Uniform Server Uniserver Zero VIII - PHP Warning: PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library 'C:/UniServerZ/core/php56/extensions/php_curl.dll' - The specified module could not be found.\r\n in Unknown on line 0

Another day, another dedicated server. This time, one running Uniserver Zero XIII. Client wanted to stop using the standard Unicontroller as logging in after a reboot to start the webserver was a pain and wanted use the UniService plugin instead.

Downloading and installing the service plugin was fine, however when attempting to browse certain Wordpress sites we were receiving the following error:

PHP Warning:  PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library 'C:/UniServerZ/core/php56/extensions/php_curl.dll' - The specified module could not be found.\r\n in Unknown on line 0

For some reason, the UniServer plugin is unable to load the php_curl.dll file - it appears to be related to other assemblies that this file uses.

The fix was to add the PHP folder to the system path variable. To do this,

1. Bring up the system properties
2. Go to "Advanced System Settings"
3. click on the option that says "Environmental Variables"
4. Scroll down the "System Variables" list and find Path
5. Click "edit" and at the end of the variable, add ; c:\uniserverz\core\php56

Depending on your path and PHP version, you may need to alter it (for example d:\uniserver\core\php71 if you are running PHP 7.1 with an extraction on the D: in Uniserver)

Once done, click OK and close the window - restart the Apache service and it should be working

Error updating Wordpress - Download failed.: No working transports found

I was recently involved in migrating some websites to a new dedicated server. After getting the new sites online, the owner of the server tried to perform a WordPress update but he following error occurred:

Download failed.: No working transports found

Upon investigation, it seems that by default the PHP ini that we were using had the module curl commented out and this needs to be available for the updates to run.

To resolve this you need to stop Apache and then edit the live php.ini file on your website and find the line that reads:

;extension=php_curl.dll

You can then remove the semi-colon from the front so you just have:

extension=php_curl.dll

Restart Apache and try the update again

Update 13/09/2017

Further to the above, the issue may persist if running under Windows and the PHP folder isn't registered as an environmental variable. I found this to be the case if falling back to an older verison of PHP under Uniserver.

To resolve this problem, you need to go system properties and then environmental varibles and add the PHP folder path to the "Path" option under system variables.

Its contains a lot, so don't delete it! just add a semi colon at the end and the extra path. In my case it was: ;C:\UniServerZ\core\php56

Mothers Day Sticker - Best Mummy (Free large transparent PNG file to download and use)

I hate having to pay for something when I don't really need to. That being said, I wanted to add a little sticker to a picture of my wife and son, however most of the 'sticker' sites like Fotor have them as premium content so you have to pay to get access to them.

Rather than paying, I thought I would just create my own instead. And here it is, free for you to download and use if you so wish!

To all the mums out there, happy mothers day x

Click here to download as a transparent PNG

Exchange 2010 SP3 upgrade on SBS 2011 - Setup cannot continue with the upgrade because the 'console' (Windows SBS Console) process has open files. Close the process and restart Setup.

During an installation of  SP3 for Exchange 2010 on an SBS 2011 server, this error appeared when performing the readiness checks. Having rebooted the server and ensured that the SBS Management console was shut it seemed a little odd.

However, launch task manager I could see that the "console" process was still running even though the window had been closed.

I ended the console task and re-ran the readiness check which then passed. Problem solved.

No verification email when trying to reset office.com or live.com password

We've recently had a few problems with older machines they have required a re-installation. However, the newer versions of office are often tied to a users email address and they can never remember the password, so we end up trying to reset the password to re-download office and activate it.

Some of the spam filters that our clients use have been refusing to let the verification emails through - they're just totally disappearing into the ether.

We added @microsoft.com to the spam filter white-list, but this didn't help.

Turns out, you need to add: @account.microsoft.com as this is the domain that Microsoft send password resets from. 

Hopefully it helps someone out

BT Infinity static IP addresses with a Home Hub - not showing correct IP

Recently, I was involved in the setup of a new Infinity line for a business. They ordered the line and then requested 5 IP addresses but weren't sure how to get them working.

Once again, BT were not overly helpful with how to use the static IP addresses.

The client was told that the should use 56.23.45.62 (not their actual IP address, but works for this example) and that was it.

If you log into the homehub and go to the "advanced" settings page you can then select "Static IP".

In here, you need to enable it and put in your routers address as they call it. To get this working correctly, we had to enter "56.23.45.61" as using the last available IP (56.23.45.62) would not let the device connect.

However, the really odd thing is that when you reboot, the router will still get a seemingly random IP address not related to the static IP at all.

If you've set it up right, the statics will still work - they just wont appear on the router!

Windows 10 Downloads Folder Slow to Load

Something that's started happening on my PC is that the downloads folder in Windows 10 can take a very long time to load when it contains more than 20 or so mixed items.

After a bit of an investigation into this, it seems as though the system is trying to decide exactly what kind of data is stored in the folder and then display it in the most appropriate way.

To disable this and get the folder to load quickly again, you need to right click on the folder and then go to properties.

In the properties window, select "Customize" and then from the "Optimize this folder for..." drop down select "General". I also ticked the "Also apply this template to all subfolders" option to ensure that other folders in the downloads folder are treated in the same way.

And that's it, the downloads folder should now open up in a matter of moments!