Website: GeoCities Final Day – Closing October 26th 2009

For most home users GeoCities was the 1st place they were able to set up a webpage on the internet to share everything from home pictures to anything else you can think of. GeoCities was one of the very 1st websites to offer free hosting and an easy user screen where anyone without a lot tech skills could set up there “Homestead” (Page) as GeoCities called them.

Each “Homestead” covered a different subject matter, GeoCities was also one of the 1st to sort the user domains by the subject (even though they never actually mandated that your page had to be in a specific homestead). As a trip down memory lane here is the list of Homestead at the height of GeoCities (From The GeoCities Wiki – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoCities (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/GeoCities))

Area51 (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Area_51) and /Vault – Science fiction and fantasy
Athens (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Athens) and /Acropolis (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Acropolis) – Teaching, education, reading, writing, and philosophy
Augusta (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Augusta_National_Golf_Club) – Golf
Baja (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Baja) – Off-road SUVs and adventure travel
BourbonStreet (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Bourbon_Street) – Jazz (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Jazz), Cajun food (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Cajun_food), New Orleans (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/New_Orleans) and Southern United States (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Southern_United_States) topics
CapeCanaveral (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Cape_Canaveral) and /Lab – Science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and aviation
CapitolHill (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill,_Washington,_D NULL.C NULL.) – Politics and government
CollegePark (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/College_Park) and /Quad – University life
Colosseum (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Colosseum) and /Field – Athletics and sports
EnchantedForest (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Enchanted_forest) – Topics of interest to children
Eureka (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Eureka_(word)) – Small business and home offices
Fashion Avenue – Fashion
Heartland (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Heartland) and /Plains – Parenting and family (Originally also focused on pets^{[27] (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/#cite_note-Neighborhoods1996-26)})
Hollywood (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Hollywood,_Los_Angeles,_California) and /Hills (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Hollywood_Hills) – Films and actors
HotSprings (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Hot_spring) – Health and fitness
MadisonAvenue (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Madison_Avenue) – Advertising
MotorCity (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Detroit) – Automobiles and racing
NapaValley (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Napa_County,_California) – Wine
Nashville (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Nashville,_Tennessee) – Country music (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Country_music)
Paris (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Paris) and /LeftBank (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Rive_Gauche) – Romance, poetry, and the arts (For Paris-related topics such as food and culture around 1996^{[27] (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/#cite_note-Neighborhoods1996-26)})
Pentagon (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/The_Pentagon) – Military

Petsburgh – Pets
PicketFence – Home improvement and real estate
Pipeline – Extreme sports (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Extreme_sport)
RainForest (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Rainforest) – Conservation
RodeoDrive (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Rodeo_Drive) – Shopping and upscale lifestyles
ResearchTriangle – Research and Development, technology
SiliconValley (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley), /Heights, /Park, and /Pines – Computers, hardware, programming, and technology
SoHo (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/SoHo) and /Lofts – Art and writing
SouthBeach (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/South_Beach) and /Marina – A “high-style hot spot for hanging out, meeting and greeting, seeing and being seen.”
SunsetStrip (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Sunset_Strip), /Alley, /Palms, and /Towers – Music such as blues (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Blues), grunge (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Grunge), punk rock (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Punk_rock), and rock ‘n roll (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Rock_%27n_roll)
TheTropics (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Tropics) and /Shores – Travel and vacations
TelevisionCity – Television
TimesSquare (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Times_Square) and /Arcade – Computer and video games (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Video_game)
Tokyo (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Tokyo) – Far East (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Far_East)-related topics, including anime (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Anime)
Vienna (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Vienna) – Ballet (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Ballet), classical music (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Classical_music), and opera (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Opera)
WallStreet (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Wall_Street) – Business and finance
Wellesley (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Wellesley_College) – Women-related topics
WestHollywood (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/West_Hollywood,_California) – homosexual (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Homosexual), bisexual (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Bisexual), and transgender (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Transgender) topics
Yosemite (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Yosemite) – Outdoor recreation including climbing (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Climbing), hiking (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Hiking), rafting (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Rafting), and skiing (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Skiing)

GeoCities which was started by David Bohnett (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/David_Bohnett) and John Rezner (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/John_Rezner), became a Yahoo Property at the height of the Dot Com bubble in 1999. At its height GeoCities was the 3rd most visited website only behind AOL and Yahoo. However, with the dot com burst and even with various changes made by Yahoo (Changing the Homesteads to geocities.com/username sites) GeoCities fell behind as other newer players came on scene.

Yahoo announce earlier this year that it would close GeoCities and now October 26th comes the end of one of the 1st web homes for many (Myself included). Since the announcement of the closing, many sites like the Internet Archive (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Internet_Archive) announced their g
oal of preserving archive copies of as many of the GeoCities pages as possible.

Software: Showing hidden files, folders and extensions in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

My preference has always been to set up Windows to show the hidden files, hidden folders and the extensions to files and programs. I prefer to have control and see exactly what I have on the PC. Microsoft hides these on the basis that these are normally Windows operating system files and folders or that the extensions are just not needed to be seen.

I can see the point if you have a pc that is used by many people (like small kids) or a complete new pc user who wouldn’t know any better, since you cant see the file or folder then you cant delete it. The problem with that is, the many of the Virus and Malware writers use that same feature to hide the files that infect your pc.

Additionally, I guess it assumed that hiding the .exe or .jpg (etc) from files would be for the benefit of users who don’t know any better and would get confused by it. However because the extensions are hidden by default in Windows, the setting allows virus writers to distribute executable files (files that can be installed on your pc causing you to get infected) disguised as something non-executable (like a picture or . For example, an .EXE file might appear to be an innocuous text file.

So as a recommendation here is how to unhide files, folders, and extensions in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Close all programs so that you are at your desktop.

Click on the Start button.
Click on the Control Panel menu option.
When the control panel opens you will be either in Category View or Large (or Small) Icon view:
*In either case change the setting to Large Icon View to make the following steps easier (See examples below – Where arrow Points)

Category View

Large Icon View

4. Click on Folder Options in the Window

5. Click on the View tab.

6. Under the Hidden files and folders section select the radio button labeled Show hidden files and folders

7. Remove the checkmark from the checkbox labeled Hide extensions for known file types.

8. Remove the checkmark from the checkbox labeled Hide protected operating system files.

(After you have done the steps your window should look like the example below)

Windows Vista Folder Options

**With that you will now see all files on your pc and see the extension for all files and programs. Note that most of the hidden files are Windows files and are required for your computer to operate correctly, so as always NO DONT DELETE ANYTHING UNLESS YOUR ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS AND THAT YOU DONT NEED IT.

Software: Microsoft Office 2010 – Beta coming November 2009

Microsoft has sent out notices informing Microsoft Connect (http://connect NULL.microsoft NULL.com/) members (Full Disclosure: I am a member of of MS Connect) that the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview (which is basically a very early version of the software) will be ending and that as of November the Office 2010 public beta will be available.

So far the Technical Preview has been very smooth and stable. Office 2010 does take a little getting used to as some of the features have moved locations with the use of the Office Ribbon.

Here is the email that Microsoft has sent out.

****************************************************************

Subject: Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Coming Soon – Technical Preview Program to Close
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:24:52 -0700

Hello Alex,
Thank you for continuing to utilize, evaluate and provide feedback on the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview.
We wanted to notify you the Office 2010 Beta will be available for you to download next month (November 2009).
The Beta release of Office 2010 marks the end of the Technical Preview program you currently belong to. We will release the Beta on public download sites, where you can download and install a newer build of Office 2010 client software. At that time, you will also get your first look at the exciting new features we have added to server products such as SharePoint.
What this means to you as a Technical Preview Program participant is that the Office 2010 Connect site that you have been using will essentially be shut down and you will be directed to the Beta site (location to be announced) for Beta downloads, product information, links to forums, and more. We will provide you with links to the new Beta site on the current Office 2010 Connect site, but product downloads, articles, product information, and newsgroups currently found there will no longer be available on Connect.
In the weeks between now and the release of Beta, you can still access all of the Technical Preview materials on the Office 2010 Connect site.
A reminder, you can access connect at http://connect.microsoft.com/office.
You can also access product news and updates at http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/.
Thank you for your participation!
The Microsoft Office 2010 Team

Alert: Another attempt to trick you into installing Fake/Rogue Anti-Virus software

The bad guys are at it again, attempting to trick users to install another version of fake/rogue Anti-virus software. This time they are going back to a classic format, email. Emails are now circulating that claim to be from the “Microsoft Windows Computer Safety Team” and look very legitimate, I have seen a couple in my own email. The emails (example below) claim that Conflicker is back and is infecting pc’s and that Microsoft received a notification from your internet provider and is sending you a “fix” to clean your machine. The “fix” is actually Antivirus Pro 2010, one of the many scareware files that Tech Geek and More has talked about in the past (http://techgeekandmore.wordpress.com/category/spyware/ (http://techgeekandmore NULL.com/category/spyware/)).

Please be aware that Microsoft (or any other software company) does not just randomly send out emails asking you to install things or asking for your information. Microsoft uses its many software pages like Bing.com or MSN.com (http://www NULL.msn NULL.com/) or Microsoft.com if it wanted to pass along an official notice, and it uses Windows update service (http://windowsupdate NULL.microsoft NULL.com) (Windows Update.Microsoft.com (http://windowsupdate NULL.microsoft NULL.com) for users of XP or earlier, built into Windows for Vista and Win7 users) for its downloads. It would never just randomly send you a file to install.

*******Example of Letter not from Microsoft************

“Dear Microsoft Customer,

Starting 18/10/2009 the ‘Conficker’ worm began infecting Microsoft customers unusually rapidly. Microsoft has been advised by your Internet provider that your network is infected. To counteract further spread we advise removing the infection using an antispyware program. We are supplying all effected Windows Users with a free system scan in order to clean any files infected by the virus.

Please install attached file to start the scan. The process takes under a minute and will prevent your files from being compromised. We appreciate your prompt cooperation.

Regards,
Microsoft Windows Agent #2 (Hollis)
Microsoft Windows Computer Safety Division

**********************************************

I have highlighted (In Bold) some of the clues in the email that should tell you that this is a fake
Date: 18/10/2009 – This is not U.S. Standard

Microsoft has been advised by your Internet provider that your network is infected – When Microsoft is advised by its partners or even by technology geeks in the general public who find ways that a Microsoft Product can be exploited, they issue press releases thru the media or thru there own web pages (as noted above) and all fixes are issues there Microsoft sites for all users of the affected Microsoft Product.

We are supplying all effected Windows Users with a free system scan in order to clean any files infected by the virus. – Again Microsoft would never do this as this would be the most counter productive measure, most people have more than 1 email address and many don’t use the email provided by the internet provider (How many of you use @Comcast or @Fios email versus @Hotmail or @Gmail), how do you think Microsoft would actually know what emails to use.

Microsoft Windows Agent #2 (Hollis)
Microsoft Windows Computer Safety Division – At least in my email conversations with Microsoft, the name of the person sending me the email appears in the signature. Additionally, if you do a search online for the “Microsoft Windows Computer Safety Division”, you will find that Microsoft does not have a division by that name.

(Soapbox) The bottom line, is that its up to you the user to USE YOUR BRAIN when your online. When you go out, you make sure you lock your door, set your home alarm, set your car alarm, pay attention to your surroundings when you go to a public place, you don’t just leave your wallet or purse on a table or counter in a restaurant or store (or at least I hope you don’t). In cyberspace just because you are not physically there, doesn’t mean that you don’t need to take the same precautions than what you do in real life. (End of Soapbox)

Alert: Rogueware with new Ransom Technology (This takes it up to a whole new level!)

The challenge these days seem to be to try and stay ahead of the criminals who try and steal from you via your computer. I get asked almost daily “Why do I keep having to update my anti-virus, anti-spyware or my anti-malware solutions?” “Can’t I just update it once and get it over with?” Well the simple answer is NO!

Let me ask you this, why do you listen to the traffic every morning on the radio on the way to work? Isn’t finding that route to work, where you can stop and get breakfast or your coffee at Starbucks good enough? Won’t that get you what you need? Well……of course the answer is no. We all listen in case that one day we hear about a traffic accident or police action or broken water main or …… well you get the idea. We want to know this so that we can get a different route and try and avoid getting stuck in a traffic mess. Your route may never be affected, but you listen anyways everyday because that 1 time you don’t listen, you know will be the 1 time that your 30 minute commute will become 4 hours (I did have that once, it was a nightmare). Ok so if you know put that analogy to why you update your software (Operating System, Software, and your Anti-Virus/Anti-malware protection), its basically so that you can hope that you never run into that “nightmare situation”.

Now let me tell you a little about the latest nightmare that the bad guys have started releasing on to the internet that you and I travel. This one is called TotalSecurity2009 (From the same people that brought you AntiVirus2008, AntiVirus2009, and many others http://techgeekandmore.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/alert-another-fake-anti-virus-program/ (http://techgeekandmore NULL.com/2009/08/29/alert-another-fake-anti-virus-program/)). This one does the same things as the others, you go to an infected website and you see a pop up that says “Your computer is infected, click scan now to clean your machine” (or something to that effect depending on which one you get).

Then all of a sudden you start getting these pop-ups that look official and legit and even look like they my be part of your operating system, telling you that “the sky is falling” and that you need to buy (insert Rogue Malware name here), and that you can pay $XX amount of dollars (of course by major credit card) and they will clean your pc for you. That’s like having a burglar walk up to your house and say, sorry I just robbed your house, may I now install your new security system to keep me from robbing you again!

Ok back to TotalSecurity2009, this one has a new wrinkle. An extra level of sophistication, like we haven’t really seen before. In the past when you go infected you suffered thru allot of pop-ups and messages, but for the most part all functions of a pc still worked (OK except maybe web browsing to a legitimate web Anti-Virus website which previous ones would redirect your webpage so that you would only see Antivirus site pages they wanted you to see). In TS2009, its different, TS2009 actually locks all your applications and files, except for Internet Explorer and that is basically so that Internet Explorer can keep giving you messages that you need to pay $79.99 to get the unlock code for TotalSecurity2009 and then be able to use TotalSecurity2009 to clean your system. So in essence, if your a non-technical person and don’t know any better, you will feel like you have no choice but to pay them to release your pc from malware jail.

Here is the biggest problem with paying them, because to me it really isn’t about the $79.99, you will probably never get billed that amount. What you will have done is given a criminal your name and information and your credit card number and in fact what it will cost you will probably be more than $79.99 with your information out in the open for the bad guys to use (and charge your card) at will until you have to close and change your accounts.

The following Video comes from Panda Labs (A maker of legitimate Anti-Virus / Anti-Malware software) that shows how the rogue malware works and what effects it will have on your pc.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.3686216&w=425&h=350&fv=]

more about “From Panda Labs: Rogueware with new R… (http://vodpod NULL.com/watch/2362304-from-panda-labs-rogueware-with-new-ranson-technology?pod=techgeekandmore)“, posted with vodpod (http://vodpod NULL.com?r=wp)

Additional information from Panda Labs can be found at http://pandalabs.pandasecurity.com/archive/Rogueware-with-new-Ransomware-Technology_2221_.aspx (http://pandalabs NULL.pandasecurity NULL.com/archive/Rogueware-with-new-Ransomware-Technology_2221_ NULL.aspx)

Panda Labs has also cracked the Rogue Anti-Virus so that you can unlock your machine if you get infected with this Rogue malware. Once you unlock your machine, you can download a 1 month free trial of the Panda Global Protection software that you can then use to clean your pc http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/downloads/register?Tipo=1&CodigoProducto=60&Idioma=2&TipoUsuario=12&Country=US&TipoLead=2&Ref=WWUS-GP10-DWN (http://www NULL.pandasecurity NULL.com/usa/homeusers/downloads/register?Tipo=1&CodigoProducto=60&Idioma=2&TipoUsuario=12&Country=US&TipoLead=2&Ref=WWUS-GP10-DWN)

Additionally you can also download Malwarebytes http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?part=dl-10804572&subj=dl&tag=button (http://download NULL.cnet NULL.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572 NULL.html?part=dl-10804572&subj=dl&tag=button) and SuperAntiSpyware http://superantispyware.com/ (http://superantispyware NULL.com/) to do additional scanning of your machine to make sure everything is clean.

Remember, all 3 of these products plus all other PC security software that is from a legitimate software company still needs to be updated by you the user before scanning or attempting to clean any malware from your pc, because you don’t know if your infection was created weeks ago or 1 hour ago and all security software needs to have the latest updates from its maker in order to give you the best chance and cleaning your pc.

Apple: How to Get into your Mac when You’re Locked Out!pple

The following post comes from The Tech Advisors (http://thetechadvisors.wordpress.com/ (http://thetechadvisors NULL.wordpress NULL.com/)), which is a great Mac resource. TGM reposts this for the benefit of those TGM readers who use Mac’s. With a special Thanks to Alex Hwang at The Tech Advisors for letting me share.

************************************************************

From the Tech Advisors Post (http://thetechadvisors.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/how-to-get-into-your-mac-when-youre-locked-out/ (http://thetechadvisors NULL.wordpress NULL.com/2009/08/05/how-to-get-into-your-mac-when-youre-locked-out/))

I’m sure we’ve all been the situation when we’ve forgotten a password. No biggie, just press the “Oh! I forgot my password” link below the sign-in box, right? Well, yes, if it’s just a web page. Now, if you’re locked out of you’re Mac, that’s a toughie to get out of. Either you bring it to apple or hack your way in. I’m going to show you how to hack your way in.

I’m using the term “hack” loosely, as I’m just going to detail how to reset your password on your Mac; I will show another way after this which involves creating another user account.

Concerning Resetting Password on 10.5 Leopard

If you have been unfortunately locked out of your wonderful new Mac running 10.5 Leopard, here’s how to reset your password on it.

“

Power on or restart your Mac.

At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off (http://www NULL.macyourself NULL.com/2008/10/17/keep-your-macs-volume-settings-and-startup-chime-under-control/)), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode. [After this you should see black and white letters running down through your screen like you're a hacker]

This step is optional, but it’s a good idea because it checks the consistency of the hard disk before moving on. At the prompt, type fsck -fy and press Enter/Return. Wait for the checks to complete before going to the next step.

Type mount -uw / and press Enter. [Mounts the startup disk]

Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plistand press Enter.

Type ls /Users and press Enter. This lists all of the usernames on the computer – helpful if you don’t know or remember what these are.

Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username password and replace “username” with one of the users displayed in the previous step. Replace “password” with a new password of your choice. Press Enter.

Type reboot and press Enter.

“

[Macyourself tutorial (http://www NULL.macyourself NULL.com/2009/08/03/how-to-reset-your-mac-os-x-password-without-an-installer-disc/)]

Concerning Resetting Password on 10.4 Tiger

Be careful to remember that resetting the passwords on these two different operating systems have different instructions, so don’t mix them up. [unless you want to potentially destroy your system]

“

Power on or restart your Mac.

At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode.

Type sh /etc/rc and press Enter/Return.

Type passwd username and replace “username” with the short name of the user account for which you’d like to reset the password.

Type your desired password and press Enter. It won’t show itself on the screen, so be careful what you type. You will most likely have to enter it again to confirm.

Type reboot and press Enter.

[Macyourself tutoria (http://www NULL.macyourself NULL.com/2009/08/03/how-to-reset-your-mac-os-x-password-without-an-installer-disc/)l]

“

If you don’t want to mess around with command-line password resetting,

don’t. The ways detailed above are much faster than creating a whole new account and registering a new account. Anyways, you still must use the command line to delete the systems files Mac OS reads during startup, and that could be catastrophic, even resulting in your computer not being able to start up. But, if you want to, just read the article I’ve hyperlinked twice above. [Macyourself tutoria (http://www NULL.macyourself NULL.com/2009/08/03/how-to-reset-your-mac-os-x-password-without-an-installer-disc/)l].

If you want all this stuff good and printed so it’s ready in your desk whenever you need it, (ahh)

I’ve created a pdf with this info. It’s located here: [Click Here (http://dl NULL.getdropbox NULL.com/u/529804/Macresetpassword NULL.pdf)]

Well, that’s it! Just remember to use your new-found power wisely and not on a computer that’s not your own because that’s… hacking! Thanks for reading and please rate this post!

TGM: Q and A – iPod Not loading music bought on iTunes or from CD

One of the questions I did receive this week involves not being able to add new music (either from the iTunes store or from CD) to an iPod.

I didn’t get to many details on what version of iTunes or what kind of iPod or if this was Windows or Mac, which made this answer a little difficult. Using the idea that it involves a new(or newer) version of iTunes, and taking a stab at it based on previous history with iTunes, here is what I think for both Windows and Mac. (**If this is not correct, I just ask the person who sent in the initial question to send me a follow up message with as much detail as possible and I’ll see what I can do).

In Windows:

Sometimes the iTunes updater does not properly update. The updater is supposed to update the version on your pc and then update iTunes on your iPod, however, sometimes if you disconnect your iPod before the update is complete or if the PC froze or any of a 1000 “Acts of Nature” occurred, then it could be that your iPod never got its part of the update.

So this is what you do -

From your PC – Open My computer –> The on the address bar on top type c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Apple\Installer Cache. If you typed it correctly you should end up with a page that looks similar to the picture below.

The reason you will type this in is that by default in Windows the Application Data folder is considered a hidden folder and you wont find it unless you unhide your folders in Windows.

Within this Installer Cache folder you may see more than one Apple Software Update folder, if that is the case select the folder with the highest number (2.1.1.116 is the number in my case) or the newest folder if you are looking at the window via details view

Now double click on the file marked AppleSoftwareUpdate.msi.

You will now see the Repair function, select that and the system will reinstall the update you selected.

Once that update is completed. Click on finish, and try again, and that should correct the issue.

From a Mac:

This is from Apple Support (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1461 (http://support NULL.apple NULL.com/kb/TS1461))

Certain models of single processor Power Macintosh G5 computers may show iPod nano mounted in the Finder but not recognized in iTunes. If this happens to you, try restarting your computer and Setting Energy Saver to highest performance and turn off hard disk sleep. If you have an iPod nano, but don’t have a G5, then follow the other steps below.

Mac OS X 10.5.x

Insert your Mac OS X 10.5 install disc.
Open the “Optional Installs” folder.
Double-click Optional Installs.mpkg.
On the Custom Install window of the Installer, select the option to install iPod Support.

Mac OS X 10.4.x

Install the latest available Mac OS X 10.4.x update. If you are already using the latest version of Mac OS X 10.4, or if updating does not help, perform an archive installation (http://www NULL.info NULL.apple NULL.com/kbnum/n107120) of Mac OS X 10.4.

Mac OS X 10.3.x

Navigate to /System/Library/Extensions.
Drag the iPodDriver.kext file to the Trash (you will be required to enter an administrator account password).
Download and install the Mac OS X Combined Update 10.3.9 (http://www NULL.apple NULL.com/support/downloads/macosxcombinedupdate1039 NULL.html).
Restart the computer when prompted to do so by the installer.
Connect the iPod.

Mac OS X 10.2.8 and earlier
To resolve this issue with earlier versions of Mac OS X, you’ll need to delete one file and reinstall iTunes. Follow each of the steps below.

Step 1
Delete the file using Terminal

Warning: The steps below describe how to remove a file by entering commands in the Terminal application (located in the Utilities folder inside of the Applications folder). Users unfamiliar with Terminal and UNIX-like environments should proceed with caution. The entry of incorrect commands may result in data loss or unusable system software.

Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities).
Type: sudo rm -R /System/Library/Extensions/iPodDriver.kext
Press Return.
Enter the administrator account password when prompted.
Quit Terminal.
Restart the computer (From the Apple menu, choose Restart).

Step 2
Reinstall iTunes

Download the latest version of iTunes from the iTunes download page (http://www NULL.apple NULL.com/itunes/download).
Install iTunes.
Restart the computer after the installation has completed.
Connect iPod.

Step 3
Delete the iPod.plist file

Remove the following file in the your home directory and open iTunes again.
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.ipod.plist\

*****As always I am just making suggestions based on information give. If the information I receive is incomplete, the suggestion my not work. It is up to you to make sure you take backup your software (or files or Music) before trying any repair solutions, in case a restore is required.

And More! My other site – Life of Alex (Road Trip – Colorado Springs)

I’m just starting to catch up on my posts after not being able to post the past few days because of a Road Trip that I took for my “Real” job. I just posted a few pictures of my trip to Colorado Springs on my other site – Life of Alex (http://anovelo.posterous.com/ (http://anovelo NULL.posterous NULL.com/)). My road trip was to provide onsite tech support to a college football stadium this past week and let me tell you 1 word comes to mind during my trip

COLD!

So if you would like to see the what life if like while on check out http://anovelo.posterous.com/tag/october172009 (http://anovelo NULL.posterous NULL.com/tag/october172009) .

And More: My other site – Life of Alex (World Series 2008)

With being in the middle of the 2009 baseball playoff’s, I figured this would be a perfect time to post some of the pictures that I took while in the middle of the 2008 World Series here in Philadelphia. My job allows me some perks, and 1 of them has been to be in the middle of the World Series for all the games held in Philadelphia. So if you want to see a few pictures from the 2008 World Series check out http://anovelo.posterous.com/tag/worldseries2008 (http://anovelo NULL.posterous NULL.com/tag/worldseries2008) . It has to be one of the wildest sporting events I’ve ever attended.

Travel: Secure Flight being Implemented by TSA (This may affect you)

Anyone that travels on planes on a regular basis is familiar with the “You have been selected for additional screening”* that happens at times. A few people have also had to deal with what is known as “Denied Boarding” because they have a name that is similar to a name on the Government No Fly list*.

There are confirmed reports that everyone from Kids (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/business/30road.html?_r=2&oref=slogin (http://www NULL.nytimes NULL.com/2008/09/30/business/30road NULL.html?_r=2&oref=slogin)) to US Marines returning from Iraq (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12284855/ (http://www NULL.msnbc NULL.msn NULL.com/id/12284855/)) to members of Congress (http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/20/lewis.watchlist/index.html (http://www NULL.cnn NULL.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/20/lewis NULL.watchlist/index NULL.html)) to just regular people like you and me who have been stopped or denied boarding because of the No Fly list (*For full disclosure – I have had both situations occur during my road warrior travel more than once).

Now the TSA working with the transportation industry is working on implementing “Secure Flight” (http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/secureflight/index.shtm (http://www NULL.tsa NULL.gov/what_we_do/layers/secureflight/index NULL.shtm))

Q. What is Secure Flight and what does it do?

A. Secure Flight is a behind the scenes program that streamlines the watch list matching process. It will improve the travel experience for all passengers, including those who have been misidentified in the past.

Q. What happens if my airline didn’t ask for any of that information?

A. Secure Flight will be phased-in and each airline will be incorporating the necessary changes into their systems over the coming months. Passengers shouldn’t be concerned if particular airlines don’t ask them to provide the additional information right away; it should not impact their travel. Each airline will request this information as their capability to capture it is integrated into their individual systems.

Spirit Airlines has sent out a notice that they are now implementing Secure Flight

Some of the things to keep in mind is that they are now asking for your ID name (if your Bobby and your ID/License says Robert, I would suggest you get your tickets using Robert).

The notice from Spirit Airlines also talks about the Redress number (many people don’t know what this means), so for your information this is what the Redress number means (http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/customer/redress/index.shtm (http://www NULL.tsa NULL.gov/travelers/customer/redress/index NULL.shtm))

The Redress Process

The Department of Homeland Security’s Travel Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP) is a single point of contact for individuals who have inquiries or seek resolution regarding difficulties they experienced during their travel screening at transportation hubs–like airports and train stations–or while crossing U.S. borders. These could include:

denied or delayed airline boarding

denied or delayed entry into and exit from the U.S. at a port of entry or border checkpoint

continuously referred to additional (secondary) screening

Who is DHS TRIP for?

People who have been repeatedly identified for additional screening can file an inquiry to have erroneous information corrected in DHS systems.

How does DHS TRIP work?

For those who encounter misidentification, Secure Flight will help prevent watch list name confusion by using DHS TRIP, the central processing point for redress inquiries. Requests received online will be routed for redress to the appropriate DHS components. Components will review the request and reach a determination about a traveler’s status. Secure Flight will use the results of the redress process in its watch list matching process to help prevent future delays for misidentified passengers.

Hopefully, those legitimate travelers who have a hard time because they just happen to be unlucky enough to have a name similar to someone that the government has on a “Watch List” will find some relief with Secure Flight.

For additional information

TSA Secure Flight (http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/secureflight/index.shtm (http://www NULL.tsa NULL.gov/what_we_do/layers/secureflight/index NULL.shtm))
TSA Redress Program (http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/customer/redress/index.shtm (http://www NULL.tsa NULL.gov/travelers/customer/redress/index NULL.shtm))
How to file for the Redress Program (http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1169673653081.shtm (http://www NULL.dhs NULL.gov/files/programs/gc_1169673653081 NULL.shtm))
Wiki about the No Fly List with interesting information (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-fly_list#cite_note-24 (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/No-fly_list#cite_note-24))
Washington Post Story (Airlines to begin asking more from customers) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/12/AR2009081203000.html (http://www NULL.washingtonpost NULL.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/12/AR2009081203000 NULL.html))