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Showing posts with the label Windows

Remote Registry missing in Vista

  After installing/uninstalling software in Windows Vista Business machine "Remote Registry" got missing in the services list. Poking around the registry, noticed that under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RemoteRegistry", Start key was gone. See picture below for the location: Creating the "Start" key of type REG_DWORD and value 3 (Manual) or 2 (Automatic), then a rebooted fixed the problem. ~ts

USB Mouse not detected properly in Vista

After using Windows Vista for over a month my USB mice stopped working :(.... Fortunately this is easy to fix via trial and error on what driver best works for Vista. To fix this do the ff: Step 1. Go to Device Manager (devmgmt.msc). Step 2. Do Update Driver Software. Step 3. Browse my computer for driver software. Step 4. Select "Let me pick from from a list of device drivers on my computer." Step 5. If it was shown as unknown device, select "Mice and other pointing device" else select "HID-compliant device." Step 6. Click on "Have Disk..." Step 7. Drill to C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository. Select a folder with a name that start with msmouse*. Start with the folder that has the latest time stamp. If this driver does not work select the next newer folder until your mouse driver is installed properly. See below for related figures. Figures: Figure 1. Figure 2. ~ts

Disable Windows Vista UAC using MSCONFIG

Run msconfig.exe from command line. Then select "Disable UAC", see above for the location. Then hit on "Launch" button. Reboot computer. ~ts

SHDocVw.ShellWindows stopped working on Vista

I have the following code to enumerate running instance of IE 7(not sure if this works with IE6). Sub TestGetRunningIE() Dim sws As SHDocVw.ShellWindows Dim ie As SHDocVw.InternetExplorer Set sws = New SHDocVw.ShellWindows For Each ie In sws Debug.Print ie.Name Next End Sub For the above code to work, need to make a reference to shdocvw.dll, see below for the location: When I moved this code in Vista SP1 Business it stopped working. Who would think that this is related to UAC :)... anyway just disable UAC and this code should work again. Note that on one of my machines it is working with UAC on :(.... See this post to disable UAC . This is only one of the methods to disable User Account Control. ~ts

Installing .Net 3.5 on Windows 10 offline using DVD/ISO media

Installing .Net 3.5 using the Control Panel in Windows 10 (anniversary update) can sometimes be very slow. Alternative option is to install from DVD/ISO, like: c:\>DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx3 /All /LimitAccess /Source:E:\sources\sxs Where: E: is the drive letter of DVD/ISO Reference: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn482069.aspx

The Maximum Log Size specified is not valid when changing Windows Event Viewer log size

When changing Application Windows Event Log maximum size and you are seeing the message below then it is possible that it is set by group policy (local or Active Directory). --------------------------- Event Viewer --------------------------- The Maximum Log Size specified is not valid. It is too large or too small. The Maximum Log Size will be set to the following:  1028 KB --------------------------- OK   --------------------------- This behavior can be modified allow changes via Windows Event View application. To do so open Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc). Then navigate to  Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Event Log Service | Application  (for example) then change Maximum Log Size (KB) to Not configured . Note that you need to be an administrator to make the changes.

Windows 10 OneNote Sorry something went wrong

Created Windows 10 Enterprise VM using a local account then associated with Live ID/Microsoft Account, then dis-associated again as I was using the wrong ID. Re-associated with another account, it seems to work but OneNote is having problem. Error shows like: Sorry, something went wrong. We are unable to sign you in. Please try again later. Re-tried and re-tried nothing works. The workaround is to uninstall and then reinstall OneNote. Unfortunately, OneNote is one of the built in applications and cannot be removed using Apps & Features in SYSTEM settings. To uninstall, drop to PowerShell with elevated/administrative privileges and run the following: PS C:\> Get-AppxPackage *microsoft.office.onenote* | Remove-AppxPackage Once removed, open Store (Windows Store application) then install OneNote. Launching OneNote should now ask for new credentials. Have fun! Reference(s): http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_office-insider_onenote/onenote-un

Project Spartan (Edge) does not open on the default Administrator account on Windows 2016

Looks like Microsoft is now getting really serious with security. Their newest browser, code named "Project Spartan" or Edge, does not run if the user is the default administrator account on Windows 2016 (Windows Server Technical Preview 2).

How to install GUI on Windows Server (2016) Technical Preview 2

Windows Server Technical Preview 2 (Windows Server 2016?) does not have the option to install the full GUI. Figure 1.  It does have the option to install minimum shell (MinShell). This will provide access to Server Manager and the cmd.exe as shown below. Figure 2. The GUI can be installed, that I know of, either using Server Manager or PowerShell. To install using Server Manager, do  Manage | Add Roles and Features . Hit on Next button using the default selection until you reach Features dialog. Under the feature User Interface and Infrastructure , select Server Graphical Shell . Figure 3. Feature dialog Progress the dialog/wizard window until completion. Power users can also install the GUI using PowerShell, like: PS C:\>Install-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Shell -Restart Reference(s): https://4sysops.com/archives/how-to-install-the-gui-on-windows-server-2016/

Change network category in Windows 8.1

Windows 8.x network category or network profile affects how other Windows machines detects or discover the node. A machine on  a domain or private network will most of the time allow file sharing and printing, more relaxed firewall, etc. For computers with multiple network interfaces changing network profile can be difficult using the GUI. To force a network interface to be in private profile for example you can do: PS c:\> Set-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceAlias "VirtualBox Host-Only Network" -NetworkCategory Private where: "Virtual Host-Only Network" - is the name associated with the network interface "Private" - is the profile Reference(s): http://www.tinkertry.com/how-to-change-windows-8-1-network-type-from-public-to-private/

Windows 8.1 now supports 4 different tile sizes.

Back in Windows 8.0, tiles can be either small (smaller) or large (larger). Now in Windows 8.1 Preview, a tile can be small , medium , large , or wide . Small tile does not show application name at all, so can be confusing if you are not familiar with the applications. Medium is what used to be the " smaller " version and Wide tile is equivalent to Larger . Large is one of the new sizes. See below for screen captures showing different sizes for Desktop tile.

Cannot install VirtualBox Guest Additions in Windows 8.1 Preview

When installing Windows 8.1 Preview from ISO, I am unable to install Guest Additions. Below is the error message. The search is on how to fix or find a workaround for this issue. Update(s): - Even running in compatibility mode is not working - This is now working on VirtualBox 4.2.16 (Type=Microsoft Windows, Version = Windows 8.1) References: https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=55260

Disable grouping of files in Windows Explorer

I am not a fan of Windows 7 Explorer grouping feature. It makes the list of files cluttered and not easy to navigate or find object. See below for a screen capture.  Anyway, to disable that feature, press Alt to show Windows Explorer menu, then select View | Group By | None .

Enable ActiveX in Windows Server 2008 R2

This is a classic example of "do what I say but don't follow what I do." ActiveX technology is not something that you will trust on the internet. You may use it in a trusted environment like on intranet but not the world wide web. When you download ISO files from MSDN you would need Microsoft File Transfer Manager which needs ActiveX to work. Windows Sever 2008 R2 and probably the older Windows Sever 2008, IE by default is configured to not allow execution of ActiveX control even if you enable in Internet Options. I can imagine that this is done to minimize the surface attack area of the machine. To temporarily allow execution of ActiveX in IE, bring Server Manager and click on Configure IE ESC (Enhanced Security Manager). Then enable the appropriate group - for example below screen shows that for Administrators IE ESC is disabled. Open/close IE so that the changes will take effect. References: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/agileer/archive/2008/12/05/how-to-enable

Windows Antivirus log that failed me

This is a log of free anti-virus that I have used that failed to protect Windows computers so far. Do note that non-free "expensive" ones can also fail. I have witnessed this firsthand in the office where a zero day exploit rendered our network almost useless. Anyway, this does not necessarily mean that below are lackluster products, it is just that it did fail me one time or another. List is listed based on chronological order, oldest listed first: 1) AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition - this was my all time favorite but failed me way back in 2010. 2) Microsoft Security Essentials - last week (second week of Nov 2011), one of our home computers was infected by a virus. Got to recover the entire system. Experimenting with the following for now, see if it does protect a Windows XP PC: - Avast Free Anti-virus (Program version: 6.0.1289)

Recovering Sony VAIO VGN-N110G

We have a pretty much old, by today's standard, Sony VAIO VGN-N110G running on Windows XP. This machine was hit hard by a virus and MS Security Essentials was not doing its job. Not sure if Security Essentials is a good anti-virus but I am using it anyway (hey it is free). The virus was pretty smart and distructive. Though the data files were not deleted but it did  delete the menu entries in Windows leaving it almost unsable. Initial impression of the virus was that it hides all files making you believe that everything was gone. It even offers a solution, like buy an anti-virus. Anyway, as I mentioned above, I did try to do full scan using MS Security Essentials, it was able to identify several and it did mention that the virus was removed. But the system was still unusable after the anti-virus cleanup exercise. So I tried to fire-up VAIO recovery to no avail. It says it cannot find the restore drive. It was really getting so bad. Rebooting into safe mode does not help. So t

Error deleting :Zone.Identifier access is denied running stream.exe from Technet

Part of Windows NTFS is to support multiple stream for a single file. Most applications only access the main stream and this is what's normally readable information. Multiple streams in a file is also being used by Internet Explorer to tag files download from the internet. The additional information, among other things, saves the zone information about the file. This is mainly used for security purposes like warn a user that certain files was coming from an untrusted sources. Unfortunately this also introduces complication to handling files from the internet specially if the source is trusted. There is a tool from Technet   which can remove the streams added by Internet Explorer. The first time I used the application I am seeing " Error deleting :Zone.Identifier access is denied " when operating on files that was extracted from a zip file. I was expecting that it should be able to handle those files as well. It seems like this might a bug of the streams.exe applicatio