Hijinks Inc.

Category: Microsoft

  • RPC Server Unavailable

    Recently my Uncle tried to update his new(ish) computer from Windows XP SP2 to Windows XP SP3, but he kept receiving the following error:

    RPC Server Unavailable
    Service Pack 3 installation did not complete

    If you happen to run into this error, the most likely cause is that you don’t have the EnableRSS subkey in your registry. Naturally the first step is verifying this.

    Click Start, click Run, type regedit, press Enter.

    Locate and then click the following registry key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

    If the EnableRSS registry entry does not exist, create it.
    – Click the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
    In the New Value #1 box, type EnableRSS, and then press ENTER.
    Right-click EnableRSS, and then click Modify.
    In the Value data box, type 0 (zero), and then click OK.

    Exit Registry Editor.

    Now retry the Service Pack 3 installtation.

  • The Death of XP

    Today is the final day Microsoft plans on selling Windows XP. Though retailers will likely continuing selling until they run out of stock.

    Still, XP will live on, at least for a little while in the UMPC/sub-notebook market.

    Can’t wait until they discontinue sales of Vista!

  • 149

    Back in November I wrote that I’d downgraded 17 Vista machines to XP, well I’m happy to report that roughly seven months later I’ve downgraded a total of 149 machines! 107 of them being laptops, and the remainder being desktops.

    I’ve also moved 14 computers from Vista to various distros of Linux.

    Further proof that Vista really is one of Microsofts biggest failings.

  • Vista SP1 RC1 Expiration

    For those of you who haven’t uninstalled Windows Vista SP1 RC1 yet, remember to uninstall it before it expires on June 30th. After June 30th, you’ll be greeted by a lovely END_OF_NT_EVALUATION_PERIOD error message an hour after the machine has booted.

  • OpenOffice 3.0 beta is live

    You can now download yourself a copy of the first beta release of OpenOffice 3.0 for Mac OS X. This is the first version to run natively on the Mac and not require X11.

    The download clocks in at 168MB and is for Intel Macs only.

    It should be noted that the OpenOffice 3.0 beta is also available for Linux, Solaris and Windows.

    [ Downloads for all operating systems can be found here ]