Category: Random Fix

If you get this error message while trying to upgrade to Windows 10 1903, and you update your storage driver, but this message is still appearing, you have to go into C:\Windows\system32\drivers (WARNING, WHAT I AM ABOUT TO TELL YOU CAN HOSE AND DAMAGE YOUR SYSTEM. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD BACKUP THAT YOU’VE TESTED. I WOULD CREATE A RESTORE POINT JUST IN CASE YOU GET STUCK, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES THAT MAY OCCUR TO YOUR COMPUTER BASED UPON THIS INFORMATION) and look for the iaStorA.sys file and rename it to iaStorA.sys_old. However, make sure you are seeing the updated Intel storage driver within Device Manager first.

Once you rename the file, you can go back out and re-run the update. This should get you past this error message.

If you’re struggling to try to get your iCloud account with multi-factor authentication enabled to work properly within Outlook, and you’ve tried going to File > Account Settings and tried changing your password there, you’re in luck.

You first have to generate an app password at appleid.apple.com.

Next, you have to go through Control Panel, Mail app and then choose the iCloud account there. Next, click on change and then enter in your newly created app password. Click next and allow it to do a test send/receive. If it sends/receives OK then go ahead and click finish.

If you’re trying to open a file from browse mode in On1 RAW 2019.5 and you receive the icon indicating no photo available, you might need to convert the color space profile of that photo to something other than what it currently is. Try changing it to sRGB and seeing if it opens up properly.

If you don’t have access to a program like Photoshop, you can download Irfanview, which is free.

If you run into this error, it’s likely because your hard drive is encrypted with Bitlocker. Especially if it’s a Dell computer. I had to enable Bitlocker and then decrypt the drive. I was then able to clone the drive using the Samsung cloning software.

I have a client who has two shared mailboxes in Outlook and they started to receive a password prompt asking for the password of the shared mailbox account. Typically the shared mailbox accounts do not have password. I know that it is possible to assign a password and then grant webmail access but in this case, no matter what password we tried, the password prompt never went away.

It appears that if you have previous Outlook profiles with that particular account added to said profile and it was not an actual Exchange or Exchange shared mailbox at one point then you will receive a password prompt as Windows is trying to index that file for search.

Source: https://gcits.com/knowledge-base/remove-microsoft-windows-search-protocol-host-prompt/

If you encounter a workstation that has a Realtek NIC that constantly connects to the network and reconnects, I suggest you turn the following settings off or on in device manager:

Auto Disable Gigabit > Relink Battery or AC
Green Ethernet > Disable
Energy Efficient Ethernet > Disable

Thanks to: https://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/304958-realtek-pcie-gbe-family-controller-keeps-disconnecting-my-fix.html for the fix.

PS, this is truly a random fix. This was a shot in the dark right out of far left field and it worked. I was going to replace the NIC as the next step but glad I tried this.

I had a client who was experiencing Adobe InDesign 2019 crashing a few seconds after opening it. . It did not matter what file they were working with. I created a brand new file and within a few seconds of trying to draw with the Pen tool, InDesign would close out and crash. This was happening on a brand new iMac, with High Sierra and Adobe Creative Cloud.

I could not recreate the problem on my laptop which is a MacBook Pro with Mojave and I am using the same version of Creative Cloud/InDesign as my client.

I soon Googled and then searched Twitter and found that multiple people were having the same issue. I figured at that point it was probably an issue with the activation servers that the software uses to call home every once in a while.

Just the fact that the software is calling home so much and a mistake on one of Adobe’s server can cause such a large issue is very concerning. Especially when you’re paying these guys hundreds if not thousands of dollars per month to borrow their software. The last they could do is get it right.

According to this forum post from an Adobe staff member by the name of Steve, the issue was a server on Adobe’s end, which I guessed correctly: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2581509.

Per the thread, things should be fixed. We’ll see.

I’m having some of the strangest issues with my workstations.  Here are the specs:

ASUS Rampage V Extreme
Intel Core i7 5820K @ 3.30GHz
Corsair Dominator Platinum 64 GB
Samsung EVO NVMe 500GB solid state drive
Seasonic 1000W PSU

I recently upgraded to gigabit Internet with Spectrum Business.  I initially was seeing horrible speeds, anywhere from 100 Mbps to 300 Mbps.  I finally hooked my 15″ Mid 2015 MacBook Pro up with Lightning to Ethernet adapter and plugged directly into the modem.  I can see my connection is NOT the problem.  I see anywhere from 800 Mbps to 1.3 Gbps on the MacBook, CONSISTENTLY.  This is the mind-boggling part.

Now we go back to my Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit workstation.  I was on 1803 and updated to 1809 last night.

I consistently see speeds being gimped from the gigabit I should be getting to around 100-300 Mbps which is pissing me off.  I know that something is using up my network resources and or is doing some traffic shaping.  I’ve tried a clean boot, but some programs don’t adhere to a clean boot and keep running anyway.  I wish I could do a clean install but don’t have that kind of time anymore.  I may look into installing Windows onto one of the various spare PCs I have lying around the house but, procrastination and stuff.

In the meantime, I’d like to put this out there and if anyone else has seen their speed test speeds being gimped but clearly know that it’s working properly because they hooked up another device, whether it’s a Mac or another PC with a different OS or a clean install with no other applications running, let me know.

Something is gimping the connection.  I have disabled the firewall, antivirus, and any other programs that I can think of that would use the WAN link heavily.  I sometimes can see gigabit speeds through fast.com and speedtest.net, but it’s not consistent.  I know some people might be thinking well, there are peak hours and other various explanations, but that does not explain why my MacBook Pro can consistently, and I mean at any time of the day, do speed tests out to fast.com and speedtest.net’s various servers and see close to if not gigabit speeds!

I found a blog that suggested running TCP Optimizer from https://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php.  I ran it, and so far I see consistent gigabit speeds.  I will continue testing throughout the day and will report back if it’s a permanent thing.

Edit: 12/16/2018:

Well, I can confirm that the TCP Optimizer has fixed my issues.  If you see weird slowdowns on your WAN connection as though something is throttling your speed, check out the TCP Optimizer.  I ran it, changed the settings to optimal and restarted.  It’s been about a full 24 hours and no problems to report.  I’m seeing the full 1 Gbps connection being used on all speed tests.