Extracting files from a MSI file.

Today I was looking for a way to extract files from a msi installation package when I found a blog just explaining how to do it:

msiexec /a filepath to MSI file /qb TARGETDIR=filepath to target folder

Despite the original blog title it does work with XP :) Adriano

Here we come again :) - Part II

Just a little bit more information on my new toy (the one I am planning to get)

Component	Detail
Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R
Processor	INTEL Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 12MB 1.333MHz
Memoty	8 Gb - G.SKILL DDR2 800
Cooler	ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
Power	550W - Seventeam
Keyboard	Microsoft Wireless Desktop 2000 Optico
Video Card	Geforce XFX 8600GT 256MB
HD	750GB SEAGATE

Even not being the fastest possible configuration it is a pretty good one :) Why did I need such a beast: Well, working as a software developer sometimes I find myself running Eclipse, Visual Studio as well a guest OS within Virtualbox (running VS and some other programs there also ;). So I do believe (I'm not a expert in hardware) that a 4 core processor will be helpful; in the same way, 8 GB of memory doesn't seem that much :) I considered to get a WD Raptor but it's too expansive here; also, I'll install 2 other HDs (that are sitting in my current machine) so I'll get some performance gains due to a more distributed load. Do you have a raid 0 configuration? How does it perform? Is it reliable? Right now I am considering to build a Raid 0 array also but I'm not sure. My past experience wih Raid 0 was not so good. Adriano

Here we come again :)

For some time now, my computer started to give me signs that its time is coming. It's a pity since it is only 2 years old and has a not so bad configuration. For me, it's always a dichotomy between a pain and a pleasure when I need to figure out a new configuration. Should I go for a brand computer or should I build it myself? Should I by the latest/fastest/expansive(est) :) processor/memory/whatever (in a useless try to protect my investment) or should I stick to more affordable parts? Please, keep in mind that I live in Brasil and here computers are not so cheap as in some other places. Anyway, just for fun, I am dumping all my previous computer's configuration along side my wishes for the new one:

Year	Processor	Freq.	# Core	RAM	Hard Disk	Graphics Card	Internet
1989	6502	0,75 Mhz	1	256 Kb	NA	OnBoard	NA
1992	Ciryx 486 DLC	40 Mhz	1	4 Mb	100 Mb	Trident	NA
1996	Pentium 100	100 Mhz	1	16 Mb	1.0 Gb	?	28 Kbps
1999	Athlon 400	400 Mhz	1	128 Mb	30 Gb	4 Mb	56 Kbps
2002	Athlon XP 2.1	1.8 Ghz	1	512 Mb	60 Gb	AGP 64Mb	350 Kbps
2006	Athlon 64 3.8 X2	2.0 Ghz	2	2.0 Gb	370 Gb	PCI-X 256Mb	2.0 Mbps
2008?	Core 2 Quad 9XXXX	> 2.50 Ghz	4	8.0 Gb	500 Gb	PCI-X 256Mb	6.0 Mbps

Well, what can I say? Current PC, RIP :) What do you think? Adriano

My mind is about to blow

Hi. That computer technology evolves day by day and the amount of information in this area is gigantic many of you already know (so do I), but today I was talking to a friend of mine and I realized how many books I want to ready (only in the subject Windows + .Net). If you are curious you can see the list here but most of them were not published yet (and here you can find a list of some books I've already read / I'm reading). What do you think about them? Is there any other book related to .Net / Windows development you consider a must? PS: Feel free to give some of them as a gift when they get published :) Adriano

Implications of instrumenting assemblies for Transparent Activation / Persistence in db4o - Part I

Hi, Just to let you know I've posted about Transparent Activation / Persistence to db4o blogs ;) Adriano

An interesting video on C# 4.0 design discussions

C# 4.0: Meet the Design Team Have fun Adriano

Another one in the obscure codding practices ...

As I said in this post, today I've found an interesting site about C++ programing practices. While reading this pages I learned another way to write a fragile application (as always, writing bad code is enough :) So, let's go for it! What will be the output of the following program?

void main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
  int n = 255;
  size_t size = sizeof(++n);
  printf("%d", n);
}

Maybe this be can pretty obvious to you, but it was not to me (maybe because I avoid to write obscure code as much as I can :) Adriano