Thursday, February 6, 2020

How to fix a broken Windows 10 start menu search

Windows logo
The Problem

Apparently, the Windows 10 start menu search seems to be broken for some users.

The Solution

A simple and safe way to fix it, is to deactive Bing search and Cortana. One way to do this is to use the following commands to edit the Windows registry:

reg add HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search /v BingSearchEnabled /t REG_DWORD /f /d 0

reg add HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search /v CortanaConsent /t REG_DWORD /f /d 0


If you prefer a .REG file, see the link below in the references.

References

You can find more info at: https://borncity.com/win/2020/02/05/windows10-search-is-broken-how-to-fix-it-feb-5-2020/


Enjoy!
--Neno

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

How to find a user’s SID (security identifier)?

image

The Problem:

You need to find out the security identifier (SID) for a user.)

The Solution:

Run the following command:

wmic useraccount get name,sid


--Neno

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Visual Studio Express 2015–File names and sizes

With Visual Studio 2015, there are three free-to-use Express editions made available that can be used by individuals as well as enterprises.

Although there are no .ISO files provided, it’s possible to download the installation files by passing the /layout argument to the appropriate installer.

Two surprises:

  • The files names of the web installers are not very intuitive.
  • The offline folder sizes are bigger than what you would expect (with VS 2015 Update 2).

Here’s a table of the file names and offline folder sizes:

Product (Update 2)

Size (offline folder)

VS Express 2015 for Windows Desktop
(wdexpress_full_ENU.exe)

7.11 GB

VS Express 2015 for Web
(vsn_full_ENU.exe)

5.44 GB

VS Express 2015 for Windows 10
(winexpress_full_ENU.exe)

7.25 GB

--Neno

Thursday, February 20, 2014

List of Windows client OS versions and their Windows Server equivalents

Here’s a list of Windows versions and their Server equivalent:

Windows client version Windows Server version
Windows XP Windows Server 2003
Windows Vista Server 2008
Windows 7 Server 2008 R2
Windows 8 Server 2012
Windows 8.1 Server 2012 R2

--Neno

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

After upgrade to Windows 8.1, svchost.exe continuously consumes CPU time

The workaround that worked for me is to stop and disable the service: Intel(R) PROSet Monitoring Service.

Good luck!

--Neno

Friday, August 30, 2013

How to hibernate Windows using command line

Use this command:

rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState

Source: Microsoft KB article 555569

This works on Windows XP and higher.

--Neno

Monday, July 22, 2013

Windows Update Cleanup

Just recently I discovered an option in the Disk Cleanup feature of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 to clean up Windows updates.

In all cases I tried Windows Update cleanup freed up more than 2 GB.

However, be advised that the cleanup can take quite a while.

Windows Update cleanup deletes or compresses older versions of updates.

--Neno

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Facebook Business Pages: How can I add an administrator?

The Problem

You want to add somebody (or your personal account) as administrator for your page, but you get an error.

The Solution

You can easily add administrators by using the e-mail-address (that is known to Facebook), but there are two privacy settings that come into play for that (on the account of the desired administrator):

Step 1: Make sure your likes are public

SNAGHTML433978

Step 2: Make sure your profile can be found by using the e-mail address:

SNAGHTML4323f5

--Neno

Friday, June 21, 2013

How to append/remove trailing slash in an URL?

aspnetYou might want to use the System.Web.VirtualPathUtility  class (from System.Web.dll), which has methods like:

--Neno

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Configure for Web Deploy Publishing menu item missing in IIS Management Console

iis_logoLuckily, there is a solution:

  1. Use Web Platform Installer and install
    Web Deploy 3.0 for Hosting Server”.
  2. Restart IIS Management Console.

Good luck!

--Neno

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Should the Windows Search Email Indexer add-in be deactivated in Outlook 2010/2013?

Outlook: Windows Search Email is deactivated.Yes, this is by design and supposed to be that way.

Get more details at:

--Neno

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Awarded as Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for Visual Studio ALM (Application Lifecycle Management)

Today, I got re-awarded as a Visual Studio ALM MVP for the 8th time.

The Visual Studio ALM brand is used to refer to Team Foundation Server (and service) as the core, surrounded by clients like the Visual Studio IDE, Microsoft Test Manager, Team Explorer, Microsoft Feedback Client, Team Web Access, and some more).

Here’s how Microsoft describes the MVP Award Program:

Congratulations to the New and Renewed MVPs

mvp1Today, 885 exemplary community leaders around the world were notified that they have received the MVP Award! These individuals were chosen because they have demonstrated their deep commitment to helping others make the most of their technology, voluntarily sharing their passion and real-world knowledge of Microsoft products with the community.

While there are more than 100 million social and technical community members, only a small portion are selected to be recognized as MVPs. Each year, around 4,000 MVPs are honored. They are nominated by Microsoft, other community individuals, or in some cases themselves. Candidates are rigorously evaluated for their technical expertise, community leadership, and voluntary community contributions for the previous year. They come from more than 90 countries, speak over 40 different languages, and are awarded in more than 90 Microsoft technologies. Together, they answer more than 10 million questions a year!

MVPs are recognized each quarter for this annual award, which continues to grow and evolve to reflect the development of Microsoft technologies.

Congratulations to the new MVPs, and welcome back to renewed MVPs. We are very excited to recognize your amazing accomplishments!

--Neno

Saturday, March 16, 2013

How to fix: IE keeps asking for credentials

On a computer, where you have all necessary permissions, IE presents you the credentials prompt every time you try to open a site on that machine.

You have probably already tried one of the following:

  • Turned off User Account Control (UAC)
  • Turned off Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration (IE ESC)
  • Added the URL to Trusted Sites in Internet Options

Try this:

  1. In IE, open Internet Options, Security tab, click on Sites.
  2. Unselect “Automatically detect intranet network” and check all checkboxes (so that it matches the following screenshot):

Does your IE always ask for crentials?