Why chkdsk in a Windows 7 and Windows 8 dual boot?!

In a PC with two main operating systems like Windows 8 and Windows 7, each one in a separate disk partition, there appears to be a problem when switching to Windows 7 (after having previously loaded Windows 8 and restarted the computer). This is a really annoying situation in which, just when you thought you were ready to start Windows 7, the basic black screen pops up with the message: "One of your disks need to be checked for consistency. You may cancel the disk check, but itis strongly recommended that you continue." Of course you can cancel the timed operation but it will show up the next time... and you are never really sure if there is an actual problem with your disk and/or each one of its partitions. I have not yet found the solution myself, but there are some options may be worth trying. The first one is to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows. Other options I will have to first find and then test, but I read somewhere that a Windows 8 not correctly shut down may affect starting other operating systems, like Windows 7. I'll post the solution when I find it.

Mistery error 1310 when performing software installations

Apparently, many a vendor just test their software applications only in the Windows XP and below operating systems, leaving the Windows 7 users under the "buyer beware" policy and in the process they stick the product with the "Windows 7 compatible" label, regardless. Case in point, the T-Mobile webConnect Manager software installation. This particular installation process decides that in addition to unzipping the necessary files to a temp directory (C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp, which is normal, though not necessarily into the Administrator folders) it also unzips them into the path shown in the attached picture above. After much tweaking, I was able to solve this problem but only after performing the installation logged in as Administrator, since the simple "run as" won't work, and the .inf file shown in the path above does not even exist. Only logged in as Administrator, and having started the installation process, you will be able to see that directory and that particularly file, BUT you still need to modify the access rights by giving all access to "Everyone" not just the Administrators group. Once I did that the installation continued and it was successful, both in Windows 7 and in the newest Windows 8 Release Preview. However, the whole process went not as smooth as it appears to be. Previously, I had to call T-Mobile tech support only to hear that they (three differents customer reps) don't know about "Error 1310" (but are they supposed to know about it?) and that this error was a problem with my computer, and (perhaps understandably so?)  they also did not even care to hear what the message read. The only "solution" they offered was that I have to get a wi-fi connection in order to set up my Internet connection with my broadband modem and that only under those circumstances it will work. It wouldn't. However, the actual problem ("error 1310") was "access rights" within a folder the installer has no business dealing with, in the first place. Who should we blame? Software vendors for substandard software? Tech support for not offering at least some hints? This situation of not well documented, at least consistently, error messages is what goes against a brand name and contributes to popular perceptions or misconceptions of a product (whether software application and/or operating system).

Troubleshooting BitLocker: damaged volume

It may happen. You are using a BitLocker-encrypted USB memory stick to create quick backups of your regular work and one day when you try to open it in Windows Explorer, though you are able to see the drive icon with a superimposed padlock and key, it cannot be opened and instead it gives you the option to format it. What happened? Basically, data is corrupted and therefore not accessible. The solution lies in a command-line utility called repair-bde, which is the repair tool for BitLocker Drive Encryption. First of all you must have the BitLocker Encryption Recovery Key of the drive. If you don't, this solution and any other solution will not work for you, and you will have to resort to format the drive and lose all your data. Second, you need an extra USB memory stick with the same size (or may be bigger) than the one you are having trouble with. Now, lets assume your troubled USB corresponds to drive I: and H: is your blank new USB. You are going to transfer all the data from input I: to output H: and the end result, if successful, will be an identical original I: drive copied into H: but your I: will have to be formatted, at any rate, to use it again. The command you have to enter, as an Administrator, is as follows, depending obviously on your settings:

repair-bde I: H: -rp [your BitLocker Encryption Recovery Key]

The -rp switch stands for -RecoveryPassword and your recovery key consists of 48 digits (8 groups of 6 digits each, separated by dashes). The process, for a 8GB USB stick will take about an hour but you will recover your data. Warning: All information in the output drive (H:) will always be overwritten. Finally, after the tool has reached "Decrypting: 100% complete", it is very important that, before you view the decrypted data, you run this command:

chkdsk H: /f

At any rate the system will prompt you to do that under ACTION REQUIRED. I hope this post saved your day.

The Matrix screensaver, a timeless classic

I just updated one of my favorite screensavers:  The Matrix Screen Saver, to Version 1.14 (of 2 August 2010), by Meticulous Software in the UK, a company founded in 1999 by Phil Symons. I will have to explore the other cool applications they carry including iPhone Apps; you can tell easily that this is quality software. In the release notes of this screensaver, you can read that a problem with a multi-monitor setting, when the primary screen is not number 1, was fixed. The author also suggests to use version 1.11b if the performance of version 1.14 in Windows 7, as reported by some users, is not optimal. I will post about that if something comes up. For the time being I can notice that it does not run within the tiny screen of the Screen Saver Settings dialog box, as other screensavers do, so I was not able to take a screenshot, the way I did when I wrote about Windows Vista screensavers in Windows 7. In the meantime I'm running version 1.14. It's impressive!

Need a really good reason to upgrade to Windows 7? Try XP mode

For those still hesitant to upgrade their already-old Windows XP system, "fearing" that their current applications are not compatible, there is a very good reason to upgrade to Windows 7 in the form of Windows XP mode, let alone that almost everything that runs in XP can run in Windows 7. Basically, you  seamlessly can run any Windows XP-compatible application within Windows 7 through the use of a Virtual PC. Both, the latter and the former, can be downloaded for free. It's neat, it's useful and works unobstrusively. You don't even need to start the virtual machine if you enable the "integration features". Each application will run in a separate window like any other native Windows 7 application, the only difference being the upper-right hand control buttons look and feel. Take a few minutes of your time and watch this enlightening video on how to do the whole setup. Give it a try, if you have Windows 7, or have someone give you a demo. You won't regret it and would think, how in the world I didn't do this before?! Really. Read more...

Don't set files and folders permissions manually!

...unless you have to do it and as your last resort. My late father used to say, in a sort of philosophical way, something to the effect of "messing up is how you learn." And that's exactly what happened this weekend. I wasted many hours in the process trying to fix the access to my personal folders and files located in a separate partition, some 8 GB! But I learned a great deal. By default, any folder or file you create in your computer will have an owner (the person logged in to Windows) and "everyone" will have full access to them. Don't ask me how I decided to change these settings manually, really not knowing what I was doing, I admit. Next thing, access denied (!) to most of those files and the ones still visible had the dreaded little padlock icon. Then after much manual fixing, a Windows 7 (Vista and NT as well) utility came to the rescue: icacls. This command line utility is capable of displaying and modifying Access Control List (ACL) on folders and files explicit permissions. Warning: use it at you own risk; only advanced users should try it. This tool comes in handy when you have to make permissions changes to hundreds and even thousands of files at once. You can start by opening a DOS console with admin rights and then type icacls /? to see all the possibilities, but, let's face it, this is more complicated that it seems. Yet on the other hand, let me give you the skinny with actual examples (you replace parameters accordingly).

1. Before assigning permissions you need to take ownership of the files and folders, assuming the owner is not the current logged user (as it should be). Use this syntax:
   takeown /F YourPath /A /R
   Notice how we are using still another application (takeown.exe) where /F is for the filename or directory, /A gives ownership to the administrators group instead to the current user (a necessary step, before you can assign it manually to the current user, by rather using the GUI tool —right-click on the file or folder / Properties / Security tab, etc.), /R applies changes to directories and subdirectories. You may have to repeat this operation a number of times for other folders since not always the changes trickle down to all files and folders. To learn more, type takeown /?
2. Now, this is the command line for assigning or reassigning the actual permissions:
   icacls YourPath /inheritance:r /grant:r Everyone:(OI)(CI)F /T
   /inheritance:r removes all inherited ACEs (note that each assignment of permissions to a user or group is represented in the system as an access control entry or ACE); /grant:r assigns the specified user access rights but with the :r switch the explicit permissions previouly granted are replaced; (OI): object (file) inherit, (CI): container (folder) inherit, F: full access, /T: operation performed on all files/directories below the directory specified in YourPath. Once this command line has run, you may still have to do some manual adjustments using the GUI tool.  

Please NOTE: these command lines have worked for me, but this may not be your situation. Use them at your own risk, and, again, this resource is to be used only when you are in trouble. Do not use this for normal assignment of permissions. Leave the OS and/or an experienced administrator take care of that. No wonder, information and documentation for these 2 utilities (takeown.exe and icacls) is not readily available, in a sort of "handbook" form, but I'm sure I overlooked a lot of information out there. Here, for example you can watch at your leisure this bunch of videos on the subject. Finally, given the complexity of this subject, I have to say that I did not even start to scratch the surface of it.

Robocopy: A practical way to backup your files on the go

One really great tool in Windows 7 (also available for Windows Vista) is the robocopy command, which is the "robust file copy for windows" that allows you to copy an entire folder, and subfolders, from one destination into another, in a much better fashion than using xcopy. It's perfect for quick backups into flash memory drives, hopefully encrypted with Bitlocker to Go, first, though not necessary. The syntax, in a DOS or a PowerShell console is

robocopy [source] [destination] /MIR 

the latter, an option switch which stands for "MIRror a directory tree." In other words, you get an exact copy on the destination drive, adding or deleting folders and files, accordingly, with a complete summary at the end of the operation. Let me give you an example with a complete batch file I programmed. It will ask you first for the drive letter of the destination directory. Why this? Sometimes the drive letters of removable drives may change when other devices are added or removed. In addition, should the destination folder not exist, robocopy will create it.  Here's the batch file, in which you only have to modify the fourth line accordingly. For example's sake, your source folder is D:\CollegePapers and the destination folder is in drive M. Once you run this batch file, you should type the corresponding drive letter, here M, and then press Enter. Sorry, there's no error trapping included. Very useful and practical. Please, give it a try. REMINDER: if you delete directories and/or files in your source and then run this batch file, those same directories and/or files will be deleted in the destination drive. Remember: the /MIR switch is used to create a mirror, identical, copy. Use with caution!

@echo off
set /P drLetter=Please enter drive letter: 
set "thisDrive=%drLetter%:"
robocopy D:\CollegePapers %thisDrive%\CollegePapers /MIR

Solution: When Windows XP mode does not start...

When you are unable to run Windows XP mode, which is no other than a XP virtual machine running under Virtual PC (a free Microsoft application), one of the reasons may be that the virtual hard disk has been mounted as read-only. How to solve this? Well the simplest of the solutions is to make the folder, subfolders and files, where the virtual XP machine is located, read-write using the shell command ATTRIB /S -R. However, you may run into an ugly "Acces denied" message even with elevated privileges. What to do, then? The only solution that has worked for me in virtual environments, including VMWare virtual machines, is a quick and dirty one. Simply take that unruly folder and:  1) copy it in the same disk or partition with a different name, and 2) then run the command mentioned above. It should work just fine and the read-only attribute will be cleared; 3) Try and rename the original folder (this is important); 4) Rename the copied folder with the exact name as the original. You may not need to follow these steps if you make sure to install first the Virtual PC program and then the Windows XP application that can be downloaded for free, as well. When setting up the XP virtual machine you will have to go through a similar setup process as with a hard machine, including providing a password for the administrator. For more information and to avoid any confusion, please follow this guide: Install and use Windows XP Mode in Windows 7.

Translation on the fly with Internet Explorer 9

Among the many features that make IE 9 once again my default browser, after a Firefox hiatus, is the "built-in" translation service that can be easily accessed by right-clicking on a word or expression and then selecting "Translate with Bing" in the menu. Sure enough, the service easily detects the source language, no need to select it from a list of languages, and then provides a translation in the target language, which usually is English (or any default language you may choose). See the example above, while on a jobs Website in German. This free service for online automatic translation is Microsoft translator, also known as Bing Translator, which allows real-time, in-place translations of the Websites you are reading or your own Website for a global audience. Explore the Translator V2 API & Widget, mobile tools, the ESL (English as a Second Language) Assistant and even an English Language Search for Chinese Speakers. Developers and linguists will be delighted.

iomega StorCenter: nice hardware, poor software performance

How many times did anybody see this or a similar message?!

This is one of those products that overpromise and underdeliver. After trying to make work the iomega StorCenter ix2-200 network storage (that only recently is advertised as "cloud edition") flawlessly for two weeks I quit and returned it for a full refund. To be truthful, it worked but intermittently: sometimes yes, sometimes no. The most common fault was a "network path not found" and that happened both in Windows 7 and Windows Vista systems, let alone the time it took me to make it "discoverable" in my LAN. In other words, the connection between the StorCenter and the computer(s) will always be interrupted in the middle of a backup operation. Let alone all the inconsistencies in the user interface AND the on-screen messages, from the very moment of the installation, where two setup programs start running almost simultaneously (!). Another example is one of the software products included with this NAS system: Retrospect Express edition which has a clumsy interface that is neither Windows, nor Apple, nor Linux. It's a shame that such a beautiful iomega product (hardware-wise) comes with substandard software. My verdict: stay away from this product, at least in Windows Vista and Windows 7 environments. I have plenty of screenshots to prove my point.

Keep your sanity: create a system repair disc

I cannot stress enough the importance of having that magic CD labeled "System Repair Disc" (Windows 7 64-bit, in my case) readily available. This bootable CD will save you a big headache if something goes wrong with your system. Create one right now. Here's how:  click on the Start button (or simply press the Windows key), then type "system repair" and click on "Create a System Repair Disc". You will be asked for your system administrator password if you have UAC enabled (you'd better do). Insert a blank CD and follow the prompts. That's all there is to it. Extremely useful, a lifesaver. The beauty of it is that you can use the same CD to "rescue" another PC, but it has to have the same operating system. Caveat: this repair disc is only for the operating system, not for your data or personal settings. However, it is most likely that your data is safe and what needs fixing is the operating system.

Now my default browser is Internet Explorer 9

Finally, after the release of its final version, a week ago, I decided to make Internet Explorer 9 my default browser. I had dropped almost completely this browser, for Firefox, which I still like, but after sporadically using IE 7 and IE 8 and the previous IE 9 beta versions, and noticing their potential I was just waiting for the RTM version, download it, test it and make my decision. IE 9 is faster, leaner, more secure, full of features, compliant with the latest and, I would say, future Web standards, and definitely a perfect match for Windows 7. Learn more about it and get it here. The other browser I like is Opera, neat and fast, as well.

When your laptop needs a hard drive upgrade

In order to run all the virtual machines I carry in my laptop and to have more space for the host operating system (Windows 7) partition I needed more space so I went from a 320 GB to a 500 GB hard drive and I did everything manually. Obviously I always have partitioned the hard drive, as the best choice for organizing your data, your system and your upgrades. I could have created an image of the partition but instead I decided that re-installing the OS was a better idea, and I was right. My laptop, with the same programs I had before, now boots, runs and shuts down faster. The way Windows 7 was intended to be. Since I always put all my important data (documents, pictures, web sites, development, reference material, logs, etc.) in a single partition (it was A:\ before) other than C:\ I copied through my wired LAN all the data partitions and did not mind about "system images", e-mail profiles, etc. Everything is recreated later without a problem. HARD DRIVE: I went for the Seagate Momentus XT 500 GB, which is not entirely a solid state drive but uses some of this technology, after doing my homework. PARTITIONING: I didn't allow the OS setup disc to take care of partitioning the new hard drive but rather let Seagate DiscWizard, powered by Acronis, take care of the job. Excellent. SYSTEM SETUP: the OS setup disc took care of it. Caveat: even having an OEM setup disc (Dell) I had to reinstall all the drivers and utilities manually. It does not do it for you. That's probably the hardest part. This is my list, first to last, of what you should install once Windows 7 is fired up for the first time in the new hard drive.

RECOMMENDED ORDER (just my suggestion):

1. Dell (or your manufacturer) Wireless driver (Wireless WAN, WWAN)
2. Intel Gigabit and then Intel Centrino  (or the corresponding network devices)
3. NVidia drivers (or corresponding)
4. Go immediately online and install all Windows 7 updates (50, in my case) or if possible go for the SP1 at once
5. Devices and printers (I assigned my PC to download directly from Internet 'realistic' icons and corresponding drivers)
6. Other drivers: touchpad, sensors, etc.
7. Now you are ready to start installing your applications: Office, Adobe CS, Microsoft development tools (which will take care of the .NET Framework), etc.

Your system performance should be by now even better than before with the added bonus of extra hard drive space.

Do you care about your data? Use BitLocker To Go

You probably carry important documents in a USB Flash drive, care-free, assuming it's not likely it could get lost. But when it happens anyone can take hold of your precious documents. Fortunately you can encrypt your flash drive with Windows 7 Bitlocker To Go technology. Nobody except you and whoever knows the password you assign to the encrypted drive can get access to it. There are some caveats, though. In Windows XP and Windows Vista it will have read-only access and if you forget your password and did not create a "recovery key" your only choice is to reformat the flash drive. You can also use it in external storage and certainly in the internal hard drive your system is running on. Watch this very educational video on the subject.  I lost a 4GB flash drive... I learned my lesson.

Linksys AE1000 wireless adapter: just forget it

The Cisco Linksys AE1000 "High Performance Wireless-N USB Adapter" does not even install neither in Windows 7 nor Windows Vista. The setup program, no matter what you do trying to follow the "instructions" on the screen, does not go beyond the screenshot shown here. The "wireless connection manager", mentioned here, does not exist in Windows 7, it's a thing of the past, so at this point of installing this adapter the situation turns hopeless. Trust me, I've tried everything conceivable. Long story short: product returned for a full refund.
There are three more reasons for disappointment: 1) the package has the "Compatible with Windows 7" logo, acting as a bait, 2) the only "help" available in the user guide is "Double-click your CD-ROM drive" (in my computer) and then, on page 4, "After you have installed the Adapter" (!) ... and 3) other unsuspecting customers were equally disappointed. Whatever happened to quality assurance?!

Windows Vista screensavers in Windows 7

Two of my favorite screensavers in Vista (see left picture) can also run in Windows 7 without a problem: Aurora and Windows Energy. If you have a computer with Windows Vista installed all you have to do is to go to the C:\Windows\System32 directory and copy these two files: ssBranded.scr (7,949 KB) and Aurora.scr (1,339 KB) into the same location in the Windows 7 computer. Then right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose Personalize (the last menu choice) and then click on Screen Saver (at the bottom right corner). Choose Branded for "Windows Energy" or Aurora. If you don't have these two files hunt for them; you may find them in the Web.

When your MS Access application won't run in all PCs

If you are an Access developer in a multi-user environment you know that even after testing and debugging, time and again, something could go wrong. How about one of your client PCs not loading the Main Menu (Switchboard)? This is the situation: you get inside your VBA code (from within the problem machine) to see what's going and then hit "Debug, compile" only to get to this line: Set con = Application.CurrentProject.Connection (which appears twice) and some error message about a "missing DLL". The core of the matter is simply that this is Activex Data Object (ADO) code that the application does not recognize even though is clearly referenced (see screenshot above). The answer to this puzzle which is provided in the Microsoft support knowledge base, solution 2 (kb/262847) consists basically in changing this and other lines to be compatible with Data Access Objects (DAO) also listed in this particular example. Do not be misled by the title of that support article. What went wrong? I was developing and debugging in a machine with Access 2003 SP3 installed and moved to another machine with Access 2003 SP2 and even if I updated to SP3 I kept getting that compilation error. As usual, going to all those forums where some people want to honestly help, but also others just are trying to impress with their "expertise" it is hard to find the right answer. There is a lot of misleading and incomplete information out there.