Troubleshooting Windows Update Agent

A short guide for troubleshooting Windows Update Agent:

1. Download and execute//install “System Update Readiness Tool (CheckSur)” from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/947821.
Check the following log for errors C:WindowsLogsCBSCheckSUR.log
2. For any updates that could not be repaired by CheckSur, download the msu-package manually from Microsoft Catalog, http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Home.aspx or from Microsoft Download Center, http://www.microsoft.com/download
3. Create the folder C:WindowsCheckSurpackages if it doesnt already exists and move the downloaded updates there.
4. Execute “System Update Readiness Tool (CheckSur)” again.
5. Install updates from Windows Update.

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Remove the BDEDrive partition

MDT creates a partition named BDEDrive when it installs Windows OS. This drive is used with Bitlocker to boot the OS. If Bitlocker never will be used the BDEDrive can be removed using the following procedure:

1. Start an elevated command promt and execute the following command to copy startup files to the C-drive:
bcdboot C:Windows /s C:
2. Set partition C: as active:
diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
list part
select part 1
active part
3. Reboot the computer:
shutdown -r -t 0
4. Delete the BCD Drive:
diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
list part
select part 2
delete part

There is a more indepth explanation at the following site:
http://aikitsupport.com/bde-drive-removal/

FREE Microsoft eBooks

Microsoft Senior Sales Excellence Manager – Eric Ligman posted a list of almost 300 FREE Microsoft eBooks. You can download them all from hos blog at the following address:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mssmallbiz/archive/2014/07/07/largest-collection-of-free-microsoft-ebooks-ever-including-windows-8-1-windows-8-windows-7-office-2013-office-365-office-2010-sharepoint-2013-dynamics-crm-powershell-exchange-server-lync-2013-system-center-azure-cloud-sql.aspx

Recovering files from a deleted offline cache in Windows 7

Normally when there are trouble with the offline files cache, one solution is to reinitialize the cache as described in Microsofts KB-article 230738, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/230738. The problem with this solution is that files that only exists in the local cache are deleted.

But, if Wolume Shadow Copy is enabled on the affected machine, it is possible to extract/copy files from previous versions of the Offline Files cache using Robocopy as described in the following blog post:
http://mediarealm.com.au/articles/2013/03/recovering-a-deleted-windows-7-offline-files-cache-with-volume-shadow-services/

Pass the hash solved or not?

Microsoft released KB2871997 to address the “Pass the hash” vulnerability, but according to the following blog post pass the hash is still possible using the local Administrator account (SID 500):
http://www.pwnag3.com/2014/05/what-did-microsoft-just-break-with.html

Use PowerShell to Find Service Accounts

I was looking for a way to find service accounts using PowerShell and found the following post on the “Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog”:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2012/02/15/the-scripting-wife-uses-powershell-to-find-service-accounts.aspx

To summarize, you can use the Get-WmiObject cmdlet to retrieve information about service accounts as in the following example:

Get-WmiObject win32_service | format-table Name, StartName

Use Windows 7 as Wireless Access Point

The fiberconverter for our Internet connection broke this weekend and I had to provide Internet access for the rest of my family until the converter was repaired. What to do?

My Windows 7 laptop has an internal 3G modem, maybe I could share that?

I found the following description that was very useful:
https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/isg/?p=437

Following the description I created a temporary Wireless Access Point as described in the following steps:

1. I started an elevated command prompt.
2. Then I executed the following command to configure the new wireless network:
   netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=temp key=mysecretkey
3. I opened up the “Network and connection sharing center” and clicked on “change settings for network adapters”.
4. Then I looked for the Wireless Networkconnection with the highest number and that was configured with the Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter. In my case that network connection was called Wireless Network Connection 3.
5. I renamed the connection to WLAN Hotspot and deselected all objects except Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).
6. When the Wireless connection was renamed I opened up properties for the 3G connection.
7. On the Sharing tab I selected “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection”, in the “Home networking connection” textbox I entered “WLAN hotspot”.
8. To start the hotspot I executed the following command in the already open command prompt:
   netsh wlan start hostednetwork

To remove the settings and cleanup the configuration, just do as follows:

1. Stop the hotspot by executing the following in an alevated command prompt:
   netsh wlan stop hostednetwork
2. Go to the “Network and connection sharing center” and click on “change settings for network adapters”.
3. Right-click on the 3G connection and select properties.
4. On the “sharing” tab, deselect the checkbox next to “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection” and click OK.
5. Finally execute the following command in an elevated command prompt:
   netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=disallow