Index

INDEX

( Index of this Blog on this post - Maintained Regularly upon any update)
Blog last updated: 12th May, 2018

• General Tips
• Web Hosting Tips
• Windows Solutions & Tips

General Tips

1. Send WhatsApp messages to contacts without saving them
2. TO, CC, and BCC in email sending explained
3. Coming Soon

Web Hosting Tips

1. How To install OSPOS on CentOS 7 using Digital Ocean as hosting
2. Using phpMyAdmin for multiple hostnames or databases
3. Solving Port 80 application issues (Apache, wamp, xampp, or other services) in windows
4. Using "nginx" in Parallels Panel
5. WAMP Server error after installation (The PHP configuration loaded file is: - should be ... OR The mbstring extension is missing)
6. Using custom domain on blogger or blogspot blogs
7. Coming Soon

Windows Solutions & Tips

1. Solution for - Cannot initialize data bindings
2. Solution for - Component 'FM20.DLL' or one of its dependecies not correctly registered
3. Solution for - "Error 2098"
4. Solution for - Network connection has Limited or No Connectivity
5. Solution for - Red "X" on Network icon
6. Solution for - "run-time error '713' - Application-defined or object-defined error"
7. Solutions for - Windows Screen OR Desktop Rotated OR flipped
8. Solution to - Remove Windows 8 and Install Windows 7
9. Tip - Hiding a User Account from Windows Login Screen
10. Tip - Running command remotely OR registering dlls remotely
11. Coming Soon

How To install OSPOS on CentOS 7 using Digital Ocean as hosting

About this tutorial:
This tutorial shows installation of OSPOS - open source point of sale, which is a web based point of sale system. The installation is done on CentOS 7 (Linux) hosted on DigitalOcean.

What is OSPOS:
Open Source Point of Sale a point of sale application which is written in PHP with the CodeIgniter as its framework. At the backend it uses MySQL or MariaDB for data. The front end uses Bootstrap 3 for the user interface.

Open Source Point of Sale is a web based point of sale system. The main features are:

- Stock management (Items and Kits)
- VAT, customer and multi tiers taxation
- Sale register with transactions logging
- Quotation and invoicing
- Expenses logging
- Receipt and invoice printing and/or emailing
- Barcode generation and printing
- Suppliers and Customers database
- Multiuser with permission control
- Reporting on sales, orders, expenses, inventory status
- Receivings
- Giftcard
- Rewards
- Restaurant tables
- Messaging (SMS)
- Multilanguage
- Selectable Boostrap (Bootswatch) based UI theme
- Mailchimp integration
- reCAPTCHA to protect login page from brute force attacks

References and links used:

[to download OSPOS]:
https://github.com/opensourcepos/opensourcepos

[Used for hosting the server]:
https://www.digitalocean.com/

[Official site of this channel]
http://itworld.bannu.com.pk

You can post you queries in the comments and we will get back to you if you have any queries.

Send WhatsApp Messeges without saving the contact number

How to send WhatsApp messeges to a contact without saving the contact number in the contacts list?

Today we will discuss how one can send message to a WhatsApp number without saving the number in the contact list.

This method works in Phone as well as for web version of WhatsApp


Method
WhatsApp have its APIs which can even be designed to send pre-configured messages to a pre-configured WhatsApp number.

To know more about sending pre-configured messages and about the API CLICK HERE!


The API
below is the API link

• https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=923331234567

How I Use  It?

All you need to do is change the number in international format without 00 or + at the begining

1. What I do is I have saved my own mobile number in my contact list 
2. Where I have sent the same link to myself for the first time
3. For the second use, I copy and paste the link and change the number to the desired one, 
4. And send the new link to myself. E.g. https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=923331234567
5. Now the new link is clickable and I click on the link 
6. The screen to send message to the person I desire is opened.
7. Finally I type the message and send. 

So Easy.

Give it a try.

Using custom sub-domain on our blogger's blog

If you wish to link your blog on blogger to your own domain

For Example:
the blog: http://bannuciscoworld.blogspot.com
needs to be browsed when http://ciscoworld.bannu.com.pk is typed.

The steps or on two parts

first setting up in blog of blogspot.
second setup the dns of the domain.

blogspot setup steps

1. create the blog you want. (E.g. http://bannuciscoworld.blogspot.com)
2. Go to Settings
3. under Publishing
4. click  the link :      + Setup a 3rd party URL for your blog 
5. enter the subdomain like ciscoworld.bannu.com.pk

Second steps (in domain)

1. now go to dns management of the domain provider or the hosting provider.
2. find the setting to add CNAME into your domain
3. in the first place type the subdomain name: (E.g. ciscoworld)
4. in second place add the text as:  ghs.google.com

Thats all

wait for maximum 24 hours and now when you type http://ciscoworld.bannu.com.pk, it will be redirected to the blog on blogger.com

best of luck

wamp error - The PHP configuration loaded file is: - should be ... OR The mbstring extension is missing

If you are getting the below error after installing the wamp and browsing localhost

*** ERROR *** The PHP configuration loaded file is: - should be: C:/wamp/bin/apache/apache2.4.17/bin/php.ini or c:/wamp/bin/php/php5.6.15/phpforapache.ini

This means, you may also get an error when you load phpmyadmin as:

The mbstring extension is missing. Please check your PHP configuration.

The solution for this is:

1. Uninstall the wamp
2. reinstall the wamp by right clicking and selecting "Run As Administrator" 
3. start the wamp by right clicking and selecting "Run As Administrator"

Windows 7 shows red “X” on network icon

Windows 7 shows red “X” on network icon

This solution is for the red X when actually the network is working or connected perfectly. Just to remove the red X, continue reading below.

This often happens when you create incoming connections setup in the windows and while the red X is shown there the network is still connected.

The below solution helped me and I am sharing it here. This removed the red X from the network icon for me.

The procedure below will rewrite your hosts file. and flush the dns stuff.

Step 1:

Open Notepad

Step 2:

copy and paste the below

@Echo on
pushd\windows\system32\drivers\etc
attrib -h -s -r hosts
echo 127.0.0.1 localhost>HOSTS
attrib +r +h +s hosts
popd
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns
netsh winsock reset all
netsh int ip reset all
shutdown -r -t 1
del %0

Step 3:

Save as flush.bat to your desktop.

Step 4:
Right click on the flush.bat file to run it as Administrator

The computer will now restart itself and will remove the red X from the network icon.


The file you create above will automatically be deleted due to the line "del %0"

TO, CC, and BCC in email explained

What is the the Difference between CC and BCC fields in the email sending

Well the abbreviations of these are: 

• CC stands for Carbon Copy

And

• BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy

Now

Let me explain their usage through the example.

Suppose you are sending an email to some group of people and you entered emails like below

TO: advertisement@example.com
CC: yourBoss@example.com; YourManager@example.com
BCC: ClientA@example.com; ClientB@example.com; ClientC@example.com

Now when you send this, the below will be in effect.

1. To: These people can see all the email addresses in CC and BCC field including his own email addresses.
2. CC: These people can also see the email addresses in all the fields i.e. in TO, CC, and also in BCC.
3. BCC: These people can see the email addresses in TO and CC field, but they CANNOT see each others email addresses. i.e. ClientA@example.com do not know that the email is also sent to ClientB@example.com and ClientC@example.com, also ClientB do not know about ClientA and ClientC, and likewise ClientC do not know about ClientA and ClientB.

Remove Windows 8 and Install Windows 7

Remove Windows 8 and Install Windows 7

If you are not able to boot from a media to install windows 7 on the hardware you purchased with Windows 8, here is a simple way.

You should arrange Windows 7 driver for your hardware before going for it, else you will be stuck with a nearly useless machine after Windows 7.


Both steps to be performed in Bios.

Step 1:
Disable Secure Boot

Step 2:
Enable Legacy Boot.

Now you will be able to select your USB or DVD etc to boot from.

How to do it in bios is different with every manufacturer. So I can't mention steps here, however you should yourself search in Bios Settings.

Some of the names of Bios Settings may appear as:

• Bios
• Setup
• System Configuration
• Settings

This will be at the time of boot and require pressing Key like F9 or F10 etc. to enter to the settings.

Worked for me.

Best of Luck.

Windows Screen / Desktop Rotated / flipped

Windows Screen or Desktop Rotation fix

Is your windows screen rotated or flipped to one side or to upside down,

The solution is:
Hold Ctrl + Alt + UP key

Problem Fixed.

"nginx" in Parallels Panel

Enabling NGINX in Parallels Panel

If you are trying to activate NGINX in Parallels panel, you might come at the scenario that it can't be enabled, and may say that teh service is not installed.

Well here is what you have to do.

Log in to the server through ssh, and run the following two commands.

cd /usr/local/psa/admin/bin/
./autoinstaller --select-release-current --install-component nginx

Then go to Server-> Services Management in the Prallels Panel,  and you can now start the nginx.

Note: Mannuall installation of nginx must be removed before using the above commands.

Hiding a User account from Windows login screen

Hiding a User account from Windows Login Screen

For a client, I usually activate administrator account, assign password, and hide it from the login screen. If client knows computers, and asks for it, Yes I tell the password, and do not hide it.

But if the client is not well aware of administrator account, I do not tell them.

Lets come to the point.

To hide any account,

1. In Windows 7 type in start, and in Windows XP, type in Run :  regedit.exe and press enter (a registry editor will be opened).
2. goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
3. In the left panel, right click on Winlogon and click New and click Key.
4. Type SpecialAccounts and press Enter (Case Sensitive).
5. In the left panel, right click on SpecialAccounts and click New and click Key.
6. Type UserList and press Enter (Case Sensitive).
7. In right panel of UserList, right click on a empty area and click New then click DWORD (32bit) Value.
8. Type in the name of the user account that you want to hide and press Enter. E.g.: Administrator.
9. In the right panel, right click on the user account name and click Modify.
10. To hide the user account – Type 0 (zero) and click OK. (number zero not the letter)
11. Whenever you want to un-hide the account just change the value to 1 instead of  0 (zero).

Once this is done in the registry, you can import the hiding of a specific user account (E.g. Administrator Account) to other computers.

To do this, right click on the SpecialAccounts keycreated in step 3-4 and click Export a window appears, select the location where you want to save the file, type the name for the file and click save.

in the next computer just double click the file, and click Yes and Ok options when they appear.

the file looks like below when edited in a notepad or any text editor software.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList]
"Administrator"=dword:00000000

If you save the above text in a file with extension .reg and use it on any computer, it will hide Administrator account.

Network connection has Limited or No Connectivity - Solution

Solutions for Network / Connection has Limited or No Connectivity

If your network is having yellow icon and saying "This connection has limited or no connectivity" and it is driving you crazy, Here are some solutions which you should also try:

1. Restart your computer.
2. Restart your router.
3. Restart both (computer and router).
4. Change the network cable.
5. UNPLUG both computer and router, and replug it and switch on.

Most hopefully this will solve the problem.

Solving Port 80 application issues (Apache, wamp, xampp, or other services) in windows

Wamp Server not Starting
Xampp Server not Starting
Apache not Starting

Below I will share some tips for solving the problems of starting application above or other applications which are using port 80.

some times you get trouble in starting any application which uses port 80.

This is usually due to the reason that some other services are running on the same port.

you may try below solutions.

Stopping IIS

Mostly the cause for such thing is that IIS is running. You may stop IIS by opening IIS itself or by issuing  the following command in the command prompt.

iisreset /stop

you may also find other commands from the web. see links below.

SQL Server Reporting Services

This also is the cause of such problems often, so in windows 7, you  can stop this by typing services.msc in the start menu and pressing enter. Then look for the service SQL Server Reporting Services, double click it, and click stop.

Or shortly use one of the following command in the command Prompt.
(to open command prompt: type cmd in Run in Windows XP or in Start Menu in Windows 7)

net stop ReportServer$SQLEXPRESS

OR

sc stop ReportServer$SQLEXPRESS

Other solutions

Sometimes the above two solutions are not beneficial, so you can use the a command to see what is being run on the port 80. Type the following command in command prompt.

netstat -oa

This command will list down all the connections and listening ports, and also display the owning Process IDs associated with each connection.

now you can go to task manager by right clicking the Task Bar (The bar on which the start button is there) and select Start Task Manager. Go to Processes Tab. Go to View menu click Select Columns and make the option PID (Process Identifier) checked and click ok. This will now list the processes with PIDs compare the PID from the above command's output, and you can identify the program using port 80 or can END the process from this places which is running the port 80.

other useful links and sources for more info:

1. http://www.sitepoint.com/unblock-port-80-on-windows-run-apache/
2. http://www.sitepoint.com/run-apache-iis-same-pc-2/

error 2098 solution

Solution for "Error 2098"

So you are getting error 2098 while installing MS Office or other software?

Here's the solution.

If you have installed dot Net Framework, update it to the new version

OR
re-run the installation and select "repair" option if it is there.

and the problem will be solved.

Cannot initialize data bindings - SOLUTION

You are getting error
Cannot initialize data bindings

Here is the solution.

make sure msstdfmt.dll is available in system32 folder. if not get it from the files of the application you are using and copy it there.

and go to command prompt and register the dll by type: 
regsvr32.exe msstdfmt.dll

Note: You may select Run as administrator while running command prompt.

Component 'FM20.DLL' or one of its dependecies not correctly registered - SOLUTION

You are getting error
Component 'FM20.DLL' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid

Here is the solution.

Just Install the .net framework.

If you have installed it, update it to the new version

or re-run the installation and select "repair" option if it is there.

and the problem will be solved.

Using phpMyAdmin for multiple hostnames or databases

I was looking into it and tried to copy paste the below lines in config.inc.php in the phpmyadmin root folder again and again till the number of hosts i wanted to access through PHPMyAdmin. And HURRRAH, it worked.

I Just changed the value of $cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] to the different host-names in each copy (you can also change the comments for your reference).

/*
 * First server
 */
$i++;
/* Authentication type */
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'cookie';
/* Server parameters */
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] = 'localhost';  // change this to your host name of DB
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['connect_type'] = 'tcp';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['compress'] = false;
/* Select mysql if your server does not have mysqli */
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['extension'] = 'mysqli';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowNoPassword'] = false;

Running command remotely / registering dlls remotely

To remotely register a dll or to execute any command, you can use the psexec utility which is freely available on the microsoft website at below link.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897553.aspx

Extract the downloaded file and run the below command from command line.



psexec \\counter-9-pc,counter-8-pc -u administrator regsvr32.exe /s c:\windows\system32\MSDBRPTR.DLL

you can use only one computer or multiple the above is using two computers
the below example is for one computer.

psexec \\counter-9-pc -u administrator regsvr32.exe /s c:\windows\system32\MSDBRPTR.DLL


I already copied the dll file to the target machine. you must do it too.

Also you can run the command on mulitple computers by listing the names of the computer in a file and referring the file as:
psexec @computer.txt -u administrator regsvr32.exe /s c:\windows\system32\MSDBRPTR.DLL

Solution for "run-time error '713' - Application-defined or object-defined error"

Getting error as "

"run-time error '713' - Application-defined or object-defined error"


Solution:

find the file "MSDBRPTR.DLL" with your application, copy it to windows\system32 folder and register it.

go to start type cmd,  right click it and select run as administrator,

type
  regsvr32.exe c:\windows\system32\MSDBRPTR.DLL


restart the application.