I was configuring our new Cisco ASA 5510 firewall today, as part of a major infrastructure upgrade. I’m pretty comfortable with the Cisco IOS, but I still prefer the GUI for the basic set up, using command line to tweak the finer or more complex configurations. However, straight out of the box, I had a very hard time getting the ASDM to load. Being familiar with the PDM from the PIX range of firewalls, I should have guessed the problem straight away.

I recently tried to use Microsoft reader on my iMate K-Jam mobile, it’s Windows Mobile 5 powered, so according to Microsoft it’s fully supported. However, when I tried to activate, I got the following error: “You have an older version of Pocket PC which does not support Activation” Not true I cried, and after a lot of Google-ing and trying various different fixes that are posted on the net, I found the only one that actually worked for me!

32-bit processors have a limitation of only being able to directly address 4GB RAM - their architecture was never designed to address more. 64-bit processors get around that limitation by being able to us 64 bits to address RAM (potentially 16,777,216 GB), but what do you do if you have an application that won’t work on a 64-bit copy of Windows, but does need to utilise more than 4GB of RAM?

For a little while now I’ve had an irritating problem with my Vista laptop. Whenever I insert a DVD, CD of any kind, pops up the message asking me to prepare a blank disk: It’s impossible to access the files on the disc and I don’t want Vista trying to “prepare” my data disc. Quite irritating, but not irritating enough to fix right away. Microsoft have a KB article about it, which has worked in some cases, but not in most.

If, like me, you enjoy a bit of design in your free time then I have a great site for you… Blog Spoon Graphics is a fantastic site, with loads of free vector graphics downloads that you can use in your designs. It’s also got some great tips and stuff on vector art - take a look! This is probably a little off-topic, but hey - I like this site! And no, I haven’t sold out, it’s not a sponsored link…I just like it!

So I was testing the configuration on my Exchange 2003 server in preparation for the roll out of some Windows Mobile devices when I recieved the following error: Outlook(R) Mobile Access is supported only on Microsoft(R) Exchange Server 2003. Currently your mailbox is stored on an older version of Exchange server. Please contact your system administrator for additional assistance. “That’s odd”, I thought, “I only have Exchange Server 2003 in my organisation, how can I have an older version of Exchange?

Recently I wrote a little utility for a client using the excellent Html Agility Pack to read and navigate through a HTML page, selecting the data that was needed and parsing it - basically a screen scrape. I downloaded the source, compiled it, added a reference to the dll in my project and tapped away for a few minutes and et voila, within a few minutes a working screen scrape. A fantastic library.

I needed to use PowerShell for something today on my Vista laptop, but was unable to install the file. I had the normal UAC permission required when I ran it, but then it failed with this error Installer encountered an error: 0x80070422 The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. It turns out that you need to enable the Windows Update service in order to use an MSU file.

Well, I’ve been away with my friends at Firebrand again and guess what…MCSE Windows Server 2003! 70-293 Planning and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure 70-294 Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure 70-298 Designing Security for a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network

*** Unfortunately the Real Man Cycling challenge has been cancelled for this year due to planning issues - I’m disappointed but I hope to do it again next year *** I’m doing the Real Man Cycling Challenge in London on the 14th September. It’s a 34km ride through london in aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity, which is a really worthwile cause. If you’d like to sponsor me, head on over to http://www.