Archive for the ‘Windows’ Category
Posted by jpluimers on 2024/07/01
This happens a lot with apps that auto-update before package manager contain that update: [Wayback/Archive] MSI installation error 1603 – Windows Server | Microsoft Learn
Cause
You may receive this error message if any one of the following conditions is true:
- Windows Installer is attempting to install an app that is already installed on your PC.
- The folder that you are trying to install the Windows Installer package to is encrypted.
- The drive that contains the folder that you are trying to install the Windows Installer package to is accessed as a substitute drive.
- The SYSTEM account does not have Full Control permissions on the folder that you are trying to install the Windows Installer package to. You notice the error message because the Windows Installer service uses the SYSTEM account to install software.
Query: [Wayback/Archive] Exit code was ‘1603’ – Google Search
--jeroen
Posted in Chocolatey, Power User, Windows | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2024/05/23
More than a decade ago I wrote about Programmatic alternatives to Windows-L keyboard shortcut (SwitchUser / LockWorkstation).
Still, I see many scripts invoke rundll32.exe or to call the [Wayback/Archive] LockWorkStation function (winuser.h) inside user32.dll. Don’t!
The BOOL LockWorkStation()function has a calling convention that is incompatible with rundll32.exe () which will corrupt the call stack likely will lead to random problems as after two decades, this post from Raymond Chen still holds: [Wayback/Archive] What can go wrong when you mismatch the calling convention? – The Old New Thing
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Posted in .NET, Batch-Files, C#, CommandLine, Development, Power User, PowerShell, PowerShell, Scripting, Security, Software Development, Windows, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2016 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2024/05/03
The build is from 2007, but still works fine on Windows 10 and 11 and perfectly fitted my needs for finding some ~2500 duplicate files that Google Drive made with their “upgrade” from Google Backup and Sync to Google Drive File Sync (where syncing from shared content is sort of possible and impossible at the same time).
Via [Wayback/Archive] Which duplicate files and folders finders exist for Windows? – Super User (thanks [Wayback/Archive] Chris Driver for answering and [Wayback/Archive] Andrija for asking) where I commented [Wayback/Archive]:
Thanks: still works fine in 2022. Download from … is a simple ZIP file which you can extract and just run the executable. No need for complicated installers or admin rights. Matches on (combinations of) name/size/date/CRC32, then intuitive GUI to select the files you don’t want any more, then either delete or move those selected files.
Via
–jeroen
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Posted in Power User, Windows, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2024/03/28
A while back, early in the Wednesday morning after Patch Tuesday I performed regular updates of all the systems noticing some updates failed because timeouts on the Microsoft download servers.
Note I perform the manual steps on Wednesday as Patch Tuesday as it starts at 10:00 AM PST which is in the evening in Amsterdam. The automated steps are automated and kick in when Microsoft tells the Windows machines to update themselves.
See [Wayback/Archive] Security Update Guide FAQs
Microsoft schedules the release of security updates on “Patch Tuesday,” the second Tuesday of each month at 10:00 AM PST.
Depending on time zone(s) in which the organization operates, IT pros should plan their deployment schedules accordingly. Please note that there are some products that do not follow the Patch Tuesday schedule.
I posted a gist and a Tweet, but didn’t immediately thought of a good resolution so I postponed that until Thursday and found it:
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Posted in C, C++, Development, Power User, Software Development, Visual Studio and tools, Visual Studio C++, vscode Visual Studio Code, Windows, Windows Development | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2024/03/06
I totally missed this feature got implemented: [Wayback/Archive] Use Remembered Arguments for a Package During Upgrades · Issue #797 · chocolatey/choco. I also seem to be lucky I have not tried it out yet (:
I bumped into it via [Wayback/Archive] Chocolatey Software | Notepad++ 8.4.4, which had this interesting comment:
If you want Notepad++ 32 bit and you want it to stay on 32 bit with upgrades, ensure you are on Chocolatey 0.10.4 (or newer). Then add `-x86` to your installation arguments. Then turn on the remembered arguments feature with ‘choco feature enable -n useRememberedArgumentsForUpgrades‘ – this will ensure that `-x86` gets passed on upgrade when running `choco upgrade all`. For more information on how this works, see https://github.com/chocolat…797
First of all, if you started using Chocolatey at or before 0.14, the useRememberedArgumentsForUpgrades feature is disabled by default and kept that way even after upgrading to the most recent version. You can see executing choco feature list on a system that started with Chocolatey:
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Posted in Chocolatey, Development, Power User, Scripting, Software Development, Windows | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2024/01/25
This one is cool: [Wayback/Archive] PRANK: Windows XP Updates.
Note that unlike the screenshot below, the actual prank does count the percentage. The actual page does.
You can start this one and various other OSes plus Windows versions and other pranks via [Wayback/Archive] FakeUpdate.net – Windows Update Prank by fediaFedia (at the time of writing Windows 98 install, Windows Vista update, Windows 8 update, Windows 7 update, Mac OS boot, Windows 10 install, Windows 10 update, steam and “fake ransomware”).
It is a cool and relatively harmless way of teaching people to use their lock screen when away from their machine (Windows: Win+L, Mac OS: Ctrl+Shift+Power).
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Posted in Awareness, Fun, Power User, Security, Windows, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 9, Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Vista, Windows XP | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2024/01/19
It looks like after decades, ReMapKey (from the Windows 2000 and 20023 Resource Kits, see If you miss having the Caps Lock button on your #Chromebook… (via: Google Chrome – Google+)) got a successor:
[Wayback/Archive] PowerToys Keyboard Manager utility for Windows | Microsoft Docs:
The PowerToys Keyboard Manager enables you to redefine keys on your keyboard.
For example, you can exchange the letter A for the letter B on your keyboard. When you press the A key, a B will display.
…
You can also exchange shortcut key combinations. For example: The shortcut key Ctrl+C will copy text in Microsoft Word. With PowerToys Keyboard Manager utility, you can exchange that shortcut for ⊞ Win+C. Now, ⊞ Win+C will copy text. If you do not specify a targeted application in PowerToys Keyboard Manager, the shortcut exchange will be applied globally across Windows.
PowerToys Keyboard Manager must be enabled (with PowerToys running in the background) for remapped keys and shortcuts to be applied. If PowerToys is not running, key remapping will no longer be applied.
The real kicker however, is that the new PowerToys Keyboard Manager can be application specific:
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Posted in Power User, PowerToys, Windows, Windows 10, Windows 11 | Leave a Comment »
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 