Install Windows XP x86 on DELL Alienware m11x

The challenge was: install Windows XP 32bit on the Alienware m11x notebook, delivered with preinstalled Win7 x64. Do not  ask, why – just accept it :-)

There are some TODOs to get it running properly:

TODO: Copy WinXP setup file to USB Stick, make the stick bootable.

Well, the notebook has no DVD/CD ROM, and I had no external drive, so copied the setup files onto the USB stick.

TODO: Backup existing Win7 installation for fallback purposes, check if the backup can be restored properly.

Backup’ed the existing Win7 installation using built-in Win7 backup to network share.

TODO: Check and adjust the target partition.

Since the note book comes with 3 partitions on the HDD (internal hidden service partition, hidden recovery partition and >400 GB partition for OS and data), you may want to split the work partition to two or more (OS + data, to be able to restore only OS without backup and restore also your data).

Keep in mind to format the partition with NTFS.

TODO: Boot the computer and go to BIOS setup (use F2), change AHCI HDD mode to ATA.

Otherwise, you fail to setup Windows XP: the error “Cannot find temporary files” will be shown.

TODO: Boot from stick you configured above, press F12 on start and select USB drive.

Funny, I tried different sticks: some can boot the notebook using “USB drive” boot option, some only “Removal device” option…

TODO: Start winnt.exe from [USBDRIVELETTER:]\[PATHTO WINDOWSSETUPFILES]\I386 folder.

This must work. Enjoy it!

The only problem I still have: there are really few Windows XP drivers for this notebook available: video, sound, mouse/touchpad, keyboard are running, I’m still missing:

• WLAN
• NIC
• WebCam
• CardReader
• 1394

Any ideas?

ASP.NET error “Unable to use SQL Server because ASP.NET version 2.0 Session State is not installed on the SQL server”

Using SQL based state management for ASP.NET 2.0 aplications you may encounter following error:

6/12/2010 7:58:15 AM Frontend.Web.Main.Global Error Unable to use SQL Server because ASP.NET version 2.0 Session State is not installed on the SQL server. Please install ASP.NET Session State SQL Server version 2.0 or above.
at System.Web.SessionState.SqlSessionStateStore.SqlPartitionInfo.GetServerSupportOptions(SqlConnection sqlConnection)
…

What to do?

1. Ensure the ASP.NET state management database is created on the desired database server.
   Keep in mind the command to create such a database:
   
   aspnet_regsql -S <servername> -E -ssadd -sstype p
   
   The database should appear in the management studio like:
   
   
   
2. Ensure the database server and (optionally) the database – if the name differs from the default ASPState – are referenced properly in the web.config in you application:
   
   <system.web>
   <sessionState mode="SQLServer" sqlConnectionString="Integrated Security=SSPI;data source=<servername>;" timeout="30" cookieless="false">
   </sessionState>
   …
   
3. Check the account of the application pool your application is running in:
   
   
   
4. This account should be granted following permissions in the ASPState database:
   - data read
   - data write
   -execute stored procedures
   
5. Usually there’s no dedicated role for stored procedure execution, so create one using “Roles –> Database Roles” editor in management studio:
   - create a role like db_spexecute
   - in “Securables” section add all the dbo. stored procedures related to ASPState management
   - include your application pool account in the newly create role
   
   
6. If you performed all operations correctly, you don’t even need to restart IIS or the WebApp – it just works. Enjoy!
   

James Utzschneider @ Linux Tag in Berlin

James Utzschneider speaks about MS and OpenSource interoperability @ Linux Tag in Berlin Jun. 10th 2010.

Enjoy also Twitterchannel (in german).