Windows 7: Cannot boot from CD - Code error: 5

UPDATE: I've used this method to create a new bootable DVD:  http://www.unawave.de/windows-7-tipps/code5-error.html

The method detailed below works only about 20% of the time and it's a hassle to find a floppy (or even a floppy drive sometimes).

Symptom: When attempting to boot older hardware with the Windows 7 install DVD, you receive the error message "Cannot boot from CD - Code error: 5"

Problem: The Windows 7 install DVD has multiple file systems not supported by some older BIOS software. To read more about the differences, please read: AlfaMikeDelta's posts.

Solution 1: Upgrade your BIOS to a version that supports booting UDF file systems.

Solution 2: Use a linux boot manager to help emulate the missing BIOS instructions. I used the Gujin boot disk and followed the directions from AlfaMikeDelta's above post:

- Download latest version of Gujin from sourceforge
- Use your favourite decompressing software to unGzip/unTar
- Inside the uncompressed folder, you will find a file named "full.img.gz", unGzip this file too.
- Now you will have a file named "floppy.144", this is the floppy image.
- Download a "Floppy Image Writer", for exmple RawWrite (or WinImage).
- Grab a floppy and write the file "floppy.144" to it.
- Put the Windows 7 DVD in the drive.
- Boot your PC with the floppy, it will show a screen searching for boot records in your computer, follow the instructions about the video resolution.
- Once you are inside the GUI, there will be a list of supported booteable media, press the "F" key corresponding to the one that reads "no emul" or "no emulation" (it should be your DVD)
- Pay attention to the message "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD" and do so when it appears.

Installation should continue as planned from there.

Chrome OS - Saving items to the Download directory

For those of you lucky enough to be part of the cr-48 pilot program, you may have run into an issue with figuring out how to save items from a cloud-app to your Downloads directory. I ran into this problem when trying to email a friend via gmail something I'd created in Aviary. If you're not familiar with the Chrome OS filesystem or filesystems in general, it's easy to get confused.

The Problem: Attempting to attach a file to an email in Gmail/Apps Email via Chrome OS, Gmail only allows the user the option to attach files from the "Downloads" directory. Unless you've save a file in this directory, you cannot send it as an attachment in Gmail on your Chrome OS enabled device.

The Reason: Application developers who have created browser/cloud based applications have done so assuming users would be using their apps on traditional operating systems where the user has full access to the filesystem. For this reason, when prompting the user to save something, it brings up a file browser that dumps users into some "default" file path. In the case of Aviary, it dumps the user into /. In an effort to make things "easier" for users, Google has decided that if users are going to send files to people, they will either exist in the cloud (and have the option of being sent to users from the cloud based app) or the user will have downloaded the files to the only place native ChromeOS apps have access to, the "downloads" directory. Now to be fair, some of this is speculation on my part, so feel free to weigh-in with your own opinions (even though they're wrong!). And to be fair to Aviary, they allow everything you produce in their apps to be shared via public urls.

The Solution: When prompted with a save file dialog or a browse dialog, navigate to - /home/chronos/user/Downloads/ - and save your files there. From this spot, users will be able to access files via the "Downloads" shortcut (control+o) or from within Gmail when attempting to attach files.

Clear Print Queue in Windows 7/Vista

If you have a long list of hung print jobs in Windows 7 or Vista, you can clear the print queue easily by using these steps.

1. Click Start.

2. Type Command.

3. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

4. Type net stop spooler then press Enter.

5. Type del %systemroot%\System32\spool\printers\* /Q then press Enter.

6. Type net start spooler then press Enter.

The print queue on your Windows 7/Vista system should now be cleared. Type exit and press Enter to exit the command window.

From: http://www.technipages.com/windows-7vista-clear-print-queue.html

Adobe Acrobat Reader plugin stalls when loading PDF

Issue:

When using Adobe Reader web browser plug-in for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome or other browser to load a PDF document hosted under IIS (Internet Information Services) 7.5 web server, the PDF document does not load properly or the browser appears to be hanging while loading the document. The browser may stall or display the error message, "a file i/o error has occurred." This behavior is not consistent; other PDF documents serve with no problems.

Note: This issue occurs because IIS 7.5 web server coalesces merged byte-range requests into a single byte-range request. The response generated for such requests is not handled correctly by the Adobe Reader web browser plug-in.

The same issue exists in the Firefox web browser. Firefox is designed to detangle the response and send it to the Adobe Firefox plug-in (which is different from the one in Internet Explorer), but it drops the response as well, resulting in the same behaviors.

The Adobe Reader Safari plug-in shares the same issue.

Solution:

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/807/cpsid_80780.html

Unable to telnet to remote mail servers on port 25 SMTP

Issue: unable to telnet to port 25 (SMTP) of remote mail servers from windows based machines.

Solution: Your antivirus program may be blocking SMTP connections.

In my case, Avast 5.x blocks all outbound SMTP, IMAP, POP and NNTP connections by default. It's supposed to prompt you when it detects an unsecured connection, but I suppose that's only from actual mail clients, not from the CLI.

Avast specific solution:
1) Open Avast Control Panel
2) Click on Mail Shield
3) Click Expert Settings
4) Click on SSL accounts
5) Add the host name/ip, protocol, port and type of security your connection will use
6) OK your way out of there

If all else fails, turn off Avast/AV completely and test your connection.

This worked for me on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

GoDaddy SSL .crt File Won't Uncompress/unzip in Windows 2003

I ran into a problem today with Windows 2003 not wanting to uncompress or unzip all the required ssl certificate files from the GoDaddy certificate zip file you download from their certificate manager. The problem appears to be that post SP1 in 2003, the operating system blocks certain files from being uncompressed when they are downloaded from the internet. In this case, it would unzip the .p7b file, but not the .crt file in the archive. My solution:

1. Right mouse click the zip file
2. Choose "Properties"
3. In the general tab, click the button "Unblock"

Now you should be able to uncompress all the files in the zip archive.

Expanding Windows System NTFS Partitions in ESX

1. Shut down VM
2. Increase disk size in VIC or via command line with

#vmkfstools -X

#vmkfstools -X 30G /vmfs/volumes/datastore_name/vm_name/vm_name.vmdk

3. Boot off Windows 2008 CD
4. At welcome screen choose "Next"
5. Choose "Repair Your Computer"
6. Choose "next"
7. Choose "Command Prompt"
8. At dos prompt, type: diskpart
9. Type: list volume
10. Type: select volume 1
11. Type: extend
12. Type: list volume
13. Type: exit
14. Type: exit
15. Choose "restart"

Reference: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1007266
KB Article: 1007266