PRB: Using Jet provider on 64-bit machines

If you experience the error message:

The 'Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0' provider is not registered on the local machine

this is caused by the Jet provider not being available in native 64-bit.

You will have to target x86 with your .NET apps to make it work.

WORKAROUND: EPSON Status Monitor under Windows Vista

Since EPSON Status Monitor does not work properly under Windows Vista I recommend extracting the installation files and simulate an old operating system (Windows XP SP2) by using the compatibility tab for all EXE files in the folder.

Then install and enjoy!

P.S. You can force a cartridge change on a EPSON Stylus Color printer even without using the EPSON Status Monitor software. Read here.

Optimizing VMware virtual machines with PerfectDisk 2008 grows, instead of shrinks, the virtual disk

Prerequisites:

• Product: PerfectDisk 2008 for VMware
• VMware: Virtual Machine *with* linked disks

Situation:

• After "optimizing" the VM the file grows (in my case from 13 GB to 100 GB, which is the maximum size of the dynamic disk)

Workaround:

• Create a full clone of your VM (this copies all the linked disks + your VM into a target disk). You are not using the base disks from that moment on. But the resulting VM will be nice and small and in the future you can use PerfectDisk again to optimize and shrink your VM.

Background:

• VMs with linked disks are not available for SHRINK operations.
• WIthout linked disks this works perfectly.