Windows 10 - May 2019 update 1903

With the new round of Windows 10 updates happening soon, Lamas Design is waiting.

Waiting for the update!  Waiting for the clients to call and say : "It started to update and then it came up with a picture of Grumpy Cat/dancing unicorns/Blue Screen/Automatic repair/crazy frog/(Insert problem here)..

I know which one I would prefer.

RIP Grumpy Cat 😢

I don't often get comments on this blog.  In fact, I think it is only read by one or two people as an alternative to sleeping tablets and the occasional desperate person looking on page 22 of a google search for a solution when they have tried everything else!

Imagine my surprise today when I received a comment telling me how much they enjoyed the blog.  They also included a bunch of links which led to scam websites.  No thanks - deleted.  I have email accounts to collect spam I don't need it here as well!!

The first PC has been updated, TriggersBroom, my workhorse that has recently been upgraded to a board with the Z270 chipset.  Downloaded and installed within a couple of hours without much assistance or interference from me.  That is obviously the way i like it to happen.  

My laptop however, is a slightly different kettle of fish. I did an extra special clean up on it yesterday. Including, disk cleanup, virus check, malware removal, although most of this is done on a very regular basis anyway.  It still took hours to download, install and then, subsequently, fail.  

It gave me various different error codes and in the end I have given up for the time being. The error codes as usual mean very little and do not give a clear indication of what the problem may be.

Watch this space for further updates.





   

Turn off Remote Access

As a follow up to recent posts about phone scammers, here is a proactive way to protect yourself. 

If the scammers can’t get on to your pc in the first place then they can’t do the damage. It is highly unlikely that anyone legitimate will ask for remote access.

So for Windows 10 in the bottom left search box 

type “Remote Assistance” by the time you get to the A, it will be showing “Allow Remote Access to your computer”  It is important to get as far as the A, because it shows Remote Desktop and that is not what you are after.

Select the Remote Assistance option.

This shows the System Properties Window from a Windows 10 Home system

This shows the System Properties from a Windows 10 Pro system

Uncheck the tick box beside "Allow Remote Assistance Connections to this computer" and click Apply at the bottom of the windown and you are Done.

Again, tell your Nan or better yet do it for her.

Show your Mum and Dad and share it with everyone you know.

The remote access option is turned on by default in a new windows installation and that is what is making it easy for these scammers to carry out this despicable fraud that targets anyone. Let's at least try to make it harder for this scum to succeed.

The more people I speak to about this, the more I find have been caught out in some way. They dont care who you are, just what they can get out of you. 

Just a Moment... Blue Screen Windows 10 1803 installation

In this case, the answer was to use an older installation (1511) version of Windows 10.  If like me you have read extensively and rambling articles not all relevant to this issue I know how you feel and are just looking for the answer.  That was mine.

If you are interested here is the full story ....

There has been a pc in Lamas HQ this week, Core i7, 4th Generation with a Nvidia 980 Graphics card.  Not a spanking new system but old enough to be settled in.

Failed HDD.

So, I ordered a new HDD.  The existing one was a bit of a strange one.  3T Western Digital Green in a Gaming PC.  I asked if it had been upgraded but no it was the same HDD that was in there when they bought it.

I went to Amazon for a 3T WD blue, but ended up getting a 4T as the price difference was about £5!

My apprentice helped me to dismantle and install the new drive and then put he put the usb in to install Windows.

It all seemed to be installing correctly until it came to setting up the users. It did not ask for user names, it just said

Just a moment ...

With a Blue Screen, Sometimes the window filled the screen; sometimes it was just a windows in the centre of the screen or occasionally it had Network in the top centre.

If I did alt and tab, there was a Microsoft account window which was inaccessible but just "there".

I tried many different fixes, which didn't work.  I googled for more and they did not work either.

I'm not going to list all the things I tried because I would be here all day!

I was able to get a command prompt using Shift F10, but nothing I was able to do in the command line was able to help

Sometimes, it went to this as well...

This problem seems to have been around for a few years, but there are no answers to it and no explanation of the cause of it in any version that I could find.

Microsoft suggest a reset or a reinstallation (or something that needs a working windows environment), but never a "ooh this is what is wrong and here's how you fix it"   Reset or resinstallation are never going to work if you cannot install the operating software in the first place!

Everything about this problem was weird.

I had used the install USB to rescue and reinstall another laptop only a few days beforehand.  So there was apparently nothing wrong with the installation USB.

I had used a Linux mint installation running from USB to check that the other components were working.  I installed the full version to the HDD and got a working copy of Linux Mint booting from the disk not the USB.

What did this mean thou?

I attached the new HDD to a working system and, using the same windows 10 USB I was able to install Windows 10.

So I proved it was possible and that there was nothing wrong with the install USB and the new HDD was working and ok.

By this time the client PC was reduced to running Motherboard, processor, one stick of RAM and onboard, DVI graphics plus a Lamas USB mouse and USB keyboard, both which were nothing special, generic & taking no additional effort!

Well done if you have made it this far!

Windows can create its own installation media as long as the the PC creating the installation media has a valid licence. So recently, in a fit of  something like efficiency, I created a new install USB Windows 10 for 1803 to stop the need for all the updates!

This new version of installation media had worked on other systems but not on this one.

In a desperate effort, I decided to try older installation media.

1511 to be precise.

The installation worked fully right to the desktop and asked me to create not only a user but a password as well.

I was able to get to updates and updated to the most recent version (1803) of Windows so it was fully updated. Put back all the removed components of the PC.

Install anti virus

Update drivers

Install chrome

Finally return it to the client working.

Whilst, I have repaired the PC and got it back working, I'm still wondering why the more recent version didn't work and what was causing the error.

I would be interested to hear if anyone has the same problem and how they were able to fix it.


.

1803 update - WiFi Slow

The April Microsoft update is now available.  Update to version 1803.
I have now updated a couple of the Lamas HQ systems, including mine and the Network Managers'.

The systems I have updated so far have happened apparently successfully.  (fingers crossed or your superstition of choice!)

When I say successfully, I mean that the system has done the update and rebooted and then has gone on to work.  No reboot loop or blue screen equivalent, Automatic repair loop or such like.  There are different degrees of successful!

What I have noticed is that my laptop internet connection is slower than a slow thing going slowly.

A major update like this is usually followed by a Disk Clean-up and a driver update and maybe a malware, rootkit and full virus scan to just complete the job.

The Driver update, didn't make any difference.

I found a website that gave some ideas about post 1803 installation but it suggested installing a driver updater that a) gave me exactly one scan then started demanding money to go any further and b) is showing up on Malwarebytes as (Surprise!) a Potentially Unwanted Program!  So it was an Advert rather than an informational piece.

Malware scan found the PuP as above, and the brilliant and marvelous resources on  BlackViper detail the services required to run Windows 10 without any extraneous stuff.

It was still the same after the services check.

The Ethernet adapter works fine and is giving a realistic and proper speed.
An external wifi dongle, once installed and operational, gave a sensible wifi speed.

Lamas HQ systems have a third party security application installed, which includes both AV and Firewall.  So, the Windows Firewall is disabled.

It appears that disabling the Windows Defender Firewall was my error.  Once I changed the Windows Defender Firewall service from Disabled to Manual, my internal WiFi started working as it should giving more than 10mbps closer to 50!

Windows updates again

I recently received a text message from a friend -

Just using XXXs laptop. AV isn’t working. Its saying its snoozed so unprotected. Don’t know whats happened but do you know how to unsnooze it?  AV will not open via the desktop or settings.

I replied to this with my standard "reboot the system and report back" text.  Yep, the old “Turn it off and Turn it on again” routine that IT professionals have been relying on for years.

The reply she sent me a bit later was

 “THAT WORKED. FAB! Thanks xx”

Most of the issues seen recently here at Lamas HQ have been update related.

A Wifi not connecting properly or sound not working.  Minor annoyances which, on their own are not too terrible and may not always be either noticed or dealt with.  Over time this will lead to vulnerabilities.

Current Windows 10 systems are mostly laptops. 

How do you turn off your laptop?

Very often all I do is close the lid at the end of the day, which is not actually turning it off just sending it into hibernation or sleep or suspended (or whatever it is currently named)  Windows 10 does minor updates and these are not obvious until a full reboot is performed.

Perhaps the reason IT pros use the Turn it off and Turn it on again routine is because it still works more often than not and it also brings the system back to normal and allows Windows to sort itself out.  I have noticed that a lot of other service providers use the same thought process.  Freeview tv box, cable tv box, all the service calls all start with turn it off and unplug it for 30 seconds.  Now reboot. 

Windows cannot access Network Drive

We have a network drive and media Server at Lamas HQ and I have had some issues recently trying to access it through File Manager.

This is the error message:

I spoke to the Network Manager several times.  He always suggested rebooting my pc or rebooting the router.  Now this sometimes worked.  Other times it was just an exercise in futility ending in me getting extremely frustrated with things and not being able to access anything on the network.

We had a new QNAP server installed earlier in the year and we blamed it on that to some extent.  However, it was getting more and more frequent and more difficult to resolve.

All the Lamas HQ equipment is running Windows 10 fully up to date, patched and fully AV protected.

Turns out that was the reason for the failure to connect!

I did a Google Search on the error and found this explanation on the QNAP site.

The SMB v1 application that was available prior to the 1709 update, is now not available after the update and that is what is effectively, preventing connection through Windows File Manager.

The answer is to map the drive in File Manager and there should be no further issue.

Click on ThisPC in File manager and there are 2 options

The option Map the Network Drive does just that. The folder you specify is the one that it goes to.

In the example above if you were to map the Company Directory you will be able to see that drive and its content but not the Films or other same level directories.

You will be able to map the different top level directories but  each one will need to be done separately.

The other way to do it is to Add a Network Location.

Follow the onscreen directions and then you will be able to pin this to the quick menu.  This will however allow you to see the whole network drive and not just the mapped drive.

Windows 10 update 1709

Windows update 1709 has been hitting systems recently and in some cases hitting hard.

I am sitting in the workshop on a Saturday evening with not just one, but two systems on the workbench.  Pretty crowded in here at the moment, what with the laptop as well, but what were knees made for if not to perch ones laptop on!

One of the systems updated to 1709 and that was the last thing it did!!

The user account would not work and kept logging into a temporary account.

I backed up all the data and after several futile attempts to fix it without the nuclear option it I had to reset.  Not only that, the reset would only do the "clear everything including trash your data" option!

The second one that arrived on the bench today, was looking like it was going to be the same end result but fortunately, a restore of a previous registry backup worked.

It was presenting with a continuous Attempting Windows Startup Repair, and everything you try just takes you back to Attempting Windows Startup Repair!

This is an explanation and a how to - and as always much more eloquent than I would be.

Here is a You Tube video that gives a really good explanation

The other one I have seen recently is the 0x800706d9 error.

OH NO not the old 0x800706d9 error I hear you cry!

That one means that if you are using a 3rd party firewall you need to activate the deactivated Windows Firewall because it wont work without it.

Enable and start the Windows Firewall in Services, update Windows components, stop and disable the Windows Firewall.  Job done. (this was on the Network Managers Laptop and would have been a red alert if I could have been bothered to change the bulb!
However, I didn't deactivate the other firewall!  It seemed to work ok.)

If I get any further 1709 update errors I will add them and their end results here. 

Top Antivirus and Security

I get asked a lot by friends and clients what Anti Virus application should they use.  I have a preference - one that works!

I read an article recently in PC Pro Magazine which tested the different AV packages.

The top 2 were Kaspersky and Avast.

Kaspersky is a subscription. Avast is available for free.

Yesterday I was asked the question about AVs by a friend, whose subscription was due for renewal in January at a cost of GBP80.00. She decided that it was more cost effective to change to different package!

I checked on the current prices for her.

Argos are currently the cheapest for Kaspersky,

The other option I mention to anyone who enquires is a lot of the ISPs include a security package.  Virgin Media offer F-Secure, BT and Sky offer a security package powered by McAfee,

PC Pro also offer trial subscriptions in their magazine to some of the Security packages for 3 or 6 months,  These are sometimes useful if you are unsure whether a certain security solution will work for you, without making a financial commitment.  I have tried some of the options and found that they were good, but were not what I was looking for.

Windows 10 Running Slowly and showing errors

A couple of systems recently have landed on the workbench at Lamas HQ, that were recently upgraded to Windows 10 that were just not working right.  No amount of fiddling and fixing made any difference. Each time something was fixed something else showed up

Common to all of the laptops were sudden, extended and repeated hangs.  There was nothing showing up on Anti Virus, Anti Spyware, Rootkit or hardware tests.  They had all developed this issue since the upgrade to Windows 10.

I tried updating all the drivers, checking for OS updates and also running the Tweaking application. The Event View was littered with all kinds of events, errors and warnings, but nothing specific enough to give a clear picture of what the issue was exactly.

The only answer I could find to this irritating issue is a Reset.

From the Settings Menu

A full reinstall of the operating system but it keeps your documents, photos & files, although making sure you have some kind of backup is always a good precaution, but it does get rid of applications and those will need to be reinstalled.

Using Reset This PC with the Keep My Files option does not keep any desktop applications that were installed.  For example, MS Office, Chrome and iTunes would need to be reinstalled, as will your security software and printer.  The reasoning behind this is that it could be one of these applications that caused the issue in the first place.  However, once the reset is finished you will find an icon on your desktop that lists all the applications that were not reinstalled, so that you can make the decision whether you need to reinstall them.

There are many tutorials "how to use Reset for Windows 10". So there isn't one here! highlight the words in quotes, copy and paste into your web browser!