Lights-out, remotely

Ever been logged in to a computer via Remote Desktop, and wanted to put said computer into Hibernate mode? Yeah, neither had I, until today. I was running an experiment in the electronics lab and wanted to put my laptop (back at my desk) into hibernation, in preparation for heading to class later.

A quick Google search later, I found the answer:
rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Hibernate

Have fun!

Well, this isn't encouraging...

Just stopped by our IT department at work; our sysadmin guru was installing Windows 7 on a test PC (one of our standard configurations -- a Dell GX620.) According to him, it had already bluescreened once on him. While I was there, he was running into a bunch of other errors -- during the install process. Admittedly, he was trying to upgrade an existing XP installation, but this is still not a good sign.

Very often, Windows installation errors are due to user error; I've seen this happen many times. But this guy knows his stuff -- if he made a mistake, it's because it's there waiting to be made.

Looks like XP or Linux for the foreseeable future, for me...

Do not pass Reboot, do not collect $200...

One of the annoying things about Windows XP is its tendency to keep pestering the user to reboot after updates have been installed. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been working on a document, only to have the "Reboot Now?" dialog box pop up, accept the spacebar keypress that was meant for your document, and happily reboot the machine -- three days into that loooong simulation you're running in FreeBASIC. Grr.

At least there's a solution. If you stop the Automatic Updates service, the insipid messages go away and don't come back until after you reboot. Peace at last...