I've been clamoring for the Mango update for my Windows Phone 7 ever since hearing it's supposed to roll out this Fall. Well, Fall is here, so where's my Mango?! I religiously check Settings > Phone Update every day, but it always says "no update available." I figured, with my luck, I'll probably get it last. For the record, I have an HTC HD7 on T-Mobile.
I rarely use the Zune software, mainly because I don't have much need to sync data between my phone and my PC. I'm just not the kind of guy... at least not yet. But tonight, on a whim, I decided to plug in and let the two commingle, just for grins. I'm glad I did. Zune was like, "what the heck have you been doing? An update is available, dude!" (paraphrased). I was psyched, naturally, but also dismayed that I wasn't notified "over the air" as I expected to be. How long have I been waiting to pluck the Mango that was there for the plucking? *sigh*
Before the phone update would start, it required that I update the Zune software. I don't know what version I was on, but I now have Zune version 4.8.2345.0. With that out of the way, I initiated the phone update.
The phone restarted a couple of times, made a backup, downloaded an update, installed the update, downloaded another update, installed that too, restarted a couple more times, then it was finally done. I'd estimate the whole process took 45-60 minutes, with the longest stretch by far being the second update.
To my relief, the update seems to have worked fine on the first try. I can't wait to mess with it, I almost feel like I'm getting a new phone. Overall I really like the WP7 platform, but I'd sure like to see some of my minor annoyances addressed. However, I'm optimistic.
If, like me, you're anxious to get the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango update, my advice is this: don't wait for your phone to notify you. Connect your Windows Phone to your PC and start Zune immediately. You might be glad you did!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Installing Dell 1700 from print server on Windows 7 64-bit
I've had my Dell Laser 1700 for years now, and I still love it. My only regret is that I didn't get the 1700n, the "n" denoting a network model. So, instead I have mine set up on Windows Server 2003 via USB, shared with my home network. If you're reading this, you either have no life, or you've had a problem getting the driver for the Dell 1700 to install on Windows Vista or 7, 32-bit or 64-bit, or all of the above like me.
Things were fine and dandy when I had XP on everything. But my old nemesis, progress, has marched on and brought forth Windows Vista, thankfully followed by Windows 7. However, setting up my Dell 1700 printer remains tricky for me on these newer operating systems, every time I find myself doing it. I've been tripped up first by 32-bit Vista, then 7, and again now that I'm running 64-bit 7 on multiple systems. (Don't even ask how many computers I have, ok?)
Aside from my relief that a compatible driver even exists this far out from when the Dell 1700 was initially released, I never seem to be able to simply "connect" to the shared printer on the server, and usually have to resort to figuring it out over and over, never quite remembering what I did last time to get it working. That gets old.
This time, I decided to document my process. What a novel idea, right?! Once I did so, I realized that it's not all that difficult after all. Unless, that is, I'm otherwise missing something :) I believe that in general I've had much better luck when I'm able to use the CD-ROM which came with the printer, but I can't always find it. And in this day and age, I think you should be able to get everything you need from the web. Besides, I'm convinced that most people facing this issue don't even have the CD-ROM as an option. Not to mention that I suspect the CD-ROM has 32-bit drivers, but likely not 64-bit.
Anyway, here's what I did. Your mileage may obviously vary, and you might not have the same configuration that I have, but I hope this information is helpful to somebody somewhere, if not to my future self, assuming I have my Dell 1700 for years to come, as I hope is the case. I also hope Windows 8 smiles at me, when I cross that bridge.
Note: This driver was apparently designed for Vista, and not updated since, so some strangeness isn't out of the question for Windows 7, as you may notice in step 6 below.
Things were fine and dandy when I had XP on everything. But my old nemesis, progress, has marched on and brought forth Windows Vista, thankfully followed by Windows 7. However, setting up my Dell 1700 printer remains tricky for me on these newer operating systems, every time I find myself doing it. I've been tripped up first by 32-bit Vista, then 7, and again now that I'm running 64-bit 7 on multiple systems. (Don't even ask how many computers I have, ok?)
Aside from my relief that a compatible driver even exists this far out from when the Dell 1700 was initially released, I never seem to be able to simply "connect" to the shared printer on the server, and usually have to resort to figuring it out over and over, never quite remembering what I did last time to get it working. That gets old.
This time, I decided to document my process. What a novel idea, right?! Once I did so, I realized that it's not all that difficult after all. Unless, that is, I'm otherwise missing something :) I believe that in general I've had much better luck when I'm able to use the CD-ROM which came with the printer, but I can't always find it. And in this day and age, I think you should be able to get everything you need from the web. Besides, I'm convinced that most people facing this issue don't even have the CD-ROM as an option. Not to mention that I suspect the CD-ROM has 32-bit drivers, but likely not 64-bit.
Anyway, here's what I did. Your mileage may obviously vary, and you might not have the same configuration that I have, but I hope this information is helpful to somebody somewhere, if not to my future self, assuming I have my Dell 1700 for years to come, as I hope is the case. I also hope Windows 8 smiles at me, when I cross that bridge.
Note: This driver was apparently designed for Vista, and not updated since, so some strangeness isn't out of the question for Windows 7, as you may notice in step 6 below.
- Download the driver package R147091.EXE from Dell.com (Direct Link). Obtain it from another location at your own risk. This driver is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit Vista and 7.
- After you download it some place safe (keep it in case you need it again), open/run it and let it extract. The default extract path is 'C:\Dell\Printers', or at least it was for me. If you are prompted by UAC, obviously click YES to continue.
- Once extraction is complete, go to that folder and open/run SETUP.EXE. There should also be five folders and an INI file there along with it. Again, if prompted by UAC, click YES to continue.
- The installation wizard should now be open.
- Click "Network Installation - Install the printer for use on a network"
- Choose the "Dell Laser Printer 1700" in the drop down. If the drop down is empty, cancel out of the setup, hopefully prompting Windows 7 to re-initiate the setup using "recommended settings" (a.k.a. compatibility mode). If it doesn't, then apply compatibility settings yourself (set to Vista), and run SETUP again. If this happens start again at step 1.
- Choose "Local Installation - Install printer on this computer"
- Click NEXT
- Click the "Add Printer" button
- Choose "UNC" for "Port Type"
- Type the UNC path to the printer in the "Network Path" field. Alternatively, you may click the "Printer Path" button and browse to the printer, but that did not work for me. It did not "see" the print server in my case. Hopefully you know what a UNC path is, and can figure out what yours is ;)
- Click NEXT
- Uncheck "Share this printer with other computers", if it's checked
- If desired, change the Printer Name, and check or uncheck "Set this printer as default"
- Click NEXT
- Click INSTALL. I was not able to deselect (uncheck) the Dell Toner Management System, it was grayed out, so in it went
After this, my Dell 1700 was present in the Printers and Faxes section of the Devices and Printers Control Panel (boy, that's a mouthful), and the printer worked fine. I hope yours does too.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Dell, you're killing me!
I discovered last night that the keyboard, in my fairly new Dell laptop, isn't installed properly. I'm going to have to disassemble it to fix. Why me?
I've had numerous issues with the Dell XPS 15 (L502x) since I got it about a month and a half ago. Up to now, it's mostly been that I get app crashes when I come out of hibernate or sleep. Sometimes it's Outlook, but more often it's some behind-the-scenes Windows components, like PC Doctor.
I've run the recovery, but that hasn't helped. I also obtained the Windows OS disc from Dell (once again, they're not shipping units with the discs), but I've also had problems during a clean install, such as the system freezing at different points, including the BIOS splash. I really started to feel like I have a hardware problem, probably RAM. Luckily, the app crashes aren't catastrophic (yet). I suppose I'll keep my fingers crossed that things don't get worse.
But this keyboard thing is really irritating. I noticed since day 1 that the keyboard had some play to it (flexible/spongy). I saw this criticism in some reviews, but figured I'd mainly use an external keyboard with it at home anyway. I recently got a monitor stand to elevate the laptop, which gave me a viewing angle on the keyboard that allowed me to see it was raised up on the left side. After looking closely at it, I can see that there is a retaining tab that the keyboard should be under, but instead it's above it on that side. I was so frustrated by this that my inclination was to force it down, but I kept my composure and instead looked up the manual online for instructions on fixing it proper.
This is just the latest disappointment I've had with Dell. The absolute worst experience was two years ago when I was forced to buy a video card upgrade to support dual monitors on a computer I bought through the Dell website for work, only to find out that the card didn't support dual monitors at all. Repeated calls to Dell accomplished nothing but headaches, and they ultimately ripped me off by not providing a refund after I sent the useless video card back to them, at their request.
I've long planned to blog about that, and may someday in a separate post. It was truly sad, and I'll never feel the same about Dell again. I boycotted them for awhile, and I will still look to other brands before I shop Dell. The only reason I came back at all was that I like Dell products and their technical aspects, but their customer service is atrocious, I mean really despicable.
That brings me to why I don't just send my new laptop back to Dell, with all the problems I've been having, as my wife tells me I should do. To be honest, I'm truly afraid of what I may be subjected to by Dell support personnel. I think about the only thing that would really force me to deal with that is if I end up convinced I have a motherboard problem, or something I absolutely can't fix on my own, or without significant expense. I only hope that if I'm going to reach that point, that it comes before my 1 year warranty is expired.
I've had numerous issues with the Dell XPS 15 (L502x) since I got it about a month and a half ago. Up to now, it's mostly been that I get app crashes when I come out of hibernate or sleep. Sometimes it's Outlook, but more often it's some behind-the-scenes Windows components, like PC Doctor.
I've run the recovery, but that hasn't helped. I also obtained the Windows OS disc from Dell (once again, they're not shipping units with the discs), but I've also had problems during a clean install, such as the system freezing at different points, including the BIOS splash. I really started to feel like I have a hardware problem, probably RAM. Luckily, the app crashes aren't catastrophic (yet). I suppose I'll keep my fingers crossed that things don't get worse.
But this keyboard thing is really irritating. I noticed since day 1 that the keyboard had some play to it (flexible/spongy). I saw this criticism in some reviews, but figured I'd mainly use an external keyboard with it at home anyway. I recently got a monitor stand to elevate the laptop, which gave me a viewing angle on the keyboard that allowed me to see it was raised up on the left side. After looking closely at it, I can see that there is a retaining tab that the keyboard should be under, but instead it's above it on that side. I was so frustrated by this that my inclination was to force it down, but I kept my composure and instead looked up the manual online for instructions on fixing it proper.
This is just the latest disappointment I've had with Dell. The absolute worst experience was two years ago when I was forced to buy a video card upgrade to support dual monitors on a computer I bought through the Dell website for work, only to find out that the card didn't support dual monitors at all. Repeated calls to Dell accomplished nothing but headaches, and they ultimately ripped me off by not providing a refund after I sent the useless video card back to them, at their request.
I've long planned to blog about that, and may someday in a separate post. It was truly sad, and I'll never feel the same about Dell again. I boycotted them for awhile, and I will still look to other brands before I shop Dell. The only reason I came back at all was that I like Dell products and their technical aspects, but their customer service is atrocious, I mean really despicable.
That brings me to why I don't just send my new laptop back to Dell, with all the problems I've been having, as my wife tells me I should do. To be honest, I'm truly afraid of what I may be subjected to by Dell support personnel. I think about the only thing that would really force me to deal with that is if I end up convinced I have a motherboard problem, or something I absolutely can't fix on my own, or without significant expense. I only hope that if I'm going to reach that point, that it comes before my 1 year warranty is expired.
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