B M A N M E D I A » Investing

gpedit.msc (Gpedit can’t be found)

BMAN — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:13:14 +0000

In my article: Antivirus xp 2008 (How to remove Antivirus XP 2008)
you might encounter problems when you try to run “Gpedit.msc” but don’t dispair, I got you.

The good news is that It’s actually possible to install gpedit.msc in Windows XP, the bad news is that you will have to do the job yourself…just remember that you’ll have to edit and verify the batch file first

Okay lets get to work!

Steps:

1. Download: gpedit pour xp home.zip
2. Put the files below into into %SystemRoot%\system32 folder: In laymans language it’s just

c:\windows\system32
File names:
appmgmts.dll
appmgr.dll
fde.dll
fdeploy.dll
gpedit.msc
gpedit.dll
gptext.dll

3. Put the files below into %SystemRoot%\system32\GroupPolicy\Adm\ (create this folder if it doesn’t exist)
which is:

c:\windows\system32\GroupPolicy\Adm\ (create this folder if it doesn’t exist)
File names:
system.adm
inetres.adm
conf.adm

4. Run the commands below one by one in the CMD window. Go to START>RUN>cmd>ok and type each command one by one eg. type (regsvr32 gpedit.dll) No parentheses hit enter, then regsvr32 fde.dll then enter etc… you get the picture……
Commands to type on Command prompt:
regsvr32 gpedit.dll
regsvr32 fde.dll
regsvr32 gptext.dll
regsvr32 appmgr.dll
regsvr32 fdeploy.dll
That should make gpedit.msc callable as Start -> Run -> gpedit.msc, done.

If you are still having problems click here to download files from Microsoft, select the appropriate operating system edition.

Additional information: Click here

Even more info: Click here

drivers download site: Click here

STOCKS

MSFT

SYMC

TMICY

SQLDUMPER library failed to initialize

BMAN — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:08:01 +0000

You are getting the following error message anytime you start your PC:

‘SQLDUMPER library failed to initialize. Your installation is either corrupt or has been tampered with. Please uninstall then re-run set up to correct the problem’

In layman’s language what is this all about you ask?

Microsoft uses SQL as its primary database, if this database is damaged or corrupt, some of the programs/ applications will not work correctly, for example outlook will start hanging up…etc. In addition, you will continue to get this message until you correct/fix the database.

Why are you getting this message? Chances are you might have installed some program and that program installed the SQL client, or you might have uninstalled some programs like MS Accounting or other programs which uninstalled/ damaged the database and what you have left is:

Microsoft SQL Server Native Client

Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support File (English)

Microsoft SQL Server VSS Writer

How can you tell that? Go to Start>Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs and you will see the above list.

Removing the error:

Let’s start with baby steps by trying to remove the error.

Go to Start>Run

Type: services.msc

Find the entry for Microsoft SQL Server VSS Writer

Double click the entry to edit. It should be already stopped.

Set its startup type to Disabled.

Click OK.
Now go to: Start>Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs and uninstall any reference to Microsoft SQL.
Once MS SQL is completely removed, reboot your computer. All should be well.

For any reasons if any programs/applications complain or need the SQL, you can always download it and reinstall it, it is offered free by Microsoft as an end-user Redistributable: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/data/aa937733.aspx

You can also get the SQL server 2005 at http://www.microsoft.com/express/sql/download/default.aspx

I know that ACT! By sage software will be one program that will need you to reinstall the database…Try running all you applications to make sure that they work properly if they don’t, download and install SQL server.

Hope that worked!!!!

Stocks:

MSFT
GOOG
IBM
QUIK
AAPL

SGE

Sprint to sell iPhone imitation for $130: Death of the iPhone?

BMAN — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:39:54 +0000

It has been months and sprint shares continue to hemorrhage, from $22 a share to about $5–what a shame.

Customers keep on fleeing from the worst wireless company in the country. Can this company be saved? What is Dan Hesse doing? Well, I guess he has been seen scouting for better suppliers and partners. But where is Dan Hesse going to get better partners from? The industry has not changed? If Dan Hesse or Gary former CEO couldn’t do it a year ago what makes him think he can do it today?

To address the stock price loss, sprint has to stop the steep customer loss, how, you ask? Get an iPhone imitation–a phone with a touch screen; and I guess they have done it.

Sprint is patnering with Samsung Electronics, maker of touch-screen Instinct, in hopes this hand set will help turn around its fortunes. In addition sprint plans to spend $100 million to market the phone, money the company I believe does not have, three times the marketing budget for any phone release Sprint has done in 2007.

Then question I have for Dan Hesse is, Will this work?

Think about this for a moment, Sprint has a “crappy” network. This is the root of all its problems and it (Sprint) knows it, but CEO has chosen to solve this problem backwards, and down play this problem.

To add an insult to the wound, the instinct is “supposed” to compete with the new, high-speed iPhone model that is supposed to go on sale July 11th for $199.

But why should I buy the Samsung instinct? I pay $230 for inferior quality then have to wait for $100 mail in rebate, and get locked in for 2 years on America’s worst cell phone network? Why?

All in all, whether customers will line up at the doors of Sprint stores remains to be seen, but one thing I know for sure, you will not see me there!

STOCKS

AAPL

HD DVD Battle is over!

BMAN — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:33:23 +0000

It was in the 10^th round when Sony delivered a heavy punch straight to the head, knocking Toshiba out. Ouch! 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, nding nging nding….it a knock out the referee called its over. Sony is the winner! The paramedics rush into the ring to save Toshiba but, Toshiba is in a comma.

Kyodo News agency reported earlier today that the Japanese electronics maker Toshiba will/ might withdraw its next generation HD DVD format. Toshiba’s decision hinges primarily on U.S. demand for its HD DVD format among other factors.

Toshiba officials did not comment on this issue.

Toshiba HD DVD has been competing against Sony’s Blu Ray disc which is back my majority of the Hollywood movie studios.

Sony has seen an increase in the market share, while Toshiba has been forced to slash prices to sell its HD DVD machines. If Toshiba pulls out not, it will be a complete knock out and an absolute defeat for HD DVD to Blu-ray.

On February 15^th, Wal-Mart announced that it will only sell Blu-ray DVDs and hardware and the multimillion dollar chain will no longer carry HD DVD offering. Wal-Mart announcement comes days after Netflix announced that it stop carrying rentals in HD DVD, and so has Target and Blockbuster inc, made similar decisions.

Warner Bros, rejected HD DVD format last month, by deciding to release movies only in Blu-ray formats.

Both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats deliver crisp, clear high-definition pictures and sound, but they are incompatible with each other, and neither plays on older DVD players. The only player out there that can play both formats is the LG player.

Like the boxing match, only one player has been expected to come out as the winner, just like the VHS trumped Sony’s Betamax in the video format battle in the 1980’s. Good thing Sony learned its mistakes, practiced and now it is supper better.

STOCKS:
SNE

See the video below! The Battle of the Lions

Apple TV Will it Succeed?

BMAN — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:02:12 +0000

Remember the first version of apple TV, it sucked, simply a failure. Even Jobs himself admitted that Apple missed the mark big time. But that is about to change. Apple has a new strategy for the once dead device. Apple plans to unhitch it from the computer, coupled with online movie rentals that will be available in high-definition. All that Apple needs it to have all the pieces of the puzzles together, to conquer the living room, but do they?

“Digital living room” has been a tough nut to crack, admits Steve Jobs. “All of us have tried: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, TiVo, Vudu, Netflix, Blockbuster,” Jobs said “We’ve all missed. No one’s succeeded yet.”

The dilemma is in finding a way to a way to shift video from the Web and the PCs in home offices to the big-screen TVs and home entertainment centers in living rooms. This latest effort is very important to the company. The iPhone, the iPod, the Mac’s all have been a hit, with the flow being the Apple TV, and the unproven backup device.

This is apples plan:

Starting next month apple will start renting digital movies including some HD movies.

People who own the Apple TV set-top box will be able to rent movies directly from their living rooms and begin watching them within minutes.

“We think it’s a revolution,” Jobs said. “We think we’ve got it all together.”

This could be great; think of what iTunes did for CD’s (Music) this could do the same to DVD (movies)

The greatest challenge will be in having the movies priced right. But what is the right price for a movie rental online, $1.99, $3.99, 5.99 it is hard to put a price.

Roughly 10% of all movies Apple will offer will be in HD, and this number is poised to grow as the popularity for HDTV’s continue to grow.

In addition the new service will offer movies from all the major studios. That’s huge; because the current video download services little support from only a few of the major studios.

What is phenomenal about this device is that users will download movies directly to the Apple TV and start watching immediately, just like iTunes on the iPod. No computers required. It is all about making it easy for the consumer to navigate on the screen easily.

But it will not be that easy like the iTunes were, why? Well, everyone is currently on this space, from Microsoft to Vudu, all working on some version of the Digital living room. Sony for example has it Blu-Ray discs, including 6000 movie titles with half that in HD stating in 2009. Netflix has more titles than Apple, gee wee, that’s going to be tough. Netflix customers can keep their movies for as long as they want, while Apples movies will probably expire after a certain period.

The problem does not end there… Comcast, Verizon, Charter and others all have their own boxes that they rent/ give to consumers who subscribe to their services. Will these customers be willing to add an additional box to their living room?

What makes Apple think that these companies will not add similar features into these boxes if Apple is successful?

Apple has more hurdles before it can get it right. There are sharks in this ocean, but then I might be wrong, let’s wait and see whether apple will actually swim.

STOCKS

AAPL: Bullish

MSFT: Bullish

AMZN: Bullish

VZ: Bullish

More memory for iPhone and iPod touch

BMAN — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 01:01:51 +0000

A 16GB iPhone, and a 32GB iTouch wow. Yesterday Apple announced double storage capacity for both the iPhone and its sibling the iPod Touch.

This announcement comes about one month after Apple lunched a service that allows users to download movies onto these devices.

Greg Joswiak, Apple’s head of global marketing for iPod and iPhone said “There are a lot of users out there for whom there is never enough memory” and that I agree to. Doubling the memory is great, but not quite as good. Maybe an 80GB or 120GB iPhone or iTouch would probably move me. Think about how much content there is out there; music, movies, games, pictures, etc…16 or 32GB is still not enough.

Let me stop whining for a second. That’s a topic for another day.

In addition, Apple announced that it will offer an iPhone with a 16GB of flash memory— data storage on microchips instead of a spinning disk drive. Think about an SD disk verses a hard drive disk.

Both the iPhone and the iTouch will set you $499 back. The 8 GB iPhone and 16GB iPod touch will continue to be sold at $399, each, while the 8GB model will be sold for $299.

No additional features will be added in these models, but rumor has it that these devices come loaded the latest firmware v1.1.3.

Want to upgrade your iPhone?

If your iPhone is 14 days or less young, and you prefer the 16GB iPhone, you can return it in exchange for a 16GB model for $100 bucks more.
There is an additional 10% restocking fee for open items, and
No new contract is needed. Just switch the SIM card and activate it for free from iTunes.

The models update come after a slump in Apple’s stock, U.S. Recession fears and I belive as retaliation to Amazons announcement of a DRM free music.

AAPL

AMZN

Microsoft and Yahoo is a very Bad Bad idea

BMAN — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:29:04 +0000

There are many blogs that have come out to criticize Google’s response to Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of yahoo. Techcruch for example claims that Google response meant that Google is afraid of Microsoft. I beg to differ.

Microsoft and Yahoo have both tried to build web search and Ad platforms with little or no success. Combine two bad ideas or ideas that have not worked and you make one hell of mess. This is where Microsoft/Yahoo—“MicroHoo” are headed. The combination of these two companies means one thing—disaster.

Google’s response was for one reason; to let Microsoft know that Google is watching Microsoft moves, period. If I were in Google’s shoes, I would do the same thing, and so would any other company out there.

Think about this for second, when email was a big thing, where did everyone go for their email accounts, and to do their web searches, Yahoo and Microsoft, today not any more. Google has provided a simple platform for everyone, from email to web searches. In addition Google has made it possible for people money online with Google Adsense. When did Microsoft help you make money? Probably never I suppose and if Microsoft has, it must have been following Google’s footsteps, and the same applies to Yahoo. I bet you’ve heard small sites like whateverlife making a killing every month, who is behind all this, Microsoft or Yahoo, I don’t think so.

It is also true to say that Microsoft/Yahoo will definitely lessen web competition. It does not take a genius to figure that out. 3-1=2 and 2 is not equal to 3. Yahoo being eliminated from the web arena means one less company competing on the web arena. Even with small startups coming to play in the web field to fill the number three slot, we still have one less company on the arena.

I quote Techcrunch “One argument against the deal is that there will be fewer [less] opportunities for startups to be bought out with Yahoo out of the picture. That is true…” do I need to say more?

Microsoft has great online applications but very few people use them, because they are not as good as Google’s. This is the reason; drones of online enthusiasts are migrating to Google, including me. I bet that you even have a Gmail account. Why? It is simple to use, cleaner than either Microsoft or Yahoo’s emails. Think about this for a second. Microsoft has @live.com, @msn.com, @hotmail.com. Isn’t this insane…

Ask any accountant they will tell you that mergers and acquisitions are very difficult to accomplish because of culture clash and this is what Microsoft/Yahoo will be facing if and when this deal gets to go through. Microsoft and Yahoo are two different companies, with different cultures and to make matters worse they have been enemies for a while, competing with each other in different fronts. For Yahoo employees, the scars are still there even if the wounds have healed. This will be one big hurdle that Microsoft/Yahoo have to over come.

Google is king, and Google has been a great innovator. Microsoft on the other hand has slacked off and has for years stolen what other companies have built, and the same applies here. Look at what Microsoft did to hotmail. It’s just a fact, Microsoft will destroy Yahoo’s brand name just as it once did with hotmail and other companies it has acquired.

Last but important, economists claim that markets dominated by one company see stagnation in growth and lack innovation, but the web is just the opposite. If Google was the only company on the web, no such misfortunes will incur. The web is still young and there is tons of innovation to be done, and lot’s of new ways to innovate. Google’s motto “Do no evil” ….you get the picture. Microsoft/Yahoo deal is not healthy deal and it should not be allowed to happen. It is simply a bad bad idea.

MSFT

YHOO

GOOG

And Finally Google fires at Microsoft

BMAN — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:07:35 +0000

Sources are saying that Yahoo is likely to consider a business alliance with Google Inc as one way to reject Microsoft’s take over plan. At $31 a share, Yahoo believes the bid undervalues the company. Yahoo is thinking of revisiting talks it had held with Google several months as an alternative to Microsoft’s bid.

According to a memo obtained by Reuters on Sunday, Yahoo leaders wrote: “We want to emphasize that absolutely no decisions have been made — and, despite what some people have tried to suggest, there’s certainly no integration process underway.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Sunday that Google’s chief executive Eric Schmidt called Yahoo’s chief executive Jerry Yang to offer his company’s help in an effort to thwart Microsoft’s bid.
Google fired back on Sunday at Microsoft’s bid to acquire Yahoo, accusing Microsoft of seeking to extend its computer software monopoly deeper into the Internet area.

David Drummond, Google chief legal officer, aid in a blog post that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo could undermine competition on the Web and called on SEC to challenge the combination.

Microsoft responded to Google’s arguments by saying that a merger with Yahoo would create a “compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising” to market leader Google. See: googleblog.blogspot.com/.

Microsoft executives said Google – not Microsoft – was the one company antitrust regulators were likely to bar from buying Yahoo, based on Google’s dominance in Web search.

Google currently owns 75 percent share of worldwide Web search revenue. Collectively, Yahoo and Microsoft attract around 20. Let’s see what happens, stocks to watch: Oh just a by the way, And where the hell is News Corp? They are not interested, that’s it. Come on, who are they kidding? I bet you the week won’t end before they jump in.

ATT
GOOG
MSFT
NWS
TWX
YHOO

Microsoft to Buy Yahoo for $44.6Billion

BMAN — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:29:03 +0000

Microsoft is making an unsolicited $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo Inc. in an effort to boost its competitive edge against Google Inc.

This move comes after Yahoo and Microsoft have fallen behind Google in the race to capture online advertising dollars. The deal could give a boost to the entire tech market.

Yahoo shares are up 54% in pre-market trading while Google which missed analyst’s expectations yesterday is up 8%.
In a letter to the Yahoo Board, Microsoft will bid for $31.00 per share.

Under terms of the proposed deal, Yahoo shareholders can choose to either receive cash or Microsoft common shares, with the total purchase consisting of 50 percent each cash and stock.
Microsoft believes that the takeover would receive regulatory clearance and close in the second half of 2008.

Google shares are down 8 percent; to $519 in pre-market trading, while Microsoft shares dipped 90 cents, or nearly 3 percent, to $31.70.

This announcement comes after Terry Semel stepped down as chairman, severing his ties with Yahoo 7 1/2 months after he resigned as chief executive under shareholder pressure.

CEO Jerry Yang said earlier this week that Yahoo will cut 1,000 jobs; While Microsoft announced a rosy 2008 despite economic worries.

Wall Street to Open Lower

BMAN — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:06:23 +0000

Market Recap:
Stocks today headed for lower open following heavy sell offs on Asian and European exchanges.

New data today to give clues into the state of the housing market and corporate spending levels

Sears Holdings Corp. reported that its CEO, Aylwin Lewis, will resign from the department store chain on February 2^nd.

Countrywide Financial Corp Chairman and chief executive Angelo Mozilo is to forfeit $37.5 million in pay and benefits.

Stocks to watch:
GLW

MCD

HAL

SHLD

Societe Generale Fraud Saga:
Jerome Kerviel to be charged of forgery, breach of trust and fraud; accusations to be filed against Jerome by Societe Generale bank of causing what could turn out to be history’s largest trading fraud by a single person