Category: Windows Tips and Tricks

Mapped Drives will not stay connected in Windows

I would think that the process of mapping drives would be a mature and simple process in Windows.  Taking into account all the years that Windows from XP through Windows 8 there is no reason for these random hardships.  The difficulties with mapped drives is so random that one can’t pinpoint the issues.  For example, client buys 1o computers all the same and 1 out of the 10 computers won’t keep the network drives connected.

One of the first fixes to mapped drive connections is to use the net use command in a batch file.  There is plenty of sites out there that explains in detail how to use the net use command.  However, I have found a minor detail not described in earlier postings.  When creating a batch file be sure to use all lower-case.  At least in my situation with 2 Windows 7 computers the net use command would not work in upper-case.

Secondly, I’ve had issues with the mapped network drive batch files consistently working.  From the Technet website I used this info to manually delete the drives because a reboot and a normal disconnect would  not work for me.

 
Steps:

a. Click Start, click Run, type REGEDIT, and then click OK.

 

b. Locate and click the following registry subkey:

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\NetCache

 

c. Click Edit, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.

 

d. Type SilentForcedAutoReconnect , and then press ENTER to name the value.

 

e. Double-click SilentForcedAutoReconnect .

 

f. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.

I also have had issues getting the persistent flag to work properly. Yes, I have tried just cutting and pasting.  Here is what I had to do on 2 different Windows computers to get the connections to work.

  1. Created the batch file to map the network drives.  I set it up in task manager with a 30 second delay after computer startup.
  2. The 2nd computer required me to put in a batch file to delete the current mapped drives on reboot and then another task to connect them after a 30 second delay.

There are just a lot of options out there that it can be a real time consuming issue.  Right now I am looking at 6 open tabs in Chrome with info on mapped drives and I used each tab to figure out how to resolve this issue.

 

A required CD/DVD device driver is missing, usb installation Windows 7

A required CD/DVD device driver is missing.  This is an error message you do not want to see when doing a clean install.  It’s even scarier when you are using a jump drive and not a dvd to do it.  I had to make sure I added this one to my blog.  Unfortunately, I left it sitting in drafts.  I probably wasted probably an hour and a half on this stupid error.

When installing Windows 7 from a USB I continuously got this error message saying “A required cd/dvd device driver is missing.  I felt it strange for two reasons.  The first being i was using USB and not a cd/dvd drive.  The second being I have used this particular flash drive numerous times without fail.

I searched many different sites looking for an answer but I kept being pointed in the wrong direction.  Thankfully the answer turns out to be quite simple.

Unbeknownst to me, you can’t use a USB 3.0 plug to install from a USB 2.0 device.  I had no idea the notebook even had USB 3.0 which made it more frustrating to me.

Obviously the error message is too generic and not very intuitive but remember if you see it, it may be as easy as choosing a different USB port.

Found an actual program to copy Windows XP to a USB Flash Drive

I thought the Internet was going to fail me. It took 8 hours.  I thought I had succesfully transferred Windows XP to a flash drive but it just wouldn’t work for me yesterday.  I’m not sure if it had something to do with running Windows 7 but manually ways and using certain programs failed me.  However, I did eventually find a program that worked.  It’s called WinSetupFromUSB.  I found it on a site called MSFN.  I am linking to the blog as this program is still in beta.

I’m so glad that Windows 7 is so much easier to put on a flash drive.  Windows 7 is just another nail in the coffin to physical media.

Create a Bootable USB Drive for Windows 7

These directions were posted by “Arnie” in the comments saction of www.withinwindows.com

They work great! Especially since the Microsoft Tool was pulled and didn’t work for me anyways.

An other way to create a bootable USB drive to install W7 from is:
Format the drive from a Vista/W7 machine:
CMD
FORMAT F: /FS:NTFS (where F: is of course your USB drive)

Activate the first partition on that drive:
Start DISKPART
LIST DISK
SELECT DISK x (where x is the drivenumber shown from the previous command)
SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
EXIT

Mount your newly downloaded ISO from Microsoft with Daemon tools or other mount-tool
Place a W7 bootsector on the drive:
Z: (where Z: is your cdrom drive where the ISO is mounted)
CD \BOOT
BOOTSECT /NT60 F:

Now copy all of the files of the mounted cdrom to the USB drive
XCOPY Z:\ F:\ /S/E

Now boot from the USB drive to install W7!

Tips and Tricks to help a slow computer

First off, virtually every tool that you will need to keep your computer running smoothly is already in Windows ore can be found on the Internet for free.

Here are a few things a person should check on a regular basis:

Here are two items to keep in mind:

  1. Not all antivirus programs really are antivirus.  Many of them will infect your computer instead.
  2. System cleanup programs are not created equal.  In fact, most delete simple little files called ‘cookies’ and tell you that your computer is running fine.
  3. It’s always important to do your research before buying or downloading any programs.

And now for the list…

  1. System Defragmentation (defrag) – Depending on how much adding and deleting of files you do on your computer will determine the frequency of how often you should run a defrag.
  2. Examples
    1. My work computer is defraged once every 3 months because I am only adding and deleting small files
    2. My home computer, where I do lots of streaming, huge movies, etc. is defragged once a week.
  3. I would recommend you do it once a week and you can setup your computer to run it automatically at the same time each week.
  4. Do not run it once a day.  It will shorten the life of the hard drive from all the writing and rewriting it does.
  5. I’d recommend saving this to your hard drive and running this defrag instead of the Windows XP version. It does a better job.  I have recommended JKDefrag in the past.
  6. Start – Programs – Accessories – System Tools – System Cleanup
    1. This should be ran once a month or whenever it starts to feel sluggish.
    2. After awhile, it will bring up a list of file types and ask you if you want to cleanup any of them.  You can put checkmarks in front of all the files except Office install files.  It’s good to keep those there.  The key to the system cleanup isn’t the deletion of the temp files, it is the compacting of the older files.
  7. Make sure Windows Update and automatic updates are turned on.  It is important to keep everything up to date.  (start -programs – windows update)

That’s it!  The only other suggestions is to make sure you have 2 gigs of Ram (4 is overkill and can’t even be used by 32 bit Windows.)

The Simplist Answer is Usually the Correct Answer

I mentioned this before but I’m going to hit this point once again.

Example:  Shortcut to a file wasn’t working.

A co-worker states that he can’t get a shortcut to work for a file on a networked drive.  My initial response without looking was to state that it was probably because the shortcut was pointing to a file that was located on a network drive that the person did not have access to.

Well, I looked this morning and it turns out that was the problem.  Other possibilities included the original file being moved or deleted, the co-worker was in the wrong area or he was just clicking on the wrong shortcut.

Cut and Paste in a Windows Environment

There are several ways to cut and paste items in Windows.  My favorite way and personally, probably the fastest for me, is to use the Ctrl-C to cut and Ctrl-V to paste.

Being in a business environment for many years I am still suprised at the amount of people that still prefer to use the menu commands under “Edit”.  I find that I usually have the left hand sitting on the keyboard so it makes it easy for me to reach to the Control key.

Here is a list of the many ways to Cut and Paste in Windows:

  1. Keyboard shortcuts – Ctrl-C to cut and Ctrl-V to paste
  2. Menu Commands – Click on Edit on the menu bar which is usually at the top of the screen (file, edit, view, etc.) and then choose Cut followed by Paste
  3. Use the cut and paste buttons in Microsoft Office.  They are usually a default for the toolbars.  They are pictures of a scissors and a clipboard.
  4. Right-Click with the mouse and choose the cut and paste options

These are just some simple suggestions.