Tutorial: How to make WSUS 3.0 Selfupdate work with Apache

The problem: You want to run Apache or another web server besides IIS on port 80 on a machine which is also running Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). When you disable IIS’s Default Web Site running on port 80, WSUS stops working normally and the following error is reported in the Event Log:

Event ID: 13042
Type: Error
Self-update is not working.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

The cause: While client machines use an IIS web site on port 8530 by default to interact with WSUS, some files are required to be accessible on port 80 as well.

The solution: Make the needed files available via Apache or the other web server you want to run on port 80.

Advertisement

Slow network file copying / moving / deleting in Windows Vista when playing audio (MMCSS)

File copying in Vista is, well, slow. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has been sitting there wondering what exactly Vista is doing while it spends 5 minutes “calculating the time remaining” to copy half a dozen files.

How to fix being unable to login to Windows XP after you image it

You just copied your Windows XP partition from one drive to another. When you reboot into the new partition, you reach the login screen, but when you try to login, it logs you straight out again with no error.

PartitionMagic Error 4444, NTFS and Windows Vista

If you’ve tried to use PartitionMagic 7 or 8 from Windows 2000/XP to image or alter a Vista partition, or to write something onto a drive that had a Vista partition on it, you might’ve been in for a shock.

Accessing the properties of the Vista partition from PartitionMagic will give you “Error #4444”. If you schedule a partition copy operation to run at reboot, you’ll get this error every time you reboot into Windows XP and won’t be able to reach the login screen.

In true Symantec-style, Symantec’s knowledge base only lists error codes upto 2999 (what, you don’t actually still use Norton Internet Security do you?!). Fortunately, Grintor (see forum link below) has the solution, and an explanation.

Tutorial: Bluetooth A2DP headphones (high quality stereo), Windows Vista, and cellphones

02-Aug-2007: Added information about using AVRCP with Winamp
24-Sep-2007: Added my experiences with the Toshiba Bluetooth stack
01-Oct-2007: Added information about WIDCOMM Stack 6.0.1.5100, Toshiba Stack 5.00.07 and 5.10.12, BlueSoleil Stack 5.0.5 build 178, an issue with installing the Broadcom/WIDCOMM 6.x drivers via the online web updater, and the References section.

---

Do you remember when Microsoft introduced Plug & Play back in Windows 95? They were already somewhat behind other platforms at the time with that concept, but, 12 years later, never let it be said that the art of messing around trying to get a simple piece of hardware to work on your PC has died! In this tutorial I’ll explain how to get Bluetooth Stereo headphones to work in Windows Vista before you throw them out of the window.

Tutorial: Using your phone as a Bluetooth modem in Windows Vista

In the past I’ve used my laptop as a Bluetooth LAN router, so that I could access the internet at home with my phone (which doesn’t have any WLAN capability), mainly to hear streaming audio in my headphones walking around the house without having to pay for 3G network access or a Bluetooth headset.

This article will take a look at the opposite problem – using your phone as a Bluetooth modem so that your PC or laptop can access the internet via your phone’s data connection (HSDPA, 3G/UMTS, EDGE or GPRS) – specifically, in Windows Vista.

NTFS Bad Sectors Resolution: The $BadClus metafile

UPDATE (20-May-2012): This post is now out of date as there are numerous better and automated solutions available. The article is presented here for historical and academic interest.

UPDATE (16-Apr-2007): If you are using Windows Vista, there is a new option in chkdsk – chkdsk x: /b – which will re-evaluate all the bad sectors on your drive and remove non-faulty sectors from the list. Please use this instead of the methods below if you have access to Vista!

UPDATE (14-Apr-2007): An anonymous contributor has pointed out a simpler way to fix the $BadClus cloning issue using a tool called ntfsprogs, which also takes into account a wider variety of scenarios than the exercise below. Check out the steps at Linux NTFS Project’s ntfsclone Wiki page and try this method before spending time on the solution below. After you’ve followed the steps on the Wiki page, boot into Windows and type chkdsk x: /f at the command prompt (where x: is the drive to repair). If you’re interested in learning about NTFS for educational purposes, read on! 🙂

---

I’d like to talk a little about the internals of NTFS (the filesystem used by all NT-based versions of Windows), particular regarding the management of bad sectors.

Tutorial: How To Fix WMI Corruption

You might not know what WMI is, and you probably don’t care. This article is for those of you who have applications that aren’t working properly or programs or updates that won’t install because of WMI problems.