For whatever reason, if you need to create a .htaccess file for your Apache or any other web server in a windows environment then here is the step-by-step guide. There are few ways to create a .htaccess file but here I will try to show you one of the easiest and quickest ways.

If you just try to rename a text file to .htaccess then you will get an error saying “you must type a file name”. Instead follow the steps below.

• Open your favorite text editor program like Notepad.
• Make sure “Word Wrap” is unchecked under “Format”.
• Put your directives that you want to put or just leave it blank if you wish to add them later.
• Go to “File” and click “Save As”.
• When the save box pops up type .htaccess (don’t forget the dot) under “File name”.
• Under “Save as type”, choose “All Files” and click “Save”.

You’re done. Now, if you want to open the file and edit it, just find the file and open by selecting a program, for example notepad. Once you’re done editing just click “Save”.

If you just try to rename then you will get error

Make sure Word Wrap is not checked

Leave blank to edit later or just place your code and click save as

Choose the options as shown above

Right click or double click to open the file

Choose to select a program

Open with Notepad or similar

When you upload the file to your web server, make sure you upload in ASCII mode. I will write more on how to take advantage of .htaccess file in my future posts. In the meantime if you want to learn more about .htaccess then htaccesstools.com is a good read.

© 2009, Ricepan.com. All rights reserved. You may not republish this full article without permission under any circumstance.

So you have an ISO image, now what? You want to see what is in it before burning to a CD or DVD. May be you don’t want to waste time and energy burning the file to a disc; you just want to explore or use the content of that disk image.  Is there a way to open an ISO image file without burning to a disc? Absolutely YES!

You can explore your ISO files using a disk image emulator.  It’s a tool that allows you to mount ISO files. The software basically creates a virtual drive that looks like a physical CD or DVD drive on your pc. When you mount an image you will be able to explore the file as if you put in a physical disc in one of your physical drives.

There are quite a few tools or emulators available out there. One of my favorites is a tool called “Daemon Tools”. You can download it from http://www.daemon-tools.cc/home

Once installed, Just click on the program shortcut and it will start running in your system tray. You should also be able to see a new virtual drive under MY COMPUTER. If you want to open any ISO image just right click on Daemon tool icon on system tray and then highlight Device and click Mount image. At that point you just select your image just like you would open any file for any purpose.  Once you have mounted the image then go check your virtual drive and you should be able to see your ISO image content as if you put in a CD/DVD in one of your physical drives. It opens image files lot faster than opening a CD/DVD from an actual drive.

I will try to give you a step by step instruction on how to download, install and use it to open a ISO file.  For demo purpose, I will try to open an ISO image of my Microsoft Exchange Server CD with Daemon Tools.

Once you are on daemon tools website, look for the free downloads section at the bottom of the page.

Daemon tool download section

Download the LITE version and proceed with installation.  During installation you will be asked to choose different features. You can keep the deafult selections or deselect the ones you do not wish to install.

Daemon tool installation

You will be prompted to reboot during the installation. Once you have finished the installation you will have new virtual drive. You can view it under MY COMPUTER section on your PC. It will look like as if you have added a new physical dvd drive to your pc.

Virtual drive

You will also notice an icon in your system stray if daemon tool is running.

Daemon tool System tray icon

You can then open the Daemon tools panel by right-clicking on the icon. To open a ISO file from your pc, you need to find the MOUNT IMAGE option.

Right click option

Mount Image

Once you click on the mount image option, you will be prompted to select your image file. In this case I will open my Microsoft exchange server cd image.

Select ISO file

As soon as I pick the file, image will be loaded onto the virtual drive. In this case, I can see that I am prompted to install Microsoft Exchange. It is acting like as if I have put on the exchange CD physically into the physical drive.

ISO file opened

Mounted image

Once you are finished using the content of your file, you can Unmount the image.

It has some advanced functionality which allows you to do lot more than just view ISO images.  You can pick the right version as per your needs. Best part is they have a free version that you can download. You will be able to download complete instructions from their website. It is not hard to use at all. They even have a user forum that you can join and discuss all about it.

So, no more burning to a disc because you have to.  Burn image to a disc only if you want to!

© 2009, Ricepan.com. All rights reserved. You may not republish this full article without permission under any circumstance.