Toshiba Satellite A200 runniing Windows Vista - Built in Webcam stopped working

Although this had nothing to do with with Microsoft Anytime I was getting the following message:
When you select Start Camera in the Camera Assistant software you may see this error message: "Please turn on the Camera".

After wasting half an hour trying to reinstall the driver, down load the orignal software etc, I stumbled across the soltuion on the Toshiba site:

Firstly
Re-install the driver for the webcam.

Then Follow these steps to re-install the driver for the webcam.
You will need to be logged in as an Administrator or have an Administrator password ready.

1. Click the Windows Start button.
2. Click Control Panel, System and Maintenance and then Device Manager.
3. Right-click on Chicony USB 2.0 Camera and select Update Driver Software. A yellow exclamation point indicates that the camera is recognized by Windows but is not working properly, probably because of problem with the device driver
4. Select Browse my computer for the driver software.
5. Select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
6. Select USB Video Device from the list, and click Next.
7. If the message “Windows encountered a problem installing the driver software for your device” appears, click Close.
8. Restart Windows.

The webcam should now work properly.

Sync Pocket PC2003 on HP 5450 pda with Vista

I know that ActiveSync cannot be used on Vista to Sync outlook. However if you read the supported OS section of Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 for Windows Vista (32-bit) you'll see that any pocketPC 2003/2 version is not supported.

So there was me thinking of either downgrading my OS back to XP or buying a new PDA!!! Then I came across someone who said, hey just install it anyway, I've been syncing my HP 5455 no problem. So I thought, if he can do it....so can I!! Well the install of WMDM was a breeze and the UI rocks. I held my breath for a while whan I said setup partnership, thinkig here comes the 'your device is too old....' But it worked. It actually worked and now I can sync on Vista with my Outlook on Pocket PC2003. I think there is 1 proviso, the desktop must not be Outlook 2002 or 2003. However on this I am not sure.

So it looks like no new PDA for me.... just yet :)

Speaker Idol 2007 @ TechEd Devlopers Barcelona

YES YES YES, I'm through to being on of the last 9-12 finalists for the Speaker Idol contest at TechEd Developers this year. After recording my 3 minute on How to Spice up your Windows Forms applications with a little WPF session over 20 times, I had the pleasure of recieving an email today say that I'm through to the next round. Whooo :) Just one step before the finals now!!! There will be 3 waves – each wave will host 3-4 participants. The 3 wave winners will then redeliver their presentation to the judges at which stage one overall winner and one runner-up will be selected.

Joining a Windows Vista Business Desktop Client to Small Business Server 2003

Spent most of today trying to get a Vista desktop to join an SBS 2003 server. Most of the time was wasted trying to get SP2 on the machine which did not seem to be properly installed. This is a pre-requisite to installing the various patchs found here on the SBS 2003 server. This page leads in nicely to all the supported combinations of clients and servers.