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Jeroen W. Pluimers on .NET, C#, Delphi, databases, and personal interests

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Archive for the ‘Windows’ Category

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Fix by Christian S. – Moers for “KB2686509 repeatedly fails with Error code 0x8007F0F4” (via: Microsoft Community)

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/05/07

Thanks Christian S. – Moers for the fix for KB2686509 repeatedly failing and the answer below.

I’ve used it as the Microsof FixIt offered at You may receive a “0x8007F0F4” error code when you try to install updates from the Windows Update Web site or from the Microsoft Update Web site did not work on several systems. The fix by Christian did work on all those systems.

Note: it is possible you get the same error for KB2676562: MS12-034: Description of the security update for Windows kernel-mode drivers: May 8, 2012, as it is related to KB2686509: MS12-034: Description of the security update for CVE-2012-0181 in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003: May 8, 2012.

One of the symptoms is that your system contains the file %windor%\faultykeyboard.log containing a list of  missing keyboard layout DLL files or KBD files (one of my machines had these missing: kbdjpn.dll and kbdkor.dll).

The cause is that KB2686509 can have problems with registry keys stored here:

  • HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout
  • HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layouts

Christian wrote a batch file to fix it (named BatchFixKB2686509.cmd) which works splendid on the systems I had this error.

The batch file uses regedit /e to export parts of the registry, then writes a small .reg file to clear the keys and imports them with regedit /S, waits for you so you can install the update, then writes back the saved registry data.
So basically, it automatically performs the manual steps described at KB2686509 – Failure Due to Upgrade from Windows ME or 98 to Windows XP – TechNet Articles – United States (English) – TechNet Wiki.

His answer: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Batch-Files, Development, Keyboards and Keyboard Shortcuts, Power User, Scripting, Software Development, Windows, Windows XP | Leave a Comment »

Reminder to self: links to HP C4680 Windows Drivers

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/05/05

Reminder to Self: links to HP C4680 Windows Drivers.

My mom has an HP C4860 all-in-one inkjet printer/scanner/copier.

Soon she will have a new laptop, so here are some links I will need to get that printer installed:

I’m not sure though why “Basic drivers” still need to be close to 40 megabytes.

–jeroen

via: HP C4680 Windows Drivers – Google Search.

Posted in Power User, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 | Leave a Comment »

; a semi-colon starts a comment line in a .reg file (via: Windows Server content from Windows IT Pro)

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/05/05

Thanks John Savill from Windows IT Pro:

To include comments in a registry file, place a semicolon (;) at the beginning of the line, as shown below:

; This will delete the key below because of the - sign
\[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SavillTech\key\]

–jeroen

via: How do I place comments in a .reg file? | Windows Server content from Windows IT Pro.

Posted in Microsoft Surface on Windows 7, Power User, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows XP | Leave a Comment »

Easiest way to grant/query “Log on as a service” to a Windows user from the command-line? (my question on Super User)

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/04/28

I want to script an install where a service needs to be run as a user. I want to be able to specify the user.

Creating the user is easy through the [Wayback/Archive] NET USER /ADD command.

Specifying the user for the service can also be done: the [Wayback/Archive] SC CONFIG command [Wayback/Archive] allows this (thanks [Wayback/Archive] wmz and [Wayback/Archive] ofiris).

Now the missing link: granting the user the [Wayback/Archive] “Log on as a service” privilege as a [Wayback/Archive] logon right (SeServiceLogonRight). Is there a command for this? Or a simple script for PowerShell?

(I know only Local Service can do this out of the box, and [Wayback/Archive] no other accounts by default are, but I want to have control over the account and what other privileges that account has).

Edit: solved. Thanks [Wayback/Archive] Mathias R. Jessen.

Here is the solution, including a few comments.

The easiest way to do this from a command line is definitely using NTRights.exe from the Windows Server 2003 Resource Toolkit.

ntrights +r SeServiceLogonRight -u jeroen -m \%COMPUTERNAME%

I changed the command-line a bit:

ntrights +r SeServiceLogonRight -u %USERNAME% -m \%COMPUTERNAME%

Note that

whoami /all

doesn’t show any change (not even after a reboot, it does not matter if you run it with or without UAC token).

secpol.msc

does show the change however, and does not require UAC (follow the tree to “Security Settings -> Local Policies -> User Rights Management -> Log on as a service” to see the users having the permission).

–jeroen

via: [Wayback/Archive] Easiest way to grant “Log on as a service” to a Windows user from the command-line? – Super User.

PS: Later I found out it is way easier to query the right:

accesschk.exe /accepteula -q -a SeServiceLogonRight

It will list the users having that right, for instance:

        IIS APPPOOLClassic .NET AppPool
        NT SERVICEALL SERVICES
        VCS-CIContinuaCI

There are similar rights one might want to query:

SeBatchLogonRight
SeDenyBatchLogonRight
SeInteractiveLogonRight
SeDenyInteractiveLogonRight
SeServiceLogonRight
SeDenyServiceLogonRight
SeNetworkLogonRight
SeDenyNetworkLogonRight

Thanks [Wayback/Archive] twasbrillig for explaining that at as answer to [Wayback/Archive] powershell – How to view user privileges using windows cmd? – Stack Overflow

Posted in Batch-Files, CommandLine, Development, Power User, PowerShell, Scripting, Software Development, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista | Leave a Comment »

WinToUSB – Install and Run Windows/WinPE on a USB drive!

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/04/22

Interesting: WinToUSB – Install and Run Windows/WinPE on a USB drive!.

Now lets find out how big the flash drive needs to be, then a speedy flash drive which is big enough.

–jeroen

Posted in Power User, Windows, Windows 8.1 | Leave a Comment »

Windows/NTFS – this works from one file system to another: `junction -D`

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/04/20

I’m glad that junction did work to create a directory junction to link a directory from one NTFS file system to another with this small batch file (that falls back from mklink to junction):

  @echo off
:start
  if !%1!==!! goto :help
  goto :main
:help
  echo %0 TargetFolder
  echo   Creates directory symbolic link using MKLINK or JUNCTION so that TargetFolder points to %~dp0
  goto :eof
:main
  :: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-symlinks-in-windows-vista/
  call :do mklink /D %1 %~dp0
  call :do junction %1 %~dp0
  goto :eof
:do
  echo %*
  %*
  goto :eof

Some more reading on juncions, hard links, symbolic links, etc:

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Power User, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows XP | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Some Windows 8.1 Update (KB2919355) notes

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/04/17

Windows 8.1 Update has the search icon on the home screen. Windows 8.1 Update has the search icon and power off button at the top right side on the home screen.After the interesting piece at Microsoft Abandons Windows 8.1: Take Immediate Action Or Be Cut Off Like Windows XP I decided to make sure it is installed on all my Windows 8.x systems. That wasn’t so easy as “apply this update”.

There are various reasons the update can fail (at least one is even lying, see below) and there is no obviously automated way to check it has been applied.

First of all, two checks to see if Windows 8.1 Update is installed. From my question Batch file: how to check if Windows 8.1 update is installed – Super User I learned this simple statement:

reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" /v BuildLabEx

If it returns a value of 17031 or higher, then Windows 8.1 Update is installed. The second and third scripts at How to differentiate Windows 8.1 Update 1 from Windows 8.1? are elaborating on that version number.

But for the average user it is even easier: on the home screen, check if the search icon (magnification glass) is visible. See the image on the right.

Potential error messages

Quite a few users get error messages when installing the update. Some of them are these:   Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Power User, Windows, Windows 8.1 | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Fiddler2 to the max: inserting proxy authentication to use DropBox (or other app) behind a corporate firewall

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/04/16


A while ago, I was working with a not so cooperative corporate firewall. All web browsers would work fine, but most other applications would not go through the proxy in a nice way.

For instance, DropBox would show the dreadfull “Connection Error” dialog shown on the right.

That dialog basically means “Dropbox has no clue what happens, try fiddling with your proxy or account settings, then press Reconnect Now” to retry.

Many other applications had issues (for instance Visual Studio connecting to Team Foundation System was very unreliable and the workarounds clumsy).

CNTLM: not the solution

I got inspired by the [WayBack] I code and code: Tutorial: How to use Dropbox behind a corporate proxy server using CNTLM, even though I was pretty sure the corporate firewall was not NTLM based.

And indeed, CNTLM -v -M http://google.com -c CNTLM.INI would give errors like this:

cntlm: Proxy returning invalid challenge!
headers_send: fd 4 warning -999 (connection closed)
Connection closed

HTTP Fiddler: looks promising

So I fired up my old buddy [WayBack] Fiddler 2 HTTP debugging proxy.

Further on, you will learn that Fiddler2 is much more, but right now it is enough to know that it basically sits as a local proxy between your applications and the outside world. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in .NET, .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5, .NET 4.0, .NET 4.5, base64, Cntlm, Development, DropBox, Encoding, Fiddler, JavaScript/ECMAScript, NTLM, Power User, Scripting, SocialMedia, Software Development, Web Development, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows-Http-Proxy | Leave a Comment »

Windows Explorer – copying path/name of files and folders (full/short; regular/UNC; unix/cygwin): Path Copy Copy – Home

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/04/11

This Explorer extension is brilliant: Path Copy Copy – Home.

It works in Windows XP and up (including 7, 8 .x, 20xx Server, etc).

The Open Source is done in Visual Studio with C++.

–jeroen

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in C++, Development, Power User, Software Development, Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio and tools, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows XP | Leave a Comment »

CleanMgr: Disk Cleanup Wizard addon lets users delete outdated Windows update files

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/04/10

Not only for Windows 7 SP1, as it works on newer Windows versions too:

The article lists many steps, but these are the ones you don’t want to miss:

  • Start the Disk Cleanup wizard by running ‘CleanMgr‘ as Administrator
  • Make sure you press the “Cleanup system files” button:
    this will restart CleanMgr as administrator and include obsolete Windows Update files in the scan.

Both scanning and cleaning can take quite a while, and you often have to reboot afterwards.

You automate parts of the non-administrator process, but the automation task does not support the “Cleanup system files” option. Normally I’d rather see what it wants to cleanup, so I have not used this automation way yet..

–jeroen

via: Disk Cleanup Wizard addon lets users delete outdated Windows updates on Windows 7 SP1.

Posted in Power User, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 | Leave a Comment »

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