Enable AHCI support in Windows Vista/7/8

If you have installed Win7 on an existing PC, and suddenly find yourself needing or wishing to
take advantage if the enhanced performance from ACHI (over legacy IDE)... 

In regedit, go to HKLM:SYSTEM:CurrentControlSet:services\msahci

Click on Start, choose MODIFY, and set the value to zero.

Shutdown regedit, shutdown Windows, power cycle PC and go to your system BIOS setup
and enable your controllers AHCI support and save the config.

Boot into Windows, it will load an AHCI driver.  Reboot again and the machine will be
running in AHCI mode.

Itunes crashes with R6027 Pure Virtual Function Call or Itunes has Stopped Working

I have had numerous issues with Itunes 64 bit 11.1.38 (and other previous versions) locking up and crashing upon start with "Itunes has stopped working" or "R6027 pure virtual function call".  I have researched the answers around the forums as well as having tried some extensive and repetitious troubleshooting myself and thought I'd list them here... in order of troubleshooting...



1. Install all Windows updates and reboot.  This seems to clear issues from time-to-time... I suspect Itunes expects the latest-and-greatest as far as Windows is concerned.. see if this clears your issue.

2. Remove the contents of your "Iphone photo cache" (or other related product)  directory...

3. Try editing the shortcut properties and configure the shortcut (for all users) to run as Administrator.

4. Try editing the shortcut and configure it to run in Compatibility Mode for Windows 7 (for all users).

5. Uninstall all Itunes and Apple products; reboot, remove their directories, remove lingering Itunes registry entries, reboot again, reinstall using "RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR" to install the Itunes executable. See if this allows Itunes to stabilize.  Please be sure to use the following guide from Apple as far as removing the apps and directories are concerned...

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1923

NOTE: If you are having issues with accessing ITunes STORE, try reinstalling the latest QuickTime player.

6. a.Try using MSCONFIG to locate a potential conflicting application or service using the following...

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2292

or



6. b. Remove the last recent software application(s) you may have installed... in my case removing GREENSHOT http://getgreenshot.org/  stopped my Itunes from crashing on startup and it stabilized after driving me nuts for weeks.

Small Business Server 2003 with Win7 client account lockout

I recently added a WIndows 7 Pro 64 bit client to an SBS 2003 AD domain.  After which, every time the Win7 client reboot/went into standby/screenlocked then the domain account would get locked out.

After several attempts I was able to rectify the issue by disabling SBS Account lockout policy...

Open Server Management.

1. In the console tree, click Advanced Management, right-click Group Policy Management, and then click Add forest.
2. In the Add forest dialog box, enter the domain name. When prompted Do you want to add this forest with this domain?, click Yes.
3. In the console tree, under Group Policy Management, click Forest:forestname, click Domains, right-click Small Business Server (Account) Lockout Policy, and then click Edit.
4. In Group Policy Object Editor, click Computer Configuration, click Windows Settings, and then click Security Settings.
5. Under Security Settings, click Account Policies, and then click Account Lockout Policy.
6. In the details pane, double-click each of the following policies, and modify settings as needed: Account lockout duration, Account lockout threshold, and Reset account lockout counter after.
7. I SET ACCOUNT LOCKOUT THRESHOLD TO ZERO.
8. Click Apply, click OK, and then close Group Policy Object Editor.
9. Close Group Policy Management.

If you also need to disable Account audit... (I didn't have it set ) do the following...

1. Open Server Management.
2. In the console tree, click Advanced Management, right-click Group Policy Management, and then click Add forest.
3. In the Add forest dialog box, enter the domain name. When prompted Do you want to add this forest with this domain?, click Yes.
4. In the console tree, under Group Policy Management, click Forest:forestname, click Domains, right-click domainname, click Domain Controllers, right-click Small Business Server Auditing Policy, and then click Edit.
5. In Group Policy Object Editor, click Computer Configuration, click Windows Settings, click Security Settings, and then click Local Policies.
6. Under Security Settings, click Local Policies, and then click Audit Policy.
7. In the details pane, double-click Audit logon events, and modify settings as needed.
8. Click Apply, click OK, and then close Group Policy Object Editor.
9. Close Group Policy Management.

Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000709)

Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000709) when trying to set default printer in Win7...

Turns out an old printer (defunct yet still in registry somehow) was still there...

Fixed by setting permissions to key...

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows

To FULL.  Then renamed key ..\Windows as ..\windows.x and restarted print spooler
service.. the default printer setting then worked normally.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproinstall/thread/57d9e420-0ea2-4561-a7cc-2fd33da792ae/

Win7 Domain Client accessing WinXP share

For some reason Microsoft makes it a royal piain in the ass for a Win7 domain client to attach to a
WinXP share...  I had a Win7 Enterprise client on a domain attaching to a shared WinXP Pro SP3 client on that same domain.. nothing worked.  I tried the following...

On XP shared client, disabled simple file sharing.
On Win7 attaching client, set Administrative Tools... Local Security Policy... Security Options...  Network Security LAN Manager Authentication Level to "use LM & LMNT as well as negotiate LMNTv2".  Also set Network Discovery to ON and allowed lower level encryption support.

When that all still didnt work... I did the following...

On the XP shared client, I created a new network share...
I then created a local account called shareaccess with local Administrator group priviledge and added that user to the shares access list, having with full permissions.
On the Win7 attaching client, I created a Generic Credential pointing to the IP address of the XP machine, using the shareaccess account and password I just created.

Worked like a charm.

How to Clean Install Windows 7 with a Upgrade DVD Disc or ISO Image

To install a clean copy of Win7 using upgrade media...

1.Boot up the PC with the Windows 7 Upgrade DVD disc media into DVD-ROM drive.
2.Follow the Windows 7 Install Wizard to install the operating system on the blank, empty and clean system.
3.During installation, when prompted for a product key, DO NOT enter the upgrade version product key.
4.Unselect and untick the Automatically activate Windows when I’m online check box during the installation process. Hit NEXT...
5.After Windows 7 is installed, boot up to desktop, and manually enter the Windows 7 upgrade product key to activate online or activate via phone.

If online activation does not work... try one of these workarounds...

Workaround 1: SLMgr Commands to Insert Product Key and Activate
1.Open an elevated command prompt as administrator.
2.Use the following command to install product key:
slmgr -ipk
3.Activate Windows 7 with the following command:
slmgr -ato
4.To check activation status from command line, use slmgr -dlv or
slmgr -dli.

Workaround 2: Double Installs
1.After starting up the just installed Windows 7 system, allow system to boot to desktop.
2.Insert the same Windows 7 DVD media into CD/DVD optical drive tray to start Install Windows wizard again. Alternatively, mount the Windows 7 ISO image to a virtual CD/DVD-ROM drive, or directly run setup.exe from the unpacked Windows 7 installation files.
3.Reinstall Windows 7 once again (both Upgrade or Custom Install should be OK), enter product key during installation so that Windows 7 can be automatically activated when user first online after installation is done.
Steps above is originally used as a workaround to clean install Windows Vista with upgrade media, and is less commonly used as it’s time-consuming.

Workaround 3: MediaBootInstall Registry Hack

1.After booting up, ensure that no Windows Updates pending task which requires a system reboot to finish installing.
2.Run Registry Editor (RegEdit).
3.Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\OOBE
4.In the right pane, change the value data for MediaBootInstall
from 1 to 0.
5.Open an elevated command prompt as administrator.
6.Run the command below to reset Windows 7 activation status:
slmgr -rearm
7.Reboot the computer.
8.Run the Activate Windows utility (accessible from bottom section of Control Panel -> System and Security -> System, or type Activate Windows into Start Search), type in the upgrade product key and activate Windows.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/10/27/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-and-product-key-on-formatted-or-empty-blank-hard-drive/

SHUTDOWN button in Vista and Win7

One of the most ridiculous things Microsoft did with Vista
and Windows 7 was the idea of having the shutdown button
and start menu shutdown selection both default to SLEEP.

This has caused enormous frustration for users who actually
want to do a hard reset of their computers to clear a
problem... as SLEEP only puts them back to the point they
started.

Change this by adjusting power options in control panel.
Select the power mode you are currently using, choose
advanced selections, and change the settings for POWER
BUTTONS AND LID, POWER BUTTON ACTION to choose SHUTDOWN.

Remove Win 7 Libraries

Using regedit, remove the two registry keys under...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\

{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}
{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}

And Win7 will no longer default to displaying those
annoying Libraries that Microsoft thought everyone
would love.