This article shows how to install Northwind and Pubs databases on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express.

Step-by-step

1. Browse to SQL Server 2000 Sample Databases and click on SQL2000.Sample.Databases.(Northwind,pubs).zip to download the Northwind and Pubs databases. Once you clicked the file, there will be a pop-up displays license of this file. Click I Agree to download the file.
   Note: This file contains sample databases that can be used on SQL Server 2000/2005/2008.
   
2. Extract the zipped file, you will see files as the figure below. There are two methods to install these sample databases on SQL Server. The first method, run query on the SQL Server using instnwnd.sql and instpubs.sql for Northwind and Pubs databases respectively. The second method, attach database on SQL Server using NORTHWND.LDF and NORTHWND.MDF for Northwind database and PUBS.MDF and PUBS_LOG.MDF for Pubs database. On this article, I will show how to install Northwind and Pubs databases using the second method.
   
3. Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio and connect to your SQL Server.
   
4. Once the connection has been established, right-click on Databases and select Attach.
   
5. On Attach Databases, click Add in Databases to attach section.
   
6. On Locate Database File, browse to the folder where you extracted the downloaded file in step 2. Select a database file that you want to attach. I select NORTHWND.MDF which refers to Northwind database and click OK.
   
7. You will see detail of Northwind database. The NORTHWND.LDF is automatically added in the details on section below (“Northwind” database details).
   
8. Repeat step 5 and 6 for Pubs database by attach PUBS.MDF file if you want to attach more than one database at the time. After you finish selecting databases that you want to attach, click OK.
   
9. If there is no error, you will see the sample databases (Northwind and Pubs) list on the SQL Server as the figure below. Now you can use these sample databases as you want.
   

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When you are installing Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express on Windows Vista or Windows 7, you may receive this error message:

The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 29506.

This error message relates with permission issue (UAC) on Windows Vista and Windows 7. To solve this problem, you have to re-run the installer again using elevated command prompt by run the command prompt as administrator and execute the installer in there. If you are using 64-bit Windows, you should use the command prompt at C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cmd.exe instead. Otherwise, you can use the command prompt at C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe. You will see the step-by-step guide to use elevated command prompt to execute the installer file on the section below.

The other solution, you can disable UAC on Windows but I don’t recommend it since it will lower your security system.

Step-by-step

1. Run elevated command prompt by right-click on Command Prompt in Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
   Note: This step is for 32-bit Windows. If you are using 64-bit Windows, see the next step.
   
2. If you are using 64-bit Windows, you have to run the command prompt in C:\Windows\SysWOW64. Right-click on cmd.exe and select Run as administrator.
   
3. On User Account Control, click Yes.
   
4. On Command Prompt (both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows), change path to directory where the installer file is and execute the file. By default, the file name for 32-bit version is SQLServer2005_SSMSEE.msi and 64-bit version is SQLServer2005_SSMSEE_x64.msi.
   
5. On Setup Wizard, follow the instruction as usual. There won’t be the error message this time.
   

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This article shows you how to backup and restore database on MySQL using phpMyAdmin. You can choose to backup/restore tables in a database or databases so I have separate steps into different sections as below.

Section

1. Sample Database
   If you want to learn by follow this article, you can download sample database from this section and follow article in restoration section first.
2. Backup tables in a database
3. Backup entire database(s)
4. Restore tables to a database
5. Restore entire database(s)

Step-by-step

Sample Database

1. You can download sample database for MySQL at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/index-other.html. In this example, I use “world” database.
   
2. There are 3 tables in world database as you see in the figure below.
   

Back to top

Backup tables in a database

This section shows how to backup tables in a database. You can select which tables that you want to backup or all of them.

1. Select the database that you want to backup and click on Export. Notice I have selected “world” database on top (localhost -> world).
   
2. On Export page, there are many configurations that you can customize for export. By default, all tables in the database are selected for export which you can see that they are all highlighted in export section (city, country, countrylanguage). Also, you can select which file type that you want, for example, SQL, CSV, Excel, etc. In this example, I use default configuration and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Next, click Go button on the right. This will export all tables in “world” database including its records (data).
   
3. The popup window appears. Select Save File and click OK and the exported file will be saved to your computer.
   
4. Now you have backup the selected tables in “world” database. Here is sample content of the exported file in SQL format.
   

Back to top

Backup entire database(s)

The previous section backup only tables in a database. This section will shows how to backup entire database. You can select one or more databases for backup.

1. On phpMyAdmin main’s page, click on Export. Notice that I haven’t select any database yet on top (localhost).
   
2. On Export page, there are many configurations that you can customize for export as similar to the previous section. In this example, select the database that you want to backup, “world” database. Next, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Go button on the right.
   Note: You can select more than one databases.
   
3. The popup window appears. Select Save File and click OK and the exported file will be saved to your computer.
   
4. Now you have backup the selected database. Here is sample content of the exported file in SQL format.
   

Back to top

Restore tables to a database

This section shows how to restore (import) tables from a backup file into a database. If you have an exported file which derived from section backup tables in a database, you will have to create a database manually and select that database before follow steps below.

1. Select the database that you want to restore tables to. In this example, I have a “world” database which is an empty database (no tables). Click on Import.
   
2. On Import page, click Browse button and browse to the location where you keep the backup file. Then, click Go on the bottom right.
   
3. If there is no error while importing tables, you will see the green section display as figure below. Notice that the tables have been imported to the database on the left side.
   

Back to top

Restore entire database(s)

This section shows how to restore (import) database(s) from a backup file.

1. On phpMyAdmin main’s page, click on Import. Notice that I haven’t select any database yet on top (localhost).
   
2. On Import page, click Browse button and browse to the location where you keep the backup file. Then, click Go on the bottom right.
   
3. If there is no error while importing database(s), you will see the green section display as figure below. Notice that the database(s) have been imported to MySQL on the left side.
   

Back to top

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The workaround is to use to older version of APC PowerChute (8.0.0 or below). You can download APC PowerChute Business Edition version 8.0.0 at here. Or you can try to download from ftp at apcc.com .

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This article shows you how to enable cURL on XAMPP on Windows 7.

Step-by-step

1. Locate php.ini in xampp directory. By default, it locates in “xampp/php/php.ini”. Then, open the file with any text editor.
   
2. Uncomment the line below by remove the semi-colon at beginning of the line and save the file.

   ;extension=php_curl.dll

   to

   extension=php_curl.dll

   

3. Next, restart apache service. You can do this through Windows services or using XAMPP Control Panel. Open XAMPP Control Panel, click on Stop button of the Apache service. Once it stops, click Start button.
   
4. Now cURL is enabled on XAMPP, you can test by create a PHP file with the code below and save to htdocs folder.

    <?php
     phpinfo();
   ?>
   

   

5. Open the browser and navigate to http://localhost/phpinfo.php. Scroll down to find curl section, you will see that it is already enabled. If you can’t find curl section, it means that cURL isn’t enable on the server.
   

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Few years ago, I wrote an article about how to setup Apache web server using AppServ. Now there are many software similar to AppServ so I decide to write a new fresh one. But instead of using the same software as the previous article, I will use XAMPP this time. XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP and Perl. At the moment there are four XAMPP distributions: Windows, Linux, Mac OS and Solaris. See XAMPP for more information.

XAMPP is not meant for production use but only for developers in a development environment. XAMPP is configured is to be as open as possible and to allow the web developer anything he/she wants. For development environments this is great but in a production environment it could be fatal.
Reference: XAMPP security console

This article will show you how to setup Apache web server with PHP/MySQL using XAMPP on Windows 7 (x64). The current version of XAMPP is 1.7.4. It comes with PHP 5.3.5 so if you don’t plan to use this PHP version, you should download the older version of XAMPP instead.

Step-by-step

1. Download XAMPP for Windows. Browse to www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html and click XAMPP for Windows.
   
2. Scroll down to Download section, there are 3 formats which you can choose to download. In this example, I select ZIP format.
   
3. Unzip the file into the folder of your choice. If you extract XAMPP in a top level folder like “C:\” or “D:\”, you can skip to step 5. Otherwise, you have to run “setup_xampp.bat” in \xampp folder. In this example, I extract to C:\ so I can skip to step 5.
   
4. Here is the screenshot of the execution of file setup_xampp.bat.
   
5. Open XAMPP Control Panel by right-click on xampp-control.exe and select Run as administrator.
   Note: If you’re using Windows XP, you just double-click on the file.
   
6. On XAMPP Control Panel Application, select Svc checkbox of Apache and click OK. This will install Apache as a service on this computer.
   
7. Click Start to start Apache web server.
   
8. Repeat step 6-7 on MySQL. Now Apache and MySQL are installed as Windows services and already started.
   
9. You can check if the services are really installed on the computer by click SCM.
   
10. On Services, you will see Apache and MySQL services are started and startup type are set to Automatic which means that services will be started automatically when the computer starts.
    
11. Now it’s time to test, browse to “http://localhost” or “http://127.0.0.1″. You will see the screen as below. This is XAMPP’s splash screen, select English language.
    
12. Here is the XAMPP’s main page. You can view other pages using navigation menu on the left side. For example, XAMPP’s status to see which components are running, security page to view current security configuration of the XAMPP installation, etc.
    
13. The main directory for all WWW documents is \xampp\htdocs. If you put a file “test.html” in this directory, you can access it with the URI “http://localhost/test.html”.
    
14. You can manage MySQL using phpMyAdmin by browse to “http://localhost/phpmyadmin” or you can select phpMyAdmin link on the XAMPP’s main page (in Tools section).
    Note: By default, the root’s password is empty (blank password).
    

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On this example, I show how to record an Photoshop action which will add a simple text and align it at bottom right on an image as watermark. I use Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Step-by-step

1. Open an image that you want to add a watermark on Photoshop. This image will be used as an example image to create a watermark action.
   
2. Open Actions Window by select Window -> Actions on the menu bar or you can press Alt + F9.
   
3. On Action window, click on Create new Action icon. This will open New Action dialog box, enter the name for an action as “watermark” and you can also add a shortcut key for this action by change the value in Function Key as you want. Next, click Record.
   Note: You can toggle hide/show the Action window by press ALT + F9.
   
4. Next, add a watermark text on the image. On Tools menu, select Horizontal Type Tool (T) and click on anywhere on the image. Type the text as a watermark, usually something like “? Yourcompany” and set font family, size and style as you want. On this example, I use the text “? Linglom.com” with font family Tahoma, bold and size is 36 pixel as a sample. Then, click on Commit any current edits to apply changes.
   Note: The copyright symbol (?) can be typed by hold ALT + 0169. Then, release the ALT button.
   
5. Next, set align of the watermark text to bottom right of the image. On Tools menu, select Move Tool and select both layers, watermark text and image layer, by click on the first layer, hold CTRL and click on the second layer. Then, click on Align bottom edges and Align right edges icons. The watermark text will move to bottom right of image.
   
6. You notice that the watermark text is too attached to edges of image. It would be nicer if you keep a little distance from edges. So use Zoom Tool to zoom to the watermark text, and select Move Tool. Click on the watermark layer and move it away from the edges as you want.
   Note: To move the watermark text layer more precisely, you can use the directional arrow keys.
   
7. Make watermark text more transparent by set opacity on the watermark text layer. Select the watermark text layer and set opacity to 30%. You can adjust this value as you want.
   
8. (Optional) You can set blending option of the watermark text to make it looks better. Double-click on the watermark text layer. This will open Layer Style dialog box, check Stroke, set size to 1 pixel and change color to whilte (#FFFFFF). Click OK.
   
9. On Action window, click Stop playing/recording icon to stop record this action.
   
10. Now you have finished create an action that add a watermark on image. Let’s try to run the watermark action on another image. Open a new image, select on “watermark” action and click on Play button. If there isn’t any error, you should see the watermark at the bottom right of this image.
    

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1. Faster than using DVD. It takes less time to install Windows 7.
2. An USB Flash Drive is smaller than DVD. Hence, easier to carry and maintain.
3. Can be installed on computer or laptop that doesn’t has DVD-ROM but has an USB port.

To install Windows 7 from an USB Flash Drive, you need a Windows 7 installation DVD or image file (.iso). Next, make a bootable USB Flash Drive by using the Windows 7 image file and UNetbootin, which is a free software that allows you to create bootable Live USB drives. Then, you will get a bootable USB Flash Drive which you can use to install Windows 7.

Requirement

• Microsoft Windows 7 installation DVD disc or image file (.iso)
• UNetbootin
• An USB Flash Drive.
• The computer or laptop which will be installed Windows 7 must support boot from USB storage device. Most computer and laptop in these days support this feature already.

Note: This article demonstrates only for Windows 7 but you can apply to other operating system, such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, Linux, etc.

Step-by-step

1. Prepare an image file. You can use free software, such as ImgBurn, to create an ISO image file from Windows 7 installation DVD. You can skip this step if you already have Windows as an image file (.iso).
   • Insert Windows 7 installation DVD in your DVD-ROM Drive.
   • Run ImgBurn and click Create image file from disc.
   • Select destination for image file by click on File -> Browse for a destination file and click Save.
   • Start create image file by click File -> Read or click on the Read’s icon.

   

2. Download UNetbootin from http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net. You can run it after download, no installation need.
   
3. Insert your USB Flash Drive and run UNetbootin.
   
4. Select Diskimage (ISO) and browse to your Windows 7 image file. On the bottom, select drive of the USB Flash Drive as destination. On this example, the target drive is “H:\“. Click OK to start create a bootable USB Flash Drive.
   
5. The process could takes times a little while.
   
6. When the process finishes, you have an option to reboot your system or exit the program. Now you can use this USB Flash Drive to boot on any computer or laptop.
   Note: You may need to change boot order in BIOS on a computer or laptop, which you want to boot using the USB Flash Drive, to boot from USB storage device first.
   

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Requirement

• Plop Boot Manager
• An USB Flash Drive with a bootable system
• VMWare Workstation

Step-by-step

1. Download Plop Boot Manager from Plop – Boot Manager. Navigate to Downloads -> Boot Manager downloads -> click on Plop Boot Manager to download. At this time, the latest version is 5.0.11-2 (stable) as the figure below.
   
2. Once the download is finished, extract the downloaded file. You see the image file, plpbt.iso, which will be used in next few steps. This is the image file that will allow us to boot from USB Falsh Drive.
   
3. Next, edit your virtual machine’s settings on VMWare Workstation. Add an USB Controller if it doesn’t have one and ensure that the checkbox Automatically connect new USB devices is checked.
   
4. Attach the Plop boot manager image (plpbt.iso) as CD image.
   
5. Attach your USB device and power on your virtual machine, you will see Plop boot manager screen.
   
   Note: If you doesn’t see Plop boot manager screen, you have to check boot order in BIOS of your virtual machine. To configure boot order in BIOS, press F2 when the virtual machine starts and select Boot tab. Next, move cursor to highlight on CD-ROM Drive and press ‘+‘ (plus sign) to move it up. Then, save settings and exit.
   
6. Now you can boot a virtual machine from your USB Flash Drive on VMWare Workstation.
   

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Note: The schedule will be applied only to new connections. If users has connected before the schedule expires, the user’s connection will not be dropped.

You may notice that this scheduling option isn’t appear when you use New Access Rule Wizard, the schedule will be set to Always (24/7) by default. There are also two other pre-configured schedules: Weekends, 00:00-24:00 (Sat,Sun) and Work hours, 9:00 – 17:00 (M-F). You can also create your custom schedule time if you don’t like these pre-configured schedules.

Next, I show an example of how to configure schedule on an access rule, that allow access to the Internet, to active only in 8:00 – 18:00 (M-F). There isn’t any pre-configured schedule for this time period so I will create a new one.

Step-by-step

1. Currently, I have two access rules on this example: Allow Internet access and Default rule. I’m going to configure schedule for the upper rule. Right-click on the access rule and select Properties.
   Note: You can’t change configuration on the default rule.
   
2. Click on Schedule tab. You see the current schedule is set to Always (default value). I want to create a new one so click New button.
   Note: You can set schedule to others if you have ones by click on the drop down list on Schedule.
   
3. On New Schedule, type name and description of the schedule that you want and set activation time for this schedule. To change the activation time between active or inactive, select range that you want to change and click on the radio buttons at the bottom (Active or Inactive), color on the range that you’ve selected will change accordingly. On this example, I named it ‘Customized work hours‘ and set the activation times as 8:00 – 16:00 (Monday – Friday). Then, click OK.
   
4. You see that condition on the access rule has been changed. The ‘Customized work hours‘ has been added to the rule.
   
5. Apply the configuration.
   

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