7ZIP for no-frills encryption
7ZIP is an open source compression and archiving tool available for windows. It is free software which can be used at home or work and you don’t need to register or pay for it. Available…
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Create a LAMP stack on Ubuntu in seconds
Tasksel is a tool found in Ubuntu and other Debian operating systems. It provides a wizard like interface which can be used to install multiple packages required for several predefined server ‘tasks’. ‘tasksel’ is often…
Run programs as a different user
As a system administrator, it’s sometimes useful to be able to run applications as a different user, to test privileges or user based configurations. This can be done from the command prompt using the ‘runas’…
Microsoft Management Console – Quick reference guide
The Microsoft Management Console is a configuration tool for system admins and advanced users. It can be accessed from later operating systems simply by pressing the windows key followed by typing ‘mmc’ and hitting enter. In…
Disconnect MSSQL (T-SQL) connections by user name or database
This is a quick method of identifying and terminating the SQL connections of a specific user. This can be helpful if you need to script such a task (before a back-up perhaps). Simply adjust the…
Exporting Crystal Reports to Excel without breaking the layout
When designing and building Crystal reports, its easy to forget how your end users will use the file above viewing and printing it as a PDF. Whilst our reports might be designed to perfection for print, one…
Using the TAIL command to review log files
The ‘tail’ command is an easy way of viewing the last few lines of any file (most frequently log files). By default, ‘tail’ prints the last ten lines of a file. This is really useful…
How to: Check the operating system version in linux
When troubleshooting hardware and software issues in a linux environment, identifying the distribution name (Ubuntu, Red Hat, Fedora), release number and codename can be invaluable. A ‘quick google’ for an error message without including such…
Network diagnostics using a Chrome OS
Even though Chrome OS may seem limited in operating system features when it comes to network diagnostics, the basics we are all used to running from the Windows CMD prompt or Linux Shell are still…
CTRL-ALT-DELETE over RDP
Unlike other remote desktop protocols Microsofts Remote Desktop doesn’t provide an obvious means of sending CTRL_ALT+DELETE, though it’s easy when you know how! CTRL+ALT+END is the combination you need. You might also use ALT+HOME to…