Work « Ry’s Blog

Archive for the 'Work' Category

Well, that’s that

3 March 2009

Today is my last day as a CSG at Microsoft. I’ve been working for ExP; if you know of any QA gigs in the Seattle area, let me know.

Posted in Life, Microsoft, Work | Comments Off

I’m no longer able to play DVDs after installing Windows 7; this is the x86 build, clean install. I’m (trying) to play them back over USB; this exact setup worked fine under Vista. It is only DVDs (actually, only sections of DVDs) that have DRM applied. If you know of a work-around, I’d be grateful if you told me.

Posted in Microsoft | 1 Comment »

Vista SP1 packaging

1 October 2008

Went to the company store today to pick up a copy of Vista; I noticed that they’re now shipping SP1 of the packaging. It happens to contain SP1 of the product, but with an important bug fix.

The package on the left is RTM; right is SP1. Right, they include instructions on how to open the dag nabbit box. The RTM package includes a large, round, clear, heavy-duty sticker that covers the left and right edge; you have to cut both sides and play IQ test to open the box. The SP1 box has an opaque, square, heavy-duty sticker that has a bright dotted red line on black background showing you where to cut. The corner shows you how to open it once cut. Much better.

Posted in Microsoft | Comments Off

Vista CPU upgrade mystery

22 July 2008

My CPU died; I had to peel off $80 for a replacement. After I installed the replacement, I started getting these errors:

Product: Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
Problem: Stopped working
Date: 7/22/2008 7:02 PM
Status: Not Reported

Problem signature
Problem Event Name:    APPCRASH
Application Name:    wmpnetwk.exe
Application Version:    11.0.6001.7000
Application Timestamp:    47919370
Fault Module Name:    Indiv01.key
Fault Module Version:    11.0.6000.6324
Fault Module Timestamp:    47e31c1d
Exception Code:    c0000005
Exception Offset:    00107422
OS Version:    6.0.6001.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID:    1033
Additional Information 1:    375c
Additional Information 2:    b609c209d0d5efeb3cfcb425b7f84343
Additional Information 3:    375c
Additional Information 4:    b609c209d0d5efeb3cfcb425b7f84343

Product: Windows Media Center Receiver Service
Problem: Stopped working
Date: 7/22/2008 7:02 PM
Status: Not ReportedProblem signature
Problem Event Name:    APPCRASH
Application Name:    ehRecvr.exe
Application Version:    6.0.6001.18000
Application Timestamp:    47919381
Fault Module Name:    Indiv01.key
Fault Module Version:    11.0.6000.6324
Fault Module Timestamp:    47e31c1d
Exception Code:    c0000005
Exception Offset:    0010275e
OS Version:    6.0.6001.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID:    1033
Additional Information 1:    fd00
Additional Information 2:    ea6f5fe8924aaa756324d57f87834160
Additional Information 3:    fd00
Additional Information 4:    ea6f5fe8924aaa756324d57f87834160

Product: Digital Cable device registration application.
Problem: Stopped working
Date: 7/22/2008 7:02 PM
Status: Report SentProblem signature
Problem Event Name:    APPCRASH
Application Name:    ehPrivJob.exe
Application Version:    6.0.6001.18000
Application Timestamp:    479192da
Fault Module Name:    Indiv01.key
Fault Module Version:    11.0.6000.6324
Fault Module Timestamp:    47e31c1d
Exception Code:    c0000005
Exception Offset:    00111e04
OS Version:    6.0.6001.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID:    1033
Additional Information 1:    d947
Additional Information 2:    9e34b879961a9cb241047333b26275f7
Additional Information 3:    59fd
Additional Information 4:    ea834e34771542fd8e86caf9cf1343ce

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID:    855048358

I found the solution after a lot of searching. In a nutshell, a new CPU requires a new DRM store. To effect this, start an elevated cmd prompt and:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.C:\Windows\system32>cd \ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DRM

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DRM>rd /s/q .
The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DRM>

Warning: if you needed any of that data, it is gone. Hopefully the Vista AppCompat team can look into publishing a better solution more widely.

Posted in Microsoft, Tech | Comments Off

Throw all other cell phones in the garbage.

9 June 2008

Honestly, once the iPhone 2.0 hits the streets, there’s no reason to stay with any other phone. iPhone + MobileMe = win.

Posted in Microsoft, Mobile Lifestyle | Comments Off

Stats; proposal for new unit for link love: the Raymond

23 May 2008

Sebastian writes that a link from Huffpo is worth about five hits; a link from Brady is worth about one. My most popular non-Raymond Chen posts are all of the “how to hard reset a device” variety. How to hard reset a Touch Dual is worth from 50-60 hits a day. How to hard reset an HTC Touch is worth 30-40 hits a day. Zune 2 hard reset? 10-20. ipaq 110 classic hard reset is worth 5-10 (this means every owner is hard reseting every day, and forgetting how to do so! Ha! Ha!). These aren’t one-day hits; for the leaderboard there, it’s all Raymond Chen.

Raymond Chen is worth more residual traffic (20 hits a day) than Instanpundit, Say Uncle, or Joe (all at ~0 residual hits). A link from Chen is worth a couple thousand hits in a few hours (right around 0700). A link from Glenn is worth a thousand or so hits over a few more hours. A link from Uncle, while gratifying, is hidden by the daily fluctuation of “Touch Dual” hits. A link from Joe is about 1/3rd an Uncle; however, since Joe is close to me on many axis, I suspect we share subscribers.

To put some scale to this, a link from Instapundit has 0 residual and is worth about 1/4 of a link from Chen initially (about half the hits over about twice the timespan).

Huffpo would rank up there on my all-time hits for Aluminum Foam. An article with one hit, ever? Area 29 Snomobile Maps.

Because I hate that every scandal is post-fixed with “gate” and every expression of link love is a “-lanche”, I propose a new unit for directed unique user visits: the Raymond, which I define as 2,674 uniques per hour.

Posted in Meta, Quotable Raymond | Comments Off

Camping supplies

3 April 2008

A term entered my lexicon some years ago. I was in the office on a holiday and ran into a co-worker. They had ice chests and were filling them from the coolers at work (free sodas). They also had grocery sacks they were filling with napkins, plates, cups, and first aid supplies. I asked what they were doing; the answer was “getting camping supplies”.

There was no shame; just a statement of fact. An over-arching sense of entitlement; that Microsoft provided those for whatever reason meant that they were free in any amount.

From that point forward, when I’m out with the kids, I’ll ask if they want “camping supplies” – code for food. Of course, I pay for it, but they’re in on the etemology of the phrase.

Posted in Microsoft, Some People's Children, Work | Comments Off