Case Studies – Page 3 – PC Doctor Godalming

Find Windows Version from File System using Linux

18/02/2023 by James

Example using bootable Live Mint 10.2 USB

Boot Mint USB
Install hivexget – contained within libhivex which is a self-contained library for reading and writing Windows Registry “hive” binary files

$ sudo apt install libhivex-bin
$ hivexget /media/mint/WINDOWS/Windows/System32/config/software 'Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion' \ | egrep 'BuildLab|ProductName|Version"|"ProductId'

Filtered output

"BuildLab"="19041.vb_release.191206-1406"
"BuildLabEx"="19041.1.amd64fre.vb_release.191206-1406"
"CurrentVersion"="6.3"
"EditionSubVersion"=""
"ProductName"="Windows 10 Pro"
"ProductId"="00330-80000-00000-AA669"
"DisplayVersion"="21H1"

Credit Superuser.com Post 11

Lenovo C50-30 AIO Windows 10 No Sleep Mode

26/09/2022 by James

If not installed already install the Intel HD Graphics 5500 drivers either through Settings > Update & Security > Optional Updates > Drivers or download directly from Intel Support Download web page.

Malware and Adult content Blocking DNS Servers

11/05/2022 by James

Router centralised malware and adult content blocking

Choose Cloudflare 1.1.1.2/1.0.0.2 and 1.1.1.3/1.0.0.3 DNS servers to entrust them to block malware and adult content sites.

Choose Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 primary and secondary DNS servers for Open unrestricted access.

Alternative public Open DNS servers:

Google: 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4
OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222/208.67.220.220
Quad9: 9.9.9.9/149.112.112.112
Comodo: 8.26.56.26/8.20.247.20

For public DNS Servers by country see https://public-dns.info/

Notes:
Cloudflare promises that it won’t use your browsing data to serve ads and commits to never writing the your querying IP address to disk.

Can’t run Virtualbox VM

05/05/2022 by James

Windows 10

Virtualbox v6.1

When trying to run newly created VM the following Virtualbox error is generated:

WHvCapabilityCodeHypervisorPresent is FALSE! Make sure you have enabled the 'Windows Hypervisor Platform' feature. (VERR_NEM_NOT_AVAILABLE).
VT-x is not available (VERR_VMX_NO_VMX).
Result Code:
E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component:
ConsoleWrap
Interface:
IConsole {872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed}

To fix ensure the following Window Features are disabled and VT-x is enabled in the BIOS:

Hyper-V
Virtual Machine Platform
Windows Hypervisor platform
Containers

Finally run the following Command Prompt command:

bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off

Restart the computer

Note: When VT-x is first enabled the PC should be powered off and on again

Install Windows 11 without Internet

17/04/2022 by James

When you reach the “Let’s Connect You To A Network” page, press Shift+F10 to bring up the Command window and enter following command:

taskkill /F /IM oobenetworkconnectionflow.exe

Return to the Windows 11 setup and enter local account information

Updraftplus plugin can’t read .directory file warnings

31/03/2022 by James

Unfortunately its not possible to exclude special Dolphin .directory files using Updraftplus settings. It ignores the setting exclusion and continues to report “…can’t read .directory” file warnings in the log file during backup.

To work around this add the following PHP code to your Functions file

//
// Updraftplus Backup filter
// Prevent attempts to backup .directory files and generate annoying warnings 
add_filter('updraftplus_exclude_file', 'my_updraftplus_exclude_file', 10, 2);
function my_updraftplus_exclude_file($filter, $file) {
return (basename($file) == '.directory') ? true : $filter;
}

Fix Lost Dolphin File Copy Progress Notification

23/03/2022 by James

System: Kubuntu 18.04

Problem: No longer able to see file copy progress, e.g. Dolphin so you can’t monitor the progress and have no idea when it will complete

Solution edit the Plasma configuration file as follows:

Run Terminal and stop Plasma

kquitaap5 plasma

Edit

nano /home/[user]/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc

Add the following

[AppletGlobals][plasma_applet_systemtray]
ShowJobs=false
ShowNotifications=false

Start Plasma again

kstart plasmashell

Credit: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=70502

BIOS Boot Keys

18/02/2022 by James

Boot Keys

Manufacturer	Boot key
Acer	F2
Apple	Hold Option (next to the ⌘ key)
Asus	Del
Dell	F12
Gateway	F1
HP	F9
Intel	F2
Lenovo	F12
Toshiba	F2 or F12
Other	Try pressing Esc,

Enter Safe Mode using Windows 10 Install USB and Command Prompt

13/01/2022 by James

Boot USB and set language
Select Repair your computer
Select Troubleshoot > Command Prompt
Use Bcdedit to set Safe Mode on boot as follows

bcdedit /set {default} safeboot minimal

Close Command prompt
Select Turn off PC
Power up PC to enter Safe Mode

To stop PC entering Safe Mode on every boot run System Configuration tool (msconfig) and under Boot options untick Safe boot, click OK and close

Firefox Home Search Page moves Focus to Address Bar

19/12/2021 by James

To stop Firefox moving Home Search Page text focus to the Address Bar enter about:config in the Address Bar to bring up the advanced configuration page.

Type awesomebar in the search filter box to bring up the following variable

browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar

Toggle the boolean value from True (default) to False

ref: https://www.askvg.com/fix-restore-real-working-search-box-on-new-tab-page-in-firefox-89-and-later/

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