Change Windows 7 Theme when Group Policy is applied

Just a quick entry to work around the old high contrast issue in Windows 7.

Users can normally apply it but can't revert it back when group policy is locking it down.

Open a command prompt as admin and run the following - the blue can be edited accordingly.  You may need the admin password but if you're an admin needing this for helpdesk reasons that shouldn't be an issue.

rundll32.exe %SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL %SystemRoot%\system32\desk.cpl desk,@Themes /Action:OpenTheme /file:"C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\aero.theme"

External USB HDD Read Only when not Bitlockered

Hi All,

Been a loooooong time since I've posted here.

Keeping ahead of times as always I'm upgrading a system to Windows 8.1 and found my external USB HDD is constantly prompting to be encrypted with Bitlocker.  If I refuse it's marked as read only and I can't use it.

After alot of digging around I finally found a solution:

Open regedit and look for the following:

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FVE!RDVDenyWriteAccess
HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\FVE!RDVDenyCrossOrg

Set them to 0 and see if it gets you anywhere!!!  worked a treat for me.

Free Disk Space Collection SCCM 2012

We have been having several users with older PC's complaining of low disk space errors.  These are normally shared Dell PC's with 80GB HDD's.  We have lots of surgerys where tens of nurses will log on and subsequently create a local profile.  As we have cached mode enabled for Outlook (don't ask) this creates massive .OST files in every profile.

I wanted SCCM to keep track of these machines and subsequently run a batch file that clears all the .OST files off the machine.

I wanted a collection that would list all machines with less than 1GB free disk space.  I created the collection courtesy of http://myitforum.com/myitforumwp/2013/12/09/sccm-2012-r2-free-disk-space-report/ but found it was empty no matter what.

I then eventually came across this post http://e-enfra.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/sccm-2012-free-disk-space-is-not.html instructing that by default the disk space isn't automatically collected by the hardware inventory cycle.

Enable this and just wait for the Harware Inventory Cycle to kick in and the disk space info will become available.

Hirens Boot Disk 15.2 Host

I am now hosting Hirens Boot Disk 15.2 which you can download from here:

http://1drv.ms/1vHtDCU

Changing Themes on a locked down machine

A user recently contacted me as she had inadvertantly activated "High Contrast" so her screen was black with purple task bars.  After having a bit of fun with her explaining this was Microsofts Halloween Theme that kicks in every year during Halloween week I thought I should come clean.

As her machine was locked down with group policy I couldn't revert back to the standard theme using the normal methods so I came across this useful little script thanks to user "Misfortune" on the Windows 7 Forums

If you open up an admin command prompt and run this you should be able to revert it back.  You can replace "Classic.Theme" with other options if you look in the file path you should be able to see the other themes...

rundll32.exe %SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL %SystemRoot%\system32\desk.cpl desk,@Themes /Action:OpenTheme /file:"C:\Windows\Resources\Ease of Access Themes\classic.theme" 

Removing Trusteer Rapport

After uninstalling Rapport, some folders will remain, storing your Rapport settings (for future installation) and Rapport logs (for technical support analysis, if needed). These files and folders are completely inactive and may contain information useful for future installation or diagnosis of problems with Rapport.
Should you choose to delete these folders, or if you have trouble uninstalling Rapport and would like to manually remove all folders, please follow the instructions provided below. 

Removing Rapport folders for Mac OS X

Removing Rapport folders for Windows XP

Removing Rapport folders for Windows Vista / 7 / 8

1) Go to Start menu and Choose Run (or Press the Windows key and the 'R' key together)
2) Type "C:\Program files" (or "c:\program files (x86)" for 64-bit machines) and click "Ok".

3) Find a folder named “Trusteer”, right click it with the mouse, and choose “Delete”. Make sure the folder was removed.

4) Open the Run command as described in step 1
5) Type "%userprofile%\appdata\local" and click "Ok".
   
6) Find a folder named “Trusteer”, right click it with the mouse, and choose “Delete”. Make sure the folder was removed.
* If the path results in an error, please use the following path instead: %appdata%
7) Open the run command again and this time type "%programdata%" and click "Ok".

- If you cannot locate the folder, it might be hidden because of default settings. 

To change the folder’s settings: 

- Go to the Start menu, 

- Click on Control Panel, 

- Click on Folder Options, 

- Click on the View tab, 

- Under “Hidden files and folders”, choose “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” and click OK. 

 

8) Find a folder named “Trusteer”, right click it with the mouse, and choose “Delete”. Make sure the folder was removed.

9) Open the run command and this time type: c:\windows\system32\drivers. Click Ok.
10) Locate the following files and remove them (right click it with the mouse, and choose “Delete”):
* RapportKELL.sys (would be named RapportKE64.sys in 64-bit operating systems)
* RapportHades64.sys (Windows 8 only)

11) To ensure all Trusteer files were removed, open C drive and search for “Trusteer” in the search bar on the top right-hand side of the window. 

If any files related to Trusteer are found, delete them. 

A change of career...

I've recently embarked on a new journey and I'm retraining as a counsellor.  Please drop by to see my other Blog Counsellor Chris and see what I'm up to.