This blog is a short guide to provide some basic info regarding Boot Configuration Data Editor (BCDEdit), and present a collection of useful links where more detail is available. Boot Configuration Data (BCD) provides a store that is used to describe...

Please note this post was last updated July 15th, 2009. Here on the OEM team, we are often asked storage-related questions about the latest versions of Storport.sys, the iSCSI Initiator, and MPIO. For easy reference, below are the latest available...

Sometimes you need to ensure that a hard drive is completely sterilized (erased) and that all data is actually removed. So to securely wipe (zero-out) a drive, boot the system with a WinPE boot CD/Flash or boot floppy (Windows 98) that has a copy of...

Windows Home Server has quickly become a mainstay tool in your electronic home as storage for your data and for automatic backup of up to 10 of your home computers. While the server is built to do what it was designed for very efficiently, people are...

If the drive is removable, supports hot swap, and the disk size is less than or equal to 32GB, then the default is the FAT file system. If its size is less than or equal to 2GB, then the default is FAT, otherwise the default is FAT32. If the disk size...

When asked to create a multilingual image for your company or organization, you may be tempted to start with your existing image and add Language Packs. This method can cause you problems down the road. As a best practice, you should start with the...

Vista Package Manager is command line tool to install, remove or updates Windows packages to an offline Windows image. Used incorrectly you can easily corrupt your Windows installation image. Here are some tips to avoid this problem. The first and...

The Virtualization team is pleased to announce the availability of the Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Release Candidate for download. Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, our free standalone hypervisor, represents our continued commitment to providing high performance...

Ever wonder why some programs are highlighted in the “All Programs” list of the Start menu? Start by reading this fine MSDN blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2005/11/24/496690.aspx Even though it is written prior to Vista, it basically...

These new Solid State Drives (SSDs) are utilizing Flash Memory, also known as non-volatile memory (NVM). The two types of Flash memory being used are MLC (Multi-Level Cell) memory and SLC (Single-Level Cell) memory. MLC (Multi-Level Cell) memory is less...

Items that end in an extension with .msc are Microsoft Management Console Snap-in's, but did you know that you can run most of these directly from either the RUN line or the Search Bar in Vista? My personal favorites to run in this fashion are the Device...

Windows Home Server (WHS) Power Pack 2 (PP2) was released on March 24th, 2009 in English, with more languages to follow shortly. What makes this a PP2 rather than SP2 is the fact that it not only fixes bugs and other known issues, it also adds new features...

You have your nifty new hand-held ultra mobile PC running Windows Vista, but you wish your font size was a little larger so you could read the text. You hunt around and find that you can modify just the font size (from the classic view of Control Panel...

So you have a system with a processor with performance state control running Windows Vista/SP1/Server 08. On such systems, in the Control Panel "Power Options", in "Change advanced power settings" under your selected Power Plan (for example: "Balanced...

If you've experienced an error just like this when using Windows Media Center you may have some issues with a corrupt data store and may need an additional hotfix. “Windows Media Center Store Update Manager Has Stopped Working” Problem Details...

So you pick up your new machine and start it up. During the initial screens you may be asked to select the language of your choice and then you are warned that the selection is not reversible. This usually occurs on computers that were built to be shipped...

If you're running Windows Server 2003 in a Hyper-V VM and have the VM configured to use multiple virtual CPU's you may have noticed that performance counters seem to be reporting odd results. To work around this you may need to run bootcfg and set the...

Have you ever had system resource issues where checking Task Manager in Vista seems to point to an instance of SVCHost.exe? Well, the difficulty here is that multiple dynamic link library (.DLL) based services can be hosted within a single SVChost.exe...

Hybrid sleep is a new power saving state for desktops running Windows Vista. Hybrid sleep is designed to give users a fast on and off experience similar to an appliance yet save energy. It accomplishes this by saving user documents and programs to memory...

If you're a MSDN customer you can download the ISO's now and begin testing. If you don't subscribe to MSDN then you can go here for more information. Please note that this page will likely go live tomorrow around 9AM PST. Live migration of Virtual...

Yesterday Steve Ballmer announced the public availability of the Windows 7 Beta. Customers with access to MSDN can begin downloading now and using ImgBurn to burn the .ISO to start installing. For those that don't have access to MSDN, head over to...

Event Tracing in MS iSCSI Drivers The following sections describe how to enable event tracing in MS iSCSI drivers. Event tracing can be very useful in diagnosing failures. Creating the trguid.ctl file required for tracing Before beginning tracing...

Many of the OEM's are shipping the latest update to the Windows Vista called the Media Center TV Pack for Windows Vista. This brings a host of updates and new features to Media Center PC's. Windows Vista SP1 Media Center, supported two OCUR tuners out...

In Windows Vista or Server 2008 you now have an alternative and more options than just pressing F8 while booting. Next time you restart your system, right after the BIOS POST screen and just before you see the Windows boot screen, try pressing the space...

Manufacturers and system administrators might want to disable the automatic customization of power policy for mobile PCs if they are providing manufacturer-specific or corporation-specific updates to power policy. The Specialize configuration phase...