Windows 7 Service Pack 1 – Access Denied (no further details)

I was trying to install Windows 7 Sp1 on a laptop and I was getting an “ACCESS DENIED” error with no further errors. After a bit of tshooting I ended up running processmon and it turned out there was a DENY set on the C drive for USERS, that means when the service pack was attempting to install it would not be able to create the C:\32893928109093829312\ folder.. that’s one of the first steps.

I removed the DENY permission and everything worked well.

process mon is a great tool, Good luck

SCCM State Migration Point Errors

I was installing SMP on a 2008 r2 (X64) and I was getting these errors

 

SMS_STATE_MIGRATION_POINT received START notification.    SMS_STATE_MIGRATION_POINT    22/12/2011 10:22:45    7128 (0x1BD8)
SMPPeriodicActivityInterval = 1440 minutes
Failed to find the certificate in the store, retry 1.
Failed to find the certificate in the store, retry 2.
Failed to find the certificate in the store, retry 3.
CCMRetrieveCertificateContext failed : 0×80004005
RetrieveCertificateContext() failed. SMP Cert does not exist. Creating a SelfSignedEncryptionCert.
Creating Encryption Certificate…
Failed to create certificate hr=0×80070005
CreateSelfSignedEncryptionCert() failed.
GetSMPSerializedKey failed : 0×80070005
GetSMPSerializedKey failed.
SMPManager failed to start, Error = (0×80070005).
SMS_EXECUTIVE started SMS_STATE_MIGRATION_POINT as thread ID 3496 (0xDA8).

It was related to READ permissions on the MachineKey folder C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA

I basically had to enable the LOCALSYSTEM access to this folder and restarted the service, All is well now :)

 

Disable startup repair (7/2008)

So one of my servers was rebooted and never came back up. It was stuck on the startup repair screen. I would rather it boot loop then never retry. So to disable the startup repair run this command.

bcdedit /set {default} bootstatuspolicy ignoreallfailures

And to re-enable it

bcdedit /set {default} bootstatuspolicy displayallfailures

BattleField 3 Beta 5850 Crossfire Problems (stutter / slow fps)

I was getting mega stutter and low fps in battlefield 3 beta, It was stopping me from playing at all. Best after loads of playing around, I ended up following this guide and it worked.

 

Clean it with Atiman Uninstaller v.6.0.0.msi. Download LINK

Run it with administrator privilege. Some antivirus software will give false alarm but it is just a false positive.

Then install Catalyst 11.9 + ( Catalyst 11.8 CAP5 http://www.overclock.net/ati-drivers…11-8-cap5.html only if you are crossfire).

Disable ULPS http://www.overclock.net/amd-ati/667…ling-ulps.html

During Catalyst install, if you get any error messages, ignore it and let it complete. Restart PC, then go to folder where the files extracted/unzipped to, find in CCC2 **.exe then perform repair.

 

After rebooting and finallay loading the drivers, Battlefield 3 worked perfectly!

Thanks!

RSCLIENT Installation

I needed to deploy reporting services print client to my domain, so I found you need to manually do it.

Here is the batch I used

if %PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%==x86 (

copy \\SERVERNAME\deployment\AppDeploy\Tools\rsclient\x86\*.* /y %windir%\system32\
regsvr32 /s %windir%\system32\rsclientprint.dll

) else (

copy \\SERVERNAME\deployment\AppDeploy\Tools\rsclient\x64\*.* /y %windir%\system32\
regsvr32 /s %windir%\system32\rsclientprint.dll

)

You need to extract the rsclient cab from the reporting server (see image) to a network share, then you need to use admin rights to install (either psexec, sccm or some startup script)

Nexus S Water Damage – Poweron

Basically, I ended up in the pool and my phone was damaged (nothing showing up) So far I have it in “download mode” as I have no power button (fell off)

These are the steps to get it to power on at least (not complete)

  1. Disassemble phone
  2. clean all parts with some electronics cleaner (I actually used alcohol)
  3. let dry
  4. reassemble
  5. I could get it to detect in ADB but then when I attempted to reboot it, it got stuck in download mode and then the power button broke.
  6. to get past the no power button, press both volumes and insert barrery (download mode)
  7. still trying more now…

XBMC – live (10.1) logon prompt (not autostarting)

I installed xbmc on a Revo 3600 (from usb drive) and although it took a bit to get working (including creating a loop device for to mount the iso to actually install it)

I had an issue with xbmc not actually booting into xbmc. It was just booting into the logon prompt (shell)

running

aptitude reinstall xbmc-live

 

Seems to have fixed it..

New Watercooling – Corsair H80

I upgraded my PC and had to get a new watercooling unit to support the i7-2600k chip. I didn’t have a problem with the old one but it wont fit the new size CPU. I went for a good self contained unit and decided on the H80. The reviews were pretty good.

Installation was simple enough and happily the sound levels are MUCH lower than the old one. Its actually possible to leave on in the same room and not really notice it.

 

Anyway Here are some pics.

 

In the end it was well worth the cost. I can run at 4500mhz all tday long and not have a single issue. Temps normally float around 50-60c NOT BAD!

 

Exchange 2010 SP1 – Remove emails from queue (journaling)

We had 10,000 emails in queue that were destine for a journalling database that was off-line, the emails were not too important so I just wanted to clear them down.

 

Remove-Message -filter {MessageSourceName -eq “journaling”} -WithNDR $false

easy

-WithNDR $false

Exchange 2010 – Outlook prompting on startup

I had an error today that was causing most of my clients to get password prompts as soon as outlook (07/00) was opened,

the issue was related to the address book service not running.. It took my ages to find this out also!

I knew it was related to OAB by the way it was failing..

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