JRBCS.com

The Tournament Bracket module has recently been added to the list of Drupal contributed modules. The module has also been updated to include an API so that other modules can easily interface with the module. The Bracket API Documentation (generated with Doxygen) is hosted on this site. Further updates to the modules will be coming soon - such as: HTML output, User and/or Node competitor references, and user documentation.

I am now the maintainer of the Drupal Webform Report module. I have been using Drupal for a couple of years now and am glad to have the opportunity to contribute to the project. The Webform Report module was discontinued when I found it - due to some security issues. But after working with the Drupal Security team, the module is now back in service. This is my first time contributing to a project on Drupal - so far it has been a lot of fun and a great experience. I only hope I have enough Drupal and PHP expertise to keep the module useful and running smoothly.

Windows XP allows the user to specify a different identity (username and password) for each server to which they connect. This is a great feature, but at times may be confusing to an administrator when the user's machine fails to connect to a server because it is presenting incorrect credentials and you can't seem to understand why the machine is using those credentials (This has stymied me a time or two).

Recently, I learned of an obscure (at least to me) procedure that can be used to manage this situation:

• Start, Run, control userpasswords2
• Click the Advanced tab
• Click the Manage Passwords button
• You will be presented with a list of servers that the user has previously logged into. If you look at the properties under each server, you will find the username and password the machine is using to login to that particular server.

This website uses a modified version of the Drupal B7 Theme by Brad Landis. The theme has been ported to Drupal 6 along with support for the Color Module. The two alternate themes (B7 Brown and B7 Green) have been ported as two alternate color schemes. This should add a little more flexibility to the theme in Drupal 6.

The ported theme has the following limitations:

• There is no header gradient, so the header colors have no effect.
• Only three color schemes are available (the original blue, brown, and green) - custom colors are very easy with the excellent color selector provided by Drupal
• The default B7 logo is only available with the default color scheme, for other schemes a custom logo must be provided. The old brown and green logos are included.

Download the ported theme

I've been using Microsoft® Windows Live Mail (WLM) Beta for about two months now - mostly with great success. It behaves a little quirky from time to time, but I guess that's why they call it a beta - use at your own risk.

However, I recently discovered a minor issue that appears when creating POP3 accounts. Unlike Outlook Express before, when a POP3 account is created on WLM, the default account settings cause messages to be downloaded and then left on the server.

After putting together a C# application utilitizing the .Net 2.0 Framework, I wanted a better way to distribute the application than the method that is provided by Microsoft's Setup and Deployment tools. Specifically, I wanted to be able to distribute the dependencies with the setup program and also have a little more flexibility in the setup implementation.

I have been using Inno Setup to distribute VB6 applications for a while with excellent results - so I wanted to try and continue using it to distribute .Net applications. After a Google search for .Net distribution examples with Inno Setup, I found an excellent script on CodeProject - .NET Framework 2.0 Installer for InnoSetup by stfx. This is a great script - it will determine which .Net dependencies are required and either download them or install them from a dependency directory.

However, I had to put my own spin on the script:

• Reorganized the package into one script
• Upgraded isxdl.dll to the latest version from www.istool.org
• Removed language support - I don't need that right now
• Updated the MDAC package to 2.8 SP1
• Updated the Jet 4.0 installation to use the correct package for each Windows installation in which it would be required
• Corrected a problem with Internet Explorer 6 setup - if IE6 is required, it must complete before dotnetfx.exe is started. The IE6 setup requires a restart to complete, so a dotnetfx.exe execution is queued up until after the IE6 configuration completes. This was causing a problem on Windows 98 and 2000 installs - dotnetfx.exe would bomb because it ran before ie6setup was finished.

In order to use the distributed dependency feature, you must:

1. Download all of the dependency setup programs from Microsoft
2. Create a directory called something like "Dependencies" or "Support" and place the dependencies into this directory
3. Specify the directory name in your setup script as the [CustomMessages]DependDir parameter.
4. Distribute the dependency directory with your setup program

I have tested this script on Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP and Vista.

Download the setup script

1. Enable "Show All Files". Under My Computer, Tools, View click Show Hidden Files and Folders and uncheck Hide protected operating system files.
2. Download and run the HiJackThis utility. Note: It has been suggested that the program file should be renamed to something other than hijackthis.exe before executing.
   • This utility can be used to remove suspicious startup programs and browser helper objects (BHO), but care should be exercised as harmless objects can be removed inadvertently.
3. Download and run the Vundofix utility.
4. Download and run the ComboFix utility.
   • The program will proceed through several scan steps. At some point in the scan, the program will disable the desktop. Do not touch the system at this point - as long as there is disk activity the program is still running.
   • The program may ask to restart the system, let the program do it.
   • After the system restarts, the program will produce a log file and complete.

When you run the Registry Editor for Windows XP (regedit), the following message may be displayed:

Registry Editing has been disabled by your administrator

This error occurs if the DisableRegistryTools Policy is enabled.

To remove DisableRegistryTools restriction do one of the following:

For standalone Windows XP systems, perform the steps below to remove the registry editing restrictions.

Method 1 Using the REG.EXE console tool
1. Click Start, Run and type this command:

REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableRegistryTools /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

You should be able to launch the Registry Editor.

Method 2 Using the Group Policy Editor (Windows XP Professional only)
Click Start, Run and type gpedit.msc and press ENTER
Go to the following location:
User Configuration | Administrative Templates | System

Double-click Disable registry editing tools and set it to Not Configured
Exit the Group Policy Editor
Note: If the setting already reads Not Configured, set it to Enabled, and click Apply. Then revert it back to Not Configured. This ensures that the DisableRegistryTools registry value is removed successfully.

No desktop, taskbar, icons at Windows startup.

The SHELLFIX.REG file is used to fix Explorer startup problems resulted from unconditional termination of F-Nimda tool during its operation.

If F-Nimda tool is terminated by a user or operating system while it is scanning a hard disk, there will be no icons and no taskbar on Windows desktop. To fix the problem you will have to run the SHELLFIX.REG file.

You can execute this file on an affected NT-based systems (Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP) from Task Manager.
Please follow these instructions:

1. Press CTRL-ALT-DEL

2. Select 'Task Manager'

3. Select 'File' menu

4. Select 'New Task'

5. In the opened dialog window input the path to the SHELLFIX.REG file, for example if the file is on a diskette, input 'A:\SHELLFIX.REG' (without quotes) and press 'Enter'

6. Windows will ask you if you want to add information from the REG file to the Registry, answer 'Yes'

7. Restart your system and the problem will be solved.

If the problem occurs on Windows 9x-based system (Windows 95, 98 and ME), boot from a system diskette and copy the SHELLFIX.REG file to the program autostartup folder which in default Windows
9x installation is:

c:\windows\start menu\programs\startup

After Windows starts, it will ask you to confirm adding the REG file information to the Registry, answer 'Yes'. Restart a system and the problem will be solved. After restart please delete the SHELLFIX.REG file from programs autostartup folder as it is no longer needed.