VNC, or Virtual Network Computing, is a method of accessing a remote system. It’s basically a simple way to do desktop sharing. I use it to help troubleshoot client problems by logging directly onto their computer, taking control of that machine’s keyboard and mouse and walking through the problem live with my client. It’s an invaluable tool that every freelancer needs to become intimately familiar with.

This whole setup is very easy to install. I use RealVNC on each client machine and then, since I’m a Mac user, I connect to them using a program called Chicken of the VNC. Chicken of the VNC also has one of the best application icons of all time, as you can see on the right.

Anyway, if you have clients and find yourself in need to some hand holding with them you should definitely look into using VNC.

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VNC Is A Technical Support Lifesaver

The solution was simple and obvious in hindsight. To make this message go away enter your “System Preferences” and head to your “Accounts” window. There is a tab there called “Login Items” that will have a list of all of the applications that run immediately when your Mac boots up.

On that list will be an item called “SuperDrive Update 2.1.” Click on it and then hit the small minus button under the list of items. Do not hide the application. You want to disable it completely so hit the minus button instead of checking the “Hide” box.

Follow those steps and the next time you start up your Mac the SuperDrive box won’t be the first thing you’re greeted with.

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Stopping The SuperDrive Update 2.1 Error

What’s that got to do with being a Web Developer?

It’s important to remember that just because you know how to build web sites does not mean you can or should fix any of your client’s computer problems. I promise you that the second you fix one of their problems with a printer, an email client or whatever they’ll be on you every time something goes wrong in their office. That’s fine if you’re charging them through some kind of service contract but never do this kind of work for free.

People who work for free get taken advantage of.

There’s definitely an urge to fix small problems for free or to go that extra step above and beyond what you originally agreed to with a client. I understand that and I’ve certainly done the same before but I know through experience that once you take on the two-headed role of Web Designer and Go-To Tech Support Guy your life will become miserable.

The only support requests you should ever handle are ones that are directly related to any of the programming or design work you’ve done for the client under your original contract. Extra support requests come at a huge price concerning your time. This is why I recommend against providing hosting solutions for clients as well.

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You’re A Web Developer, Not Tech Support

There are dozens of tiny shareware programs that you can buy that will handle building PDFs for you. If you’re looking for a cheaper and simpler way then check out CutePDF Writer. This program is freeware and isn’t very difficult to install but it does require a PS2PDF converter (a link to one is included on the CutePDF site).

Once you have CutePDF installed you’ll notice a new printer has been added to your system. Now when you want to convert a document into a PDF you simple “print” it through that new CutePDF printer. You’ll be prompted to save the new PDF file somewhere and CutePDF Writer does the rest.

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The Easiest Way To Create PDFs On Windows

Nearly everything I read said it was a problem with the attributes on the folder containing the company files. I spent too much time following that advice and it ended up being a deadend. The real solution was a corrupt (or in my case, missing) file called VERSION.TXT in the company directory. I simply took the VERSION.TXT file found in the directory for the sample company that comes pre-installed with Peachtree, copied it into the directory for the company that wouldn’t open and everything was good to go.

This problem happened on a copy of Peachtree Complete Accounting 2007 but I’d bet it will solve the same problem on any version of the software.

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Error: “This is not a valid Peachtree company.”

The best hosting solution for clients, and the one I always recommend you use, is whatever host the client currently has.

If a business is happy with their current web hosting and/or email provider there is no reason to switch unless there’s a valid technical limitation with the current setup. Isn’t that throwing money away though? Absolutely.

Email administration, for a web development business the size of our own, is the biggest time sink with the smallest return. Trust me when I say that the money you’ll earn through hosting will never equal the time and effort you’ll invest in providing tech support for email administration alone.

What if you need to take over web hosting and email in order to get a new client? The sites we’ve built and maintain are small enough that we can use one of the popular shared hosting providers like DreamHost or Media Temple. Most people either love or hate both of those companies and they both have had and will continue to have their ups and downs. In the end, they’re both pretty even. For a reasonable price, they offer great hosting options for small web developers.

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The Best Hosting Solution for Clients

Luckily, Microsoft has released a series of small programs for XP that they have strangely named PowerToys. One of these PowerToys is built exclusively for resizing images. After you download and install the program you’ll be able to instantly resize any image on your computer by right clicking the file and selecting “Resize Pictures” from the menu.

You’ll be presented with a selection of image sizes (or you can define your own) and when you are ready the PowerToy will make a resized copy of your original image in the same directory. You can resize multiple images by selecting multiple files and going through the same process.

For a web developer, if your client doesn’t have access to an image editing program or any interest in learning how to use one, the Image Resizer PowerToy is a great way for XP users to avoid a little heartache in preparing web-ready images.

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Quickly Resize Images in Windows XP

“Microsoft Access cannot open this file. This file is located outside of your intranet or on an untrusted site.”

You can make this go away by opening up IE 7 and going to “Internet Options” under the “Tools” menu. Go to the “Security” tab and select “Local Intranet” then hit the “Sites” button. Uncheck the box marked “Automatically detect intranet network.” Apply the new settings and your Access database should open without problems.

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Access Files Located on an “Untrusted Site”

Anyway, I’ve saved anyone looking to get Samba up and running on a Ubuntu distro the hassle of scouring the threads at ubuntuforums.org and found the following two excellent tutorials:

HOWTO: Setup Samba peer-to-peer with Windows

How to share files using Samba (the more secure way)

Enjoy.

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A Decent Samba Tutorial for Ubuntu

The solution is to install an older version of IncrediMail (version 2031 or earlier). This turns out to be much harder than one would think. It’s not only very hard to find a version of IncrediMail that’s 2031 or earlier but uninstalling your JunkFilter Plus copy isn’t easy.

Luckily, someone has written step-by-step instuctions available for Windows XP Home users. He even has the 2031 version of IncrediMail available for download on his site.

I ran through the steps for my client and he was up and running his beloved IncrediMail with free junk filtering in no time.

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Install IncrediMail with JunkFilter