March 2010 - Blind-sysadmins - lists.hodgsonfamily.org

choosing a new imap client
by David Mehler 16 Mar '10

16 Mar '10

Hello, I'm ready to put together a new system and am looking at a new imap client. Previously i used outlook 2003 with jfw 10, which worked, but had one serious error. At an undetermined time my mailbox would be purged, and although the messages were still in my all messages folder, this was accessing imap for a gmail account, they were no longer easy to get to. This i atempted to disable, mailbox cleanup and similar features, which wasn't it and i never solved the problem. So, now my choices are outlook 2007 with presumably the same issue, or thunderbird version3 i believe is out. I am not sure of thunderbird's accessibility. I'm going to be dealing with multiple imap accounts, one gmail, and two others, and i'd prefer secure access. I'm looking for prose and cons to outlook 2007 and thunderbird with jfw in a multiple imap account environment. Any usage appreciated. Thanks. Dave.

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ot: live cd windows based environments
by Ben Mustill-Rose 11 Mar '10

11 Mar '10

Hey all, I'm sorry for the ot but I thought that since my question is fairly technical someone here might have a solution. I've been getting a few machines lately with infections. Pretty bad 100000 icon type infections. The problem here is that most of the removal tools that I use won't run due to things stopping them. One option would be to just format the machines and start fresh, but thats not an option in every situation and if I could get something like malware bytes to run then cleaning the box out may actually be quicker than formatting. Sighted people are able to go into safemode and remove a handfull of nasties, boot into the os normally and continue the removal process but thats not an option for totals due to the lack of sound. What I've currently been doing is removing the drive and slaving it in another box and running tools on the drive that way but thats far from ideal and not always effective. Because of all of these issues, lately I've been thinking about windows based live cd environments and how usefull it would be if they were accessible. If anyone has done, has thoughts on or wants to work with me on any of the below then I would be very interested: Does nvda coupled with brltty and a display work under safemode? if so, how well does it cope with things like malware bytes and super antyspyware? How about creating a live cd based on bart pe with a xpe pluggin to allow audio support and slipstreaming nvda along with the sound driver packs from driverpacks.net? would nvda like the gui since its not strictly like windows? As of v2 of win pe which is microsofts answer to bart pe sound is supported. Whilst pe is commandline, how about hacking a premade gui onto it and again, including nvda and sound drivers? Ubcd4win doesn't have sound support, but its a very complete boot cd full of handy tools based on bart pe. Perhaps it would be nice to get nvda with brltty working on this? As a last resort, whilst its not strictly allowed under the eula, windows xp embedded has built in audio support and the same gui found in xp, so I'm guessing that this might be a good one to play with. What would be nice is if some of us who had knolige about these sorts of things got together and worked on one of the above solutions; I think its something that technicly minded blind computer users as a hole would really benefit from since its nonexistant at the moment. All thoughts are welcome and once again, sorry for the off topic. Chears, Ben.

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Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Dell PE 840 woes
by Frank Ventura 10 Mar '10

10 Mar '10

Andrew, thanks, I would greatly appreciate it if you could offlist email me that tag to: frank.ventura(a)littlebreezes.com Thanks Frank -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Andrew Hodgson Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 2:05 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Dell PE 840 woes Hi, Yes in the BIOS near the top of the screen. I can mail you one I use privately if you want - I use it for the purpose of downloading these ISO images. You should only need the update DVD if you choose to upgrade the firmware, otherwise just use the build and update utility, which will install everything for you that you need. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Frank Ventura Sent: 10 March 2010 00:18 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Dell PE 840 woes Hi all, I need to do a reinstall/rebuild ofa Dell PE 840 with Win 2k8. After the first build DVD it asks me for a second update DVD. I found the image on Dell's site but it needs a service tag to download it. The pair of eyes I borrowed couldn't find a service tag anywhere on the outside of the server. Does anyone know where the service tag may be or is there anyway to obtain it from the BIOS? Really appreciated Frank _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins -- 98% of our clients would recommend us Client Survey Jan 2010 Registered in England No. 02933191. UK VAT Reg. No. 666 9148 88. (c) 2009 - 2010 allpay Limited Fully compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Telephone: 0844 225 5729 Fax: 0844 557 8350 Website: www.allpay.net Email: enquiries(a)allpay.net This email, and any files transmitted with it, is confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the allpay Information Security Manager at the number above _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

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Install updates and shutdown query
by Darren Brewer 10 Mar '10

10 Mar '10

Hi All I think this is one of those questions where if you know the answer it's so obvious. However I don't so here goes. when shutting down my XP Pro machine I get the standard option to install updates and shutdown. Now I've seen the little shield in the notification area when it's downloading the updates and then it vanishes. I have automatic updates set to download updates and let me install them, but it seems like some only want to be installed on shutdown. I don't want to install updates on shutdown without knowing what they are. So my question is where are the updates awaiting installation being stored? I've looked in the windows update.log file, but it doesn't help locating the files awaiting installation. I've googled this and looked on tech net, but keep finding references to software update services and other irrelevant information. Anyone help? Thanks Darren.

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Dell PE 840 woes
by Frank Ventura 10 Mar '10

10 Mar '10

Hi all, I need to do a reinstall/rebuild ofa Dell PE 840 with Win 2k8. After the first build DVD it asks me for a second update DVD. I found the image on Dell's site but it needs a service tag to download it. The pair of eyes I borrowed couldn't find a service tag anywhere on the outside of the server. Does anyone know where the service tag may be or is there anyway to obtain it from the BIOS? Really appreciated Frank

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Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments
by Frank Ventura 09 Mar '10

09 Mar '10

Here is another interesting link: http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-create-live-usbcddvd-of-vistaxp/ Not sure how this can be done given the licensing issues. Frank -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 10:14 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments I actually read something very interesting on this topic last night. Apparently, Windows 7 has the ability to create a live DVD based on the currently running environment. I don't have any Windows 7 machines at home, so this will have to wait until I get into work to play with this on one of the Windows 7 machines there. I have no idea if the OS on the live environment is just PE or is a real Windows 7, what drivers are available, and if its just meant to boot your existing computer or can be taken to other machines and booted there, but this looks like a very interesting possibility assuming the post I read about it wasn't exaggerating. Anyone on the list with Windows 7 want to try this and see how well it really works? You can get to it from the recovery control panel applet. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Barry Toner Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 6:39 AM To: 'Blind sysadmins list' Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Exact same experiences as Ryan. Barry -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 8:17 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Hi Ben: I, along with a lot of people I'm sure, would be very interested in this. I'm not sure how easy it'd be to take Windows and turn it into a live CD, its just not ment to run that way. However, there are two options I can think of off the top of my head. Microsoft actually makes a bootable Windows environment called Windows PE. It is freely downloadable, just download the Windows Automated Instalation Kit and PE comes with that. I tried at one point to get NVDA to work under that but was unsuccessful. I couldn't get sound to work at all, but that might have been because I wasn't sure how to include drivers at the time. Also, I don't know if PE has accessibility support. The other option, Microsoft makes a version of windows called Windows Embeded. I think the latest version is based on XP, with a Windows 7 version soon to follow. This is designed for things like settop boxes, thin clients, etc. Quite a few of the thin clients where I work use this. I know for a fact, Window-Eyes at least, will run in that environment just as it would normally so I'dimagine NVDA would as well, or SAtoGO or something like that. I don't know how you get your hands on this though. But as I said, it's a great idea and should have been done a long time ago. Thanks. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ben Mustill-Rose Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 9:53 AM To: blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Hey all, I'm sorry for the ot but I thought that since my question is fairly technical someone here might have a solution. I've been getting a few machines lately with infections. Pretty bad 100000 icon type infections. The problem here is that most of the removal tools that I use won't run due to things stopping them. One option would be to just format the machines and start fresh, but thats not an option in every situation and if I could get something like malware bytes to run then cleaning the box out may actually be quicker than formatting. Sighted people are able to go into safemode and remove a handfull of nasties, boot into the os normally and continue the removal process but thats not an option for totals due to the lack of sound. What I've currently been doing is removing the drive and slaving it in another box and running tools on the drive that way but thats far from ideal and not always effective. Because of all of these issues, lately I've been thinking about windows based live cd environments and how usefull it would be if they were accessible. If anyone has done, has thoughts on or wants to work with me on any of the below then I would be very interested: Does nvda coupled with brltty and a display work under safemode? if so, how well does it cope with things like malware bytes and super antyspyware? How about creating a live cd based on bart pe with a xpe pluggin to allow audio support and slipstreaming nvda along with the sound driver packs from driverpacks.net? would nvda like the gui since its not strictly like windows? As of v2 of win pe which is microsofts answer to bart pe sound is supported. Whilst pe is commandline, how about hacking a premade gui onto it and again, including nvda and sound drivers? Ubcd4win doesn't have sound support, but its a very complete boot cd full of handy tools based on bart pe. Perhaps it would be nice to get nvda with brltty working on this? As a last resort, whilst its not strictly allowed under the eula, windows xp embedded has built in audio support and the same gui found in xp, so I'm guessing that this might be a good one to play with. What would be nice is if some of us who had knolige about these sorts of things got together and worked on one of the above solutions; I think its something that technicly minded blind computer users as a hole would really benefit from since its nonexistant at the moment. All thoughts are welcome and once again, sorry for the off topic. Chears, Ben. _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4921 (20100306) __________ The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4924 (20100308) __________ The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

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Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments
by Frank Ventura 09 Mar '10

09 Mar '10

With a USB sound card or USB headset yes. Frank -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Angelo Sonnesso Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 11:37 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Importance: High Can they get sound with the thumb drive? -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Frank Ventura Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 6:01 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments I have seen folks get XP to run off of a Thumb drive. I wonder if a live DVD could be made based on one of those projects? -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 3:17 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Hi Ben: I, along with a lot of people I'm sure, would be very interested in this. I'm not sure how easy it'd be to take Windows and turn it into a live CD, its just not ment to run that way. However, there are two options I can think of off the top of my head. Microsoft actually makes a bootable Windows environment called Windows PE. It is freely downloadable, just download the Windows Automated Instalation Kit and PE comes with that. I tried at one point to get NVDA to work under that but was unsuccessful. I couldn't get sound to work at all, but that might have been because I wasn't sure how to include drivers at the time. Also, I don't know if PE has accessibility support. The other option, Microsoft makes a version of windows called Windows Embeded. I think the latest version is based on XP, with a Windows 7 version soon to follow. This is designed for things like settop boxes, thin clients, etc. Quite a few of the thin clients where I work use this. I know for a fact, Window-Eyes at least, will run in that environment just as it would normally so I'dimagine NVDA would as well, or SAtoGO or something like that. I don't know how you get your hands on this though. But as I said, it's a great idea and should have been done a long time ago. Thanks. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ben Mustill-Rose Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 9:53 AM To: blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Hey all, I'm sorry for the ot but I thought that since my question is fairly technical someone here might have a solution. I've been getting a few machines lately with infections. Pretty bad 100000 icon type infections. The problem here is that most of the removal tools that I use won't run due to things stopping them. One option would be to just format the machines and start fresh, but thats not an option in every situation and if I could get something like malware bytes to run then cleaning the box out may actually be quicker than formatting. Sighted people are able to go into safemode and remove a handfull of nasties, boot into the os normally and continue the removal process but thats not an option for totals due to the lack of sound. What I've currently been doing is removing the drive and slaving it in another box and running tools on the drive that way but thats far from ideal and not always effective. Because of all of these issues, lately I've been thinking about windows based live cd environments and how usefull it would be if they were accessible. If anyone has done, has thoughts on or wants to work with me on any of the below then I would be very interested: Does nvda coupled with brltty and a display work under safemode? if so, how well does it cope with things like malware bytes and super antyspyware? How about creating a live cd based on bart pe with a xpe pluggin to allow audio support and slipstreaming nvda along with the sound driver packs from driverpacks.net? would nvda like the gui since its not strictly like windows? As of v2 of win pe which is microsofts answer to bart pe sound is supported. Whilst pe is commandline, how about hacking a premade gui onto it and again, including nvda and sound drivers? Ubcd4win doesn't have sound support, but its a very complete boot cd full of handy tools based on bart pe. Perhaps it would be nice to get nvda with brltty working on this? As a last resort, whilst its not strictly allowed under the eula, windows xp embedded has built in audio support and the same gui found in xp, so I'm guessing that this might be a good one to play with. What would be nice is if some of us who had knolige about these sorts of things got together and worked on one of the above solutions; I think its something that technicly minded blind computer users as a hole would really benefit from since its nonexistant at the moment. All thoughts are welcome and once again, sorry for the off topic. Chears, Ben. _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

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Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments
by Frank Ventura 07 Mar '10

07 Mar '10

Ryan, according to the MS site it is based on Windows 7. Frank -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 8:43 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Frank: I don't know about Embeded. Windows PE I know is flexible enough to handle different hardware platforms, at least on a basic level. Different networking, display, etc. I don't know about sound as I've not got that working. PE is designed to be used in a live CD environment like this, I don't know enough about XP Embeded to say how flexible it can be. If its still based on XP I would be nervice, but I thought the latest version was based on Windows 7. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Frank Ventura Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 6:02 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Ryan, the flash drive option may be better, because as you said Windows will want a reactivation as it moves from hardware to hardware. Is PE or the Embedded versions not as closely tied to a hardware profile as the retail versions? I don't know that may take some experimentation. Frank -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 6:29 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments I'm sure you could, especially if you used the Windows Embeded version. The one problem I'm curious as to how they got around is that Windows XP at least doesn't necessarily like being moved from hardware platform to hardware platform. An ideal Windows live environment should be able to run equally as well on an old P4 box with 512MB ram and an old soundblaster card, to the most modern laptop that's dual core and 64-bit and all. I realize that's not 100% possible, but I gues what I'm saying is the environment should be reasonably flexible, and my understing is XP just isn't. Vista's better, and Win7's supposed to be much better. I'm not sure the media matters, most modern machines can boot from USB, so if USB is easier than CD I say go for it. Of course there's the matter of independently configuring the boot options of a machine, but that's another thread. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Frank Ventura Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 4:01 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments I have seen folks get XP to run off of a Thumb drive. I wonder if a live DVD could be made based on one of those projects? -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 3:17 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Hi Ben: I, along with a lot of people I'm sure, would be very interested in this. I'm not sure how easy it'd be to take Windows and turn it into a live CD, its just not ment to run that way. However, there are two options I can think of off the top of my head. Microsoft actually makes a bootable Windows environment called Windows PE. It is freely downloadable, just download the Windows Automated Instalation Kit and PE comes with that. I tried at one point to get NVDA to work under that but was unsuccessful. I couldn't get sound to work at all, but that might have been because I wasn't sure how to include drivers at the time. Also, I don't know if PE has accessibility support. The other option, Microsoft makes a version of windows called Windows Embeded. I think the latest version is based on XP, with a Windows 7 version soon to follow. This is designed for things like settop boxes, thin clients, etc. Quite a few of the thin clients where I work use this. I know for a fact, Window-Eyes at least, will run in that environment just as it would normally so I'dimagine NVDA would as well, or SAtoGO or something like that. I don't know how you get your hands on this though. But as I said, it's a great idea and should have been done a long time ago. Thanks. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ben Mustill-Rose Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 9:53 AM To: blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Hey all, I'm sorry for the ot but I thought that since my question is fairly technical someone here might have a solution. I've been getting a few machines lately with infections. Pretty bad 100000 icon type infections. The problem here is that most of the removal tools that I use won't run due to things stopping them. One option would be to just format the machines and start fresh, but thats not an option in every situation and if I could get something like malware bytes to run then cleaning the box out may actually be quicker than formatting. Sighted people are able to go into safemode and remove a handfull of nasties, boot into the os normally and continue the removal process but thats not an option for totals due to the lack of sound. What I've currently been doing is removing the drive and slaving it in another box and running tools on the drive that way but thats far from ideal and not always effective. Because of all of these issues, lately I've been thinking about windows based live cd environments and how usefull it would be if they were accessible. If anyone has done, has thoughts on or wants to work with me on any of the below then I would be very interested: Does nvda coupled with brltty and a display work under safemode? if so, how well does it cope with things like malware bytes and super antyspyware? How about creating a live cd based on bart pe with a xpe pluggin to allow audio support and slipstreaming nvda along with the sound driver packs from driverpacks.net? would nvda like the gui since its not strictly like windows? As of v2 of win pe which is microsofts answer to bart pe sound is supported. Whilst pe is commandline, how about hacking a premade gui onto it and again, including nvda and sound drivers? Ubcd4win doesn't have sound support, but its a very complete boot cd full of handy tools based on bart pe. Perhaps it would be nice to get nvda with brltty working on this? As a last resort, whilst its not strictly allowed under the eula, windows xp embedded has built in audio support and the same gui found in xp, so I'm guessing that this might be a good one to play with. What would be nice is if some of us who had knolige about these sorts of things got together and worked on one of the above solutions; I think its something that technicly minded blind computer users as a hole would really benefit from since its nonexistant at the moment. All thoughts are welcome and once again, sorry for the off topic. Chears, Ben. _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

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Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments
by Frank Ventura 07 Mar '10

07 Mar '10

Ryan, the flash drive option may be better, because as you said Windows will want a reactivation as it moves from hardware to hardware. Is PE or the Embedded versions not as closely tied to a hardware profile as the retail versions? I don't know that may take some experimentation. Frank -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 6:29 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments I'm sure you could, especially if you used the Windows Embeded version. The one problem I'm curious as to how they got around is that Windows XP at least doesn't necessarily like being moved from hardware platform to hardware platform. An ideal Windows live environment should be able to run equally as well on an old P4 box with 512MB ram and an old soundblaster card, to the most modern laptop that's dual core and 64-bit and all. I realize that's not 100% possible, but I gues what I'm saying is the environment should be reasonably flexible, and my understing is XP just isn't. Vista's better, and Win7's supposed to be much better. I'm not sure the media matters, most modern machines can boot from USB, so if USB is easier than CD I say go for it. Of course there's the matter of independently configuring the boot options of a machine, but that's another thread. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Frank Ventura Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 4:01 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments I have seen folks get XP to run off of a Thumb drive. I wonder if a live DVD could be made based on one of those projects? -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 3:17 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Hi Ben: I, along with a lot of people I'm sure, would be very interested in this. I'm not sure how easy it'd be to take Windows and turn it into a live CD, its just not ment to run that way. However, there are two options I can think of off the top of my head. Microsoft actually makes a bootable Windows environment called Windows PE. It is freely downloadable, just download the Windows Automated Instalation Kit and PE comes with that. I tried at one point to get NVDA to work under that but was unsuccessful. I couldn't get sound to work at all, but that might have been because I wasn't sure how to include drivers at the time. Also, I don't know if PE has accessibility support. The other option, Microsoft makes a version of windows called Windows Embeded. I think the latest version is based on XP, with a Windows 7 version soon to follow. This is designed for things like settop boxes, thin clients, etc. Quite a few of the thin clients where I work use this. I know for a fact, Window-Eyes at least, will run in that environment just as it would normally so I'dimagine NVDA would as well, or SAtoGO or something like that. I don't know how you get your hands on this though. But as I said, it's a great idea and should have been done a long time ago. Thanks. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ben Mustill-Rose Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 9:53 AM To: blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Hey all, I'm sorry for the ot but I thought that since my question is fairly technical someone here might have a solution. I've been getting a few machines lately with infections. Pretty bad 100000 icon type infections. The problem here is that most of the removal tools that I use won't run due to things stopping them. One option would be to just format the machines and start fresh, but thats not an option in every situation and if I could get something like malware bytes to run then cleaning the box out may actually be quicker than formatting. Sighted people are able to go into safemode and remove a handfull of nasties, boot into the os normally and continue the removal process but thats not an option for totals due to the lack of sound. What I've currently been doing is removing the drive and slaving it in another box and running tools on the drive that way but thats far from ideal and not always effective. Because of all of these issues, lately I've been thinking about windows based live cd environments and how usefull it would be if they were accessible. If anyone has done, has thoughts on or wants to work with me on any of the below then I would be very interested: Does nvda coupled with brltty and a display work under safemode? if so, how well does it cope with things like malware bytes and super antyspyware? How about creating a live cd based on bart pe with a xpe pluggin to allow audio support and slipstreaming nvda along with the sound driver packs from driverpacks.net? would nvda like the gui since its not strictly like windows? As of v2 of win pe which is microsofts answer to bart pe sound is supported. Whilst pe is commandline, how about hacking a premade gui onto it and again, including nvda and sound drivers? Ubcd4win doesn't have sound support, but its a very complete boot cd full of handy tools based on bart pe. Perhaps it would be nice to get nvda with brltty working on this? As a last resort, whilst its not strictly allowed under the eula, windows xp embedded has built in audio support and the same gui found in xp, so I'm guessing that this might be a good one to play with. What would be nice is if some of us who had knolige about these sorts of things got together and worked on one of the above solutions; I think its something that technicly minded blind computer users as a hole would really benefit from since its nonexistant at the moment. All thoughts are welcome and once again, sorry for the off topic. Chears, Ben. _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

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Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments
by Frank Ventura 07 Mar '10

07 Mar '10

Andrew, do you by any chance remember how it was activated? Was it tied to a specific CPU? Frank -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Andrew Hodgson Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 6:40 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Hi, As someone who has used XP embedded I am not sure how it will work on a live system either, it was pretty much just like XP Pro to me with bits removed. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: 06 March 2010 23:29 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments I'm sure you could, especially if you used the Windows Embeded version. The one problem I'm curious as to how they got around is that Windows XP at least doesn't necessarily like being moved from hardware platform to hardware platform. An ideal Windows live environment should be able to run equally as well on an old P4 box with 512MB ram and an old soundblaster card, to the most modern laptop that's dual core and 64-bit and all. I realize that's not 100% possible, but I gues what I'm saying is the environment should be reasonably flexible, and my understing is XP just isn't. Vista's better, and Win7's supposed to be much better. I'm not sure the media matters, most modern machines can boot from USB, so if USB is easier than CD I say go for it. Of course there's the matter of independently configuring the boot options of a machine, but that's another thread. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Frank Ventura Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 4:01 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments I have seen folks get XP to run off of a Thumb drive. I wonder if a live DVD could be made based on one of those projects? -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 3:17 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Hi Ben: I, along with a lot of people I'm sure, would be very interested in this. I'm not sure how easy it'd be to take Windows and turn it into a live CD, its just not ment to run that way. However, there are two options I can think of off the top of my head. Microsoft actually makes a bootable Windows environment called Windows PE. It is freely downloadable, just download the Windows Automated Instalation Kit and PE comes with that. I tried at one point to get NVDA to work under that but was unsuccessful. I couldn't get sound to work at all, but that might have been because I wasn't sure how to include drivers at the time. Also, I don't know if PE has accessibility support. The other option, Microsoft makes a version of windows called Windows Embeded. I think the latest version is based on XP, with a Windows 7 version soon to follow. This is designed for things like settop boxes, thin clients, etc. Quite a few of the thin clients where I work use this. I know for a fact, Window-Eyes at least, will run in that environment just as it would normally so I'dimagine NVDA would as well, or SAtoGO or something like that. I don't know how you get your hands on this though. But as I said, it's a great idea and should have been done a long time ago. Thanks. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ben Mustill-Rose Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 9:53 AM To: blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] ot: live cd windows based environments Hey all, I'm sorry for the ot but I thought that since my question is fairly technical someone here might have a solution. I've been getting a few machines lately with infections. Pretty bad 100000 icon type infections. The problem here is that most of the removal tools that I use won't run due to things stopping them. One option would be to just format the machines and start fresh, but thats not an option in every situation and if I could get something like malware bytes to run then cleaning the box out may actually be quicker than formatting. Sighted people are able to go into safemode and remove a handfull of nasties, boot into the os normally and continue the removal process but thats not an option for totals due to the lack of sound. What I've currently been doing is removing the drive and slaving it in another box and running tools on the drive that way but thats far from ideal and not always effective. Because of all of these issues, lately I've been thinking about windows based live cd environments and how usefull it would be if they were accessible. If anyone has done, has thoughts on or wants to work with me on any of the below then I would be very interested: Does nvda coupled with brltty and a display work under safemode? if so, how well does it cope with things like malware bytes and super antyspyware? How about creating a live cd based on bart pe with a xpe pluggin to allow audio support and slipstreaming nvda along with the sound driver packs from driverpacks.net? would nvda like the gui since its not strictly like windows? As of v2 of win pe which is microsofts answer to bart pe sound is supported. Whilst pe is commandline, how about hacking a premade gui onto it and again, including nvda and sound drivers? Ubcd4win doesn't have sound support, but its a very complete boot cd full of handy tools based on bart pe. Perhaps it would be nice to get nvda with brltty working on this? As a last resort, whilst its not strictly allowed under the eula, windows xp embedded has built in audio support and the same gui found in xp, so I'm guessing that this might be a good one to play with. What would be nice is if some of us who had knolige about these sorts of things got together and worked on one of the above solutions; I think its something that technicly minded blind computer users as a hole would really benefit from since its nonexistant at the moment. All thoughts are welcome and once again, sorry for the off topic. Chears, Ben. _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

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