Cygwin is a Linux-like environment for Windows. It consists of two parts:
If you're a Rails developer on Windows you may need this little tool, so install it from...
More Info here...
Easy it aint, kept getting this...
The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log for more detail.
But here's how to fix it,
First download MySQL
Now unzip the executable and install it, when it's finished and asking you if you want to run the configuration tool, don't; we'll deal with this in a minute.
Now to fix the MySQL Instance Configuration Tool, so it will install the MySQL service in Vista, download Resource Hacker...
Unzip it and open it's folder, then Right-Click on ResourceHacker and Run as Administrator.
Now using Resource Hacker open the file...
Navigate to 24 / 1 / 1033 and look at the config on the left. On line 6 you should see asAdministrator, change this to requireAdministrator then click Compile Script; then finally Save the file.
Finally run the MySQL Instance Configuration tool from within...
This should now be able to create the system service and finally give you MySQL running on Windows Vista.
With Windows Vista you will automatically have the main user (you) and a disabled Administrator account, which is part-used for you to install software, etc. when you're logged in.
But how do you enable this Administrator account so you can really take control of Vista and make it do what you want it to do, no questions asked, here's how...
Now type...
Net user administrator mypassword
Net user administrator /active:yes
(change mypassword for anything you want)
Now log-out and switch over to the Administrator account using the password you picked.
After setting up my new HP laptop with Vista and ArchLinux I thought I'd post how to replicate the same setup to help anyone else wanting to do the same, so here's a guide to do this with the latest Windows Vista and Arch Linux; enjoy!
First off install Vista. Now when it gets to asking you about how much disk space to use, say half (250gb drive => 128gb approx), this will mean the other half will be unused space (perfect for your linux build).
Install Vista and set it up, when you're happy and it's running ok continue to the next step.
By now you should have two hard-drive partitions, one with Vista (NTFS) and one blank; now we're going to sort that second one out.
First download the relevant ISO disc image,
Download it and burn it to CD, it's only 120mb so shouldn't take too long. Once done insert it into your laptop and re-boot with it so it starts up the installer on bootup.
When the installer boots up and shows the blue install screen you'll see 6 options, let's go thru each one...
Don't choose Auto-Prepare, it'll wipe your hardrive and destroy Vista, select Partition Hard Drives which will put you in the disk partition tool.
You should see two entries, one will be...
1. [boot] [primary] [ntfs]
2. ...... [unknown] [unknown]
The first is setup as the boot partition (the one which will boot on startup) and you know it's Vista as the filesystem is marked as NTFS, the other is unknown; our target for the Linux install.
So select the unknown one and create, mark it as a primary partition, select write to write the change and then quit to continue. Note the name of the new partition (e.g. hd0/sda2) and goto step 2.
Note: SDA = SATA, the machine i'm using has SATA drives, if you've got older IDE drives it'll be HDA0.
With this we'll want to set which partition we want to use as a swap disc, but as we didn't create one, select none.
Next you'll be asked which partition will be used as the root one for this install, select hd0/sda2 (or whichever name you wrote down in step 1). Continue to step 3.
Here we select which packages we want to install, ArchLinux is broken up into 4 separate blocks; base being the core o/s. Select all four as we'll be wanting all the tools to practice (otherwise you can choose 'base' and customise later). Step 4...
This will install ArchLinux to your target FileSystem, shouldn't take long; once done goto 5...
Now configure your system, with most options choose the defaulty chosen options; afterwards your configuration will be written to the new system. Now onto the important step 6.
Now we'll install the bootloader to allow you to select on-bootup which O/S to start. Choose GRUB as your bootloader, you'll then be taken to the bootloader's config file.
Scroll down to the bottom of the file and uncomment the bottom entry until it resembles...
# (2) Windows Vista
title Windows Vista
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
This will add to your selection list an entry pointing to your first partition so you can select to boot Vista. Scroll up to the top of the file and check these lines, adjust as appropriately...
timeout 5 ...this sets the seconds to wait until booting the default entry
default 1 ...once the timeout expires GRUB will boot the option 1, ArchLinux, if you want to boot Vista instead, change it to 2.
fallback 0 ...if the default can't be booted, the fallback will be started, in this case the ArchLinux FallBack system created when we just installed ArchLinux (think of it as it's Linux's safe-mode, only much more powerful).
If you're happy with the setup, press CTRL+X to save the file and continue.
You'll next be asked where to place the Bootloader, we want to place it inside the MBR of the Drive so it will be launched when the disc spins up. The MBR is the first sector of the Hard Drive and commonly called the Master Boot Record.
You'll be presented with probably 3 options...
/SDA
/SDA1
/SDA2
Choose the first, this will be where the MBR is located.
Now you're finished, exit the Installer by selecting Exit Install, then type REBOOT to reboot.
The computer should restart and present you with the GRUB bootloader menu, where you'll now be able to select which O/S to start; job done.
Please note that with this initial install your ROOT account won't have a password assigned to it, posing a poblem later on down the line.
So when you've booted into ArchLinux, and typed 'root' as the username and hit ENTER to login, type...
passwd
To set the 'root' account's password.
To edit the GRUB config later on, do...
nano /boot/grub/menu.lst
So as you know, the system config files are located in...
It's hard to do but these might help,
X-Ray, a bookmarklet to examine elements within the document model, similar to firebug's 'inspect'.
Fiddler, an http debugger for ie 6/7
IE Developer Toolbar, similar in power to firebug but in no way as comprehensive.
IETester, full-blown IE6 standalone browser, finally you can test against IE6 on Vista!
John Griffiths
