HOWTO fix Windows 10 upgrade process

Once again some weeks ago, I had to upgrade an old Windows 7 notebook to Windows 10. Up to now, it is possible by downloading the Media Download Tool, and following the program instructions. In the end, you will have a licensed Windows 10 notebook migrated by the previous OS. My problem this time was that Windows 10 installation met several problems and failed. I … Continue reading HOWTO fix Windows 10 upgrade process »

HOWTO fix Windows 10 installation blocked in updates searching phase

Several weeks ago, I updated an old notebook from Windows 8 to the latest Windows 10. One of the problems, I faced is that the W10 installation hung in the updates searching phase. From my investigations, it seemed a Windows Update problem of the almost phased-out OS. Simply I didn’t want to fix a problem in an OS that I was going to wipe out. … Continue reading HOWTO fix Windows 10 installation blocked in updates searching phase »

HOWTO set account lockout by command line

Recently I read an article about how to harden Windows 10 accounts’ security vs brute force attacks. One of the ‘easy’ countermeasures is to enable the account lockout. The idea is to lock the attacked account after a number of consecutive failed login tries to increase the time-costs of the attack. You can set it up by using Local Security Policies from your Administration Tools, … Continue reading HOWTO set account lockout by command line »

HOWTO easily use NASM into windows C/C++ applications

After installed NASM and configured our VisualStudio to use it, we are now able to use it in our C/C++ projects. Assembler usually has a huge advantage in terms of performance at the cost of rigid code usage. You cannot use it in both 32-bits and 64-bits versions of the same C/C++ code.  Each version shall fulfill several different ‘environmental’ requirements that cannot be ignored … Continue reading HOWTO easily use NASM into windows C/C++ applications »

HOWTO restore inaccessible boot disks

A day before Christmas, a friend of mine called me telling me that one of his notebooks didn’t start anymore. A glorious BlueScreen pops up giving an error 0xC000000E because a device isn’t accessible anymore. We downloaded the latest Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB Windows 10 image from where to try to fix the problem.  Naturally, the automatic recovery didn’t … Continue reading HOWTO restore inaccessible boot disks »

HOWTO fix Performance Monitor ‘unable to add counter’ errors

Several days ago, I started Performance Monitor, and I tripped the following error: Unable to add these counters: \Memory\Available MBytes \Memory\% Committed Bytes In Use \Memory\Cache Faults/sec \Memory\Cache Faults/sec \PhysicalDisk(*)\%Idle Time \PhysicalDisk(*)\Avg. Disk Queue Length \Network Interface(*)\Bytes Total/sec Looking around, I found and followed this article. The Solution I fixed the problem by executing the following command from an administrative Command Prompt window: lodctr /r … Continue reading HOWTO fix Performance Monitor ‘unable to add counter’ errors »

HOWTO enable/disable PING on Windows 10 firewall by command prompt

In Windows 10, the firewall blocks PING command messages by default. I presume that this setting is to improve the security of our PCs, but sometimes we need it because we have to investigate about network problems, … Since I find quite annoying to wander through hundreds of firewall rules, then I discovered the command lines to enable/disable the related firewall rules from an Administrative … Continue reading HOWTO enable/disable PING on Windows 10 firewall by command prompt »

HOWTO install a driver .INF by command line

Up to now, there are different ways to install a device driver: by a dedicated setup file by the manufacturer. by using Device Manager to update the ones of a previously installed device. by File Explorer right-click menu. … by script or command line This last option can be useful if you need to include in a script the driver installation, or in a troubleshooting … Continue reading HOWTO install a driver .INF by command line »