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Airin's Notes

Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Chkdsk c: /f
December 1, 2023

Chkdsk c: /f
After running a chkdsk of the C: drive, Windows will reboot and run the scan. It will then reboot back into windows. To check the results, run this powershell command, or open Event Viewer, Application Log, and look for the Source to be Wininit.

Get-EventLog -LogName Application -Source wininit | select -First 1 -ExpandProperty Message



https://askleo.com/how_do_i_see_the_results_of_a_chkdsk_that_ran_on_boot/


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Create new Admin user
November 29, 2023

Create new Win10 user without password:
Boot from Win10 USB
Press Shift-F10
cd /d c:\windows\system32
copy utilman.exe utilman-.exe
copy cmd.exe utilman.exe
Reboot
Press Ease of Access button in bottom right
net user useradmin /add
net localgroup Administrators useradmin /add
Reboot and login to useradmin account.
From admin cmd window:
cd /d c:\windows\system32
copy utilman-.exe utilman.exe
Over-right the file.


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Dell Computer Setup Bitlocker without notification
November 29, 2023

https://www.wintips.org/fix-dell-laptop-needs-the-bitlocker-recovery-key/
Try enabling UEFI/Secure Boot, PTT in BIOS.

Microsoft link to see all recovery keys:
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=237614

Show recovery key:
manage-bde -protectors C: -get


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Intel Rapid Storage Technology RST - NVME and SATA Raid Drivers
December 2, 2023

If Windows crashes with INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE BSOD after cloning a drive, or won't show the drive during install of windows, there are several things to check. If you are installing Windows, you may be able to disable Intel RST in the BIOS, or change the SATA/Drive mode from RAID or Intel RST to AHCI.

You can download the Intel RST drivers, and use the commands shown here to load them.
https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/x8avgq/cloning_a_pc_ahci_to_rst/



Keywords: Intel, NVME, SATA, SSD,...<Too long, click to read the rest>


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Password Reset
December 2, 2023

https://www.top-password.com/blog/reset-windows-10-password-with-sticky-keys/
https://4sysops.com/archives/reset-windows-10-password-by-disabling-windows-defender/

Run Command Prompt from Recovery Media
copy c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe c:\
copy /y c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe
reboot
At login screen, tell it to restart while holding SHIFT. This allows you to boot into Safe Mode, which disables Windows Defender, which will otherwise catch this trick.
Select Troubleshoot...<Too long, click to read the rest>


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Set up Windows 10/11 without using a Microsoft account
November 30, 2023

Use no@thankyou.com as the email address. Enter gibberish for the password. It should then give an error and let you sign in without creating an account.

After doing this, you should disable this Windows annoyance which keeps trying to get you to sign in using an online account.
https://notes.airinscomputers.com/?item=246


https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/install-windows-11-without-microsoft-account


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Skip OOBE to install software
November 29, 2023

When asked to create an account, press CTRL-SHIFT-F3 to enter audit mode, which lets you use the Administrator account without creating a local account.
This is confirmed to work in Windows 10 and Windows 11.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCwtxO4BZm0


Keywords: Windows, OOBE, Account, Skip, Administrator, Setup, Set Up, Bypass, Login, Install, Windows 10, Win10, Win11, user, creation, create


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
System Repair Diagnosis and Repair Log
November 29, 2023

Check your Log file here:
notepad C:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt


Keywords: Windows 10/11 Preparing Automatic Repair Boot Loop, hours, stuck, crashed, froze


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
UEFI Boot failure: bootrec /fixboot: Access is denied
December 2, 2023

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-update/windows-10-bootrec-fixboot-access-is-denied/747c4180-7ff3-4bc2-b6cc-81e572d546df?auth=1

Boot into Command Prompt from recovery media.
Diskpart
List disk
*** Make sure the disk has a * in the GPT column. If it doesn't, then this is not a UEFI drive, so you should follow the instruction for MBR instead.
Select Disk X
list vol
(Look for the 100-300MB partition with FAT32 filesystem, probably the last one)
sel vol X
assign letter=v:
...<Too long, click to read the rest>


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
UEFI Freeware Configuration Utility
November 30, 2023

https://m.majorgeeks.com/files/details/bootice_64_bit.html


Keywords: EUFI, UEFI, Boot, Config, Startup, Boot Ice, Bootice


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Windows 10 won't boot, BCD error, blue screen on startup, etc
February 25, 2024

Windows 10 Partition Layout
BIOS/MBR: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/configure-biosmbr-based-hard-drive-partitions
1: SYSTEM - 100MB NTFS
2: Windows - Main Partition - 20GB+
3: Recovery - 300MB+ (I recommend 550MB)

UEFI/GPT: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/configure-uefigpt-based-hard-drive-partitions
1: SYSTEM - 100MB+ FAT32
2: MSR - 16MB Microsoft reserved partition
3: Windows - Main Partition - 20GB+
4: Recovery - 300...<Too long, click to read the rest>


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Windows 10/11 - Disable annoying items in Windows that show you ads or try to force you into an online account
November 28, 2023

Windows 10
Go to Settings > System > Notifications & actions and uncheck these three items:
"Suggest ways I can finish setting up my device to get the most out of Windows"
"Show me the Windows welcome experience after updates and occasionally when I sign in to highlight what's new and suggested"
"Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows"

Windows 11:
Settings > System > Notifications
Click on Additional Settings, and uncheck all options in there.


Keywords: Disable Microsoft asking ...<Too long, click to read the rest>


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Windows 10/11 BSOD after drive cloning
November 29, 2023

Inaccessible Boot Device

If you moved from SATA to NVME, you need to run this. You can do this before cloning from admin command prompt, or after cloning by booting it into safe mode:
sc.exe config stornvme start= boot


Keywords: Crash, Clone, SSD, NVME, SATA


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Windows 11 System Requirements - CPU
December 2, 2023

Compatible CPU List:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-22h2-supported-amd-processors


Check the CPU list for ANY version of Windows:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/windows-processor-requirements




Keywords: CPU, Processor, Windows 10, Server, Compatibility, compatible


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Windows 8 won't boot, BCD error
November 30, 2023

https://superuser.com/questions/675378/windows-8-wont-boot-bcd-error


Likely also applies to Windows 10


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Windows XP - This copy of windows must be activated with Microsoft before you can log on. Do you want to activate windows now?
November 29, 2023

You can reset the activation timer by running this command from a command prompt. Restart in safe mode (tap F8 during bios startup phase, pick Safe mode with Command Prompt):
rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk
Wait a few seconds, then reboot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzTuHuWhdcY

Keywords: Windows XP Activation


Category: Windows 🠪 Startup
Windows XP/7 won't boot after converting to virtual machine - 0x7B BSOD
November 29, 2023

You may need to make sure the hard drive controller is set to IDE instead of SATA.

The Hard Drive Controllers registry keys need to be rebuilt.
https://www.hirensbootcd.org/files/Hirens.BootCD.15.2.zip
Boot it in "Mini Windows XP".
Click icon in system tray, then choose Registry -> "Fix hard disk controller (fix_hdc.cmd)".

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/move-windows-xp-hard-drive-or-change-motherboard-without-getting-blue-screen-of-death/2/


Keywords: disk2vhd, virtualbox, 0x0000007B, Blue Screen ...<Too long, click to read the rest>





This site is meant to be used as a reference for myself, although others may find it useful. I use it to keep track of certain fixes, software, and other solutions which I may need while assisting customers. The page layout is pure HTML/CSS and is kept simple to optimize loading time and fast results.

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