Windows 8.1 Windows update hangs forever and never updates.

I have ran into this problem on just about every computer i run windows 8.1 on. Here are all the methods I've found for fixing the issue:

1. Run this script in safemode:

"net stop bits
net stop wuauserv
net stop appidsvc
net stop cryptsvc

pause

Ren %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak
Ren %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 catroot2.bak

pause

sc.exe sdset bits D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)
sc.exe sdset wuauserv D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)

pause

regsvr32.exe atl.dll
regsvr32.exe urlmon.dll
regsvr32.exe mshtml.dll
regsvr32.exe shdocvw.dll
regsvr32.exe browseui.dll
regsvr32.exe jscript.dll
regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll
regsvr32.exe scrrun.dll
regsvr32.exe msxml.dll
regsvr32.exe msxml3.dll
regsvr32.exe msxml6.dll
regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll
regsvr32.exe softpub.dll
regsvr32.exe wintrust.dll
regsvr32.exe dssenh.dll
regsvr32.exe rsaenh.dll
regsvr32.exe gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32.exe sccbase.dll
regsvr32.exe slbcsp.dll
regsvr32.exe cryptdlg.dll
regsvr32.exe oleaut32.dll
regsvr32.exe ole32.dll
regsvr32.exe shell32.dll
regsvr32.exe initpki.dll
regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll
regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll
regsvr32.exe wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll
regsvr32.exe wups.dll
regsvr32.exe wups2.dll
regsvr32.exe wuweb.dll
regsvr32.exe qmgr.dll
regsvr32.exe qmgrprxy.dll
regsvr32.exe wucltux.dll
regsvr32.exe muweb.dll
regsvr32.exe wuwebv.dll

pause

netsh winsock reset

pause

netsh winhttp reset proxy

pause

net start bits
net start wuauserv
net start appidsvc
net start cryptsvc

pause

sfc /scannow

pause"

2.  You could install these 2 updates (they install an newer version of the windows update client):

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53334

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3138615

3. Or you can try your luck with the troubleshooter utility built into windows 8.1:

Press the windows key and type "Troubleshooting" and press enter

Then click "Fix problems with Windows Update"

Click "Advanced" and then "Run as administrator"

and follow the prompt

How to Activate Windows 8.1 with Windows 10 OEM key

KB3044374 is the windows update that allows windows 8.1 to activate with a windows 10 OEM key. (I verified this on 2 computers)

1. A way to cleanly install and activate windows 8.1 on these computers.

Go to https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Home.aspx and download KB3044374
Once downloaded install the update and windows should activate automatically

2. To automate to process using windows deployment tools

Once you have done that take a windows 8.1 installation media and extract the "install.wim" and "boot.wim" files from it and save them somewhere
Then take KB3044374 you downloaded and inject it into install.wim file using these commands:

dism /mount-wim /wimfile:C:\Path_To_wim\install.wim /mountdir:C:\Mount_Point /index:1

dism /image:"C:\Mount_point" /Add-Package /PackagePath:"C:\Path_to_updates"

dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:C:\Mount_point /commit

These commands will mount the wim file, inject KB3044374, and dismount the wim file
Use the updated wim file to install windows 8.1 and it wiil accept the windows 10 OEM key automatically
One final note if you are trying to inject KB3044374 from windows 7 you will need to use the copy of dism included on the windows 8.1 installation media under sources because the version of dism on windows 7 is incorrect


If the above doesn't work simply run windows update after the installation and install all of the updates. Once that is done download this tool:
 https://github.com/Superfly-Inc/ShowKeyPlus/releases

and use the OEM Key to activate your copy of windows. You may need to enter a product key in order to complete the installation, if you are asked for a product key you can enter one of the ones listed here as a place holder until you are able to install the windows updates and enter the correct one:
 https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx

If you are using WDS to install Windows 8.1 then you can enter the generic product key into the answer file under amd64_Microsoft-Windows-Setup_neutral > UserData > ProductKey

 
If you want to try to automate the activation you can do it with this bat file: @echo off setlocal enableextensions for /f "tokens=*" %%a in ( 'get_win8key.exe' ) do ( set myvar=%%a ) slmgr.vbs //B -ipk %myvar% slmgr //B -ato

You can get the get_win8key.exe tool from here:

https://github.com/christian-korneck/get_win8key

Office 365.....

So recently the company I work for moved to office 365........ Even thought i told them it would be a bad idea. But anyway we have it now and that is that and as i look around the web I'm find lots of other people who are in the same boat so I have decided to write a post on what I have learned about 365.


1. Kaspersky hates it.

During the online installation Kaspersky will go nuts scanning all the files being downloaded by the install and it really slows down the install process..... alot. The only fix i have found for this is to temperately disable Kaspersky (I normally do it for 30mins or so).

Also if you are getting a computer ready for a new user and it needs Kaspersky and 365 on it  you are in for a treat. If you install Kaspersky first the 365 installer takes forever if you install 365 first kaspersky has trouble doing the network install from the management server (normally only getting to 50% in the installation process and then stopping).

The way I have been dealing with this is by installing 365 first then in the Kaspersky management server deleting the target computer from Unassigned computers>Domains "YourDomainName" and Workgroup then you can normally run the installer without issue.(Normally)

2. File Extensions-

Well  this is a tricky issue. After installing 365 you loose all of your office file extensions and none of your office apps show up in the default programs list. So far I have only found 2 ways to fix this.

Method 1: manually find all the office extensions and map them to the correct exe. For example:
Find a .doc file right click on it go to open with and "choose default program" then click on browse and navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15 and find WINWORD.EXE. The problem with doing it this way is that it is time consuming but it will always work.

Method 2: Microsoft suggests you run the repair tool to fix the problem. In order to do this go to Control Panel then open "Add or Remove Programs"  Click on Microsoft Office 365 (it may also show up as 2013) and click the change button and choose online repair wait for it to completely finish the repair and try to open your files again. The problem with this method is sometimes it fails and uninstalls 365 from your computer.

3. Limited offline usage.

Once a user is offline they only have a limited amount of time to use their office apps(I believe 3 days) after that 365 states that need to renew your subscription and wont let you use office until you are back online.

4. Aero Themes can cause errors in outlook

I have ran into cases where users will not be able to open outlook at all when they use Aero themes in windows 7.
Outlook will start opening but never make it past the part where it says its loading their profile. Most of the time switching to a basic theme will fix this issue.

These are the main issues I have found. If you know of more or if you know of better fixes please let me know.

Retrieve Dell Service Tags Remotely!!!

This is a trick I love so much and use all the time. Thru command Line there is a way to get Dell Service Tags Remotely with-out disturbing the user. I know right pretty sweet.

1. Click start and type CMD
2. Right click on command prompt and run as administrator
3. In command Prompt type: wmic /user:admin-account /node:remote-computer bios get serialnumber and hit enter
4. type in the password for the admin account and hit enter 
5. YOUR DONE!!

Yeah its that easy!!

Exporting Power Profiles

 This is a simple task that can save you time when bringing up a new computer or even if you are in a corporate environment imaging several computers at the same time. I will be writing this how to for windows 7 users but the same thing should work in windows 8

1. Click start
2. Type CMD into the search bar
3. Right-click on CMD.exe and choose  "Run as Administrator"
4. In there you need to input: powercfg list
5. A list of power profiles will come up look for the one you want to export and copy the GUID for it (long string of numbers and letters)
6. Now you need to type powercfg -export "%UserProfile%\Desktop\What you want to call your power profile.pow" GUID
7. Now you need to copy the .pow file you just made over to your new computer
8.  On the new computer open CMD the same way you did it before and type:
powercfg -import "Path to the copied .pow file"
9. Press enter and you are done all you need to do now is go into the power settings and select the profile you just created.

YOU DON'T NEED WINZIP!!!

 I've started to notice that a lot of people still use WinZip. From large companies to home users all still using this awful outdated piece of software to do something that windows has the ability to do out of the box. Thats right I said windows can do it WITHOUT any third party software and better yet ITS SO EASY!

Here is how:

Zipping

1. Take the file or folder that you want to zip and right click it.
2. Go to send to and click "Compressed (Zipped) Folder"
3. And your done!

Un-Zipping

1. Right click on the file you want to un-zip
2. Click Extract All
3. Choose where you would like to extract to files to
4. Click Extract and you're done

How to Reactivate and change the password of the local Administrator account in Windows 7

So lets say you or a user forgets their password and can't log in. Well we can get around that using something called the Sticky Keys method.

For this you will need a Windows 7 installation cd or some other Windows 7 install media (I used our PXE server at work) and thats it.

Step 1. Boot your windows installation media.

Step 2. Once booted hit Shift+F10 and a command prompt window should open up.

Step 3. Switch to the windows system partition (normally D: with windows 7).

Step 4. Type the following commands:

copy D:\windows\system32\sethc.exe D:\

copy /y c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe

This will replace Sticky Keys (which is accessible at the login screen) with Command Prompt! 

Step 5. Reboot to windows login.

Step 6. Once there hit the Shift key 5 times and Command Prompt should pop up (if not please repeat steps 1-4)

Step 7. Now you may just need to reset your account password if thats all you have to do then just use this:
net user your_user_name new_password

But, If you need to enable and reset the built in Administrator account then you will need to do this:
net user Administrator /Active:yes

Step 8. Once the account is active you can reset the password by using this command:
net user Administrator new_password

Step 9. Login and enjoy! 



I hope everyone finds this helpful. Thanks for reading