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How to Create Windows 8.1 PE Boot CD/USB Drive

November 20th, 2014 by Admin

WinPE (Windows PE) is a stripped down version of Windows. It has the bare minimum drivers and files just enough to run the installer and the repair tools. WinPE does not require a hard drive to boot, it can run solely from a CD drive using the memory for dynamic data. This feature makes WinPE appealing for data recovery and system maintenance purposes. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to manually create a bootable WinPE 5.0 CD/USB drive. WinPE 5.0 is based on Windows 8.1.

How to Create Windows 8.1 PE Boot CD/USB Drive?

  1. WinPE 5.0 is part of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) for Windows 8.1, which you can download here. When you install the ADK, you only need to select these two features: Deployment Tools and Windows Preinstallation Environment.
  2. After installing, launch the Deployment Tools and Imaging Environment. Create an empty folder such as c:\winpe, and then type this command:
    copype.cmd amd64 c:\winpe
    If you want to make a 32-bit WinPE bootdisk, just replace amd64 with x86. This step will copy the boot files and the Windows PE boot image (boot.wim) to the folder c:\winpe\media.
  3. If you need to make changes to the WinPE boot image, you need to mount the image before adding drivers or other third-party apps:
    dism /mount-image /imagefile:c:\winpe\media\sources\boot.wim /index:1 /mountdir:c:\winpe\mount
  4. After mounting the image, you can add any specific RAID or storage drivers, in order for your hard drive to be recognized by the WinPE bootdisk. You will need to collect and extract the raw .inf and .sys driver files in order to install the driver.
    dism /image:c:\winpe\mount /add-driver:"c:/storage/iaStor.inf"
  5. Unmount the image and commit the changes back to the WinPE boot.wim file.
    dism /unmount-image /mountdir:c:\winpe\mount /commit
  6. Now that we have the base image (boot.wim) and its time to create the bootable WinPE ISO image by running the following command:
    oscdimg -b"c:\winpe\fwfiles\etfsboot.com" -n c:\winpe\media c:\winpe\winpe.iso
  7. Finally, you can burn the ISO image (winpe.iso) onto a CD-ROM or USB stick. You can use the freeware ISO2Disc, Rufus, Imgburn or any other burning application of your choice.

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Fix the 0x000000C4 Error: Your PC Needs To Restart

November 19th, 2014 by Admin

When you try to install Windows 8.1 64-bit in Oracle VM VirtualBox / VMware Workstation, or boot a virtual machine from Windows 8.1 64-bit PE image, you might receive the following error message:

Your PC needs to restart
Please hold down the power button.
Error code: 0x000000C4
Parameters:
0x0000000000000091
0x000000000000000F
0xFFFFF8028E363A80
0x0000000000000000

0x000000C4

The problem exists only with the Windows 8.1 64-bit. The 32-bit version works fine. This problem is similar to the blue screen error 0x0000005D that we previously covered in this article: How to Fix Error 0x0000005D When Booting from Windows 8 Installation Disc.

If you got the 0x000000C4 error while booting an existing virtual machine from Windows 8.1 64-bit PE image, the temporary solution is changing your guest OS to 64-bit. This article has explained how to change the OS version in VirtualBox and VMware Workstation: VirtualBox and VMware Error 0x0000005D Fix: Your PC Needs To Restart.

If you got the 0x000000C4 error when you try to install Windows 8.1 64-bit in VirtualBox, please perform the following steps to resolve:

  1. First of all, you need to find the name of your problematic virtual machine in the VirtualBox Manager interface:

    oracle-virtualbox

    Or open an elevated Command Prompt, type the following command to list your virtual machine’s name:
    "c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" list vms

    list-virtualbox-vms

  2. Next paste following command followed by Enter:

    "c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" setextradata "virtual_machine_name" VBoxInternal/CPUM/CMPXCHG16B 1

    Replace virtual_machine_name with the name of the virtual machine name which you find in the step above.

    fix-virtualbox-bluescreen

  3. That’s it! Close the Command Prompt, and you can now install Windows 8.1 64-bit in VirtualBox without the blue screen error 0x000000C4.

Another workaround is upgrading VirtualBox to the latest version 4.3.18 which claims to have this issue fixed already. If you got the 0x000000C4 error with Windows Server 2012 R2, the solution is the same as for Windows 8.1.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 8

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Microsoft Tool to Download Windows 8.1 ISO and Create Installation Media

November 12th, 2014 by Admin

Ready to install or reinstall Windows 8.1 but you don’t have a installation disc? In the past, it’s quite difficult to grab a copy of Windows setup ISO image, even if you have a genuine product key at hand. And now, thanks to a new online tool from Microsoft – Windows Installation Media Creating Tool, which lets you to download Windows 8.1 ISO image and create a installation media right away.

To download and create a bootable CD or USB flash drive with the Windows 8.1 installation files, please follow the steps below:

  1. Head over to Microsoft’s installation tool webpage, and then click the Create media button to download Windows Installation Media Creation Tool (about 1.26 Mb).
  2. Once the file finishes downloading, double-click it to launch the Windows Installation Media Creation Tool. Connect your USB flash drive (at least 4 GB of space should be available) or insert a blank DVD.
  3. This program allows you to select your desired language, Windows 8.1 edition and system architecture (32-bit or 64-bit). As far as editions are concerned, you can get Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 Pro, the N versions of both operating systems, or a single language Windows 8.1 version.

    media-creation-tool

  4. After clicking the Next button, you’ll be presented with two options to save the installation file: create a Windows 8.1 installation USB drive or save the setup ISO image for later user. If you don’t have a USB drive at hand, you should select the 2nd option to save the installation ISO image on your PC which can then be burned to a DVD.

    save-windows-installation

  5. Click Next to download or create the install media. This will take a while depending on the speed of your Internet connection and Windows 8.1 edition that you’re downloading.

    download-installation-file

    Once this is done, you can use the USB flash drive to perform a clean install of Windows 8.1 right away, or burn the ISO image to CD/USB with the freeware ISO2Disc.

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Posted in Free Software, Tips & Tricks, Windows 8

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How to Restore Windows Registry to A Previous State

November 11th, 2014 by Admin

Did you mess up the Windows registry and need to restore it to a previous state? Problems with the Windows registry can cause your computer to freeze, slow down, restart randomly, or be unusable. Luckily, since Windows 7, the system will automatically make a backup of your registry files after a successful boot. Here we’ll explain how to restore your Windows registry to a previous state, in order to fix / repair a corrupted registry.

How to Restore Windows Registry to A Previous State?

As the registry files are inaccessible while Windows is running, you need to boot your PC from a boot media for replacing the registry. Here we’ll use the PCUnlocker utilty, which comes as a self-extracting zip file containing a bootable CD image. Download the program and unzip it locally. Burn the CD image to a blank CD with your favorite burning program or ISO2Disc.

Boot your computer from the newly burned CD. After booting from the CD, you’ll get to the PCUnlocker program. Despite this program is mainly designed for resetting lost Windows password, it can also be used to backup the files on your computer, including the registry. Click on the “Option” button and select “Launch Command Prompt”.

Before restoring, I highly recommend you to take a backup of your current registry files, by typing these commands, one by one, and press Enter after each (Assuming C drive is the driver letter of your Windows installation).

mkdir c:\regbackup
copy c:\windows\system32\config c:\regbackup

These commands will create a backup folder and copy all your current registry files to that folder.

In Windows 10, 8 and 7, there is a folder called RegBack on your system partition which contains the most recent copy of registry files that were backed up automatically by Windows. Here we need to copy the registry files from C:\Windows\System32\config\RegBack   to C:\Windows\System32\config. To do so type in this command:

copy c:\windows\system32\config\RegBack c:\windows\system32\config

Now you’ve successfully restored your Windows registry files to last known good state. Remove the CD and restart your computer to see if you are able to boot into Windows properly.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8

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How to Hide User Name from Windows Lock Screen

November 1st, 2014 by Admin

It’s a common security practice to lock your Windows desktop screen by pressing Windows + L keys every time you walk away from your computer. This can prevent other people from accessing your computer in your absence. However, did you realize that Windows will display the user name on the screen while your PC is locked? A user name can be just as sensitive as a password in a lot of scenarios. Luckily there is a simple way to hide your user name from Windows lock screen.

How to Hide User Name from Windows Lock Screen?

  1. Open the Registry Editor by pressing Windows + R keys simultaneously.
  2. Browse down to the following registry key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
  3. On the right-hand side, create a new DWORD 32-bit value named DontDisplayLockedUserId and give it one of these values:
    • 1 = User display name, domain and user names
    • 2 = User display name only
    • 3 = Do not display user information

    dont-display-locked-user

    If you change this value to 3 then it will remove all user information from your Windows lock screen.

    Note: To prevent the last logged on user to be displayed in the Windows logon screen, also set the dontdisplaylastusername value to 1.

  4. Exit Registry Editor and reboot your computer. The next time you press Windows + L to lock your computer, your user name will not be displayed on the Windows lock screen any longer. User will be required to enter both their user name and password when logging back in from the locked workstation.

This is how it looks like on a Windows 7 machine.
Before:

press-ctrl-alt-del-2

windows-logon2

After:

press-ctrl-alt-del

windows-logon

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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How to Disable UAC in Windows 8 and 10

October 31st, 2014 by Admin

UAC (User Access Control) is a security feature introduced since Windows Vista, which helps prevent unauthorized changes to your computer. When you try to install a program or make changes to Windows settings, the UAC prompt will show up asking for your approval, even though you are already logged on as an administrator.

user-account-control

If the changes are not approved by the administrator, they are not executed and Windows remains unchanged. It is as if nothing happened. However, most of the windows users simply keep it disabled as you have to bear the pop-up and press Yes every time you run an application. Here’s how to disable UAC in Windows 8 and 10.

How to Disable UAC in Windows 8 and 10?

  1. Press the Windows key + X to open the power user menu, and then select Control Panel from the list.

    win+x-menu

  2. Once Control Panel is launched, type UAC in the search box in the upper right corner of the window. Click Change User Account Control settings in the search results.

    search-uac

  3. Use the vertical slider to select the desired UAC security level. To turn off UAC entirely, drag the slider down to Never notify, and click OK.

    uac-settings

    You need to reboot the computer before it takes effect.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 8

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How to Boot Windows 8 in Safe Mode If Your PC Won’t Start

October 30th, 2014 by Admin

In my previous post I’ve covered the procedure to access the Safe Mode from Windows 8 login screen. But that method won’t work in case your computer is crashed or unable to start. Since Windows 8, the boot process is now so fast that it’s also impossible to access the Safe Mode by pressing the traditional F8 key. So here I’m going to explain another method to boot Windows 8 in Safe Mode if your computer won’t start.

How to Boot Windows 8 in Safe Mode with A Recovery Drive?

  1. Boot your problematic computer from Windows 8 recovery drive. If you don’t have a recovery drive, you can create one on another Windows 8 PC which you can access, by following this guide: How to Create a Recovery Drive in Windows 8.
  2. After your computer boots from the recovery drive and you’re presented with the Choose your keyboard layout screen, choose the keyboard layout appropriate for your device. On the next screen, click Troubleshoot.

  3. When you see the Troubleshoot screen, click Advanced options.

  4. On the Advanced options screen, click Startup settings.

  5. On the next screen, click Restart.

  6. Once the PC has restarted, you will be given the option to boot to Safe Mode by pressing F4.

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How to Track User Logon Activity with Logon Auditing

October 29th, 2014 by Admin

Ever wonder how to keep a track of who logged into your computer and when they log in? Or want to find out who is trying to break into your Windows account? Luckily Windows comes with a built-in feature – Logon Auditing, which enables you to record logon, logoff and logon failure events, along with the user information and the time at which the computer was accessed.

In this article we’ll show you how to enable logon auditing to have Windows track which user accounts log in and when. This is particularly helpful in determining and analyzing any attacks on a local computer or over a network.

Part 1: Enable Logon Auditing in Windows

To enable Logon Auditing, we need to configure Windows Group Policy settings. Press Windows + R, type gpedit.msc and press Enter.

After the Local Group Policy Editor opens up, navigate to Local Computer Policy –> Computer Configuration –> Windows Settings –> Security Settings –> Local Policies –> Audit Policy. Double-click the Audit logon events policy in the right pane.

audit-logon-events

When the logon event property window opens up, check both Success and Failure to audit all types of account logon activities. Click Apply to save your changes.

logon-audit-settings

From now on, every log in, log off and failed log in attempts will be recorded in the Event Viewer.

Part 2: View Logon Audit Events

To launch Event Viewer, click Start, type Event Viewer and hit Enter. In Windows 8, you can press the shortcut Windows + W and search for the Event Viewer applet.

open-even-viewer

In the Event Viewer window, navigate to the Windows Logs -> Security option to see the logs for both the successful and failed logon attempts.

event-viewer

Double click on one of the logon events, you will find out the details like the user that has been logged in or logged out, logon date and time, etc.

logon-failure-event

Conclusion

So that is how you can record and view logon events in Windows 7 Pro. Logon Auditing is also available in Windows 8 (Windows 8 Pro, Ultimate and Enterprise editions) too, although not in all the versions.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8

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Fix: Unable To Execute Files In The Temporary Directory. Setup Aborted

October 27th, 2014 by Admin

When you try to install a program downloaded from the Internet in Windows 8, 7 or XP, you might receive the following error message:

Unable to execute file in the temporary directory. Setup aborted. Error 5: Access is denied.

unable-execute-file

Right-click your downloaded .exe file and select Run as administrator. This is a temporary fix and Microsoft needs to patch it up in their updates. The problem is with the security permissions on your profile temp folder. Here are step-by-step instructions to fix this error permanently:

Before sorting out this issue, we need to find out where the temp folder is located. This folder is different for each Windows user i.e., each logged-in user gets a separate “Temp” folder. Simply press Windows key + R to bring up the Run box. Type cmd and press Enter.

The Command Prompt will run with permissions of the current logged-on user. Type set TEMP and press Enter. It will display your profile temp folder. By default, the temp folder is stored in C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local directory in Windows 8/7/Vista, and in C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings directory in Windows XP and previous versions.

command-prompt

Navigate to your profile temp folder. Right-click on the Temp folder and choose Properties. In the Properties window, click the Security tab, and then click Edit to change permissions.

folder-properties

Here select your account from the list and check the Full Control checkbox. When done, hit OK. Note that when you will check the Full Control checkbox, all other permissions will be automatically checked too.

folder-permissions

Now go ahead and you should be able to install your program successfully.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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