October 2009 Archives

I purchased the Windows 7 upgrade and embarked on the transition between XP Pro and Windows 7 Pro. I have a MacBook with 3 GB of RAM and a 500 GB HD and Parallels, so we're OK except for the Aero graphics, which I won't miss.

Transitioning from XP is not a straightforward process, and does require several steps. XP to Windows 7 isn't doable as an in-place install, so you have to do a custom installation that removes all of the program files and data that used to be there. Thankfully, Microsoft does provide a tutorial for the process, which includes backing up and restoring your data, but it omits an important and, it turns out, critical aspect of Windows 7 that is absent in XP.

Windows 7 requires that each account have a password. XP doesn't. I had one account without a password, and after running the Easy Transfer utility to backup my users and their files, installing Windows 7, and then running the Easy Transfer utility again to restore the users, I was presented with a dialog box to enter the password for the account that didn't have a password. Hmmm. What to do? Windows 7 demands a password, but the account doesn't have one. Ultimately, I had to cancel the Easy Transfer, which left the computer in a limbo state. I had the files, but not the users, transferred to Windows 7. Messy.

Ah, but since I always back up my Virtual Machine's hard drive files before embarking on a journey like this, I was able to delete the Windows 7 HD and restore the XP HD, where I added a password to that account.

I'm now back to square one, but am determined to get this running. For the few minutes I had Windows 7 running, it was much more responsive than XP, but I had not yet installed my Creative Suite 4, my Norton Utilities, my Office 2007, and the rest of the performance drains that we all need and love. I'll let you all know how it turns out in the next day or two, but now, it's back to work on XP.

Windows 7,Windows XP,Installing Windows 7,Windows XP to Windows 7

Working as a consultant to printers means that I am charged with solving all kinds of problems, pre and post press. Today, the issue was a folding challenge, created by a 6 panel barrel fold. The customer had divided the sheet evenly, but we knew that we would have to make adjustments to the artwork. Just where to place the folds, though, was in question. The printer where the job would be finished had never done a 6 panel barrel fold before, and so had no samples for measurement. Where to turn?

While visiting family in Woodbridge, CT this weekend, I had to go to the Walgreen's to get some rash cream for Zeke, and on the way back, I must have caught the local constable's attention. A few minutes from having pulled into the driveway, the constable knocks on the door and tells me that my car's registration is expired, and that I had better step outside to explain the situation to him and to the other officer. Of course, I was able to produce proper paperwork and the officers politely apologized for the confusion and left.

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashcs5/appsfor_iphone/

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashcs5/appsfor_iphone/

I discovered that Leopard PDF exported from Safari contain active hyperlinks. Browse to a site, choose Print... and click on the PDF button in the lower left corner of the dialog. Choose Save as PDF... from the menu. The PDF will then maintain the links in the active page when you click on them in your PDF reader.

Of course, nothing is perfect. Don't try this with a Flash site; when you print to PDF, Safari attempts to parse the Flash and does a poor job of is. As a test, browse to Adobe.com and try printing to PDF using Quartz PDF. Not quite what you were expecting, eh?

Safari,PDF,Quartz PDF