool will display a status report the next time you start your computer. A new version of the tool will be offered every month. If you want to manually run the tool on your computer, you can download a copy from the Microsoft Download Center or run an online version from microsoft.com. This tool is not a replacement for an anti-virus product. To help protect your computer, you should use an anti-virus product.
   More information for this update can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/malwareremove

Code Generator

Our last meeting was about code generators. Afterwards, I saw a link on the Microsoft site for a free generator that takes an XSD schema as input and generates sample code showing how to mark up C# and VB.Net classes so that when serialized with the XML serializer, the resulting XML will be valid according to the original schema. For more info and to download the code generator, visit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=89E6B1E5-F66C-4A4D-933B-46222BB01EB0&displaylang=en.

Microsoft Desktop Deployment

Microsoft offers a desktop deployment package that provides many capabilities, including desktop imaging. This is especially usefull when trying to duplicate a production environment in test. Afterall, the testing environment is an important factor to achieving correct results. For more information on Microsoft's Desktop Deployment, see http://www.microsoft.com/technet/desktopdeployment/default.mspx

Using FrontPage Search and Replace to Modify Infopath Data

One of the SIG attendees emailed me the following link for using FrontPage to modify an InfoPath form (http://msd2d.com/newsletter_tip.aspx?section=sharepoint&id=5f5abbad-b256-4377-b422-ea5ff87d2a7b)

Thanks to Mark H. for sending the link.

InfoPath Date Display

Q: While working on an InfoPath form the other day, I created a text box for the sole purpose of displaying date/time. When I set the text of the field to Now(), the date appeared as "2005-10-21T13:48:51".

A: To get rid of the "T" in the middle and make the date more readable, I changed the data field type of the text box from Text to Date/Time. The date then appeared as "10/21/2005 1:48:51 PM".

.Net Framework 2.0 RTM (Release To Market)

The .Net framework 2.0 was released to market yesterday (10/27/2005) and is available for download from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&DisplayLang=en)

How to Ask a Question?

Ever post a question to an online forum but got an answer that didn't quite hit the spot? I found an article on MSDN that discusses how to avoid such problems http://support.microsoft.com/?id=555375)