Author: Raffael

How to re-enable the classic start menu in Windows 8

Posted by Raffael on Posted in Tutorials, Windows 8 Tagged , , , , , ,

Stardock Start8 Website ScreenshotI have already written about how you can enable the classic start menu in Windows 8 again. In the last article I showed you a solution with the help of the program ViStart 7. Today I want to show you another way to re-enable the classic start menu in Windows 8. This time we will make use of the program Start8 by Stardock.
Start8 is, like ViStart, freeware, but does not simulate the classic Windows start menu on the contrary to ViStart 7, but is made up of components of Windows 8. How it looks, you can see in the screenshot below.
 
Windows 8 Startmenü mit Start8
You can download Start 8 on the website of Stardock. However, there you have to enter your email address before you can […]

How to search for users in Active Directory with C#

Posted by Raffael on Posted in C#.Net, Tutorials Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last time I wrote about how you can reach the Active Directory search dialog in Windows 7. Today I’ll show you how to search comfortable for users in the Active Directory by using C#. The emphasis is on comfort, because there are quite a few articles on the subject in general, on the internet.
However, most of the shown methods/solutions are build exclusively around System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory and the DirectorySearcher. But ever since .NET 3.5 it is also possible to search in the Active Directory much easier.
But let us come to the point. In the following example, I mostly use methods from the System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement namespace. And here’s how:

//Create a shortcut to the appropriate Windows domain
PrincipalContext domainContext = new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain,
[…]

Active Directory search in Windows 7

Posted by Raffael on Posted in Tutorials, Windows 7 Tagged , , ,

Active Directory Computer suchen unter Windows 7Basically, I have seen so far every new Windows version rather skeptical towards. And since I’ve been here from Windows 98 on, this were a good handful of Windows versions until now. Windows 7, however, has convinced me, and until a few days ago, I was sure not to miss out any of the older versions. As I said, until a few days ago.
But can anybody tell me where the AD (Active Directory) search is gone in Windows 7? I mean that one, which there was in Windows XP? So far I had not missed it because I did not need this in a private setting. In the work environment, however, I needed it in the last days and realized that this was apparently no longer available. I thought […]

The best free .NET decompilers – the .NET Reflector alternatives

Posted by Raffael on Posted in C#.Net, Web Tips Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

netreflectorToday I want to briefly highlight a few alternatives to Redgates .NET Reflector. Former I frequently used this tool, but since it costs money and there are good and useful free alternatives, this is no longer between my fingers.
The following parenthesis is for those who don’t know what’s meant by the term .NET Reflector/decompiler. All the other can read on below the following paragraphs.
What is a (. NET) decompiler?
.NET Reflector was the first CLI assembly browser. It can be used to inspect, navigate, search, analyze, and browse the contents of a CLI component such as an assembly and translates the binary information to a human-readable form. By default Reflector allows decompilation of CLI assemblies into C#, Visual Basic .NET, Common Intermediate Language and F# (alpha version). Reflector also includes a “Call Tree” that can be used to drill down […]

TagKeywordFinder – a free WordPress SEO plugin

Posted by Raffael on Posted in Downloads, PHP, Wordpress Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last while browsing I came across a WordPress plugin called wpSuggest. This links Google’s autocomplete function (the thing called “Google Suggest”, which ensures that you get suggestions while typing your question) with the title field in the WordPress editor. So if you write an article in the WordPress backend and type the title wpSuggest will make suggestions for the perfect title.
I liked the way the Google Suggest feature was used here. However, I found that the combination of Google Suggest and the input field for the keywords/tags would make much more sense.  So in short I have developed a small WordPress plugin named “TagKeywordFinder”. This plugin works similar to the above mentioned wpSuggest, with the small difference that it is used when tagging the article. And this is how it looks like:

(If you’re not intrested in the setup process, skip it to 1:00.)
When you begin to assign tags for your […]