Ryan McCormick

Installing LAMP Stack on Windows XP, Vista and 7

February 18, 2012 By Ryan McCormick Leave a Comment

If you write PHP and are anything like me, you want to test your code before making it live to the world on your own LAMP stack. I have installed linux on separate computers, installed LAMP stacks on windows, created development environments on my live web servers and yet none of these are all that great to work with. Enter Virtualbox.

If you are reading this article and have already been working with virtualization technology for your own LAMP stack, I applaud you and to keep reading as I found a super easy way to set one up without a lot of configuration.

There is a version of Ubuntu linux call Lubuntu (Light Ubuntu). There is a distribution for minimal install called mini.iso from http://lubuntu.net/. When installing, the minimal distribution gives you options similar to the Ubuntu server distribution such as LAMP, SSH, DNS, MAIL, etc… This is a really easy way to install a LAMP stack.

I currently have Virtualbox https://www.virtualbox.org setup in a Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Kubuntu 11.10 environment. Virtualbox has been running well on all of these platforms.

So basically, if you want a LAMP stack that you have 100% control of on all platforms, install Virtualbox and create a new virtual machine with the minimal install distro of Lubuntu.

Resource Links:

Lubuntu | Light Ubuntu for faster computing
Oracle Virtualbox
Tux Linux Penguin Logo

Filed Under: Windows Tips Tagged With: apache, Install, LAMP, Linux, MySQL, php

Looking for Writers and Tech Experts: Submit Your Content for Backlink

February 6, 2012 By Ryan McCormick Leave a Comment

We are growing our blog and are looking for more original content. If you are an expert in Windows, Linux, Unix, Web Development (UI/UX/IA), Web Frameworks, Javascript Libraries, PHP, Internet Marketing, or anything else related to IT and have original content to share, please contact me by commenting on this post. I can read your comments without making them public, please provide me with contact information and we can talk about setting you up with an account.

In return for relevant, original content contributions I will provide a backlink to your site, blog, etc… from this domain name ntechcomm.com. My domain name (ntechcomm.com) has been active since 2003 and has a lot of link juice value to add to any blog or site.

Filed Under: Ntech News Tagged With: free backlink, link building, writers wanted

How to Boot Windows From GRUB Rescue Prompt

February 6, 2012 By Ryan McCormick 2 Comments

I recently had an experience with a corrupt dual boot setup of Kubuntu 11.10 which led to me finding a solution for reinstalling Kubuntu 11.10 in a dual boot environment. If you are curious, read about it here: How to Reinstall Kubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot on Dual Boot System.

This is a temporary solution for bypassing the GRUB Rescue prompt to an uncorrupted installation of Windows where the Windows MBR (Master Boot Record) is intact, but Grub is setup as your primary boot loader. To load windows, you need:

1. Working computer with a blank CD.
2. CD IMAGE burning software. You can’t use regular CD burning software for this task, you must be able to burn images so they will load on boot. Great software that runs on Windows and is FREE is ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
3. Image of Hiren’s Boot CD: http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

Hiren’s Boot CD will download in a zip file, which will need to be extracted. Burn the .iso image from the extracted folder for your live CD. In my case, the file was: “Hiren’s.BootCD.15.1.iso”.

Once you have completed burning your Boot CD image, restart your computer and boot to Hiren’s Boot CD

The first option on the list:
“Boot From Hard Drive (Windows Vista/7/2008 or Xp)”
or scroll down two pages and select:
“Boot Windows XP (NTLDR) from Hard Drive”
or if you are running Vista/Windows 7, select:
“Boot Windows Vista/7 (BOOTMGR) from Hard Drive”

If none of the three options above work for you, you can scroll up to page two and attempt to boot (I have not tested these options, but maybe worth a try):
“Boot HDD 1 MBR”
“Boot HDD 2 MBR”
“Boot HDD 3 MBR”

If you are unable to boot to Windows with any of these methods, your Windows MBR (Master Boot Record) could be corrupt or missing.

As always, if anyone has any suggestions, feedback or advice, please comment. If this post has helped you out, please spread the word by posting a backlink from your site or blog. You can also share on facebook, linkedin, or any other social networking/bookmarking site.

Filed Under: Computer Q&A, Linux/Unix Tips Tagged With: Boot Windows, grub rescue, Windows MBR

How to Reinstall Kubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot on Dual Boot System

February 6, 2012 By Ryan McCormick 1 Comment

It has been awhile since my last tech post, but I have been tweaking around and have some great new content. I am writing this article because of a problem I encountered when attempting to install a LAMP stack on my Kubuntu 11.10 system with tasksel.

In installed, started, and began looking at the options for installing a LAMP stack in tasksel. I checkmarked the LAMP stack box and found myself distracted by the other options that had been selected for installation – mainly system components. So like a complete Noob, I unchecked them… Well long story short, this flagged crucial components to be uninstalled!! AHHH!!!

I quickly did a hard shutdown (held finger on power button until power off). Well my shutdown was too late and I had made the system, the Kubuntu installation almost inoperable. I have been scraping the internet for a reinstallation/quick fix solution to a corrupted Ubuntu/Kubuntu installation and have not been able to find anything concrete.

So, the journey begins…

PART 1: WIPE THE PARTITION FOR LINUX WITH GPARTED

To use gParted, you need to create a live boot CD. So you need:

1. CD Burner with blank CD
2. Image burning software – I use imgburn – open source and free to download: http://www.imgburn.com/.
3. gParted Image: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

Boot to your gParted Live CD and look at your partitions.

Everyone has a different setup and if anyone has a better solution to my process, please comment or send me some article content to correct this. All changes are at your own risk, you should backup all of your data before making any partition changes or anything that will create changes to your system – you have been warned!

My partitions were setup as:
/dev/sda1 – Dell Recovery Partition
/dev/sda2 – Windows Vista System
/dev/sda3 – Kubuntu Installation
–Linux Swap
–Operating system

First I erased “–Operating system”, next “–Linux Swap”, and finally “/dev/sda3″

My /dev/sda3 partition had 90GB of space, now showing up as unassigned/unrecognized, etc.

I formatted the unformatted space to match my windows vista installation as NTFS.

Once formatted I was able to resize my /dev/sda2 – Windows Vista System back to what it was before I setup the dual boot system (the full drive). I saved, and rebooted.

PART 2: REINSTALL KUBUNTU

Because I erased GRUB – the main bootloader and my Kubuntu linux installation, I received a “Grub Rescue>” prompt upon reboot. At this point, I could not boot into windows without using a different method: How to Boot Windows from Grub Rescue Prompt.

I booted off of the Kubuntu LIVE CD which I originally used to perform my dual boot setup, selected “Install Kubuntu”, ran through the first couple of usual motions and resized my drive for Kubuntu to my previous settings. At this point, the NTFS Windows portion of the drive was unrecognizable (it fixed itself). Before the end of the re-installation, I noticed the GRUB2 setup looking for “other operating systems”. Once the installation had completed I restarted, removed the LIVE CD and rebooted.

My first reboot after installation was a great success, the GRUB bootloader came up and I was able to boot into both Windows and Kubuntu 11.10 – Viola, the problem had been fixed.

I wrote this article to document my eight hours of trial and error. Please, if anyone has a better method for solving this problem I encourage you to comment. Also, if this article helped you out, please link to it from your blog, share it on facebook, twitter, linkedin, etc…

Filed Under: Linux/Unix Tips Tagged With: dual boot, grub rescue, kubuntu 11.10, Oneiric Ocelot, reinstall

Access Wikipedia During SOPA Blackout

January 18, 2012 By Ryan McCormick Leave a Comment

I support the SOPA Blackout movement and only wish I jumped on the bandwagon immediately to block out my site. I encourage everyone to follow instructions for contacting their representatives as this law WILL DESTROY THE INTERNET if it is passed.

That being said, if you have a genuine work purpose for reading an article on Wikipedia today and you are using Internet Explorer (yep… IE – I also support Firefox btw, but can only use IE)- Click View Menu > Style > No Style. This will get rid of the style sheet giving you access to the content under the splash page. It is ugly, but it does the trick.

Be sure to rag on your representatives first! Lets melt the phones!!! Happy Calling!!

Filed Under: Ntech News Tagged With: SOPA Blackout, View Content, wikipedia

How to Control HTML Code to Reduce Bugs

April 4, 2011 By Ryan McCormick Leave a Comment

As I was designing a site the other day, I realized that the way I have been tracking my code is something I should share.

Most of the projects I work on involve some sort of conversion to WordPress or other CMS system. Anyone who has ever developed a custom WordPress template from novel HTML, CSS, etc… knows how easy it is to run into bugs when it comes to running live code. You install it and something is missing, one of your div floats is outside where you want it to be. Or you are running an IE 6 test and you are totally pissed off that nothing looks right, but you have to make it readable by the 1% jerks (I have a better word) who haven’t yet switched over…I digress.

Anyway, the point I am trying to achieve with this post is that I keep track of my HTML code with HTML <!– comment here –> comment tags. Every time I end a div element: <div id=”nothing”>element</div><!– end nothing –> I comment right after the end div tag. This process has saved me (in some instances) hours when transitioning over to live code.

This application is practical when working with large amounts of nested <div> containers, but thought I would give my two cents .

If anyone else has any special tricks for keeping track of code or improving productivity, comments are always welcome!

Filed Under: Web Development Tagged With: Code Formatting, HTML, two cents, WordPress

How to Map filesanywhere.com as drive in Windows 7

April 4, 2011 By Ryan McCormick 4 Comments

Question:
How do I Map a filesanywhere.com account to a drive letter in Windows 7?

By mapping a network drive to filesanywhere.com in Windows 7, you will have easier access to your cloud storage. Advanced user access is required on your account as you will have to enable webdav access for this work.

NOTE: Only Advanced User’s on filesanywhere have drive mapping functionality.

Answer:
To map a drive in Windows 7 you need to click the start button:

Click on “Computer”

Click on “Map Network Drive”

Select what drive letter you wish to map your network folder to and enter your web folder path

Enter your username and password (if files anywhere account, your username is “username@filesanywhere.com”) Enter your password, and select “remember my credentials”

Once completed, you should see your new drive under “Computer” mapped as a drive letter. If you are having trouble connecting, make sure you have entered the correct username “username@filesanywhere.com” and password.

If you are still having trouble, make sure your “WebClient” service is running by browsing to:
START>CONTROL PANEL>SYSTEM AND SECURITY>ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS>SERVICES

If you are having trouble logging in to your account, make sure that your user account is an Advanced User account. If you have an Advanced User account and you are still experiencing problems logging in, check your username. Your username will be USERNAME@filesanywhere.com. NOTICE the @FILESANYWHERE.COM and not your e-mail address.

External hard drives can be a great way to store large amounts of files, but are still susceptible to hardware failure. Make sure that you are backing your most important files with a redundant cloud backup solution. There are many solutions available, but after some research I found that, filesanywhere.com offers a great secure and cost effective solutions for backing up files.

As always, please comment with questions/suggestions.

Filed Under: Windows Tips Tagged With: filesanywhere.com, map drive, Windows 7

How Do I Generate a QR Code For My Current Page in PHP?

March 27, 2011 By Ryan McCormick Leave a Comment

QUESTION
How Do I Generate a QR Code For My Current Page?

ANSWER
This is a pretty simple solution using Google’s charts API and some PHP. I uploaded a sample file which you can download by “right-click” and “save-as”: qr-code-current-page.zip

1.) You first need to determine your current page.
2.) Second, you need to implement Google’s chart api for QR codes.
3.) Write both parts into separate strings and write a final string for an image path.
4.) Echo the php in an image path.
5.) Check out your page, you should see a QR code.

Links:

1.) Google Chart API – QR Codes - More information about Google’s API.
2.) Sample PHP file showing QR code for current page. (Right-click and Save-as)

If you enjoyed this post, please comment!!

Filed Under: Web Development Tagged With: current page, dynamic generation, google charts api, QR codes

Forgot Router Username and Password – How do I Reset My Router to Factory Settings?

March 22, 2011 By Ryan McCormick Leave a Comment

Question
I forgot my username and/or password, how do I reset my router to factory settings?

Answer
We do not assist users in bypassing any security measures. If you lost your password to the router you own, you can perform a factory reset or hard reset and then re run the router setup.

First Try the Default Login Information
Before performing a hard reset on your router, you should try the default login information.

Username: admin, administrator, or root
Password: <leave blank and press enter>, admin, password, or root

If none of these work, try viewing default settings for your router at http://www.routerpasswords.com/

Perform Hard Reset on your router

If all attempts to login have failed, you should consider performing a hard, factory reset. On the back of the router, locate the small “pinhole” reset button and press it with a pen for 10-15 seconds. After this has been done, you will be able to login to your router with the default login information and complete the router setup wizard.

Filed Under: Computer Q&A Tagged With: forgot router password, router factory reset