Technical – DoTheWeb.net

Smallest i7 Laptop – 2011 Laptop Guide

A couple years ago I ditched my full power laptop for the likes of a Netbook. I didn’t want the size and heft of practically a full PC in my backpack, so I went little, and my patience took a beating for it!

I love the little laptop, but I need full power so I don’t go crazy! So I went searching around for a laptop that was really small – some would call this an ultraportable, and a laptop that had plenty of power to get the job done. I also did not want to spend more than $1000!

Enter the Acer Aspire TimelineX. This is one of the smallest laptops that carry the i7 Intel chip. It comes ready to do all the work you want to do, filled to the gills with specs that are on par with any full featured laptop.

One of the best specs with this laptop was the battery life. It is spec’d out to get a full 8 hours of battery life from one charge!

It is sleek and very small with an 11.6 inch screen. This baby is pretty much a netbook sized powerhouse, perfect for those on the go.

All the reviews around the net are totally positive for this laptop. From those ready to buy a 11.6 Mac Airbook, to those looking for a ultra convienient travel laptop. They all rave at the great size and power of this laptop.

It comes with one of the best ultra-portable keyboards around. The keys are nearly full size, and have plenty of space in between. The mouse supports finger and swipe gestures for zooming and navigating, similar to much more expensive laptops.

It comes standard with VGA, HDMI, USB and Ethernet ports right on the machine. No need for expensive converter dongles, this laptop is ready to hookup to anything you need.

This has been one of the best deals that I have seen on an I7 Laptop of this size.

If you are in the market to find the smallest i7 laptop for 2011, then look no further than this baby here. It’s small, but packs a powerful punch. The best part is that it will not break the bank!

Building Windows Services using Visual Basic 2005 Express

Continue reading “Building Windows Services using Visual Basic 2005 Express”

Creating Needed Installers for Windows Services

This is not the Actual “Installer”. This is code needed for the Service to operate correctly.

We will get to Installing Later…

Add the Installer Code:

Create a new class file in your project and call it ProjectInstaller.

ServiceProjectInstallerStart

We wil replace the text in the ProjectInstaller class with the following code:

Version:0.9 StartHTML:0000000100 EndHTML:0000012095 StartFragment:0000000100 EndFragment:0000012095

Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Configuration.Install
 3
<RunInstaller(True)> Public Class ProjectInstaller
Inherits System.Configuration.Install.Installer
‘Installer overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
 7
<System.Diagnostics.DebuggerNonUserCode()> _
Protected Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
Try
If disposing AndAlso components IsNot Nothing Then
components.Dispose()
End If
Finally
MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
End Try
End Sub
 18
‘Required by the Component Designer
Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer
 21
‘NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Component Designer
‘It can be modified using the Component Designer. 
‘Do not modify it using the code editor.
 25
<System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> _
Private Sub InitializeComponent()
Me.ServiceProcessInstaller1 = New System.ServiceProcess.ServiceProcessInstaller
Me.ServiceInstaller1 = New System.ServiceProcess.ServiceInstaller
‘
‘ServiceProcessInstaller1
‘
Me.ServiceProcessInstaller1.Account = System.ServiceProcess.ServiceAccount.LocalSystem
Me.ServiceProcessInstaller1.Password = Nothing
Me.ServiceProcessInstaller1.Username = Nothing
‘
‘ServiceInstaller1
‘
Me.ServiceInstaller1.ServiceName = “NewService1”
Me.ServiceInstaller1.StartType = System.ServiceProcess.ServiceStartMode.Automatic
‘
‘ProjectInstaller
‘
Me.Installers.AddRange(New System.Configuration.Install.Installer() _
{Me.ServiceProcessInstaller1, Me.ServiceInstaller1})
End Sub
 47
Friend WithEvents ServiceProcessInstaller1 As _
System.ServiceProcess.ServiceProcessInstaller
 50
Friend WithEvents ServiceInstaller1 As _
System.ServiceProcess.ServiceInstaller
 53
Public Sub New()
MyBase.New()
 56
‘This call is required by the Component Designer.
InitializeComponent()
 59
‘Add initialization code after the call to InitializeComponent
 61
End Sub
End Class

This will create the ProjectInstaller class and insert 2 Objects in the designer:

ServiceInstaller1 – Settings: The Service Name, Display Name, description, StartType

ServiceProcessInstaller – Settings: The Account the service will run under

In this example, the settings are set as follows:

ServiceName: NewService1

DisplayName: {blank}
Description: {blank}
StartType: Automatic – (will auto start on reboot)
Account: LocalSystem – (do not need user/password. This will run under System account)

ServiceGrayInstaller

Now we have to build the project.

Services Part 3:> Build and Install your Service

Creating Services with VB Express

Visual Basic Express is a great, free tool from Microsoft. You don’t get all that Visual Studio 2005 offers though. One of the things VB Express does not have is templates to create a Windows Service.

We can still make Services with VB 2005 Express. All it takes is a little manual work. I will walk you thru a example on how to make a service in Visual Basic Express.

Choose Console Application, and give it the name of NewService1.

ServiceStart

It will open in the designer with a module. Rename the module to NewService1.

Now we have to get some references for our Service. In the solution Explorer, double click on My Project and choose the References tab.

We need to Add the following references:

System.Configuration.Install
System.ServiceProcess

Now back to the NewService1 Module. We will be replacing all the text in the module, thus turning it into a class. Replace all the text with the text below:

1 Imports System.ServiceProcess

Imports System.Configuration.Install
 3
Public Class NewService1
Inherits System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase
Friend WithEvents Timer1 As System.Timers.Timer
 7
Public Sub New()
MyBase.New()
InitializeComponents()
‘ TODO: Add any further initialization code
End Sub
 13
Private Sub InitializeComponents()
Me.ServiceName = “NewService1”
Me.AutoLog = True
Me.CanStop = True
Me.Timer1 = New System.Timers.Timer()
Me.Timer1.Interval = 6000
Me.Timer1.Enabled = True
End Sub
 22
‘ This method starts the service.
<MTAThread()> Shared Sub Main()
‘ To run more than one service you have to add them to the array
System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase.Run(New System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase() _
{New NewService1})
End Sub
 29
‘ Clean up any resources being used.
Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
‘ TODO: Add cleanup code here (if required)
End Sub
 35
Protected Overrides Sub OnStart(ByVal args() As String)
‘ TODO: Add start code here (if required)
‘ to start your service.
Me.Timer1.Enabled = True
End Sub
 41
Protected Overrides Sub OnStop()
‘ TODO: Add tear-down code here (if required) 
‘ to stop your service.
Me.Timer1.Enabled = False
End Sub
 47
Private Sub InitializeComponent()
Me.Timer1 = New System.Timers.Timer
CType(Me.Timer1, _ System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize).BeginInit()
‘
‘Timer1
‘
Me.Timer1.Enabled = True
CType(Me.Timer1, System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize).EndInit()
End Sub
 57
Private Sub Timer1_Elapsed(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As _ System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs) Handles Timer1.Elapsed
Dim MyLog As New EventLog() ‘ create a new event log 
‘ Check if the the Event Log Exists 
If Not MyLog.SourceExists(“NewService1”) Then
MyLog.CreateEventSource(“NewService1”, “NewService1 Log”) ‘ Create Log 
End If
MyLog.Source = “NewService1”
MyLog.WriteEntry(“NewService1 Log”, “It is running”, EventLogEntryType.Information)
 66
‘disable the timer so you dont fill up the log
Timer1.Enabled = False
End Sub
 70
End Class
 72

This will create the NewService class and insert a Timer into your designer.
If you Double-Click on the NewService1 in the SolutionExplorer, you will see the designer and the Timer1 object.

This code will run after 6 seconds has passed, and will insert a log entry for our service saying “ It is running”.

We need to set the Service Name in the Designer:

Double click on NewService1 to get the gray page. Then click somewhere in the grey to get the properties for this class.

Under ServiceName put NewService1.

ServiceGrayTimer

Services Part 2:> Creating the needed Installers

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Precompiling your Visual Web Developer Asp.net Projects

For more information about LAMA servers, checkout:
LAMA – Best of ALL worlds tutorial

Precompiling Asp.net Web Projects
Visual Web Developer – Microsoft’s free version of Visual Studio, is a great tool to create quality Asp.net Sites. VWD being free- does not include all the tools that Visual Studio does. In this case VWD does not include the option to precompile your web project.

Why Precompile?
Well – there are a couple reasons. First, to remove all code in your project and place it in compiled DLL’s.

This may be a good option for those who host on a shared server. That way your code is not placed in plain text on the server for others to see.

Next, to save server resources. The first hit on the Asp.net server is when the Asp.net project is compiled. If you precompile, then it saves those resources by not having to compile on the server.

Lastly, Mono’s vb compiler for Linux is a few steps behind the C# compiler.
If you have a LAMA server, and like to use VB as your language. You can precompile your site to ensure that it will work correctly.

Use The DoTheWeb.net Asp.net Precompiling tool!
You can use this handy GUI to precompile your websites. DoTheWeb.net Asp.net Precompiler

NOTE: This is a ClickOnce Program, you may have to use Internet Explorer or Firefox to open it from the website.