Category Archives: Howto

Installing FreeNAS to USB stick (new and simpler way)

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This is the current article that describes the simplest way of installing FreeNAS on USB stick in Windows without burning installation CD first.

There is an old post about installing FreeNAS on USB stick which is available here but it is more complicated and I encourage you to use this one instead.

Here is how it works:

1) Download 7-zip and install it. If you have another program installed that can work with compressed files you may want to use it instead of 7-zip.

2) Download Image Writer for Windows. Make sure to get the file that ends in binary.zip. I copied the file to C:\Temp and extracted the files into C:\Temp\win32diskimager-binary.

3) Download the FreeNAS from SourceForge The latest stable version at the moment of writing is 8.0.4. I however decided to go with the 8.2 BETA 3 which is the latest available at the moment. You need the file ending in .img.xz

FreeNAS files

I downloaded the file and placed it in C:\Temp

4) Open the file you downloaded in the previous step with 7-zip and extract its content:

It produced a file named FreeNAS-8.2.0-BETA3-x64.img

5) Write the .img file to your USB stick using the Image Writer:

Note: You need 2GB USB stick or bigger.

That’s all. Reboot your computer and make sure the boot from USB is the first choice in the BIOS.

Here is the FreeNAS Documentation Project page that gives you additional information about how to install FreeNAS on USB stick in Linux or OS X:

Burning an IMG File

QR codes

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A QR code (short for Quick Response) is a two-dimensional code originally designed in Japan and initially used in the auto industry. You can use them to encode and store textual information, link to a web site, a vCard, etc. For more information refer to Wikipedia

In order to be able to read QR codes with your smart phone you need to install a QR code reader. Here are some suggestions:

iPhone – Bakodo – Barcode Scanner and QR Bar Code Reader

Android – i-nigma Barcode Scanner

Windows Phone 7 – NeoReader

BlackBerry – ScanLife Barcode

There are many QR readers out there – it is up to you to choose the one you like the best.

So what about generating your own QR codes? You can do this as well. Go to http://goqr.me and start creating your own QR codes for free.

Here is some video on you tube about how to use QR code with vCard:

Google Music on Android Phone

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Google Music is a service that allows you to buy, organize and play music online. Among other things you are allowed to upload up to 20,000 songs from your personal music collection for free. The bad thing is that it is officially offered only in US. The good thing is that there is a work-around.

I cannot comment on whether it is illegal or not to use the work-around and I am just providing information that can be found elsewhere and I am not suggesting you should use it. If you do it is at your own risk.

Step 1) Sign up for Google Music and upload your music to the cloud (Google Music servers)

Google Music will check whether your computer’s IP address is an US one only the first time (when you register for the service). You need to get a temporary US IP address. One easy way is to download and install Hide My IP (http://www.hide-my-ip.com/). You can use it for free for 14 days – more than enough.

Run the program. Open it from the system tray, check the “Request US Based IP” check-box and press “Hide My IP” button. After few seconds you will be given a new US based IP address as shown below:

Now go to http://music.google.com
Accept the terms of service and click the “Download Music Manager” button:

Install the application on your computer, run it and tell it where you store your music collection – there are several choices (iTunes, Music folder, etc.). The application will start uploading your music to Google Music in the background (you need to be connected to internet). You are done with this step.

Now you can play your music from any computer connected to internet directly within your browser. Just go to music.google.com, log in and start streaming (you do not need US IP address to play or upload music – it was necessary just when you signed up).

Step 2) Install Google Music on your Android-based phone.

It is even better if you can play your music on your mobile phone – after all it is always with you. If your phone is not US based you will not be able to install Google Music app from Android Market. Again there is a work-around. Download the application package file (.apk) for Google Music from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1350348. Download it to your Android phone – it will be saved to the SD card.

Next install AppInstaller from https://market.android.com/details?id=com.funtrigger.appinstaller on your phone.

Run it and use it to install the .apk file you downloaded earlier. This will install Google Music app on your phone and you can listen to your music stored online.

Tip: To make songs available offline, click on the triangular menu button in the corner of the album or track title and check the “available offline” box.

That’s it.

Script to restore SQL Server database

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A lot of people know how to restore an SQL Server database using the SQL Server Management Studio. Sometime it will not work if the database is in use. You have to close all active connections or even to take database offline and then online again.

It is much easier to restore the database via the attached script. Just unzip the file to a folder called C:\RestoreDB and copy the backup file to the same folder. Then edit RestoreDB.bat file and update it with the appropriate information – server name, user name, password, backup name, etc.

The last step is to run RestoreDB.bat – you can double-click it in Windows explorer or can oped a DOS prompt change the folder to C:\RestoreDB and run the script by typing its name and pressing “Enter” key.

RestoreDB_Script

How to install FreeNAS to USB stick

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Note: This post is more than an year old. You can still use it to install FreeNAS on USB but I strongly recommend you to read the new one first which is much simpler:

Installing FreeNAS to USB stick (new and simpler way)

FreeNAS is an Open Source Storage Platform based on FreeBSD and supports sharing across Windows, Apple, and UNIX-like systems. It comes with a lot of protocols and services

Search inside files under Windows

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Do you know how to search for a piece of text inside multiple files in Windows. I do not – not anymore. Earlier versions of Windows had this feature but I cannot figure out how to do it in Windows 7. It seems you have to index your files and folders and then maybe you can find what you are looking for. I do not want to do this.

In Unix and Linux you can use grep for this. Luckily there are some similar programs for Windows too. I found this one: AGREP

Go to Download page and get the stand-alone executable for Win95 and Win/NT (link)

Extract the archive – there is one file called agrep.exe. I copied it to C:\Windows\System32. This folder by default is in the PATH environment variable so you will be able to run the command from everywhere (no matter which is your current working folder).

Open the command prompt and try to search:

c:\> agrep -r word_to_search_for .

This will search all the files in the currect folder and all sub-folders for the word word_to_search_for

If you just type agrep it will show help and usage information.

Test your speakers with these sounds

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Recently I was looking to buy a good computer speakers and was wondering how to test the sound. Then I found these: