Category Archives: Fixes

Windows 7 Networking Issues – cannot access shares after Update KB4480970 January Cumulative Update

I ran into an issue with some Windows 7 PCs at a client’s site. The PCs could not access network shares. Further investigation showed that PCs were online, and connected to the network. They all had internet access and could ping each other and the gateway.

However, when trying to access a share on these PCs, we received a “Handle is Invalid”, or “the network resource is not available”. Access the share via “\\computername” or “\\IPaddress” would not work.

The issue appears to be caused by KB4480970 – Monthly Cumulative Security Quality Update 2019-01. Various threads on Reddit indicated that there were issues.

Apart from a rollback and uninstalling the patch, a workaround for this issue appears to work. This involves adding the following registry entry.

  • Browse to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
  • Add DWORD LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy = 1
  • Reboot the PC

Come on Microsoft! Test your patches more thoroughly!

Remote Desktop Issue: “An authentication error occurred” “This could be due to CredSSP encryption oracle remediation”

You may get this error when trying to connect to a Terminal Server from Windows 10 or Windows 7.

1475272411_CredSSPissue.png.edcaf3deca9f340128ef49dc5c3849f5.png

The workaround is to add the following Registry key on the affected client PC.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\CredSSP\Parameters]
“AllowEncryptionOracle”=dword:00000002
This is NOT a fix. Doing this will bypass the fix for the security vulnerability. But it will get your users going while Microsoft readies a fix.

References:

Meltdown and Spectre

 

Happy New Year … Not!

With the New Year comes a new class of malicious attack that can impact IT systems. This time, the attack is hardware based, affecting mostly Intel based systems, and to some extent, AMD systems as well.

Here is a list of resources that highlight what it is all about and how to mitigate against this new threat. In the words of Microsoft, “Don’t panic.”

Fix Outlook and Office 365 problems with Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant

Microsoft have released a tool to diagnose and fix issues with Outlook and Office 365.

It is updated regularly, and should be the first step when you experience issue in connecting to Office 365.

The tool is available here – https://diagnostics.outlook.com 

Windows 10 black screen after reboot after installing updates

Some OEM factory images have been experiencing a black screen after installing updates and reboot. Particularly when installing a Windows Store application update. Currently, there is a workaround as documented in this Microsoft Article – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4043345

The workaround involves deleting sub-registry keys beginning with any of the following names from HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\Applications.

  • Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.
  • Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.
  • Microsoft.VCLibs.

 

Outlook known issues in the June 2017 security updates

Some issues in the latest updates from Microsoft – https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Outlook-known-issues-in-the-June-2017-security-updates-3f6dbffd-8505-492d-b19f-b3b89369ed9b

The following issues have recommended workarounds until the issues are resolved.

ISSUE #1

This issue affects Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010.

When you open an attachment in an email, contact, or task formatted as Rich Text you get the following error:

“The program used to create this object is Outlook. That program is either not installed on your computer or it is not responding. To edit this object, install Outlook or ensure that any dialog boxes in Outlook are closed”.

Program not installed

You may also see:

“This item contains attachments that are potentially unsafe. You may not be able to view these attachments after you close them”.

Potentially unsafe

ISSUE #2

This issue affects Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013, and Outlook 2016.

When opening an attachment that includes consecutive periods (…), or an exclamation point (!), the files are blocked and you receive an Opening Mail Attachment warning.

Attachment window

Or if an email message includes an attached email message, and the attached email message’s subject line ends with an unsafe file name extension as listed in the Blocked attachments in Outlook, the email attachment will be blocked for recipients.

ISSUE #3

This issue affects Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2016.

If you set ShowLevel1Attach to allow Outlook to display Level 1 attachments, you may see the error: “One or more objects in this file have been disabled due to your policy settings”.

WARNING: Typically, Level 1 attachments are blocked. If you have enabled this policy, users can see Level 1 attachments in Outlook. If you use any of the workarounds to open the files, please make sure they are safe to open. See: Information for administrators about e-mail security settings in Outlook 2007.

Outlook error

If you set ShowLevel1Attach to allow Outlook to display Level 1 attachments, and you send an email with an attachment you may see this message: “This item contains attachments that are potentially unsafe.  Recipients using Microsoft Outlook may not be able to open these attachments.”

Outlook unsafe attachment warning

ISSUE #4 (No workaround or fix)

This issue affects Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013, and Outlook 2016.

When you use a custom form that you have created for Outlook, you see the following two symptoms:

  • VBScript does not run.
  • You get a malicious code warning:

    Outlook Error

Issue #5

This issue affects all Outlook versions on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10.

When searching in Outlook, you get this error: “Something went wrong and your search couldn’t be completed.”, or “Search results may be incomplete because items are still being indexed“.

Outlook Error

And you’ll see this Event Log warning:

Outlook Event Log Warning

Issue #6

iCloud fails to load properly in Outlook 2007.

When accessing Calendar, Contacts, or Tasks in Outlook 2007, you get the following error:

The set of folders cannot be opened. MAPI was unable to load the information service C:\PROGRA~2\COMMON~1\Apple\Internet Services\APLZOD.dll. Be sure the service is correctly installed and configured.”

Outlook Error

Issue #7 (no fix or workaround)

This issue affects all Outlook versions on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10.

When you print a specific iframe or frame in a web page, the print output may be blank, or text is printed that resembles the following:

Outlook Print Error

NOTE: A frame is a part of a web page or browser window that displays content independent of its container. A frame can load content independently.

This problem has also been observed in both Internet Explorer 11, and in applications that host the IE Web Browser Control.

Partitions may be missing after installing the Windows 10 Anniversary Update

The main thing to glean from this issue is “not try to recover or otherwise write data to the affected partition, nor should you format the partition”

From Microsoft – http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-files/partitions-may-be-missing-after-installing-the/ffafb34b-df6e-4c61-927d-babf29b46b87

Microsoft has received a small number of reports of partitions not appearing in File Explorer after installing the Anniversary Update. When viewing the partition in Disk Management, it appears as RAW, unallocated space.
Microsoft is aware of this issue and is working on a solution to be released through Windows Update. Any data you have stored on the affected partition is still there. We recommend that you not try to recover or otherwise write data to the affected partition, nor should you format the partition. We will update this thread when a patch is released. If you would like to be notified when this thread is updated, click the Subscribe button at the end of this post.
For up to days 10 days after installing the Anniversary Update, Windows includes the ability to “go back” or return to the previous build if you are experiencing this issue and do not want to wait for the patch to be released.

To uninstall the Anniversary Update:

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Select Update & security and then the Recovery tab.
  3. Under “Go back to an earlier build”, click the Get started button and follow the instructions.

(Note: If more than 10 days have elapsed since installing the Anniversary Update or the “Go back” option is otherwise not available; we ask for your patience until a patch can be released. Please check back on this thread for an update.)

Windows 10 may freeze after installing the Anniversary Update

More problems are brewing with reports that Windows 10 may lock up or experience unusual networking issues after installing the Windows 10 Anniversary update.

One of the first troubleshooting steps to take is to uninstall and re-install the networking drivers.

If this does not work, follow the steps noted here to rollback the update until a fix is released – http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-performance/windows-10-may-freeze-after-installing-the/5a60d75d-120a-4502-873c-8bfec65c82d0?page=1&auth=1

Method 1: Using the Recovery Console

  1. Restart your PC. When you get to the sign-in screen, hold the Shift key down while you select Power > Restart.
  2. After your PC restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Go back to the previous build. If you don’t see this option, try Method 2.

Method 2: Using the Settings app from Safe Mode

  1. Restart your PC. When you get to the sign-in screen, hold the Shift key down while you select Power > Restart.
  2. After your PC restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.
  3. After your PC restarts, you’ll see a list of options. Select 4 or F4 to start your PC in Safe Mode.
  4. Open the Settings app.
  5. Select Update & security and then the Recovery tab.
  6. Under “Go back to an earlier build”, click the Get started button and follow the instructions.

Windows 10 Anniversary Update and Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials

If you are running Windows Server 2012 R2, and have Windows 10 Clients that will soon update to the Windows 10 Anniversary update, you should review the following links.

Susan Bradley’s blog on the manual steps required – http://blogs.msmvps.com/bradley/2016/08/11/windows-10-anniversary-update-and-essentials-r2/

Robert Pearman’s blog with some Powershell fixes – https://windowsserveressentials.com/2016/08/05/july-update-rollup-kb3172614-and-windows-10/

Reinstalling he Essentials Client Connector – Cannot download the package. Check these out – https://windowsserveressentials.com/2016/08/08/cannot-download-the-package-essentials-2012-r2/ and https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40285

Installing the LAN Driver on Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 on an Intel NUC 5i3RYH

I recently had to set up a Hyper-V server in a very small environment using an Intel NUC PC. The system installed well, but the LAN drivers would not install. Using information from the following two websites (https://jayrbarrios.com/2014/11/19/intel-nuc-d54250wykh-installing-lan-driver-on-windows-hyper-v-server-2012-r2/ and https://foxdeploy.com/2013/09/12/hacking-an-intel-network-card-to-work-on-server-2012-r2/), I was able to install the LAN driver properly.

  • Download the latest driver for the NUC for the Windows 8.1 operating system. The file should be called LAN_Win8.1_64_nn.exe
  • Extract the installer using WinRAR to the C:\TEMP folder.
  • Go to the following folder C:\TEMP\PRO1000\Winx64\NDIS64 and open e1d64x64.inf in Notepad
  • Remove the highlighted 3 lines.

  • Copy the following 3 lines

  • Scroll down to the next section and past them here

  • Save the inf file.
  • Run the following 3 commands from an Administrative command prompt.
    • bcdedit /set LOADOPTIONS DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
    • bcdedit /set TESTSIGNING ON
    • bcdedit /set nointegritychecks ON
  • Reboot the server
  • Install the driver from an Administrative command prompt

    C:> pnputil -I -a C:\TEMP\PRO1000\Winx64\NDIS64\e1d64x64.inf

  • Click Install this driver anyway when prompted

  • The following messages should be shown.

    Processing inf : e1d64x64.inf

    Successfully installed the driver on a device on the system.

    Driver package added successfully…..

  • Run the following 3 commands from an Administrative command prompt.
    • bcdedit /set LOADOPTIONS ENABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
    • bcdedit /set TESTSIGNING OFF
    • bcdedit /set nointegritychecks OFF
  • Reboot the server and check that the driver has install properly.