SuperWasp

Productivity tips, reviews, tools, software and gadgets.

ATI Catalyst Install Manager has stopped working

This problem has bugged me for a while: when installing AMD/ATI Catalyst drivers (version 7.8, 7.9, 7.10 and who knows the new 7.11), everything goes fine until you click the Install or Uninstall button:

You are then greeted with the message Catalyst Install Manager has stopped working. Apparently this has something to do with the VS2005 C++ redistributables, but that shouldn’t be our problem.

The fix is quite easy:

• open a CMD-box with administrative privileges
• go to your ATI drivers, probably in a location similar to this one:
  C:\ATI\SUPPORT\8-10_vista32_dd_ccc_wdm_emu_69564\
• then go to the BIN (or BIN64 for Vista64) folder underneath
• type this command:
  atisetup.exe -Install -Output screen

If all goes well the drivers will then install successfully. Do not forget to reboot your machine after installation!
Good luck!

Labels: AMD, ATI, Catalyst, crash, driver, drivers, fix, install, installation, installer, solution, Windows, Windows Vista, XP

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  Posted by oVan on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Microsoft Web Platform Installer

Microsoft has released a new tool aimed at web developers: Microsoft Web Platform Installer. Although it’s still a beta, it’s already a one-stop shop to install all necessary tools, service packs and extensions, including IIS, ASP.NET, SQL Server 2008, Visual Web Developer 2008, all of the current IIS Extensions and more!

 

 
Once installed, this tool automatically discovers new additions and updates to the platform, keeping you up to date.

Additionally, Microsoft has launched a new website for web professionals (designers and developers): microsoft.com/web 

Go to: Microsoft Web Platform Installer site, or download wpilauncher.exe immediately.

Labels: .NET, 2008, asp.net, C#, developer, download, Express, install, installation, installer, Microsoft, Vista, Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studion 2008, vs2005, vs2008, web development, webdev, Windows, Windows Vista

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  Posted by oVan on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update for Windows Vista Beta

Yes, you can download the Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update for Windows Vista Beta if you hate that message box of VS2005 telling you it needs an update that is not yet available to run on Vista. The title of this package is a bit misleading, though. It is not an update for Windows Vista Beta, it's a Beta Update for Windows Vista. In fact, they'd better named it Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update Beta for Windows Vista.
The final version of this update is expected in Spring 2007 if I remember correctly.

Labels: 2007, beta, download, install, Microsoft, RTM, update, Vista, Visual Studio 2005, vs2005, Windows

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  Posted by oVan on Thursday, December 21, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments

FIX: SigmaTel AC'97 on Vista

For all users of the dreaded SigmaTel AC97 audio chipset (a lot of notebooks use this), you will be greeted with Microsoft signed Vista drivers when you install the RTM of Vista.
However, that joy will fade away quickly: the ever-lasting problem of sound crackling and stuttering will soon make you angry again.
I do not understand why so many notebook manufacturers still keep using/implementing this piece of crap... the only reason I can think of is that it must be really cheap!

Enough whining, here are a few possible fixes:

• You can try the RealTek AC'97 drivers for Vista


• You can also try the High-Definition Audio Codecs, also from the RealTek website.


• You can also scan for SigmaTel drivers on the Dell website here, maybe they'll release a new driver set also. In fact, even the older driver sets from 2005 that you'll find in this list, are more recent than the driver included in Vista. It's not the first time that Dell advises to revert to older SigmaTel drivers because they were far more stable..

Labels: AC'97, AC97, audio, codec, Dell, driver, HD Audio, high-definition, install, Microsoft, RealTek, RTM, SigmaTel, Vista, Windows

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  Posted by oVan on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Microsoft Office Mondo 2007?

Has anyone heard of Microsoft Office Mondo 2007? Neither did I, until I checked some xml files from the installation of Office Professional 2007.

Besides all the language packs that are defined, here's the list of all Office versions and products that are/will be available:

• <PID="0011" Name="Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007" />


• <PID="0012" Name="Microsoft Office Standard 2007" />


• <PID="0013" Name="Microsoft Office Basic 2007" />


• <PID="0014" Name="Microsoft Office Professional 2007" />


• <PID="0015" Name="Microsoft Office Access 2007" />


• <PID="0016" Name="Microsoft Office Excel 2007" />


• <PID="0017" Name="Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007" />


• <PID="0018" Name="Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007" />


• <PID="0019" Name="Microsoft Office Publisher 2007" />


• <PID="001A" Name="Microsoft Office Outlook 2007" />


• <PID="001B" Name="Microsoft Office Word 2007" />


• <PID="0021" Name="Microsoft Visual Studio Web Authoring Component" />


• <PID="0026" Name="Microsoft Expression Web" />


• <PID="0029" Name="Microsoft Office Excel Home and Student 2007" />


• <PID="002B" Name="Microsoft Office Word Home and Student 2007" />


• <PID="002E" Name="Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007" />


• <PID="002F" Name="Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007" />


• <PID="0030" Name="Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007" />


• <PID="0031" Name="2007 Microsoft Office system" />


• <PID="0033" Name="Microsoft Office Personal 2007" />


• <PID="0035" Name="2007 Microsoft Office system" />


• <PID="0037" Name="Microsoft Office PowerPoint Home and Student 2007" />


• <PID="003A" Name="Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007" />


• <PID="003B" Name="Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007" />


• <PID="0044" Name="Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007" />


• <PID="0051" Name="Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007" />


• <PID="0053" Name="Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2007" />


• <PID="0050" Name="Microsoft Office Visio 2007 Software Development Kit (SDK)" />


• <PID="00A1" Name="Microsoft Office OneNote 2007" />


• <PID="00A3" Name="Microsoft Office OneNote Home and Student 2007" />


• <PID="00A9" Name="Microsoft Office InterConnect 2007" />


• <PID="00BC" Name="Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with InterConnect 2007" />


• <PID="00BA" Name="Microsoft Office Groove 2007" />


• <PID="00CA" Name="Microsoft Office Small Business 2007" />


• <PID="00E0" Name="Microsoft Office Outlook 2007" />


• <PID="000F" Name="Microsoft Office Mondo 2007" />

Did you notice that there are 2 entries for "2007 Microsoft Office system", and that they forgot to capitalize the word "system"?

Now I would like to know what the Microsoft Office Mondo 2007 is...

Update: It appears that Mondo was an earlier beta version of Office System 2007. No idea why it's still listed with a product id though.

Labels: 2007, ID, install, Microsoft, Mondo, Office, product, Professional

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  Posted by oVan on Monday, November 13, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Office 2007 Product Key Fun

Did anyone notice that the developers at Microsoft have chosen special product keys for the Office System 2007?

When traversing the registry for remains of the beta versions that were blocking the install of the RTM version (see previous post), I noticed that the product keys all end in "0000000FF1CE" (e.g. 30120000-006E-0409-0000-0000000FF1CE).
At first sight, nothing special to see... however, if you read it in the language many hackers use for their patches, warez and keygenerators, it reads "OFFICE" with the O replaced by zero and the I replaced by a 1.

Just thought it was fun...

Btw: If you still can't install Office 2007 after removing all the products mentioned in my last post, you should scan the registry for "-0000-0000000FF1CE". By manually removing those entries, setup should start without any problems. No warranties of course, you're on your own there...

Labels: 2007, B2TR, beta, install, key, keygen, Microsoft, Office, patch, product, Professional, registry, RTM, System, warez

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  Posted by oVan on Monday, November 13, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Office 2007 RTM: Installation Problems

Microsoft Office 2007 Professional has been released to manufacturing (RTM), and is available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers as of today.

When installing Office 2007, you may encounter the following problem:

---------------------------
Setup Errors
---------------------------
Setup is unable to proceed due to the following error(s):
The 2007 Microsoft Office system does not support upgrading from a prerelease version of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. You must first uninstall any prerelease versions of the 2007 Microsoft Office system products and associated technologies.
Correct the issue(s) listed above and re-run setup.

---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

According to the Installation Read Me page (the cd doesn't contain up to date information, only a link to this page at the Office website), this may be caused by the Office 2003 Web Components. Here's the explanation:

The Office 2003 Web Components feature installed with Office 2007 Beta2 causes the Office 2007 product to block its installation. Users should use Add Remove Programs in the Windows Control Panel to Remove the Office 2003 Web Components, and then install the final Office 2007 product.

However, after uninstalling this product, you can still get the same error message. Googling further on the Microsoft website, I came across the following list on this page of programs that you should remove also:

• 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS (Beta)


• 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF (Beta)


• 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as XPS (Beta)


• Microsoft Expression Web Designer Beta 1


• Microsoft Expression Web Designer CTP1


• Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats (Beta 2 Technical Refresh)

The above list is not mentioned on the ReadMe page, so I doubt a lot of users will find this information. Hey, maybe we should just remove all programs? :-)

APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007


• Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007


• Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007


• Microsoft Office Professional 2007


• Microsoft Office Standard 2007


• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007


• Microsoft Office Basic 2007


• Microsoft Office Groove 2007


• Microsoft Office Access 2007


• Microsoft Office Excel 2007


• Microsoft Office OneNote 2007


• Microsoft Office Outlook 2007


• Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007


• Microsoft Office Publisher 2007


• Microsoft Office Word 2007


• Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007


• Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007


• Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007


• Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007


• Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2007

Keywords: kbuninstall kbsetup kbexpertisebeginner kbtshoot kbprb KB927222

Labels: 2003, 2007, B2TR, beta, Expression, install, KB, Microsoft, MSDN, Office, PDF, Professional, RTM, System, TechNet, Technical Refresh, web components, Web Designer, XPS

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  Posted by oVan on Monday, November 13, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments