How to Stop a VM that is not responding AND How to Release files that give device or resource busy

Just found this posted in the VM forums and wanted to make sure and mark it. Looks like very good steps to take when you are stuck in this situation.

http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2290

Uninstall EVERYTHING!

Have you ever come across a program that just wouldn't uninstall? Either it threw some error while trying to uninstall, or there was no uninstall to be found. Or what about those programs that say they have uninstalled, but when you look around they have left TONS of files and registry entries. I came across a program that is the answer to all of your uninstall pains.

Revo Uninstaller allows you to run the program's normal uninstall, but then does some special Magic and scans for both files and registry settings left by the uninstaller. So if the program you are trying to uninstall fails, Revo Uninstaller will forcibly delete the program for you. Even if the program uninstalls correctly you will be surprised how many files and registry settings are left lying around.

Revo Uninstaller also comes with a great feature called hunter that allows you to drag a cross hair onto any program that you want to delete (even if it doesn't show up in add and remove programs) and it will forcibly uninstall it for you. There are many other tools packed into this little program such as a start up optimizer and cache cleaner.

Now for the great part... It's FREE! And it can run off a USB drive... That's right you don't even have to install it! So go ahead follow the link and get cracking... Er Uninstalling!

Revo Uninstaller Home Page:
http://www.revouninstaller.com/

First Look by Cnet:
http://www.download.com/Revo-Uninstaller/3000-2096_4-10687648.html

Free Partition Tools

Windows, and Linux:

Changing the partition sizes can be a pain, especially if you don't want to lose the data on the drive. You could buy something like partition magic, but I recently came across two alternatives that work just as good or better and are FREE. Both can change partitions sizes without needing to format or loose any data that is on the existing partitions.

Gparted:
Gparted is both free and open source (those two things are not always the same). It's part of the Linux GNOME protect. So if your into Linux this is a great tool for you, and if your into Windows it's also a great tool for you too! You see it supports NTFS, FAT, and FAT32 (Standard windows file systems). You don't even have to be a Linux guru, just use GParted Live. GParted Live can be booted from a CD, USB, or even PXE. You boot up the system and walk through a few easy steps and your done! I have used this twice already and its really great! It has a nice GUI and seems to work really well.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/index.php
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php


EASEUS Partition Manager:
This is a Windows only tool I recently came across on Life Hacker (A really great Blog). I haven't used it yet but it installs into Windows and looks very easy to use. It's free for personal use, but not business. It does have a very reasonable unlimited licenses for businesses though and that version supports Windows2003.

http://www.partition-tool.com/

Best background manager ever

Background Switcher is a wallpaper manager that can be used with multiple monitors. It's freeware and it is by far the best wallpaper manager I have ever used! It connects to flickr, phanfare, smugmug, picasa, facebook, and yahoo! image search. Oh, and of course can be directed at a folder (or a list of pictures) on your computer. It allows you to have different images on each monitor, and will switch images at an Interval of your choosing. It can also display the images in several modes including full screen, thumbnail mosaics, 4-picture montage, or snap shot scrapbook. Background Switcher is a really amazing program with many many options, and I would suggest it to anybody.
http://www.johnsadventures.com/software/backgroundswitcher

Bart is a life saver...

BartPE Is something I have been using for a couple of years now, and it is one of the best and most useful tools that I have in my collection.

Basically it's a Live CD for Windows. It is similar to WindowsPE but is very hackable/customizable. I use it to boot up computers that are having problems booting into Windows off the hard drive, and recover data or get a backup image of the drive. I also have many different Network tools and other tools loaded onto the "Live" version of windows so I can pop it into a computer and have a whole list of tools at my disposal. Now, I know that there are other "security tool" Live CDs out there already, Knoppix is a really good one, but this is Windows so it's easier (for non Linux geeks) and gives you more flexibility in a Windows world.

Barts out of the box is pretty basic (it has a simple custom shell), but there are several add-ons that will make it look and act just like windows. There are several sites that are dedicated to plugins for Barts. There are also several spin offs that use Barts as a base, but have there own system of plugins and setup. You can also create your own plugings from normal windows programs.

All in all Barts is VERY powerful and VERY useful. I might add some more posts going into some detail about how I have my CD setup, but to get started check out the links below.

Main BartsPE site:
http://www.nu2.nu/

Plugin Sites:
http://oss.netfarm.it/winpe/ (Check out XPE!)
http://www.drowaelder.de/winpe/PEIndex.htm

http://www.911cd.net/forums/ (Take a look at the plugin section)

Spin Offs:
http://reatogo.de/REATOGO.htm

Help:
http://www.911cd.net/forums/
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/help/english/

Dial-a-fix easy push button fixes for Windows

I stumbled upon a really great utility called Dial-a-fix the other day. I was having problems with windows update not running and I started to do a little searching. There are several things that Microsoft suggests to fix problems with windows update, but Dial-a-fix does all of them with a click of a button! It also fixes problems with SSL, and HTTPS. There are also some real gems buried underneath in the tools section of the program. In the tools section you will find an options to reinstall Internet Explorer, and several other great tools! That feature has already saved me once... Here is the official description of the program:

Dial-a-fix is an advanced utility for 32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows written by DjLizard in Borland Delphi 7 that repairs various Windows problems, such as:

* Windows Update errors and problems with Automatic Updates
* SSL, HTTPS, and Cryptography service (signing/verification) issues
* COM/ActiveX object errors and missing registry entries
* and more.

http://wiki.djlizard.net/Dial-a-fix

Dvd Ripping

Life Hacker has posted the Five Best DVD Ripping tools and I thought it was worth pointing out. They have some really good ones on the list, easy to use and powerful.

http://lifehacker.com/380702/five-best-dvd-ripping-tools