[Update: Feel free to grab the code via bzr with bzr branch http://lackoftalent.org/bzr/shortcut_converter.]

Here's another entry in the "dumb little scripts that work for me and may or may not be helpful to other folks" department…

I use both Windows and Ubuntu at home, gradually transitioning from the former to the latter. I've accumulated a bunch of Windows URL shortcuts, mostly things I wanted to read once so instead of bookmarking them, I dragged their links to my desktop. This creates .URL files which are simple little plain-text two-liners. It turns out that on Ubuntu, and probably similar *nix systems, web shortcuts are also simple little plain-text files. These files have the .desktop extension (though you won't see the extension by looking at the desktop).

I wanted a way to convert my .URL files to .desktop files so that I can just toss them on my Ubuntu desktop and double-click them the same way I would if I were on Windows. This cruddy little Python script does the trick.

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#!/usr/bin/env python
# shortcut_converter.py
 
from __future__ import with_statement 
import os.path
import sys
 
TEMPLATE = """[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=%(basename)s
Type=Link
URL=%(url)s
Icon=gnome-fs-bookmark
"""
 
def convert(f):
    """ Takes a full filepath to a .URL file, converts it to a .desktop file 
        in the same directory """
    print "Converting %s" % f
    (filepath, filename) = os.path.split(f)
    (basename, extension) = os.path.splitext(filename)
    with open(f) as urlfile:
        lines = [line.strip() for line in urlfile.readlines()]
    url = lines[1].split('URL=')[1]
    dtfname = os.path.join(filepath, '%s.desktop' % basename)
    with open(dtfname, 'w') as dtfile:
        print "Writing %s" % dtfile.name
        dtfile.write(TEMPLATE % locals())
 
if __name__ == '__main__':
    for arg in sys.argv[1:]:
        if os.path.isfile(arg) and arg[-3:].lower() == 'url':
            convert(arg)
        else:
            print "*** %s is not a URL file" % arg

I used scp to pull over all my .URL files and then invoked the script thusly:

python shortcut_converter.py *.URL

worksforme!

The hard drive on my laptop is slowly failing and a combination of being busy, lazy, and cheap is preventing me from replacing it. About once every two weeks over the past couple months, one of the Windows registry files becomes corrupted and the XP disk is unable to repair it. And the HD fails basic manufacturer-provided diagnostics. But I'm stubborn. So I've been routinely resuscitating this box and I decided to post the process I use.

If you boot and see a message like

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
C:\windows\system32\config\system

then you may be interested in this.

I should note that there are more Windows-y ways to fix this. But I have an Ubuntu Edgy disc on hand, and so these instructions are for using Ubuntu Edgy as a band-aid an adhesive bandage for a dying hard drive or a screwy Windows installation. The ntfs-3g and ntfs-config packages are necessary to mount your local hard drive in read-write mode, otherwise these instructions would be much shorter.

I'm assuming you have a good backup from which to restore the missing or corrupt files that are preventing you from booting Windows off your hard drive. My backups are available via a networked Samba mount. If yours are on a secondary internal hard drive, an external hard drive, a CD or floppy or thumb drive, some of these steps won't apply to you.

1. Get a copy of Ubuntu and burn it to a bootable medium. I'm using a Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy) on a CD-R.
2. Insert your bootable medium into the crappy computer. Boot said crappy computer from the medium. You may need to fiddle with your BIOS to get it to boot from removable media, but hopefully not.
3. At the Ubuntu boot menu, chose "Start or Install Ubuntu." Don't worry: it won't write over your hard drive or touch any of your data.
4. When the operating system is done loading, click on the Applications menu, and choose Accessories, then Terminal.
5. Since my backups are available on a Samba mount, and the Edgy CD does not have Samba installed, I first must install the Samba FS and its dependencies:
sudo apt-get install smbfs
6. Create a directory for mounting the Samba share:
   sudo mkdir /mnt/remote
7. Mount the share, substituting appropriate values for the IP address and the share name:
   sudo smbmount //192.168.1.5/backups /mnt/remote
8. If not running Edgy, see this guide to mounting local Windows drives in read-write mode. Otherwise, first open the aptitude sources list:
   sudo nano -wc /etc/apt/sources.list
   and add the following three lines at the bottom of the file:

   deb http://flomertens.free.fr/ubuntu/ edgy main main-all
   deb http://ntfs-3g.sitesweetsite.info/ubuntu/ edgy main main-all
   deb http://flomertens.keo.in/ubuntu/ edgy main main-all

   Save and close the file.

9. Let aptitude update its list of sources:
   sudo apt-get update
10. Install necessary packages:
    sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g ntfs-config libfuse2
11. Launch the ntfs-config utility:
    sudo ntfs-config
    Call the mount point "windows", which will live at /media/windows. Click the Add checkbox next to the device corresponding to your local drive (/dev/hda1 for me). Click Apply. Make sure the checkbox next to "Enable write support for internal drive" is clicked on the next dialog, and click Ok.
12. Copy over backed up versions of missing or corrupt files:
sudo cp /mnt/remote/repair/system* /media/windows/WINDOWS/system32/config/
    is an example I've used a couple times.
13. Shutdown, remove the Ubuntu CD when prompted, and boot off your hard drive. Cross fingers. And you should be back in action.

Voila?

One of my Windows 2003 servers began exhibiting very strange behavior a few months ago.  That a Windows server behaves badly isn't strange, of course, but I'd never before encountered precisely this problem.  I searched and searched for solutions on Google, but could not find one that worked for me (though I did discover that a handful of others reported having very similar issues).  Since I've gotten so much help from the web (via Google) before, I figured I would pay back my debt by posting the solution I found this afternoon.  Your kilometerage may vary.

Problem

Services which log on as LocalService*, as opposed to LocalSystem and NetworkService, die repeatedly and at regular intervals.  In my case, it was every 90 seconds give or take 5.  I believe Windows 2003 and XP use the LocalService and NetworkService accounts for running services, so this may not apply to Windows 2000 or other versions of Windows. 

* Some of these services are Windows Time, TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper, Remote Registry, Application Layer Gateway Service, Alerter, Smart Card, SSDP Discovery Service, Universal PnP Device Host, WebClient, and Windows User Mode Driver Framework. 

Solution

Disable WINEXIT.SCR screensaver within any relevant user accounts, e.g., Default User, All Users, or any service account.  You can run a search in regedit for the string "winexit.scr" to turn up all such values and determine which are relevant.  The value I needed to delete was in HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/SCRNSAVE.EXE.

Explanation

The server in question is to be used for public terminal services, so I intended to use the winexit.scr screensaver as a relatively lightweight, easy way to ensure that users get warned about idle time and subsequently logged off after a preset period of time.  There are other ways of accomplishing this, to be sure, but I've always had good experiences with winexit.scr.  At any rate, while watching the list of processes in Task Manager, I noticed that about every minute-and-a-half, a winexit.scr process popped up and, more interestingly, was running in the LocalService context.  Lightbulb!

Services running under LocalService are all launched via the svchost.exe binary that is included with Windows, and it turns out that the winexit screensaver kept shutting down these services (as I unwittingly instructed it to do) when they took advantage of their ability to log on as a service.  Why every 90 seconds?  I had winexit configured to allow only 60 seconds of idle time, and it gives the user 30 seconds of warning before killing a session. 

It's almost as though computers are logical.  I just love when problems make sense.

As of the SP1 release, Windows Server 2003 now supports access-based enumeration of file shares. Basically, files and folders to which users lack access will not be visible within file shares. No more double-clicking shared resources only to be greeted with "Access denied." This is quite a nice feature, and one which is long overdue.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/techinfo/overview/abe.mspx

Also, the new release of Windows Server 2003 R2 appears to have a number of new features that were not included in SP1 (and that probably will not be featured in SP2). As far as I can figure out, R2 is related to 2003 SP1 as NT4 Option Pack was related to NT4.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/r2/whatsnewinr2.mspx

Perhaps I am mistaken, but I thought one of the biggest purported benefits of the newest incarnation of Active Directory was its supposed reliance upon the more commonly used DNS system for computer name lookups rather the old WINS and NetBIOS lookup system. I've recently installed a new server running Windows Server 2003 Enterprise and hooked it into our Active Directory 2003 domain and configured it to run Terminal Services. Upon this assumption, I disabled NetBIOS in the TCP/IP stack and turned off the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service.

When I connect to the server via Remote Desktop and login with a local administrative account, I get in just fine. When I specify my domain credentials, however, my connection is refused because Terminal Services apparently has problems reaching the RPC Server. Says it is unavailable. Turning back on the NetBT Helper service clears this up, but I did not think NetBIOS would be required for name resolution given AD integration with DNS. In the eventlog, TS shows the following error after the "RPC Server is unavailable" error: "Unable to obtain Terminal Server User Configuration".

Any ideas? I'm alright with leaving on the NetBT service, but I just don't understand why it's necessary.

I have tried re-enabling NetBIOS in the stack and that has zero effect on the connection behavior. I have also checked the DNS settings and the AD domain name is in the list of default domains to search through.

NOTE: Perhaps it is due to having external University DNS servers listed instead of the AD DNS servers. Come to think of it, I'm not sure why we would be using external DNS servers if we run AD. Giving this a try.

ADDENDUM: Apparently our AD servers do not run their own DNS; the records are offloaded to the campus DNS system. Perhaps this is the culprit?

For users who have neither access to Microsoft Office nor desire to dive headfirst into OpenOffice*, Microsoft provides freely downloadable viewers for Office documents. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010449811033.aspx Most of these viewers are at the Office 2003 version, e.g., Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Others, like Access, are at the 2002 version. * For the record, though, OpenOffice 2.0 is fabulous. I've exclusively been using OO at home for at least a year or two, and the new version is tres magnifique.

Not quite sure you grasp the subtleties of difference between load-balancing (NLB) and server clustering (MSCS)? After all, both are technologies that allow distinct server nodes to be externally visible via a virtual server, and support failover. The fundamental similarities might overshadow their concisely stated difference:

Server clusters – uses a shared-nothing architecture, which means that a resource can be active on only one server in the cluster at any one time. Because of this, it is well suited to applications that maintain some sort of state (for example, a database).

Network Load Balancing (NLB) – uses a load balancing architecture, which means that a resource can be active on ALL servers in the cluster at any one time. Because of this, it is well suited to applications that do not maintain state (for example, a Web server).

Note: This information is copyright © 2003, Microsoft Corporation, gleaned from the freely available documentation on cluster quorums for Windows Server 2003. I provide it here for the sake of convenience and exposure.

The Windows Script File, .wsf, allows one to mark-up in XML different blocks of scripting. One can, in effect, write a script hooking VBScript, JavaScript, and PerlScript together. This looks to be quite powerful for scripters, especially within the domain of systems administration. Often one knows one scripting language better than another, and even more commonly one may exploit the strengths of multiple languages. Imagine combining the ease of Windows operability in VB with the regular expression power of PerlScript with… whatever it is that JavaScript does well. Could be quite a nifty tool.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/script56/html/wsAdvantagesOfWs.asp

Here is a link describing how one might use ASR — the new term for Emergency Repair Disk — in Windows Server 2003.

Of particular note is how to use ASR when a server does not have a floppy drive, a predicament I now find myself in.

http://hacks.oreilly.com/pub/h/1196

Here's a list of all the free software I'm running on my Windows XP workstation, or least the subset that I deem noteworthy. Rather than annotate the list, which would be far too helpful, I will merely provide links.

Foundstone Vision 1.0 (system util)
Process Explorer 9.25 (system util)
Microsoft PowerToys XP (OS pimpage)
Notepad++ 3.3 (text editor)
Cygwin 1.5.18-1 (X server / *nix tools)
FileZilla 2.2.17 (FTP client)
FileZilla Server 0.9.11b (FTP server)
Mozilla Firefox 1.5 (WWW browser)
Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 (mail client)
Trillian Basic 3.1 (multi-network chat client)
PuTTY 0.57 (SSH client)
Semagic 1.5.5.6U (blog client)
iTunes 6.0.1.3 (aural pleasure)

P.S. I do have Firefox installed but I don't use it. Internet Explorer is the only way to browse.