Category: Windows OS-Level Issues

Troubleshooting Azure AD Sync: Synchronization Service Manager
article #1371, updated 1487 days ago

Search the machine for the “Synchronization Service Manager”. That’s the GUI debugger.

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OpenGL 2.0 emulation libraries for Windows
article #1369, updated 1494 days ago

Some applications will crash or fail to run, asking for OpenGL emulation libraries, sometimes ANGLE libraries. Here are some:

https://www.nuget.org/packages/ANGLE.WindowsStore/2.1.13

Download the “Download package”, unpack it with 7zip, copy the DLLs in the “bin” folder to C:\Windows.

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Use TAKEOWN and ICACLS with very long paths and filenames
article #1361, updated 1518 days ago

If there are very long folder or file names, or the path is just too long somewhere down in the tree, this will fail:

ICACLS X:\folder /Q /C /T /reset

but this will succeed:

ICACLS "\\?\X:\folder" /Q /C /T /reset

Apparently the latter incorporates a different API somewhere in the chain.

For TAKEOWN, we just have to run it in Powershell, not CMD.

Powershell code to do it all at once, while CD’d to the level just above, using command-line parameter to specify folder name, is here:

param(
[string]$location
)

$iexcmd = 'TAKEOWN /F ' + '"E:\Shared Data\' + $location + '" /R /D Y'
Write-Progress -Activity "Reset Permissions" -CurrentOperation $iexcmd -PercentComplete -1
Write-Host $iexcmd
iex $iexcmd | Out-Null

$iexcmd = 'ICACLS ' + '"\\?\E:\Shared Data\' + $location + '" /Q /C /T /reset'
Write-Progress -Activity "Reset Permissions" -CurrentOperation $iexcmd -PercentComplete -1
Write-Host $iexcmd
iex $iexcmd | Out-Null

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"Show Desktop" shortcut in Windows 10
article #1359, updated 1529 days ago

Create a shortcut to this:

explorer.exe shell:::{3080F90D-D7AD-11D9-BD98-0000947B0257}

and name it “Show Desktop”. When double-clicked, it will minimize all applications and show the desktop. This was standard in 7 and before. You can pin this icon to the Taskbar, to the Start menu, et cetera.

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Windows 8 and 10 Application Icon (ex- Start Menu) Locations
article #608, updated 1531 days ago

The icons which were used in the “Start Menu” in 7 and before, are still present in Windows 8 through 10, though they are hidden. At the machine level, they are here:

%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

At the user level, they are here:

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

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The WINS resolution information was not updated. The record format is corrupt.
article #1227, updated 1560 days ago

This error often occurs when a longstanding Windows Server network is given a much newer domain controller. The WINS records embedded in DNS, don’t work anymore; when you try to delete them or change them, you get the error message in the title of this article.

The best thing to do, is PowerShell:

Remove-DNSServerResourceRecord -ZoneName dns_zone.local -Force -RRtype "WINS" -Name "@"

Try that (substituting dns_zone.local for your LAN DNS zone!), then right-click on the zone name, choose “All Tasks” and then “Reload”, then press F5 for refresh. The error-causing situation will go away, you can then reconfigure easily. If there are other zones, you’ll want to repeat for all of them. If there is a WINS record in a reverse lookup zone, the RRtype is WINSR instead of WINS, the result being something akin to this:

Remove-DNSServerResourceRecord -ZoneName 1.168.192.in-addr.arpa -Force -RRtype "WINSR" -Name "@"

Sometimes the actions above only take effect, and show up in the servers, if you reload and refresh (often both) the zones.

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Disable Windows Defender
article #1351, updated 1588 days ago

Currently, the only known way is this sort of effort:

Set-MpPreference -DisableIntrusionPreventionSystem $true `
-DisableBehaviorMonitoring $true `
-DisableRemovableDriveScanning $true `
-DisableScanningMappedNetworkDrivesForFullScan $true `
-DisableScanningNetworkFiles $true `
-DisableEmailScanning $true `
-DisableBlockAtFirstSeen $true `
-DisableIOAVProtection $true `
-DisableRealtimeMonitoring $true `
-DisableScriptScanning $true `
-EnableControlledFolderAccess Disabled `
-MAPSReporting Disabled `
-SubmitSamplesConsent NeverSend `
-PUAProtection Disabled

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Clear all Windows event logs in Powershell
article #1350, updated 1588 days ago

Try this, in administrative Powershell:

wevtutil el | ForEach-Object { "$_"; wevtutil cl "$_" }

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Microsoft Printing Troubleshooter
article #1345, updated 1626 days ago

Does not seem to have a web page of its own, it is linked from others:

http://aka.ms/diag_printer10

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HP Windows 10 Compatibility Matrix ("HP Products Tested with Windows 10")
article #1344, updated 1628 days ago

Very informative:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05195282

and linked therein, a printer matrix:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04658195

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