Author: rthomson

Server Fault!

rthomson Leave a comment

Ok, so I’m a bit late the party but… Server Fault has seriously captivated my interest! I’ve only posted two answers and not a single question yet but the amount of reading I’ve done is staggering. Not to mention the time I’ve spent familiarizing myself with how the site and the community operate so I don’t stick out like a sore thumb.

If you’re like I used to be and you don’t know Server Fault, check it out. It’s Stack Overflow for sysadmins.

I’ve got this burning question regarding a highly intermittent issue I’ve been tracking without success for what seems like two years now but I don’t think I have mustered the courage to post such a complicated problem as my first question on SF so it might just have to wait.

As you also may have noticed, I’ve added my SF “flair” to techslaves.org in the sidebar. I got to ‘rep my stuff, baby. Or not.

Back on message: Check out Server Fault, people!

Fresh Win2k Install and Windows Update Error

rthomson Leave a comment

I needed to re-install a Windows 2000 Pro system today because the HDD was failing and we wanted to convert from ATA to SATA at some point anyways. We have nice gzipped dd images of the system, but that’s with the ATA drive and a different SATA controller. The install is also old and crufty. We need a system in a better known state and so fresh re-install it is.

As to why I’m installing Windows 2000 in 2011? This application requires Windows 2000 Pro as it is an instrument controller and thus the proprietary control software is finicky and we only receive support with the manufacturer-mandated OS and software stack version(s). There are a few other reasons why we also need to keep Windows 2000 Pro at this point but they aren’t relevant or interesting.

Now on to the problem.

Windows Update no longer works from a fresh install of Win2k Pro! The issue is Internet Explorer 5, the version of IE bundled with Windows 2000 Pro. Windows Update now requires at least IE6 in order to function properly. I don’t know when that changed but presumably some time ago as I haven’t run Windows Update on a fresh 2000 install in years. Luckily the solution is fairly simple, just download IE6 from microsoft.com and get rockin’.

It struck me as strange at first but quite understandable after a few moments of reflecting on it, especially considering Windows 2000 reached end-of-life in July 2010.

Yeah, that post pretty much sucked. Sorry, folks.

Career Development

rthomson Leave a comment

Career development is a funny thing for me to be writing about. A few years ago, it wasn’t something I really thought about too much. It’s not that I wasn’t aware or cognizant of the benefits of thinking about it and spending time considering my future, it’s that I was younger and a lot more focused on the “now”. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t get old overnight and I still value the philosophical concepts of my youth but I now see additional value in also paying attention to the future.

Today, I’m on the brink of making another significant career move and career development is front and centre in my day to day thoughts. Hence, rant.

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