Sporting rich list 2009

Eurosport takes a look at sport's top-20 earners in 2009, with a certain Tiger Woods comfortably topping the list ahead of his recent scandal.

It's impossible to say what Tiger Woods's serial womanising will do to his bank balance, but the world's number one golfer was the highest-earning sportsman in 2009 before his altercation with a fire hydrant.

Already one sponsor has parted company with Woods, and his agents will surely need to renegotiate with those sticking by their former cash cow after his decision to take a break from golf and lie low for the foreseeable future.

The following rich list was compiled before the Woods scandal broke, when he was clearly sport's biggest fat cat for the fifth year running, while David Beckham is the highest-earning non-American at number three on the top-20 list that includes six athletes from the NBA, and three each from the worlds of football, formula one and golf.

1. Tiger Woods - £59.3m

As mentioned, Woods's earnings will doubtless take a hit following his "transgressions", but probably not enough to stop him becoming the world's first billion dollar sportsman in the next couple of years. Already his career earnings are close to $800m and, assuming he returns to golf in the next few months, he is likely to pass the magic billion dollar mark before he breaks Jack's record of 18 Majors. Nike and Upper Deck have promised to stick by Woods, Gillette, AT&T, Pepsico and Tag Hauer are still assessing the situation, while Accenture have dropped him altogether.

2. Phil Mickelson - £31.6m

With Woods out of the way for the time being, Mickelson will hope to take advantage by increasing his on-course earnings, but Lefty still has some way to go before he can match his great rival's pulling power - despite the scandal. However, the likes of Rolex and Callaway must be delighted that they chose a man who has remained loyal to their values, and whose popularity is growing steadily.

3. David Beckham - £26.9

Golden Balls is the highest non-American athlete on the list and a sportsman whose earnings from endorsements and advertising far exceed his salary for playing football. That said, Beckham has the potential to earn £128m from his five-year deal with LA Galaxy in MLS, and if he achieves his aim of making the England squad for the 2010 World Cup then 'brand Beckham' will continue to bring him vast riches.

4. LeBron James - £25.3m

James is approaching the end of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers and, after finishing last season as the NBA's MVP and a five-times first-team All Star, he is in a powerful position to renegotiate his salary. Endorsement deals with the likes of Nike and State Farm Insurance are said to boost the 6'8" small forward's coffers by twice the amount of his salary.

5. Kimi Raikkonen - £23.9m

Ferrari were clearly hoping for a better return on their investment as Raikkonen finished a lowly sixth on the 2009 drivers' standings. They had, after all, made him the highest-paid driver in Formula One on the back of his 2007 world title and 18 grands prix victories. The Finn and Ferrari had issues with their relationship and he was replaced at the Italian marque by Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso before announcing he was taking a break from F1 to compete in the World Rally Championship with Citroen next year.

6. Manny Pacquiao - £23.8m

The Filipino pugilist has defeated all before him of late and if the rumours of a showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr are to be believed then his bank balance is set for an even bigger boost next year. Indeed, he would be higher up the list had his earnings from his latest victory over Miguel Cotto been included. Pacquiao is a true hero in the Philippines - so much so he has very real ambitions to go into politics - and is the perfect role model for the likes of sponsors San Miguel and Nike.

7. Lionel Messi - £23.7m

The best footballer on the planet: that's what most fans think and certainly what the powers at Barcelona thought when they offered him a massive contract at Camp Nou through to 2016. The Argentine is said to be paid £8.5m-a-year by the Spanish giants, who think so highly of their prized investment that they included a whopping £222m buy-out clause in his contract. Messi's earning potential could increase considerably now that Argentina have secured a World Cup stage on which he can display his remarkable talents.

8. Alex Rodriguez - £23.3m

The baseball star enjoyed a £19.7m salary in 2009 as part of a massive 10-year deal with the New York Yankees said to be worth $275m in total, the richest is baseball history. And while he picked up several more millions in endorsements, this income stream could be limited after he admitted this year that he had taken steroids earlier in his career.

9. Valentino Rossi, Fernando Alonzo and Shaquille O'Neill - £20.9m

All three have highly-lucrative deals with their respective teams, as well as healthy endorsement incomes. Shaq received an £11.9m salary, Rossi £9.5m and Alonso a reported £12.5m as part of a two-year contract with now former team Renault.

12. Kevin Garnett - £20.7m

13. Yao Ming - £19.7m

14. Lewis Hamilton - £19.6m

15. Kobe Bryant - £18.6m

16. Roger Federer - £17.6m

17. Allen Iverson - £17.3m

18. Vijay Singh - £17.1m

19. Derek Jeter - £16.9m

20. Ronaldinho - £16.3m

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ASB Dividend is 7.30 Sen Per Unit for Year 2009

Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) announced that for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2009, Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) unit holders will receive
- Income distribution of 7.30 sen per unit and
- Bonus of 1.25 sen per unit
- Total is 8.55 sen per unit

Last year income distribution was
- Income distribution of 7.00 sen per unit and
- Bonus of 1.75 sen per unit
- Total is 8.75 sen per unit

The total dividend yield for this year is 0.20 sen lower than last year and there is 6.78 million unit holders who currently hold more than 70 billion ASB units.

Even tough the yield is lower than last year but the total payment for this year is RM5.48 billion compared to total payment of RM4.79 billion last year

According to PNB group chief executive and president Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman ASB is capable of paying more than 11 sen per unit but decided to paying 7.30 sen per unit and bringing forward the balance of 3.70 sen for 2010.

The quoted reason is to ensure that the money could be use to buy more shares and do more investment.

Financial Result of ASB
- Gross income for year 2009 - RM5.46 billion up to 10 December 2009 (year 2008 - RM5.28 billion)
- Dividend income - RM1.48 billion, or 27 per cent
- Profit from the sale of shares - RM3.67 billion, or 67 per cent
- Investments in short-term instruments and other investments - RM309 million or 6.0 per cent

From the data, it shows that more than 60% of the income was generated by share trading.

The income distribution and bonus will be automatically credited into the unit holders' accounts. All transactions for ASB will be suspended from Dec 21 until January 3 to enable the calculation of income distribution and bonus. Unit holders will be able to update their accounts from January 4.

ASB is a fixed price equity income fund, opened for Bumiputera aged 12 years and above.

Normally the ASW 2020 and ASM dividend is slightly lower than the ASB dividend. Since the ASB dividend is at the range of 7 percent excluding the bonus units.

Do wait and see whether next April and next September the ASM and ASW 2020 dividend is still maintain at 6 percent plus range (ASM and ASW 2020 Dividend Rate). Besides, on next October the AS 1Malaysia will declare the first maiden dividend.

The 6 to 8 percent per annual return rate from the ASNB fixed price unit trust product could be used as a return rate benchmark to beat if we want to invest on other investment tools.

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Are Facebook bosses trying to trick us?

If you've logged into Facebook in the last 24 hours you will have noticed that the social networking site has changed its privacy settings. The move, which could dramatically increase the amount of personal information people display online, has outraged digital rights groups and civil liberties campaigners.

The changes make more information, photos and videos visible to everybody on the web unless you specifically edit the settings yourself - status updates can now also be picked up by search engines.

The pop-up message that greets members asking them to change their privacy settings appears to be different depending on how engaged that person was with Facebook. We would urge all members to log on and double-check their privacy settings now, if they haven't already done so.

Facebook said the changes, which were introduced on 9th December, help members manage updates they want to share, not to trick them into revealing more information than they are comfortable with.

So why then are status updates now automatically made public unless specified otherwise by the user?

"These new 'privacy' changes are clearly intended to push Facebook users to publicly share even more information than before," said Kevin Bankston, a senior attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Even worse, the changes will actually reduce the amount of control that users have over some of their personal data."

Facebook began testing the privacy changes during mid-2009 before introducing them site-wide. The changes let people decide who should see updates, whether all 350 million Facebook members should see them, and if they should be viewable across the web.

Barry Schnitt, a Facebook spokesman, said users could avoid revealing some information to non-friends by leaving gender and location fields blank. Any suggestion that we're trying to trick them into something would work against any goal that we have," said Mr Schnitt.

Facebook is encouraging users to share their updates because, he said, that was in line with "the way the world is moving". But the important differentiator is that these changes are more in line with how Facebook wants the world to move forward, not necessarily how its users want the world to move forward.

As blogger Marshall Kirkpatrick said, this is not what Facebook users signed up for. This issue isn't about privacy for Facebook, it's about increasing traffic and the visibility of activity on the site.

Many users have left comments on the official Facebook blog criticising the changes.

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Windows 7 Command Prompt Commands

Note: Windows 7 Command Prompt commands are fairly similar to classic MS-DOS commands. However, the Command Prompt is not actually MS-DOS even though the commands are similar.

Below is a complete list of commands available in the Command Prompt in Windows 7:

Append
The append command can be used by programs to open files in another directory as if they were located in the current directory.

Arp
The arp command is used to display or change entries in the ARP cache.

Assoc
The assoc command is used to display or change the file type associated with a particular file extension.

At
The at command is used to schedule commands and other programs to run at a specific date and time.

Attrib
The attrib command is used to change the attributes of a single file or a directory.

Auditpol
The auditpol command is used to display or change audit policies.

Bcdedit
The bcdedit command is used to view or make changes to Boot Configuration Data.

Bitsadmin
The bitsadmin command is used to create, manage, and monitor download and upload jobs.

Bootcfg
The bootcfg command is used to build, modify, or view the contents of the boot.ini file, a hidden file that is used to identify in what folder, on which partition, and on which hard drive Windows is located.

Break
The break command sets or clears extended CTRL+C checking on DOS systems.

Cacls
The cacls command is used to display or change access control lists of files.

Call
The call command is used to run a script or batch program from within another script or batch program.

Certreq
The certreq command is used to perform various certification authority (CA) certificate functions.

Certutil
The certutil command is used to dump and display certification authority (CA) configuration information in addition to other CA functions.

Change
The change command changes various terminal server settings like install modes, COM port mappings, and logons.

Chcp
The chcp command displays or configures the active code page number.

Chdir
The chdir command is used to display the drive letter and folder that you are currently in. Chdir can also be used to change the drive and/or directory that you want to work in.

Chglogon
The chglogon command enables, disables, or drains terminal server session logins.

Chgport
The chgport command can be used to display or change COM port mappings for DOS compatibility.

Chgusr
The chgusr command is used to change the install mode for the terminal server.

Chkdsk
The chkdsk command, often referred to as check disk, is used to identify and correct certain hard drive errors.

Chkntfs
The chkntfs command is used to configure or display the checking of the disk drive during the Windows boot process.

Choice
The choice command is used within a script or batch program to provide a list of choices and return of the value of that choice to the program.

Cipher
The cipher command shows or changes the encryption status of files and folders on NTFS partitions.

Clip
The clip command is used to redirect the output from any command to the clipboard in Windows.

Cls
The cls command clears the screen of all previously entered commands and other text.

Cmd
The cmd command starts a new instance of the command interpreter.

Cmdkey
The cmdkey command is used to show, create, and remove stored user names and passwords.

Cmstp
The cmstp command installs or uninstalls a Connection Manager service profile.

Color
The color command is used to change the colors of the text and background within the Command Prompt window.

Comp
The comp command is used to compare the contents of two files or sets of files.

Compact
The compact command is used to show or change the compression state of files and directories on NTFS partitions.

Convert
The convert command is used to convert FAT or FAT32 formatted volumes to the NTFS format.

Copy
The copy command does simply that - it copies one or more files from one location to another.

Date
The date command is used to show or change the current date.

Debug
The debug command starts Debug, a command line application used to test and edit programs.

Defrag
The defrag command is used to defragment a drive you specify. The defrag command is the command line version of Microsoft's Disk Defragmenter.

Del
The del command is used to delete one or more files. The del command is the same as the erase command.

Dir
The dir command is used to display a list of files and folders contained inside the folder that you are currently working in. The dir command also displays other important information like the hard drive's serial number, the total number of files listed, their combined size, the total amount of free space left on the drive, and more.

Diskcomp
The diskcomp command is used to compare the contents of two floppy disks.

Diskcopy
The diskcopy command is used to copy the entire contents of one floppy disk to another.

Diskpart
The diskpart command is used to create, manage, and delete hard drive partitions.

Diskraid
The diskraid command starts the DiskRAID tool which is used to manage and configure RAID arrays.

Dism
The dism command starts the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool (DISM). The DISM tool is used to manage features in Windows images.

Dispdiag
The dispdiag command is used to output a log of information about the display system.

Doskey
The doskey command is used to edit command lines, create macros, and recall previously entered commands.

Driverquery
The driverquery command is used to show a list of all installed drivers.

Echo
The echo command is used to show messages, most commonly from within script or batch files. The echo command can also be used to turn the echoing feature on or off.

Edit
The edit command starts the MS-DOS Editor tool which is used to create and modify text files.

Edlin
The edlin command starts the Edlin tool which is used to create and modify text files from the command line.

Endlocal
The endlocal command is used to end the localization of environment changes inside a batch or script file.

Erase
The erase command is used to delete one or more files. The erase command is the same as the del command.

Eventcreate
The eventcreate command is used to create a custom event in an event log.

Exe2Bin
The exe2bin command is used to convert a file of the EXE file type (executable file) to a binary file.

Exit
The exit command is used to end the Command Prompt session that you're currently working in.

Expand
The expand command is used to extract a single file or a group of files from a compressed file.

Fastopen
The fastopen command is used to add a program's hard drive location to a special list stored in memory, potentially improving the program's launch time by removing the need for MS-DOS to locate the application on the drive.

Fc
The fc command is used to compare two individual or sets of files and then show the differences between them.

Find
The find command is used to search for a specified text string in one or more files.

Findstr
The findstr command is used to find text string patterns in one or more files.

Finger
The finger command is used to return information about one or more users on a remote computer that's running the Finger service.

For
The for command is used to run a specified command for each file in a set of files. The for command is most often used within a batch or script file.

Forfiles
The forfiles command selects one or more files to execute a specified command on. The forfiles command is most often used within a batch or script file.

Format
The format command is used to format a drive in the file system that you specify.

Fsutil
The fsutil command is used to perform various FAT and NTFS file system tasks like managing reparse points and sparse files, dismounting a volume, and extending a volume.

Ftp
The ftp command can used to transfer files to and from another computer. The remote computer must be operating as an FTP server.

Ftype
The ftype command is used to define a default program to open a specified file type.

Getmac
The getmac command is used to display the media access control (MAC) address of all the network controllers on a system.

Goto
The goto command is used in a batch or script file to direct the command process to a labeled line in the script.

Gpresult
The gpresult command is used to display Group Policy settings.

Gpupdate
The gpupdate command is used to update Group Policy settings.

Graftabl
The graftabl command is used to enable the ability of Windows to display an extended character set in graphics mode.

Graphics
The graphics command is used to load a program that can print graphics.

Help
The help command provides more detailed information on any of the other Command Prompt commands.

Hostname
The hostname command displays the name of the current host.

Icacls
The icacls command is used to display or change access control lists of files. The icacls command is an updated version of the cacls command.

If
The if command is used to perform conditional functions in a batch file.

Ipconfig
The ipconfig command is used to display detailed IP information for each network adapter utilizing TCP/IP. The ipconfig command can also be used to release and renew IP addresses on systems configured to receive them via a DHCP server.

Irftp
The irftp command is used to transmit files over an infrared link.

Iscsicli
The iscsicli command starts the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator, used to manage iSCSI.

Label
The label command is used to manage the volume label of a disk.

Loadfix
The loadfix command is used to load the specified program in the first 64K of memory and then runs the program.

Lodctr
The lodctr command is used to update registry values related to performance counters.

Logman
The logman command is used to create and manage Event Trace Session and Performance logs. The logman command also supports many functions of Performance Monitor.

Logoff
The logoff command is used to terminate a session.

Mem
The mem command shows information about used and free memory areas and programs that are currently loaded into memory in the MS-DOS subsystem.

Mkdir (Md)
The mkdir command is used to create a new folder.

Mklink
The mklink command is used to create a symbolic link.

Mmc
The mmc command can be used to open Microsoft Management Console in author mode or to a specific snap-in console, all from the Command Prompt.

Mode
The mode command is used to configure system devices, most often COM and LPT ports.

More
The more command is used to display the information contained in a text file. The more command can also be used to paginate the results of any other Command Prompt command.

Mountvol
The mountvol command is used to display, create, or remove volume mount points.

Move
The move command is used to move one or files from one folder to another. The move command is also used to rename directories.

Msg
The msg command is used to send a message to a user.

Msiexec
The msiexec command is used to start Windows Installer, a tool used to install and configure software.

Mstsc
The mstsc command starts the Remote Desktop Connection tool from the Command Prompt.

Muiunattend
The muiunattend command starts the Multilanguage User Interface unattended setup process.

Nbtstat
The nbtstat command is used to show TCP/IP information and other statistical information about a remote computer.

Net
The net command is used to display, configure, and correct a wide variety of network settings.

Netcfg
The netcfg command is used to install the Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE), a lightweight version of Windows used to deploy workstations.

Netstat
The netstat command is most commonly used to display all open network connections and listening ports.

Nlsfunc
The nlsfunc command is used to load information specific to a particular country or region.

Nltest
The nltest command is used to test secure channels between Windows computers in a domain and between domain controllers that are trusting other domains.

Nslookup
The nslookup is most commonly used to display the hostname of an entered IP address. The nslookup command queries your configured DNS server to discover the IP address.

Ocsetup
The ocsetup command starts the Windows Optional Component Setup tool, used to install additional Windows features.

Openfiles
The openfiles command is used to display and disconnect open files and folders on a system.

Path
The path command is used to display or set a specific path available to executable files.

Pathping
The pathping command functions much like the tracert command but will also report information about network latency and loss at each hop.

Pause
The pause command is used within a batch or script file to pause the processing of the file. When the pause command is used, a Press any key to continue... message displays in the command window.

Ping
The ping command sends an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo Request message to a specified remote computer to verify IP-level connectivity.

Pkgmgr
The pkgmgr command is used to start the Windows Package Manager from the Command Prompt. Package Manager installs, uninstalls, configures, and updates features and packages for Windows.

Pnpunattend
The pnpunattend command is used to automate the installation of hardware device drivers.

Pnputil
The pnputil command is used to start the Microsoft PnP Utility, a tool used to install a Plug and Play device from the command line.

Popd
The popd command is used to change the current directory to the one most recently stored by the pushd command. The popd command is most often utilized from within a batch or script file.

Print
The print command is used to print a specified text file to a specified printing device.

Prompt
The prompt command is used to customize the appearance of the prompt text in Command Prompt.

Pushd
The pushd command is used to store a directory for use, most commonly from within a batch or script program.

Qappsrv
The qappsrv command is used to display all Remote Desktop Session Host servers available on the network.

Qprocess
The qprocess command is used to display information about running processes.

Query
The query command is used to display the status of a specified service.

Quser
The quser command is used to display information about users currently logged on to the system.

Qwinsta
The qwinsta command is used to display information about open Remote Desktop Sessions.

Rasdial
The rasdial command is used to start or end a network connection for a Microsoft client.

Recover
The recover command is used to recover readable data from a bad or defective disk.

Reg
The reg command is used to manage the Windows Registry from the command line. The reg command can perform common registry functions like adding registry keys, exporting the registry, etc.

Regsvr32
The regsvr32 command is used to register a DLL file as a command component in the Windows Registry.

Relog
The relog command is used to create new performance logs from data in existing performance logs.

Rem
The rem command is used to record comments or remarks in a batch or script file.

Rename (Ren)
The rename command is used to change the name of the individual file that you specify.

Replace
The replace command is used to replace one or more files with one or more other files.

Reset Session (Rwinsta)
The reset session command is used to reset the session subsystem software and hardware to known initial values.

Rmdir (Rd)
The rmdir command is used to delete an existing and completely empty folder.

Robocopy
The robocopy command is used to copy files and directories from one location to another. The robocopy command is superior to the more simple copy command because robocopy supports many more options. This command is also called Robust File Copy.

Route
The route command is used to manipulate network routing tables.

Rpcping
The rpcping command is used to ping a server using RPC.

Runas
The runas command is used to execute a program using another user's credentials.

Sc
The sc command is used to configure information about services. The sc command communicates with the Service Control Manager.

Schtasks
The schtasks command is used to schedule specified programs or commands to run a certain times. The schtasks command can be used to create, delete, query, change, run, and end scheduled tasks.

Secedit
The secedit command is used to configure and analyze system security by comparing the current security configuration to a template.

Set
The set command is used to enable or disable certain options in Command Prompt.

Setlocal
The setlocal command is used to start the localization of environment changes inside a batch or script file.

Setver
The setver command is used to set the MS-DOS version number that MS-DOS reports to a program.

Setx
The setx command is used to create or change environment variables in the user environment or the system environment.

Sfc
The sfc command is used to verify and replace important Windows system files. The sfc command is also referred to as System File Checker and Windows Resource Checker.

Shadow
The shadow command Is used to monitor another Remote Desktop Services session.

Share
The share command is used to install file locking and file sharing functions in MS-DOS.

Shift
The shift command is used to change the position of replaceable parameters in a batch or script file.

Shutdown
The shutdown command can be used to shut down, restart, or log off the current system or a remote computer.

Sort
The sort command is used to read data from a specified input, sort that data, and return the results of that sort to the Command Prompt screen, a file, or another output device.

Start
The start command is used to open a new command line window to run a specified program or command. The start command can also be used to start an application without creating a new window.

Subst
The subst command is used to associate a local path with a drive letter. The subst command is a lot like the net use command except a local path is used instead of a shared network path.

Sxstrace
The sxstrace command is used to start the WinSxs Tracing Utility, a programming diagnostic tool.

Systeminfo
The systeminfo command is used to display basic Windows configuration information for the local or a remote computer.

Takeown
The takedown command is used to regain access to a file that that an administrator was denied access to when reassigning ownership of the file.

Taskkill
The taskkill command is used to terminate a running task. The taskkill command is the command line equivalent of ending a process in Task Manager in Windows.

Tasklist
"Displays a list of applications, services, and the Process ID (PID) currently running on either a local or a remote computer.

Tcmsetup
The tcmsetup command is used to setup or disable the Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI) client.

Time
The time command is used to show or change the current time.

Timeout
The timeout command is typically used in a batch or script file to provide a specified timeout value during a procedure. The timeout command can also be used to ignore keypresses.

Title
The title command is used to set the Command Prompt window title.

Tracerpt
The tracerpt command is used to process event trace logs or real-time data from instrumented event trace providers.

Tracert
The tracert command sends Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo Request messages to a specified remote computer with increasing Time to Live (TTL) field values and displays the IP address and hostname, if available, of the router interfaces between the source and destination.

Tree
The tree command is used to graphically display the folder structure of a specified drive or path.

Tsdiscon
The tsdiscon command is used to disconnect a Remote Desktop session.

Tskill
The tskill command is used to end the specified process.

Type
The type command is used to display the information contained in a text file.

Typeperf
The typerperf command displays performance data in the Command Prompt window or writes the data to specified log file.

Tzutil
The tzutil command is used to display or configure the current system's time zone. The tzutil command can also be used to enable or disable automatic Daylight Saving Time adjustments.

Unlodctr
The unlodctr command removes Explain text and Performance counter names for a service or device driver from the Windows Registry.

Ver
The ver command is used to display the current Windows version.

Verify
The verify command is used to enable or disable the ability of Command Prompt to verify that files are written correctly to a disk.

Vol
The vol command shows the volume label and serial number of a specified disk, assuming this information exists.

Vssadmin
The vssadmin command starts the Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command line tool which displays current volume shadow copy backups and all installed shadow copy writers and providers.

W32Tm
The w32tm command is used to diagnose issues with Windows Time.

Waitfor
The waitform command is used to send or wait for a signal on a system.

Wbadmin
The wbadmin command is used start and stop backup jobs, display details about a previous backup, list the items within a backup, and report on the status of a currently running backup.

Wevtutil
The wevtutil command starts the Windows Events Command Line Utility which is used to manage event logs and publishers.

Where
The where command is used to search for files that match a specified pattern.

Whoami
The whoami command is used to retrieve user name and group information on a network.

Winrm
The winrm command is used to start the command line version of Windows Remote Management, used to manage secure communications with local and remote computers using web services.

Winrs
The winrs command is used to open a secure command window with a remote host.

Winsat
The winsat command starts the Windows System Assessment Tool, a program that assesses various features, attributes, and capabilities of a computer running Windows.

Wmic
The wmic command starts the Windows Management Instrumentation Command line (WMIC), a scripting interface that simplifies the use of Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and systems managed via WMI.

Xcopy
The xcopy command can copy one or more files or directory trees from one location to another.

Did I Miss a Command Prompt Command?

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SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio Drivers on Windows 7

I've been upgrading a few of our PCs and Laptops with Windows 7 this evening and hit upon a problem with the SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio device that came with my Dell XPS M1330 laptop. A quick google confirmed I wasn't the only one having problems.

Since I have now solved the problem I thought I'd post it here on my blog as I'm sure it will be a popular search on Google in the coming months as the masses move to the new OS.

The symptom
Following a fresh install of Windows 7 (I haven't tried an in place upgrade as I just don't trust 'em !) the OS sees the Sigmatel device and reports it to be working, but the sound just doesn't work. Any attempt to download and install the latest Vista drivers also fails to cure the issue.

The fix Audio
Download the latest x32 or x64 (as appropriate for your computer) Vista driver from the Dell website and leave the EXE in a folder somewhere
Or get them direct from us, click for the 32 bit driver or for the 64 bit driver
Right click computer, and choose manage, then device manager. In the Sound, Video and Game controller group you will see a device called "Windows High Defintion" - delete this by selecting and pressing delete. Now having removed this device from your system you should run the Dell Sigmatel Driver EXE you downloaded previously
Your system will prompt for a restart upon install. When you restart you will get the reassuring sound of the Windows 7 start up tune and all will now be well !

Base System Device problem (Inspiron 1420)
http://ftp.us.dell.com/chipset/R141246.EXE

Hope this helps someone, took me an hour today to figure it out.

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