Windows Vista troubleshooting

More about Windows Installer CleanUp

On October 15, I wrote a blog called "Toward a more positive Vista uninstall experience," in which I mentioned Revo...

Digging into Crash Dumps? Try Dumpchk first

There's no question that the Windows Debugger (windbg.exe) is a nonpareil tool when it comes to troubleshooting source code or digging into Vista crashdumps. But with the program's requirement for current debug symbols, complex syntax (the downside of amazing functionality is detailed and demanding...

Mark Gives the Real Skinny on Vista Paging File Size

Sometimes, the information I come across on Vista internals is just too good not to pass along. And when it comes to Vista internals nobody knows (or does) them better than Mark Russinovich, formerly a principal at SysInternals, now a Microsoft Fellow. In discussing paging file sizes in the context...

A Somewhat Hidden Secunia Benefit

Last week I blogged about Danish information security firm Secunia's outstanding Network Software Inspector. In that capsule summary I neglected to mention that Secunia sends out e-mail...

Windows Vista SP2 Beta Publicly Available 12/4/08

I guess those guys at TechARP really must have some good sources: less than one week after they shared leaked information about release dates and content for Windows Vista SP2, Microsoft has announced its Customer Preview Program...

Rough Dates Leaked for Vista SP2

Adrian Wong's TechARP Web site (here ARP stands for "Adrian's Rojak Pot" not "Address Resolution Protocol" BTW) has been a reliable source of advance information about upcoming Windows Service packs for some time now. Just before Thanksgiving he disclosed some...

More Out-of-Cycle Vista Updates Post

On 11/25/2008 Microsoft pushed a slew of updates out the door For Windows Vista, as follows:

• KB957321 - An update to add support to the XMP specification for complex data types in the Windows Imaging Component

Explorer Crashes? ShellExView to the Rescue!

I've grappled with this problem on various Vista systems for over a year now. A user will be tooling along merrily in Vista on his or her desktop when all of a sudden BAM! Explorer.exe crashes, and automatically restarts itself. A look into the Event Log on the affected desktop usually produces an...

Exam 70-625 TS: Connected Home Integrator

At last, a Vista exam title that you can get out of your mouth out loud without having to stop halfway through to draw breath! That said, this Technology Specialist exam is not without some interesting twists and turns, and includes coverage of Windows Home Server as well as numerous aspects of...

Exam 70-624 TS: Deploying and Maintaining Windows Vista Client and 2007 Microsoft Office System Desktops

Another doozy of a title, this exam is likely to appeal to IT professionals who work with Vista in all situations (SOHO, SMB, tech support, enterprise, and so forth) and of all stripes (help desk, tech support, IT administration, and so on). As with other exams in the 70-620 through 70-625 Vista...