The System File Checker (sfc.exe) is an useful tool that lets you scan the integrity of Windows system files, and repair corrupt or missing system files. Numerous cases have been resolved thus far by running Sfc.exe with the "scannow" parameter. However, there are situations where in a corrupt or missing system file prevents Windows from booting normally, and running Sfc.exe from Windows isn’t possible. In such cases, Sfc.exe can be run offline using two additional parameters, via the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) in Windows 7 and Windows Vista. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Tips’
How to Run the System File Checker (Sfc.exe) Offline in Windows 7 and Vista
How to Use Resource Monitor to Find Which Process Has Locked a Given File in Windows 7
I know many folks that use Windows SysInternals Process Explorer to gather information about running processes and their open handles. There is an excellent, but probably unsung tool within Windows 7 called Resource Monitor which can be used to see details of running processes, their associated handles and associated modules (for example, DLL files). Resource Monitor proves to be an useful tool to investigate processes and locked files, and can come in handy especially when you forget to bring your troubleshooting toolkit along when fixing a friend’s PC. (more…)
How to Restore a DriveImage XML Backup Image Using UBCD4Win Boot CD
DriveImage XML is a freeware drive image program that lets you backup, restore and copy hard disk partitions easily. However, restoring a DriveImage XML image from a previous backup to the system drive isn’t possible when Windows is running. Attempting to do so causes the error "Target partition must not be the system drive" and the restore operation doesn’t start.
Scan USB Drives Using Microsoft Security Essentials via the AutoPlay Dialog
We’d like to share with you an interesting registry hack that adds a Microsoft Security Essentials AutoPlay handler so that you can thoroughly scan a CD/DVD media or USB flash drive for viruses, via the AutoPlay dialog. See article Scan Your Thumb Drive for Viruses from the AutoPlay Dialog at the How-To Geek website.
Thanks to Lowell & Brian for publishing my tip/script idea at How-To Geek. Also, this was later featured at Lifehacker.
Internet Explorer Extension to Open Current Web Page Using a Different Browser
Recently the folks at Lifehacker wrote about the Open With Add-on for Mozilla Firefox, which adds additional menu options to open the current web page using another browser. This Add-on is comes handy if you need to test your web pages out in Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, Opera or any other web browser.
Their post provided me the idea to create a similar extension for Internet Explorer. (more…)
How to Remove Album Art Images Embedded in MP3 Files?
Ever wondered how some of your mp3 files show up with the album art icon instead of the standard mp3 icon, when browsing through the mp3 collection on hard disk? Also, does the cover image appear at the background when playing an mp3 file using Windows Media Player or any other music player?
Thumbnail image of the mp3 files as seen in Windows Explorer.
How to Disable Adobe Flash Animations for All but White-Listed Sites in Internet Explorer 8
You can disable Adobe Flash animations in websites by disabling the Adobe Shockwave Flash Object using the Manage Add-ons dialog in Internet Explorer, or by setting a "kill-bit" in the registry. What if you want to enable Flash animations by default on a handful of sites (whitelist) but not on other sites? In Internet Explorer 7, only the developer of an ActiveX control could configure it as a per-site control, using the SiteLock ActiveX Control Template. In Internet Explorer 8, it’s possible for an end-user to enable ActiveX Controls on a per-site basis, via the Manage Add-ons dialog. (more…)
How to Fix Sidebar Crash “Windows Desktop Gadgets Has Stopped Working”
Is your Windows Sidebar (Windows Desktop Gadgets) crashing after adding a third-party gadget, with the error "Windows Desktop Gadgets has stopped working" or "Windows Sidebar has stopped working" (Windows Vista) at every start? You can stop the offending gadget from loading by editing the Windows Sidebar Gadgets settings file. Here are the instructions, which apply to Windows 7 and Windows Vista. (more…)
Install MSI Software Packages With Logging Using the Right-Click Menu
When a software installation which uses Windows Installer Package fails, you enable Windows Installer Logging and re-run setup to capture the output to a log file for troubleshooting. This can be done using three ways: using the Registry Editor, using the Group Policy Editor or by running the msiexec.exe command with required parameters.
The first two methods are documented in article How to Enable Windows Installer Logging. The third method uses the msiexec.exe command-line parameter. Here is an example:
msiexec /l*v d:\mylog.txt /i "C:\Users\Ramesh\Desktop\7z465-x64.msi"
This starts the 7-Zip .msi installation (7z465-x64.msi) and records all the results, including verbose output to a log file named mylog.txt located at D:\
Do you find it difficult to type the entire command-line everytime when you need to log application setups? No problem! You can implement this in the context menu for .msi files so that you can launch the installation with logging in a couple of mouse clicks. (more…)
How to Run Windows Virtual PC and XP Mode in a PC Without HAV Support?
Windows XP Mode let’s you run applications that are designed for Windows XP, right on your Windows 7 PC. Earlier, Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode could run only on computers whose processors have the Hardware-Assisted Virtualization (HAV) feature enabled. Here are some screenshots from one of my test systems with Intel® Core 2 Duo Processor E4500 (which has no Hardware-assisted Virtualization support) running Windows 7 Ultimate RTM. (more…)
