Recycle IIS app pool using the command line

To recycle an application pool on demand, run:

appcmd recycle apppool /apppool.name:string

… where string is the name of the application pool that you want to recycle (Source).

Windows 8 setup: black screen during install after restart

If you are stuck at a black screen (blinking cursor) after the first restart, this can have several reasons.

How to solve it

In case you are installing from a USB stick, use the DVD instead.
Source: answer on this forum post

Other possible reasons:

• Verify UEFI settings in system BIOS

Windows 7 Backup fails after a few seconds

If you observe the following behavior:

Windows 7 Backup fails after a few seconds with an “Insufficient Space" message and error code 0x81000033

Error Message:

“Windows Backup skipped backing up system image because one of the critical volumes is not having enough free space. Free up some space by deleting unnecessary files and try again.
Error code: 0x81000033”

Reasons:

The problem is caused by lack of free space in the hidden ‘system reserved’ partition (that Windows created).

How to fix:

Enlarge the hidden ‘system reserved’ partition (e.g. to 350 MB).

Further information:

• For a more detailed description and step-by-step instructions how to resolve this, refer to this article: http://www.pagestart.com/win7br0x8100003301.html

Windows 7 Backup: Cannot backup to network share

When using Windows 7 Backup (also available as part of Windows 8), you receive the following error message when trying to store the backup on a network location:

“The validation information class requested was invalid.”

Workaround (found in this forum post):

In the username field, specify the username as “DEVICE\username”, where DEVICE is the network device where you are trying to store the backups to.

Enjoy!

 

PS: The German version of the error message is: “Die Überprüfungsinformationsklasse war unzulässig.”

What’s the correct order in which Dell drivers should be installed?

Taken right from Dell Support article #268873:

1. Desktop System Software (DSS) or Notebook System Software (NSS)
2. Chipset
3. PCMCIA/Smartcard controller
4. Intel Storage (located under Serial ATA Category)
5. Audio
6. Video
7. Network Interface Card (NIC) / Ethernet Controller
8. Dell Control Point (DCP) (only for some Latitude Laptops)
9. Dell Quickset
10. Wireless Network Card
11. Bluetooth
12. Touchpad, Pointer, Track stick, Mice, and Keyboards
13. Other Devices

Note: Please read the original article for many important details!

Microsoft Expression Web is now deprecated

From the Expression website:

“The web is now about applications as well as traditional web sites, and this requires a new set of tools. Microsoft is committed to offering a unified approach to focus on web design and development features in Microsoft Visual Studio 2012.

[…]

Expression Web is now available as a free download from the Microsoft Download Center, and no new versions will be developed. Customers who previously purchased Expression Web will receive support through the established support lifecycle.”

Together with Expression Web, the SuperPreview service will come to an end, too:

“Expression SuperPreview Remote Beta will continue running as a service through June 30, 2013”

What to enter for the default SQL Server instance

For example, Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) asks for “Select or enter a SQL instance”. It’s a mandatory field.

If you can’t browse to find your SQL Server, enter “MSSQLSERVER” for the default instance, or an instance name.

How to create a bootable USB flash drive

You need:

1. a USB stick
2. the tool "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool"
3. a DOS boot disk. You can download a ready-to-use FreeDOS boot disk here (thanks to this blog).

See also:

• How to create a bootable USB flash drive to install Windows 8 Developer Preview

How to convert a VMware's VMDK hard disk to Hyper-V's VHD format

Answer: Use Vmdk2Vhd.

Description from the creators's website:

Vmdk2Vhd is a simple utility to convert virtual hard drive images from VMWare's VMDK format into the Microsoft's VHD format. This is a sector by sector copy operation from one format to the other and the source file remains unaltered.

Moving a SQL Server Database from Enterprise to Standard Edition

The Problem

• You have a database (e.g. TFS collection database) in SQL Server Enterprise Edition.
• You want to backup and restore this database on a SQL Server Standard Edition.
• You get an error message on restore that some features are not supported.

The Solution

• On your Enterprise Edition Server:
  • Backup your database before the next step.
  • As described here, you can run a T-SQL query to determine where Enterprise features like data compression is used.
  • Jag Padda provides a script that will return T-SQL statements as the result, which you can then run against the database to disable compression.
• Now backup up your database and restore it on SQL Server Standard Edition.

Update (June 9th, 2012): Ed Holloway pointed out that the easiest way to downgrade your TFS database is to simply run this script:

exec prc_EnablePrefixCompression @online = 0, @disable = 1

How to merge two files using the command line

Use the "copy /b" command as explained here:

copy /b "list of old files or * for all files" "newfile"

For example, to join file1.txt, file2.txt and file3.txt together to new file: file4.txt use:

copy /b file1.txt +file2.txt +file3.txt file4.txt

or:

copy /b *.txt newfile.txt

How to move an offline Outlook Data File (.ost)

Brief summary:

1. Close Outlook, open Mail in Control Panel.
2. Disable Cached Exchange Mode for the account.
3. Click Disable Offline Use on data file.
4. Use the Browse… button to choose the new location fo the .ost file (you can move the old one to save time)
5. Re-enable Cached Exchange Mode.

Read the detailed instructions here.

External USB hard disk drives not recognized after uninstalling Acronis True Image

Symptoms:

• External USB drives / USB sticks are not recognized.
• In the Windows event log a message similar to the following one appears:
  "The driver \Driver\tdrpman273 failed to load for the device"

Applies to:

• Acronis True Image Home 2011/2012

Solution (found in the Acronis forums):

1. Entirely remove Acronis True Image.
   (if you have trouble uninstalling it from the Control Panel, use the Cleanup utility provided by Acronis. Caution: This removes all Acronis products from your machine)
   
2. From Acronis KB 14871:

(!) After using Cleanup Utility, it is strongly recommended not to reboot the machine, go to Start -> Run -> regedit, and verify that there are no snapman*, tdrpman*, timounter strings in the following keys:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} -> UpperFilters and LowerFilters
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{71A27CDD-812A-11D0-BEC7-08002BE2092F} -> UpperFilters and LowerFilters

Good luck!

How to store credentials for automated logon in Windows Credential Manager via command line

Beginning with Windows Vista/Server 2008 you can add credentials to Credential Manager on the command line using Cmdkey.exe

Cmdkey /add:Servername /user:User /pass:Password

Login to SQL Server 2008 (R2) as Local Admin

Just because you are a local administrator does *not* mean that you have permissions to access/log into your SQL Server 2008 (R2).

However, you can regain access by starting the SQL Server instance in "single user mode".

All you need to do is to add -m; to the Startup Parameters box and restart SQL Server.

See also: How to: Configure Server Startup Options (SQL Server Configuration Manager) on Microsoft TechNet.