Transfer your PuTTY settings between computers

PuTTY is tops on the short list of applications I install first on any Windows machine. Over the years I've used PuTTY, I've installed it on a huge number of computers but I've always had one complaint; There isn't a configuration file I can backup or move to a new machine.

Getting all the little comfort settings correct for each SSH connection can be a pain. The third time you set emulation, keys, encryption type, etc. for each machine you regularly access, you lose patience. The fifth time you find yourself re-entering settings you might do what I did, find a better way.

Moving PuTTy settings between computers is an easy task once you know what's involved. We'll find the registry keys where PuTTy stores its configuration information and export them to a file. We'll then use that file we've made to import our configuration on the target machine.

Useful Shortcuts For Windows

RUN command shortcuts
I know there are a lot of people who love using the run prompt or the command prompt rather than using the mmc control, so here are some quick tips that you can use. Enjoy!

Symantec Backup Exec Migrate Data and catalogs to a fresh server or upgrade version of server

This week our backup server had to be replaced. We currently run Backup Exec 11d on Server 2003.  We are in the process of upgrading our servers to server 2008. At this point since there we are two versions behind would it be recommended to just wipe the server and start from scratch with 2008 and BE 2010 or upgrade BE 11d to 2010 and then upgrade to server 2008.

So there will be two options

In place upgrade:
1  : Upgrade BE11d to 12.5 and then to BE2010
2  : Upgrade W2003 to W2008

New Server upgrade: (With Same Name)
1  : On W2003 Server upgrade BE11d to 12.5 and to 2010
2  : On W2008 install BE2010 and migrate BE Databases from W2003 to W2008.

7-Zipping multiple folders to separate/individual zip/archive files

The problem was I had several folders I wanted to zip into individual 7z archives.  7-zip lacks a ‘Add to “*.7z”‘ explorer context for multiple selected files or folders (even though it does include a ‘Extract to “*\”‘).  Nor does this option appear within the application itself or via the command-line.  I seem to recall this feature being available in the Explorer contexts for some ZIP program I once used (I think it was TUGzip), but I wanted to choose quite aggressive compression settings for the archives and I didn’t think this would be achievable except via the command-line.

So using a bit of Google skills I discovered the ‘for… in… do’ batch command.  Which is quite powerful and I’m sure will come in handy again now that I know about it. Coupled with the 7-zip manual I arrived at a batch file with this line in it:

For 7z archive files

for /d %%X in (*) do "c:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" a "%%X.7z" "%%X\" -mx=9 -ms=on -md=26 -mfb=256

Configuring Cisco Router as a DHCP server

If you want to configure Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) on PC clients, you currently have multiple options to choose for your DHCP server. One of the more common ways to accomplish this is by using a Windows or Linux server. However, most home networks get DHCP from their DSL or cable router.

Many administrators forget or don't even realize that DHCP is also available on Cisco IOS routers and switches. Keep in mind that DHCP is only available on newer IOS-based switches.

Create Bootable USB Pen Drive for Windows 7

Installing Windows from a USB flash drive has several advantages : First of all, the overall speed of the installation process will increase significantly, carrying a USB stick is much more convenient than a DVD, and finally it becomes possible to install the OS even on those systems that do not have a DVD drive, such as a netbook.

 

In this post, I will show you how to load the Windows installation on to your USB flash drive and make it bootable just like the DVD.

IE9 Printing Problems - Text is garbled when trying to print

Problem with printing some content from Internt Explorer in Adobe 9 Pro. The text is garbled.

Running Windows 7.  Printing an HTML page (not an Adobe Reader view) to the Adobe PDF "printer" (Distiller in Adobe 9 Pro) from IE9 Beta (and now IE9 RC) garbles the text. IE8 and other browsers do not exhibit this behavior. IE9 prints without this behavior to XPS and other printers (PostScript not tested).  Selecting the garbled text in the PDF and then copying and pasting into Notepad produces the same content as seen in the browser, hence a font-substitution issue.