Remember a few months ago when we had a machine that so corrupted Norton Anti-Virus that it would no longer install, and we had to re-install the OS? Well, the same thing happened again - Error 1606 when trying to install NAV Corporate on a W2K box. The symptom was that the user noticed an exclamation point on the taskbar icon for it, and on inspection neither the engine or the on-access scanner were loaded. Not good. Uninstalled, then tried to reinstall. It failed with the aforementioned error 1606.

After a LOT of research, part of which led me into the registry looking at the User Shell Folders and Shell Folders configuration (not the problem), I found a link on the Symantec site which led me to a link on the MS site. Now, I had searched on MS and not found this same page that Symantec led me to. Wierd. It said that many programs, such as NAV installer, required the Windows Installer, which required the Windows Update mechanisms to be in good order. As a test, I went to the Windows Update site and it generated an error. Ah HAH. Tracking down this error led me to believe that I had several corrupted DLLs in the, buried in the depths of Windows.

The solution? Uninstall and Reinstall MSIE 6.0a - then re-apply the critical patches and such from the Windows Update site. I kept updating and rebooting until the update site said there were no more patches. Then I installed NAV Corp again, and THIS time it had no problems.
posted by MikeM at 3:44 PM    

 
    ----->   

posted by MikeM at 10:11 PM    

 
Cable modem online and working, but I really don't like the intrusive nature of the software. It forces me to use dynamic IP instead of letting me control what IP address I want to use. I'm still working on that, however.

Tonight's weather has been wierd - thunderstorms and lightning, high winds, then calm and warmer. Tomorrow is supposed to be worse! Rain turning to SNOW after dark, with temps plunging to 27ish overnight! Highs in the mid-40's tomorrow. Brrr... I thought we were done with this nonsense!
posted by MikeM at 6:04 PM    

 
Today is Dog Grooming day. Both puppies are shaggy, and badly need haircuts. I'll try to get before and after pics of them and put them up here.
posted by MikeM at 9:27 AM    

 
Friday went well, Brian resolved a few security issues by installing a new RH8 server, and I redesigned a spreadsheet I use to track attacks on our network. I detected a pattern of well-hidden probes, all using UDP - apparently someone is using the AOL.net name servers - the computers that tell AOL users where other network sites are when they look for them by name. These servers are being used to stealthily probe our firewall for holes. We have it locked down fairly well, but this is still not something you want to continue for long. It looked like 10-12 of these servers were being used at random, with random times between probes, so that you wouldn't notice the probes unless you sorted the list of attacks by source - then it shows up!

...And of course AOL will take no action, even though they admit that their servers are insecure and are being used in this manner. Go figure.
posted by MikeM at 9:26 AM    

 
I just made contact with my old friends at the court I used to work for in Roanoke - Hi guys!
posted by MikeM at 2:46 PM    

 
We will be switching to a cable modem fairly soon, so if you use my old erols email account, it will cease working within 2 weeks. Use my mikem.net email address, as it will be switched over to the new ISP.
posted by MikeM at 2:42 PM    

 
Yesterday I worked on the backup problem some more - ran several tests. When using the new binary sent by tech support for troubleshooting, the tests all worked fine - no errors. Of course, the logs quickly grew to over 150mb, and the speed was quartered. I put the original binary back in place on the unix server, but left the new one in the w2k server - ran more tests, all OK. Last night I ran a full backup and it worked fine!

After speaking with the tech, we are going to let it run normally for a few days and see what it looks like Monday. If the backups are working fine now with the new binary, they will turn off all the massive logging, otherwise the logs would quickly take up all the room on the drive. I think it is slightly amusing that after 6 months of hassles, the remedy was a newer client agent - that tech support had the whole time.

Of course, if the error pops up before monday, we will be in the same place we were before, and the troubleshooting will continue.
posted by MikeM at 2:41 PM    

 
  It's official! Patty and I are now husband and wife! Our thanks to those who joined us for the event and those who couldn't be there but wanted to be. After the ceremony, mom and dad treated us to a celebratory dinner. They made it home safely about an hour ago, so all is well there. While at work prior to the ceremony, several of my co-workers did their best to ease my nerves - by relating horror stories about weddings, wives, and marriage in general. What a nice bunch!
posted by MikeM at 11:00 PM    

 
Less than two hours to go! Looks like we will have several people attending, including Larry & Cheryl (my employers), Brian (a co-worker), and Scott (our client). Add that to my parents and Patty & I and we have eight!
posted by MikeM at 1:42 PM    

 
Great! The firewall exchange went great - Best Buy is awesome. Friendly exchange, no questions, no hassles. New firewall is installed and configured! Now all I need to do is run the cable and call to turn on the service! Perfect timing, as our old ISP just mailed us an invoice for next year - $215.40 per year? Wow. We pay too much for a simple dialup account. Especially since my secondary email account through them is an additional $21.50 per year.

I have my suit laid out, the rings where they won't be forgotten, and all the plans for tomorrow made. Mom and Dad should be in sometime around 1pm, the ceremony is 3:30, so that should be plenty of time. Unfortunately, they have to go to work the next day, so they need to get on the road right after the ceremony. Wouldn't do to get caught up in the 5pm rush on the beltway!

At work tomorrow, we get to re-mirror a 36gb drive in a Sun server - the one we just did the upgrade and re-install on.

I'm also working with a 3rd tier unix tech with the BrightStor problem with W2K. They altered the binaries and are sending me new versions to install on the unix server and the W2K unit, to attempt to get more logging out of them to determine the cause of the problem. We'll try it and see...
posted by MikeM at 10:29 PM    

 
Late in the day Saturday I decided to hook up my new linksys firewall and reconfigure it to be more secure than the default settings. I browsed to it using the IP address assigned at the factory, then changed the password, re-assigned the IP, etc. This makes it very difficult to hack into, as they not only have to LOCATE it, but without the default password it will likely become more trouble than it is worth to get access.

Then I made my fatal mistake... I changed the filters to block everything, incoming and outgoing, all protocols, all ports, intending to open just the ones I needed to have open. After I set it to block everything, and before I opened anything up, I lost my mind and clicked 'Apply'.

Oh dear.

The instructions on resetting the unit to factory defaults failed, and I was never again able to access it via the browser, and indeed it no longer functioned as a router or switch. I now have an $80 piece of modern art. I'll be returning it as 'non-functional' and getting a new one - hopefully I will have learned what NOT to do. :)

Actually, it IS defective, as the reset button did nothing - it was supposed to force a self-test, but the testing light never lit, so I do believe it is defective. I held it down for more than a minute, when 3 sec was supposed to reset it to factory defaults.
posted by MikeM at 8:22 AM    

 
Saturday : We spent the day out at book fairs and did a little shopping, and had Arbys for lunch. Did you know they stopped offering the Super on the menu? You have to order a regular roast beef 'like a super' for $0.27 extra. sheesh. I guess they needed the menu space for the new non-roast beef offerings they now have. I kinda wish they would have stayed just a roast beef place. Oh well.

Sunday : We spent most of the day at a flea market trying to clear out some of the miscellaneous items from our storage room. We sold a bunch of stuff, and I even got rid of most of my stock of old Maximum PC and PcGamer CDs. Not a bad way to spend the day, but I wouldn't want to do it very often. When we got home and decompressed, I discovered that I had a very bad sunburn on half my face. The other half is merely sunburned. Oh joy. Getting married on Tuesday and my face will either be bright red or peeling, or both.

Monday morning - after multiple applications of aloe, my face still burns. I'll keep putting this glop on in the hopes that any peeling will be minimal. It does help the pain a bit too. :) While trying on my suit, we discovered that while it will do for the wedding, it is far from a perfect fit. It seems that I have become more of a man since buying it. About 20-30 lbs more, actually. I'll have to make do, but once the wedding is over we need to have it resized - or perhaps bite the bullet and replace the jacket. Also, has anyone seen my lapis lazuli tie-tack? Simple round gold tie-tack with blue lapis, seems to be missing.
posted by MikeM at 8:15 AM    

 
After running Norton SystemWorks WinDoctor three times, and manually fixing everything found the first two times, (third time was clean), I reinstalled the APC Battery Backup software. It works just as before, which is to say just fine except the system won't shut all the way down.

*sigh*
posted by MikeM at 10:46 PM    

 
We just found out that my mother and father are coming into town for the wedding Tuesday! Hopefully my brother can come too! I wish we could get Patty's mom here, but without a minor miracle that won't happen. Ah well.
posted by MikeM at 10:37 PM    

 
I managed to very nearly render my computer useless tonight. I was tinkering with the UPS Battery Backup software from APC, to connect my new UPS to my computer via USB. I had it installed and working, but the system wouldn't shut down anymore, it just got to the cyan screen and stuck there. I tried to uninstall it, but it failed - claiming that it could not re-enable the native windows UPS software because it couldn't detect the UPS. (Native windows software doesn't support USB connection to UPS, only serial.) SO in my infinite wisdom I tried setting the windows part to COM2, telling it that was were the UPS was. I then hacked the registry and manually deleted the files, then uninstalled the hardware portions from the Hardware Manager. All I have to do is reboot and reinstall the UPS software now, right?

Reboot, watch it come up, watch a few pop-up errors come and go, and then watch the system shut itself down.

Oh dear.

Try again. Same drill.

Safe mode! Wouldn't boot, hung before loading the windows portion. Oh dear again.

Normal boot, get back to the power settings as fast as I could. Uncheck the part under ALERTS where it shuts the system down when the battery gets critically low. Hit apply. Too slow. It shuts down. *sigh* Try again, get it done in time! WOO! With the alerts disabled, reboot. Watch in disbelief as it shuts itself down again. Yes, it re-enables those pesky alerts on each boot. Why? Ask Mr. Gates. This time I disabled the alerts and disabled the UPS service. Then I went back into the registry and yanked out the three references to apc.exe hooking to com2. Reboot.

Ahh! Much better. But now, of course, I have crippled my UPS. But its late, I'll fight that dragon later. Right now it boots, it stays up, and the modem works. Ah yes, when your UPS software is using com2, where your modem is supposed to be, it apparently gets told (by the modem) that the battery is dead. Once I told it not to use com2 anymore, my modem started working and the UPS stopped shutting me down.

And to think I did all this just because it wasn't shutting down correctly.
posted by MikeM at 10:36 PM    

 
The restore went smoothly once I located and copied into the right place a few files that BrightStor requires to run. They were originally on the volume that was lost. Oops. Luckily, they were also located on one of the local volumes where I had installed one of the BrightStor tools.

Patty and I have completed plans for our wedding to be on Tuesday, March 25th. Simple ceremony, just the two of us and perhaps a friend with a camera.

Found out that my Grandma reads this site! Hi Grandma!

I finished the first hardback volume of Amber books - the first two novels. Starting the second volume tonight, which is composed of the next three novels.
posted by MikeM at 10:56 AM    

 
Well, yesterday was a wee bit o' fun. During a major refit of the primary server here, a drive failed. Actually, I found out this morning, three drives failed. Now, out of 20 drives, that isn't a great ratio. Two of the drives were from mirrored stripes, so no data was lost, but that last drive was from the only unmirrored stripe in the box, which means that the data is kerflooey. This morning I reinstalled the agent portion of BrightStor - remember my past comments about BrightStor? We will be restoring the lost data this morning. :) Hope springs eternal.

Other than that, Patty and I are planning on getting married at some time next week. Perhaps Friday. Small, simple ceremony - no guests, just us. :) Eloping, as it were.

Last night I got to play a little Mechwarrior 4 : Mercenaries online, with the new point release patch 1 installed. Not bad - overall they fixed a bunch of bugs and corrected some of the more heinous problems with game balance.

I have been having a problem with my home machine, however, in that ever since I installed APC's personal software, I can't shut the machine down. It goes to the cyan screen that normally only appears for 15 sec or so before it shuts off, and it stays there. For several hours, or until I turn off the power. I know it is the APC software that did it, but uninstalling the software fails just after it warns me that windows cannot detect my UPS, and thus it cannot re-enable the windows power software. **sigh**

Maybe a registry scrubbing is in the offing - seek and destroy APC.
posted by MikeM at 9:47 AM    

 
Nice, relaxing weekend - went to a few flea markets, even got a table at one and sold several of Patty's items. Got her website established as well. Just a very basic site now, but I hope to add some flair to it soon.

Today at work, we made some backups of the main server, in anticipation of the complete re-installation of it tomorrow. I have some reservations about this, as this network is incredibly complex, and I'm sure something will be forgotten in the mix. Ah well, we will deal with these things as they occur.

I also moved a primary folder to another server, and after establishing the Samba shares and getting the drives ready, I TARed up the old folders and copied the 1.6gb file to the new server, then during the untar session it failed. Hmmm... Seems that I had established the new share off the ROOT, not off the mirrored 240gb drives I had expected. OOPS. Quick deletes and edits later, re-mounted the share on the correct device, got the data moved successfully, and all seems to be going well. Just a bit of stress as filling up the root of a main server is never a good thing. Especially during the period of the day that is normally 'hands off' due to the server's mission-critical role.
posted by MikeM at 4:31 PM    

 
Patty and I watched Mr. Deeds wednesday night - funny movie. Wouldn't it be nice to inherit 40 billion dollars? I could deal with it.
Last night I was so tired after work that I fell asleep during Species. Must have needed the rest, I suppose. Tomorrow is the big Montgomery County Flea Market, at the Mont. Co. Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg, right off 355. Patty and I have a table and Patty has been busily creating Easter baskets, as well as St. Patricks Day & Mothers Day items. Very creative, she has some really nice items!

posted by MikeM at 8:02 AM    

 
Well, it's cold again. After almost reaching 70 yesterday, the puddles in the parking lot are frozen and the wind is biting. I fully expect one more snow before the spring.

Yesterday was spent in meetings and fighting with an Appian four-monitor video card. I suspect that the Dell GX1 and GX110 we have tried so far have bios-level issues with dual DVI video cards (single DVI handles two monitors, dual DVI handle four). Even with bios upgrades, neither box would work with the card. The gx110 actually freezes on boot when the card is installed - I think something in the detection process is killing it. We ordered more RAM, but I don't have much faith that it will make any difference. I think perhaps a newer system with a more modern bios would be a better bet. That or change to another 4-monitor card that might be more compatible.
posted by MikeM at 7:58 AM    

 
USA: (Knock)
Saddam Hussein: Come in.
USA: Ah, Is this the right place for disarmament?
Saddam Hussein: I told you once that I've disarmed.
USA: No you haven't.
Saddam Hussein: I've already disarmed.
USA: When?
Saddam Hussein: Just now.
USA: No you didn't.
Saddam Hussein: Yes I did.
USA: You didn't
Saddam Hussein: I did!
USA: You didn't!
Saddam Hussein: I'm telling you I did!
USA: You did not!!
Saddam Hussein: Oh, I'm sorry, just one moment. Do you mean full disarmament
or just a couple of missiles?
USA: Oh, full disarmament.
Saddam Hussein: Ah, thank you. Anyway, I did.
USA: You most certainly did not.
Saddam Hussein: Look, let's get this thing clear; I quite definitely disarmed.
USA: No you did not.
Saddam Hussein: Yes I did.
USA: No you didn't.
Saddam Hussein: Yes I did.
USA: No you didn't.
Saddam Hussein: Yes I did.
USA: No you didn't.
Saddam Hussein: Yes I did.
USA: You didn't.
Saddam Hussein: Did.
USA: Oh look, this isn't compliance with UN Resolution 1441.
Saddam Hussein: Yes it is.
USA: No it isn't. It's just defiance.
Saddam Hussein: No it isn't.
USA: It is!
Saddam Hussein: It is not.
USA: Look, you just contradicted me.
Saddam Hussein: I did not.
USA: Oh you did!!
Saddam Hussein: No, no, no.
USA: You did just then.
Saddam Hussein: Nonsense!
USA: Oh, this is futile!
Saddam Hussein: No it isn't.
USA: I came here for a full accounting for destruction of your weapons.
Saddam Hussein: No you didn't; no, you came here for compliance.
USA: Compliance isn't just saying "I've disarmed."
Saddam Hussein: It can be.
USA: No it can't. Compliance is revealing and destroying weapons of mass
destruction in full view of U.N. inspectors.
Saddam Hussein: No it isn't.
USA: Yes it is! It's not just empty statements.
Saddam Hussein: Look, if I comply with the UN, I must say I've disarmed.
USA: Yes, but full disarmament isn't just saying "I've disarmed."
Saddam Hussein: Yes it is!
USA: No it isn't!
USA: Disarmament is an open process. Declarations of de-weaponizing absent
records or hard evidence of actual destruction of WMDs is useless.

Pause

Saddam Hussein: No it isn't.
USA: It is.
Saddam Hussein: Not at all.
USA: Now look.
Saddam Hussein: (Rings bell) Good Morning.
USA: What?
Saddam Hussein: That's it. Good morning.
USA: I was just getting started.
Saddam Hussein: Sorry, the inspections are done.
USA: That was never disarmament!
Saddam Hussein: I'm afraid it was.
USA: It wasn't.

Pause

Saddam Hussein: I'm sorry, but I'm not allowing inspections anymore.
USA: What?!
Saddam Hussein: If you want me to allow inspections, you'll have to pass
another UN resolution.
USA: Yes, but that was never compliance, just now. Oh come on!
Saddam Hussein: (Hums)
USA: Look, this is ridiculous.
Saddam Hussein: I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to argue unless you've passed
another U.N. resolution.
USA: Oh, all right. (passes 18th resolution against Iraq)
Saddam Hussein: Thank you.

Pause

USA: Well?
Saddam Hussein: Well what?
USA: That wasn't really compliance, just now.
Saddam Hussein: I told you, I'm not going to allow inspections unless you've
passed a UN resolution.
USA: I just did!
Saddam Hussein: No you didn't.
USA: I DID!
Saddam Hussein: No you didn't.

[Note - Original work by Eric Lindholm http://vikingpundit.blogspot.com]
posted by MikeM at 10:21 PM    

 
On the book scene - I finished 'Hacking Exposed' a few weeks ago, and also finished Gene Simmons' 'KISS and Make-Up'. Two nights ago I finished Michael Crichton's 'Prey' - about nanotechnology running wild - scary and not out of the realm of possibility. I just started the Amber series, which should take me some time. Believe it or not, I have never read it before.
posted by MikeM at 8:51 AM    

 
Yesterday evening Patty and I went out to eat (mexican), then we ran some errands around town, went to Kinko's to order her some business cards, and decided against going to a movie. Instead we went shopping until we were both exhausted and went home to take a nap. Then I rewired the power connections to my computer setup (installed the new UPS) and she got creative and made some more baskets and Easter items for the Montgomery County Flea Market that we have a table at next Saturday (March 15th, Mont. Co. Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg, MD). The weather is supposed to be great, and since the previous event was cancelled due to snow, we have high hopes that this one will be huge! Patty loved the amethyst earrings I got her, and wore them yesterday.
posted by MikeM at 8:48 AM    

 
Today is Patty's birthday! Happy Birthday! I have made arrangements to get off from work early today so I can spend more of today with her. Depending on the weather, we will go shopping or antiquing, or whatever she wants to do!

Last night was the monthly Homeowner's Association meeting - oh joy. Our landscaper (grass-mower and snow-pusher) has been screwing up lately, so I get to call and read them the riot act. Hopefully they will clean things up and be professional about it.

Several other issues were cleared up as well - and we finished about 10 min earlier than last month. I wonder if the HOA would like a website? Hmmm... I could wire up a blogger.com account with a group-blog, give all the HOA board members the passwords and let them post what they like. Could be fun. I'll bring it up at the next meeting.
posted by MikeM at 10:02 AM    

 
A couple of articles on SlashDot that I found interesting:
Serial SCSI coming soon?
Google options and wierd search scripts

Sunday I played Unreal 2 for over SEVEN HOURS. From the reviews, I should be over halfway done. The game is OK. Not raving or anything, its merely OK. I should have waited for the price to drop from $50 to $25 - then I would be happier with it. The graphics are awesome - no complaint there. The weapons are Ok, the enemies are OK, the gameplay itself is OK. The plotline is fairly good, and the voice acting ranges from professional acting to off-the-street acting. "Hey, if I give you $10, would you say 'I don't know anything! The others left me behind!' into this microphone?"
That kind of acting. Overall, I would give it a 6 out of 10 points. I'll finish it, then this thing will hit Ebay - maybe I can get $25 for it.

There was no gaming yesterday, by the way - I had misunderstood an email - everyone else knew about it, and I had the email stating it, but I had forgotten. Oh well - we will eventually game again.
posted by MikeM at 4:25 PM    

 
Yesterday we went to Best Buy - and spent far more money than we had expected! a battery backup - rated at 1500 - was $200 alone! Then we added a cable modem, firewall/router, a couple of CDs, and Unreal II. :) Installing Unreal II today - should be fun. I also have gaming today, unless something else goes wrong there. I'll likely get to play Unreal II just enough to get a feel for it, and then have to leave it. Patty is going shopping with a friend, so everyone is busy today!

Yesterday earlier we went to see DareDevil. I really enjoyed it! The plot and script were good, the acting was passable, and the effects were fantastic. There were a few spots where the CGI didn't blend well, and once where the wire-work was obvious, but overall a good job.

Last night we watched 'Minority Report' - also a very good movie!
posted by MikeM at 10:28 AM    

 
Last night we went to the Olney Theatre to see 'Dames at Sea'. I enjoyed it, lots of singing and dancing, and all the players had great voices. There were a lot of funny bits as well, so good for the whole family. The one annoyance at this particular showing was the 7-10 busloads of kids that were there. Seemed like high schoolers, complete with the typical lack of consideration and thoughtlessness associated with the breed. The place was sold out, and some of the kids wanted to sit with their friends, and so had to be told to move to their seats, but then came back during intermission and had to be told yet again. Some of the kids had a need to impress their friends with how rude they could be - whistling and catcalling the actresses and such.

I fully support children attending plays. WITH THEIR PARENTS. Busloads of kids with no proper supervision - no. Sorry.
posted by MikeM at 8:09 AM    

 
Operation Military Pride is a website that organizes letters, care packages, and rallies in support of our troops abroad - wherever they may be. If you want to get involved there are many ways to help.
posted by MikeM at 3:41 PM    

 
Well, Patty found a new snow shovel! Steel blade, with that nice curve that makes it easier on your back. The thing is bigger than the old one, and FAR stronger! Of course, now that we are finally prepared, it won't snow any more.
posted by MikeM at 8:58 PM    

 
Oh dear... I really wish I hadn't found that site. You know sometimes you KNOW a thing is bad for you and a waste of money, but you kinda still want it?

posted by MikeM at 8:57 PM    

 
Last night we watched '24' - they found the nuke, flew it to the mohave, where it detonated with relatively little effect. They also found proof that three middle-eastern countries aided and abetted the terrorists who planted the nuke in LA. Of course, the proof is now hinted at being planted by the terrorists to distract and confuse. Who knows. I know I'll be watching in 3 weeks when the season finale airs!
posted by MikeM at 2:18 PM    

 
For the last few days I have been engaged in a debate over the relative merits of AMD vs Intel, with no clear winner. My position is that a CPU that has no overheat protection worth anything should not be a serious contender against a proven and well-known CPU that DOES have good overheat protection. The AMD will self-destruct if you remove the heat sink - it cannot deal with rapid temperature spikes. The Intel merely slows the clock down until the heat is manageable. Thus, even if the AMD is 30% cheaper, I would still go with the Intel. I'm paranoid that way.

Now the chances of a heat sink just falling off is not great, but not impossible nor unheard of.

I also admit to having some bias against AMD due to the compatability issues with games and apps in the older CPUs. Even though they may be completely perfect today, I still don't trust them. They screwed up. Perhaps I should forgive them, but why should I when Intel IS the standard that the AMD is measured against? I remain an Intel-only consumer.


posted by MikeM at 2:16 PM    

 
Yesterday evening was TV hockey night! We watched the Rangers tie the Islanders in OT - they might get to the playoffs, with some good play and good luck. I'm getting to the point where I choose hockey over Sean Connery movies. Hmmmm...

Today I am going to the courthouse to get our Marriage License!

Tonight is a Buffy rerun, so we will likely surf or play cards tonight. Quiet home-time. Thursday coming up is a play at Olney Theatre - 'Dames at Sea'. We got season tickets just before Patty found herself jobless, so we may as well enjoy them!
posted by MikeM at 10:50 AM    

 
Ah well, game cancelled for today - GM's roof is having problems. Hope everything works out OK for him!
posted by MikeM at 10:39 AM    

 
Yesterday at work we decided to ditch our efforts at making BrightStor work when backing up Windows 2000. Since it failed with the same message on three different W2K boxes, all dissimilar, we decided to just use Windows Backup to make a complete backup file, including System State info, on the staging server, which is backed up nightly. This works great, and takes about 45 min to back up 10gb. I am also testing the same routine on my workstation, but with full/diff rotation, and if it works, we will implement that as the backup solution for all of the W2k and perhaps NT boxes. As for BrightStor - we will be asking for a full refund for the Windows clients we paid for. Perhaps they will apply that towards the maintenance cost of the other software we have from them.

Today (Saturday) Patty and I went out to eat, almost went to a movie, then decided to go shopping instead. When we got back home we watched several episodes of Iron Chef ( we love that show) and then caught Lethal Weapon as it was starting.

Wow - it's Sunday already. Time for bed. Tomorrow (um, today) is game day, which means that hopefully I will have everyone's game journals and such updated on the RPG website by this time next week. So far we have played 5 sessions, this will be session #6. The parking situation will be fun - no street parking now with 4' piles of snow in both ditches! I think we can get everyone in the driveway, but it might be tight. I shoveled a bit more today and tomorrow morning I'll try and smooth it around the edges a bit.
posted by MikeM at 1:53 AM