In Unix speak, this is quite easy– open up a terminal window and type:

ln -s /PATHTO/DIR2/ /PATHTO/DIR1/

This has finally been added in Windows Vista and Windows 7, but remains somewhat sloppy and confusing. Here is a very brief reference for those trying to do a similar thing in Windows, with emphasis on the flags.

mklink \PATHTO\DIR1\file.txt \PATHTO\DIR2\file.txt

You will be returned with:

symbolic link created for \PATHTO\DIR1\file.txt <<===>> /PATHTO\DIR2\file.txt

This is the most basic entry for creating a symlink between files. The one issues? This creates a soft link (essentially the same as creating a shortcut in Windows Explorer). If I am doing something like syncing my Keepass database, I will actually break this symlink because the software will not be forwarded to the file on a basic level– it will merely sit in the folder and go “where the hell is my database?” and either create a blank one or give some other error message.

To solve this problem we need to use the /H flag which tells Windows to create a hard link. A hard link physically points to the secondary location. You’ll want to use this option if you are trying to trick an application into looking for a different directory. For me, most of the time.

mklink /H \PATHTO\DIR1\file.txt \PATHTO\DIR2\file.txt

Now that’s how to symlink files– you need additional flags for directories. /D tells Windows that you are creating directory links, not file links. If you only use /D you will create a soft link. /J instructs the OS to create a “junction” which is (functionally) the equivalent of the hard links discussed above. In most cases I find myself using /D and /J before the link and target.

mklink /D /J \PATHTO\DIR1\ \PATHTO\DIR2\

Also remember, if you type “mklnk” at the command prompt, you will be returned with basic instructions for using the functions described above:

C:\Users\balloflightning>mklink
MKLINK [[/D] | [/H] | [/J]] Link Target

/D Creates a directory symbolic link. Default is a file
symbolic link.
/H Creates a hard link instead of a symbolic link.
/J Creates a Directory Junction.
Link specifies the new symbolic link name.
Target specifies the path (relative or absolute) that the new link
refers to.

Hopefully the above helps demystify the procedure a bit, however.

Press the start button, click on Run, and type “cmd.” Press enter.

The shutdown flag allows you to shut down (or restart) either a local or remote machine. Used without parameters it merely logs the user off. However you can add…

-l : Logs off the current user, this is also the defualt. -m ComputerName takes precedence.

-s : Shuts down the local computer.

-r : Reboots after shutdown.

-a : Aborts shutdown. Ignores other parameters, except -l and ComputerName. You can only use -a during the time-out period.

-f : Forces running applications to close.

-m [\\ComputerName] : Specifies the computer that you want to shut down.

-t xx : Sets the timer for system shutdown in xx seconds. The default is 20 seconds.

-c “message“ : Specifies a message to be displayed in the Message area of the System Shutdown window. You can use a maximum of 127 characters. You must enclose the message in quotation marks.

-d [u][p]:xx:yy : Lists the reason code for the shutdown. The following table lists the different values.

For example, when you use the command window and type…

shutdown -s -f -t 3600

… it shuts down the machine (-s) while forcing applications to close (-f) in one hour (-t 3600).  Helpful for situations like the one I outlined above or when you are streaming a movie to an external monitor and don’t feel like getting out of bed after realizing “Jeez, even pirating Couples Retreat was a huge waste of time.”

While I was enamored with 1Password (and still am) the biggest hurdle to it’s adoption is that I own a PC and a Mac (remember?). Syncing the password database between computers is therefore a necessity, and syncing across operating systems (XP/7 to OS X and vice versa) even moreso. This was certainly doable with KeePass and KeePassX, although KeePassX didn’t support a global auto-type hotkey. A password storage system is rendered virtually useless if every single time I have to log into a different web page I have to bring up the KeePassX window; copy my information to the clipboard, bring the focus back to FireFox, and type it in. Well, good news! An updated (albeit currently unsupported) version of KeePass (based on v0.4.1) adds auto-type functionality!

So now that we have auto-type everywhere, how to sync so we can use our KeePass databases everywhere we go? Well it’s very easy.

1.) If you aren’t using Dropbox yet, start. Go to Dropbox (click this link if you plan on following this tutorial, it’s the balloflightning’s referral!), set up and account, download the software, and set it up so both (or however many you have) machines are synced. Create a folder somewhere in your Dropbox scheme (by default under Documents -> My Dropbox) called “KeePass.”
2.) Download and install KeePassX (Mac) here. Download and install KeePass Classic (Windows) here. Note: We need to download the “classic” version because KeePassX still uses the old .kdb format instead of the new .kdbx. While we can set triggers in the new Windows version to automatically pop out a .kdb version AND a .kdbx every time we edit a password on that computer, we can’t edit .kdb’s on the Mac and automatically import them into KeePass on the Windows box. And that makes syncing unfun.
3.) On the Windows box (you can do it the other direction, too, but I found the Windows KeePass interface to be a bit more intuitive) open KeePass and create a new database. Set a “master password” and repeat. Don’t let this password suck too much; after all, you’ll be MINIMIZING the number of passwords you have to remember– at the very least you can do a good job coming up with a solid password that gives access to– well– everything else. Use a key file, too, if you’d like, but I find it unnecessary; it’s always something you can add later.
4.) Click “save as” and save the .kdb file to the directory you previously created within your dropbox scheme. Temporarily close KeePass on Windows and open KeePassX on the Mac. Browse to the newly created (and synced) database file and click open. Enter password. Try creating a few keys. Save. Close.
5.) Re-open the Windows version. Now you should only be prompted for the password (no browsing needed) and you should see your KeePass passwords in Windows. Congrats; you’ve done the heavy lifting!

A few notes; this will work between a PC/Linux or Linux/Mac as well. The same general steps apply although you will need the KeePass repo for your Linux flavor or you can compile from source. If you are a Linux user, I figure you probably don’t really need directions on how to do that. Second, KeePass (and therefore KeePassX) don’t automatically update the database while the program is running. Therefore, when you are adding keys be careful not to add different keys on different computers while both are still open. Dropbox handles conflicts well but you will lose some keys depending on what was open and what was being edited at the time. As a rule of thumb, when I first started migrating to KeePass I never had it running on more than one computer at a time. Once you have a stable database, it’s fine to have multiple instances going at once (it will typically ask to open in “read-only” anyways).

You can turn auto-type on and off by doing the following:
Windows: Tools -> Options -> Advanced tab -> Auto-Type button (lower right).
Mac: KeePassX -> Preferences -> Advanced

Some final notes to get auto-type running flawlessly on your computer. As a general practice, I had two lines to the comments of every key.

Auto-Type-Window: *balloflightning.com*

This aids KeePass/X in finding the window you want to auto-type in. I’ve found great success with the Firefox add-on “Hostname” which puts the domain name of the current web-site in the title bar. It may add a bit of clutter to your windows, but it provides you a surefire way to make sure KeePass/X is only auto-typing in the proper Firefox window/tab. The ‘*’ are wildcards, signifying KeePass/X will find whatever window has XXXXX balloflightning.com XXXXX in it. Obviously, you change the hostname between the ‘*’ to whatever key you are storing (i.e., paypal.com, ebay.com, etc.)

Auto-Type: {USERNAME}{TAB}{PASSWORD}{ENTER}

This is the custom sequence for the target window. {USERNAME} and {PASSWORD} are the stored username and password, {TAB} is… well… tab and {ENTER} is also self-explanatory. In some cases you may be forced to modify this (for example, I have to add a {TAB} after {USERNAME} every once in a while because the websites have a “click here to remember me” form.

Some people will find that in OS X, tabbing will result in certain portions of forms (checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdowns, etc.) being skipped. This creates a bit of a problem here because the sequences will then not match between Windows and Mac. Solution?

1.) Open System Preferences
2.) Go to Keyboard & Mouse
3.) Select “All controls” for full keyboard access

For a Firefox-only solution, you can also add / change the accessibility.tabfocus Firefox option via about:config to one of the following: 3 to be able to tab to form controls or 7 to be able to tab to everything

1.) The printer is automatically selected to “use printer offline.”
2.) Upon deselecting “use printer offline,” the print status of any documents in the queue is changed to “Error – printing” at which point anything in the queue will hang.
3.) The printer will reset itself to “use printer offline” upon power cycle or OS reboot, therefore leading to an endless cycle of 1, 2, and 3.

It turns out my issue was in the IOGEAR USB hub I use. I’m not sure if Windows 7 is having trouble dealing with the drivers (it was working in XP about a week ago) or the hub is just flat-out fried. Either way, I’ve seen a lot of threads on Google with the same problem but lack a resolution. Here’s one more thing to try, even if it’s a “well, duh.” If that doesn’t work, it can’t hurt to go with the always popular “reinstall the driver.”