“A referral was returned from the server”

As I finish up version 1 of InstallRunner, I went to set the UAC setting for “Require Administrator Privileges”.  I did that, and got this error:

A referral was returned from the server

Doing some research*, the cause of the error was that I did this:

Application Mainifest - uiAccess True

By default, uiAccess is false.  I changed it to true.  I’m not sure why, ignorance perhaps :-)

What does uiAccess do anyway?

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No desktop error

Windows 7 gets really annoyed when you a) redirect the Desktop folder b) then stop the Windows 7 client from accessing that Desktop folder.

Windows Explorer will complain every time you start it.  Excel 2007 just won’t open files.

The thing to learn from this, if you are going to use Folder [...]

Windows 7 TV Ads – Back to the past?

If you’re going to advertise your computer operating system on TV, it’s a good idea if the software being displayed is current.  And not take a shortcut because you’ll think no one will ever notice.

Let’s take Miriam and Kevin, who have been flogging Windows 7 on Australian TV.

Now if we zoom in [...]

Windows 7 + 4GB RAM + NVidia USB chipset = FAIL

Which summed up my Windows 7 PC.

The FAIL bit was that when I’d do a large USB file copy, without fail (no pun intended), I’d get a DRIVE IS NO LONGER RECOGNIZED error.

Then all my USB ports would fail to work.  To recover, meant rebooting my computer.

The problem got REALLY [...]

Windows Update website – Error 0x800C0002

Had this error while trying to update a Windows 2000 SP4 test box.  As it’s a test box, it has the bare minimum installed.

Microsoft’s solution?

clean the Internet Explorer cache Delete some files in the WindowsUpdate directory Delete some DLL’s.

None of those worked.

The actual solution which worked for me? Install [...]

Microsoft SMS 2003 goes extended support

SMS 2003 going extended support is not a real surprise.  It’s replacement, Microsoft SCCM 2007, has been out in the market place since November 2007.

It isn’t that big a problem for the IT Shop I work in.  Our SMS 2003 infrastructure is mature, and we’re running stable client operating systems.

And as I [...]

Windows System State Analyzer – Windows 7

People familiar with Wise Package Studio “Setup Capture” can leave now.  Everyone else read on!.

Windows System State Analyser analyser allows you to take a “before” and “after” snapshot of your Windows 7 computer.  This is amazingly useful when you need to answer the question:

“What changes did that program I installed make to [...]

How to fix the "Cannot attach the virtual hard disk ..."

… to the virtual machine.  Check the values provided and try again.” error
Windows Virtual PC: Cannot attach the virtual hard disk to the virtual machine.  Check the values provided and try again.

It sucks as an error message.  Would it take too much programming effort to make it more meaningful Virtual PC team?

What does it mean?

It means you have a Virtual Hard Disk file larger than 127.5GB.  Which Virtual PC does not support.
You might have created this with the Microsoft Disk2VHD tool.
To confirm the “disk is too big” problem, open the Settings on an existing Virtual PC, and try to attach the drive:
The virtual hard disk image ... is too large for the IDE bus.  Make sure that all virtual had disk images connected to the IDE bus are not greater than 127.5GB

In other words, we’ve captured a 160GB hard disk, and Virtual PC won’t let us use it.

But we can fix it, it’s a two step process

First we use DiskPart, and then we use VHD Resizer.

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Dilbert talking about Microsoft licensing & pricing?

I saw Ed Bott’s “Microsoft’s Grinch kills Windows 7 Family Pack”, and then saw today’s Dilbert:

It kinda fits.  Ed talks about Microsoft removing the Windows 7 Family Pack offering.  From my past experience, Microsoft pricing is hard to understand, with it’s multiple ways to buy and license a product.

But don’t you [...]

Semi-regular web-link clearance – November 2009

Desi Dhaba Desi Dhaba
Authentic Indian restaurant.  One of the blokes at work recommends it.  Will have to give it a try. 134 Flinders Street, Melbourne.
I’ve tried it, curry was good, but I’ve had hotter.  Next time I’ll ask for “Indian Hot”.

Disk2vhd

Disk2vhd is a utility that creates VHD (Virtual Hard Disk – Microsoft’s Virtual Machine disk format) versions of physical disks for use in Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines (VMs). The difference between Disk2vhd and other physical-to-virtual tools is that you can run Disk2vhd on a system that’s online.

Free e-books: Windows 7 troubleshooting tips
Mitch Tulloch, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional and lead author of the just-published Windows 7 Resource Kit has created two free books worth grabbing copies of “What You Can Do Before You Call Tech Support.” & Deploying Windows 7His website is here.

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

The Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool allows you to create a copy of your Windows 7 ISO file on a USB flash drive or a DVD. To create a bootable DVD or USB flash drive, download the ISO file and then run the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool. Once this is done, you can install Windows 7 directly from the USB flash drive or DVD.

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool Released Under GPLv2
Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

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