This code translator is very handy. Give it some C# and it will spit out VB.NET, give it VB.NET and it’ll give you C#. Some of the code samples for manipulating Word documents are in VB.NET and I wanted to see them in C#. I could have tried to translate them myself but this saved me the bother. Sweet.
Monthly Archive for July, 2007
This was a weird one. I’ve just built the new x64-based VM server, and moved a number of my VMs onto it for testing. A few of those VMs run under a local (to the host) service account so they can be automagically started by the server. For some reason, the VMs which had been set up like this couldn’t see the External network. I reinstalled the VM Additions, removed and reinstalled the NIC in the Guest and generally scratched my head because this same setup worked just fine when it was a 32-bit box and it was exactly the same… wasn’t it?
Well no, actually, it wasn’t. Turns out the user I’d created for launching the VMs on the x64 box wasn’t exactly the same as the user on the old box. It wasn’t a member of the Administrators group. So note to self: if you want them to be able to access the NIC, start your VMs in a user context that has Admin rights. I’m sure with a bit of testing I could find the URAs that would lock this down with a little more granularity, but the Administrator right blanket fits for now!
Again, a techy post more for my future self’s benefit (so little space in my memory for anything useful, it being full of StarTrek trivia and the like). A trick to optimise a VHD (Microsoft’s Virtual Harddrive format - used in Virtual PC and Virtual Server). Turn of the system file checker. Not always advisable, but if you’ve created a machine where you think you don’t need it, try this.
To turn off SFC, open a command prompt and run
sfc /cachesize=0
sfc /purgecache
Then perform the standard compaction routine in Virtual PC/Virtual Server. For even more benefit, see also the Invirtus Optimizer which is outstanding, taking a 4.2GB VHD down to 1.4 by removing the cruft it didn’t need.
The Simpsons Movie site has a cool way to turn yourself into a Simpsons character. Here’s me and Lindsay (click to enlarge). It’s slightly worrying that I appear to be a cross between Millhouse and Professor Frink.
Check Richard’s blog for a Simpson-ised Richard and Beth.
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