Installing PostgreSQL on Windows Vista

Just a few notes to be very careful when installing PostgreSQL 8.2.4 on Windows Vista:

Because PostgreSQL needs to be installed as a Windows service, it needs to create an account that will be granted Logon On as a Service permission. When I first installed it, I allowed the installation wizard to use a default account name (postgres) and it generated a password for me. The password was extremely long (25 random chars) and difficult to remember, and for that matter, I could not copy and paste their auto-generated password from the the dialog box that came up. It installed successfully, but when I tried to change the password with the GUI (pgAdmin III), it was unsuccessful. So, I uninstalled PostgreSQL and re-installed it with my own Windows login (instead of the default postgres account) and that’s when things went terribly wrong. After that point, the PostgreSQL would not allow me to reinstall (Error message: “another installation in process”) and on top of that Windows would not allow me to delete the files manually because of permissions rights on the C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL directory. I finally had to do a System Restore and got it working.

To summarize:

1. Do not use a member of the local administrators group as your Windows login for the service (such as your own personal Windows login) in step 5 of the installation guide!! Using their default postgres is the easiest. But use your own password instead of an autogenerated one. The FAQ (topic 2.3) explains why a non-administrator account is needed for security reasons. By the way, you can start and stop the PostgreSQL service within the Services control panel and also from the PostgreSQL group under the Start Menu.
2. I would go ahead and allow it to create a database cluster in step 6 of the installation guide. I used the HTTP port number they suggested (5432) and allowed only localhost to access the database. In this step, the account name is the superuser (i.e. root access) of the database cluster.
   Here’s PostgreSQL’s explanation of a database cluster:

   Before you can do anything, you must initialize a database storage area on disk. We call this a database cluster. (SQL uses the term catalog cluster.) A database cluster is a collection of databases that is managed by a single instance of a running database server. After initialization, a database cluster will contain a database named postgres, which is meant as a default database for use by utilities, users and third party applications. The database server itself does not require the postgres database to exist, but many external utility programs assume it exists.

3. After I successfully installed PostgreSQL, I used these settings to create a new database

Last, see the FAQ for the installation process for further explanations.

Google web history and Google reader

In case you’re not using it already, Google’s web history is a free and handy way to find useful links that you forgot to bookmark. I use it quite a bit when when I google search bugs and installation problems that I need to look up later. It can keep track of (1) all of your Google web searches and links you visited from those searches, and optionally (2) all of your web history (not just Google searches)

Click this thumbnail for a screenshot:

It includes a calendar, that you might help you remember what day you need to be looking at.

Also, I prefer Google Reader over Bloglines mainly because of how quick it is to star RSS feeds and tag RSS feeds by keywords. Everything loads quicker in general. Also, keep an eye on fav.or.it, which will allow you to comment the RSS feeds

Please post comments if you know of better alternatives to both tools..