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Recover Fatally Damaged Windows 10 Nuke Method

03/12/2016

After battling for days trying to install Windows 10 AU on my Vbox Windows 10 Guest I ended up with an unbootable machine and no where to go!

To solve the problem and to at least get back my activated copy the following worked for me:

  1. Download the latest Windows 10 AU update ISO from Microsoft
  2. In Vbox Manager Settings > Storage add downloaded ISO as an optical drive
  3. In Vbox Manager Settings > General >

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Increase VirtualBox Hard Disk Size

24/11/2016

From the Host Command line use the VboxManage resize option to increase the disk capacity

VBoxManage modifyhd \path-to-vdi-location\Windows\ 10\ Pro.vdi --resize 35840

This example is from a Linux host and increases the total size of the disk to 35GB (35 * 1024MB)

Once this is completed start the image and and use Windows Disk Manager to extend the volume to use the unused partition space.

Manually transfer Windows program to another computer

21/11/2016

This method should work for most Windows stand-alone programs.

This example shows how to transfer a legacy program called ACT! v5.0

  • On the target PC use Windows to Create a Restore Point to backup the target Registry
  • Connect drive to target PC to access backup of source machine for the purposes of this example we will call it drive g:
  • On the target PC using Windows Explorer set View Hidden Files and System Protected files.
  • On the Desktop (target machine) create a folder called “ACT”

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How to mount NTFS volume

11/11/2016
  • ls /media
  • If you don’t see a folder for your Windows partition, you should create one with the following command:

    sudo mkdir /media/windows

  • Next, mount the partition in read-only mode onto this folder with this command:

    mount -t ntfs-3g -o ro /dev/sda3 /media/windows

Remove VirtualBox from Ubuntu

22/10/2016

If you need to completely remove VirtualBox, e.g. because a new version install fails preventing future installations then from the Console run commands below:

List VirtualBox installations

sudo dpkg -l | grep virtualbox

Example below

sudo dpkg -l | grep virtualbox
rc virtualbox-4.3 4.3.30-101610~Ubuntu~raring amd64 Oracle VM VirtualBox
iW virtualbox-5.0 5.0.28-111378~Ubuntu~trusty amd64 Oracle VM VirtualBox

Purge these installations in sequence replacing 4.3 and 5.0 with your versions  and answering ‘Y” to questions

sudo  apt-get purge virtualbox-4.3 virtualbox-qt

sudo  apt-get purge virtualbox-5.0 virtualbox-qt

After reboot you should be able to reinstall VirtualBox without errors

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Mac Clean Install

15/10/2016

The steps below are for Catalina but it should be the same for other versions of macOS.

  1. Ensure you have a Time Machine backup and have iCloud configured to backup important app settings, e.g. Documents, Device Settings, Mail, Contacts, Keychain, etc. and everything is synchronised to the iCloud server.
  2. Make a list of installed Applications for later use as follows:
    • In Finder open Applications folder and press Command+A to select all apps, then press Command+C
    • In TextEdit,

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Disable Cortana in Windows 10 AU 2016

10/10/2016

For reasons only known to Microsoft since the AU update you can no longer disable it from the desktop. However you can make the following registry change to work round this.

Press Windows+R and run “regedit” and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search

If you don’t see a “Windows Search” below the Windows folder, right-click the Windows folder and select New > Key and name it “Windows Search”. Right-click the “Windows Search” key (folder) and select New >

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MAC Cleanup

06/10/2016

Check hard disk Integrity to rule out disk faults

Boot the computer up in single user terminal. On chime press Command + S and run file system checker and repair

/sbin/fsck -fy

Reboot as follows:

/sbin/mount -uw /
reboot

Repair Permissions

Open Disk Utility and choose your main hard drive from the sidebar (in most Macs there will only be one.) Now click on First Aid and Repair Permissions.

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Windows battery error 94% Plugged in and Not Charging

17/09/2016

To fix battery not charging do the following

  • Open Device Manager
    • Select Batteries > “Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery”, right click and select Uninstall
    • Select Action > “Scan for hardware changes” to auto install the MS battery controller
  • Reboot system (optional but may be necessary in some cases)
  • Unplug battery charger and let the battery charge fall to below 90%
  • Plug in the charger – you should see it charging again and go up to 100%

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Windows 10 Not Updating

02/09/2016

If Windows 10 is not updating automatically then it is most likely due to system file(s) corruption.

To remedy this run SFC from the Adminstrator Command Prompt window as shown below. Once complete reboot and run Check for Updates within Settings, Update & security.

sfc /scannow

If this fails run DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management)

dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

When finished restart PC and Check for Updates again

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