Windows 7 Delayed Logon Screen

 

After booting a Windows it stops at a black screen with the cursor just before the logon screen.

Download process monitor from Microsoft.

Enabled Boot Logging in Process Monitor by going to Options > Enable Boot Logging and selected to generate profiling events every second.

Reset the filter to the Process Tree to see the start and end times of various processes upon system startup. Scrolling through the tree looking at lifetime column for one that had sat for the longest amount of time.

Once found look at the offending tool/service and see if it can be removed or updated and then you will be back to a speedy boot.

 

This information came from Greig Mitchell's Blog

W2K8R2–>Windows Server 2012

 

There are been some massive improvements in scale in Windows Server 2012, here are the key new features in virtualisation…

Subsystem, services	R2	2012	Improvement factor
Hardware CPU	64	3200	5x
Hardware RAM	1TB	4TB	4x
Virtual CPU	512	1024	2x
CPU per VM	4	64	16x
RAM per VM	64GB	1TB	16x
Running VMs	384	1024	2.7x
Virtual disk size	2TB	64TB	32x
Cluster nodes	16	64	4x
VMs	1000	4000	4x

For VDI there are some nice new features, and one of the best in the new VDI wizard… More to come here.

Note: from TechEd 2012

Windows 7/2008r2 Group Policy diagnostic event log

 

Windows 7 / 2008R2 Group Policies are located in the Event Viewer. Under
\Applications and Services Logs\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\Operational.

While Windows 7 logs many events to event log you sometimes need the operational additional information.

GPO is processed by the Windows  service called "Group Policy Client". You can enable a detailed diagnostic report for this services via the reg key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Diagnostics]
"GPSvcDebugLevel"=dword:00030002

The log files are: %WINDIR%\debug\usermode\gpsvc.log

(need to reboot or restart the service).

BYOD, are you a part of the problem?

 

A common user pet peeve is that organisations take too long to deploy new hardware, operating systems, and applications. BYOD enables users to embrace cutting edge technologies on their own, which reduces frustration and leads to happier employees.

A fringe benefit of happy, satisfied workers is increased productivity. Users who have the freedom to choose the platforms and devices that seem most intuitive to them are able to accomplish basic tasks faster. Users armed with newer technology can work more efficiently than users forced to work with systems they find frustrating or confusing.

We found that:

1. 67 % of people are using personal devices in the workplace whether its officially sanctioned or not.

2. More organisations prohibit BYOD than subsidise BYOD.

The above is a snippet taken from the article: BYOD–is it Good, Bad or Ugly from the User Viewpoint? All credit to Jeff Jones, for me it just struck a sore point…

Boot time Windows XP and Windows 7

 

I know that ‘people’ game the statistics on boot time, they don't join a domain, disable lots of services, use SSD drives, disable POST etc… Well that looks good on stage but in the real world, computers are upgraded, have PXE turned on, BIOS is out of the box, run anti-virus and are domain members.

I needed a real working set , so in extensive testing (2 identical and mid-spec computers – hey I did it twice). Here is the comparison.

So on the same hardware (Dell OptiPlex 790)

Windows XP:	Windows 7:
BIOS: 20 seconds OS Boot time: 40 To the logon screen: 1:27 To the desktop (logged on): 2:11 To power off: 2:47	BIOS: 20 seconds OS Boot time: 54 To the logon screen: 1:22 To the desktop (logged on): 1:42 To power off: 1:58

So the Windows 7 computer is not faster to boot however it is however faster to the users desktop and ready to use about in 1/5th of the time of the Windows XP machine.

Faster still is to stop using power off, shutdown and power on, sleep takes 9 seconds and to wake up take 4 seconds. The power consumption in sleep mode is 5% of the running power when compared to being fully powered..

Notes about this:

1. Same hardware, RAM, disk, network etc
2. WXP and W7 current and fully patched (both new builds)
3. Similar apps (office 2003 v office 2010 etc)
4. Both with SAV AV
5. Same logon to domain (folder redirection)

Create Windows 7 64bit USB flash install media on Linux PC

(this was so easy before I never bothered to blog it, but this time, maybe because it was 64bit, maybe because of the colour of the moon, it took about 4 different attempts, so here it is…)

Use either df or other command to find your USB device

$ df -h

Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on

/dev/sda1       691G  488G  169G  75% /
udev            3.8G   12K  3.8G   1% /dev
tmpfs           1.6G  940K  1.6G   1% /run
none            5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
none            3.9G  436K  3.8G   1% /run/shm
/dev/loop0      5.3G  5.3G     0 100% /mnt/iso
/dev/mmcblk0p1  3.8G   32K  3.8G   1% /media/72AD-2013_
/dev/sdb 8G 0G 8G 0% /media/usbdrive

 

Check what device your USB media is assigned above it is /dev/sdb.

 

Use gparted to dismount and format the drive to NTFS (creates /dev/sdb1 on /dev/sdb)

 

Mount ISO and USB media:

$ sudo mkdir /mnt/iso

$ sudo mkdir /mnt/usb

$ sudo mount -o loop Windows7-64bit.iso /mnt/iso

$ sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb

 

Copy over all files (GUI or command line):

$ cp -r /mnt/iso/* /mnt/usb/

 

Download, untar, and install (make, sudo make install) ms-sys from here.

Use ms-sys to install a Windows 7 Master Boot Record on the USB stick:

$ ms-sys -7 /dev/sdb

 

And away you go…

Well you got your MDACs and .NETs but what versions?

 

How you can see if and what version of the .NET Framework has been installed?

You can look in the registry or look at the files on the boot drive;

via the reegistry check the keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\*

Or check for a local directory like %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\<version>

where <version> is

v1.1.4322 - for .NET Framework v1.1
v1.0.3705 - for .NET Framework v1.0
v2…. Etc etc

 

How you can see if and what version of the MDAC has been installed?

Download and install: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=1953

Run the too CC.EXE in the folder C:\CompChecker\

Windows 8 Full Screen in VirtualBox on Linux

 

Windows 8 does not support the VirtualBox display driver and the most current release of VirtualBox has a generic driver that supports some canned 1600x9 and 4x3 drivers but they were wrong for my laptop and not having full screen on Windows 8 make life hard for the charms and start menu etc. So to fix this follow these steps

Power off the the Windows 8 virtual machine.

Goto the VirtualBox console and right click ‘show in File Manager’. Note the name W8RP in my case, you need quotes if you had a space in the name.

Open a shell and go to the folder shown.

 

Find the resolution you want VirtualBox via the Linux settings menu, in my case 1600x900:

In the shell open from above enter the command:

vboxmanage setextradata W8RP CustomVideoMode1 1600x900x32

 

Start the VM, and you can select the custom resolution shown below.

Lovely.

 

Hat tip for the Windows version: http://www.mstechpages.com/2011/09/17/set-custom-resolution-in-virtualbox-for-windows-8/

 

Registry changes for the NetWare GINA in Windows XP…

 

Taking it old school…..

 

Enable the MSGINE

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]

"GinaDLL"="MSGINA.DLL"

 

Enable the NWGINA

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]

"GinaDLL"="NWGINA.DLL"

 

Enable the NWGINA

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]

"GinaDLL"="NWGINA.DLL"

 

Enable the NWGINA Auto login

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Novell\Network Provider\Initial Login]

"Login When NWGina Not Loaded"="no"

 

Disable the NWGINA Auto Login

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Novell\Network Provider\Initial Login]

"Login When NWGina Not Loaded"="Yes"

 

Disable the NWGINA splash screen

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetwareWorkstation]

"NoLogoDisplay"=dword:00000001

 

Enable the NWGINA splash screen

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetwareWorkstation]

"NoLogoDisplay"=dword:00000000

 

Disable Novell Broadcast messages

Receive Broadcast Messages

Registry Key: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Novell\Broadcast

Registry Value: [dword] Mode

Default Value: 0

Range: 0, 1, 2 (0=All, 1=Server Only, 2=None)

Client Version: Implemented in NT Client versions 4.3 and later

Description: Tells the client which broadcast messages, if any, to receive. You can choose one of the following settings:

All (receive all broadcast messages), Server Only (receives broadcast messages sent by the server only), and None (do not receive any broadcast messages).

 

Disable Novell Broadcast messages

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Novell\LDAP\Servers]

"0"="Scidmnw.domainName.net.local"

for /d %i in (*) do @cacls

 

To CACL the home directories to the existing owners

if you just moved the folders from say NetWare to Windows or a NAS that did not support the permissions (and the user names and home folder names match). This can be used on in the home drive folder (remember to use %% in batch files).

for /d %i in (*) do @cacls ".\%i" /t /e /c /g "domainName\%i":f

for /d %i in (*) do @cacls ".\%i" /t /e /c /g "domainName\Desktop Support":f

for /d %i in (*) do @cacls ".\%i" /t /e /c /g "domainName\Domain Admins":f

 

 

Via VBS – if you are adverse to DOS

' THIS must be run from the CURRENT home root DIR

dim DirName, skip

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

Set objFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(".\")

Set colSubfolders = objFolder.Subfolders

For Each objSubfolder in colSubfolders

'Wscript.Echo objSubfolder.Name, objSubfolder.Size

DirName = objSubfolder.Name

'Wscript.Echo objSubfolder.Name

'wscript.echo "cmd /c cacls " & objSubfolder.Name & " /t /e /c /g

domainName\" & objSubfolder.Name &":f"

command = "cmd /c cacls " & objSubfolder.Name & " /t /e /c /g

domainName\" & objSubfolder.Name &":f"

Return = WshShell.Run(command, 1, TRUE)

 

 

I use this all the time !

SCCM Client–No programs are available from a Terminal Services Sessions

 

User occasionally see this error when they try an run advertised programs with SCCM 2007 (on a Windows 7 PC, not a terminal server). This is generally just a timing issue due to rebooting and if needed you can train the users to wait, or go into the control panel and update the machine policy.

Here is the error.

This is a policy refresh.

After the SCCM policy refresh, the applications appear.

Users are back up and running… Joy

alternateBrowserExists: automation server…

There is a web server on site that throws this error on first connection:

An error has occurred in alternateBrowserExists: automation server can’t create object.

To resolve it I need to ENABLE the initialize and script active X for the Trusted Sites Zone (if it is a trusted site).

 

Windows CA Error - The revocation server is offline 0x80092013

 

If you are trying to start a CA and getting the error, The revocation server is offline 0x80092013

There is a CERTUTIL command to fix this, or at least stop it caring !

Run following command on the affected CA server.

certutil –setreg ca\CRLFlags +CRLF_REVCHECK_IGNORE_OFFLINE

And restart the CA.

Thinking of Bitlocker or Bitlocker To Go?

Bitlocker works well… ‘well-ish’ is probably better to say. Let just start with the issues.

1. No TPM, NO C: Encryption period.
2. With TPM, you need to reboot to enable TPM, then turn on Bitlocker for C: and the process will make a new 300mb partition on the drive and reboot again. Then it will encrypt your C: – which takes 1/2 hour or more depending on size of data.
3. BitLocker To Go – (BTG) only supports FAT/FAT32 – not NTFS?
4. Once a drive is unlocked (D: local drive or a BTLG drive) on a user session it stays unlocked unless you script it to lock or you logout/logon again.
5. Unlocking the drive is via a password, but to lock it again requires Administrator access CMD prompt “manage-bde –lock d:”

So that said, it does work, it works well and even lets you share USB drives with WXP and Vista users with provided software that lets you ‘unlock’ the data on those platforms. Which is nice.

Got C: Encrypted then you can pause it for updates/upgrades (you don't need to decrypt it). Which is nice.

So here is my little thought flow chart on how it works.

 

Unlock as user with UAC

Relock running as Administrator !

Microsoft Office 2010 Suite SKU options

(for any large customers you have the choice of Standard or Professional Pro)

SKUs for Volume Licensing (this is the business end of Office):

Office 2010 Standard – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, and Publisher. This is the basic Suite for businesses that have bought a volume programme.

Office 2010 Professional Plus – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, Access, InfoPath, Communicator, and SharePoint Workspace.

SKUs for OEM, PKC or FPP:

Office 2010 Home & Student – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. Non-commercial use. Licensed only to the PC it was sold with (FPP it can be installed in up to 3 PCs.)

Office 2010 Home & Business – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. Home-based businesses and dual users. It is the entry-level commercial Office 2010 Suite.

Office 2010 Professional – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access.

FREE SKU that come with new entry level PCs only:

Office 2010 Starter – Word Starter, Excel Starter. Both applications limited-functionality, advertising-based ones. It is licensed only for the PC it came pre-installed in, no installation media.

AD Domain forest and domain levels

 

I know this is old information, but I always seem to go back to it, so here it is for me… Oh, you can look at it too.

Forest functional level

 

Forest functional level	Domain controller operating systems supported
Windows 2000 native	Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2003 Windows 2000
Windows Server 2003	Windows Server “8” Beta Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2008	Windows Server “8” Beta Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 R2	Windows Server “8” Beta Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server “8” Beta	Windows Server “8” Beta

 

Domain functional level

Domain functional level	Domain controller operating systems supported
Windows 2000 native	Windows 2000 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2003	Windows Server “8” Beta Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2008	Windows Server “8” Beta Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 R2	Windows Server “8” Beta Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 8 BETA	Windows Server “8” Beta

Want to self install SCCM WIM?

Problem summary

Deploying a Windows 7 SOE via SCCM has the requirement on the network being available to build or install of the operating system and applications, but in the event of a critical outage (such as a network worm or major virus outbreak) the network may be down or compromised. This situation is normal for traditional organisations but in the case of a critical infrastructure service provider a solution is needed to enable end-users to rebuild their own machine (with IT direction).

Options

There are several technologies that are available for all or parts of this solution:

1. System protection (build into Windows 7)

2. Recovery console (build into Windows 7)

3. Safe Mode (build into Windows 7)

4. Windows backup (build into Windows 7)

5. Previous versions (build into Windows 7)

6. VHD, Running on (bespoke effort)

7. Self-image MOE (bespoke effort)

8. SCCM Offline Installation Media.

 

Possible solutions

Previous versions

Previous versions are copies of files and folders created automatically and saved as part of a restore point. You can use previous versions to restore files and folders that you accidentally modified or deleted, or that were damaged. Previous versions cannot be used on system files and does not offer protection for the types of errors this document is discussing.

System protection

System protection regularly creates and saves information about your computers system files and settings. It saves these files in restore points, which are created just before significant system events, such as the installation of a program, device driver or scheduled once every few days. To restore these files the user opens the control panel and restores the state via an applet.

Windows backup

The internal backup software can create a system image (exact copy of a drive). This image includes the files required for Windows to run. You can use a system image to restore the contents of your computer when your hard disk or computer fails. When you restore your computer from a system image, it’s a complete restoration – you cannot choose individual items to restore, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced with the contents of the system image.

Recovery console (aka Windows Recovery Environment)

The recovery console is a partial version of Windows 7 with a set of tools that you can use, with a backup created earlier, to recover your system. This can be used to recover drives, partitions and operating systems. This software can be made available on the local computer or restarting the computer, via pressing F8 or on a boot of a Windows 7 Setup disc.

Safe Mode

Safe mode is a troubleshooting option for the Windows 7 that starts the computer in a limited state. Only the basic files and drivers necessary to run Windows are started. This service is used by IT technicians and is complicated, not user friendly and is in general a last chance option for OS repair.

VHD Running

Windows 7 has the technology built in to run the operating system in a virtual hard drive (VHD) – as compared to a traditional disk partition. This allows the flexibility of several copies of this virtual hard disk and therefor several copies of the operating system to be available at boot time. This is flexible in some ways but does have limitations (page file etc.).

Self-image

The traditional way a Windows 7 image is deployed to a workstation is via the network from a SCCM distribution point. This gives the flexibility of the most current OS image being available at any point in time, but does limit the deployment to when the network is available. A self-image MOE would have the MOE image deployed to the local computer as a file/image and would allow the user to re-install this OS as needed with a reboot.

SCCM Offline Media

Using stand-alone media doesn’t require access to SCCM during imaging because all components needed during the imaging process are copied to the stand-alone media and available locally.

Way forward

Looking at the technologies that are available some are simply not for end users and these can be ruled out for several reasons:

1. System protection – requires the user to run the restore process, and is not a simple solution for end users.

2. Recovery console – designed for IT processional and is not suitable for end users.

3. Safe Mode – designed for IT professional and is not suitable for end users.

4. Windows backup – designed for IT professional and is not suitable for end users.

5. Previous versions – not a solution for this problem.

This leave three possible solutions that are available to address this problem. These solutions will require your evaluation, testing and prototyping to see which is the best fit for for you and can be made user friendly enough so that this can be activated by the end user as needed:

1. VHD Running

This solution would require capturing the image or deploying the image as a VHD, setting up a backup process, automate the steps and creating a boot menu for users to rollback/forward as needed on reboot.

2. Self-image MOE

This solution would possibly require repartitioning the local drive, the update of the local SOE to support the self-image, the updates to the MOE image to support self-image, automate the steps and creating a boot menu for users to rollout MOS as needed on reboot.

3. SCCM Offline Installation

This is the solution is supported by Microsoft for offline deployment and it is a more simple solution leveraging existing system management platform.

Effort

Looking at these solutions an SCCM, Windows 7 expert can build a series of lab servers, clients and tests these solutions, this will allow a prototype to be created, pros and cons identified, a gap analysis identified and plan for the production rollout.

So do you think you need this technology? If so give me a call and I can organise someone to help.

LabelFlexGrid.Initialize

Object doesn’t support the property or method

This obscure error was caused by a mix of OCX (vb6 support files) that were installed on a W2K3 server. To fix this particular issue I removed all the OCXs from the server, installed a new VM, SP2’ed it, copied over the OCXs and registered them all again using the DOS command.

CD \Windows\System32
for %f in (*.ocx) do regsvr32 %f

And the app will live again for another day… I wish it would go away…

Mincom, Ellipse, WinView CICS on W2K8 R2

XenApp 6.5, Windows 2008 R2

If you are trying to get the Mincom desktop running on Citrix/Terminal Server on W2K8 R2. And the customer has not upgrade since Mosses brought down the 3 tables there are some upgrades needed:

First, this error is due to a X64 incompatibility, to fix this you need Mincom desktop v6.3.3.5 or higher. Download and install this error goes away.

Once this is fixed the CICS Gateway 6.02 throws this error.

Get the updated software, then remove 6.02 and install 8.1

The location for the configuration INI has moved to a new location (programdata\ibm\cics transaction gateway)

Update the INI file via the configuration tool to add TCP (not sure if this is 100%required)

Lastly change from CICS gateway manual to automatic and start the CICS transaction gateway.

XenApp Delivery Console has no XenApp node? XA5

 

I am running a retro XenApp 5 on Windows 2003 to support Internet Explorer 6 and after they are running and in the Delivery Console the XenApp node for configuration is MIA.

Nice.

It should be just at the bottom of this picture but is sadly missing.

The problem is with Dot.Net 2.0 and you need to re-register the PSE.core.dll, complete the following procedure:

So open a command prompt, enter the following:

C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727>regasm /codebase "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Citrix\Presentation Server - Administration Snap-in\PSE.Core.dll"

Start the delivery console and volar !

Here is the Citrix article on it: http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX126048