Category: Software

I have really enjoyed working with Ubuntu’s desktop environment for Noah’s computer. I am really wanting to setup the same for me. One of my client’s uses RedHat for one of their servers and it is equally impressive. But not without headaches. Granted, Windows has its share of troubleshooting but usually it is a bizarre situation. In my case, I have successfully installed a very common version control system called Subversion aka SVN. I am thrilled with SVN’s functionality and its integration with Dreamweaver.

Now the icing on the cake is to get some sort of ticket system working for the client so that in their two projects change requests, bugs (evil word!), documentation, etc can be tracked. The hot to trot open source software (OSS) right now is Trac and it is supposed to integrate with SVN. I have it almost working. Seems I failed to get the svn-python bindings in place. Every tech document and online chatroom replies to my issue as "sounds like your subversion python bindings aren’t working" but no one cares to elaborate. I’ve scratched a part of my head bald trying to figure this out! Unfortunately, it has also distracted me from my main goal for the client but once the ticket system is in place, they will be thrilled and piles of sticky notes can go away. Until then, they will see it as misdirected time I am sure. Establishing process and procedure in a company is always an uphill battle.

Being Geek, I hit a computer hard. However, my computer remains my lifeline so although I demand much of and push it to the limits, there are certain risks I don’t take. One that I have neglected has been upgrading Windows XP to service pack 2. Today I take that chance and am installing the once dreaded, highly needed, SP2! Wish me luck.

Btw, the do as I say reference is to "keep your computer updated" advise that I tell most people.

Edubuntu is really impressing me! The installation was easier than Windows. The interface is pretty. The pre-installed applications are fun and intriguing; some, like the movie editor, I want to use before passing the machine onto Noah. What impressed me the most is that after the installation I rebooted and it immediately prompted me that updates were available; exactly as Windows would have done! I expected that Linux was going to be an administrative nightmare. I was wrong!

I’ve partition the harddrive so that Edubuntu will take half. Noah will use this as his primary operating system. Linux will be used for his Internet exploration, research and browser games. Linux will be used for his productivity-school reports, video projects, spreadsheets, email and so forth. Linux will be used for education except when the educational software requires Windows. The Windows partition will be used for Windows specific games that have not been ported to Linux. The Windows partition will be used for websites that require Internet Explorer. The Windows partition will be used for educational software that has not been ported for Windows. He will also use it to become familiar with the Microsoft Office Suite although OpenOffice should make him comfortable enough.

I am really tickled with this setup. I am debating doing Sarah’s the same way.

Errors I have been fighting all weekend

• Error -1607: Unable to Install InstallShield Scripting Runtime
• Error 1305.Error reading from file C:\Program Files\Peachtree\Pchapp32.dll. Verify that the file exists and that you can access it.
  Installer stalls at 37% for C:\Program Files\Peachtree\Pchapp32.dll

Rid machines of viruses and malware can be very difficult and time consuming. Plus it demands just enough attention that you can’t really focus on something serious so multitasking for productivity is kind of out of the question. So, what gets sacrificed? Estimates and sales.

Some references:

• Document ID: Q108340
• Setup Is Unable To Find or Update ISScript.msi (Document ID: Q108158)
• “Error reading from file” error message when you install
• Richard Sleegers – Most helpful!
• Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
• MDAC Analysis and Repair Tool – NOT FREE

Update: I have cleared all temp areas on the harddrive, have checked for bad sectors on the harddisk, have uninstalled the old remenants of the program being upgraded, have uninstalled and reinstalled the InstallShield engine, and jumped through many suggestions found on Google, and still at 37-40% of the way into the installation, it fails. So I tried on another computer and at 40% it failed with "Error 1305.Error reading from file C:\Program File\Peachtree\Pchapp32.dll. Verify that the file exists and that you can access it." So I wised up and decided to try to eliminate the cdrom from the equation. I can copy every file from the CD except d:\peachw\install\Data1.cab. When I try to copy that file I get "Cannot copy Data1:Data error (cyclic redundancy check)" from any machine.

Update: Peachtree agrees the disc is bad but won’t let me download Data1.cab. They are sending a new disc in the mail.