Car battery manufacturers

"Most auto batteries are made by just three manufacturers, Delphi, Exide, and Johnson Controls Industries. Each makes batteries sold under several different brand names."


"Exide makes Champion, Exide, Napa, and some EverStart batteries. Johnson Controls makes Diehard (Sears), Duralast (AutoZone), Interstate, Kirkland (Costco), Motorcraft (Ford), and some EverStarts."

Information Source:

http://shopping.yahoo.com/premium/consumerreports/silver.html?id=95700426

*This is more of a reminder for me, as the source post on this articles is gone and  know I will need this information again in the future.

Remove Dell OMCI Low Space Warning

The easy way out is to remove the OMCI application from the Add/Remove Programs, but if you need the application and only want the annoying alerts to go away, start the registry editor (start->run->regedit [enter]) and set the following key to 0:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\DELL\OpenManage\Client\SysInfo\HDDThresholdValue

If you don't find the key, make a DWord value called HDDThresholdValue and set it to 0.

Disable IPV6 in Windows Server 2008

Unlike Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, IPv6 in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 cannot be uninstalled. However, you can disable IPv6 in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 by doing one of the following:

• In the Network Connections folder, obtain properties on all of your connections and adapters and clear the check box next to the Internet Protocol version 6 (TCP/IPv6) component in the list under This connection uses the following items.

This method disables IPv6 on your LAN interfaces and connections, but does not disable IPv6 on tunnel interfaces or the IPv6 loopback interface.

• Add the following registry value (DWORD type) set to 0xFF:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters\DisabledComponents

This method disables IPv6 on all your LAN interfaces, connections, and tunnel interfaces but does not disable the IPv6 loopback interface. You must restart the computer for this registry value to take effect.

Manually move SEP 11 client to another parent server

1. Get the new Sylink.xml from the appropriate folder in the new parent server
- On the computer that runs Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager, go to:
"C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\data\outbox\agent\"
You will see folders with 32-character alphanumeric names, each representing a client group.
Find the folder corresponding to the first 4 unique Alpha-Numerals noted for the 'Policy Serial Number'.

2. On the client computer:
Start --> run --> smc -stop ( It will stop the service)

3. Copy Sylink.xml file from Step 1 and replace under c:\program files\Symantec\Symantec end point protection.

4. Start --> run --> smc -start (it will start the service)

5. Verify the client has been moved to the Default group in the SEPM console and move to the appropriate group if necessary.

What to do when CHKDSK keeps finding errors

Confirm that your hard disk or file system is not damaged.

Start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, load Microsoft Recovery Console, and then use the Chkdsk command-line utility. This may solve your problem.

Important We recommend that advanced users or administrators use the Recovery Console. You have to know the Administrator's password to use the Recovery Console.

For additional information about how to check and repair a damaged hard disk by using Chkdsk, see the "Using the Recovery Console" and "Using the Recovery Console command prompt" sections in the following article:
307654 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654/ ) How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
Note If the Chkdsk command reports that it cannot gain access to your hard disk, you may have a hardware failure. Examine all cable connections and any jumper settings on your drive. For more assistance, contact a computer repair professional or the manufacturer of your computer.

If the Chkdsk command reports that it cannot fix all hard disk problems, your file system or Master Boot Record (MBR) may be damaged or no longer accessible. Try appropriate Recovery Console commands such as Fixmbr and Fixboot, contact a data recovery service, or repartition and reformat your hard disk.

Important For more help, contact your computer manufacturer or a Microsoft Product Support Services professional.

Allow only qualified personnel to repair your computer. Computer repair that is performed by non-qualified personnel may nullify your computer's warranty.

If you repartition and reformat your hard disk, you lose all the information on the disk.

Source http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308041

Reduce SEM5 DB size (Symantec EndPoint Protection)

Use Dbunload.exe (under ASA folder in the SEP installation folder). If this tool does not reduce the size significantly you may try freeing up space in database by deleting rows in BINARY_FILE and ALERTS tables.

You can mount the sem5 database using DBSERV9.EXE located in \ASA\WIN32 directory. At the same time, create a System DSN ODBCusing the Adaptive Server Anywhere Drivers. The only fields you need to enter are: user name DBA, password, server name (copy from the default SEP System DSN entry) and IP address, in my case: "IP=127.0.0.1".

Now run DBISQLC.EXE and run the following queries, one at a time:

delete from BINARY_FILE

delete from ALERTS

Now you can run dbunload.exe to reduce the database size.


Backup your SEM5 DB before starting this procedure.
Run this at your own risk.

CISCO VPN Client does not work with mobile broadband on Windows 7

I have a computer with Windows 7 64 bit and CISCO VPN client ver. 5.0.07.0290. When I connect via VPN on my wireless network or wired network, the VPN client connects perfectly well and I am able to access computers over the VPN tunnel. However, when I'm using my AT&T mobile broadband card (data connect), the VPN client connects successfully but I am unable to access any resource over the VPN tunnel (no ping, no RDC etc).

Long story short, until CISCO fixes it's VPC client you have two options.

Option 1 is to download and use Shrew VPN Client. That will work just fine with Windows 7 64bit
Option 2 is to create a Dial Up Network to connect to your mobile ISP (that's what I did).

Make sure your HW is properly installed and working before configuring.

Requirements

• A valid SIM card.
• Valid profile information, including a username and password.
• The Access Point Name (APN) of your service provider.

You can find this information by accessing the Profiles screen in Watcher. Once you have your information, exit Watcher.

Add initialization command

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Select Phone and Modem Options > Modem.
3. Select Sierra Wireless AirCard xxx HSDPA Modem in the list of installed modems.
4. Click Properties.
5. Select the Advanced tab.
6. Type the following command in the Extra initialization commands field:

at+cgdcont=1,"IP","apn", where apn is your Access Point Name
(e.g. for AT&T users, it could be at+cgdcont=1,"IP","ISP.CINGULAR")

Add a new network connection

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Select Network and Sharing Centre > Properties.
3. Select Set up a connection or network on the left-hand side under Tasks.
4. Select Set up a dial up connection under Choose a connection option, then click Next.

1. Select Sierra Wireless AirCard xxx HSDPA Modem modem under Choose a connection option.
2. Type the following under Type the information from your ISP:
   • *99# for the phone number.
   • The user name and password provided by your service provider.(e.g. for AT&T users, username and password could be blank.)
   • A connection name of your choice. (For example, Aircard_DUN)

6. Click Connect. Vista will connect you to the Internet.
7. Select Browse the Internet now.
8. Select a preferable network location (Home, Work, or Public) under Select a location for the ‘Aircard_DUN’ network. Regular users should select Public.
9. Click Close in the Successfully set network settings screen.

You can manage your newly created connection from the Manage network connections option under Network Connections.