Spawned process locks folder (and how to fix)

I recently had a problem where I was starting a process in another folder to update the calling program and the folder was locked. Here is what I was trying to do:

Main program extracts update files to temp directory.
Main program starts update program and closes.
Update program deletes main program directory.
Update program extracts updated main program [...]

Project Euler – Problem 1

This will be the first of my analysis of the Project Euler problems. It will contain spoilers and code. If you don’t wish to spoil the fun then don’t read.
Introduction
“Project Euler is a series of challenging mathematical/computer programming problems that will require more than just mathematical insights to solve. Although mathematics will help you arrive [...]

Silverlight…too much hassle.

I wanted to like Silverlight, I really did. Promises of using .NET code in a flash-like environment excited me greatly. Unfortunately, Silverlight is too screwed up to really do anything with.
The main problem I have with Silverlight is the watered-down .NET that it uses. There is no way to easily connect to a database and [...]

Including Files in your Click-Once Deployment

I figured this out by brute force. I looked on the net and found all kinds of ways, using mage.exe or using mageui.exe. All that is crap. Here is how I did it.
First, add the files you want to include the directory your visual studio project is in. Then, in your project, add the file [...]

Presentation Tips

Almost everyone hates speaking in front of large audiences. I’ve grown to almost like to give presentations. It gives me a chance to grow in my presentation skills and feel superior because I can do it well. Haha!
The reason I’m writing this post is because people in general are horrible presenters. I’m going through [...]

The Browser is the OS?

I’m writing this post from a browser. If you know Wordpress that doesn’t seem ground breaking but it is. A couple years ago, I would have to open up a text editor, edit the text, save it, open a file uploader such as ftp, and upload the file to my site. A lot of steps [...]

Windows Licensing and Virtualization

I’ve been getting into VMware at work and it is working out well. We had eight instances of Windows XP Professional running various things. Some were development machines, some were my desktops, and a few were just filler for me trying to see how much the server could handle.
Notice the past tense.
Turns out that our [...]