"The mind of a Mad Tech!"

This article covers both Windows workstations and servers.

Windows does not include a function that lets you mount an ISO into the Operating System, which normally would force you to convert that ISO to a CD. However there are utilities that will allow you to mount an ISO, which comes in handy, especially if you are wanting to convert CD’s to ISO’s  for transfer to your server.

Virtual Clone Drive

Virtual Clone Drive is a free to use ISO mounting utility that will work on Windows 98/XP/7/Vista and Windows 2000/2003/2008 server. You just install it and it will associate with your ISO’s which you can then can simply double click on an ISO or right click on it and choose to mount it.

Installing Virtual Clone Drive

1. You can download Virtual Clone Drive by going to http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html. This install file works for both 32-bit and 64-bit, so there\’s no need to look for different versions of the install. Downclick the application and follow the directions.
2. Either elect to take the default assoications or choose to manually selection the associations.

   

3. You will need to specify a directory if you choose not to use the default location.

   

4. Once installed, you will need to click on the icon that was placed on your desktop or choose the application from your programs list. There you will be able to set the options for Virtual Clone Drive, such as the amount of drives to emulate and how long the mount history can be seen.

   

5. Finally to mount an ISO, you will need to click on one of the drives you created and choose “Mount”. You will then be able to browse to the ISO and mount it.

Now you can view the contents of the ISO now by opening the drive, just like you would with a CD or DVD.

UPDATED as of April 1st, 2010

*It seems Parallel’s has released a fix for this. Fix was just released / revised as of April 1st, 2010*

http://kb.parallels.com/en/8338

Resolution

It is necessary to update Parallels Panel web-engine:

1. Download the appropriate package using the wget utility. Example for CentOS 5 x86:

A list of fixed packages:

CentOS 5 x86
CentOS 5 x86_64
CentOS 4 x86
CentOS 4 x86_64
RHEL 4 x86
RHEL 4 x86_64

2. Install the downloaded package. Example for CentOS 5 x86:

Taken from “http://mattiasgeniar.be/2010/03/29/dont-upgrade-openssl-if-youre-using-plesk-broken-controlpanel/” -

If you’re using Plesk 9.x on a CentOS system, don’t upgrade the openssl package from version 0:0.9.8e-12.el5_4.1 to 0:0.9.8e-12.el5_4.6. It will break your Plesk Controlpanel, causing it to no longer start up. You’ll see a message similar to this.

[root@srv~]# /etc/init.d/psa start

Starting xinetd service…               done

Starting named service…             done

Starting mysqld service…           done

Plesk: Starting Mail Server… already started

Starting mail handlers tmpfs storage

Starting Plesk…                       failed

There won’t be an obvious error message in any log file location (/var/log/*, /usr/local/psa/var/log/*, /usr/local/psa/admin/logs/*), but it will most likely be caused by your recent openssl upgrade. Solution is this.

1) Downgrade method

[root@srv~]# yum downgrade openssl openssl-devel

2) Using RPM packages

You have to download these first! After completing the next steps, you’ll be without openssl – and downloading through wget or curl won’t  work because of missing libraries. Please take note: the following is at your own risk (and if you lose your SSH connection in the meanwhile, you’re screwed).

Find your current OpenSSL version, it should read version “el5_4.6″.

[root@srv~]# rpm -qa | grep -i openssl
openssl-0.9.8e-12.el5_4.6

Remove the package (if you haven’t downloaded the openssl package yet, do so first !!). (due to the font of this blog, it’s confusing, but the parameter = ‘ – – nodeps’).

[root@srv ~]# rpm -e –nodeps openssl-0.9.8e-12.el5_4.6

And re-install the correct version (replace the RPM with the one for your achitecture).

[root@srv  ~]# rpm -ivh openssl-0.9.8e-12.el5_4.1.x86_64.rpm
warning: openssl-0.9.8e-12.el5_4.1.x86_64.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID e8562897
Preparing…                ########################################### [100%]
1:openssl                ########################################### [100%]

Afterwards, you’ll be able to start Plesk again.

[root@srv~]# /etc/init.d/psa start

Starting xinetd service…               done

Starting named service…             done

Starting mysqld service…           done

Plesk: Starting Mail Server… already started

Starting mail handlers tmpfs storage

Starting Plesk…                       done

For now the only workaround is to downgrade openssl, either with yum or with rpm (if yum is not configured):

# wget -c http://mirrors.kernel.org/centos/5/updates/x86_64/RPMS/{openssl-0.9.8e-12.el5_4.1.x86_64.rpm,mod_ssl-2.2.3-31.el5.centos.2.x86_64.rpm,httpd-2.2.3-31.el5.centos.2.x86_64.rpm}

# rpm -Uvh –oldpackage {openssl-0.9.8e-12.el5_4.1.x86_64.rpm,mod_ssl-2.2.3-31.el5.centos.2.x86_64.rpm,httpd-2.2.3-31.el5.centos.2.x86_64.rpm}

# /etc/init.d/sw-cp-server start

To resize a partition with Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 2008, follow these steps:

Be sure to back up any valuable information, because there is a slight chance that data can be lost when dealing with partitions.

1) Click on the Start menu

2) Right click on Computer and click on Manage.

3) Open up the Storage category and click on Disk Management on the left hand panel.

(more…)

To disable Windows 7 / Vista from downloading automatic updates, follow these simple steps.

Open Start menu, right-click on Computer and click Properties. This will open System dialog box that will show basic information about your computer. On the left sidebar, under See also heading, you will find Windows Update. Clicking it will bring you to the Windows Update dialog box, now on the left sidebar click on Change Settings. You will now see a window that will look like this,

You will notice that Windows has enabled option as default, to disable it, simply select Never check for updates and you are done.

Note: Microsoft recommends that you must keep your windows up-to-date in order to remain secure. And I recommend the same, my computer is always up-to-date, this is one reason I never get attacked by any kind of virus.

*Prior to anything, make sure your motherboard supports the option to boot from a USB Key, it this process will not work for you.*

Requirements:

*USB Flash Drive (Minimum 4GB)

*Windows 7 or Vista installation files. You can get the Windows 7 RC1 from Microsoft directly – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx

1. Plug-in your USB flash drive to USB port and move all the contents from USB drive to a safe location on your system.

2. Open Command Prompt with admin rights. Use any of the below methods to open Command Prompt with admin rights.

*Type cmd in Start menu search box and hit Ctrl+ Shift+ Enter.

Or

*Go to Start menu > All programs > Accessories, right click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

3. You need to know about the USB drive a little bit. Type in the following commands in the command prompt:

DISKPART *and press enter*

4. Now type LIST DISK command and note down the Disk number (ex: Disk 1) of your USB flash drive.

5. Next type all the below commands one by one. Here I assume that your disk drive no is “Disk 1”.If you have Disk 2 as your USB flash drive then use Disk 2.Refer the above step to confirm it.

So below are the commands you need to type and execute one by one:

SELECT DISK 1

CLEAN

CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY

SELECT PARTITION 1

ACTIVE

FORMAT FS=NTFS

(Format process may take few seconds)

ASSIGN

EXIT

Don’t close the command prompt as we need to execute one more command at the next step. Just minimize it.

6. Next insert your Windows7/Vista DVD into the optical drive and check the drive letter of the DVD drive. In this guide I will assume that your DVD drive letter is “D” and USB drive letter is “H” (open my computer to know about it).

7. Maximize the minimized Command Prompt in the 4th step.Type  the following command now:

D:CD BOOT and hit enter.Where “D” is your DVD drive letter.

CD BOOT and hit enter to see the below message.

7. Type another command given below to update the USB drive with BOOTMGR compatible code.

BOOTSECT.EXE/NT60 H:

Tags: Install, USB Key, Windows 7, Windows Vista