Category Archives: Tools & Utilities

Features I enjoy in SugarSync

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I have been with SugarSync for almost a year now. I started with the 5 GB free plan and today I decided to upgrade my free plan to a paid plan. Why? Because I love SugarSync and I want to support it to stay strong in business so I can continue enjoying the service it provides.

If you are looking for cloud storage with generous space, I suggest you to take a look at SugarSync. If you are currently using DropBox, or SpiderOak, I suggest you to read my previous post for the comparison of these three providers.

Today, I am going to share with you some features that I like in SugarSync:

1. Upload by Email

This is so far my favorite feature. Once you sign up with SugarSync, you will automatically get an special email address like YourUsername.AGeneratedNumber@e2f.sugarsync.com, it is your Upload by Email address. If you send an email with attachment to this address, your attachment will be automatically uploaded to your SugarSync account and synced across your computers. To locate your Upload by Email address, first login to your SugarSync account, then click Account tab on the top, you will see your Upload by Email address under the Settings section. What if this email address is compromised by spammers? No worry, you can login and regenerate a new Upload by Email address.

2. SugarSync for Outlook

SugarSync plugin for Outlook allows user to send large attachment via SugarSync instead of the email attachment. The large attachment is uploaded and stored in the cloud in a folder called “Uploaded by Outlook” in your Web Archive, and the recipients will just need to click a link included in their email message to download the attachment. No need to worry about the size limit of the email attachment and also the uploaded attachment is backed up in the cloud.

3. Flexibility of File Sync and Sharing

After you install SugarSync client, a folder called Magic Briefcase will be created. Any file and folder in this folder will be automatically synced across your computers running SugarSync client. However, you can also choose any other folder on your computer to sync with any computer of yours without having to put them in Magic Briefcase. It is very useful if you just want to sync some file or folder with some specific computer, but not all computers.

SugarSync’s Magic Briefcase folder is similar to DropBox’s My DropBox folder. DropBox uses My DropBox folder for everything, including files you shared with other people and files other people shared with you, and the problem is the file sharing and sync will get confusing when you have a lot of files and folders. The shared file/folder will be synced across computer automatically, and you don’t have control over it. SugarSync, however, creates a folder called SugarSync Shared Folder when someone shared a file with you, and you can decide the destination where the shared file will reside. In my opinion, a separate folder for file sharing makes it easier to organize your files.

4. Generous Storage Space

SugarSync offers a free plan with 5 GB space for you to start with and offers some options to give you some bonus free space up to 1 GB. After you download and install SugarSync, login to your account, then click Getting Started on the top of the page, then complete those six tasks to earn up to 750 MB free space:

SugarSyncTasks

If you have iPhone, then you can install SugarSync for iPhone, then play a simple game in SugarSync for iPhone to earn additional 250 MB free space. So now you have 6 GB total free space. If you want to earn more free space, you can use SugarSync’s referral program to earn UNLIMITED free space.

There are a lot more features in SugarSync that I didn’t cover here, and the above features are those I like the most. You can check their web site to get a full list of features.

I hope you find this post and my previous post helpful. Should you have decided to choose SugarSync, could you use my referral link to sign up? If you use it to sign up a free 5GB account and install the client, you will get an extra 500 MB bonus space, and I will get a 500 MB bonus as the result of the referral. Thank you in advance.

https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?rf=e3izqm2hfvy70&utm_source=txemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=referral

Happy Syncing!

SugarSync vs DropBox vs SpiderOak, which should I choose?

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I wrote a post in April regarding the pros and cons of several cloud storage/backup service providers based on my experience, such as Windows Live Mesh, DropBox, Memopal, SpiderOak, and SugarSync, and I concluded that SugarSync is better than the others. Then you may ask what is the purpose of this post?

Well, it seems that many people are not happy with SugarSync because it does not have a native Linux client, so those people, especially Linux users, left SugarSync and chose either DropBox or SpiderOak. What I want to do here is to give a summary of the feature comparisons of the three service providers.

1. Backup

All three provide backup with recovery feature, but DropBox only backs up files in My DropBox folder on your computer. Both SugarSync and SpiderOak allow you to choose any folder on your computer to back up.

2. Sync with multiple computers

All three allow file/folder synchronization among multiple computers running their clients, but DropBox can only sync files/folders in My Dropbox on your computer. Both SugarSync and SpiderOak allow you to choose any file/folder on your computer to sync with another computer.

3. Easy to use

DropBox is very easy to set up and use. The installation process is simple and it will create a folder on your computer called My DropBox, and all files and folders will be synced automatically with other computers running the DropBox client.

SugarSync is also easy to set up and use. The installation process is simple and will create a folder called Magic Briefcase. Like DropBox’s My Dropbox folder, any files/folders in Magic Briefcase will be synced automatically with other computers running the SugarSycn client.The client also allows you to choose any folder or file on one computer to sync to another computer.

SpiderOak is not very easy to use. The installation process is simple and easy to follow, but it takes quite some time to understand  and to use the sync process. It does NOT create any folder for you, and it is up to you to choose which folder/file to sync.

4. Remote access

All three provide remote access to your files stored on their servers.

5. Security

All three provide encryption on your files that stored on their server, however, both SugarSync and DropBox claim that they have the ability to decrypt your files when needed for the legal purpose, because the decryption key of your files is stored on their servers too. SpiderOak, however, prevents anyone except you to decrypt your file, because the decryption key is not stored on their server, instead, the key is stored on your local computer when you install the client. If you are concerned about your privacy and don’t want ANYONE except you to be able to access your files, then you have two options:

1). Encrypt your files before you upload to their server

2). Use SpiderOak

If you choose SpiderOak, then you need to remember the risk: if you ever forget your password, then you will not be able to access your files any more, because your password is created locally and is not stored on their server, and there is no password recovery feature. Then you may ask, what if I forget my password? Here is the answer from SpiderOak:

Q #13: What if I forget my SpiderOak password?

At the time when you create your SpiderOak password, you will also be prompted to create a password hint. The creation of a password hint is not mandatory however it will be your only clue should you forget your password. If you choose to create a password hint, we advise you to create one that is informative enough so that you will remember but not too obvious so that anyone may guess. The password hint may be recovered anytime on the SpiderOak web page.

At SpiderOak we have created a true 'zero-knowledge environment' meaning that no one including the SpiderOak employees will ever know what you are storing on your SpiderOak Network. We can maintain this environment because at no time will anybody know your password (or the answer to your password hint) except you.

So I guess the zero-knowledge privacy comes with a price.

6. File sharing

All three allow file sharing, but the file sharing feature in DropBox is limited. You can only share files/folders in My DropBox folder, and all shared files from other people will be placed in your My DropBox folder. Both SugarSync and SpiderOak allow you to choose any file/folder on your computer to share with other people. The good thing about SugarSync sharing is that if another SugarSync user shared a file with you, then when you accepted the shared file, a folder called SugarSync Shared Folder will be created under My Documents (or Documents in Windiws Vista/7), and then a sub folder named after the user’s name will also be created to better organize files.

SpiderOak, however, is very hard to use to share files/folders. For instance, you will need to create ShareID and RoomKey before you can start sharing something, it is not easy I warn you.

7. Cross platform

All three support Windows and Mac platforms, but SugarSync is the only one that does not support Linux platform at this moment, I hope they will have a Linux client soon.

8. Mobile

SugarSync supports more mobile devices than the other two:

SugarSync: iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Android, Symbian.

DropBox: iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android.

SpiderOak: iPad, iPhone, Android, N900 Maemo

9. Storage and subscription

SugarSync provides 5 GB free storage plus 500 MB bonus for each account sign up referred by you (no limit). It also provides paid plans if you need more space and more features.

DropBox 2 GB free storage plus 250 MB bonus for each account sign up referred by you (no limit). It also provides paid plans.

SpiderOak provides 2 GB free storage plus free bonus storage for each account sigh up referred by you (up to 50 GB). It also provides paid plans.

10. Upload / Sync via Email

Only SugarSync provides this nice feature. After you login your SugarSync account, click Account tab on the top, you will see your Upload by Email address under the Settings section:

SugarSyncUploadByEmail

 

 

If you send an email with an attachment to your Upload by Email address @e2f.sugarsync.com, then the attachment will be automatically uploaded to your SugarSync account and synced across your computers. You will find a new folder called Uploaded by Email is created under Magic Briefcase. I really like this feature because I can give my customer my Upload by Email address, and when they send attachments to that address, I will get them on any of my synced computer.

I hope you find this post and my previous post helpful. Should you have decided to choose SugarSync, could you use my referral link to sign up? If you use it to sign up an free 5GB account, you will get an extra 500 MB bonus space, and I will get a 500 MB bonus as the result of the referral. Thank you in advance.

https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?rf=e3izqm2hfvy70&utm_source=txemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=referral

Happy Syncing!

TrueCrypt donation

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TrueCrypt is free open-source disk encryption software for Windows, Mac, and Linux. You can use it to encrypt your files, disk partitions, and even a whole disk. It is very easy to use and the encryption and the decryption process is transparent to end user, for instance, once a TrueCrypt container (a container is a TrueCrypt encrypted file containing all your data) is decrypted and mounted, the mounted container is the same as a disk drive to the end user. Any file put in the mounted disk drive will be encrypted automatically, and any file pulled outside the disk will be decrypted automatically.

As many open-source projects, it relies mainly on donations from users for their development cost. Recently, TrueCrypt set up a donation goal of $150,000 for their future development. My donation is limited, so I would like to use my blog to give it a shout-out. If you are a happy TrueCrypt, I encourage you to consider a donation to TrueCrypt to help them meet their goal. To see the current donation status and make a donation, you can visit their home page at http://www.truecrypt.org

Happy Encrypting!

More free bonus from SugarSync cloud service

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If you already use SugarSync, then you know that after you sign up an account (either Free or Paid account), if you finish five tasks under Getting Started tab in your account, then you will get 125 MB bonus storage. If you think 125 MB bonus is not good enough, then here is the good news. Started June 6th, SugarSync lets you earn 125 MB bonus for each task you finish, so the total bonus will be 625 MB when you finish all five tasks.

SugarSync bonus storage

 

What about those who already finished the five tasks before the change? The good news is they are eligible too! If you already finished the tasks before, then just log back into your account, and you will be prompted for this bonus. All you need to do is to accept the bonus, and you don’t need to do the tasks again. How nice. For more information for this new bonus, check this post: http://www.sugarsync.com/blog/2011/07/06/free-storage-come-and-get-it/

 

If you haven’t used SugarSync, or you haven’t heard of SugarSync, SugarSync is a secure online backup and file synchronization service. You can back up your important files on SugarSync cloud storage and also synchronize them with your other devices, such as computer and smart phone. For more information about SugarSync and other similar services, you can read my blog post http://www.codingbeaver.com/myblog/index.php/2011/04/29/drop-dropbox-and-pick-up-sugarsync/

If you decide to use SugarSync, you can use this referral link to sign up. With this link you will get 500 MB bonus storage when you complete the registration. So your total bonus storage will be 500 MB + 625 MB (if you finish the five tasks) = 1125 MB!

Sign up with this referral link to get 500 MB bonus:

https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?rf=e3izqm2hfvy70

And I will get 500 MB bonus if you sign up using the above link. Thank you in advance.

Block unwanted web tracking via Ghostery

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Do you know when you visit a web site, you behavior might be monitored and tracked? If I tell you that there are six sites will be monitoring you when you visit MSNBC web site (www.msnbc.com), will you believe it?

Thanks to a nice browser plugin called Ghostery, you can find all those hidden sites that are tracking you. I highly recommend everyone to download and install it, and the plugin is available for Internet Explorer, FireFox, Google Chrome, and Safari.

Note: lots of web sites are using Google Analytics to track web site visits, so if you use Ghostery and enable tracking block, you need to remember to uncheck Google Analytics from the the blocking list.

Here is a screen shot displaying all web sites that are tracking you on MSNBC web site.

GhosteryFireFox

Drop Dropbox and pick up SugarSync

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IMPORTANT UPDATES

I just found out that Windows Live Mesh does NOT encrypt user files stored on their server, here is the original blog post talking about how the original Live Mesh was designed and implemented three years ago: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/livemesh/archive/2008/05/29/behind-live-mesh-authorization-and-encryption.aspx, and to my disappointment, three years later, Windows Live Mesh still has not implemented data encryption to protect user files. Here is the question I asked and the answer I got from Widnows Live Help Center: http://windowslivehelp.com/thread.aspx?threadid=6c278f92-9ab2-4917-88eb-9dc03ef74947

 

SugarSycn will encrypt user files and no one else can decrypt your files except yourself, according to their reply to my email inquiry:
[UPDATE, June 16th, 2011]: SugarSync apologized to me that the email above from their support staff has incorrect information regarding the encryption. The encryption key is NOT stored in user’s password, and SugarSync IS able to decrypt user’s file. Here are some quoted messages from SugarSync:

We store each user file with a different key. The keys are not based on user passwords in any form; we couldn’t provide the functionality we do (sharing, photo galleries, etc.) otherwise. Encryption keys are different for each user.

I understand the concern that some customers have about the possibility of SugarSync employees accessing data stored on our servers. This happens in very rare cases during troubleshooting with the permission of the customer; only a select few people have that level of access.

With respect to warrants and subpoenas, we abide by the laws of the State of California and the United States.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Thank you!

==================

Hello Jeffrey-

Our agent did indeed give you incorrect information, and I apologize for that. Encryption keys are not stored with your password.

From your ticket, it looks like you wanted to know if SugarSync can decrypt files if needed. The answer is yes, we can decrypt files. This occurs only when we’re troubleshooting issues with the customer’s consent.

I’m sorry again for the miscommunication. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Thank you!

=================

So I apologize to those who read my post and had a wrong understanding of SugarSync’s security.

==================End of Update==========================

 

Since the security issue of Dropbox was discovered and the contradiction of their security claims in their new terms of service and on their web site was criticized, I have decided to drop Dropbox and to find an alternative.
Here are some on-line synchronization and backup services I have used or am still using. I personally trust their security policy, so I will not discuss anything related security.

Windows Live Mesh

Before Dropbox, I have been using Microsoft’s Windows Live Mesh since its beta version and I am still using it.

Pros:

  • Service is stable and the synchronization speed is very fast.
  • Generous free space for on-line synchronization. It integrates with Windows Live SkyDrive (25 GB free space if you have a Live ID) in which 5 GB of your SkyDrive space can be used for on-line synchronization.
  • PC-to-PC synchronization. Windows Live Mesh lets you synchronize a folder on one PC running Windows Live Mesh client directly with another PC running Live Mesh client without using the on-line storage. Because of this, there is no size limit on the data you synchronize as long as your hard drive is big enough to hold the data.
  • Remote desktop access. It is a killer feature. Among all the PC’s running Windows Live Mesh client, you can log into a PC from another PC remotely, just like the Remote Desktop Connection feature in Windows, but uses different protocol. It is very handy if your computers are behind firewall, RDC port is blocked, or you don’t know how to set up port forwarding, etc, all you need to do is to allow the computer to be accessed remotely. Then when you launch Windows Live Mesh client from a PC to connect another PC, you will see a screen like this under the “Remote” tab:
    WindowsLiveMeshRemoteAccess
    After the connection is setup and you type in your credentials, you can remotely access your PC (the scree shows I remotely logged into my home PC from my office PC via Windows Live Mesh):
    WindowsLiveMeshRemoteLogin
  • Automatic synchronization of program settings. If you turn on Program Settings synchronization feature in Windows Live Mesh, then you can have your IE favorites synchronized between computers, and also have your Microsoft Office styles, templates, email signatures, and custom dictionary synchronized as well.
    WindowsLiveMeshProgramSettingsSync
  • Allow multiple Live Mesh synchronization on one PC.You do NOT need to install multiple Windows Live Mesh clients on one PC if you are sharing the PC with other people, and it does NOT require each user to have a separate desktop account. You can sign in with different Live ID to set up different sync folders (Dropbox does not allow this).

Cons:

  • Windows Live Mesh only supports Windows and Mac. No Linux support is available at this moment though it has been requested.
  • Windows Live Mesh web interface is very poor at the time of writing. The current web interface allows you to view and download your files stored in the 5 GB SkyDrive synced storage, but you cannot add new files to the storage folder. The old beta version of Live Mesh allows user to upload files to the on-line synchronized folder, but the current version somehow removed this feature, and it drives me crazy.
  • Although you can remotely log into a computer running Live Mesh client via the web interface, it requires you to install an ActiveX control, which means you must use Internet Explorer.
  • No versioning support.

Conclusion:

I will continue using Windows Live Mesh and hope the future release of the web interface will be better and allow user to add files to the SkyDrive synced storage through the web UI. The lacking of Linux support does not bother me very much as long as I can upload/add file to the SkyDrive synced storage.

 

SpiderOak

SipderOak is a online backup and synchronization service.  It does everything Dropbox does plus online backup feature. It has various plans, including 2 GB free space plan and other paid plans if more space is needed. You can also earn more free space by referring friends to use SpiderOak.

Pros:

  • Multi-platform support. SpiderOak supports Windows, Mac, Linux and mobile OS.
  • Online file backup and accidental file deletion protection.
  • Zero-knowledge privacy environment. SpiderOak does not store user’s password, so it is the user’s responsibility to remember password. Your data is encrypted on SpiderOak’s server and only accessible by you because only you know your password.

Cons:

  • Long learning curve. The SpiderOak client UI is not straight forward and it took me quite some time to learn how to use SpiderOak. For example, you will have to set up a backup folder (or more) before you can set up sync folders. To set up synchronization between computers, you will have to give a name for each synchronization. To share files, you will have to create a ShareID and RoomKey, then you can send either of them to the person you would like to share with. To me, this is too complicated.
    SpiderOakClientUI
    SpiderOak Sync UI:
    SpiderOakClientUISync
    SpiderOak Share UI:
    SpiderOakClientUIShare
  • Unstable service. I tried to sync files between a Windows PC and an Ubuntu PC, and sometimes after I deleted a file from the Ubuntu PC, the file would not be deleted from the Windows PC, though the client showed all files are synced. It also happened to me a couple times that when I added a file to sync, the file was mysteriously deleted after the synchronization.
  • Slow upload and sync speed. I noticed that the upload speed for online backup and the sync speed are slow, even with my gigabit connection.
  • You cannot reset your password if you forget it. If you want to change your password, you will have to change it in the SpiderOak client. However, if you forget your password, all you will get is a “Password Hint” if you set up one when you sign up. If you don’t’, then you are dead. You may get some help by contacting their support team, but I have never tried to contact them, so I don’t know if they can help you reset your password.
  • Smaller free

Conclusion:

I would not recommend SpiderOak at this moment because of the unstable service. I may give it another try in the future when the service is more stable.

 

Memopal

Memopal is online backup and storage software. It allows you to access your file, or share your files, but it does not support file synchronization. I tried for some time and uninstalled because it does not have file synchronization feature. Besides, it leaves a shortcut in the device list in Windows 7, very annoying. You will have to search your registry for “Memopal” to remove it. Just for that, I will not recommend Memopal. Here is a screen shot of the issue I am talking about after the uninstallation.
MemoPalResidual

 

SugarSync

SugarSync provides the similar services as SpiderOak does: online backup, synchronization, and sharing. It provides various service plans, including a 5 GB free plan and other paid plans if more space is needed. You can also earn more free space by referring friends to use SugerSync.

Pros:

  • Service is stable and speed is fast (sync speed is a little bit slower than Windows Live Mesh).
  • Generous free space for online backup and synchronization. SugarSync gives you 5 GB free space as Windows Live Mesh does.
  • Easy to use SugarSync client user interface.
  • Upload and sync via email.
  • Support mobile device.
  • User friendly web interface. You can access your file, share your file, or sync your file via the web interface you don’t have the client installed.
  • Versioning with the ability to restore. SugarSync stores up to 5 versions of a file plus the current version, so if a file is accidently deleted during the collaboration, you can restore the file to the right version.
    SugarSyncClientUI

Cons:

  • Only support Windows and Mac platform. There is no Linux support at this moment, thought Linux support is on the to-do list.
  • Cannot sync Outlook .pst, Quicken, and Quickbooks. System folders cannot be synced either.

Conclusion:

I like SugarSync and recommend it to everyone who is looking for an online backup and sync application. If you use this link to sign up for a 5 GB free plan, you will get a 500 MB bonus (of course, I will get a 500 MB bonus) before 5/31/2011, after 5/31/2011, the bonus will become 250MB. https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?rf=e3izqm2hfvy70

After you sign up, do remember to log into your SugarSync account and click “Getting Started” tab, then make sure you finish all the five tasks listed there and you will earn an additioanl 250 MB bonus.

To sum up, my recommendation is:

1. SugarSync

2. Windows Live Mesh (if in the future Windows Live Mesh has a better web UI and implement data encryption, I may give Widnows Live Mesh higher rank than SugarSync because of the remote desktop connection feature.)

US map with hotspot for each state

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I was working on a project last week and I needed a US map with hotspot for each state, when user clicks on a state in the map, the web displays information related to the selected state. I searched the Internet but could not find anything, so I decided to create my own US map with hotspot for each state.

Things needed:

  1. A US map picture with state names
  2. Macromedia Dreamweaver MX (I only have the old version, but it is enough)
  3. Patience, a lot.

Steps:

It is very easy, but very tedious to create hotspots on a map with Dreamweaver.

  1. Create a new HTML page
  2. Insert the US map picture
  3. In the <img> properties window, give a name for the Map field, say “usMap”
  4. Click “Polygon Hotspot Tool”, then mark spots through the border of a state until you come back to the first spot
  5. Dreamweaver will calculate the coordinates for each spot you marked.
  6. Repeat step 4 until you finished all the states of US.

To save your time and eyes, I am providing my work here free of charge. I have done two versions, one is for a 1000 X 618 US map, the other is 800X494, and it took me two full days to finish them. I hope it will help you.

Version 1

Map size: 1000 X 618

Here is the map picture (if you change the size, then you will have to recalculate the coordinates, so you should use the same picture):

us_map

Here is the HTML code for the map above:

<img src="images/us_map.png" width="1000" height="618" border="0" usemap="#usMap"> 

<map name="usMap">

  <area shape="poly" coords="61,29,59,39,61,55,63,62,58,75,70,84,71,94,81,99,89,99,99,102,111,104,127,104,161,110,175,46,93,25,94,38,94,48,88,43,82,41,74,38,61,29" href="#WA" alt="Washington">

  <area shape="poly" coords="66,82,57,81,42,121,29,146,24,164,92,188,140,196,153,152,148,147,160,132,166,120,162,110,141,106,131,105,112,105,90,100,75,98,66,83" href="#OR" alt="Oregon">

  <area shape="poly" coords="27,168,24,186,14,200,19,219,16,233,22,251,22,260,28,266,26,278,32,289,28,298,44,334,41,346,60,354,69,367,76,371,75,378,81,378,91,391,92,404,139,413,143,408,139,406,141,397,146,385,154,381,148,362,77,252,91,189,32,169" href="#CA" alt="California">

  <area shape="poly" coords="134,413,200,452,236,458,253,335,207,327,167,320,161,340,154,337,148,362,153,379,147,386,135,413,138" href="#AZ" alt="Arizona">

  <area shape="poly" coords="237,459,250,461,254,453,285,454,350,457,361,346,321,342,255,335,238,459" href="#NM" alt="New Mexico">

  <area shape="poly" coords="360,356,412,359,412,402,424,408,437,414,444,413,449,418,461,423,464,417,477,423,488,419,494,420,501,419,519,425,522,462,530,478,529,491,527,511,511,519,487,537,461,553,456,567,454,577,457,596,444,593,432,588,420,582,415,560,404,545,397,536,394,523,386,515,380,508,371,507,365,504,352,509,345,522,334,516,319,506,317,492,312,483,288,453,350,458,361,356" href="#TX" alt="Texas">

  <area shape="poly" coords="175,46,163,109,166,119,150,147,154,153,140,197,236,218,245,162,240,156,236,158,223,157,217,159,215,150,209,141,206,130,197,128,203,107,197,97,186,85,187,78,184,73,188,50,175,46" href="#ID" alt="Idaho">

  <area shape="poly" coords="189,51,278,66,365,78,357,164,248,151,245,161,240,156,228,157,219,157,212,142,209,130,198,128,203,108,188,87,189,77,185,74,190,51" href="#MT" alt="Montana">

  <area shape="poly" coords="248,152,233,237,350,253,356,165,247,152" href="#WY" alt="Wyoming">

  <area shape="poly" coords="91,188,77,253,148,360,155,339,161,341,188,209,91,189" href="#NV" alt="Nevada">

  <area shape="poly" coords="189,210,167,321,253,336,268,243,234,239,236,218,190,210" href="#UT" alt="Utah">

  <area shape="poly" coords="268,244,255,334,328,342,377,344,382,257,315,251,269,244" href="#CO" alt="Colorado">

  <area shape="poly" coords="366,78,360,143,475,148,474,139,472,136,471,113,467,104,467,82,367,77" href="#ND" alt="North Dakota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="360,144,356,164,354,209,439,213,450,218,459,217,476,224,477,214,475,205,477,163,471,157,473,149,360,144" href="#SD" alt="South Dakota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="354,210,350,254,382,258,382,280,495,282,489,270,478,225,460,219,449,219,440,215,417,214,354,210" href="#NE" alt="Nebraska">

  <area shape="poly" coords="381,280,378,345,444,350,507,349,509,306,502,293,502,286,496,283,382,280" href="#KS" alt="Kansas">

  <area shape="poly" coords="363,345,361,357,413,360,412,402,437,414,445,414,460,420,465,419,476,422,493,420,497,418,512,422,510,365,508,350,432,351,364,345" href="#OK" alt="Oklahoma">

  <area shape="poly" coords="468,81,468,106,471,113,472,124,473,137,476,146,473,155,477,164,476,203,561,201,560,193,552,183,545,177,538,173,535,166,537,159,534,153,542,145,542,131,554,120,560,111,578,100,574,98,562,96,554,99,544,95,528,89,522,91,505,86,500,73,497,80,469,80" href="#MN" alt="Minnesota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="477,204,478,222,490,268,556,266,561,270,568,257,566,249,577,244,579,233,571,221,564,217,561,201,561,203,477,203" href="#IA" alt="Iowa">

  <area shape="poly" coords="489,268,495,282,503,287,503,294,510,307,508,350,510,360,588,358,589,363,587,368,595,367,599,358,604,353,605,345,600,342,601,333,583,320,586,306,575,304,575,300,563,284,562,271,558,267,489,268" href="#MO" alt="Missouri">

  <area shape="poly" coords="511,360,514,423,520,428,522,440,574,436,575,419,591,390,590,383,596,367,588,367,587,360,513,360" href="#AR" alt="Arkansas">

  <area shape="poly" coords="522,440,522,461,532,481,527,510,537,511,557,515,562,510,569,514,579,517,578,522,588,525,596,519,604,518,617,524,618,518,608,514,612,508,610,504,604,504,608,498,601,490,602,482,569,483,567,474,577,453,573,437,522,440" href="#LA" alt="Louisiana">

  <area shape="poly" coords="543,132,541,146,535,152,538,161,536,168,551,182,560,194,565,218,571,222,618,218,617,211,614,206,617,196,616,185,619,175,626,159,614,173,613,161,612,149,608,144,576,136,569,131,562,132,562,124,543,131" href="#WI" alt="Wisconsin">

  <area shape="poly" coords="574,223,578,234,577,245,568,250,569,257,563,269,563,283,576,301,586,307,584,320,602,334,603,343,608,341,618,343,617,334,621,331,623,322,629,304,628,294,625,240,617,220,573,223" href="#IL" alt="Illinois">

  <area shape="poly" coords="73,471,82,498,73,499,73,491,60,494,60,503,64,510,74,514,81,514,77,523,69,526,60,523,51,533,51,543,54,554,61,552,59,564,81,570,75,582,59,590,36,595,49,596,66,592,86,584,100,574,97,572,105,564,113,556,107,566,119,567,127,566,125,560,132,559,144,567,160,572,179,584,190,600,199,612,205,612,206,606,212,611,214,604,204,599,190,580,185,574,176,577,166,570,157,563,156,480,152,477,143,476,134,472,127,470,122,466,116,462,110,459,99,462,90,464,74,471" href="#AK" alt="Alaska">

  <area shape="poly" coords="623,238,629,287,628,299,628,306,623,324,635,322,644,319,648,322,652,318,657,317,667,305,665,300,675,297,674,292,669,231,638,234" href="#IN" alt="Indiana">

  <area shape="poly" coords="624,324,621,332,616,337,616,343,610,342,605,344,602,356,624,356,626,353,697,345,704,341,728,321,719,311,717,303,712,301,710,297,703,298,693,298,687,295,680,291,676,294,668,300,659,316,649,320,625,324" href="#KY" alt="Kentucky">

  <area shape="poly" coords="645,211,637,194,640,163,649,163,652,153,657,150,654,148,660,143,678,148,685,161,685,169,679,183,682,188,695,175,703,198,700,209,695,214,695,222,691,229,670,231,635,236,642,225" href="#MI" alt="Michigan">

  <area shape="poly" coords="600,356,622,357,628,353,693,346,736,341,731,351,722,354,718,360,704,369,696,375,696,381,651,386,592,389,591,384,600,357" href="#TN" alt="Tennessee">

  <area shape="poly" coords="592,390,575,420,575,432,574,440,577,452,568,476,571,484,602,483,601,490,607,496,620,491,631,490,626,443,626,388,592,391" href="#MS" alt="Mississippi">

  <area shape="poly" coords="626,389,674,385,690,441,691,449,693,463,694,473,646,478,649,485,650,491,644,494,638,486,634,493,632,491,626,440" href="#AL" alt="Alabama">

  <area shape="poly" coords="671,232,675,295,680,291,695,297,709,297,717,302,723,289,728,288,729,278,741,272,744,245,738,217,719,231,705,233,693,230,671,233" href="#OH" alt="Ohio">

  <area shape="poly" coords="738,218,748,265,824,252,826,249,831,249,842,237,832,229,831,220,835,211,824,200,738,218" href="#PA" alt="Pennsylvania">

  <area shape="poly" coords="758,184,761,192,749,209,750,215,823,200,835,212,850,217,851,224,867,220,879,209,867,213,856,214,853,197,852,172,851,161,846,158,845,146,838,127,814,133,799,154,800,164,797,171,789,178,773,178,759,183" href="#NY" alt="New York">

  <area shape="poly" coords="329,610,327,599,322,594,325,586,307,572,278,560,255,550,241,543,248,539,254,538,279,549,300,561,315,565,322,571,326,582,336,587,345,597" href="#HI" alt="Hawaii">

  <area shape="poly" coords="674,385,691,442,696,476,746,474,750,477,751,470,761,469,763,457,763,450,766,439,757,430,755,425,750,418,743,410,734,402,727,394,714,387,719,380,697,381,675,385" href="#GA" alt="Georgia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="647,478,650,490,668,488,680,492,691,499,700,498,710,490,721,495,734,505,744,513,747,532,756,536,752,545,764,564,775,576,783,579,790,590,801,586,800,579,804,571,801,550,786,523,788,516,780,508,770,493,762,470,754,470,752,478,746,475,697,477,696,473,647,478" href="#FL" alt="Florida">

  <area shape="poly" coords="719,379,737,371,754,369,760,376,778,373,803,390,797,396,795,406,766,439,754,423,745,412,734,403,729,395,714,389,719,380" href="#SC" alt="South Carolina">

  <area shape="poly" coords="696,382,696,375,717,362,722,355,730,352,736,342,779,334,837,321,847,335,839,348,832,349,836,355,833,360,840,362,829,368,820,373,814,385,803,391,776,374,761,378,754,370,738,373,722,377,713,380,696,382" href="#NC" alt="North Carolina">

  <area shape="poly" coords="703,345,740,341,838,324,837,315,829,316,828,310,827,293,815,290,809,288,811,278,796,268,795,274,787,268,775,281,774,291,767,289,761,307,759,314,745,324,736,326,731,324,727,322,702,345" href="#VA" alt="Virginia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="744,254,742,272,731,279,729,290,722,292,719,304,721,315,727,320,733,325,738,326,745,324,750,322,756,319,759,315,761,307,763,298,766,295,767,291,773,292,773,285,778,278,781,274,782,270,785,269,792,274,796,271,794,267,789,265,785,265,778,264,774,270,768,273,766,264,749,266,744,256" href="#WV" alt="West Virginia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="839,128,864,120,869,130,864,136,862,150,863,172,853,174,852,163,847,159,845,144,839,128" href="#VT" alt="Vermont">

  <area shape="poly" coords="863,172,884,169,889,161,884,154,871,112,867,118,868,132,863,140,863,172" href="#NH" alt="New Hampshire">

  <area shape="poly" coords="871,113,880,136,890,159,882,152,894,144,898,137,907,131,908,121,914,122,920,116,922,119,935,104,932,99,927,99,926,91,920,91,910,60,902,54,895,62,886,58,880,78,879,89,881,96,871,113" href="#ME" alt="Maine">

  <area shape="poly" coords="853,192,878,187,881,200,865,205,857,214,854,193" href="#CT" alt="Connecticut">

  <area shape="poly" coords="853,176,853,193,877,187,883,183,892,192,900,187,909,186,909,181,903,183,898,181,896,178,889,176,891,167,888,165,880,172,854,175" href="#MA" alt="Massachusetts">

  <area shape="poly" coords="879,189,883,185,893,194,883,198,879,189" href="#RI" alt="Rhode Island">

  <area shape="poly" coords="835,213,832,227,842,238,833,248,837,260,845,260,854,247,852,232,847,230,851,223,849,217,837,212" href="#NJ" alt="New Jersey">

  <area shape="poly" coords="827,251,833,278,843,278,842,273,838,269,829,251" href="#DE" alt="Delaware">

  <area shape="poly" coords="765,264,827,251,833,278,844,279,838,306,835,304,838,288,825,284,823,277,825,272,824,264,820,263,817,267,819,277,820,286,814,286,811,281,804,274,798,269,792,262,783,264,772,273,765,264" href="#MD" alt="Maryland">

  <area shape="rect" coords="884,334,995,350" href="#DC" alt="Washington, D.C.">

</map>

 

 

I made each hotspot link to an anchor on the same page, if you need to link to a different page, just change the “href” part.

Also, make sure the image source points to the correct path in your file structure.

 

Version 2

Map size: 800 X 494

Here is the map picture:

us_map800

Here is the HTML code for the map above:

<img src="images/us_map800.png" width="800" height="494" border="0" usemap="#usMap"> 

<map name="usMap">

  <area shape="poly" coords="48,23,47,31,48,44,50,49,46,60,56,67,56,75,64,79,71,79,79,81,88,83,101,83,128,88,140,36,74,20,75,30,75,38,70,34,65,32,59,30,48,23" href="#WA" alt="Washington">

  <area shape="poly" coords="52,65,45,64,33,96,23,116,19,131,73,150,112,156,122,121,118,117,128,105,132,96,129,88,112,84,104,84,89,84,72,80,60,78,52,66" href="#OR" alt="Oregon">

  <area shape="poly" coords="21,134,19,148,11,160,15,175,12,186,17,200,17,208,22,212,20,222,25,231,22,238,35,267,32,276,48,283,55,293,60,296,60,302,64,302,72,312,73,323,111,330,114,326,111,324,112,317,116,308,123,304,118,289,61,201,72,151,25,135" href="#CA" alt="California">

  <area shape="poly" coords="107,330,160,361,188,366,202,268,165,261,133,256,128,272,123,269,118,289,122,303,117,308,108,330,110" href="#AZ" alt="Arizona">

  <area shape="poly" coords="189,367,200,368,203,362,228,363,280,365,288,276,256,273,204,268,190,367" href="#NM" alt="New Mexico">

  <area shape="poly" coords="288,284,329,287,329,321,339,326,349,331,355,330,359,334,368,338,371,333,381,338,390,335,395,336,400,335,415,340,417,369,424,382,423,392,421,408,408,415,389,429,368,442,364,453,363,461,365,476,355,474,345,470,336,465,332,448,323,436,317,428,315,418,308,412,304,406,296,405,292,403,281,407,276,417,267,412,255,404,253,393,249,386,230,362,280,366,288,284" href="#TX" alt="Texas">

  <area shape="poly" coords="140,36,130,87,132,95,120,117,123,122,112,157,188,174,196,129,192,124,188,126,178,125,173,127,172,120,167,112,164,104,157,102,162,85,157,77,148,68,149,62,147,58,150,40,140,36" href="#ID" alt="Idaho">

  <area shape="poly" coords="151,40,222,52,292,62,285,131,198,120,196,128,192,124,182,125,175,125,169,113,167,104,158,102,162,86,150,69,151,61,148,59,152,40" href="#MT" alt="Montana">

  <area shape="poly" coords="198,121,186,189,280,202,284,132,197,121" href="#WY" alt="Wyoming">

  <area shape="poly" coords="72,150,61,202,118,288,124,271,128,272,150,167,72,151" href="#NV" alt="Nevada">

  <area shape="poly" coords="151,168,133,256,202,268,214,194,187,191,188,174,152,168" href="#UT" alt="Utah">

  <area shape="poly" coords="214,195,204,267,262,273,301,275,305,205,252,200,215,195" href="#CO" alt="Colorado">

  <area shape="poly" coords="292,62,288,114,380,118,379,111,377,108,376,90,373,83,373,65,293,61" href="#ND" alt="North Dakota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="288,115,284,131,283,167,351,170,360,174,367,173,380,179,381,171,380,164,381,130,376,125,378,119,288,115" href="#SD" alt="South Dakota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="283,168,280,203,305,206,305,224,396,225,391,216,382,180,368,175,359,175,352,172,333,171,283,168" href="#NE" alt="Nebraska">

  <area shape="poly" coords="304,224,302,276,355,280,405,279,407,244,401,234,401,228,396,226,305,224" href="#KS" alt="Kansas">

  <area shape="poly" coords="290,276,288,285,330,288,329,321,349,331,356,331,368,336,372,335,380,337,394,336,397,334,409,337,408,292,406,280,345,280,291,276" href="#OK" alt="Oklahoma">

  <area shape="poly" coords="374,64,374,84,376,90,377,99,378,109,380,116,378,124,381,131,380,162,448,160,448,154,441,146,436,141,430,138,428,132,429,127,427,122,433,116,433,104,443,96,448,88,462,80,459,78,449,76,443,79,435,76,422,71,417,72,404,68,400,58,397,64,375,64" href="#MN" alt="Minnesota">

  <area shape="poly" coords="381,163,382,177,392,214,444,212,448,216,454,205,452,199,461,195,463,186,456,176,451,173,448,160,448,162,381,162" href="#IA" alt="Iowa">

  <area shape="poly" coords="391,214,396,225,402,229,402,235,408,245,406,280,408,288,470,286,471,290,469,294,476,293,479,286,483,282,484,276,480,273,480,266,466,256,468,244,460,243,460,240,450,227,449,216,446,213,391,214" href="#MO" alt="Missouri">

  <area shape="poly" coords="408,288,411,338,416,342,417,352,459,348,460,335,472,312,472,306,476,293,470,293,469,288,410,288" href="#AR" alt="Arkansas">

  <area shape="poly" coords="417,352,417,368,425,384,421,408,429,408,445,412,449,408,455,411,463,413,462,417,470,420,476,415,483,414,493,419,494,414,486,411,489,406,488,403,483,403,486,398,480,392,481,385,455,386,453,379,461,362,458,349,417,352" href="#LA" alt="Louisiana">

  <area shape="poly" coords="434,105,432,116,428,121,430,128,428,134,440,145,448,155,452,174,456,177,494,174,493,168,491,164,493,156,492,148,495,140,500,127,491,138,490,128,489,119,486,115,460,108,455,104,449,105,449,99,434,104" href="#WI" alt="Wisconsin">

  <area shape="poly" coords="459,178,462,187,461,196,454,200,455,205,450,215,450,226,460,240,468,245,467,256,481,267,482,274,486,272,494,274,493,267,496,264,498,257,503,243,502,235,500,192,493,176,458,178" href="#IL" alt="Illinois">

  <area shape="poly" coords="58,376,65,398,58,399,58,392,48,395,48,402,51,408,59,411,64,411,61,418,55,420,48,418,40,426,40,434,43,443,48,441,47,451,64,456,60,465,47,472,28,476,39,476,52,473,68,467,80,459,77,457,84,451,90,444,85,452,95,453,101,452,100,448,105,447,115,453,128,457,143,467,152,480,159,489,164,489,164,484,169,488,171,483,163,479,152,464,148,459,140,461,132,456,125,450,124,384,121,381,114,380,107,377,101,376,97,372,92,369,88,367,79,369,72,371,59,376" href="#AK" alt="Alaska">

  <area shape="poly" coords="498,190,503,229,502,239,502,244,498,259,508,257,515,255,518,257,521,254,525,253,533,244,532,240,540,237,539,233,535,184,510,187" href="#IN" alt="Indiana">

  <area shape="poly" coords="499,259,496,265,492,269,492,274,488,273,484,275,481,284,499,284,500,282,557,276,563,272,582,256,575,248,573,242,569,240,568,237,562,238,554,238,549,236,544,232,540,235,534,240,527,252,519,256,500,259" href="#KY" alt="Kentucky">

  <area shape="poly" coords="516,168,509,155,512,130,519,130,521,122,525,120,523,118,528,114,542,118,548,128,548,135,543,146,545,150,556,140,562,158,560,167,556,171,556,177,552,183,536,184,508,188,513,180" href="#MI" alt="Michigan">

  <area shape="poly" coords="480,284,497,285,502,282,554,276,588,272,584,280,577,283,574,288,563,295,556,300,556,304,520,308,473,311,472,307,480,285" href="#TN" alt="Tennessee">

  <area shape="poly" coords="473,312,460,336,460,345,459,352,461,361,454,380,456,387,481,386,480,392,485,396,496,392,504,392,500,354,500,310,473,312" href="#MS" alt="Mississippi">

  <area shape="poly" coords="500,311,539,308,552,352,552,359,554,370,555,378,516,382,519,388,520,392,515,395,510,388,507,394,505,392,500,352" href="#AL" alt="Alabama">

  <area shape="poly" coords="536,185,540,236,544,232,556,237,567,237,573,241,578,231,582,230,583,222,592,217,595,196,590,173,575,184,564,186,554,184,536,186" href="#OH" alt="Ohio">

  <area shape="poly" coords="590,174,598,212,659,201,660,199,664,199,673,189,665,183,664,176,668,168,659,160,590,174" href="#PA" alt="Pennsylvania">

  <area shape="poly" coords="606,147,608,153,599,167,600,172,658,160,668,169,680,173,680,179,693,176,703,167,693,170,684,171,682,157,681,137,680,128,676,126,676,116,670,101,651,106,639,123,640,131,637,136,631,142,618,142,607,146" href="#NY" alt="New York">

  <area shape="poly" coords="263,488,261,479,257,475,260,468,245,457,222,448,204,440,192,434,198,431,203,430,223,439,240,448,252,452,257,456,260,465,268,469,276,477" href="#HI" alt="Hawaii">

  <area shape="poly" coords="539,308,552,353,556,380,596,379,600,381,600,376,608,375,610,365,610,360,612,351,605,344,604,340,600,334,594,328,587,321,581,315,571,309,575,304,557,304,540,308" href="#GA" alt="Georgia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="517,382,520,392,534,390,544,393,552,399,560,398,568,392,576,396,587,404,595,410,597,425,604,428,601,436,611,451,620,460,626,463,632,472,640,468,640,463,643,456,640,440,628,418,630,412,624,406,616,394,609,376,603,376,601,382,596,380,557,381,556,378,517,382" href="#FL" alt="Florida">

  <area shape="poly" coords="575,303,589,296,603,295,608,300,622,298,642,312,637,316,636,324,612,351,603,338,596,329,587,322,583,316,571,311,575,304" href="#SC" alt="South Carolina">

  <area shape="poly" coords="556,305,556,300,573,289,577,284,584,281,588,273,623,267,669,256,677,268,671,278,665,279,668,284,666,288,672,289,663,294,656,298,651,308,642,312,620,299,608,302,603,296,590,298,577,301,570,304,556,305" href="#NC" alt="North Carolina">

  <area shape="poly" coords="562,276,592,272,670,259,669,252,663,252,662,248,661,234,652,232,647,230,648,222,636,214,636,219,629,214,620,224,619,232,613,231,608,245,607,251,596,259,588,260,584,259,581,257,561,276" href="#VA" alt="Virginia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="595,203,593,217,584,223,583,232,577,233,575,243,576,252,581,256,586,260,590,260,596,259,600,257,604,255,607,252,608,245,610,238,612,236,613,232,618,233,618,228,622,222,624,219,625,216,628,215,633,219,636,216,635,213,631,212,628,212,622,211,619,216,614,218,612,211,599,212,595,204" href="#WV" alt="West Virginia">

  <area shape="poly" coords="671,102,691,96,695,104,691,108,689,120,690,137,682,139,681,130,677,127,676,115,671,102" href="#VT" alt="Vermont">

  <area shape="poly" coords="690,137,707,135,711,128,707,123,696,89,693,94,694,105,690,112,690,137" href="#NH" alt="New Hampshire">

  <area shape="poly" coords="696,90,704,108,712,127,705,121,715,115,718,109,725,104,726,96,731,97,736,92,737,95,748,83,745,79,741,79,740,72,736,72,728,48,721,43,716,49,708,46,704,62,703,71,704,76,696,90" href="#ME" alt="Maine">

  <area shape="poly" coords="682,153,702,149,704,160,692,164,685,171,683,154" href="#CT" alt="Connecticut">

  <area shape="poly" coords="682,140,682,154,701,149,706,146,713,153,720,149,727,148,727,144,722,146,718,144,716,142,711,140,712,133,710,132,704,137,683,140" href="#MA" alt="Massachusetts">

  <area shape="poly" coords="703,151,706,148,714,155,706,158,703,151" href="#RI" alt="Rhode Island">

  <area shape="poly" coords="668,170,665,181,673,190,666,198,669,208,676,208,683,197,681,185,677,184,680,178,679,173,669,169" href="#NJ" alt="New Jersey">

  <area shape="poly" coords="661,200,666,222,674,222,673,218,670,215,663,200" href="#DE" alt="Delaware">

  <area shape="poly" coords="612,211,661,200,666,222,675,223,670,244,668,243,670,230,660,227,658,221,660,217,659,211,656,210,653,213,655,221,656,228,651,228,648,224,643,219,638,215,633,209,626,211,617,218,612,211" href="#MD" alt="Maryland">

  <area shape="rect" coords="707,267,796,280" href="#DC" alt="Washington, D.C.">

</map>

 

 

If you use any of my work and find it helpful, I hope you can buy me a cup of coffee by making a small donation.

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Batch update your Web.config to workaround ASP.NET security vulnerability

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[UPDATE]: There is no need for using this tool to update your web applications, because Microsoft has released the official ASP.NET security fix through Windows Update: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/09/30/asp-net-security-fix-now-on-windows-update.aspx

You may have already known the newly discovered ASP.NET security vulnerability, and the suggested workaround is to modify your Web.config file until Microsoft releases a security path, as mentioned in Scott’s blog: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/09/18/important-asp-net-security-vulnerability.aspx. I hope you have already updated your application according to the workaround. However, what if you have tons of applications running? Do you want to update one by one? I certainly don’t want to go this route, and that is why I wrote a small console application that will update all my applications’ Web.config files for me. Actually, my department used my application today and updated about 200 web applications on both our staging server and production server, it saved use a lot of time.

Here is what the console application does:

1. it gets the physical paths of the applications that you specify in the App.config file of the console application

2. It loops through each path to see if there is a Web.config file. Once it finds one, it parses the Web.config file until it finds <customErrors> node.

3. Then it will check what language the application is written with, and copy an built-in error page (check Scott’s blog for how to write the error page) to the root folder of your application, and rename it to “AppError_GUID.aspx”, where GUID stands for a Guid string. Since this new error page is using inline model, you don’t need to redeploy your application.

4. Make a copy of your current Web.config file by renaming it to WebConfig.cs (you can change this by modifying the source code)

5. Change <customErrors> node to this:

<customErrors mode="On" defaultRedirect="AppError_26545ce8-80d1-4acd-bb07-6a2ce2385dcd.aspx">
 </customErrors>

6. Save the Web.config

7. Generate a log file for your record

Here is the App.config file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <appSettings>
    <add key="WebAppRootPath" value="C:\Inetpub\wwwroot"/>
    <add key="ApplicationsToUpdate" value="App1|App2|App3"/>
  </appSettings>
</configuration>

The first key in the config file is the root of your applications, the second key is the list of applications you would like to update with this console application. For example, if your applications are running under D:\Inetpub\wwwroot, and you want to update MyApp1, MyApp2, MyApp3, and MyApp4 (the physical path will be D:\Inetpub\wwwroot\MyApp1, D:\Inetput\wwwroot\MyApp2, etc.), then you need to change the config file as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <appSettings>
    <add key="WebAppRootPath" value="C:\Inetpub\wwwroot"/>
    <add key="ApplicationsToUpdate" value="MyApp1|MyApp2|MyApp3|MyApp4"/>
  </appSettings>
</configuration>

Then this console application will only update MyApp1, MyApp2, MyApp3, and MyApp4, and leave all other applications alone.

Here is the full source code of the console application:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Xml;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Management;

namespace WebConfigWorkaround
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            StringBuilder sbPath = new StringBuilder();
            StringBuilder sbLog = new StringBuilder();
            sbLog.Append("Update started at: ");
            sbLog.Append(DateTime.Now.ToString());
            sbLog.Append(Environment.NewLine);

            string rootDirectory = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["WebAppRootPath"];

            string[] appsUpdateList = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["ApplicationsToUpdate"].Split('|');
            for (int i = 0; i < appsUpdateList.Length; i++)
            {
                string appPath = rootDirectory + @"\" + appsUpdateList[i];
                DirectoryInfo di = new DirectoryInfo(appPath);
                // Let us loop through all directories under the root directory
                // and search for Web.config file to update

                if (di.Exists)
                {
                    FileInfo fiWebconfig;
                    FileInfo[] files = di.GetFiles("Web.config"); // root level Web.config
                    if (files.Length == 1)
                    {
                        fiWebconfig = files[0];
                        sbLog.Append(fiWebconfig.FullName);
                        if (UpdateWebConfig(fiWebconfig.FullName))
                        {
                            sbLog.Append("      Successful");
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            sbLog.Append("      Failed");
                        }
                        sbLog.Append(Environment.NewLine);
                    }
                    // Then search the first-level subdirectories for Web.config
                    // If you need to search more levels, then create a
                    // recursive function to do it.
                    foreach (DirectoryInfo subdir in di.GetDirectories())
                    {
                        FileInfo[] configFiles = subdir.GetFiles("Web.config");
                        if (configFiles.Length == 1)
                        {
                            fiWebconfig = configFiles[0];
                            if (UpdateWebConfig(fiWebconfig.FullName))
                            {
                                sbLog.Append("      Successful");
                            }
                            else
                            {
                                sbLog.Append("      Failed");
                            }
                            sbLog.Append(Environment.NewLine);
                        }
                    }
                    // end of finding Web.config
                }

            } // end of loop
            sbLog.Append("Update finished at: ");
            sbLog.Append(DateTime.Now.ToString());
            sbLog.Append(Environment.NewLine);
            sbLog.Append(Environment.NewLine);

            string logFilePath = @"C:\log.txt";
            GenerateLogFile(logFilePath, sbLog.ToString());

        } // end of main program

        #region Update Web.config file

        public static bool UpdateWebConfig(string filePath)
        {
            bool result = true;
            XmlDocument xDoc = new XmlDocument();
            try
            {
                xDoc.Load(filePath.ToString());
                XmlElement xError = xDoc.SelectSingleNode("//system.web/customErrors") as XmlElement;
                if (xError != null)
                {
                    string ErrorFileName = "";
                    if (xError.Attributes["defaultRedirect"] != null)
                    {
                        string oldErrorFileName = xError.Attributes["defaultRedirect"].Value;

                        if (oldErrorFileName.IndexOf("AppError_") != -1)
                        {
                            ErrorFileName = oldErrorFileName;
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            Guid fileGuid = Guid.NewGuid();
                            ErrorFileName = @"AppError_" + fileGuid.ToString() + @".aspx";
                        }

                    }
                    else
                    {
                        Guid fileGuid = Guid.NewGuid();
                        ErrorFileName = @"AppError_" + fileGuid.ToString() + @".aspx";
                    }

                    // Clear <error> node
                    xError.RemoveAll();

                    xError.SetAttribute("mode", "On");
                    xError.SetAttribute("defaultRedirect", ErrorFileName);

                    // Now, let's copy AppError.aspx to the application
                    // Because the built-in AppError.aspx is written with inline model
                    // it does not matter what language your application is written with

                    DirectoryInfo di = new DirectoryInfo(filePath);
                    DirectoryInfo diParent = di.Parent;

                    string consoleAppFolder = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);

                    FileInfo fiError = new FileInfo(consoleAppFolder + @"\AppErrorCSharp.aspx");
                    if (fiError.Exists)
                    {
                        fiError.CopyTo(diParent.FullName + @"\" + ErrorFileName, true);
                        // Let's make a copy of the old web.config file before modification
                        // I change the extension to .cs to protect the backup
                        // but if the backup already exists, then we can skip the backup
                        FileInfo fiWebConfigBackup = new FileInfo(diParent.FullName + @"\WebConfig.cs");

                        if (!fiWebConfigBackup.Exists)
                        {
                            File.Copy(filePath, diParent.FullName + @"\WebConfig.cs", false);
                        }
                        xDoc.Save(filePath);
                    }

                } // end of checking <customErrors> node
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                result = false;
            }
            finally
            {
                xDoc = null;
            } // end of try
            return result;
        } // end of UpdateWebConfig method

        #endregion

        #region GenerateLog
        public static void GenerateLogFile(string logFilePath, string logString)
        {
            FileStream fs = File.Open(logFilePath, FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.Write);
            StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(fs);
            try
            {
                sw.Write(logString);

            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                throw ex;
            }
            finally
            {

                sw.Close();
                fs.Close();
            }
        }

        #endregion

    }// end of class
}

If you would like to download a copy of the solution file of the console application, then click HERE, and you need Visual Studio 2008 to open it.

Important Notes

I wrote this application  in a short amount of time, so it is not perfect. You may find places need to be optimized, and you are welcome to download the source code to modify it. Also keep it in mind, I provide this tool free of change, and you use this application at your own risk, so I suggest you to go through the source code to understand it before running it, and remember to make a copy of all your web application just in case something goes wrong. My comments in the source code above has detailed explanation for almost each step.

Known Issues:

1. You have to run this console application with the administrative privilege, otherwise, it will throw access denied error on you.

2. The console application will NOT find nested Web.config file. You will need to modify the source code and accomplish it.

3. If you accidently ran this application more than one, it would NOT generate duplication AppError_GUID.aspx file, and would NOT overwrite your backup file of Web.config.

4. If your application is using .NET framework 3.5 SP1 and above, you will need to manually modify <customError> node, after running this console, by adding this attribute to <customErrors>:

redirectMode="ResponseRewrite"

as suggested in Scott’s blog.

How to roll back to the original state before running this console application?

According to Scott, this workaround is temporary and will not be needed once a security patch is released by Microsoft. So how can you roll back to the original state after the security patch is released?

I will write another console application (hopefully soon) to roll back the changes this console have made in a batch mode. However, you can always roll back manually:

1. Delete AppError_GUID.aspx

2. Delete Web.config file

3. Rename WebConfig.cs back to Web.config

That’s it. If you have questions about this console application, please let me know.

Windows Live Mail and Writer got a new face

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If you are a Windows Live Essentials user as I am, then you should give the new Windows Live Essentials beta a try. The beta product was released to public last week and finally I decided to install it. Among all Windows Live Essentials products, I use Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Writer, and Windows Live Sync, especially Windows Live Mail and Writer, I use them almost every day. The beta version includes some new features, which I will not waste your time to describe them and you can read them here if you are interested. What is very attractive to me is the new user interface of Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Writer. Windows Live Mail new interface looks very similar to Microsoft Outlook with the famous task-oriented ribbon on the top of the window, and a calendar and event side bar on the right.

Windows Live Mail New UI

Windows Live Writer new interface looks similar to Microsoft Word, a task-oriented ribbon is placed on the top of the window with easy access to many commonly used features. The old side bar on the right was removed because all features are included in the ribbon. Finally, the blog post properties bar is moved up to be just underneath the ribbon area, which I think is more user friendly.

WindowsLiveWriterNewUI

I especially like the new interface of Windows Live Writer that makes blogging much easier and faster, and I would recommend it to every friend of mine.