Author: shantanu

After reading this guide you will be able to fix a problem where Device manager when opened shows no hardware listed or you may call it an empty device manager. This problem has been encountered in Windows XP, Vista & Windows 7. There are a few fixes that can sort this problem. Below is the list of solutions according to your operating system. Some of the solutions mentioned below apply to all Windows Operating system with just a few minor changes.

Universal Fixes

• System Restore ( Follow This Guide )
• Else
• System File Checker ( SFC )

• If you are using Windows XP, Insert the Windows CD / DVD into the drive. For Windows Vista & 7 CD /DVD is not needed.
• Go to run ( Windows Key + R )
• Type SFC /SCANNOW
• This will take sometime to complete.

Windows XP

Note: Before Editing Registry Follow this guide to Backup Your Registry

• Go to Start Menu
• Click on Run
• Type regedit
• Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
• Expand SYSTEM
• Expand CurrentControlSet
• Select Enum
• Click on Security , Permission menu
• Click Add
• Add the group Everyone and user SYSTEM
• Select Everyone
• Check Read only
• Select system
• Check Full Control
• Click the Advanced button ( at the bottom)
• Check Reset permissions on all child objects
• Click ok
• Click yes
• Close the Registry Editor

Windows 7 / Vista

• The very first steps should be to follow the universal repair procedure mentioned at the top of the guide.
• Use This guide to try Clean boot in Windows Vista, 7 
• Making a new user account

• Go to Control Panel
• Click User Accounts
• Click on Manage Another Account
• Click on Create a new account
• Select the type as Administrator
• Assign a new name & a password if required
• Log Off
• Login to the new account at the welcome window
• Check Device Manager

After reading this short article, you will be able to properly configure your Solid State Drive ( SSD ) for better performance in Windows Operating system. If you have a new SSD in your hands and you are thinking about Installing Windows on it, make sure that your drive is aligned properly & within your BIOS the controller or SATA type is set to AHCI. While booting from Windows Disk and just before you select the Disk Press Shift + F10 and follow this guide . Below are some tips that you can use to gain some performance boost when using SSD in Windows.

• Make Sure you are using your computer in AHCI mode.
• Turn off Defragment service. ( Start menu –> type Service.msc)
• Turn off indexing service ( SSD drives are fast enough and using indexing service is a waste of time )
• Some online blogs /sites suggest turning off Superfetch. I would suggest not to turn it off. I found performance degradation while the superfetch service was tunred off. ( Though It’s your wish )
• DO Not turn off write caching ( even if it’s not needed )
• Make Sure Trim is working on your Windows system

• To Check TRIM

• Go to Start Menu
• Type CMD
• Right Click CMD
• Run as Administrator
• 
• Now, on the Command Prompt
• Type fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify

• 
• If the result you get says DisableDeleteNotify=0
• Trim is Enabled
• In the end, make sure you drivers & Windows is up to date. Run Windows update to check.

After reading this you will be able to align the your Solid State Drive (SSD) or a conventional Hard Disk Drive ( HDD ). Disk partitioning is rather a easy task these days where Windows automatically determines the best settings and partitions your Drive into volumes of your choice. Though the thing to check is that whether your drive is aligned or not. Alignment applies both to SSD & HDD, though SSD performance is somewhat more increased with a aligned drive partition. Check out this guide to first check whether your drive is properly aligned or not. If not, follow the simple steps to align your drive.

Steps to Check Drive alignment

• Automated way

• Download this tool ( Click Here )
• Run the tool to check if your disk is properly aligned or not
• Manual Way

• Go to Start Menu
• Type CMD
• Right Click Command ( CMD ) displayed at the start menu search box
• Click Run as Administrator

• 
• Type diskpart
• Type List Disk
• Type Select Disk x  ( X being the number assigned to your drive ) example 0, 1 , 2.
• Check out the offset of the first partition & make sure it is divisible by 4 or 4096 ( KB )
• Follow the screenshot below

• 
• Guide to Align the Partition

• Reinstalling with proper Aligned Disk ( NOTE: This Operation will delete all your data, so take a backup first )

• Boot with the Windows Disk
• At the Drive Selection Menu Press Shift + F10 to bring up Command prompt
• Type Diskpart
• Type List Disk
• Type Select Disk x ( x being the number of your disk) ( Refer screenshot above)
• Type Clean ( Only use this command if you want to clean all partitions ) ( if you have multiple partitions and want to just delete one partition use the process below )
• Type List partition
• Select Partition x ( X being your primary partition )
• Delete partition
• Repeat the step if you have that 100 MB partition Windows makes.
• Now,
• Select Disk X ( X being the disk number )
• Create partition primary align=4096
• Active
• Select Disk x
• Select partition 0
• Format /fs:NTFS Quick

Note: You should perform a Secure Erase before following this guide to align & repartition if you are using a SSD. ( DO NOT FULL FORMAT THE SSD, EVER)

After reading this you will be able to solve the error messages saying “Access Denied” on your Windows Computer System, even with elevated / administrator privilege. There are quite a few reasons due to which you can receive these type of error messages. Some of the related error circumstances are :

• You Re-installed or upgraded Windows to a new version & now you cannot open or modify a folder.
• You have two Administrator accounts on the same PC & you cannot access single / few / multiple files or folders
• You have a multi-boot operating system environment and you cannot access files from a specific drive or folder.

Some of the best ways to rectify this problem are:

• Take ownership of the folder:

• Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.

• 
• Click the Security tab, click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.

• 
• Click Edit.  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
• Click the name of the person you want to give ownership to.
• Click OK.

• If you have upgraded from Windows XP to Vista or 7

• The location of Documents & Settings can now be found under Users folder .
• Another Solution can be to simply copy the files to a new location before trying to open them
• If your files are set as Read-only or Protected System Files

• Follow this Guide : Click here
• You are trying to read Encrypted Files

• Try going to Command Prompt

• Start menu –> type CMD –> Right Click –> Run as Administrator
• Navigate to the folder that you wish to read
• Type Cipher.exe /r

• Check your Drive for errors

• Sometimes a particular folder might not give you access if there is a file system error on the disk

• Right Click the Drive in Computer
• Go to Tools
• Check Now
• Check the Checkbox saying Automatically Fix File system errors
• Alternatively you can

• Run CHKDSK utility from the command prompt ( Run as Administrator )

After reading this you will be able to solve a STOP error or better known as Blue Screen Error in Windows 7, Vista & Windows XP. The stop error reads “ STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE “ . The error code might vary in a few cases, but the solutions remain the same.

Cause

• You updated your BIOS
• Changed the SATA Mode Option in BIOS to from IDE (SATA ) to AHCI.
• Hard Disk drive cable connection is loose ( desktop systems )
• Hard Disk Drive loose from the socket /Port ( Laptop  / portable computers )
• Bad Hard Disk Drive Connection cable
• Improper shutdown causes error in hard disk drive
• Virus or Malicious software has corrupted some files necessary for boot

Resolution

Windows XP

• Check the cable / Socket connection / Replace if necessary
• Boot from the Windows XP CD/DVD
• Select R when prompted ( Press R to repair )
• select partition
• Enter password
• On the command prompt type chkdsk /f
• After the disk check is complete
• type fixboot c:
• then type fixmbr c:
• type exit

Note: Make sure your SATA Mode option in BIOS is set to IDE or SATA only & not AHCI

Windows 7 & Vista

• Run Microsoft Fixit tool
• 
• Also, do check your hard disk drive connections / cable
• If you are familiar with computer hardware & think you can take out your hard disk drive, then take it out, plug it in another computer and scan hard disk for errors.

After reading this you will be able to fix some of the issues that might be affecting your laptop /notebook /netbook battery life. Battery life depends on a number of factors that includes selection of proper power plan, screen brightness, background programs, external devices, processor minimal power state & a few more.

This guide includes a few steps to optimize your portable computer to provide you with better battery life.

The First thing for Windows 7 and earlier version operating system users should do is that they should run the Microsoft Fix It tool: Click the image below:

After Running Microsoft Fix It try the steps below:

• Make sure all the USB powered devices that you don’t need are unplugged or set the devices to be turned off to save power, to do this follow :

• Go to Device Manager ( Control Panel )
• 
• Click on Universal Serial Bus Controllers
• 
• Right Click USB Root Hub & go to Properties
• 
• Make Sure the first option is checked
• Repeat for all USB Root Hubs in Device Manager
• Power Saving When Using Conventional Hard Disk Drives

• If you are using the conventional Mechanical Hard Disk Drives you should disable “ Turn Off Hard disk “ Option in Power Options
• To open power options
• Go to Control Panel –> Power Options
• Maintenance operation schedule

• Windows XP users should Defrag their hard disk drives at regular intervals.
• Windows 8, 7 & Vista users should check Maintenance options ( Action Center in Control Panel ) & make sure everything is running on schedule.
• Sounds

• For better Battery life you can disable sound scheme for Windows
• Control panel –> Sound
• Drivers

• Make sure your computer has all the latest device drivers installed.
• To update either run Windows Update or Visit your computer manufacturer’s website to get the updated Device drivers
• Make sure Power Management driver is installed
• Always use Balanced Power Plan
• Opt for Power Saver power plan when you are running out of battery and want that extra kick