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

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

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.

--Neno

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

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

--Neno

How to append/remove trailing slash in an URL?

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

• AppendTrailingSlash
• RemoveTrailingSlash

--Neno

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

Luckily, 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

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

Yes, this is by design and supposed to be that way.

Get more details at:

• Windows Search Email Indexer remains disabled in Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013 (KB 2385524), http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2385524

--Neno

SOLVED: Windows Installer keeps running infinitely after installing SQL Server 2012 SP1

The Problem

After installing SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1, Windows Installer is running constantly.

The Fix

Download and apply SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Cumulative Update 2.

More information

• SQL 2012: msiexec.exe running constantly after SP1 install
• Microsoft Connect: msiexec.exe processes keep running after installation of SQL Server 2012 SP1 

--Neno

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

Today, 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

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):

How to securely erase a hard disk?

Solution:

1. Delete all files on hard disk (and clear recycle bin)
2. Download the free SDelete.exe from Sysinternals and run the following command:

sdelete.exe –z <Driverletter> (e.g. K:)

Hyper-V: Converting a VHD to a VHDX

On Windows Server 2012 there’s a new virtual hard disk format with the extension “VHDX”.

As the Virtual PC Guy states in his blog:

There are a number of advantages to this format:

• Support for greater than 2TB disks
• Better performance for dynamic and differencing disks
• Better handling of different disk sector sizes
• And more…

How to convert?

• Either manually (using Hyper-V Manager)
• or via PowerShell, using the Convert-VHD command

Will the size of my files change?

Yes, the new .VHDX files will probably be slightly larger.

Here’s an example of a sample conversion:

Description	VHD size (KB)	VHDX size (KB)	Change
System drive	22,316,615	22,581,248	(+ 1%)
Data drive	3,138,364	3,248,128	(+ 3%)

System Error 67 when trying to map a WebDAV folder using NET USE on Windows Server

The Problem

On Windows Server, you get the following error message when trying to map a WebDAV folder (in this case: HiDrive's online storage) using NET USE <driveletter>: <URL>:

System error 67 has occurred.

The network name cannot be found.

The Solution

1. Add the Desktop Experience feature.
   This will install the required Web Client service.
   Note: Be aware this requires a restart.

FinalBuilder: Connecting to HiDrive via FTPS

The Problem

When trying to connect to STATOs HiDrive online storage via FTPs you might receive the following error message:

A fatal Server side SSL error occured: Bad Record MAC
Unable to connect to FTPS Server.
Error occured while enabling SSL/TLS on command channel

When trying to get the directory listing you get

RECEIVE: 501 PORT command denied (address mismatch).
Directory Listing failed. 501 PORT command denied (address mismatch).

The Solution

1. Make sure you are running the latest version of FinalBuilder.
2. In the FTPS Connect action, make sure to
   • uncheck TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2
   • check Passive Mode.

How to fix error ‘This configuration section cannot be used at this path’ when running ASP.NET apps

Problem description:

You receive the error message:

HTTP Error 500.19 - Internal Server Error

This configuration section cannot be used at this path. This happens when the section is locked at a parent level. Locking is either by default (overrideModeDefault="Deny"), or set explicitly by a location tag with overrideMode="Deny" or the legacy allowOverride="false

How to resolve:

1. Make sure ASP.NET is installed, as described here.
2. Unlock the configuration section using the command:

%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd unlock config -section:system.webServer/modules

More Information:

• The new Configuration System in IIS 7

FTP Service for IIS: client connection times out on LIST command

The Problem

You installed the FTP Service for IIS, but after connecting clients time out on list command:

“Error: Connection timed out”

“Error: Failed to retrieve directory listing”

The Solution

Step 1: Verify Firewall exceptions are defined correctly:

Step 2: Disable stateful FTP filtering (see here):

netsh advfirewall set global StatefulFTP disable

Step 3: Restart FTP Service

net stop ftpsvc

net start ftpsvc

Good luck!

How to add the Desktop Experience feature in Windows Server 2012

It is hidden under “User Interfaces and Infrastructure”…

SOLVED: Cannot download from MSDN subscriber downloads. An add-on … failed to run

When trying to download from MSDN Subscriber Downloads you receive the following error message in IE:

“An add-on for this website failed to run.”

Workaround:

Manually install File Transfer Manager from here.

PS: For other issues, you might want to look here.