David Vielmetter

Category: Tricks

  • Right-click on desktop yields spinning wheel indefinitely on Windows 10

    This is an interesting issue affecting workstations with dual graphics adapters usually Intel and Nvidia if one of the driver packages for the graphics adapter is not installed properly. [the problem] When a user right-clicks on the desktop in Windows 10 (any build), the cursor turns to a spinning wheel and does not display the…

  • Windows 10 VPN connection hangs at Connecting

    Windows 10 has had sporadic issues with its own implementation of the Microsoft (builtin) VPN client connecting L2TP IPSEC based VPN connections that utilize strongswan at the server end. This issue has affected builds 1709-1903. [problem] The VPN connection (when launched from the notification area) just says Connecting and never gets established. Eventually the following…

  • Redirected printers missing from control panel but show up in applications

    This has been bugging me for a long time. The story goes like this: Customer reports that for some users printers don’t appear to be redirecting but the issue is intermittent. After a lot of trials and tribulations I finally find a Windows 10 Pro systems which reproducibly fails to to redirect printers to both…

  • Windows 10 Remote Desktop Connection crashes seconds after being established

    [the problem] Establishing an Remote Desktop Connection via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to another system using Windows 10 build 1709 causes the session to crash shortly after being created. The error given is generic. The event log shows that the faulting application name mstsc.exe version 10.0.16299.15 crashed with an exception code of 0x0000409 and because…

  • QuickBooks Desktop with active subscription says it needs subscription

    So starting in June 2018 when I tried to install QuickBooks Enterprise 2017 on Windows 10, I observed a new error indicating that I needed a subscription. This error is in in error and here’s how to fix it: [the problem] Even with an active QuickBooks subscription, if a QuickBooks Desktop 2017 installer (QuickBooksSetup.exe file)…

  • Installing Ubuntu (dual boot) on a Dell Precision which already runs Windows 10

    Ubuntu is arguably one of the easiest Linux flavors to use and install. Getting it to install as an alternate (dual boot) operating system on a Dell Precision workstation certified for Linux that shipped with Windows 10 can be tricky though. [the goal] Install Ubuntu 18.04 alongside pre-installed Windows 10 Pro (dual boot) on a…

  • Windows 10 TPM issues after 1803 update

    After upgrading HP Surface devices (HP Pro 612 X2 G2) to the Windows 10 April update version 1803, Windows Defender complains about an issue with the device security referencing the following Microsoft article KB4096377: [the problem] After following the instructions presented in KB4096377 the system no longer allows logging in with a Biometrics, Windows Hello, or…

  • Silently upgrade Office 2013 to 2016 via GPO

    [the problem] How to silently deploy Microsoft Office 2016, uninstall previous versions of MS Office, migrate existing MAPI profiles, and remove old shortcuts & replace them with new ones. NOTE: This article is for deploying Microsoft Office 2016 Standard or Professional with a perpetual volume license or MAK key. To deploy Office 365 applications, I’d…

  • Microsoft Office cannot verify the license for this product

    Apparently this is a known issue with Microsoft Office 2013 and 2016. Unfortunately the support article describing the resolution to the issue isn’t very clear. I spent some time analyzing this issue and here’s what I’ve found. [UPDATE] This issue and resolution applies specifically to Microsoft Office 2013 and 2016 on Windows 7 and Windows…