I recently ran across a machine that was having problems installing Windows Updates. It would seemingly go through fine but upon restarting it would change from "Configuring Updates" to "Failure configuring Windows Updates. Reverting Changes." In troubleshooting, a theory was to delete the update that had been downloaded and have Windows Updates re-download it. In case the … [Read more...]
How to delete a service through the command line
I was working on a client's malware-infected computer earlier. After getting past the big infections, I was doing a more thorough spot-check and noticed some unwanted Browser Helper Objects (spyware) still latching on to Internet Explorer. They also had entries in the Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs list. I told them to uninstall but it essentially did nothing. The files … [Read more...]
Massaging data to have usable information and save a few keystrokes
I needed to create and populate a security group in active directory so I could limit a group policy to only the relevant users. Those relevant users each had a folder under the server share with the folder name being their username. Given that there were several dozen users already in the directory, I was hoping to be able to get that data in the format I needed so I could do … [Read more...]
Create a QR Code to share your WiFi settings
With another holiday weekend upon us, perhaps you would like to give your visitors easy access to your WiFi. Instead of having to repeat your SSID, the authentication type, and the password for each person, you could write it down. Even with it written down, you're not saving them any keystrokes, plus you have the possible typo or misinterpretation of zeros or capital 'O' or … [Read more...]
Windows 8: How to change your color scheme, lock screen image, Start Screen background, and desktop wallpaper
Windows 8 has a few more options for customization over Windows 7 but finding where to make those changes can be a little confusing. Here's a guide to changing your color scheme, your lock screen, the Start Screen background style, and your desktop's wallpaper. … [Read more...]