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showing posts tagged with 'windows'
Specify plain-text SecureString as cmdlet parameter in Powershell
edited by on May 26th 2015, at 14:49

By default, it is not possible to specify passwords (the SecureString type) directly as a plain-text cmdlet parameter because it is unsecure to do so (and they are right). But sometimes, there's no other way to run a cmdlet without specifying the password as plain text as a cmdlet parameter. Luckily, there's an easy workaround by performing a conversion from plain text and store the password in a SecureString object.

$pw = ConvertTo-SecureString -String "your-pw" -AsPlainText -Force

You can then use the $pw object to specify the password in a cmdlet.

For example: resetting the password of an AD account:

Set-ADAccountPassword -Identity my-account -NewPassword $pw
 
Adding SBS 2003 and SBS 2008 CALs
edited by on May 20th 2015, at 14:01
Windows Small Business Server 2003 and 2008 (SBS2003 and SBS2008) are still widely in use, but CALs for these are no longer available for purchase. So, what if you require more CALs but cannot get rid of your old SBS?

SBS 2008 and SBS 2011 work on a trust-based CAL count, so they do not need activation. You can simply purchase SBS 2011 Standard CALs and exercise your downgrade rights. Note that this cannot be done with SBS 2011 Premium CALs as they contain features that are not the same as in SBS2008 Premium.

Unfortunately, for SBS 2003, it's not that simple, as it uses online activation for CALs. In this case, you still have to buy SBS 2011 CALs, which are legally usable on your SBS 2003,  ...
 
Fix for unresponsive Windows Explorer with slow-moving green loading bar on local folders
edited by on May 20th 2015, at 13:16
Sometimes, when navigating in your local folders (in your user profile), it may seem to take forever to open a specific (local) folder, and the green loading bar at the top crawls forth at a very slow pace. If that is the case, try turning off folder optimization.

Windows 7 introduced a new feature called folder optimization, which is basically telling Windows what to do with the files inside a folder, such as generating thumbnails for pictures and videos, reading metadata from documents, reading media information on music, etc. Occassionally, this process can take a long time, and can really slow down Windows Explorer when attempting to browse such a folder.

If you stumble across such   ...
 
Hide user accounts on the Windows Logon (Welcome) screen
edited by on May 20th 2015, at 12:51

You can hide user accounts from the Windows Welcome (log on) screen through the registry. This works with Vista and all later versions.

  1. Start up regedit.
  2. Navigate to the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
  3. Under Winlogon, create a new key called SpecialAccounts
  4. Under SpecialAccounts, create another key called UserList.
  5. Under UserList, create a DWORD value for each account:
    • Name: the full account name (including spaces)
    • Type: DWORD (32-bit)
    • Value:
      • 0: hides the account
      • 1: shows the account
 
CLSID for Java and its plugins
edited by on May 13th 2015, at 14:37
 
Recover lost Bitlocker Recovery Key (also for non-AD computers)
edited by on May 13th 2015, at 14:34

If you accidentally have misplaced or forgotten your Bitlocker Recovery key, but still have access to the system (with an elevated account), you can retrieve the recovery key quite easily through the command line:

Open an elevated command prompt and type:

manage-bde -protectors -get C:

Replace C: with any drive that has Bitlocker enabled. Note that if it's not the system volume but some other drive that's encrypted, you need to unlock it first before you can retrieve the recovery key.

 
Trend Micro Officescan: silent install via AutoPCC utility
edited by on May 8th 2015, at 14:29
The Trend Micro OfficeScan client can be installed on a workstation via the network (using an UNC-path) through the AutoPCC utility. The client can simply browse the OfficeScan server, locate the autopcc.exe utility, and run it, performing an installation of the OfficeScan client on the computer running the utility. By default, the installation of the client is not silent, meaning the user will see windows and dialogs appearing. Fortunately, it is possible to make AutoPCC to perform the installation completely silently, leaving the user almost unaware that an installation of OfficeScan is occurring.

To change this setting, log on to the OfficeScan server, and browse to the OfficeScan instal  ...
 
VMWare vSphere client on high DPI settings
edited by on May 6th 2015, at 09:20

You may have noticed that running the VMWare vSphere client on a display with higher DPI settings causes problems with the mouse cursor alignment when working inside a VM. This is because of a mismatch between the DPI settings of the VM and the DPI settings of your computer.

To resolve, right-click the shortcut to the client, go to the Compatibility tab, and enable Disable display scaling on high DPI settings.

The downside of this method is that there will be misalignment of some parts in the client, but it is still workable and moreover, it solves the mouse issue in a VM.

 
Change location of Kodi's data directory (workaround)
edited by on May 5th 2015, at 13:05
By default, Kodi (formerly known as XBMC), stores its data directory in the user's home folder (Mac/Linux) or roaming profile (Windows). Sometimes, this may not be desirable, especially when you have only a limited amount of space available on that particular drive (such as having a Windows installation on an small SSD). In that case, you may want to move the entire data directory (including the profiles, thumbnail caches and database files) to another drive.

There are various ways to achieve this, but I found out the most easiest (and also complete way) is to simply move the entire folder to another partition or disk, then symlink that folder to its original location. That way, you won't h  ...
 
Internet Explorer tries to "save" any and all websites and HTM/HTML files
edited by on May 5th 2015, at 12:47
In rare cases, Internet Explorer (any version) tries to always "save" any and all website pages, and locally opened HTM/HTML files. Additionally, you cannot open the About Internet Explorer dialog box (it is either grayed out or nothing happens). There isn't a single cause for this so I tried listing some things you can try to resolve the matter.

Avast is known to cause this because of its SandBox module. Try disabling it, or (temporarily) uninstall Avast entirely.

Security bulletin MS14-021 provides an update, KB2964358, which can cause this if not all previous security updates for IE have been installed. Uninstall the patch, then install all security updates (accept this one),   ...
 
Windows Update error 0x80072EFD
edited by on May 5th 2015, at 09:37

If Windows Update (or Microsoft Update) produces error code 0x80072EFD, you are most likely blocked by a firewall or a proxy.

  • Check any firewall that may be blocking access to the update sites. This includes any software-based firewall on the server, as well as network firewalls and content filters.
  • If you have configured a proxy, check whether the proxy is reachable and does not block access. If you don't have a proxy server (anymore), it may still be configured. See this article on how to check and resolve.
 
Difference between AutoComplete and Suggested Contacts in Outlook
edited by on April 22nd 2015, at 14:01

From KB 2682333:

Outlook also adds a folder to Contacts labeled Suggested Contacts. Addresses get added to this folder as you send or reply to messages addressed to people who don’t exist in your Contacts folder. Outlook doesn't look in Suggested Contacts for names during the AutoComplete process. It only stores addresses that you might want to add to your Contacts. You can double-click an entry in Suggested Contacts and a Contact Form opens that allows you to save it to your Contacts Folder.
 
Trend Micro Unauthorized Change Prevention Service may cause a desktop not to load during logon
edited by on April 22nd 2015, at 12:58
The Trend Micro OfficeScan AEGIS engine may cause a desktop not to load during logon, resulting in a black screen with only the mouse cursor visible. The process explorer.exe is not loaded, nor can it be loaded through Task Manager.

The problem usually occurs on provisioned desktops, either through VDI (VMWare View) or some other 3rd party management solution (Dell Kace, etc). Various components of these solutions hook into key Windows components (Winlogon, Explorer extensions, etc), and are then being blocked by the Trend Micro Behavioral Analysis service (the AEGIS-engine).

A workaround is to either whitelist all the components, but this is often not a straight-forward solution. Another   ...
 
Limitations for OneDrive for Business
edited by on April 22nd 2015, at 12:25
There are limitations to using OneDrive for Business to synchronize items.

Maximum items* for OneDrive for Business20 000Maximum items* per Sharepoint document library5 000*** Files and folders.
** You can synchronize more than one library.

Maximum size per item2 GBMaximum name length for files and foldersSharepoint Server 2013: max. 128 chars
Sharepoint Online: max. 256 chars
Folder names: max. 250 chars
Maximum combined names (files and folders, aka "path": max. 250 charsInvalid characters:\ / : * ? " < > | &hash;
spaces are not supported
files starting with a ~Invalid chars (Sharepoint Server 2013):All of the above +
{ } % ~
names starting with a .Unsupported folder  ...
 
VMWare Tools on Windows 2000 install fails (runtime DLLs cannot be installed)
edited by on April 21st 2015, at 08:16

When attempting to install VMWare Tools on a Windows 2000 VM, you may get the following error:

Error message
Microsoft Runtime DLLs cannot be installed on this Operating System. Please see Microsoft KB835732

To resolve, you need to install Security Update for Windows 2000 (KB835732) (requires SP4 as well).

 
Windows 8.1 OEM/Retail installation media (creator)
edited by on April 15th 2015, at 11:30

Microsoft has officially released (some time ago) a tool to download and create your own Windows 8.1 installation media. The tool will request your language, architecture and edition, and how you want to create the media (as an USB stick, or as an ISO file for burning to a DVD). It will then download the necessary files and create your installation media.

The created media will accept all Windows 8.1 OEM, Retail Full, and Retail Upgrade keys. (For Windows 8, see here.)

You can download the tool here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media.

 
Windows 8 and 8.1 (generic) installation keys
edited by on April 15th 2015, at 11:23
To (re)-install Windows 8 or 8.1 with retail or OEM media (including the online media creator), you can (temporarily) use the "generic" installation keys, officially provided by Microsoft.

These keys allow you to perform the installation, after which Windows will run in a 30-day trial mode, before a proper key and activation is required. The keys are language and platform-independent.

Windows 8.1 (Core)334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPTWindows 8.1 N(Core)6NPQ8-PK64X-W4WMM-MF84V-RGB89Windows 8.1 (Core) SLY9NXP-XT8MV-PT9TG-97CT3-9D6TCWindows 8.1 ProXHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKBWindows 8.1 Pro NJRBBN-4Q997-H4RM2-H3B7W-Q68KCWindows 8.1 Pro w/ Media CenterGBFNG-2X3TC-8R27F-RMKYB-JK7QTIf yo  ...
 
Outlook: e-mail that you send on behalf of someone is not saved in their Sent Items folder
edited by on April 13th 2015, at 17:16
In Outlook, when sending e-mail on behalf of someone else, it is not saved to the Sent Items of that user's mailbox. This is particular a problem when dealing with shared mailboxes, where both incoming and outgoing mail for those mailboxes need to be available for all users that require access to the mailbox.

Notice
If you are running Outlook with Exchange 2010 (since SP2 RU4) or up, in non-cached mode, do not use this method. You will trigger an issue with Outlook keeping sent items in the Outbox of the current mailbox. See MS KB 2703723 for more information.

To resolve this, depends on the Exchange version:

Exchange 2010: use the Set-MailboxSentItemsConfigura  ...
 
Windows 7/2008 R2 Service Pack 1 install error 0x800f0a12
edited by on April 10th 2015, at 15:43
Installation of Windows 7/2008 R2 Service Pack may fail with error 0x800f0a12 if access to the BCD was denied during installation, which is required during the installation of the service pack. This can occur if the volume automount policy was set to disabled, or, in rarer cases, if the BCD database is corrupt or missing, or if something is wrong with the boot partition (where the bootloader lives).

Open an elevated command prompt, and run DISKPART.

Enable the automount policy:

DISKPART> automount enable

Restart the server, and try installing the service pack again.

If the above did not resolve the issue, there may be a problem with the boot partition.

Make sure the partition is mar  ...
 
Windows 8.1 PC Settings does not start
edited by on March 20th 2015, at 12:02
In Windows 8 or 8.1, PC Settings may not start: clicking on it very briefly shows the purple background but then returns to the desktop or start screen. The Application event log shows the following error (or a similar one):

Event log
Activation of app windows.immersivecontrolpanel_cw5n1h2txyewy!microsoft.windows.immersivecontrolpanel failed with error: This app does not support the contract specified or is not installed. See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.

A possible solution is to re-register the PC Settings app (also known as Immersive Control Panel) through Powershell. Run the following from an elevated command prompt:

powershell -Execu  ...
 
showing posts tagged with 'windows'
 
 
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