Cannot Display – Page 9 – Mind Dumps, Tech News, Operating System and System Admin tips.

May 14, 2015nick

Windows Update stuck 3 of 3 – Can’t use PC

It would seem that the last batch of updates from Microsoft around the 12th-14th May 2015 have been causing quite a few PC’s to hang stopping at Update 3 of 3.

This so far looks like it is only affecting Windows 7 Pro X64 based PC’s

As with most IT Professionals, we would never suggest performing a Hard shut-down to your PC, unless there really is no other option, however it does look like in this case this is the only way to fix this particular ‘Stuck Update‘ issue.

If your Windows Update stuck:

Option 1)

Press CTRL + ALT +DEL
This seems to be working for 50% of users encountering this issue, if it does not work then proceed to option 2.

Option 2)

Step 1) Hold down the power button on your PC for 10+ seconds,
Step 2) Restart PC by repressing the power button
Step 3) If confronted with a windows error ‘Your PC did not shut down normally’ screen, select “Start Windows Normally”

Out of the 7 PC’s we have now done this to, all in different environments, we are yet to see any errors or corruptions caused by this. We are continuing to look into which update specifically caused this and why, and so check back later to keep yourself updated.

For further reading see this Reddit thread.

May 12, 2015nick

Use CMD or Powershell to find last boot time

Ever wanted to check the last boot time of a PC or server?

There are multiple reasons why you may want to find out the last boot time of a server or a PC, Perhaps your server has been restarted without you knowing, and you want to be able to have a starting time to aid in your search through event logs to see what happened prior to the restart. Maybe you are remotely logged onto a PC which is running slow, but the user hasn’t restarted it for a while.

Anyhow, below is how to check the last boot time using either Powershell or CMD:

Powershell:
Get-WmiObject -class Win32_OperatingSystem | Select-Object __SERVER,@{label=’LastBootUpTime’;expression={$_.ConvertToDateTime($_.LastBootUpTime)}}

CMD Method:

The built in systeminfo command may however be easier to remember using CMD:

systeminfo | find /i "Boot Time"

Or with the help of WMIC:

wmic os get lastbootuptime

As you can see, the easiest and probably most useful quick command is by using SystemInfo, easy to remember, quick and nicely formatted.

May 10, 2015nick

Can’t use browser – Jump to URL (hh h)

Ever been stuck with a web browser so full of toolbars or extensions that its almost impossible to do anything? Is your browser unresponsive or you are unable to use the internet?
Then you need to deploy the Windows hidden Cutdown browser:

Here is how to access the web when you can’t use browser.

Simply use the following hotkeys Win+R to open the Run box, then type “hh h” and hit enter
Cutdown web browser HH H useful can't use browser

This will bring up the ‘HTML Help’ documentation window, can't use browser

Right Click and select ‘Jump to URL’
Cutdown web browser HH H

Enter URL of site you need, in this case a copy of RKILL to help get pc back into shape,
Cutdown web browser HH H

See our List of top free products to recover your PC from a virus for more info.

May 8, 2015nick

Resolve Logmein Error 4320 (Method 2)

Another way to resolve Logmein Error 4320

As discussed in my previous article on this logmein issue, this error code is most commonly found in a domain environment, or where there may be some form of user lockdown, and may even occur on a multi user non domain PC.

Basically, it is meant to protect the users PC from being accessed by someone other than the logged in user who installed logmein in the first place.

First off, lets open up the logmein Control Panel (Right-Click on the logmein icon in the taskbar, or open from the start menu)
Next we are going to select ‘Options’
Then ‘Preferences’
Select the ‘Security tab’
Click on ‘Show Details’
Click on Browse and select the correct user you want to add to allow access to the PC. You can choose from a list either by selecting the local PC name, or if you are on a domain, then the domain name that the PC is registered with.
Click OK to close all windows, Turn off Logmein then turn it back on,
You are good to go!

Preventative measures could be taken however, When installing logmein, if you do so whilst logged in as a local admin for the PC, this seems to resolve the issue. Please note, this is only for the LOCAL admin for the PC, a domain admin account will most likely not work, and provide the same Logmein error 4320 as discussed above.

May 6, 2015nick

Resize VHD / Shrink Virtual xp Disk

So you still have something running on that Virtual XP machine silently consuming space on your HDD?
Finally decided that you need to resize VHD disks to free up wasted storage? Here is how;

1) Turn off your VHD or close any programs that may be running (status should be Powered down)
resize vhd for windows xp mode

2) In the Virtual Machines manager, right-click and select settings

4) Select the HDD you want to shrink and click ‘Modify’
modifying to resize vhd for windows xp mode

5) Then select ‘Compact disk’ and wait.
compacting windows xpo mode vhd disk

This process will assess how much space is currently being used, and the, remove the rest leaving 10-20% headroom for growth of the disk. It can take up to 30+ mins to complete this process, so be patient! By using this simple tool, you can shave a good 60+GB of wasted space into freely usable storage.

May 4, 2015nick

Resolve Logmein Error 4320 (Method 1)

How to resolve Logmein Error 4320

Whilst setting up logmein for remote access in a pretty locked down domain environment, I have noticed that quite frequently we would get an ‘admin error 4320’ on the remote users PC.

Now the official logmein site would suggest adding users within the logmein interface, which we will cover in ‘Method 2’ however I have found a quicker workaround that works 9 out of 10 times is by simply always running the program as administrator.

Place the Logmein icon either on your desktop or navigate to the program folder path usually “C:\Program Files (x86)\LogMeIn Ignition”
Right click on the icon and select ‘Properties
Once in Properties select the ‘Compatibility’ tab at the top
At the bottom under ‘Privilege level’ tick the ‘Run this program as Administrator’ box*.
If you have more than 1 user on the PC, select ‘Change settings for all users’
Again tick the ‘Run this program as Administrator’ box
OK out of both windows, If logmein is running. Close it again and re-open it, now using an Administrative logon.

Your Logmein error 4320 should now be resolved. if not see the link below

Logmein Error 4320 Method 2

*If the ‘Privilege level’ box is greyed out, be sure that you are logged on as an administrative user, or log off and back on as one in order to continue.

May 1, 2015nick

Connect to O365 using Powershell (Windows Azure Active Directory Module )

So you need a quick way to connect to o365 to manage email for either yourself or your clients?

Load up the Azure Directory module, link below:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=236297

Type (or copy/paste):
$msolcred = get-credential
connect-msolservice -credential $msolcred

It will then prompt for your Office 365 administrators user/pass.
Hit enter,

You are now connected to your admin console and can now use a whole host of available cmdlets in order to quickly and effectively manage your exchange and Office365 back-end.

See <link to post> for my Top Five Office 365 Powershell commands

April 30, 2015nick

Which Exchange services to restart without needing a server reboot

Here is which exchange services to restart in order to completely refresh an on-site exchange installation

1) Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Topology Service (this will toggle all the core AD Exchange services minus the below)

2) Microsoft Exchange Information Store

3)Microsoft Exchange System Attendant

exchange services

With all that complete you should be all ready to go and continue trouble shooting/upgrading/modifying whatever it was you need to work on. Hopefully though if you hd any issues, this should have resolved them for you.