The following steps show you how to setup and install Joomla 2.5 with MSSQL.

Install the PHP Drivers for SQL Server

The Microsoft Drivers for PHP for SQL Server driver is needed to connect to SQL Server with PHP. These drivers also provide support for PDO. When you run the setup program, a good place to install the DLLs are in the ext folder in the PHP installation (i.e. C:\Program Files\PHP\ext).

Modify php.ini to Use MSSQL

The PHP configuration file needs to be modified to use the new MSSQL DLL. Add the following code at the end of the .ini file:

[PHP_MSSQL]
extension=php_sqlsrv_53_ts_vc9.dll
extension=php_pdo_sqlsrv_53_ts_vc9.dll

The first line is all you need, unless you use PDO which the second line adds support for.

Install Joomla 2.5

Copy Joomla to a folder where you web site will host it and setup IIS to point to it. You still need to manually create a database with SQL Server Management Studio.

Once this is done, run the Joomla installation program. Follow the normal installation routine until you reach the Database Configuration page. When you select the Database Type, you will have the option of Sqlsrv for MSSQL on your server, or Sqlazure for SQL Azure for cloud-based Joomla (see image below).

After these are setup correctly, the rest of the Joomla installation proceeds normally.

Restoring the file association isn’t very difficult. One solution is to run assoc .scr=scrfile in the command shell. If this doesn’t work, open Windows Explorer and follow these steps:

1. Open the Tools menu and select Folder Options.
2. Select the File Types tab.
3. Press the New button.
4. Enter scr in the File Extension text box.
5. Press the Advanced button.
6. Select Screen Saver in the Associated File Type.
7. Press OK and allow the change to a new file type.

Now when you run an .scr file, it displays the screen saver.

One of the best kept secrets is that Windows 7 comes with a free Window XP virtual machine. It’s not available on the installation DVD. You need to download three components from Microsoft to install it:

1. Windows XP Mode
2. Windows Virtual PC
3. Windows XP Mode Update

You can find these files on the Download Windows XP Mode page and the total download size for all of this is around 483 MB.

Once installed, you have a licensed version of Windows XP that can run all of your old applications. Keep in mind that you should also install a virus scanner (i.e. Microsoft Security Essentials) even if your Windows 7 system is already running one, but a firewall isn’t necessary if Windows 7 has one installed.

After installing XP mode, run Windows Update to install the latest patches for optimal security (this will take about 2-3 hours). Something to consider is backing up your virtual machine after you set it up. This is in case something goes wrong in the future with Windows XP and you have to reinstall it. If its backed up, you can just copy the VM files and your back to where you saved it.

I gave up for a while and then resumed my search for a solution later. This is one very effective method of solving problems: put it aside for some time and come back to it again with a fresh perspective. I’ve solved many IT related issues this way.

I found a post from unwiredben on the Palm developer forum who gave instructions on how to bypass the activation screen. On the first use of the phone, press the “make emergency call” button and erase the 911 number already there. Then type the keys that correspond to #*DEVMODE# (for GSM networks like Fido/Rogers) or ##DEVMODE# (for CDMA networks).

The phone will then function normally on your network.

If this doesn’t fix the error, then add System.Web as a reference to your project (see image below).

The error should be corrected after these changes are applied.

Why would there be a feature in Windows for rotating the display? Many wide screen monitors can be rotated to a portrait position instead of the default landscape one. When you do this, you need to rotate the screen display to match the new physical position. This is typically done through your computer and not from the monitor’s controls.

Rotating the screen is very easy. Press and hold both the Ctrl and Alt keys, then while still holding them, press an arrow key. The left/right keys will rotate in those directions, the up key will rotate the screen 180 degrees, and the down arrow will restore the screen to the original landscape reading position.

Rotating a screen can a fun way to annoy co-workers, but you need to keep in mind that when you change the screen orientation, all of the desktop icons are reset and it make time to place them back to where they were originally located.

To add notes to an e-mail, double click the message to open it in its own window. In the Message tab, open Actions in the Move section and the select Edit Message. Add your notes, and then save the e-mail (see image below).

On my blog, I created a Forums page which has the following code in the Title:

<a href=”http://forums.cyprich.com”>Forums</a>

Forums is the actual page title that will appear on the blog (see image below).

This is not an approved method of redirecting URL’s with WordPress and it may not work with all themes. You can include target=”_blank” if you want to open the page in a new window instead of overwriting the current window.

To prevent this message from displaying, right click on the project and select Properties. Click on the Signing tab and you will see the Sign the ClickOnce manifests checkbox selected. Remove the check here and then you can re-build the project without errors.

I recently activated an Administrator account through a registry hack in Windows XP. This was done by adding Administrator as a dword and setting the value to 00000001 in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList. Administrator is then an option to login to Windows, along with the administrator account that you created when Windows was installed. There is no way to delete the old administrator account through the Control Panel options because its the default administrator account. In order to delete it, you need to use another app.

In the Start menu, select Run (or press WindowsKey R). Enter control userpasswords2 in the Open text box, and press OK (see below).

The User Accounts dialog box will open. You can change any password by selecting the User Name and pressing the Reset Password button. Access level can be changed by pressing the Properties button. You have many more options here than in the Control Panel for setting the access level.

The advanced tabs offers the ability to set passwords for network shares by pressing Manage Passwords. This option can be done manually through the command line. The advanced options also gives you the ability to require users to press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to login to their account. This will increase the security of your computer because it will prevent a hacker on the outside from gaining login access to your machine.