AMD Catalyst drivers BSOD installing on Dell Optiplex computers

I've ran into this problem at least a hundred times. The AMD catalyst drivers will BSOD installing on dell computers. We typically buy optiplex machines, so for me it occurs most often there. I found the answer to this problem here. Thanks to TravEdmondOK for this simple fix!

To fix this:

1. Uninstall any ATI drivers on your system.
2. Run the CCC installer but I suggest canceling after it extracts the files.
3. Navigate to: C:\ATI\Support\10-x_vista64_wi n7_64_dd_ccc_enu\Config
4. EDIT InstallManager.cfg
5. Change WorkaroundInstall=false to WorkaroundInstall=true
6. Run Setup.exe and the CCC should install without a problem

Answered by TravEdmondOK on September 16, 2010.

Dell XPS 17 L702X LCD screen flickers!

I started having this problem on my laptop. It only happens on battery. A search told me that others were having this issue as well. It has something to do with 60hz refresh.

Solution: Go into the Intel graphics properties and change the screen refresh from 60hz to 40hz and the flicker will go away. I don't know when this problem started happening, perhaps within a few months ago but this fixes it.

SCCM 2007 multicast settings for HP Procurve switches

The settings I have found to work well for both 100mb and Gigabit clients are:
ApBlockSize: 2251 (8785)
TpCacheSize: 4a6 (1190)
TpExpWindowSize: 2 (2)
TpMaxWindowSize: 8 (8)
TpMulticastTTL: 10 (16)

Also if you're using HP procurve switches, change the multicast range to 239.0.1.1 to 239.0.1.254. Otherwise the HP switches won't see the traffic as multicast and your switches will flood your ports with excessive traffic.

Also ensure igmp is enabled on your switches.

Error 2753: Adobe Flash Player Active x or Plugin "not marked for installation"

I was pushing out flash updates using SCCM 2007 and the exit code on a few computers was 1603, failure non retry! argh.

After testing the installer locally on the problematic computer, no amount of uninstallating/reinstalling would solve the issue. I finally succeeded with the update. After uninstalling all flash player items, you need to find and remove all flash related registry items here:
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\

You'll need to go down them individually (or search) and delete them. Once that is done close all browser windows and launch the installers again. It should succeed this time.

Give users access to install fonts in Windows 7 Enterprise

Log on as administrator. Open command prompt as admin.

attrib -r -s %systemroot%\fonts

takeown /f "%systemroot%\fonts" /r /d n

(optional - gives administrators full rights on the fonts folder):  icacls "%systemroot%\fonts" /grant administrators:F /t

You can now add or change permissions on the Fonts folder like any regular folder.

Give user(s) modify access to %systemroot%\Fonts

icacls "%systemroot%\fonts" /grant USERNAMEorGROUP:M /t

Give user(s) modify access to %systemroot%\system32\FNTCACHE.dat

icacls "%systemroot%\system32\FNTCACHE.dat" /grant USERNAMEorGROUP:M /t

Give user(s) modify access to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Fonts

Remotely help someone without paying for a subscription

Go To join.me to allow others to control your windows computer! It's super easy and free. They only need to install the plugin when prompted. Collabradabra!

problems with sccm client not communicating

I tried uninstalling the sccm 2007 client using ccmsetup.exe /uninstall. Even after the reinstall via the config manager console it still doesn't work.

Solution: uninstall the client AND remove the SMSCFG.ini file in c:\windows folder. Then reinstall the client.

Sweet!

SCCM: creating a collection based on installed software

I found this tip here (Thank you Kent);
http://blog.coretech.dk/kea/query-to-find-computers-without-net-framework-35-sp1-installed/

Query to all computers with .Net Framework SP1 installed

select distinct SMS_R_System.Name from  SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS on SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.ResourceID = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.DisplayName = "Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1"

Query to find all computer without .Net Framework SP1 installed

select distinct SMS_R_System.Name from  SMS_R_System where SMS_R_System.Name not in (select distinct SMS_R_System.Name from  SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS on SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.ResourceId = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.DisplayName = "Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1")

The tricky part of this query is creating the second part. You must use a subselected value where the attribute class is system resource and the attribute is Name. In Operator select Is not in and Browse to the query you created first.