Aug/0932
Windows: Windows is unable to install to the selected location. Error: 0×80300001
Well… all these years of development and Microsoft still can’t get the installation part right. Not too surprising… huh?
If you have a storage controller or using motherboard RAID, it’s quite possible that you see this error message after loading the drivers. This could happen on systems with a single CD drive and It’s also likely to happen if you are installing storage drivers from a USB flash drive.
If your driver CD is still in the drive (or USB drive) and Windows CD out on your desk, you won’t be notified properly. Instead, you will see the above error message which was very frustrating in my case. Remember to replace the driver CD with Windows, wait until you hear it spin and then you will notice the Next button is no longer grayed out. It is not safe to assume that Windows would give you a hint. I wonder how much the missing error message was going to cost Microsoft that they decided not to add it.
Frustrating… very unprofessional of Microsoft to say the least.
Apr/090
Windows: Migrate printers from a server to another – use printmig.exe
I found this purdy tool from Microshaft website, and it actually works pretty nice. It’s called Print Migrator which will allow you to save all your printers, along with their IP info AND drivers to a cab file, and then restore to a new server. Usually it takes me an hour or two to do 20 printers – this time it took me just a minute!
Feb/0920
Windows: Windows could not determine if this computer contains a valid system volume
It’s unbelievable that Windows Vista and 2008 Server are so dumb. As soon I connect a USB drive to my server and boot, it refuses to use my hard drive for a new OS install and gives me “Windows could not determine if this computer contains a valid system volume” error.
So, why did I have a USB drive connected? Because I wanted to setup a new Windows 2008 Standard Server for the office, but from home during my spare time. I HAD to have the drive connected in order to load my RAID drivers during install. I started playing around with different BIOS settings to see if I can get Winblows to install properly. Disabling USB controller was basically not an option. I looked at my boot sequence settings and my flash drive wasn’t even enabled, so I went ahead and enabled it, but moved it to down after my DVD drive and RAID controller. Tried again, no success. I was lucky that my high end RAID card had a boot partition feature… I created a boot partition, disabled USB and installed Windows.
Anyway… Rob commented with a simpler way which didn’t apply to my remote installation dilemma, but works for the rest (thank a lot, Rob). Remove the USB drive right after RAID drivers are loaded, wait a bit and then try to pick a partition for your OS. That works… the USB issue is something that keeps giving since I ran into another problem with Windows 7 RTM installation. You can check the “related articles” link at the bottom of the page.
Oct/080
Windows: Cannot add Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in in Windows XP 64 bit
AD Users and Computers, and a few other administrative snap-in’s are 32 bit components. To add those snap-in’s to your mmc you will have to run mmc with /32 switch.
In order to be able to save your console for future use and be able to access all 32 and 64 bit components, you need to save two copies. Run an instance using mmc.exe and the other mmc.exe /32, then save both with different names you can recognize.
Oct/080
Windows: Fixed size pop-up window is smaller than the contents and cannot be resized
This usually happens on laptops where resolution is high and font size is set to large or custom. Simply change your font size in display properties – Settings tab – Advanced and reduce font size until all page is visible. You may have to reboot and will need to have administrative privileges to change font size.
