Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, Windows 8 and more How Tos
If your Windows 10 computer does not have the NETWORK icon in the system tray and you see nothing but a line in TURN SYSTEM ICONS ON OR OFF (see screen shots below) there are several fixes we will detail. However, to get to the point, we have found that usually the problem is the NETWORK LIST service, see details below. 4 FIXES FOR MISSING NETWORK ICON: Right click on the START button, select…
If you are trying to manage Windows Updates on a Windows 10 or Server 2016 / 2019 computer you have no doubt already figuredout that WUAUCLT no longer functions. We are not sure why Microsoft has done this because the only replacement we can find is a new undocumented tool named USOCLIENT that is built into Windows 10 and Server 2016/19 at C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\USOClient.exe. We say undocumented and mean it. Microsoft has made no information available…
Microsoft certainly has been making patching Windows 10 PC’s difficult these days but after some significant effort, I have found a simple combination of commands and one free tool does the trick. The command in question is an undocumented program inside Windows 10 named C:\Windows\System32\USOClient.exe This program manages Windows Updates much like the old wuauclt used to: Launch a CMD prompt or PowerShell AS AN ADMINISTRATOR Type USOClient.exe ScanInstallWait You would expect that command to download and install…
PIN’s used to work in Windows 10 with no changes to GPO’s but at some point in recent Win 10 ADMX templates, Microsoft added an odd setting. They turned off PIN’s by default and you have to turn them on in via GPO if you want to use them on a domain connected user account. This means that there is not a GPO that is blocking your use of PINs and the message “THIS SETTING…
If your Outlook returns a yellow box saying “Something went wrong and your search couldn’t be completed” the most likely issue is your Windows Search Service is damaged. You can verify this in two ways: Click the START button and type something. If it shows SEARCH INDEXING WAS TURNED OFF. TURN INDEXING BACK ON, this is likely your issue Click the START button and type SERVICES.MSC to start the Services management console and see if…
We recently told you that there was no way to block the public Microsoft Store but allowing your private corporate Store and while true at the time, is now false. At the recent Microsoft Ignite conference, I tracked down a Store program manager and dug into the problem. He told me this has now been changed so I tested and confirmed the GPO setting works as promised. You can set the Microsoft Windows 10 Store…
There are many programs that will run as both an administrator and as a restricted user. However, when some security programs like Active Directory Sites and Services and Group Policy Management Tool, are run as a standard restricted user they have very little functionality. As a result admins must right click on the relevant shortcut and select RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR to force an elevation. This is a pain. To have programs automatically prompt for elevation:…
It is difficult to understand what Microsoft if offering these days. It was hard enough when there was just Office 365 with the E1 E3 and E5 packages but today Microsoft is offering 3 different bundles (Office, Windows & Microsoft) each with their own E1 E3 and E5 sub-bundles. What is Office 365? In simple terms, Office365 is a bundle of software that (for most packages) provides Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and more on the…
At the recent Microsoft Ignite conference in Florida, Microsoft pitched using OneDrive For Business instead of the User State Migration Tool (USMT). This suggestion was largely based on the new ONEDRIVE > MANAGE PROTECTION OF IMPORTANT FOLDERS wizard. Previously you had to manually move your DESKTOP, DOCUMENTS and PICTURES folders to folders under your C:\USERS\<YourName>\ONEDRIVE – <BUSINESS NAME> or come up with an even more creative solution like building Junction Points. This was just not…
UPDATE OCT 18 2018 – You CAN now use a GPO to block the public Microsoft Store but keep your private corporate Store. See our short explanation HERE. After working on setting up a private Microsoft Business Store (businessstore.microsoft.com) I was shocked to find that I could not disable the Public Microsoft Store through any of the settings. I put a few hours into searching and reading but could not even find someone saying it…
We recently sourced many Dell 5490 laptops, tossed the SATA connected spinning disk and replaced them with M.2 PCIe connected Toshiba RC100 SSD’s and all was well for testing. In production however we found that the laptops would periodically blue screen and upon reboot or power up, they would go to a black screen displaying NO BOOT DEVICE FOUND, PRESS F1 F2 OR F5. This is annoying and so after a few weeks of working…
I recently acquired a Dell Inspiron 24″ All In One with a touch screen and added my old Acer T231H 24″ as a second screen. When I touched the Acer, the mouse would move on the Dell… this is not good. Because I was using a beta of Windows 10 (slow ring), I thought that the build of Windows I was using had a problem (just like in the video below, although that is not…
If you need to add a registry entry to a Windows PC most often techs will simply export the key and entries they want and then use the REGEDIT /S command to push that entry onto another PC. For example if you want to disable the Cortana bar (but not Windows Search), you save the following into a file named DISABLE-CORTANA.REG Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search] “AllowCortana”=dword:00000000 Then you simply put that file…
In recent years it has become common for home PC users to use large laptops, considering them more like “small PC’s”. This trend led computer manufacturers to build the laptop computer into the back of a screen and then provide and external keyboard and mouse. This innovation is the “All In One” Computer. All in Ones eliminate many of the cables and mess you get with traditional desktop PC’s. Acer was the first company we…