Performance Comparison

The Transaction Processing Performance Council is an independent organization that specifies the typical transactions (transactions used in inventory control systems, airline reservation systems and banking systems) and some general rules these transactions should satisfy. The TPC produces benchmarks that measure transaction processing and database performance in terms of how many transactions a given system and database can perform per unit of time, e.g., transactions per second or transactions per minute.

As of June 2006, SQL Server 2000 holds the third position in the OLTP Test in price by performance results and Microsoft SQL Server 2005×64 holds the first place. However MySQL does not participate in these tests, so it is difficult to make a head on comparison using TPC benchmarks.

In some benchmarks, MySQL has proven to be faster in its basic table format, MyISAM. MyISAM databases are very compact on disk and place little demand on CPU cycles and memory. MySQL can run on Windows without complaint but performs better on UNIX and UNIX-like systems. Additional performance gains can be had by using MySQL on a 64-bit processor, because MySQL uses an abundance of 64-bit integers internally. Much of the very busy Yahoo! Finance portal and Slashdot use MySQL as a back-end database.

It’s worth noting that both systems will work well within either .NET or J2EE architecture. Similarly, both will benefit from RAID, and both will perform best if the data store is on a hard drive or array that is solely dedicated to that purpose.

Given the lack of a standard benchmark upon which to compare the two databases, it’s not possible to conclusively rule on which database has the upper hand in performance.

Features Comparison

Regardless of other differences, the SQL Server 2000 and MySQL have a widely different feature set.

SQL Server 2000 and MySQL v5.0 limits

Although many of the limits placed by the database are for the purists, some are important for everyone to take note.

Some of these built-in limitations may be crucial for database design. Varchar size especially can be problematic, as often stored data such as comments or articles may be forced into BLOBs or TEXT columns. Total row size is also important for this reason.

Data Storage

SQL Server with its closed, proprietary storage engine is fundamentally different from MySQL extensible, open storage engine. Its Sybase-derived database engine boasts of an adaptive algorithm that does most of the tuning that earlier needed to done manually. While SQL Server 2000 chooses the strategy of a single engine doing all the work, MySQL supports pluggable storage engines that can be chosen depending upon the facilities needed.

MySQL’s strategy is useful for various types of database use: quick read access to data without the need for transactional overhead is provided by the built in MyISAM engine, whereas InnoDB, a third party database engine owned by Oracle and licensed under the GPL is most often used for transactions and other features at the cost of some read performance. The MEMORY storage engine creates tables with contents that are stored in memory, and is useful for embedded database applications. NDB Cluster is the storage engine used by MySQL Cluster to implement tables that are partitioned over many computers.

The FEDERATED storage engine stores data in a remote database. In its current release, it works with MySQL only but its future releases will be able to connect to other data sources using other driver or client connection methods.

InnoDB engine has the most advanced database feature set. The disadvantage to MySQL’s pluggable database engine scheme is that care must be given when selecting the engine to use when designing the database before use.

MySQL database engine feature comparison

Database Features

One of the critical features of any database engine is data integrity. ACID (Atomic, Consistent, Isolated, and Durable) compliance is a qualification that assures data integrity. ACID essentially means that when a transaction is performed within a database, either the whole transaction is successful and the information is written to the database, or nothing is written. Both SQL Server 2000 and MySQL supports ACID-compliant transaction functionality. SQL Server locks are dynamically applied at various levels of granularity, in order to select the least restrictive lock required for the transaction.

InnoDB provides MySQL with a transaction-safe (ACID compliant) storage engine with commit, rollback, and crash recovery capabilities. InnoDB does locking on the row level and also provides an Oracle-style consistent non-locking read in SELECT statements. These features increase multi-user concurrency and performance. In SQL queries you can freely mix InnoDB type tables with other table types of MySQL, even within the same query.

With the new release of MySQL 5.0, it has now incorporated several features that were missing earlier, and thus some of the reasons that caused you to choose SQL Server 2000 are no longer valid, for example, the need of Views, Cursors and Procedures. One thing now lacking is the full support for triggers. Another thing in which MySQL lags behind is XML support, and with the release of Yukon, this is going to look like a big gap in functionality.

Database Warehousing

The data warehouses or data marts can be used for sophisticated enterprise intelligence systems that process queries required to discover trends and analyze critical factors. These systems are called online analytical processing (OLAP) systems. The data in data warehouses and data marts is organized differently than in traditional transaction processing databases.

While SQL Server 2000 provides a lot of tools for creating and managing data warehouses, MySQL does not have any significant support for it. Data Transformation Services (DTS) provides a set of services used to build a data warehouse or data mart. Analysis Services is an excellent tool for multidimensional analysis of data in SQL Server 2000 databases. Analysis Services supports multidimensional queries against cubes with hundreds of millions of dimensions and you can even control cube security down to the level of cells and members. Data mining allows you to define models containing grouping and predictive rules that can be applied to data in either a relational database or multi-dimensional OLAP cubes. These predictive models are then used to automatically perform sophisticated analysis of the data to find trends.

Application Development

SQL Server 2000 and MySQL both support ODBC and JDBC for network connectivity, as well as native database access methods. These native methods provide access via the network in both plain text methods and, for a higher level of security, SSL-encrypted methods.

Another important part of database interface methods is authentication for the database. MySQL uses a simple method to store all of its authentication information inside a table. When users attempt to access a database, MySQL compares their credentials against this database, verifying from which machines the users can connect and to what resources they have access. SQL Server 2000 also has integrated Windows authentication.

A number of programming methods also provide ways to access these databases. Both SQL Server 2000 and MySQL support access via C/C++ , Java, Perl, Python, and PHP. One thing that differentiates SQL Server 2000 is its XML capabilities. Using SQLXML package with SQL Server 2000, it is possible to query relational data using XQuery and even expose stored procedures as web services.

Installation

Hardware and Software Requirements

Installation of Microsoft SQL Server requires a Windows operating system. So, if you need to run the database on a Linux box, the comparison is clearly in favor of MySQL. MySQL has been ported to all major operating systems and can be ported to any os that has a C++ compiler and a working implementation of POSIX threads. Using GNU autoconf, MySQL happily compiles on various flavors of UNIX, Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

Hardware cost is not as much of an issue as it once was, with RAM and hard disk space costs being low. But for the hardware conscious, SQL server can look like a hog compared to MySQL. While SQL server requires a minimum of 128 MB of RAM for reasonable performance, MySQL can easily run on a Linux with as little as 32 MB of RAM, this is likely that is the reason that the MySQL installation manual doesn’t bother specifying hardware requirements.

Although it is not too difficult to compile the MySQL source code, a ready installer is always welcome to get you up and running quickly. With the release of MySQL 4.1.5, MySQL AB has introduced an installer for the Windows version of MySQL, combined with a new GUI Configuration Wizard. This combination automatically installs MySQL, creates an option file, starts the server, and secures the default user accounts.

Installation

Microsoft products have always been known for the painless and quick installation through intuitive wizards. MySQL, despite being an open source product is no less, and you can expect the same kind of breezy installation. The installer will even create a Windows service for the MySQL database.

Administration and Maintenance

MySQL provides two types of backup, one where the database dump is taken and another where it emits all the SQL statements required to create the database. SQL Server 2000 only provides the first option. When it comes to hot backups, or backing up your database without shutting it down, both database solutions have methods for doing so. MySQL supports incremental backup strategy for minimizing the amount of time taken if an existing database backup is present.

SQL Server 2000 failover clustering provides high availability support. For example, during an operating system failure or a planned upgrade, you can configure one failover cluster to fail over to any other node in the failover cluster configuration. In this way, you minimize system downtime, thus providing high server availability. But for this, you will need to buy the Enterprise version. MySQL also provides clustering through its NDB database engine, but it is slightly difficult to configure.

MySQL supports one-way replication. One server acts as the master, while one or more other servers act as slaves. The master server writes updates to its binary log files and the slave servers periodically connect to get updates. SQL Server 2000 offers far more facilities for replication. It offers three choices – Snapshot, Transactional and Merge. While the transactional facility is similar to the MySQL master slave replication, Snapshot is useful where data has changed a lot and so the entire snapshot is sent to the slave. Using Merge replication, two SQL servers can send updates to each other and are a perfect choice for geographically separated SQL servers.

Both products have perfectly acceptable default security mechanisms, as long as you follow the manufacturer’s directions and keep up with your security patches. Both products operate over well-known default IP ports, and, unfortunately, those ports draw intruders like flies to honey. Fortunately, both SQL Server and MySQL allow you to change that port should the default become too popular a destination for your taste.

Stability is one area where MySQL, in its MyISAM configuration, falls a little short. With MyISAM, a UPS is absolutely mandatory because MyISAM assumes uninterrupted operation. If it is shut down unexpectedly, the result could be corruption of the entire data. SQL Server, on the other hand, is far more resistant to data corruption. SQL Server’s data goes through multiple checkpoints and SQL Server remembers where it was in the process even if it happens to be shut down without warning.

Price

When it comes to licensing costs, MySQL definitely has an edge as it is free and open source software licensed under the GPL. With SQL Server, the most popular way to get a free developer license is to purchase a license for Microsoft Office Developer or Microsoft Visual Studio, both of which give you a free “development use only” SQL Server license.

SQL Server 2000 is currently available under two licensing options:

• Processor license
• Server/per-seat client access license (CAL)

The processor license requires a single license for each CPU in the computer running SQL Server 2000 and includes unlimited client access. You can buy this license when you do not know the number of the clients (for example, if your users will connect to SQL Server 2000 through the internet). This license usually is cheaper than Server/Per-Seat CAL when there are many users connected to SQL Server databases.

The Server/per-seat client access license (CAL) requires a license for the server and the licenses for each client device. You can use this licensing option when the customers do not need access beyond the firewall and the number of clients is low (for example, 10-20 users for SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition or 30-40 users for SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition).

Lately, Microsoft Database Engine (MSDE) which is actually a scaled down version of SQL Server has been made available as a free download. It is a very attractive choice if you need an embedded database for your windows applications, but is not recommended for use as a server in production environments.

The MySQL version 5.0 is Dual Licensed. Users can choose to use the MySQL software as an Open Source/Free Software product under the terms of the GNU General Public License or can purchase a standard commercial license from MySQL AB.

The GPL license grants the user a right to use the database at no cost with the condition that any changes made to the source code of the database would have to be made available under GPL. Since most of the applications simply use the database, it is usually a zero-cost alternative.

The MySQL v5.0 Server commercial license is per database server (single installed MySQL binary). The price comparisons below were based on the MySQL Licensing Prices from MySQL AB.

Overall, MySQL has the edge in price as it is free, and performance can’t be conclusively shown to be any worse than MS SQL—it is also used extensively for high profile web applications such as various Yahoo properties and Google’s Adwords. Certain advanced features are not bundled with MySQL, but for basic simple development without licensing cost, MySQL can be seen to have the edge.

MS SQL 2000 and now 2005, are geared towards Microsoft style development on Windows Servers. Installation and configuration may be easier in MS SQL, with advanced database features present by default. MS SQL also implements features not found in any MySQL database engine, and is not overly high in license costs compared to some high end databases. For certain mid-level uses on Windows Servers, MS SQL probably wins out.

Both databases have a wide traction in the market, but being an open source project, MySQL community is somewhat more open and free, and being completely free, MySQL likely has a broader base of support.

This article explains the difference between the Classic ASP and ASP.Net and also focuses on the new features in ASP.NET. Let’s discuss the differences between these two in detail:

Process Isolation

ASP is running under the inetinfo.exe (IIS) process space and hence susceptible to application crashes due to that the IIS needs to be stopped or restarted. ASP is related to the process isolation setting in IIS. Where as, ASP.Net process is separate from inetinfo.exe (IIS process). Though the entry point into a ASP.Net application is still IIS but it is not related to the IIS process isolation settings.

Non-MS Platform Support

Classical ASP has no mechanism of running itself on non- Microsoft technology platforms like the “The Apache Web Server” (there are some third party products, like ChiliSoft) but, ASP.NET could be run on non- Microsoft Platforms also. Cassini is a sample Web server produced by Microsoft which, among other projects, has been used to host ASP.NET with Apache.

Multi Language Support in WebPage

Only VBScript and Javascript were available for scripting in ASP where as, in ASP.NET there are no such restrictions. The .NET compliant language can be used with ASP.NET including several like C# and VB.NET, where both of them are server-sided languages.

Interpretation Vs Compilation

In ASP, an interpreter like Jscript or VBScript is used to execute the server-side code. When an ASP page is requested, the text of that page is parsed linearly. The content that is not server-side script is passed back as it is to the response. Where as, the server-side script in the page is executed through the appropriate interpreter, and the output is then submitted back to the response. The efficiency of page rendering is affected by this architecture in several ways. Firstly, on the go interpreting of the server-side script. A common optimization for the ASP applications for this side affect is to move a mass of server-side script into precompiled COM components to improve the response time. Secondly, the intermingling server-side evaluation blocks with static HTML is another efficiency concern. It is less efficient than the evaluating a single server-side blocks because the interpreter has to be invoked time and again.

As a rescue, many ASP developers resort to large blocks of server-side script for replacing static HTML elements with Response.Write() invocations instead. Eventually, this ASP model permits the inclusion of different blocks of scripts within a page to be written in different script languages. This may appeal in some ways but it also reduces performance by requiring that a particular page load both scripting engines to process a request that consumes more time and memory if compared to just using one language.

But in ASP.NET, the pages are always compiled into .Net classes housed within assemblies. This class includes both the server-side code and static HTML, so when the page is accessed for the first time, subsequent rendering of that page is serviced by executing the compiled code. All the inefficiencies of the scripting model of traditional ASP are eliminated by this. No longer had any performance difference between compiled components and server-side code embedded within a page observed. Both of them are compiled assemblies now. Also, no performance difference between interspersing server-side code blocks among static HTML elements and writing large blocks of server side code and using Response.Write() for static HTML content. The .aspx file is parsed into a single code file and compiled, its not possible to use multiple

This eliminates all the inefficiencies of the scripting model of traditional ASP. There is no longer any performance difference between compiled components and server-side code embedded within a page they are now both compiled components. There is also no performance difference between interspersing server-side code blocks among static HTML elements, and writing large blocks of server-side code and using Response.Write() for static HTML content. Also, because the .aspx file is parsed into a single code file and compiled, it is not possible to use multiple server-side languages within a single .aspx file.

Debugging benefits

In classic ASP, debugging is a tough task because of limited support due to the interpreted model. In contrast, not only ASP.NET improves the performance over the interpreted model but also provides debugging tools for component developers and pages compiled into classes. The page errors are generated as compiled errors and there is a fir chance that most of them will be discovered at the compilation time instead of runtime due to the fact that VB.Net and C# are strongly typed languages. In addition to this, the tools available to the Windows Forms .Net developer are applicable to the ASP.NET developer.

Server-Side code placement Web Page

In ASP pages you might include the executable code outside the scope of a function within a script block marked as “runat=server” and you may also define a function within a pair of server side script tags. Where as in ASP.Net the former is no longer supported and the latter is also not possible.

A default constructor is provided by the generated class definition, and it would be a compiler error if you try to write a default constructor. For this, you can choose the alternative method of separating the layout from the page logic which consequently gives you a complete control over the class definition. This method is called code-behind.

Deployment Strategies

The components used by pages and deployed in this manner were difficult to update or replace in the Classic ASP. You are required to shutdown the IIS because of the fact that while the application was functioning, it referred to the component file for replacement. So, after taking your web server temporarily offline, you had to replace the file and then restart IIS. But, in ASP.NET it aimed to get rid of the need to stop the functioning Web application whenever the components needed to be updated or replaced.

To attain this, the designers of ASP.NET had to ensure two things: first, that the running application not hold a reference to the component file and second, that whenever the component file was replaced with a new version, that new version was picked up with any subsequent requests made to the application. Both of these goals are achieved by using the shadow copy mechanism provided by the Common Language Runtime (CLR).

New Page Directives

In ASP, the directives are required to be placed on the first line of a page within the same delimiting block. For instance:

<%LANGUAGE=”VBSCRIPT” CODEPAGE=”932″%>

While ASP.NET required you to place the Language directive with a Page directive, as follows:

<%@Page Language=”VB” CodePage=”932″%> <%@QutputCache Duration=”60″ VaryByParam=”none” %>

It could be more than one directive lines, which depends on your need. The standard practice is to place the directives in the beginning of the file but you can place it anywhere in your .aspx file.

Threading Issues

The threading model of COM object created using VB within a web-based application is STA (Single Threaded Apartment). ASP worker thread resides in its own STA and hence the compatibility is fine in this case with a little performance hit.

But in ASP.NET, threading model is the Multiple Threaded Apartment (MTA). This means that components that you are using were created for the Single Threaded Apartment (STA) will no longer perform or function reliably without taking some extra precautions in ASP.NET. This includes, but is not limited to, all COM components that have been created using Visual Basic 6.0 and earlier versions. You will be glad to hear that you can still use these STA components without having to change any code. What you need to do is include the compatibility attribute aspcompat=true in a <%@Page> tag on the ASP.NET page. For example, <%@Page aspcompat=true Language=VB%>. Using this attribute will force your page to execute in STA mode, thus ensuring your component will continue to function correctly. If you attempt to use an STA component without specifying this tag, the run time will throw an exception. Setting this attribute to true will also allow your page to call COM+ 1.0 components that require access to the unmanaged ASP built-in objects. These are accessible via the ObjectContext object. If you set this tag to true, your performance will degrade slightly.

Validation & Browser scripting capabilities

• There is no inbuilt facility for the validation of controls in the Classic ASP. For example, checking whether a textbox is left blank, or a combo is selected or not, or if a phone number does not fit a particular pattern for area etc.
• These kinds of validations required the user to write the client side Javascript code.
• It was not less than a headache for the developer to cater the client and server side validations.
• What added to the burden on the developer was the Javascript code to fit a particular Browser. Specific code had to be written to fit a set of browsers and it consumed a lot of time.

But in ASP.NET, In built validation controls are provided which are easy to implement and the developer has to worry the least.

The features provided by ASP.NET validation controls:

• Browser Independent coding: Developer does not have to worry about the browser and how controls would render to.
• Client-Side or Server-Side: The Validation Controls manage the code checking if the client side code is disabled the validation is done on the server side.

Rich Validation set

There are few types of validation which cater to the needs of the validation requirements:

• RequiredFieldValidation Control – Requires that the control not be left blank.
• CompareValidator Control – Used to compare Data in Two Controls
• RangeValidator Control – Used to check for Range validation (also supports various data Types – Date, string etc…)
• RegularExpressionValidator Control – Used to check the complicated patterns in the user input.
• CustomValidator Control – The final control we have included in ASP.NET is one that adds great flexibility to our validation abilities. We have a custom validator where we get to write out own functions and pass the control value to this function.

This control also provides Client side and server side validation of which the Server side validation could be a different function altogether.

Validation Summary

The validation summary control will collect all the error messages of all the non-valid controls and put them in a tidy list. The list can be either shown on the web page (as shown in the example above) or with a popup box.

Conclusion

Classic ASP goes a long way toward simplifying Web programming. It is demanding when it comes to writing a new DDL from the very beginning as compared with the easier task to write some HTML and mingle it with a script. But then Classic ASP is not fee of issues. The ASP pages are mass of unstructured code. It can be compared to the early days of BASIC programming, where achieving a task quickly was possible but the resultant code was often hard to follow. The object model of ASP has multiple inherent or global objects. For instance, for the generation of the content of an HTTP request, script code is written and the content is send to the client using the intrinsic Response object. In the guaranteed situations where only one client is involved in talking to your Web application, this isn’t much of a problem. But not many web applications guarantee this. And the reason for this is the way ASP is organized by these intrinsic objects.

ASP.Net improves the classic ASP. The same intrinsic objects still remain in ASP.Net and the scripting can be added anywhere on the page per you requirement. In fact, ASP.NET easily manages and runs most of the ASP pages with .aspx extension.

ASP.Net introduces a lot of new features. Like all the components within .Net, ASP.Net pages too are compiled into the assemblies, which give a performance and security edge. Further, it supports the usage of any .Net language. This means there is no restriction over the use of JavaScript or VB Script on your Web pages. Now, you have an option to use more structured languages.

ASP.Net opens up a whole new programming model with the blend and combination of Web forms, server-side controls, data binding, and Web services.

Even if my business is very small, with just two – three employees, and our product really can’t be sold online, do I really need a website?

This is one of the most important and most frequently asked questions of the digital business age. Before I answer, however, let’s flash back to the very first time I was asked this question. It was circa 1998, during the toddler years of the internet.

Back in 1998, which was decades ago in internet years, the future of e-commerce was anybody’s guess, but even the most negative futurists agreed that all the signs indicated that a large portion of future business revenues would be derived from online transactions or from offline transactions that were the result of online marketing efforts.

So should your business have a website, even if your business is small and sells products or services you don’t think can be sold online? My answer in 1998 is the same as my answer today: Yes, if you have a business, you should have a website. Period. No question. Without a doubt.

Also, don’t be so quick to dismiss your product as one that can’t be sold online. Nowadays, there’s very little that can’t be sold over the internet. More than 20 million shoppers are now online, purchasing everything from books to computers to cars to real estate to jet airplanes to natural gas to you name it. If you can imagine it, someone will figure out how to sell it online.

Let me clarify one point: I’m not saying you should put all your efforts into selling your wares over the internet, though if your product lends itself to easy online sales, you should certainly be considering it. The point to be made here is that you should at the very least have a presence on the web so that customers, potential employees, business partners and perhaps even investors can quickly and easily find out more about your business and the products or services you have to offer.

That said, it’s not enough that you just have a website. You must have a professional-looking site if you want to be taken seriously. Since many consumers now search for information online prior to making a purchase at a brick-and-mortar store, your site may be the first chance you have at making a good impression on a potential buyer. If your site looks like it was designed by a barrel of colorblind monkeys, your chance at making a good first impression will be lost.

One of the great things about the internet is that it has leveled the playing field when it comes to competing with the big boys. As mentioned, you have one shot at making a good first impression. With a well-designed site, your little operation can project the image and professionalism of a much larger company. The inverse is also true. I’ve seen many big company websites that were so badly designed and hard to navigate that they completely lacked professionalism and credibility. Good for you, too bad for them.

You also mention that yours is a small operation, but when it comes to benefiting from a website, size does not matter. I don’t care if you’re a one-man show or a 10,000-employee corporate giant; if you don’t have a website, you’re losing business to other companies that do.

Here’s the exception to my rule: It’s actually better to have no website at all than to have one that makes your business look bad. Your site speaks volumes about your business. It either says, “Hey, look, we take our business so seriously that we have created this wonderful site for our customers!” or it screams, “Hey, look, I let my 10-year-old nephew design my site. Good luck finding anything!”

Your website is an important part of your business. Make sure you treat it as such.

Gamucci offers smokers a chance of smoking in a different way. They still get their nicotine hit, but are not exposed to any flame, ash or tar. It is non-flammable and reusable devise so there is no problem with disposing of cigarette ends which also limits and potential fire risks.

Most people who smoke, smoke because they enjoy the tactile, emotional and physical sensations. Gamucci provides all those same pleasures, but without all the problems commonly associated with traditional smoking. The leading reasons people use Gamucci include: freedom to smoke anywhere; social inclusion versus isolation; virtually odourless; non-flammable, convenient and the lower cost smoking.

HOW DOES IT WORK

Gamucci performs similarly to traditional smoking. It looks like, feels like and tastes very similar to a real cigarette and delivers the pleasures of smoking, without exposing the user any flame, ash or tar. The secret to what makes the Gamucci an effective alternative to traditional smoking is what is inside this revolutionary product.

Gamucci is driven by modern microelectronic technology. The actual cigarette body is an integrated structure made up of a cartridge, an atomization chamber, a smart chip controller and built in lithium battery. In the front of the device is an operating mode indicator that lights up when you use it, a bit like a real cigarette. The most interesting part of the Gamucci electronic cigarette is the atomisation chamber. This is where the magic happens and this part of the device is responsible for creating the vapour like smoke, very much like a real cigarette. This vapour is a result of the nicotine dilution, that is found in the cartridge, heating up or atomising. This is what produces the vapour that when inhaled gives the user the nicotine hit that smokers crave, but without exposing the user to a flame or ash or tar.

When using the Gamucci, the act of inhaling or smoking it produces the tactile and craving satisfaction traditional smokers seek, and the simulated smoke that is emitted is actually a vapour mist that harmlessly evaporates into the air within a few seconds.

BENEFITS

Electronic Cigrettes are Eco-Friendly

The Gamucci Electronic Cigarette produces no smoke, only a odourless vapour, and there is no need for ashtrays as no ash is produced. There is also less litter as there is no cigarette butt end to dispose off. The management of Gamucci have a vision of helping to create a smoke free environment around the world by offering clean smoking without the flame, ash and tar found in traditional cigarettes. The Gamucci electronic cigarette is non-offensive, the smoke is non-offensive, only an odourless water vapour is emitted.

Gamucci is Non-Flammable

The Gamucci Electronic Cigarette is a completely non-flammable device. There is no danger of anything burning and no substance is lit within the Gamucci. Additionally our Electronic Cigarettes have been toxicology tested in the United Kingdom and are compliant with both CE & RoHS certifications.

Gamucci re-chargeable kits work out cheaper than traditional cigarettes

The costs of smoking traditional cigarettes are becoming more prohibitive each year. A normal pack of 20 cigarettes costs between £4.50 to £6.00 in the UK. With both the Gamucci Micro rechargeable electronic cigarette, and Gamucci Classic you can enjoy massive savings. After the initial investment of the electronic cigarette kit, many users have reported massive savings of up to 80 per cent.

E-cigarette requires no matches

A common problem for many smokers is being caught out without their lighter or matches. This is not a problem with the Gamucci E-cigarette. The sophisticated micro-electronic technology means that the Gamucci switches on automatically everytime you inhale on it. When you are not using it it remains switched off.

TESTIMONIALS

This product is amazing! I have been using my Gamucci for 3 months and have not smoked a real cigarette since.
(Stephen M. – Guildford)

My wife always hated the smell of cigarettes on my breath, often referring to me as ‘ashtray mouth’. That is now a thing of the past. She never rejects me now when I go to kiss her.
(Mike D. – Liverpool)

At last a product that allows me to smoke inside my favourite restaurant.
(Sarah S. – Croydon)

I’ve been smoking for over 30 years and have tried to give up every January but never last more than a few weeks. The gums and patches never worked but now with the Gamucci I can get my nicotine hit in a much healthier way. Its been 2 months since I had a cigarette and I’m feeling confident that with the help of the Gamucci I wont go back. I recommend this to everyone looking to give up. It works.
(Angela P. – Brighton)

It tastes just like real cigarettes. Im saving loads of money. Its great.
(John R. – London)

My fitness levels have certainly improved since switching over to Gamucci. I know it has only been 2 weeks but I feel difference already.
(Sean W. – Reading)

I love it that I can smoke this indoors. My friends are constantly trying it out. They all want one.
(Jenny P. – London)

I have three young kids and feel much better that they wont suffer any ill effects from passive smoke. I still have the occasional cigarette but Gamucci has helped me cut down considerably.
(Maria C. – Leamington Spa)

Wow! What a cool invention. I love this product. I will be buying several as gifts for my friends.
(George W. – Cambridge)

After introducing it into my bar a month ago I have noticed my takings have increased. I want to become a distributor. This could quite possibly change the smoking habits of a nation. I am totally sold on your product and would highly recommend it to everyone.
(Darren F. is a Bar owner in Birmingham)

Just got my starter kit through today and was very impressed with the quality of the packaging …looking forward to newer models.
(Antoine L – Paris)

My customers love this and all their friends are buying them too. Everyone is surprised that they can smoke it indoors and they all laugh about it. It is good for my business.
(Ali C. is an Indian restaurant owner in York)

MEDICAL OPINION

“The Electronic Cigarette is just like smoking but without the 4000 poisons contained in a normal cigarette…”
Dr Chris Steel, “This Morning”, ITV 28/05/08

“The Electronic Cigarette… simple, safe, and very effective…”
Dr Ian Brooman, GP, BBC London News

“The Electronic Cigarette could be useful…”
Dr. Giacomo Mangiaracina of the Italian Society for the Study of the Effects of Tobacco

“This product (the Electronic Cigarette) is a thousand times safer than cigarettes…”
Jonathan Winickoff, M.D. MDH

Please click on the icon on the left to find out more of the benefits of Gamucci electronic cigarettes.

Electronic Cigrettes are Eco-Friendly

The Gamucci Electronic Cigarette produces no smoke, only a odourless vapour, and there is no need for ashtrays as no ash is produced. There is also less litter as there is no cigarette butt end to dispose off. The management of Gamucci have a vision of helping to create a smoke free environment around the world by offering clean smoking without the flame, ash and tar found in traditional cigarettes. The Gamucci electronic cigarette is non-offensive, the smoke is non-offensive, only an odourless water vapour is emitted.

E-cigarette requires no matches

A common problem for many smokers is being caught out without their lighter or matches. This is not a problem with the Gamucci E-cigarette. The sophisticated micro-electronic technology means that the Gamucci switches on automatically everytime you inhale on it. When you are not using it it remains switched off.

Gamucci is Non-Flammable

The Gamucci Electronic Cigarette is a completely non-flammable device. There is no danger of anything burning and no substance is lit within the Gamucci. Additionally our Electronic Cigarettes have been toxicology tested in the United Kingdom and are compliant with both CE & RoHS certifications.

Gamucci re-chargeable kits work out cheaper than traditional cigarettes

The costs of smoking traditional cigarettes are becoming more prohibitive each year. A normal pack of 20 cigarettes costs between £4.50 to £6.00 in the UK. With both the Gamucci Micro rechargeable electronic cigarette, and Gamucci Classic you can enjoy massive savings. After the initial investment of the electronic cigarette kit, many users have reported massive savings of up to 80 per cent.

Gamucci can be smoked everywhere

Gamucci Electronic Cigarettes can be used legally indoors where traditional smoking may be prohibited. The Statutory Definitions of the Smoking Health Act Ban

(a)  smoking refers to smoking tobacco or anything which contains tobacco, or smoking any other substance, and

(b)  Smoking includes being in possession of lit tobacco or of anything lit which contains tobacco, or being in possession of any other lit substance in a form in which it could be smoked.
The key phrases in the legislation are smoke and lit, because a substance will have to be lit in order for smoking to take place. The Gamucci Electronic Cigarette is not lit and smoke is not produced, but the smoke is a process of evaporation and is simply a odourless vapour. As a result of the above, there is no breach of the Health Act in using this product. There is no need to be concerned about the fact that nicotine is being used because the product is not lit and therefore not smoked.

Gamucci is rechargeable

With the Gamucci starter kits you get up to two rechargeable batteries, thus giving endless hours of enjoyable smoking. The electronic cigarette batteries and the vaporization chamber come with a product guarantee and all aspects of the product have been CE & RoHS certified.

Gamucci has a cool sophisticated design

All our products have been designed to look sleek and desirable. They are simple to use in all situations. We only use the best quality materials and our design teams are working on a number of new and exciting looking products for future launch.

Gamucci comes in different flavours

Today there are more options available than just our original flavor. The Gamucci cartridges come in various flavours including Original, Peach, Coffee, Apple, Cherry, Turkish Delight and Menthol and come in various strengths of nicotine including a zero nicotine strength cartridge. Try some of our flavors today, you can buy online today!

Most businesses use a software mix in their IT arsenal that makes business sense to them. Because of this, often they have to migrate a part, or whole of their data from one software program to another. In this article by Dr. Jay Krishnaswamy, the built-in method of exporting tables in Microsoft Access is explored to take a table in Microsoft over to MySQL, the open source database product that changed hands recently. This article steps you through the process with a number of screen shots to guide you along the way.

Introduction

It is assumed that you have a working copy of MySQL which you can use to work with this article. The MySQL version used in this article came with the XAMPP download. XAMPP is an easy to install (and use) Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP, and Perl. The distribution used in this article is XAMPP for Windows. You can find documentation here. Here is a screen shot of the XAMPP control panel where you can turn the services on and off and carry out other administrative tasks.

You need to follow the steps indicated here:

1. Create a database in MySQL to which you will export a table from Microsoft Access 2003
2. Create a ODBC DSN that helps you connecting Microsoft Access to MySQL
3. Export the table or tables
4. Verify the exported items

Creating a database in MySQL

You can create a database in MySQL by using the command ‘Create Database’ in MySQL or using a suitable graphic user interface such as MySQL workbench. You will have to refer to documentation that works with your version of MySQL. Herein the following version was used. The next listing shows how a database named TestMove was created in MySQL starting from the bin folder of the MySQL program folder. Follow the commands and the response from the computer. The Listing 1 and the folders are appropriate for my computer and you may find it in your installation directory. The databases you will be seeing will be different from what you see here except for those created by the installation.

Listing 1: Login and create a database

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:Documents and SettingsJayaram Krishnaswamy>cd

C:>cd xamppmysqlbin

C:xamppmysqlbin>mysql -h localhost -u root -p
Enter password: *********
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or g.
Your MySQL connection id is 2
Server version: 5.1.30-community MySQL Community Server (GPL)

Type 'help;' or 'h' for help. Type 'c' to clear the buffer.

mysql> show databases;
+--------------------+
| Database |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| cdcol |
| expacc |
| mengerie |
| mydb |
| mysql |
| phpmyadmin |
| test |
| testdemo |
| webauth |
+--------------------+
10 rows in set (0.23 sec)

mysql> create database TestMove;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> show databases;
+--------------------+
| Database |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| cdcol |
| expacc |
| mengerie |
| mydb |
| mysql |
| phpmyadmin |
| test |
| testdemo |
| testmove |
| webauth |
+--------------------+
11 rows in set (0.00 sec)

mysql>

The login detail that works error free is shown. The preference for host name is localhost v/s either the Machine Name (in this case Hodentek2) or the IP address. The first ‘Show Databases’ command does not display the TestMove we created which you can see in response to the 2nd Show Databases command. In windows the commands are not case sensitive.

Creating an ODBC DSN to connect to MySQL

When you install from XAMPP you will also be installing an ODBC driver for MySQL for the version of MySQL included in the bundle. In the MySQL version used for this article the version is MySQL ODBC5.1 and the file name is MyODBC5.dll.

Click Start | Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Data Sources (ODBC) and open the ODBC Data Source Administrator window as shown. The default tab is User DSN. Change to System DSN as shown here.

Click the Add… button to open the Create New Data Source window as shown.

Scroll down and choose MySQL ODBC 5.1 Driver as the driver and click Finish. The MySQL Connector/ODBC Data Source Configuration window shows up.

You will have to provide a Data Source Name (DSN) and a description. The server is the localhost. You must have your User Name/Password information to proceed further. The database is the name of the database you created earlier (TestMove) and this should show up in the drop-down list if the rest of the information is correct. Accept the default port. If all information is correct the Test button gets enabled.

Click and test the connection using the Test button. You should get a response as shown.

Click the OK button on the Test Result window. Click OK on the MySQL Connector/ODBC Data Source Configuration window. There are a number of other flags that you can set up using the ‘Details’ button. The defaults are acceptable for this article.

You have successfully created a System DSN ‘AccMySQL‘ as shown in the next window. Click OK.

Verify the contents of TestMove

The TestMove is a new database created in MySQL and as such it is empty as you verify in the following listing.

Listing 2: Database TestMove is empty

mysql> use testmove;
Database changed
mysql> show tables;
Empty set (0.00 sec)
mysql>

Open the Northwind.mdb (or any other mdb file) file as shown in the next figure.

Highlight the Employees table and make a right click to bring up a drop-down menu as shown.

Click on Export to open the Export Table ‘Employees’ To… window. Click on the Save as type drop-down to reveal the various file types that you can export to as shown.

Click on ODBC Sources the Export window pops-up as shown.

Click OK. This opens the Select Data Source window. Click on the Machine Data Source tab to show the various available DSN’s. You will notice the AccMySQL created earlier.

Choose AccMySql and click OK. The program returns you to MS Access’s Northwind database without giving you an indication about the success/failure of the export. If there is an error it however gives a error message.

Verifying and accessing exported table

Now go back to the DOS screen. I assume you have not closed down the mysql > prompt. Enter commands as shown in the listing.

mysql> use testmove
Database changed
mysql> show tables;
+--------------------+
| Tables_in_testmove |
+--------------------+
| employees |
+--------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql>

Now you can see that the Employees table has entered the TestMove database in MySql. Probe a little further by entering a select statement to see how much of the data has come in.

mysql> use testmove
Database changed
mysql> show tables;
+--------------------+
| Tables_in_testmove |
+--------------------+
| employees |
+--------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> Select * from Employees;
+------------+-----------+-----------+------------------------
--------------+---------------------+-------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------+-----------+
| EmployeeID | LastName | FirstName | Title
 | TitleOfCourtesy | BirthD
ate | HireDate | Address
 | City | Region |
 PostalCode | Country | HomePhone | Extension | Photo
 | Notes | ReportsTo |
+------------+-----------+-----------+------------------------
--------------+---------------------+-------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------+-----------+
| 1 | Davolio | Nancy | Sales Representative
 | Ms. | 1968-1
2-08 00:00:00 | 1992-05-01 00:00:00 | 507 - 20th Ave. E.
Apt. 2A | Seattle | WA | 98122 | USA | (206)
555-9857 | 5467 | EmpID
1.bmp | Education includes a BA in psychology from Colorado
State University. She also co
mpleted "The Art of the Cold Call." Nancy is a member of
Toastmasters International.| 2 |

| 2 | Fuller | Andrew | Vice President, Sales
 | Dr. | 1952-0
2-19 00:00:00 | 1992-08-14 00:00:00 | 908 W. Capital Way
 | Tacoma | WA |
 98401 | USA | (206) 555-9482 | 3457 |
EmpID2.bmp | Andrew received his BTS
commercial and a Ph.D. in international marketing from the University
of Dallas. He is fluent in French and Italian and reads German.
He joined the company as a sales representative, was promoted to
sales manager and was then named vice president of sales.
Andrew is a member of the Sales Management Roundtable,
the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and the Pacific Rim Importers
Association. | NULL |

| 3 | Buchanan | Steven | Sales Manager
 | Mr. | 1955-0
3-04 00:00:00 | 1993-10-17 00:00:00 | 14 Garrett Hill
 | London | NULL |
 SW1 8JR | UK | (71) 555-4848 | 3453 |
EmpID5.bmp | Steven Buchanan graduate
d from St. Andrews University, Scotland, with a BSC degree.
Upon joining the company as a sales representative, he spent
6 months in an orientation program at the Seattle office a
nd then returned to his permanent post in London, where he was
promoted to sales manager. Mr. Buchanan has completed the
courses "Successful Telemarketing" and "International Sale
s Management." He is fluent in French. | 2 |

| 4 | Suyama | Michael | Sales Representative
 | Mr. | 1963-0
7-02 00:00:00 | 1993-10-17 00:00:00 | Coventry House
Miner Rd. | London | NULL | EC2 7JR | UK |
(71) 555-7773 | 428 | E
mpID6.bmp | Michael is a graduate of Sussex University (MA,
economics) and the University of California at Los Angeles
(MBA, marketing). He has also taken the courses "Multi-Cultural
 Selling" and "Time Management for the Sales Professional."
 He is fluent in Japanese and can read and write French,
Portuguese, and Spanish.| 3 |

+------------+-----------+-----------+------------------------
--------------+---------------------+-------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------+-----------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)

mysql>

The output is not particularly pretty but you can see that the data has come in. The next figure shows the same query run in MySQL Workbench a graphic tool used in querying and modeling MySql databases.

Summary

The article described the procedure to create an ODBC DSN for connecting to a MySQL Database. The article also described the process of copying data in an MS Access database to MySQL.

This page describes how to set up your computer in order to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows.

Back Up Your Data

Although this may seem obvious, it is important to backup your data files to an external backup medium before attempting a dual-boot install (or any other hard drive manipulation), in case your hard drive becomes corrupted during the process. External hard drives, USB flash drives, and multiple DVDs or CDs are useful as external backup media.

Have a Windows recovery CD/DVD available

Many computer manufacturers that pre-install Windows provide a Windows recovery/re-installation CD or DVD with the computer. However, many companies no longer ship a physical disk but instead create a hidden partition on the hard drive in which the recovery-disk information is stored. A utility is then usually provided which allows the user to burn a recovery/re-installation CD or DVD from it. If you are buying a new computer and intent on dual-booting, make sure you have (or can make) a physical Windows recovery/re-installation CD or DVD. If neither a CD/DVD nor a recovery partition/burning utility is provided by your computer manufacturer, you may need to telephone your vendor and ask for a CD or DVD (to which you are normally entitled under the Windows EULA).

It is very important to have such a physical recovery/re-installation CD/DVD prior to changing your hard drive, in case your hard drive becomes corrupted in the process (and the recovery partition thereby becomes unavailable for use).

Once you have created a physical backup disk from a restore-image partition on the hard-drive, the restore-image partition can either be removed or left in place. Ubuntu can be installed with it intact without problems.

Getting Recovery Media

You may need to request a physical recovery/re-installation CD or DVD directly from your computer manufacturer. Here are some resources:

• Dell Operating System (OS) Recovery CD Creation and Manual Operating System Reinstall
• Other related links and information for Dell owners
• Lenovo Product Recovery CD or DVD
• Getting recovery CDs from IBM for a Thinkpad
• Obtaining a Windows Recovery CD or DVD set for HP and Compaq PCs

Install Ubuntu after Windows

In general, a Windows OS should be installed first, because its bootloader is very particular and because Windows installers tend to overwrite the entire hard drive (potentially wiping out any other data stored on it). If Windows isn’t already installed, install it first. If you are able to partition the drive prior to installing Windows, leave space for Ubuntu during the initial partitioning process. Then you won’t have to resize your NTFS partition to make room for Ubuntu later (saving a bit of time).

When a Windows installation already occupies the entire hard drive, its partition needs to be shrunk, creating free space for the Ubuntu partition. See How to Resize Windows Partitions to learn how to do this.

This can be done through Control Panel -> Administrative tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management. You can then use the partition manager to shrink the partitions. As a side note, you can only create free space to the right of a partition.

If you have resized the windows 7 /vista partitions and cannot boot up windows, you can use the instructions from WindowsRecovery to fix it. Once free space has been created on the hard drive, it is easy to install Ubuntu as the second operating system (and it is done automatically) from the Ubuntu LiveCD. Allow the Ubuntu LiveCD to install to “largest available free space” (if you have left unallocated free space), or manually into a partition that you have already created for Ubuntu.

Install Ubuntu

• Download an Ubuntu LiveCD image (.iso) from Ubuntu Downloads and burn an Ubuntu LiveCD (see BurningIsoHowto).
• Insert the LiveCD into your CD-ROM drive and reboot your PC.
• If the computer does not boot from the CD (eg. Windows starts again instead), check your BIOS settings and adjust them so that booting from the CD is allowed.
• Proceed with installation until you are asked this question: “How do you want to partition the disk ?”.

Resizing Partitions Using the Ubuntu Installer

Automatic partition resizing

• Choose the First Option (It should be something like: “Resize IDE1 master, partition #1 (hda1) and use freed space”).
• Specify the size of the new partition as a percentage of your entire hard disk.
• Click on “Forward”.
• Continue to Finishing Ubuntu Installation

Manual partitioning

• Choose “Manually edit partition table”
• Listed will be your current partitions
• Select the partition you want to resize and press Enter.
• Select “Size:”, press Enter.
• Select Yes, press Enter.
• Type in a new size in Gigabytes for your partition, it’s recommended you free up AT LEAST 10 GB of free space for your Ubuntu install. Press Enter when happy with your changes. It may take some time to apply the changes.
• Create a swap partition of at least your amount of RAM (if you don’t know, 2000 MB is a good value).
• Create a partition for your Ubuntu installation, at least 10 GB.
• Select “Finish partitioning and write changes to disk”.

Master Boot Record and Boot Manager

GNU/GRUB2 is the boot manager installed in Ubuntu by default. If you use the Alternate CD you can choose Lilo instead. GRUB2, GRUB and Lilo are good Open Source boot managers so the main parts of the boot loaders are installed inside Ubuntu. This means Ubuntu is independent and avoids any need for writing to other operating systems. To accomplish this, the only thing in your computer outside of Ubuntu that needs to be changed is a small code in the MBR (Master Boot Record) of the first hard disk. The MBR code is changed to point to the boot loader in Ubuntu. You will be presented with a list of operating systems and you can choose one to boot. If you do nothing Ubuntu will boot after a ten second countdown. If you select Windows then GRUB or Lilo will chain-load Windows for you at the Windows boot sector, which is the first sector of the Windows partition.

If you have a problem with changing the MBR code, you might prefer to just install the code for pointing to GRUB to the first sector of your Ubuntu partition instead. If you do that during the Ubuntu installation process, then Ubuntu won’t boot until you configure some other boot manager to point to Ubuntu’s boot sector. Windows Vista no longer utilizes boot.ini, ntdetect.com, and ntldr when booting. Instead, Vista stores all data for its new boot manager in a boot folder. Windows Vista ships with an command line utility called bcdedit.exe, which requires administrator credentials to use. You may want to read http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=112156 about it.

Using a command line utility always has its learning curve, so a more productive and better job can be done with a free utility called EasyBCD, developed and mastered in during the times of Vista Beta already. EasyBCD is user friendly and many Vista users highly recommend EasyBCD.

Installing Windows After Ubuntu

Normally when Windows is installed after Ubuntu the “Master Boot Record”, MBR, will be overwritten. You can bootup off a LiveCD and repair the MBR. However, there are 2 different approaches:

Recovering GRUB after reinstalling Windows

There are also these help guides

• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecoveringUbuntuAfterInstallingWindows
• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2#Reinstalling%20from%20LiveCD

Which should help with any install of Ubuntu now. For some simple cases the advice below might help

Ubuntu 10.04 or 9.10

Sorry, definitely use this guide

• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2#Reinstalling%20from%20LiveCD

Ubuntu 9.10 & earlier

The older Grub, sometimes called Grub-legacy or perhaps Grub1 was used up until Ubuntu 9.10. The default for 9.10 was initially Grub1 but installs would drift over to Grub2 without users really being aware of the change. With any current Ubuntu install it is wise to install, or re-install Grub2 as shown in the link above.

If you run an older Ubuntu or had any trouble with Grub2 then Grub1 & Lilo are still available. To fix the MBR with an older LiveCD to access a Grub command-line:

1. Boot into a LiveCD
2. Open a terminal
3. Open the GRUB Command-line utility by typing

sudo grub

1. Find where Grub is. If this gives a few different answers then you will need to find the correct one, perhaps by trial-and-error.

find /boot/grub/stage1

1. Tell GRUB which partition to tell the MBR your Grub is on by entering

root (hdA,B)

The coordinates A,B are where ‘A’ is the hard-drive number, starting at 0, and ‘B’ is the partition number, starting at 0. For example, if Ubuntu was installed on the second partition of the first hard-drive, the command should be

root (hd0,1)

1. Tell GRUB which drive’s MBR to fix

setup (hd0)

Replace 0 only in the extremely unlikely event that your bios does not use the first hard-drive as the boot device. Typically Ubuntu might be on any drive but the bios will almost always go to the first drive’s MBR to find out where to find the boot-loader.

1. Leave the GRUB Command line

quit

and reboot.

Master Boot Record backup and re-replacement

Back-up the existing MBR, install Windows, replace your backup overwriting the Windows boot code:

1. Create an NTFS partition for windows (using fdisk, GPartEd or whatever tool you are familiar with)
2. Backup the MBR e.g. dd if=/dev/sda of=/mbr.bin bs=446 count=1
3. Install windows
4. Boot into a LiveCD
5. Mount your root partition in the LiveCD
6. Restore the MBR e.g. dd if=/media/sda/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda bs=446 count=1
7. Restart and Ubuntu will boot
8. Setup grub to boot windows

Issues with Windows XP and NTFS

The Ubuntu installer has included support for resizing NTFS partitions since Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) was released way back in 2005. Very few problems have been reported relative to the huge number of times that the installer has been used. If you tried the above procedure and have had no luck, it might be that there is a pre-existing problem either in the file system, in the partition table or the hard disk.

First you should try running CHKDSK before trying again to resize the partition, and if you are using the Alternate CD, defragging might help. It is recommended that you run CHKDSK once again after resizing your NTFS partition.

Also, try the following alternative methods:

Using QtParted from the System Rescue CD

1. Boot into Windows and backup any valuable documents/photos etc onto removable media such as CD-R/DVD-R.
2. Run the Windows disk check tool (Error-checking) on C: a couple of times (the results can be seen in the Administrative Tools > Event Viewer > Application under a “Winlogon” entry).
3. Run the Windows defragmentation tool on C:
4. Download the System Rescue CD ISO image (100 MB; has several very useful software tools).
5. Burn the ISO image to a CD.
6. Boot from the CD and hit Enter when you see the message “Boot:”.
7. When you get a command prompt, enter:

run_qtparted

1. Select your disk on the graphical screen (most likely /dev/hda).
2. Select your NTFS partition to be resized (most likely /dev/hda1).
3. Right click with the mouse and choose Resize.
4. Set the new partition size.
5. Commit your changes in the File -> Commit menu. If your keyboard and mouse stop responding during resizing then please just be patient.
6. Once your changes are saved, remove the System Rescue CD and insert your Ubuntu installation CD.
7. Reboot and install Ubuntu into the free space.

Using GParted from UNetbootin-PartedMagic

Another approach to resizing partitions, which does not require a CD, is to load PartedMagic from Windows via the UNetbootin PartedMagic Loader:

1. Download and install the Windows (.exe) file, then reboot.
2. Select the UNetbootin-partedmagic entry after rebooting, and wait as PartedMagic boots up.
3. Start the partition manager by clicking the GParted icon on the the panel.
4. Select your disk (probably /dev/sda) via the drop-down menu on the top-right corner of the interface.
5. Right-click the NTFS partition to be resized (probably /dev/sda1), and select the “resize” option.
6. Drag the slider to specify the new size the NTFS partition should be resized to, then press OK.
7. Press the “Apply” button to resize the disk, then reboot once done.
8. Upon the next Windows boot, click OK when prompted to remove UNetbootin-partedmagic to remove its boot menu entry.

Also see

• MultiOSBoot – How to boot more than two operating systems from a single hard drive.
• Virtualization Category

1. First format your USB drive in NTFS file system. You can do it by attaching your USB drive to your system and then format it from My Computer window.

2. Now open Command Prompt window from Start menu. Right-click on Command Prompt entry in start menu and select “Run as administrator” option.

3. Now type diskpart in Command Prompt window and press Enter. It’ll launch DiskPart program:

4. Now provide following command:

list volume

It’ll show a list of all drives in your system. Look for your USB drive entry. As in the below screenshot, the USB drive is “G” which you can determine from its “Type” entry.

Now you have to select the USB drive volume by providing select volume no. command. Since in our case volume no. of USB drive is “Volume 4″, the command would be:

select volume 4

Now we have to make this drive active. So provide active command:

active

Now exit from DiskPart using exit command.

5. Now we need to create Boot sector on USB drive. We’ll use “bootsect.exe” utility for this task. You can find this utility in Windows Vista setup disk. It’ll be present in “Boot” directory.

Now provide following command in Command Prompt:

bootsect /nt60 G:

Here G is drive letter of USB drive. Replace it with the correct drive letter if your system has some other letter for USB drive.

6. At last, copy all files/folders from Vista Setup DVD to your USB drive and you have done.

Now you can boot using your USB drive and can install Windows Vista in any system.

This setting is an easy one to change, thankfully, and combined with a nice OS X theme can really have a nice effect.

To change this setting, use Alt+F2 to bring up the Run Application dialog, and type in gconf-editor to launch the Gnome Configuration Editor.

Once in the editor, find the following key:

apps \ metacity \ general

On the right hand side of the screen you should see an option called button_layout.

This option takes a string value separated by commas, as well as a colon that separates which side of the window the buttons will be on. To mimic the OS X setting, enter this string for the buttons on the left side:

close,maximize,minimize:menu

In this example, the close/maximize/minimize buttons are on the left, and the menu button is on the right. You can remove an item from this list if you’d like. For example, I don’t really use the menu button so I usually put it on the left side or just remove it.

menu:close,maximize,minimize

or

close,maximize,minimize

(Now updated for XP SP 3 and Ubuntu 8.04.)

Step 1 Intro

Step 2 Back up the GRUB boot menu

Step 3 Make space for XP

Step 4 Install Windows XP

Step 5 Restore the GRUB boot loader

Step 1 – Intro

Scenario: You want to install XP on your machine alongside your existing Linux installation on the same physical drive which already has Ubuntu 8.04 installed.

Tutorial Summary: We’ll create space on the Linux partition to install Windows XP. XP bootloader is fairly clumsy when it comes to dualbooting and will overwrite GRUB completely. We’ll reinstall GRUB to the MBR and configure it to dualboot both Ubuntu and XP.

This tutorial has been tested on a VMWare Workstation 6.0.3 virtual machine.

Step 2 – Back up the GRUB boot menu

Regardless of which bootloader you end up using, it’s a very good move to first back up the GRUB bootloader. It’s easy to lose it and unless you know how to re-write it from scratch then you’re generally facing a full reinstallation of Ubuntu.

Firstly, boot into Ubuntu and go to Applications –> Accessories –> Terminal. Then, type in sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst.

This text file contains all the information GRUB uses to configure various boot options. Scroll down and the entries between “## ## End Default Options ##” and “### END DEBIAN AUTOMATIC KERNELS LIST” are the Linux boot options.

Make a backup of the file by going to File, Save As and selecting a different location. Or take a full copy of the contents and place it into a new text file. If you can, create the backup on a removable disk or networked location.