Many applications uses Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 as development platform, and thus requires .NET Framework to be installed beforehand, else the installation will request to download and install .NET Framework from Internet. On offline system without Internet access or online server with slow downloading speed, the requirement to download setup files through web may hit the wall – a no go.

Microsoft initially just provides a minimal size dotnetfx35setup.exe download which is a bootstrapper that will still need to download more files via Internet. For users who prefer to perform offline installation or install .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 without waiting for download to complete will have to download and save a copy of full complete standalone or redistributable Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 setup installer, which is finally published by Microsoft.

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (Service Pack 1) is a full cumulative update that contains many new features building incrementally upon .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, and includes cumulative servicing updates to the .NET Framework 2.0 and .NET Framework 3.0 subcomponents. See KB951847 for list of changes and fixed issues in the .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1.

Download full package of Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1: dotnetfx35.exe (231 MB)

For known issues and release notes, refer to Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Readme.

Source: Mydigitallife.info

Whenever user uses “Remote Desktop Connection (RDC)” or Terminal Services client (TSC or mstsc) to remote desktop to a Windows Server family operating system such as Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, a new session is started and user will log on to a new desktop. The behavior is unlike Windows XP and Windows Vista Terminal Services which always allows remote desktop to access to console session (the same desktop in which user will see when standing in front of the monitor).

For user who need to connect and access console session with Remote Desktop can use a switch when running Remote Desktop Connection Terminal Services client (mstsc) in order to force Remote Desktop to connect to console session of remote server.

To connect to console session of Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008, run the RDC or TSC with the following switch: /console. For example, for all remote desktop client except the one in Windows Vista:

mstsc /console

For Windows Vista remote desktop client, use /admin switch instead:

mstsc /admin

By logging in to console session of remote computer, all existing applications that are running and not yet closed when user is physically using the computer will be automatically appeared, instead of having users re-open all of them.

Source: Mydigitallife.info

WinAudit v2.27 is a freeware that lets users perform detailed scanning on your PC system with a summary compilation in case there is a need for your IT admin to examine your whole PC system in terms of hardware and software configuration. The software utility will summarize all the various aspect of your PC system ranging from installed software, hardware peripherals, Network TCP/IP, Running Programs, Services, memory usage and many more.


It may sound exhaustive to have all these data scanned and displayed but surprisingly, it took less than 2 minutes for me to complete the ‘auditing’ on my whole PC system. WinAudit is very easy to use with no special quick start guide required. Without any installation, users can just download the .exe file and execute it directly on the system. Also it can be stored in USB thumb drive to be used to ‘audit’ other PC system as well. Once completed, it will be displayed in a comprehensive web-page format, PDF, spreadsheet, word and etc that allows users to either save it, get it printed or emailed to IT personnel for further examination.

The freeware is compatible with Windows 95, NT, XP and even Vista. Users can download it at WinAudit to explore more on this powerful tool.

Source: mydigitallife.info

Occasionally you may encounter a situation whereby your desktop icons and toolbar are missing after rebooting your PC system? It could be due to various reasons but don’t be panic as there are few solutions that you can get them fixed as listed below.

1) Delete “explorer.exe” in registry
i) Click Start -> Run, then type regedit and click OK
ii) Locate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionImage File Execution Options]
iii) If there is “exporer.exe” subkey under Image File Execution Options, then right click and choose Delete to delete this subkey.
iv) Restart your PC.

2) Restore missing “USERINIT” registry value
i) Copy below string and paste into notepad

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon]
“Userinit”=”C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\userinit.exe,”

ii) If your Windows is not installed under C drive, then change C: to your windows drive letter.
iii) Save the file as userinit.reg.
iv) Double click to run the registry file as save at step iii) to restore “USERINIT” value in registry.
v) Restart your PC

3) Restore missing “explorer.exe” in registry
i) Copy below string and save into notepad:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon]
“Shell”=”explorer.exe”

ii) Save it as RestoreExplorer.reg
iii) Double click to run the registry file to restore “explorer.exe” in registry.
iv) Restart your PC

4) Missing Explorer.exe in C:Windows
i) Check if explorer.exe is missing from C:Windows (If windows is installed in other drive, change C: to your windows drive letter)
ii) If confirm is missing, then click Start -> Run, then type sfc /scannow to run System File Checker utility.
iii) Once running is completed, check if explorer.exe is restored under C:Windows
iv) If it is not restored, then insert Windows installer into CD-ROM and restart your PC.
v) At setup screen, choose “Repair or Recover” by pressing “R”.
vi) At the command prompt, enter below string:

expand D:i386 /F:EXPLORER.EX_ C:WINDOWSexplorer.exe /y

D: is CD drive letter and C: is Windows drive letter. Change it if your CD and Windows drive is not at this letter.

vii) Type exit to exit Recovery Console.

Source: mydigitallife.info

Sometimes you may wonder what is inside a clipboard before you decide to overwrite it with something else or start pasting it into document. Instead of viewing the content by opening up notepad or word document and paste it, there is a quick way that enables you to know the clipboard content with just a simple click.

To display the clipboard content, user can do it by running clipbrd.exe and it will show you the clipboard content once it is launched. Clipbrd.exe comes together with Windows XP and it is located under C:WINDOWSsystem32. In order to access this utility in faster way, you can create a shortcut and put it in your desktop. Follow below steps to create the shortcut for this utility:1) Right click on the empty area on desktop, then select New->Shortcut.

2) The ‘Create Shortcut window’ will pop up, type: %windir%System32clipbrd.exe and click Next button.

3) Type a name for this shortcut as you like, for example: Clipbrd.exe then click Finish button to create the shortcut on your desktop.

To view the content of your clipboard, just double click this shortcut and it will display the clipboard content immediately. For windows Vista, this utility is not part of windows Vista package. To enable this feature, you can copy clipbrd.exe from windows XP into C:WindowsSystem32 in Vista, then create a shortcut on desktop to access it directly.

From: http://www.mydigitallife.info