Monthly Archives: March 2011

Linked: ZipCleaner, Create Zip Files Without Any Mac-Specific “Extras” Inside

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Yesterday I stumbled across this neat app and great post on Switching To Mac.

One of the great features most modern operating systems offer, and Mac OS X is no exception, is the ability to create a zip archive out of most any document or folder from the Desktop.  Simply right-click the item you want to archive, and choose the Compress option from the contextual menu.

There is a problem, however, when Mac users create a zip archive in this manner, then share that archive with users of Windows or Linux.  The issue is that there are extra files Mac OS X uses, files that track custom icons and icon placement, that are hidden from Mac users.

Source

Install VMware Tools on Trixbox

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Recently I had to install VMware Tools on a Trixbox installation.

1. First, in the VMware console, run ‘install vmware tools’ in the menu
2. Mount the cd-rom drive in an empty folder:

cd /media
mkdir cdrom
mount /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom
cd /media/cdrom

3. Copy the .tar.gz file to somewhere such as /home & extract..

cp VMware-tools.xxxxxxxxx.tar.gz /home
tar xvfz VMware-tools.xxxxxxxxx.tar.gz
cd /home/vmware-tools-distrib

4. Run the installation:

./vmware-install.pl

Source

NoScript is awesome

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Probably the main reason I *still* use Firefox as my main browser is the plugin NoScript.

NoScript blocks all unwanted JavaScripts and Flash etc. With JavaScript turned off by default, my browsing is so much faster.

But what if you need JavaScript? Well, NoScript lets you permanently add domains to a white-list or temporarily add all scripts from a site.

I have added two buttons to my Firefox interface, this enables me to configure NoScript faster with fewer clicks.

 

Fix slow/sluggish mouse in VMware Fusion

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I have been experiencing that the mouse pointer in my VMware Fusion gets somewhat sluggish from time to time. It got slow for a second or two. Quite annoying.

It turns out that this is caused by VMware Fusion attempts to “optimize mouse for gaming”. Totally useless in my opinion..

Just disable this in the VMware Fusion preferences.

How to speed up the vSphere 4 Client

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Lately I’ve found that the my vSphere Client has been really slow.

It turned out that deleting the following 2 registry keys does the trick:

HKCU\Software\VMware\Virtual Infrastructure Client

HKCU\Software\VMware\VMware Infrastructure Client

Check out the original post here:

Apparently, all the prior versions and settings get retained during updates / upgrades and seem to cause significant delays due to components referenced that no longer exist.

Update 2011-04-21:

I also found this guide that shows you how to disable some Aero features that’s slowing down the client on Windows 7. Here is a link to the VMware KB.

This issue occurs when desktop composition is enabled.
To workaround this issue, disable desktop composition:
  1. Right-click the shortcut for the vSphere Client and click Properties.
  2. Click the Compatibility tab.
  3. Select Disable desktop composition.Note: This disables Aero desktop effects while the application is open.
  4. Click OK.
  5. Run the vSphere Client.