I have posted in the past how to reset Java settings.  But we have run into a few situations where this does not work.  Here are some advanced steps to try.  BEWARE: REGISTRY CHANGES ARE SCARY 🙂

1. refer to my previous post on how to locate your user SID if you are not sure how to find it
2. navigate to the Hkey users hive key in the registry (after backing up the registry first of course)
3. navigate your your sid
4. go into the wow6432nod entry (if you don’t see it then check under the USERS hkey for your SID with `_classes` at the end
5. expand the CLSID and find the Java CLSID
   1. (to find Java CLSID go to the Internet Explorer – settings – manage add-ons – (make sure you are seeing all add-ons and not just currently loaded ones (in the bottom left)) – locate Java – double click – locate the CLSID and path
6. Navigate to the following registry key: HKU\(USERSID)\wow6432nod\CLSID\(CLASSID)\inprocServer32
7. Update the ”default” entry with the path found above

The main reason this works is that Java path can get mixed up from upgrades or other system changes.

Happy hunting!

This is not a trick question.  This is not a test.

It has happened to lots of us admins out there.  What account have I logged in as and what permissions are set!?  It can get confusing when logging in as multiple different users and admin accounts.  Here are 2 commands (really just one but the second uses a switch) that really help lots

Start – run – CMD whoami

start – run – CMD whoami /user

As you can see the first command returns the name of the account who ran the request

The second one show the SID.  This is crazy useful so stay tuned for next post where I show you a reason why 🙂

Hi again,

As promised here is the second part of my post on dealing with Adobe and Group Policy blocking the application.  If the steps in my previous post did not help then maybe these will.

1. Close any open Adobe windows
2. On the affected system navigate to the install location of Adobe reader (usually c:\program files (x86)\adobe\reader 11.0\reader)
3. Right click the icon for AcroRd32.exe and select properties
4. Go to the Digital Signature tab
5. High light the certificate and click details
6. On the general tab click “view Certificate”
7. Click “Install certificate”
8. Follow the prompts from the wizard.
9. Import should show as being successful
10. Close File Explorer
11. Launch the .PDF file

Good luck!

Hi All,

This will turn into a two part post.  In this installment I am going to show you a weird way to fix this issue.  In the second post I will show a more common way

Let the weirdness begin!

If you have been having issues getting GP to allow Adobe reader to run you can try this trick we found recently

1. Try gpudate /force as the first thing to try. Steps below are only to be used in exceptional circumstances
2. Close any open Adobe windows
3. On the affected system navigate to the install location of Adobe reader (usually c:\program files (x86)\adobe\reader 11.0\reader)
4. Right click the icon for AcroRd32.exe and select properties
5. Go to the Digital Signature tab
6. High light the certificate and click details
7. On the general tab click “view Certificate”
8. Click on all 3 tabs. Then click Okay
9. Test if this solved the problem by closing open windows and trying to launch Reader
10. Click on details in the countersignature section
11. Click on all 3 tabs. Then click Okay
12. Close the properties dialogue and test again.

Looks like the news is true. The newest offering in the windows family is going to be limited to Windows store apps… for your security. Not sure how I feel about this

And there is currently no real tie in with the cloud. This branding could be an internal name and will not actually see the light of day but if it does this blogger hopes that the cloud tie in is there – add some cloud based apps and storage and you really have a wonderful, cheap and resource efficient device!

Here’s to hoping!

What the heck!? How have I not been blogging this until now!?

Sorry about that. In May there is a rumored release of Windows 10 Cloud. It will most likely be a stripped down version of the OS that will run on devices set to compete against Chromebooks.  So low powered, inexpensive devices that are targeted at some emerging markets and students.  Looks great!  I will keep digging into this and posting more as I learn more 🙂

Stay tuned

IE has a terrible cloud associated with it.  just mentioning the name in certain places will get you beaten up and left for dead in a silicone alley. Okay, exaggeration, but IT pros seem to have this phobic response to it. Edge is even worse. The poor little browser never even really had a chance.  If you use it you quickly come to like it.  It is my preferred browser when on a compatible device.  Microsoft is throwing everything they can at the little guy to keep it going. Now comes the green card.

Edge is the most power efficient browser when compared with Chrome and Firefox

Read it and weep!

“Over the past year we’ve introduced many new features in Windows 10 Mail and Calendar apps for users with Outlook.com accounts.  We’re now excited to bring these features to our users with Gmail accounts, so you can enjoy the best of what Windows 10 Mail and Calendar have to offer.”

Linux, Google, and so many others. it is really nice (and fun as an IT Pro) to see this new era of integration!

In February there were a bunch of new features released but you had to have an @outlook.com email address to use them.  In case you missed it they released: Focused Inbox, @mentions, richer experiences for travel reservations and package deliveries, and several other new features

Now these new features are also available for @gmail.com users as well

Keep the sharing going strong!

Microsoft has announced that Netflix will bring its newest service offering to the Windows 10 app.  This feature allows you to download certain movies and shows to your device. And you even get the option to select the video quality when you do the download.  It has been a long time coming since this has been a feature in other versions of Netflix (on Android most notably) for a while now.  It will make camping trips that much easier… if you camp with power and a laptop 😉

Happy trails!

So of all the things I have been asked to reboot this is the strangest.  To give some context this was found by my friend David Sharpe but was to good for me not to post.

A user was not able to remove some pinned applications from the task bar and Dave found a really neat solution.

Here is what to do

1. Create a text file named reboottaskbar.bat (if you are not sure how to do this I have posted in the past how to change file extensions but a quick Bing search will show you how to do it
2. Open the .BAT file
3. Add this as the contents:
   DEL /F /S /Q /A “%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\*”
   REG DELETE HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband /F
   taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
   start explorer.exe
4. Site back and watch the magic happen