The following solution is proposed:

Use Microsoft AppLocale

Microsoft AppLocale allows running a program using a particular language without changing the Windows language setting.  That means, one can change between multiple languages on-the-fly for each program.

According to Microsoft:

Unicode based platforms, such as Windows XP, emulate the language environment required to run non-Unicode applications by internally converting application’s non-Unicode text data to Unicode using a system-wide variable commonly called the system local (or language for non-Unicode applications). The language of the non-Unicode applications should be of the same script or family as the one defined by the system locale. Failing to meet this condition results in display of garbage characters in the UI of the application.

Download link

Once downloaded, install and run it.  Follow the instructions and choose what program that is to be run at the wanted language.  If the correct language was chosen, the application should show the correct characters.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8247-windows-xp-mode-install-setup.html

If the applications don’t appear, disable and enable the “Auto-Publish” setting within the VM”s settings

Working with Virtual Applications

By default, applications installed in the Windows XP VM are auto-published to the Windows 7 host. This means that your Windows XP applications appear on Windows 7’s Start menu. You can then launch your XP applications without having to first load the Windows XP VM and then launch them from the virtual Windows XP’s Start menu.

In order for a Windows XP application to be auto-published to the Windows 7 host, the application must be installed in the All Users profile in the Windows XP VM. However, not all applications are installed in the All Users profile by default.

So, what if the application that you want to be able to run from within Windows 7 isn’t auto-published? Or what if an application is auto-published and you really don’t want it to be available from within Windows 7? Fortunately, you can take control of the auto-published using a couple of tips.

If the XP application that you want to be able to run from within Windows 7 isn’t auto-published, you can force it to be so simply by creating a shortcut to the application in the All Users profile in the Windows XP VM. When you do so, the application will be auto-published to the Windows 7 host.

Access the Windows XP VM, right-click the Start button, and select the Open All Users command. When Windows Explorer launches, open the Programs folder. Once there, you can either drag-and-drop the shortcut from Windows XP’s Start menu to the Programs folder or you can launch the Create Shortcut wizard, as shown in Figure A.

Any edition of Windows 7 other than Home
VMWare Player (free)

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/10911/run-xp-mode-on-windows-7-machines-without-hardware-virtualization/

iPod Linux

The installation of iPodLinux requires the user to download the source code from their Subversion Repository and then compile it.  There were binaries available for download, but those were two years out of date.  Downloading the source code required the installation of an SVN client, and compiling the source code required the installation of Qt with MinGW.  I ran into a slight snag here as the installation guide on their site neglected to tell me that Qt would not set the system environment variables needed in order for me to follow the instructions in the guide as is.  Typing “qmake” kept giving me “qmake is not recognized” error in the Windows command line.  Once I set up the environment variables, I was able to compile the source code.

After compiling the code, I went onto installation.  Whenever I tried to install iPodLinux, the installer would close while trying to partition my iPod.  As a result, my iPod was left half partitioned with no OS.  I had to restore my iPod with iTunes every time this happened.  I figured it was because I was using Windows 7 Pro x64.  Even after setting compatibility options and running as administrator, the installer wouldn’t work.  I then repeated everything I had done so far on a Windows XP Pro machine and was finally able to install iPodLinux.

The next step was to boot the OS for the first time.  While loading the different modules, the OS would complain about how some modules were didn’t exist or my iPod had run out of memory.  Then the iPod later got stuck while initializing some module called “MPDc”.  So what I tried to do next was to install iPodLinux without this module.  Stupidly enough, the installer refused to let me uncheck any of the options while clearly stating that I could uncheck certain ones if I didn’t want them.  What I don’t get is why I’m getting all these errors with my iPod when the developers state that my 5th gen iPod Video is supported.  Maybe I’m missing something?

Then I found out about the ZeroSlackr Project, which is supposed to provide a “simple, coherent, easy-to-use and newbie friendly method of installing iPodLinux on iPods”.  After downloading, first thing I did was look at the readme’s to see how to install it.  I opened up the readme and it gave me the worst formatting I’d ever seen in a text file.  There were no line breaks.  Rather than searching through this wall of text I just looked up how to install it on Google.  I opened the batch file included with the install files and it gave me a message saying installation successful and that I could now boot ZeroSlackr from my iPod.  I took out the iPod and booted it up just to see no option for ZeroSlackr in the Bootloader.  Maybe I did something wrong.

I also tried a program called iPod Manager 2.0.5, but it didn’t even open no matter how many times I tried to open it.

Afterward, I figure I could use a program to see the ext2 partition that iPodLinux makes and delete the modules manually from there.  Browsing the iPodLinux forums and Google searches led me to a program called LTOOLS.  It was supposedly able to let me modify the ext2 partition.  No luck with that either.  I kept getting stopped by the “Windows could not find file specified” error whenever  I tried to look in the ext2 partition.  Next program I tried was Ext2 IFS for Windows.  I’ve used this program successfully in the past to grab files from my Ubuntu partition.  For some reason this program didn’t work either.  Luckily using my Ubuntu 8.04 Live CD to open the ext2 partition on the iPod worked for me.  The ext2 and the FAT32 partition appeared right away in Ubuntu and all I had to do was do a “gksudo nautilus” to delete the files I didn’t want.

After removing the problematic modules, I finally loaded up the OS.  However, the moment I selected any menu option, the iPod would freeze.  I waited about 30 seconds with no response.  This problem is probably quite beyond me so I stopped here.

Rockbox

The thing I liked the most out of Rockbox is that the installation of it worked, without any hassles.  All I did was download it, double click, follow the instructions and then bam it worked.  It also installs without requiring you to partition your iPod to ext2.  As a result, I could access the Rockbox files easily within Windows.  I loaded up iTunes and it was still able to sync my stuff onto it.

Once I synced my music onto the iPod again, I tried playing music with it.  Without looking at the manual, I could not use my library as one huge playlist.  I find that if using the interface on an mp3 player needs a manual for people to know whats going on, its probably too complex.  Take the iPod interface for example.  It is very intuitive.  There was virtually no learning curve in figuring out how to use it.

Another thing that really annoyed me on Rockbox is that even after setting the language options, I still was not able to see Chinese ID3 tags on songs.  How am I supposed to be able to choose a song if I can’t see the title?

What I did like about Rockbox are the apps.  I know iPodLinux has them too, but seeing that I never got past the freezing problem, I couldn’t try them out.  My favorite was RockDoom.  Being able to play a classic game like that on an iPod made me feel a bit nostalgic.

Conclusions

iPodLinux needs a little bit more work in making installation of the OS easier.  To be specific, their documentation needs to add solutions for problems like the one I mentioned before.  It should also let people uncheck things in the installer.  And most important of all, it should work without freezing up all the time.  If all 5th gen iPod Videos are standard, then if I have a problem on mine, wouldn’t that mean everyone else’s 5G iPod will have problems with it?

Really, I liked everything about Rockbox except its interface and its lack of support for seeing Chinese characters.  I was even able to play a Counter-Strike mod for RockDoom.  I thought that was fantastic.

There are probably also some fixes out there that I don’t know about that can solve my problems, but seeing that I only used iPodLinux and Rockbox so briefly, I probably never came across those fixes.  I also feel that the sorts of problems I had should not need fixes, but rather they shouldn’t occur at all.

UPDATE: This set of instructions works for the Office 2010 Technical Preview as well.

Based on: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/trying-to-install-office-2010-but-getting-error/4a5e022f-13f1-42bb-ad66-f6dccfd44d40

To automatically uninstall the 2007 Microsoft Office suite, follow the steps in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971179/

How do I uninstall the 2007 Office suites if I cannot uninstall it by using the “Add or Remove Programs” feature?

The steps provided in the ‘More Information’ section of this article provide the details of the removal performed by the solution in 971179.

You may find it easier to follow the steps if you print this article first.

First, verify that you cannot uninstall the 2007 Microsoft Office system by using Add or Remove Programs (or Programs and Features)

To verify that you cannot uninstall the 2007 Microsoft Office system by using Add or Remove Programs (or Programs and Features in Windows Vista), follow these steps.

For Windows XP or Windows Server 2003:

1. Click Start, click Run, type control appwiz.cpl in the Open box, and then press ENTER.
2. Click to select the 2007 Office system product from the application list, and then click Remove.

For Windows Vista:

1. Click Start, type prgrams and features in the Search box, and then press ENTER.
2. Click to select the product to be uninstalled from the listing of installed products, and then click Uninstall/Change from the bar that displays the available tasks.

If you were able to uninstall the 2007 Microsoft Office system by using Add or Remove Programs, you are finished. If you were unable to uninstall the 2007 Microsoft Office system, you may have issues with the Add or Remove Programs dialog box, or some 2007 Microsoft Office components may not be uninstalled. In these cases, you may be unable to reinstall the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Go to the next section to uninstall the 2007 Microsoft Office system by using an alternative method.

If Add or Remove Programs does not uninstall the 2007 Microsoft Office system, use this alternative method to uninstall

Use this method only if the Add or Remove Programs method did not work for you. Using this method does not completely uninstall the 2007 Microsoft Office system. After you use this method, you can reinstall the 2007 Microsoft Office system.

Note You must be logged on to Windows with a user account that is a computer administrator to complete this method. If this is your personal computer, you are likely already logged on with an administrator account. If this is a computer that is part of a network, you might have to ask the system administrator for help.

To uninstall the existing 2007 Microsoft Office system if you cannot uninstall it by using the Add or Remove Programs feature, follow these steps:
Step 1: Remove any remaining Windows Installer packages of the 2007 Microsoft Office system:

1. Click Start, click Run, type installer, and then click OK.
   This process opens the %windir%Installer folder.
2. On the View menu, click Details.
   Important To use the View menu in Windows Vista, you must press the ALT key first to display the menu bar, and then click the View menu.
3. On the View menu, click Choose Details.
4. Click to select the Subject check box, type 340 in the Width of selected column (in pixels) box, and then click OK.
   Note It may take several minutes for the subjects to appear next to each .msi file.
5. For Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, on the View menu, point to Arrange icons by, and then click Subject.
   For Windows Vista, on the View menu, point to Sort By, and then click Subject. In Windows Vista, a User Account Control dialog box may be displayed with the following warning:
   An unidentified program wants access to your computer

   Click Allow when you see this warning message.

6. For each .msi file where the subject is “Microsoft Office Product_Name 2007,” right-click the .msi file, and then click Uninstall.
   Note Product_Name is a placeholder for the name of the 2007 Microsoft Office product.

Step 2: Stop the Office Source Engine service:

1. For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, click Start, click Run, type services.msc in the Open box, and then click OK.
   For Windows Vista, click Start, click Start Search, type services.msc, and then press ENTER.
2. In the Services window, determine whether the Office Source Engine service is running. If this service is running, right-click Office Source Engine, and then click Stop.
3. Close the Services window.

Step 3: Remove any remaining 2007 Microsoft Office installation folders

1. For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, click Start, click Run, type %CommonProgramFiles%\Microsoft Shared in the Open box, and then click OK.
   For Windows Vista, click Start, click Start Search, type %CommonProgramFiles%\Microsoft Shared, and then press ENTER.
   Note On a computer that is running a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, type %CommonProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Shared, and then press ENTER.
2. If the following folders are present, delete them:
   • Office12
   • Source Engine
3. For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, click Start, click Run, type %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office, and then click OK.
   Note On a computer that is running a 64-bit version of Windows XP, type %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Office, and then press ENTER.
   For Windows Vista, click Start, click Start Search, type %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office, and then press ENTER.
   Note On a computer that is running a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, type %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Office, and then press ENTER.
4. On the root folder of each hard disk drive, locate and then open the MSOCache folder. If you cannot see the MSOCache folder, follow these steps:
   1. Open Windows Explorer, and then on the Tools menu click Folder Options.
   2. Click the View tab.
   3. In the Advanced settings pane under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders.
   4. Click to clear the Hide protected operating system files check box, and then click OK.
5. Open the drive_letter:\MSOCache\All Users folder, and then delete every folder that has the following text in the folder name: 0FF1CE

   Note This text contains a zero and a one for the letters “O” and “I.”

Step 4: Remove any remaining 2007 Microsoft Office installation files

1. For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, click Start, click Run, type %appdata%\microsoft\templates, and then click OK.
   For Windows Vista, click Start, click Start Search, type %appdata%\microsoft\templates, and then press ENTER.
2. Delete the following files:
   • Normal.dotm
   • Normalemail.dotm
3. For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, click Start, click Run, type %appdata%\microsoft\document building blocks\Language_ID, and then click OK.
   For Windows Vista, click Start, click Start Search, type %appdata%\microsoft\document building blocks\Language ID, and then press ENTER.
   Notes
   • If you cannot open this folder because the folder does not exist, go to step 6.
   • Language_ID is a placeholder for the four-digit number that represents the language of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. For example, if you use the English version of the 2007 Microsoft Office system, the Language_ID value is 1033. If the Language_ID is not known, type %appdata%microsoftdocument building blocks, and then open the subfolder in that location.
4. Delete the Building blocks.dotx file.
5. For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, click Start, click Run, type %temp%, and then click OK.
   For Windows Vista, click Start, click Start Search, type %temp%, and then press ENTER.
6. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
7. On the File menu, click Delete.
8. For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, click Start, click Run, type %AllUsersprofile%\Application Data\MicrosoftOfficeData, and then click OK.
   For Windows Vista, click Start, click Start Search, type %AllUsersprofile%\Application DataMicrosoftOfficeData, and then press ENTER.
9. Delete only the Opa12.dat file.

Step 5: Remove the registry subkeys of the 2007 Microsoft Office system

Important: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/

1. Locate and then delete the registry subkeys of the 2007 Microsoft Office system if they are present. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
      For Windows Vista, click Start, click Start Search, type regedit, and then click OK.
   2. Click the following subkey:
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0
   3. On the File menu, click Export, type DeletedKey01, and then click Save.
   4. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion.
   5. For each registry subkey in the following list, repeat steps 1a through 1d. Change the name of the exported key by one for each subkey.
      For example, type DeletedKey02 for the second key, type DeletedKey03 for the third key, and so on.
      Note In the following registry keys, the asterisk character (*) represents one or more characters in the subkey name.
      32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows:
      • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Delivery\SourceEngine\Downloads\*0FF1CE}-*
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*0FF1CE*
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UpgradeCodes\*F01FEC
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\*F01FEC
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ose
      • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Features\*F01FEC
      • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\*F01FEC
      • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\UpgradeCodes\*F01FEC
      • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Win32Assemblies\*Office12*

        64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows:

      • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\12.0
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\DeliverySourceEngineDownloads\*0FF1CE}-*
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*0FF1CE*
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UpgradeCodes\*F01FEC
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\*F01FEC
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ose
      • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Features\*F01FEC
      • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\*F01FEC
      • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\UpgradeCodes\*F01FEC
      • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Win32Assemblies\*Office12*
2. Locate the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

   Note On a computer that is running a 64-bit version of Windows, locate the following registry subkey instead:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
3. On the File menu, click Export, type UninstallKey01, and then click Save.
4. Under the Uninstall subkey that you located in step 2, click each subkey, and then determine whether the subkey has the following value assigned to it:
   • Name: UninstallString
   • Data: file_name path\Office Setup Controller\Setup.exe path
     Note In this example, file_name is a placeholder for the name of an installation program, and path is a placeholder for the file path.
5. If the subkey contains the name and the data that are described in step 4, click Delete on the Edit menu. Otherwise, go to step 4.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you locate and then delete every subkey that matches the name and the data that are described in step 4.
7. Close Registry Editor.

Step 6: Restart the computer

Restart the computer. If the uninstall was successful, you are finished and can now reinstall the 2007 Microsoft Office system if you want. If the uninstall was not successful, go to the “Next Steps” section.

Additional registry information

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\UserInfo

Shadow subkeys for Windows Server 2003 and for earlier versions of Windows Server:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0

Shadow subkeys for Windows Server 2008:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software

Source: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928218

The computer only operates when the BIOS setting is set to “IDE Operating Mode”.  It should be under the “Chipset” section in the BIOS.

Installing Windows XP requires SATA drivers.  Press F6 when prompted and insert the floppy disk that says “SATA 378 Promise Controller Drivers”.

There seems to have been a piece that broke off from one of the computer components.  It most likely is from the motherboard.  I don’t know what its significance is.  I’ve seen a component exactly like this elsewhere on the motherboard, but I don’t know where it goes.

UPDATE: It looks like the jumper that can be used to reset the CMOS.  By putting this over the two jumper pins, the CMOS is shorted and reset.

Currently running on 1 stick of 512 MB RAM.  The other stick of RAM has an error on it.

Memtest Data:
Test 8
Pass 12
Failing address: 000274931C – 628.1 MB
Good: ffffffff
Bad: fffffff7
Err-bits: 00000008
Count: 1
Char: –

1. Insert Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 disc into computer and install Windows as normal
2. When the installation asks for a serial number, use the one written on the Chinese XP Pro disc.
3. Win

I have a copy of both downstairs in the boxes of CD’s behind Sam.

Today was supposed to be the day for me to catch up on homework since I had missed a week of class due to my Class 5 road test and my gum graft surgery.  Ivan was nice enough to lend me his notes.  Rather than doing homework today, I decided that I was fed up with Solidworks 2008 not running properly on my Windows 7 x64.

I had previous downloaded the SP4.0 for Solidworks 2008 in hopes that it will allow me to run it on my computer.  To try to get that update to work I would have to install Solidworks 2008 SP0.0.  Due to an unknown reason it would not install on my computer.  Despite the fact that Solidworks would say ‘this program does not support Vista x64’, I had gotten it to install by setting the compatibility mode.  This time around, the installer simply got stuck.

I then thought of alternate methods of getting the program on my computer.  I looked to my virtual machine, which was my temporary solution.  It ran Windows XP and could barely run SW08.  I tried to send the files through the network.  I couldn’t send the files through with a hard drive since it was being used to install the program (yes, the installer was stuck, but I left it running to see if it would respond).  I had trouble sending the files through the network since I had disabled all the network services on the virtual machine to save memory.

A few hours later I still did not have Internet back, but I did however have access to the LAN.  That was all I needed.  While doing the network transfer, an idea hit me.  I turned off Bitdefender and the Solidworks install worked.

After the install, I immediately updated the installation to SP4.0.  I cracked the program as was instructed by the readme.  The program still didn’t work.  I was not shocked.  It told me that it could not find license information.  I figured that it was a side effect of the 64 bit OS.  I took another look at my patch files and saw that it was a 32 bit patch (the title never said).  I looked for x64 versions of SW08 on eMule, but could not find any fast downloads.

Later on an idea for a fix hit me.  I realized that the 32 bit programs were stored in ‘Program Files (x86), which meant I put the license file in the wrong place.  It was supposed to go into ‘C:Program FilesSolidWorks’. I missed the x86 part.  I changed that and ran the program again.  Still no good.  I looked in the registry to see if my registry keys were correct and I stumbled upon the folder where 32 bit software registry entries were stored.  I then realized that my registry info had to go in there instead.  I fixed that and tried it one more time.  It was still no good.  Then i thought, ‘if there was a place for 32 bit registry keys, would that apply for system32 as well?’  Turns out I was correct.  I put the dll file in ‘c:WindowsWow6432’.  I ran SW again and it works.  I felt like a total genius.