All you wanted to know about Vista imaging, but were afraid to ask.

Well it was a nice sunny day, thank goodness as my last visit to Microsoft’s HQ at Thames Valley Park was during the snow in January that took us all by surprise.

This event was laid on by Microsoft’s TechNet team with James O’Neill giving us a good 2 plus sessions, with a very informative look at the imaging tools for Vista Deployment.

As always this event was superbly organized and well presented, the turn out was good, so with the help of James we were able to get a mention for Vista Squad’s event on the 28th and also during the coffee breaks I was able to talk with a few people and hand out some flyers hopefully to boost our attendants for the night.

I would recommend anyone interested in Vista Imaging to take a look at James’s blog as he promised to include the slides, extra info & links from today’s session.

James can be found at http://blogs.technet.com/jamesone

It’s been a very busy week first time I have had 5 minuets to myself to sit down and think about my blog.

Been tied up most of the week helping plan, develop and launch the new community user group for Microsoft’s Windows Vista and .Net 3.0.

We’re hoping to build this user group into one of the leaders in the UK, with forums, blogs and events from the people in the know. To include Vista Development Technologies and Windows Presentation Foundation.

The web site is now fully up and running, with the announcement of or first and inaugural meeting. To be held between 18.15 and 21.15 on Wednesday 28th March 2007 at Microsoft’s UK HQ, Thames Valley Park, Reading.
This will be a great opportunity to meet other members, discuss Vista and see two cracking presentations. The line-up is as follows:

18:15 - 18:30: Refreshments
18:30-18:45: Introduction session to introduce the group, the key people involved and finally our aims and goals – (Ray Booysen, Scott Belton, Robert Knapp)
18:45-19:45: Presentation 1 - Are you ready for Vista - Windows hardware assessment tools (Scott Belton)
19:45-20:15: Break - Food, refreshments and networking
20:15-21:15: Presentation 2 - Deep Dive into WCF – (Michael Luke)
21:15: Roundup and close
For more information check out our new web site www.vistasquad.co.uk

Oops! There I was playing around with my start menu when some how I managed to remove the Internet Explorer 7 link. As this no longer appears on the desktop as standard (in fact only one icon is standard and that’s the rubbish bin.) I think its time to sort things out.

So here we go let’s have a look at getting things sorted and my desktop ship shaped and Bristol fashioned.

First things first let’s put back the Internet Explorer that I deleted on the top of the start menu.
1. Right Click an empty space on the taskbar and select Properties.
2. Select the Start Menu tab then Customize.
3. Then place a tick in the Internet link check box and click Ok & Ok again.

Great that’s done now lets have a look at putting some useful icons on my desktop.

Desktop icons

1. Right click an empty space on the desktop and select Personalize.
2. Under Task’s in the left hand column select Change desktop icons.
3. Place Ticks in the icon check boxes that I would like then click OK.

The one icon that I really like on my desktop is the Internet Explorer I Know it’s already pin to the start menu and in the quick launch bar but to put it on the desktop will require me to dig a lot deeper into Windows Vista. For this we will need to edit the registry so make sure you back this up first.

1. Click the Start button and type regedit in the search box and hit Enter.
2. The User Account Control will ask for permission to continue (enter appropriate permissions).
3. Then find the following registry key:-
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel
4. Select Edit from the tool bar New then DWORD 32-bit
5. Enter this key name exactly including brackets:-
{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
6.Close regedit, Right click an empty space on the desktop and click Refresh from the dropdown menu.

That’s it I’m all set up ready to run.

If your like me you may find you miss the run command from the start menu.

It's easy to restore it. Here's how:

1. Right-click on the taskbar and select Properties from the context menu.

2. Navigate to the Start menu tab.

3. Click the Customize button beside the "Start menu" option.

4. In the list of options at the top of the window, check the "Run command" option and click OK.

Although the search box that integrates with the Start menu acts as an impromptu run box, if you enter the exact name of a file, executable, or script, Windows will run it.

But to me this is not as convenient as I would like.

NB: if you are using the "Classic Start menu" option, the Run command is already present.

As promised information re Windows Vista’s computer hardware requirements

Windows Vista minimum supported system requirements
Home Basic / Home Premium / Business / Ultimate
800 MHz processor and 512 MB of system memory
20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
Support for Super VGA graphics
CD-ROM drive

Windows Vista recommended system requirements
Home Basic
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
512 MB of system memory
20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory
DVD-ROM drive
Audio Output
Internet access

Home Premium / Business / Ultimate
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 GB of system memory
40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
WDDM Driver
128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
32 bits per pixel
DVD-ROM drive
Audio Output
Internet access

All the above information was taken from Microsoft’s web site as of 02/03/07

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/systemrequirements.mspx

Try the Windows Upgrade Advisor

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx

Vista’s “WOW”

Windows Vista in all its glory has been out now and available for a whole month. Well I ask was it worth the long wait. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve been lucky that I have been testing and running Vista in its many pre-release forms including Vista RC1 for some time. I was so impressed that on the launch day I was first in the queue at my local PC World to spend my hard earned cash on a brand new laptop with Vista Home Premium installed.

I love it, what more can I say,

Yes I have had a few teething problems with software and even a hardware driver issue on a new laptop (more about that in a later blog), but nothing will change me back to Windows XP. Vista is here to stay, there’s so much built into this operating system that I total agree with the “WOW” launch campaign.

Over the next few month’s I will try and keep a diary of life with this new O/S and record all its ups and downs.

Here’s to a bright and flashy new future for the pc user, and congratulations to Microsoft. "It was worth the wait!"

“Verifying DMI Pool Data…” then nothing! On Booting your computer
If you get this message (or a subtle variant thereof) on your computer screen during booting just before it locks up on you than you could have a pretty seriously problem on your hands.

DMI stands for Desktop Management Interface and this is the part of the system that stores a lot if the configuration information of the system's hardware components.

Possible reasons for this problem:

Hardware change
BIOS settings change
Improper connection of hard drive IDE cables
Corrupt Master Boot Record (MBR) of the hard drive
Defective hard drive
Defective motherboard
Possible causes of the problem:

Hardware incompatibility
Virus damage
Damage to internal circuitry
Corruption of data
Improper BIOS settings
Damage to the system from overclocking the CPU
Print this page out as a reference before beginning work ... just in case!!!

Possible solutions:

Undo any hardware change you did and see if the system works again.
Check all the cables and expansion cards for proper contact.
Try setting the “Reset Configuration Data” (also known as “Force Update ESCD”) BIOS option in the BIOS “PNP/PCI configuration” to “Enabled”, save and exit the BIOS. After a reboot the option is set to “Disabled” again.
Check your motherboard manual for information about the “Clear CMOS jumper” and then clear the CMOS. Please note that with ATX power supplies based systems the power cord must be disconnected or the mechanical switch of the PSU (Power Supply Unit) must be set to “Off” or “0” before the Clear CMOS jumper is used.
Disconnect all IDE cables and enter the BIOS. From there set the boot sequence to start with the floppy drive. Try to boot from a bootable floppy with the proper BIOS update files for your BIOS and update the BIOS. After the update is finished clear the CMOS again and after booting set the “Reset Configuration Data” (also known as “Force Update ESCD”) BIOS option in the BIOS “PNP/PCI configuration” to “Enabled”.

If you can boot from floppy but the BIOS update does not help then the problem is corruption of the MBR. You can try to fix this using a partitioning application. On a Windows system this is called FDISK and you would need to start the system up using a bootable floppy with that program on it. To run FDISK type this at the command prompt:

fdisk /mbr

Another option is to go to the website of the manufacturer of your hard drive and download and run a copy of any drive diagnostic tools that they might have on offer (all the major manufacturers have them nowadays).

Failing that, you could test the hard drive in another system.

If all of that fails it is more than likely that the motherboard is defective and needs to be replaced.

System32 hall .dll stop error on Booting Windows XP

Before re-installing XP or suspecting you have a bad hard disk:

Fix
- go into BIOS while booting
- change the boot order to boot from CD
- insert your XP installation CD and boot again
- start the recovery console
- type your admin password (if required)
- select the Volume to fix
- type CHKDSK /P
- type BOOTCFG /REBUILD
- remove your XP installation CD.
- change the boot order to boot from Hard Drive.
- reboot and cross your fingers.

"Data Execution Prevention" error message in Windows XP Service Pack 2 or in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005

Data Execution Prevention – Microsoft Windows
To help protect your computer, Windows has closed this program.
Name: program name
Publisher: program publisher
Data Execution Prevention helps protect against damage from viruses or other threats. Some programs might not run correctly when it is turned on. For an updated version of this program, contact the publisher. What else should I do?

If you click Close Message, the program quits, and Windows Error Reporting gives you the option to send an error report.

CAUSE
This behavior occurs because Microsoft Windows XP SP2 uses the Data Execution Prevention (DEP) feature to help prevent damage from viruses and from other security threats.

DEP works alone or with compatible microprocessors to mark some memory locations as "non-executable." If a program tries to run code from a protected location, DEP closes the program and notifies you, whether the code is malicious or not.

RESOLUTION
To avoid this behavior, contact your program vendor to see if an update is available that enables the program to work correctly with DEP.

Fix
If your computer is set to apply DEP to all programs and services, the DEP error message will have a Change Settings button. If an update to the program is not available, follow these steps to add an exception for the program from the DEP error message:
1. When you receive the error message that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section, click Change Settings.
2. Click to select the check box next to the program, and then click Apply.
3. When you are prompted to restart your computer, click OK two times, and then restart your system.

You can also add an exception for the program by using System Properties in Control Panel. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type sysdm.cpl, and then click OK.
2. Click the Advanced tab, click Performance, and then click Settings.
3. In Performance Options, click the Data Execution Prevention tab, and then click Add.
4. In the Open dialog box, locate and then click the program.
5. Click Open, click Apply, and then click OK. When you are prompted to restart your computer, click OK.

INFORMATION
If your computer is configured to turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only, the Change Settings button will not be available from the DEP error message.

You can view the DEP configuration for your computer in System in Control Panel. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type sysdm.cpl, and then click OK.
2. Click the Advanced tab, and then under Performance, click Settings.
3. In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Data Execution Prevention tab.
4. Note if Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only or Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select: is selected.
When your computer is configured to turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only, you cannot add an exception for a program.
This is the behavior that is by design in Windows XP SP2.

If your computer is configured to turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only, and the DEP error message continues to appear, a program may be installed that extends Windows functionality. This program may be installed so that it causes a DEP problem in an important Windows program or service
If this behavior is recent and has not occurred before, you may be able to prevent the DEP error message by removing recently installed programs.

Welcome to my blog.

This is a small introduction about me; I currently work as an ICT Technician in a large secondary school. I hold a Microsoft Certified System Administrator qualification as well as being CompTIA A+ and N+ qualified. This blog is a store of fixes, hints and tips that I come across on a daily basis while working and playing with PC's with maybe the odd extra comment.

This blog is meant for my own use as an online help file & diary but if any of the contained information can be of help, please try at your own risk.

I would also like to take this opportunity to pass on all my respect to those hard working people at Microsoft.