Mark's Sysinternals Blog: Running Windows with No Services

The general up, down, left and right of it is for those beautiful readers that are not also beautiful hackers is that with a little care you can make XP go much faster!

Mark's Sysinternals Blog: Running Windows with No Services: "A Windows service provides functionality to the operating system and user accounts regardless of whether anyone is logged into a system. Windows XP comes with around four dozen services enabled by default, including ones that many people consider superfluous like Remote Registry, Alerter, and SSDP Discovery (Universal Plug and Play). A question many Windows administrators commonly have is therefore, which services can I safely disable? What if I told you that for at least basic functionality like Web surfing and application execution, Windows doesn't need any services? In fact, you can also do those things without system processes like Winlogon.exe, the interactive logon manager, and Lsass, the local security authority subsystem."

 
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  Your new air guitar...

I "stole" this image without cerimony from this very funny site: http://www.mirrorimage.com/air/index.html

 
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  The last minute problem

The last minute problem  is a curious creature that lives secretly in every project a group of humans tries to complete to any kind of schedule.  It's that annoying bleep that happens moments before the big unveiling and yet you somehow felt something like this would happen.

The LMP factor can be used to describe any glitch or other (allegedly) unforeseen delay in the completion of a project.  It is random chance by another name.  Also know as: The human error principle, The odds that something will go wrong, Murphy's Law etc etc...

We all know and dread the Last-Minute-Problem (LMP) and yet it still happens.  Why is that?  is it because it is fated to be that way or is it something more intrinsic to the way things are done?

Expect and Plan for the LMP

Often times the effects of last minute corrections and the need thereof is simply a product of bad planning.  Workers, builders, planners and leaders are not omnipotent, (although many might tell you otherwise), as such - every detail, (down to the weather changing suddenly or the fact that the clients failed to tell you about a small technical detail that has invalidated your work to date), cannot be predicted.  ever. 

With this in mind it is vital that steps be taken to account for the statistical likelihood of problems occurring.  When timetabling a job it is a must that you create sufficient space for the dealing with of problems.  The greater the importance of the deadline the more time should be given over to fault finding and fixing.

It is no mistake that software testing has three distinct stages Alpha testing or in-house checks, Beta testing where trusted clients try out what you have done and final release the greatest test a product can go through.  Not until sometime after that third stage will all possible problems be high lighted.  It's just one of those things and with experience dealing with and predicting Last-Minute-Problems becomes easier.

Dealing with the LMP

The successful manager and leader of men will be the one that has planned for and is ready to deal with the LMP-factor of projects.  He or she will have in place a system and structure of communication and resources ready to deal with problems as they arise.  The manager will not be able to predict every problem but will be able to create contingency plans and options that enable work to continue despite of the problems. 

The more sensitive and vital an operation or role the greater the level of contingence that should be put in place.  No one can teach you how to do this, they can only show you how they do it; but with time and experience you will learn a "feel" for the job.

As the technician you will find yourself at a loss to either explain how a problem occurred or what you can do about it.  That's life and part of the learning curve that differentiates the book learner from the experienced worker.  Sometimes life just is not the same in practice as in theory. 

This experience of the way things actually are and the often glaring repetition of errors or problems gives, with experience, the ability to simply see and side step the problem so that it never occurs.  This is the core of why an experienced worker is worth much more money per month than the graduate.

Suffering from lack of experiences with LMP

(on the job experience, that books can not teach you)

When you start out on a new line of work, be it paid employment or some practical task, only the experience of doing it will enable you to handle those shock problems that rear up just as you are putting the tools back in the box.  Expect the college student to make errors, this isn't bad in fact the new worker who is almost killed (though exhaustion, the anger of the boss or the laughter of his co-workers) by repeated attacks of LMPs will be worth to you a hundred times the wages of the quite worker who follows orders and never seems to suffer.  This is because the one that is suffering from lack of experiences with LMP is also gaining said experience.

Becoming an expert (learning from LMP)

As you encounter Last-Minute-Problems you will come to learn that the only way to avoid Last-Minute-Problems is to encounter them frequently.  It is this expertise that teaches you that the red wire needs an inch more give than the blue or that the fastest setting plaster takes twice as long as a slower one.  It's just life.  Sooner or later you will start to find that LMP is something that happens to other people - you will have gained experience.

Blind sided by your own expertise

(becoming cocky - the unforeseen LMP you will always encounter)

Congratulations you are now an experienced worker LMPs are a thing of the past right? - WRONG! One of the single greatest causes of delays is the sureness of people who "couldn't possibly be wrong" and then are.  This again is one of those problems - being blind sided by your own skill and experience.  Watch-out for it because it is possibly the most humiliating of all the LMPs.

Conclusion (just factor in and hope...)

At the end of the day Last-Minute-Problems will always happen to you.  It is not avoiding them that is the key but how you plan for and handle them that shows the valuable worker.  It is not so much the planning or lack of that causes LMPs but lack of experiences with LMPs, the good manager should therefore factor for LMP given a good working knowledge of the experience (time spent doing the job) of the workers.

Originally published by me @ Everything2.com

 
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  In the center.
Greatings beautiful readers. Yes I know I have been away a while and not brought you the usual mix of myreal life, honest to goodness ego and other stuff. I still am to find nice things to say about others, but lately I can think of only nice things to think about myself and the rather cool things I feel I have been doing or not doing. Or doingly not doing while not doing things I should be doing so I can do things I shouldn't be doing. Or stuff.

Any one else as self centred as me a times? 
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  Google Moon Help

Sometimes you have to have a laugh.

Google Moon Help: "Glad you asked, and yes, the development of our lunar hosting and research center continues apace. We usually don’t announce future products in advance, but in this case, yes, we can confirm that on July 20th, 2069, in honor of the 100th anniversary of mankind’s first manned lunar landing, Google will fully integrate Google Local search capabilities into Google Moon, which will allow our users to quickly find lunar business addresses, numbers and hours of operation, among other valuable forms of Moon-oriented local information."

 
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  In the news today: Hundreds of nudes cross the Tyne
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Hundreds of nudes cross the Tyne: "About 1,700 men and women have appeared naked in Tyneside in the name of art. " 
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  ...bring on the clown.

I am having a really naff day.

I did have a faily chirpy post idea but I'm just too ticked off about the shapeless sacks they call trousers that hire companies expect you to wear for weddings if you are unfortunate enough to have given up smokeing and gained 4 inches of tummy doing it.

So not only do I look like the goodyear blimp but I must wear boffo-the-clowns trousers too.

 
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  Digi Astounding Publications

I am currently working on one of the most challenging projects yet. A fiction publication blogger style.

Digi Astounding Publications: "If you have the gift of the short and exiting story then we would like to hear from you. We are currently putting the finnishing touches to, and adding content to the first six issues which, when ready, will herald the launch of our new publication."

 
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  Boom! Shake the room.

Wow I feel stressed today. And no it has nothing to do with the big explosions in our nations capital. Yes I know that London has been dropped to a standstill but I feel stressed too...

No I'm not really that self centred but hell I feel like it sometimes. It's been bedlam around here and I am sufferring from stress and trying not to get assigned sick status due to PTSD.

 
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  Another View of the Talker.

Readers will probably realise that since the size of the beautiful talkers family increased he has had less time for blogging.

Sadly this is not going to change any time soon.

However, there is a sectret archive of texts by the same writer and for your viewing pleasure I am going to link to all of them.

As time goes by I may even re-publish them here too.

Sokath, his eyes uncovered (idea)
E2 Gothic (thing)
Goth Culture (idea)
A vindication of the authority of fathers (person)
Theophobia (thing)
Allodoxaphobia (idea)
Xylophobia (idea)
Androphobia (thing)
Vestiphobia (thing)
Social phobia (thing)
Ablutophobia (thing)
Atychiphobia (thing)
Levophobia (thing)
Blennophobia (thing)
Obesophobia (thing)
Ailurophobia (thing)
Melissophobia (thing)
emotional abuse (place)
Good Lies (place)
hamartia (idea)
Hennie van Niekerk (person)
Fall of the mighty (thing)
An introductory guide to networks (thing)
Network manager (person)
Network user (person)
Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (thing)
Systems Analysis (thing)
Feasibility Study (thing)
Evaluation (thing)
design (thing)
implementation (thing)
Last minute problem (thing)
Visual Basic Object Properties (thing)
TextBox (thing)
Regional information (idea)

EDIT: Links are fixed now

 
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