BeatificaBytes

The Joys of Computing

Category: Tips

  • WOL support for Windows Server 2012 on Asus Striker II Formula

    I have always experienced issues to enable the support for Wake-on-Lan on my PC and again, today, I spent hours to succeed in configuring WOL on the Windows Server 2012 of my Asus Striker II Formula. But this time, I took notes for the future 🙂

    Click to Read More

    I initially though that the default driver installed with Server 2012 for the nVidia ForceWare network adapters of my motherboard did not support Wake-On-Lan (as reported sometimes for other brand). But after installing the latest drivers from Asus website, WOL was not yet effective… All the settings of the machine were the default ones (issued from the installation) as I didn’t touch any of them yet… So I started to enable/disable/reenable plenty of various settings before being finally able to remotely wake up my PC with a Magic Packet (I am using the “WOL” page of my Buffalo router for sending those messages).

    First, notice that depending on the Motherboard, Wake-On-Lan could work for you only if your PC is in a Sleep mode or in an Hibernate mode. Mine can be waked-up from a full shutdown (as most recent/decent motherboards 🙂 ).

    • In the Computer Management > Device Manager > Network adapter > right click Properties on “your adapter“
    • In the tab “Power Management”, check all the options:
      • Allow this computer to turn off this device to save power
      • Allow this device to wake up the computer
      • Only allow a magic packet  to wake up the computer
    • In the tab “Advanced”
      • Enable the adequate WOL features, whose names depend on your adapter:
        • “Wake up capabilities” must be “Magic Packet” or “Both”
        • “Wake On Magic Packets”            < I have this one
        • “Wake Up From Shutdown”
        • “Wake On Lan After Shutdown”
        • “Wake On Lan From PowerOff”     < I have this one
        • “Shutdown Wake-On-Lan”
        • “Wake On Lan”
        • “Wake On Pattern Match”             < I have this one
        • …
      • WOL however only started to work for me when I did disable “Device Sleep on Disconnect” in this advanced tab.
      • Microsoft White paper on this topic here.
    • In the Bios, you need to enable features like:
      • Remote Wakeup
      • Power On By PCI/PCIE Devices  < I have this one. It includes “Onboard Lan”. Nothing else requires to be enabled in the Bios.

    Et voilà.

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  • Fine-Tune Server 2012 Essentials

    I am using Windows Server 2012 Essentials (quite a replacement for WHS 2011 although not exactly) on my Home Server for File Storage, Media Sharing and centralized PC backups. I also plan to use it to run Virtual Machines.

    However, I actually don’t care about most of the “Server 2012” features. So, I “fine tune” the server to make it more user-friendly. I will keep track of the changes I do, and other useful tips, here (Edit: I found an interesting web site here to convert a server 2012 into a workstation, including a wizard).

    Click to Read More

    • Regarding the execution of VM on that server, I don’t know yet:
      • if I will use Hyper-V and do an “in-place” upgrade from Server Essentials to Standard Edition(limited to two VM per licence of Standard Edition) or
        • Doing this upgrade, I would lose the support for Video Streaming…
      • if I will use the old VMWare Server 2.0 (not supported anymore but free for unlimited VM)…

    • To edit system files such as the “host” file (in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc), the editor (e.g.: notepad++) must be run “As Administrator”, otherwise, the changes may not be saved! I need this to define some hostnames (among other to access my blog using its internet address as I don’t use a DNS server in my local network).

    • To enable the Hibernate mode: (I didn’t succeed yet… I will need a new Graphic Card – But most probably I won’t use hibernation as it’s not recommended on machine with disk managed via FlexRaid…)

      1. Type cmd on the Start Screen and execute Command Prompt with run as administrator.
      2. In the command prompt, type: powercfg.exe /hibernate on.
      3. Type Power on the Start Screen and select Settings under the search box. Execute next Change what the power buttons do.
      4. Click on Change settings that are currently unavailable.
      5. Select Hibernate in the combo of the Power button settings.
      6. Check the option Hibernate in the Shutdown settings.
      7. I did NOT select Turn on Fast Startup in the Shutdown settings because my server don’t power off anymore with that option. Some people also report that with this option they were not able to use WOL anymore… I can’t validate that as my PC does not even shutdown, so… 🙂
      8. Click Save Changes
      9. Click now Create a new Power Plan (e.g.: based on the Balanced plan and named “Hibernate”).
      10. Your new plan becomes the current one. Click “Change Plan Settings” to edit you plan.
      11. Click on Change advanced power settings.
      12. Click on Change settings that are currently unavailable.
      13. Select your plan in the combo if it is not the displayed one.
      14. Under Hard Disk > Turn off hard disk after, select (e.g.) 30 minutes.
      15. Under Sleep > Hibernate after, select (e.g.) 60 Minutes.
      16. Under Media Settings > When sharing media > Settings, select “Allow the computer to sleep”, although the server is really used for Media Sharing. In my case, the feature is enabled, but I mainly use my NAS for media sharing.
      17. Click OK to apply the changes and close the window.

    Notice that I still don’t see “Hibernate” in the Power Menu available from the Start Screen. It’s only available when closing Windows from the Desktop with Alt-F4.

    Next, in the Bios, you need to:

        1. Enable the ACPI function
        2. Set the ACPI Suspend Type on S1/S3 ? To be validated as possibly not required base on:
          • S1: All processor caches are flushed, and the CPU(s) stops executing instructions. Power to the CPU(s) and RAM is maintained; devices that do not indicate they must remain on may be powered down.
          • S2: CPU powered off. Dirty cache is flushed to RAM.
          • S3: Commonly referred to as Standby, Sleep, or Suspend to RAM. RAM remains powered
          • S4: Hibernation or Suspend to Disk. All content of main memory is saved to non-volatile memory such as a hard drive, and is powered down.

    The Hibernate mode didn’t run as expected although I am quite sure of the configuration based on my previous experience. Concretely, the PC does not power off. Only the screen becomes black. I have the same behavior with a Shutdown if the “Fast Startup” option is enabled – which is actually a Partial Hibernate. So, to investigate, I did type in a command prompt Run As Administrator: powercfg /a

    This command lists all the sleep states available and the reason why they are possibly not supported. In my case, it did report that the Graphic card was an issue. Missing specific drivers for the graphics device, the OS doesn’t know how to suspend and resume it. This is therefore disabling the hibernation (and would do so for other sleep states as reported by “powercfg /a”). CQFD. I found a version of Catalyst (for ATI graphic cards) that runs on Server 2012.. To be tested soon…

    Notice also that if you have disabled an onboard Graphic Card within Windows because you did install another one, sleep states could also be disabled. Instead of disabling the onboard card, configure the display to be “disconnected” (Option of the Display > Screen Resolution).

    Final notice: Sleep modes seems to completely set “off” one of the NICs.

    • To disable the Shutdown Event Tracker prompting you when shutting down the server (if you don’t use a Domain):

      1. Type gpedit.msc on the Start Screen and then press Enter
      2. Select Local Computer Policy
      3. Select Computer Configuration
      4. Select Administrative Templates
      5. Select System
      6. Select Display Shutdown Event Tracker (in the root of the System folder)
      7. If you want to get rid of the dialog box, then select ‘Disabled’ for Display Shutdown Event Tracker.  To restore the default then check the ‘Enabled’ box.

    The change will be effective immediately (No need to reboot).

    • To disable the Windows Firewall (which I don’t use in my intranet)

      1. Type Firewall on the Start Screen and select Firewall with advanced security
      2. Select the node Firewall with advanced security on Local Computer
      3. In the overview, click Windows Firewall Properties
      4. In the tabs Domain Profil, Private Profil  set Firewall state: “Off“. Possibly keep it “On” in the tab Public Profil (In my case, the server won’t be connected to a public network ever).

    • To remotely shutdown the server

      Use the psShutdown command from SysInternals.

      psshutdown \\<servername> -s -t 0

      Or the windows command shutdown

      shutdown /s /m \\<servername> t 0

      And disable UAC on the server (at least for psShutdown)

    • To Disable Default IE Security Restriction

      1. On the Start Screen, type Server and select Server Manager,
      2. In the left pane, select Local Server
      3. In the right pane, in the section Properties, click at the On link behind the IE Enhanced Configuration setting.
      4. Switch the setting to Off for both Administrators and Users to disable the restrictions.

    • To Display the Shutdown button on the Logon Screen

      1. On the desktop, press :win: + R
      2. In the Run Dialod, type gpedit.msc — this will launch the Local Group Policy Editor within the Microsoft Management Console.
      3. Select Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options.
      4. In the right-side pane, Select the Policy “Shutdown: Allow system to be shut down without having to log on” and change the value in the Security Setting column to be “Enabled“

    • To enable NIC Teaming

    1. Type  lbfoadmin.exe on the Start Screen and run it “As Administrator” to open the NIC Teaming console
    2. In the Adapters And Interfaces pane, select the NICs to team (control-click each NIC) then Right-Click the selected group and Click on Add to New Team
    3. Give a name to the New Team and Click OK. No need to change defaults in the “Additional properties” section.
    • Enable all PowerShell Scripts execution
      1. On the Start Screen type “Power” and run “Windows PowerShell”
      2. Type this to enable Scripts execution for the current user
        • set-executionpolicy -scope CurrentUser Unrestricted
      3. Type this to disable Scripts execution for the current user
        • set-executionpolicy -scope CurrentUser Undefined
      4. More info here.


    • Disable IE Security Restrictions
      1. Go to the Start Screen, type and run Server Manager
      2. Click on the node Local Server
      3. In the Properties pane, find “IE Enhanced Security Configuration” and click on its value to change it.
      4. Set Off for Admin (or possibly both Admin and Users)
    • To enable FTP Server
    Transferring a lot of small files is very very slow (a few KB/s instead of at least 80 MB/s for large files). This is due to latency… For such file transfer, it is far better to use FTP.
      1. On the Start Screen, Click the Server Manager tile, then click Yes.
      2. In the Server Manager Dashboard, click Add roles and features.
      3. If the Before you begin page of Add Roles and Features Wizard is displayed, click Next.
      4. On the Select installation type page, select Role-based or feature-based installation, and click Next.
      5. On the Select destination server page, select Select a server from the server pool, select your server from the Server Pool list, and then click Next.
      6. On the Select server roles page, expand the Web Server (IIS) node, and then expand the FTP Server node.
      7. Select the FTP Server check box and the FTP Service check box, and then click Next.
      8. On the Select features page, click Next.
    Once the service installed, a FTP site has still to be created
    1. On the Start Screen, type IIS and run the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager (not the IIS 6.0 Manager!!!)
    2. Right click on the node of your server in the Connections pane and select Add FTP Sites…
    • To skip Domain Joining on a workstation 

    I don’t use my Server 2012 as an actual Server 24/7 with Domain Control (centralized credentials), DHCP, Group Policy, VPN etc… Instead, I did configure on all my workstations to prevent them to be enrolled by Server 2012 Essentials when they access it for the first time.

    • To skip Domain Joining on a PC with a Pro/Enterprise/Ultimate Windows 7 or 8):
    1. On your client computer, go to Start (Win7) or Start Screen (Win8) and search for command prompt “cmd“.
    2. Execute cmd.exe with run as administrator.
    3. In the command prompt, type:
      • reg add “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Server\ClientDeployment” /v SkipDomainJoin /t REG_DWORD /d 1
    4. Follow next those steps to connect on Server 2012 Essentials:
      1. With your brower, go to http://<servername>/Connect
      2. Click on “Dowload software for Windows 7 and Windows 8”
      3. Execute the ComputerConnector(xxxx).exe just downloaded and follow the wizard. When prompted for a login and password, use the credentials of an administrator defined on your Server 2012.
      4. To access the Dashboard through Remote Desktop, you also have to provide  the credentials of the an administrator defined on the Server.

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  • Bootable Floppy, Usb Key or CD/DVD with Dos or Windows 9X/Me/NT/2K/XP

    It’s always a nightmare when I have to flash a Bios or boot a PC in a Dos mode for any other purpose (recover a corrupted partition). Sometimes because I don’t have a floppy drive on the PC, sometimes because I don’t find my Bootable CD with Win98, etc…

    Fortunately, there are all the required utilities to create bootable devices (floppy, usb or CD) on the Bootdisk.com website.

    Click to Read More

    My favorite utility being the one to create a bootable usb key (Method 1). It’s indeed

    • nowadays very seldom to still have a floppy drive on a PC (an even much seldom to find a floppy in good condition)
    • not practical to use a CD as even if it’s not a read-only one, to add some exe/files for the purpose of the operation is not always as easy as with a usb key.

    As far as you are concerned with creating a Bootable USB Key from a Windows Setup ISO, You may simply use the “ISO to USB” tool.

    For Windows 7, use the Microsoft “Windows7-USB-DVD-tool” – Official “Windows 7 Setup ISO” being available here.

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  • Plug an old IDE device on a Sata Controller (and vise versa)

    If for any reason you need to access an old IDE device from a PC with only Sata controllers or if you want to access a Sata device from an old PC with only IDE controllers, you need a SATA to IDE or an IDE to SATA Adapter.

    Click to Read More

    Actually, if you don’t want to keep the device plugged for ever on the PC, the best option is to buy a device a little bit more expensive (~10€): a SATA to IDE, IDE to SATA Bi-Directional Adapter.

    I did buy one from Syba which is great (and efficient): the “SD-ADA50016”.

    Notice: I have no issue with it but it is based on the SunplusIT SPIF223A chip which is not reported of the best one. Users complains about very poor performances (as low as 4MB/s) and recommend other models. From my own experience, it’s indeed very slow but it is actually close to Blue-Ray speed 1X (4.5MB/s) with my DVD burner.

    Here bellow is the full spec. Notice that it works not only for HDD but also for CD/DVD burners and does not look like a basic piece of plastic that wouldn’t support to be plugged and plugged often. It can really help you to

    • access data forgot on an old IDE backup drive, from you brand new PC,
    • connect Sata disk on an old machine (e.g. a server you don’t want or may not renovate or extend with a Sata Controller) or
    • reuse an expensive DVD Burner in a new machine (although you have great portable ones for less than 30€).

    Important: Don’t forget to plug also the power cable (6pin LP4) on the controller or it won’t work 😉

    Full spec:

    • Unique Bi-directional SATA <–> IDE Converter
    • Chipset: Satalink Spif223a
    • Supports 3.5-inch SATA and IDE (ATA) Hard Drive
    • Supports 5.25-inch SATA and IDE (ATA) Optical Drives
    • LED Indicators: Power-On and HDD-Activity
    • Ultra Low Power Consumption
    • Connectors:
      • IDE (ATA)
      • SATA to Computer (Yellow)
      • SATA to Drive (Black)
      • 4-pin FDD Power Connector
    • Two Independent Ultra ATA Channels with 128/256 Bytes Buffer Per Channel
    • Driverless Installation
    • Serial ATA Interface:
      • Complies with SATA 1.0a Specification
      • Supports SATA Generation 1 with Transfer Rate up to 1.5Gbps (150MB/s)
      • Supports Spread Spectrum in Receiver
      • Supports SATA Power Saving Mode (Partial and Slumber)
    • IDE (ATA) Interface:
      • Complies with ATA Specification
      • Complies with Ultra ATA 133 with Transfer Rate Up To 133MB/s
      • Supports PIO Mode o, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
      • Supports MDMA Mode 0, 1, 2
      • Supports Ultra DMA Mode 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
      • Supports Master/Slave/Cable Select Mode by Configuration Switches
    Pictures:

    This adapter looks like this:

    Syba SD-ADA50016 IDE/SATA Converter Bi-directional IDE to SATASyba SD-ADA50016 IDE/SATA Converter Bi-directional IDE to SATA

    Alternatives:

    For sure, you can get cheaper generic adapters, for half that price, E.g.:

    IDE to SATA or SATA to IDE Adapter

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  • Promise FastTrak TX4660 issue when used with NVidia MediaShield Raid

    Building a new machine, I have experienced the lack of compatibility between the Sata RAID Controllers from the FastTrak TX Series and some on-board Sata RAID controllers 🙁

    Click to Read More

    I have 6 Sata II controllers on my Motherboard “Asus Striker II Formula“. They support RAID thanks to the NVidia MediaShield Storage Technology.

    Yesterday, I plugged into a PCI-e 16x port of this motherboard a Promise FastTrak TX4660 controller card with RAID support.

    Unfortunately, the initialization sequence of the FastTrak (during the boot sequence) kept  blocked forever on the message “Press <Ctrl-F> to enter FastBuild Utility”. I was  unable to either enter this utility pressing Ctrl-F or continue the boot sequence (and start  the OS). And although the PC didn’t look completely freezed, Ctrl-Alt-Delete was not responding either. Notice: I was using a PS2 keyboard, just to be sure… as some USB controllers are sometimes not initialized before the end of the boot sequence to make this one shorter.

    I quickly discovered that the FastTrak was passing successfully if I was disabling the RAID Support on the motherboard. But then, my PC was not able to start the OS as this one was installed on a RAID 0 array managed by the motherboard’s controllers.

    To make it clear: if I was restoring the “default settings” in the Bios (which does not enable the RAID support), then the FastTrack was passing successfully (or I could enter the utility pressing Ctrl-F). But as soon as I was re-enabling the Raid Support on the Sata Controller of my motherboard (and nothing else), the boot sequence stopped after the message mentioned above…

    This morning, I read that the Promise FastTrak is incompatible with some other Raid Controllers. I assumed I was in such a case. So, I started to hope that a Bios Update would possibly fix the incompatibility.

    1) I did first update the Bios of my Asus Striker II Formula from v1305 to v2402 (the latest) using the tool of Asus, the “EZ Flash 2” available in the BIOS itself, and the new firmware copied on a USB key. The update was a piece of cake…

    Unfortunately, it did not solve the problem 🙁

    2) I did next downgrade the Bios of my Promise FastTrak Tx4660 from v2.9.0.0039 (the latest) to v2.9.0.0037 (the previous one) using a Bootable USB Key created with a tool from BootDisk and the flash utility found on Promise.com

    And BINGO!!!

    The boot sequence completes now successfully with RAID enabled on the motherboard. Only notice that I see a black screen for 15s to 25s while the FastTrak scans for the drives…

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  • Access Synology from Windows 8 with a Windows Live ID

    Since I did upgrade my PC from Windows 7 to Windows 8 and did start to use my Microsoft account (Windows Live ID) to sign in, I am prompted for credentials when I try to  access shared folders on my Synology, although I did create an account with the same name on the NAS. The Credential Manager (formerly known as Windows Vault) is the solution!

    Click to Read More

    First, to be sure that I did create an  account with the same name as my Windows Live Id on the Synology, I did check the name of that Live Id in C:\Users. It was the very same.

    However, that’s not the name sent by Windows 8 to the NAS.

    I could provide valid credentials but I don’t want to do that at each access. And unfortunately,  the old good “Remember my credentials” checkbox seems to be gone in Windows 8. But the feature behind this option (Windows Vault) is still available.

    1. If you are not on the Start Screen, type “Ctrl-Esc”
    2. Once on the Start Screen, type “Control” and select the search result “Control Panel”.
    3. In the “Control Panel” search box, type “Credential” and select the search result “Credential Manager” (This one is the feature formerly known as Windows Vault).
    4. Select the “Windows Credentials” button.
    5. Now, select “Add a Windows Credential.”
    6. In the view that opens, type in the hostname of your NAS or its network address
    7. Provide the user name and password that you want to use to connect on the NAS instead of your Windows Live ID.
    Et voilà!

     

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  • Fresh re-install of Windows 7 before upgrading to Windows 8 Pro for less than 15€

    As you really should know, if you bought a computer with Windows 7 home premium or above between June 2, 2012 and January 31, 2013, you can buy the upgrade to Windows 8 pro for about 15€!!! And actually, it works also for older Windows 7 PC as far as you mention that you bought it recently…

    Here is the link to get the Promo Code

    However, just like me, you most probably don’t want to upgrade your PC with all the crap currently installed on it. Instead, you want to upgrade from a fresh install of Windows 7. But unfortunately, you don’t have the setup media to re-install Windows 7 SP1 🙁

    No problem! The official ISO’s (English versions) from Microsoft are available here.

    Click to Read More

    Reinstal you PC with the adequate ISO and upgrade next to Windows 8 using the Upgrade Assistant – providing your Promo Code to pay the lowest price (Payment with Paypal is available). No need to install any Windows updates for Windows 7 before starting the upgrade to windows 8. But when upgrading to Windows 8 choose the option “keep nothing” to have a cleanest installation.

    Finally, after the installation, delete the “windows.old” folder using the Disk Clean-up utility:

    1. Right click your System Drive and select properties
    2. Start the Disk Clean-up Utility (button next to the pie chart).
    3. Click “Clean-up system files” (Disk Clean-up will restart itself)
    4. Select now “Previous Windows Installation(s)” in the list of files to delete (This option was not available before step 3).
    5. Click “Ok” and confirm the “Delete Files”

    Et voilà!

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  • Windows command

    Just as I intensively use windows hot keys and shortcuts that boost my productivity, I also like some “windows commands” to avoid clicking on sub-sub-sub-extra-sub-menus to reach some windows configuration screens…

    Click to Read More

    Using commands is straightforward, if you know it: Use the Shortcut  :start:Start +R and type your command in the dialog box.

    Here is a list of available commands, most of them being actually components like:

    • .cpl : « Control Panel » Applet
    • .msc : Microsoft System Console
    • .mmc : Microsoft Management Console.

    Control Panel Commands

    • control : opens the “Control Panel” window
    • control admintools : opens the “Administrative Tools”
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\System and Security\Administrative Tools
    • control color : opens advanced appearance settings with the “Window Color and Appearance” tab to customize colors used in your theme
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization\Window Color and Appearance\Advanced appearance settings…
    • control desktop or desk.cpl : opens display properties with the themes “Personalization” tab
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization
    • control folders : opens “Folder options” mainly to customize the windows explorer
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Folder Options
    • control fonts : opens “Fonts” tab of the Appearance and Personalization” window where you can preview and delete available fonts
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\ Fonts
    • control international or intl.cpl : opens the “Regional and Language” options
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Clock, Language, and Region\Region and Language
    • control keyboard : opens “Keyboard Properties” mainly to customize the speed parameters
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Devices and Printers\ right click the keyboard and select Keyboard Settings
    • control mouse or main.cpl: opens mouse properties
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Mouse (under Devices and Printers)
    • control netconnections or ncpa.cpl: opens “Network Connections”
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center\Change adapter settings (on the left)
    • control userpasswords: opens “User Accounts” editor to change password
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\User Accounts and Family Safety\User Accounts
    • control printers : opens “Printers and Faxes” available
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\ View devices and printers (under Hardware and Sound)
    • control userpasswords2 or netplwiz : opens “User Account” for access restrictions and advanced user management.
    • control schedtasks or taskschd.msc : opens the “Tasks Scheduler”
    • optionalfeatures : opens the “Turn on/off Windows Features” utility
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel \Programs\Programs\Turn Windows features on or off

    Control Panel Applets

    • access.cpl : opens “Ease of Access Center”.
    • appwiz.cpl : opens the “Add/Remove programs” wizard
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Uninstall a program (under Programs)
    • desk.cpl : opens display properties with the themes “Personalization” tab
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization
    • hdwwiz.cpl or devmgmt.msc : opens the “Device Manager” utility
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\System and Security\Device Manager (under System)
    • intl.cpl : opens the “Regional and Language” options
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Clock, Language, and Region\Region and Language
    • irprops.cpl : infrared utility tool (if installed)
    • joy.cpl : opens “Game Controllers” settings
    • main.cpl : opens “Mouse Properties”
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Mouse (under Devices and Printers)
    • mmsys.cpl : opens “Sound “ utility with the Playback, Recording, Sounds and Communication tabs
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Sound
    • ncpa.cpl : opens “Network Connections”
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center\Change adapter settings (on the left)
    • powercfg.cpl : opens “Power Options” properties for Power Plan configuration
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options
    • sysdm.cpl : opens “System Properties”
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\System and Security\System\Change settings (bottom right) – Win + pause
    • telephon.cpl : opens the phone/modem “Location Information”
    • timedate.cpl : opens “Date and Time” properties
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\Clock, Language, and Region\Date and Time
    • wscui.cpl : opens the “Action Center” for Windows “Security Management” et “Maintenance”
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\System and Security\Action Center
    • wuaucpl.cpl : opens “Windows Updates”
      • :start:Start  > Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Update

    System Consoles

    • mmc : opens the “Microsoft Management Console”
    • azman.msc : opens “Authorization Management” console
    • certmgr.msc : opens “Certificate Management” console
    • compmgmt.msc : opens the “Computer Management” console
    • comexp.msc or dcomcnfg: opens the “Component Services” console including COM+, IIS, Event Viewer and Services Manager, …
    • eventvwr : opens the “Event Viewer”
    • fsmgmt.msc : opens the “Shared Folders” console
    • gpedit.msc : opens the “Local Group Policy Editor” console
    • lusrmgr.msc : opens the “Local Users and Groups” console
    • napclcfg.msc : opens the “NAP Client Configuration” console
    • rsop.msc : opens the “Resultant Set of Policy” issued from all defined “Group Policy” objects
    • services.msc : opens the “Service Manager”
    • secpol.msc : opens the “Local Security Policy” console
    • wmimgmt.msc : opens the (WMI) “Window Management Instrumentation”

    Windows utility and applications

    • explorer : opens Windows Explorer ( :win: + E  )
    • iexplorer : opens Internet Explorer
    • calc : opens Calculator
    • soundrecorder : opens sound recording tool
    • dpinst : opens the “Device Driver Installation Wizard”
    • dvdplay : play CD or DVD
    • osk : opens “On-Screen Keyboard” (Win+U)
    • magnify : opens “Magnifier”
    • dialer : opens “Phone Dialer”
    • eudcedit : opens the “Private Character Editor”
    • sndvol : opens the “volume mixer”
    • rstrui : opens the “System Restore”
    • msinfo32 : opens the “System Information”
    • mrt : opens the “Malicious Software Removal”
    • taskmgr : opens “the Windows Task Manager” (Ctrl + Alt + Esc)
    • cmd : opens a command prompt
    • sigverif : opens the “File Signature Verification” tool
    • winver : displays your Windows version
    • iexpress : opens the wizard for creating self-extracting archives.
    • mblctr : opens the “Mobility Center” on laptops only (Win+X)
    • msra : opens “Windows Remote Assistance” to request help to a friend
    • mstsc: opens the “Remote Desktop connection” window
      • mstsc -v:host opens directly the remote desktop of the host.
    • msdt : opens the “Microsoft support diagnostic tool”
    • printbrmui : opens “Printer Migration Wizard” to export/import queues and printer drivers to/from file.
    • shrpubw : opens the “Create a shared folder wizard”
    • narrator : starts the “Windows Narrator”
    • wscript : opens the “Windows Script host settings” window
    • fxscover : opens the “Fax Cover Sheet Editor”
    • iscsicpl : opens the “iSCSI Initiator” properties
    • mdsched : opens the “Windows Memory Diagnostics” tool
    • dxdiag : opens the “DirectX Diagnostics” tool
    • odbcad32 : opens the “ODBC Data Source Administrator” tool
    • regedit : opens the “Registry editor” with support to search on values. May not be used to set permissions.
    • regedt32: opens the “Registry editor” with support to set permissions. May not be used to search on values (only searching for keys is supported).
    • verifier : opens the “Driver Verifier Manager”
    • cliconfg : opens the “SQL Server Client Network Utility”
    • colorcpl : opens the “Color Management” tool used to calibrate displays ad fine-tune color rendering.
    • credwiz : open the “Stored User Names and Password” wizard to backup and recover user passwords
    • mobsync : opens the “Synchronization Center”:
    • msconfig : opens the “System Configuration” utility which give access to all Startup and Boot options
    • syskey : opens the “Windows Account Database” security management which allows the enable data encryption on Windows.
    • comp : Compare files in a console

    Disk management

    • diskmgmt.msc : opens the “Disk Management” console
    • cleanmgr : opens the “Disk Cleanup” utility
    • dfrgui : opens “Disk Defragmenter”
    • chkdsk : starts a complete analysis of disk partition in console mode
    • diskpart : starts the “Disk Partitioning tool” in console mode

    Connection management

    • ipconfig: lists the configuration of IP addresses on your PC (for more information type ipconfig/? in the CMD menu)
      • ipconfig /all : show details
      • ipconfig /release : release IP of all adapters
      • ipconfig /renew : renew IP of all adapters
      • ipconfig /displaydns : display DNS cache entries
      • ipconfig /flushdns : delete all DNS cache entries
      • ipconfig /registerdns : refresh DHCP and re-register DNS
    • inetcpl.cpl : opens the “Internet Properties”
    • firewall.cpl : opens the “Windows firewall” settings: Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Firewall
    • fw.msc : opens the “Windows Firewall with Advanced Security” console

    Miscellaneous commands

    • netproj : allow or not connecting to a network projector
    • logoff : closes the current session
    • shutdown : shuts down Windows
    • shutdown -a : to interrupt Windows shutdown
    • dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded : clean cache for installation of service packs (useful to release a lot of space on the system drive!)
    • sfc : System File Checker (Requires Windows CD if the cache is not available):
      • sfc /scannow: immediately scans all system files and repairs damaged files
      • sfc /VERIFYONLY: scans only those files system
      • sfc /Scanfil = “name and file path”: scans the specified file, and repairs if damaged
      • sfc /VERIFYFILE = “name and file path”: Scans only the file specified
      • sfc /scanonce: scans the system files on the next restart
      • sfc /REVERT: return the initial configuration (For more information, type sfc /? In the command prompt CMD.
      • sfc /scanboot: scans the system files on every boot
      • sfc /purgecache: purge File Cache
      • sfc /cachesize=x: Set Cache Size to size x:
    • ftp : ftp client
    • telnet : Telnet client
    • rasphone : Manage Remote Access Service connections
    • msiexec : Windows Installer
    • wiaacmgr : Windows Picture Import Wizard (Need camera/scanner connected)

    Environment Variables

    • %WINDIR% or %SYSTEMROOT%: windows installation folder (e.g.: C:\Windows)
    • %PROGRAMFILES%: location where programs are installed (e.g.: C:\Program Files)
    • %USERPROFILE%: location of currently logged user’s profile (e.g.: C:\Users\ [username])
    • %HOMEDRIVE%: partition where the operating system is installed (e.g.: C:)
    • %HOMEPATH%: location of currently logged user’s home (e.g.: \Users\ [username])
    • %TEMP%: location of the temporary folder

    Sources: Oreilly, Microsoft Control Panel, Web Talk’s Command Guide.

    Command to Control Panel

    Control Panel Applet

    Command

    		  
     
    Action Center control /name Microsoft.ActionCenter  
    control wscui.cpl  
    Add Features to Windows 8 control /name Microsoft.WindowsAnytimeUpgrade  
    Administrative Tools control /name Microsoft.AdministrativeTools  
    control admintools  
    AutoPlay control /name Microsoft.AutoPlay  
    Biometric Devices control /name Microsoft.BiometricDevices  
    BitLocker Drive Encryption control /name Microsoft.BitLockerDriveEncryption  
    Bluetooth Devices control bthprops.cpl13
    Color Management control /name Microsoft.ColorManagement  
    Credential Manager control /name Microsoft.CredentialManager  
    Date and Time control /name Microsoft.DateAndTime  
    control timedate.cpl  
    control date/time  
    Default Programs control /name Microsoft.DefaultPrograms  
    Device Manager control /name Microsoft.DeviceManager  
    control hdwwiz.cpl  
    devmgmt.msc  
    Devices and Printers control /name Microsoft.DevicesAndPrinters  
    control printers  
    Display control /name Microsoft.Display
    Ease of Access Center control /name Microsoft.EaseOfAccessCenter  
    control access.cpl  
    Family Safety control /name Microsoft.ParentalControls  
    File History control /name Microsoft.FileHistory  
    Flash Player Settings Manager control flashplayercplapp.cpl  
    Folder Options control /name Microsoft.FolderOptions  
    control folders  
    Fonts control /name Microsoft.Fonts  
    control fonts  
    Game Controllers control /name Microsoft.GameControllers  
    control joy.cpl  
    Get Programs control /name Microsoft.GetPrograms  
    Home Group control /name Microsoft.HomeGroup  
    Indexing Options control /name Microsoft.IndexingOptions  
    rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL srchadmin.dll  
    Infrared control /name Microsoft.Infrared  
    control irprops.cpl  
    Internet Options control /name Microsoft.InternetOptions  
    control inetcpl.cpl  
    iSCSI Initiator control /name Microsoft.iSCSIInitiator  
    Keyboard control /name Microsoft.Keyboard  
    control keyboard  
    Language control /name Microsoft.Language  
     
    Location Settings control /name Microsoft.LocationSettings  
    Mail4 control mlcfg32.cpl5  
    Mouse control /name Microsoft.Mouse  
    control main.cpl  
    control mouse  
    Network and Sharing Center control /name Microsoft.NetworkAndSharingCenter  
    Network Connections control ncpa.cpl  
    control netconnections  
    Network Setup Wizard control netsetup.cpl  
    Notification Area Icons control /name Microsoft.NotificationAreaIcons  
    Offline Files control /name Microsoft.OfflineFiles  
    Pen and Touch control /name Microsoft.PenAndTouch  
    control tabletpc.cpl  
    Performance Information and Tools control /name Microsoft.PerformanceInformationAndTools  
    Personalization control /name Microsoft.Personalization  
    control desktop  
     
    Phone and Modem control /name Microsoft.PhoneAndModem  
    control telephon.cpl  
    Power Options control /name Microsoft.PowerOptions  
    control powercfg.cpl  
    Programs and Features control /name Microsoft.ProgramsAndFeatures  
    control appwiz.cpl  
    Recovery control /name Microsoft.Recovery  
    Region control /name Microsoft.RegionAndLanguage  
    control intl.cpl  
    control international  
    RemoteApp and Desktop Connections control /name Microsoft.RemoteAppAndDesktopConnections  
    Scanners and Cameras control /name Microsoft.ScannersAndCameras  
    Screen Resolution control desk.cpl  
    Sound control /name Microsoft.Sound  
    control mmsys.cpl  
    Speech Recognition control /name Microsoft.SpeechRecognition  
    Storage Spaces control /name Microsoft.StorageSpaces  
    Sync Center control /name Microsoft.SyncCenter  
    System control /name Microsoft.System  
    System Properties control sysdm.cpl  
    Tablet PC Settings control /name Microsoft.TabletPCSettings  
    Task Scheduler7 control schedtasks  
    Taskbar control /name Microsoft.Taskbar  
    rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 1  
    Text to Speech control /name Microsoft.TextToSpeech  
    Troubleshooting control /name Microsoft.Troubleshooting  
    User Accounts control /name Microsoft.UserAccounts  
    control userpasswords  
    Windows 7 File Recovery control /name Microsoft.BackupAndRestore  
    Windows Defender control /name Microsoft.WindowsDefender  
    Windows Firewall control /name Microsoft.WindowsFirewall  
    control firewall.cpl  
    Windows Mobility Center control /name Microsoft.MobilityCenter  
    Windows SideShow control /name Microsoft.WindowsSideShow  
    Windows Update control /name Microsoft.WindowsUpdate  

    See also the shortest path to access any Control Panel Applet.

    Click to Read More

    Notice: Another quick access to all “Control Panel” applet if you don’t want to type commands.

    1. Press Ctrl + Esc
    2. Click on “Control Panel”
    3. Start to type the title of the applet (no need to click in the search area)

    You may also create your own shortcut key to access directly the “Control Panel”:

    1. Create a shortcut (in any folder) to C:\Windows\System32\control.exe
    2. Assign a shortcut Key to that shortcut via the tab “Shortcut” of its “Properties”.
    See also “here“

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  • Sync MS Outlook and Android using gmail account

    I really like MS Outlook and use it on all my Windows PC and laptops – at work as well as at home. But there was nothing offered my MS to sync Outlook’s emails, contacts and calendars between multiple PC and Android. So, I started to use a gmail account to that purpose.

    Click to Read More

    • First, I did enable the imap support on my gmail account and took note of all the gmail “imap parameters” for the next steps.
    • Next, I did configure an imap account to access my gmail mailbox in MS Outlook (on all my PC/Laptops).
    • A also configured my Google account on my Android smartphone to access my gmail mailbox , my Google Calendar and my Google Contacts.
    • Finally, I did install two freeware on all my Windows PC to sync my Google Calendar and my Google Contacts with Outlook:
      • “Go Contact Sync Mod” to sync my Outlook’s Contacts with gmail (both way)
      • “Google Calendar Sync” to sync my Outlook’s Calendar with gmail (both way on my private PC, one way at work => to get my professional appointments on my personal computers but no the opposite).

    Et voilà 😉

     

    Now, I should have a look on my “Outlook Web Account” (previously “hotmail”) to see if I could not use it to sync MS Outlook and Android in a similar way… MS did add/integrate indeed several services which deserve some attention…

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  • Assembly Version, File Version and Product Version: The Butterfly Effect

    Assembly Version, File Version and Product Version are “related” if you don’t specify them explicitly… and you could be surprised by one of the side effect: loosing you application data or user settings when incrementing the Assembly File Version.

    Click to Read More

    How are those versions specified:

    By default, any new Visual Studio Project includes an AssemblyInfo file defining default values (major, minor, build and revision) for the Assembly Version and Assembly File Version:

    [csharp][assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.0.0")]
[assembly: AssemblyFileVersion("1.0.0.0")][/csharp]
    • A difference in the build number represents a recompilation of the same source. This is usually appropriate because of processor, platform, or compiler changes.
    • Assemblies with the same name, major, and minor version numbers but different revision numbers are intended to be fully interchangeable. This is usually appropriate for security fix, etc …
    • “[assembly: AssemblyVersion(“65534.65534.65534.65534“)]” is maximum.

    MSBuild can auto-increment the build and revision numbers at each build if we provide a (*) in place of those figures. Ex.

    [csharp][assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.*")][/csharp]

    or

    [csharp][assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.0.*")][/csharp]

    In such cases, the build number is generated based on the current day and the revision number is generated based on the number of seconds since midnight. Replacing the revision number only with a (*) would be irrelevant. Indeed, consecutive builds would most probably have lower revisions.

    There is no default value set for the Product Version when creating a new Visual Studio Project. But a value can be set manually in the AssemblyInfo file using:

    [csharp][assembly: AssemblyInformationalVersion("1.0.0.0")][/csharp]

    Usually, the Product Version is a value like major.minor.build, but it can actually be any string, like “1.0 RC”, etc… Don’t use (*) in this string as it wouldn’t be replaced by an auto-incremented figure. Instead, it would crash your application in some cases (See further for the explanation). Notice also that before VS 2010, using anything else that major.minor.build.rev was resulting in  false warning during compilation.

    What do those versions mean:

    Assembly Version : This is the version number used by framework during build and at runtime to locate, link and load the assemblies. When you add reference to any assembly in your project, it is this version number which gets embedded. At runtime, CLR looks for assembly with this version number to load. But remember this version is used along with name, public key token and culture information only if the assemblies are strong-named signed. If assemblies are not strong-named signed, only file names are used for loading.
     
    Assembly File Version : This is the version number given to file as in file system. It is displayed by Windows Explorer. Its never used by .NET framework or runtime for referencing. But it can be used by OS tools.

    Product Version (a.k.a Assembly Informational Version): Defines an additional version information for an assembly manifest. This is the version you would use when talking to customers or for display on your website..

    What if a version is not specified:

    • If the Assembly version is not explicitly specified, it takes the value of 0.0.0.0.
    • If the Assembly File version is not explicitly specified, it takes the value of the Assembly version.
    • If the Product version is not explicitly specified, it takes the value of the Assembly File version.
    How could issues occurred due to this relation:

    By your fault 🙂

    At work, we recently decided to manage the major and minor numbers of the Assembly Versions at build time, within our TFS Build Process Template. Assembly Versions’ build and release numbers are kept equal to 0 while major and minor are enforced with values provided through Build Definitions’ parameters. At the same time,  we auto-increment the build and release numbers of the Assembly File Versions while keeping their major and minor numbers aligned with those of the Assembly Versions. We don’t touch the Product Version. This was designed as recommended in KB 556041.

    As mentioned, major and minor numbers are specified through custom parameters of our Build Definitions. The build number is computed to reflect directly the current day using a format like “YMMdd” with Y = year modulo x to be <= 6 (None of our product has a longer life). The release number is set with the auto-incremented value provided out-of-the box by Team Build.

    Previously, most of the binaries were compiled locally, on development workstations, and there was no version management at all (There was simply no need for any such versioning): Assembly Version and Assembly File Version were always kept unchanged.

    The change introduced with our Build Process Template had an unexpected consequence: As there never was any Product Version specified explicitly in the AssemblyInfo, binaries’ Product Versions were always equal to the Assembly File Version… kept therefore unchanged through all builds. However, since we started to auto-increment the Assembly File Version, the Product Version started to increment too…

    And ? And some users started to complain that their custom settings were lost after the installation of each new version…

    We quickly noticed that, as usually recommended, developers were making use the two following properties to store  respectively application’s data and users’ data:

    [csharp]Application.CommonAppDataPath[/csharp]
    [csharp]Application.LocalUserAppDataPath[/csharp]

    And after some investigations on MSDN, it appeared that the path returned by those properties depend among other on the Product Version 🙁

    Depending on the OS, CommonAppDataPath is usually like:

    • %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<CompanyName>\<ProductName>\<ProductVersion> or
    • %SystemDrive%\ProgramData\<CompanyName>\<ProductName>\<ProductVersion>

    And LocalUserAppDataPath is like:

    • “%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\<UserId>\Local Settings\Application Data\<CompanyName>\<ProductName>\<ProductVersion>” or
    • “%SystemDrive%\Users\<UserId>\AppData\Local\<CompanyName>\<ProductName>\<ProductVersion>“.

    So, indeed, each new release of our product having now a new Product Version, application’s data and users’ data of the previous versions are not used anymore…

    Any (*) used in the Product Version (e.g.: 1.0.*) wouldn’t be replaced by auto-incremented build/release numbers (as mentioned previously), the “AppDataPath”  above would contain an illegal character; reason why the application would crash when accessing this path.

    This also impacted applications accessing settings in the registry with methods like:

    [csharp]Application.UserAppDataRegistry.SetValue()[/csharp]
    [csharp]Application.CommonAppDataRegistry.SetValue()[/csharp]

    Those methods access respectively data under 

    • HKCU\Software\<CompanyName>\<ProductName>\<ProductVersion>\
    • HKLM\Software\<CompanyName>\<ProductName>\<ProductVersion>\
    Read also this paper on User Settings Management.
    See also one of my sources here about this topic.

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    ,

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