CompatTelRunner.exe and 100% SSD utilization

This happened to me on Friday.  My system slowed way down and got very laggy.  Check Task Manager and Resource Monitor.  My C: SSD was at 100% utilization.

The culprit, compatTelRunner.exe.  This is apparently something that was used for Win7 compatibility checking for Win10.

I’ve got Win10 and this wasn’t an upgrade.

Anyway, you can disable this via task scheduler.

1. Click Start, then type task scheduler and press Enter.
2. On the Task Scheduler window, go to Task Scheduler Library\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience
3. In Application Experience, find Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser.
4. Right-click Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser and select Disable.
5. Kill any comptelrunner.exe tasks running and your system should become usable again.
   1. Alternatively, just restart your computer

Advertisement

Dell Broadcom USH Drivers

This always happens to be when I do a fresh install of Windows on a Dell notebook…

Dell’s got a page now with drivers for most of their recent computers:

Download here: https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/sln129590/download-the-broadcom-ush-drivers-and-resolve-unknown-device-issues?lang=en

These are the ones I use the most.  Windows 10 x64 drivers for the Latitude e6540, e7240, e7440, and Precision M4800, Latitude e7270

Windows middle-button scroll icon!

I was trying to find an icon for this to put in a document, but couldn’t find one with the circle and all 4 arrows, so I made my own.

In case anyone else needs one, here you go.

It’s not perfect, but good enough for internal tech docs.

Restoring the Quick Launch Menu (and Windows Explorer) for Windows 7 and 10

(this is an updated repost of an article I have on my deprecated http://www.essjae.com website)

One thing I really had grown accustomed to is the Quick Launch menu and easily opening multiple Windows Explorer windows across my 2 and 3 monitor setups and seeing the Drives view.

Both of these have been noticeably missing since Win 7.

Step 1: Get back the Quick Launch menu

• Right-click the Taskbar, select Toolbars–>New Toolbar.
• In Folder text box copy and paste the following:     %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
• Right-click the Taskbar, uncheck Lock the Taskbar, and right-click on the new Quick Launch toolbar. Uncheck Show Text and Show Title, click View–>Small Icons
• Drag the toolbar divider all the way to the left of the taskbar to position it next to the Windows Orb, adjust the spacing on the taskbar as necessary
• End result:   (minus the Explorer icon)

Step 2:

• Add Windows Explorer in Win 7
  •  Click the Orb, then All Programs–>Accessories
  • Right-click to select and drag Windows Explorer () to the Quick Launch toolbar, then release
  • Select Copy Here from the pop-up menu
  • Right-click the Windows Explorer icon (), then click Properties
• In Windows 10
  •  select and copy %SystemRoot%\
  • Click the Win icon or press the Win key and then paste %SystemRoot%\
  • Press Enter
  • Find explorer.exe, right-click and drag it to the Quick Launch bar
  • Right-click the Windows Explorer icon (), then click Properties
• Add the following to the end of the command in Target:     /e,
• The command should look like this:  %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,

• Click OK
• Now, when you click on the Windows Explorer icon you’ll see this:

• • 

Windows Update fix for corruption errors like 0x80070002

Microsoft KB 947821 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821)

If you’ve gotten one of those cryptic 0x800xxxxxx Windows Update errors, Microsoft finally has a fix for Vista and higher, no XP solution.

Fix Windows Update corruption errors such as 0x80070002 and 0x80070057

Windows Update corruption errors prevent Windows updates and service packs from installing. For example, an update might not install if a system file is damaged. If the error you see is in the following list, try the solution in this article.

0x80070002 | 0x8007000D | 0x800F081F | 0x80073712 | 0x800736CC | 0x800705B9 | 0x80070246 | 0x8007370D | 0x8007370B | 0x8007370A | 0x80070057 | 0x800B0100 | 0x80092003 | 0x800B0101 | 0x8007371B | 0x80070490

 

Windows 8.x and Server 2012 Rx

To resolve this problem, use the inbox Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool. Then, install the Windows update or service pack again.

1. Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. Or, if you are using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, and then click Search. Type Command Prompt in the Search box, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
2. Type the following commands. Press Enter after each command.
   Note It may take several minutes for each command operation to be completed.
   • DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth
   • DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
3. Close the command prompt, and then run Windows Update again.

DISM creates a log file (%windir%/Logs/CBS/CBS.log) that captures any issues that the tool found or fixed. %windir% is the folder in which Windows is installed. For example, the %windir% folder is C:\Windows.

 

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008

See the KB link for the download you need. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821

Dell e6540 Windows Experience Index (WEI)

Microsoft’s official stance on Virtual PC and Windows 8…Hyper-V 3

Straight from the horse’s mouth: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/support/faq.aspx

 Is Windows Virtual PC supported on Windows 8?

Windows Virtual PC will not be supported on Windows 8. Client Hyper-V is Microsoft’s offering for operating system virtualization on Windows 8.

To learn how to retrieve data from a Windows XP Mode virtual machine on Windows 8, click here.

Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool

The Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool is a great little utility I just discovered (its been around for years, but I never found it) when googling for a tool install Windows 7 from USB.  In short, you can easily take a Windows ISO image and quickly make a bootable USB flash drive to install Windows.

This is the first thing I’ve gotten from the Microsoft store and if this is the type of things they’ll have, I’ll definitely be a fan!

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

 

 You can do it manually also (this is how I used to do it)

Start a cmd prompt as Administrator

Type “diskpart”, and press enter

Type “list disk”, press enter and find your USB drive (make sure you get the correct disk, since it will be formatted!)

Type “select disk #”, press enter– where # is the disk from step 3

Enter the following commands followed by enter

• clean
• create partition primary
• select partition 1
• active
• format fs=ntfs quick
• assign
• exit

Now from the command prompt, change to your mounted Windows 7 installation ISO or DVD drive.  If your ISO is mounted to V:, change to the V: drive.

change to the boot directory, “cd boot”

type “bootsect /nt60 x:”  where x: is the drive letter of your USB drive. You should get a “successfully updated ntfs filesystem message” if it worked.

finally, copy all the files from the DVD/ISO image to the USB drive.

Dell’s Latitude ST Tablet – how NOT to build a slate

I picked up a refurbed Dell ST from Dell’s outlet figuring it would be a nice little Win7 slate to go along with my aging Toshiba M400 convertible.  My M400 was a wonderful tool when I returned to SFSU to complete my computer engineering degree.  I used it to take notes, annotate PDFs from class, and complete homework.

I was in for a huge disappointment.  The ST is woefully underpowered with it’s Atom CPU and 2GB of RAM.  I have the 32GB SSD version. 

There are no buttons except power, volume, and a rotation lock. Get stuck on boot, need to “press any key,” “f1” or “f2” and don’t have a USB keyboard handy?  You’re out of luck! 

Compared to an iPad or Android tablet its slow, hot, has an inaccurate touch and pen digitizer.  If you want to run Aero, forget about doing anything else.  Switching Performance setttings makes it usable.

Windows 7 Experience index:

Processor: 2.2

Memory: 4.2

Graphics: 4.3

Gaming graphics: 3.0

Primary hard disk: 7.3

Removing the status bar and standard buttons tool bar from the Remote Desktops MMC

Two things that have always bugged me with the Remote Desktops Administrative Snap-in was that there were no options on the menu to customize the view, specifically, the status bar and standard buttons toolbar. 

I’ve googled around trying to find a fix, then it dim 20W bulb went off in my head.  Look at a standard MMC console and make one how I want it and copy the config to the TSMMC file.

It was pretty simple.  The key line from the tsmmc.msc is:

<ViewOptions ViewMode="Report" ScopePaneVisible="true" NoStatusBar="true" NoStdButtons="true" DescriptionBarVisible="false" DefaultColumn0Width="200" DefaultColumn1Width="0"/>
    </View>

By adding NoStatusBar=”true” and NoStdButtons=”true” I was able to get more remote desktop “desktop”.

On my secondary monitor, my TS screen is now 1768×1000 vs. 1768×953.  Not a big deal on a 1920×1080 monitor, but 47 pixels on smaller screens makes a big difference.