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

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Archive for the ‘Windows 8.1’ Category

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Installing the PIXMA mini260 – Canon Europe drivers under Windows 8.1 x64 – trying to say goodbye to Windows XP

Posted by jpluimers on 2015/02/23

Ditching Windows XP meant finding drivers for some older devices.

One of them is a [Archive.is] Canon PIXMA mini260 Photo Inkjet Printer which prints marvellous photos in a borderless way (so no post processing needed).

Installing drivers on Windows 8.1 x64 turned out to be really easy despite the fact that the Canon site does not offer them:  just install the “Windows Vista (64-bit)” drivers from this Canon link: [Wayback] PIXMA mini260 – Canon Europe.

This works as the printer driver model hasn’t changed much since Vista and the Vista drivers do not contain limits on future version numbers (see [Wayback] Getting older Windows drivers to work in Windows 8 for another example).

Now I need to find a way to get my [Archive.is] Olympus Camedia P-400 Digital Color Photo Printer. That is a lot harder: the most recent Windows P-400 Printer > Software Downloads are for Windows XP.

If anyone knows a workaround for this, I might connect this to an XP VM in a walled garden:

Under Windows XP, often the P-400 driver installer didn’t even want to install the USB part of the drivers.

How can I work around this?

Might it be that only the parallel LPTENUM is included in the [Wayback] Windows XP P400N.inf file, unlike the [Wayback] Windows 2000 driver P400N.INF file that contains both [Wayback] LPTENUM and [Wayback] USBPRINT and the [Wayback] P-440 INF file only has USBPRINT?

Other vendors seem to include both in their .INF files like this [Wayback] Dell 3130cn INF file.

–jeroen

via:

Posted in Power User, Vista, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 9, Windows Vista, Windows XP | Leave a Comment »

When combined with Ctrl or Alt: RDP Shift Key Gets Stuck (via: davidbond.net)

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/08/01

When using Windows RDP you have the risk of a Shift key getting stuck.

This happens when press Ctrl and Shift. Make sure you release Shift first, otherwise Shift gets stuck.

Same with Alt and Shift: you have to release the Shift key first.

This is not a problem when using the OS X Remote Desktop application 8.x from Microsoft: only the Windows MSTSC.exe applications included in Windows 7 and higher suffer from this when you connect to Windows 7 and higher (including connecting from Windows to Windows Server and from Windows Server to Windows).

It does not happen with the MSTSC.exe in Windows 2000/XP and Windows Server 2003/2003 R2.

Results

Here are the important results:

  • Press Shift and Control (either order) -> Release Shift -> Release Control: Normal state
  • Press Shift and Control (either order) -> Release Control -> Release Shift: Problem state 

Conclusion

RDP has a bug whereby the shift state incorrectly remains in the “pressed” state if, after pressing Shift+Control, the Control key is released first.

Bug reference

Bug is with Microsoft: https://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/feedback/details/766863/rdp-shift-key-gets-stuck

And the comments there:

You have described the exact same problem that I am having, only in my case it’s with RDP between two Win7 machines. […]

I have been using RDP for years without problems, until about 2 or 3 weeks ago when it suddenly starting going wrong.

Too bad the connect issue requires logon: I have no idea if this is ever going to be fixed.

–jeroen

via: davidbond.net: RDP Shift Key Gets Stuck.

Edit: some comments on G+

Fix is availablehttp://www.davidbond.net/2012/10/rdp-shift-key-gets-stuck.html?showComment=1366753329889#c8423228671340920828
made in Delphi :)
Happens to me sometimes when connecting from Win7 to XP+.
Seems closely relatedhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/978829 in older OSs.
Frequently beaten by “Securing remote connection…” delay http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2915774

Posted in Power User, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 | 2 Comments »

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 »

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 »

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 »

Updating Windows Defender signatures (only) on Windows 8, 7 and XP (via: twm’s blog)

Posted by jpluimers on 2014/04/08

Based on Updating Windows Defender signatures (only) » twm’s blog (thanks Thomas!), I found it would not work on all my Windows systems.

So I wrote a small batch file that works on my Windows 8.x, 7 and XP systems: Read the rest of this entry »

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

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