USB device fails to install suddenly – the solution

I use several devices which must connect to my Wndows 7 pc often. Some days ago, suddenly I did not succeed in coupling them to my pc. The problem seems to be security related. My solution:

  • Open a command prompt window using elevated rights.
  • Type the following command in the window: net localgroup Administrators local service /add
  • Press Enter
  • Done (at least, you should be)!

It is probably a little too agressive to solve the problem like I did, but I assume you can use this command as a work-around or as a reference for a better solution. In that last case, I would definitely like to see your solution in the comments section ;) .

How to sync favorites from Outlook to Outlook Web Access (OWA)

In Outlook I heavily use some favorite/search folders (for instance, the search folder for mails that need follow up). I use Microsoft Exchange 2010 and therefore have Outlook Web Access (OWA) as webmail client. Although there is a favorites bar in OWA, I did not get it equal to my Outlook favorites. Luckily, I discovered that this is in fact possible (sorry, screenshots are in Dutch, the icons should look familiar though):

  1. In your mail profile (via Control Panel), uncheck the checkbox for ‘Use Cached Exchange mode’.

     

  2. Restart Outlook.
  3. Wait for some magical seconds (and maybe now create some favorites/search folders).
  4. Navigate to OWA (or refresh) and see the favorites and search folders to be synced.

  5. You can now recheck the checkbox from 1. again if you like…

Done! Good luck!

Being creative on a project name

Hi folks,

Tomorrow I will be demoing about the Build Windows event last week. Of course, as a SCRUM Master, I must demo something about the new Team Foundation Service preview. But… How to come up with something different than a boring project name like ‘Windows 8 TFS Demo App’? When surfing around the Interwebs just minutes ago, I stumbled upon a really great Dilbert strip inspiring me to laugh a bit (although it didn’t help out on the name, unfortunately ;) ). I hope hereby I share the smile with somebody also searching around for inspiration ;) .

New company image - by Dogbert

PS1. Notice the dog’s name is Dogbert (nice variation on my blog’s name ;) ).
PS2. The name I came up with? CreAte!

Cheers!

Twitter and my blog…

Hi all,

Lately I seem to use Twitter more than I use my blog. Keeping up on Twitter is easier than writing entire blog items ;) . I just added the WP to Twitter plugin to my blog to notice my followers that I blog sometimes. Therefore, if you are interested in my short messages to the world as well ánd want to stay tuned with my progress at this blog, I hereby invite you to follow me: @loedeman.

Happy coding! Cheers!

How to find public key token for a .NET DLL or assembly

I had to find the public key token for a strongly named assembly in .NET. Searching for a solution, I came along Wriju’s Blog. It appears the answer is very simple: use the .NET Framework tool ‘sn.exe’. Since I do not want to forget about this one, here it is:

  1. Open the Visual Studio <version reflecting DLL creator/signer> Command Prompt
  2. Point to the dll’s folder you want to get the public key
  3. Use the following command: sn –T myDLL.dll

This will give you the public key token. Of course this only works if the assembly is strongly signed :) .