I ran into a computer with Windows XP and I got the following error while trying to install a new Windows application:

Windows Installer
This installation package cannot be installed by the Windows Installer service. You must install a Windows service pack that contains a newer version of the Windows Installer service.

I did not have time to install all automatic updates or install the whole service pack, so I downloaded a Windows hotfix from here. The file is named WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe. I installed it and the program could be installed without problems.

I am building a Java Applet which needs to connect to foreign host to operate. I created it and it runs good on OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea6 1.8pre) installed on my Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Beta. But it does not run with Sun Java Runtime Environment 1.6.0_18 on Windows. I don’t know if it also does not work with Sun JRE in Linux. Also, as far as I know, OpenJDK/OpenJRE for Windows does not exist.

The applet shows somewhat this kind of when run in Windows under Sun JRE:

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java.security.AccessControlException: access denied (java.net.SocketPermission host connect,resolve)

and the page just stalls.

When I searched for help on the internet, I discovered that unsigned files do not run in Windows. So, I needed to sign it. The Certificate can cost at least a couple of hundred dollars for a month. If you are using it for commercial purposes, I advice you to buy a certificate. However, I just wanted my code to run in Windows and to do that I bundled the code inside a Jar file (I was just using the class file i.e. code=”Classname.class”. Now I need to use code=”Classname” archive=”JarName.jar” for applet in the HTML file.). So I am sharing what I did to make it run.

After building the Jar File (Netbeans IDE that I am using builds the Jar file automatically inside the dist sub-directory of the Project directory), I used the command

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keytool -genkey

and entered the details. You can choose your own password for keystore. You can either use the same password for key password or choose a different one. Now a keyfile named .keystote is created in the home directory. I need to certify the key. Since I have not purchased a security certificate, I needed to certify it myself using the following command:

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keytool -selfcert

. Now a key named mykey is created for me to use. This should only be done once.

Now, I changed my directory to the dist directory and executed the following command to sign a MyJarApplet.jar:

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jarsigner -storepass KeySorePassword -keypass KeyPassPassword MyJarApplet.jar mykey

Here KeyStorePassword is the password used while creating the keystore and KeyPassPassword is the password used in the key mykey.

Now, the applet asks for authentication instead of showing nothing at all in Windows too.

Hope this helps.

References:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lsiden/tutorials/signed-applet/signed-applet.html
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/tooldocs/solaris/jarsigner.html
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/tooldocs/solaris/keytool.html

Back in the days of 2005, I did not use Linux because it did not support my cheap PCTEL HSP56 Dial-up modem. Now, I do not use Windows Vista because it does not support my cheap Telson Electronics CDMA 1x USB Wireless Modem. Sorry for my poor choice of internet (both in 2005 and now) because I live in rural area of Nepal and we don’t have a choice.

I tried to install driver for my PCTEL HSP56 modem by compiling the driver and even recompiling the kernel but in vain. My modem had drivers included in the CD for Windows XP and below.

My CDMA USB had driver for Windows XP and Vista, but only for 32 bit versions. I had a Windows Vista 64bit installation and my modem failed to work because 64bit drivers were not provided. I tried to search online but in vain.

I booted up Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex 64bit, my alternate OS and half-heartedly tried wvdialconf. I had very less hope based on my previous experience with winmodems but to my surprise, the modem was detected. I configured it and dialed in, and voila, I was online.

In Windows world, if a hardware has a driver for one version of Windows does not mean it works with other versions too. But in the Linux world, if your hardware runs with one distro or version almost essentially means that will run on all other distros. This proved to be true as I could run my modem with OpenSuse, Fedora, Puppy and other versions of Ubuntu as well, both 32bit and 64bit and it should work with all other distros (well, if they have a kernel with cdc acm module for my hardware).

So, however, Linux hardware support was poor and it still is for so many devices, it should change in the future and hardware incompatibility will become a Windows-Only terminology.

Many engineering and computer science labs tend to have Turbo C++ IDE as the basic IDE. That is not appropriate for new standards of C\C++ and an alternative must be sought for it.

An IDE such as Dev-C++ would work great for school labs, because it needs no configuration and is easy to use. It can compile single .c\.cpp files (most other IDEs need you to create project files for every program you want to run) However, Dev-C++ is not an active project which means you do not get updates and you may end up like Turbo C++ in a few years.

Another option for Windows Based computers is to consider Relo + Borland Free Compiler. Find details here. This is probably the best for old Turbo C++ users because it supports traditional code too.

Also, you might consider Code::Blocks as an IDE which is full fledged IDE for C\C++ but it might be difficult at the beginning. If you create many small programs rather than a large project, then you will feel this one difficult to use. Also, it is slow and may not perform well on old computers. Code::Blocks is available for both Windows and Linux.

Geany is the best IDE of choice if you want a small lightweight IDE for Windows, Linux and Mac.
In Linux, it should be available at your software repository. Use the software management tool for your distro to install it. If it is not, you may download the source package from the official geany website www.geany.org and build from source.
If you want it for Windows, you can get it at the download page. Also look at Running On Windows.

Happy Coding.