tinyapps.org / blog

Virtualizing Snow Leopard #

/mac | Sep 11, 2016

Automatically prompt for elevated permissions when running a batch script #

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Automatically check & get admin rights V2
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
@echo off
CLS
ECHO.
ECHO =============================
ECHO Running Admin shell
ECHO =============================

:init
setlocal DisableDelayedExpansion
set "batchPath=%~0"
for %%k in (%0) do set batchName=%%~nk
set "vbsGetPrivileges=%temp%\OEgetPriv_%batchName%.vbs"
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion

:checkPrivileges
NET FILE 1>NUL 2>NUL
if '%errorlevel%' == '0' ( goto gotPrivileges ) else ( goto getPrivileges )

:getPrivileges
if '%1'=='ELEV' (echo ELEV & shift /1 & goto gotPrivileges)
ECHO.
ECHO **************************************
ECHO Invoking UAC for Privilege Escalation
ECHO **************************************

ECHO Set UAC = CreateObject^("Shell.Application"^) > "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
ECHO args = "ELEV " >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
ECHO For Each strArg in WScript.Arguments >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
ECHO args = args ^& strArg ^& " "  >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
ECHO Next >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
ECHO UAC.ShellExecute "!batchPath!", args, "", "runas", 1 >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
"%SystemRoot%\System32\WScript.exe" "%vbsGetPrivileges%" %*
exit /B

:gotPrivileges
setlocal & pushd .
cd /d %~dp0
if '%1'=='ELEV' (del "%vbsGetPrivileges%" 1>nul 2>nul  &  shift /1)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::START
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
REM Run shell as admin (example) - put here code as you like
ECHO %batchName% Arguments: %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
cmd /k

/windows | Sep 04, 2016

Recover Windows product key from BIOS / UEFI #

1. Boot via Windows installation media (DVD, USB flash drive, etc)

2. When the "Windows Setup" window appears, press Shift + F10 to open a command prompt

3. Launch one of these tools from the command prompt to retrieve product key from BIOS / UEFI:

   1. Windows OEM Product Key Tool 1.1 - Purpose-built app; simply returns the product key

   2. FirmwareTablesView - Displays list of firmware tables; look for "MSDM" under Signature column or "Microsoft Software Licensing Table" under Description column

   3. RWEverything - Digs deep for a plethora of hardware details; head to ACPI > MSDM > Data.

4. To identify which version of Windows the recovered product key corresponds to:

   1. Ultimate PID Checker - Works with product keys from XP through 8 (not 8.1); runs inside the Windows installation environment

   2. ShowKeyPlus - Works with product keys from Windows 7 through 10; does not run inside the Windows installation environment

For OEM computers still shipping with Windows 7 or 8.1 (slated to end on October 31, 2016), the firmware-embedded product key likely differs from the product key on the hard drive. Recover the latter with ProduKey.

For more information on embedded product keys, see Windows 10 Embedded Product Key Tool and Where is my Windows product key, and how can I tell that my Windows installation is genuine?

/windows | Sep 04, 2016

Booting Dell Venue 10 Pro 5055 from USB device #

1. With the Venue turned off, hold the volume button down.
2. Turn on the Venue
3. When the BIOS / UEFI screen appears, let go of the volume button
4. Tap "Boot" > "Secure Boot" > "Disabled"
5. Tap "File Browser Add Boot Option" > select .efi file on a bootable FAT32-formatted device (e.g., tap "USB: DataTraveler 2.0" > "Select Media File" menu appears > tap "efi" > "boot" > "bootia32.efi") > "Input File Name" menu appears > enter desired name (e.g., "USBFlash") > tap Return > Ok
6. Change "Boot Option Priorities" if desired, or simply reboot while holding the volume button up for the "Boot Options" menu.

Sources:

• Comment by dprice7 in Dell Venue 8 Pro: How to boot to USB? thread
• Hard drive (frugal) installation of Fatdog64 on a computer with UEFI and secure boot
• Comment by PCR Just PCR in How to Add CD/DVD boot option to UEFI boot order thread

/windows | Sep 04, 2016

Google Chrome: Reenable backspace to go back in OS X #

While there are a lot of extensions for restoring backspace (delete on Mac keyboards) to its former glory, why trust an extension when this simple command line argument works?

--enable-blink-features=BackspaceDefaultHandler --test-type

Under Windows, this is as simple as changing the shortcut Target from

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"

to

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --enable-blink-features=BackspaceDefaultHandler --test-type

Here are two methods for passing the argument to Chrome under OS X:

Bash: open -b com.google.Chrome --args --enable-blink-features=BackspaceDefaultHandler --test-type

AppleScript: do shell script "open -b com.google.Chrome --args --enable-blink-features=BackspaceDefaultHandler --test-type"

Save either command and run in lieu of Google Chrome.app to restore backspace functionality.

On a related note, here is how to find bundle identifiers / bundle IDs (CFBundleIdentifier):

• Find bundle identifier for Google Chrome.app:
  • $ mdls -name kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier -r /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/
    com.google.Chrome
  • $ mdls /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app | grep kMDItemCF
    kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = "com.google.Chrome"
• Find the application associated with "com.google.Chrome" bundle ID:
  • $ mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = "com.google.Chrome"
    /Applications/Google Chrome.app

/mac | Aug 28, 2016

Windows 7 install error: "A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing" #

While attempting to install Windows 7 on a Dell Optiplex 3040 Micro, the following error appeared:

A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please insert it now.

Note: If the Windows installation media is in the CD/DVD drive, you can safely remove it for this step.

Browse | OK | Cancel

(As it turns out, the problem is caused by a missing USB 3.0 driver, so installing via USB floppy, CD/DVD, flash drive, etc was not possible.)

Browsing for a driver on the virtual X: drive returned:

No device drivers were found. Make sure that the installation media contains the correct drivers, and then click OK.

Reports online did not sound promising, e.g.: 'No device drivers were found' error when installing windows 7 on new computer "FINAL EDIT - If you're here for answers, while nothing here worked for me, that doesn't mean it won't work for you, so I suggest you try everything here if you can. What I ended up doing is giving up on windows 7 and instead installed windows 10.").

Coming up with a working solution took more time than anyone else should ever have to invest in this issue again. Here's what worked for me:

1. Format a USB drive as NTFS. If necessary, use diskpart.exe:

   1. list disk

   2. select disk x, where x is the number assigned to your USB drive

   3. clean

   4. create partition primary

   5. select partition 1

   6. active

   7. format fs=ntfs quick

   8. assign

   9. exit

2. Copy files and folders from Windows 7 ISO or DVD to USB drive

3. Download Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver and extract contents

4. Download, install, and run NTLite

5. Click "Add" > "Image folder" > select drive letter of USB drive (E: in the example that follows) > click "Select Folder"

6. Under "Operating systems | install.wim", right click the version of Windows that corresponds to your license and then click "Load":

   

7. Once loading has completed, click "Drivers" in the left-hand column:

   

8. Click "Add" > "Folder with multiple drivers" > browse to the folder containing extracted driver(s) > click "Select Folder"

9. Click "Apply" in left-hand column > click green "Process" button at top left > "Yes"

10. When processing is complete, click "Source" in the left-hand column to return to the main window

11. Repeat steps 6 through 10 for the two entries under "Boot/Setup | boot.wim" (in the screenshots above, they are "Microsoft Windows PE (x86)" and "Windows 7 Setup")

12. If desired, make an ISO image of the USB drive (for burning to DVD-R, etc) by right clicking E: under "Image history" and then clicking "Create ISO"

13. The USB drive or ISO image can now be used to install Windows 7 on the affected computer (see below for a list of all affected Dell models)

Notes

• Dell explains the cause here: Dell systems with the Intel Skylake or Braswell Chipset cannot boot to Dell Windows 7 media due to no USB 2.0 but the NTLite directions are incomplete (as of August 21, 2016) to the point of being virtually useless. In an update to their post, Dell recommends using instead:

• Intel's Windows 7 USB 3.0 Creator Utility ("This utility automates the process to create a Windows 7 installation image to include USB 3.0 drivers. The new installation image can then be used to install Windows 7 on Intel® NUC products that have only USB 3.0 ports."). However, it would crash towards the end of the process and the image it created did not include the necessary USB 3.0 driver. Also, it only runs under Windows 8.1 or higher (?!) and (according to the instructions) requires Windows USB/DVD Download Tool (which Microsoft inexplicably hosts at http://wudt.codeplex.com/ and last updated in 2009), which requires Microsoft .NET Framework v2 and Microsoft Image Mastering API v2! Since v2 does not run under Windows 8.1, 3.5 was tried, but ultimately the Download Tool did not work out (nor did Rufus), though this could have been caused by running in a virtual machine (which worked fine for the process outlined above).

• Fiddling with the scant USB and virtualization options in the BIOS did not avail.

• Old timers will note the similarity between this issue and the Windows XP / SATA install problem from yesteryear.

• Before piecing together the above procedure, used this old workaround:

  1. Remove SATA HDD from Optiplex 3040 and install into generic PC.

  2. Install Windows 7 normally

  3. Shutdown at initial welcome screen (Shift+F10, shutdown -t 1 -s)

  4. Boot generic PC once more from Windows 7 installer and use regedit to switch from IDE to AHCI mode if necessary:

     1. Shift+F10 > regedit.exe

     2. Load \windows\system32\config\system (which corresponds to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\)

     3. Navigate to ControlSet001\services\msahci and change "Start" DWORD value from 3 to 0.

     4. Repeat step c for ControlSet002\services\msahci

     5. Copy missing drivers to SATA HDD

  5. Reinstall SATA HDD into Optiplex 3040 - Windows boots normally. Install missing drivers.

• Here is the current list of affected Dell computers: Latitude E7270, Latitude E7470, Latitude 3470, Latitude 3570, Latitude E5270, Latitude E5470, Latitude E5570, Latitude 7370, Latitude 7414 Rugged, Latitude 7214 Rugged, Latitude 5414 Rugged, Optiplex 7440 AIO, Optiplex 3240 AIO, Optiplex 7040, Optiplex 5040, Optiplex 3040, Precision Tower 3620, Precision Tower 3420, Precision MPWS 7510, Precision MPWS 7710, Precision MPWS 3510, XPS 9550, XPS XPS 13 9350, XPS 8900, Inspiron NB 7559, Inspiron NB 3452/3552, Inspiron NB 3459/3559, Vostro NB 5459, Inspiron DT 3059, Inspiron DT 3459, Inspiron DT 5459, Inspiron DT 3650, Inspiron DT 3250, Vostro DT 3650, Vostro DT 3653, Vostro DT 3250, Vostro DT 5450

Updates

/windows | Aug 21, 2016

All empty boats #

If a man is crossing a river
and an empty boat
collides with his own boat,
he won’t get offended or angry,
however hot-tempered he may be.
But if the boat is manned,
he may flare up, shouting and cursing,
just because there’s a rower.

Realize that all boats are empty
as you cross the river of the world,
and nothing can possibly offend you.

From chapter 43 of Stephen Mitchell's The Second Book of the Tao

/misc | Jul 19, 2016

Missing photos after upgrading iPhoto 6 to iPhoto 9.6.1 or Photos 1.5 #

Issue:

1. Old Mac running OS X 10.6.8 with iPhoto 6 library containing 5,238 items
2. Imported data, including iPhoto Library, to new Mac running OS X 10.11.5 and Photos 1.5. via Migration Assistant.
3. Photos Library displayed only 1,794 photos (through September 2010), even though all photos were found in ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/Masters and ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/Previews.
4. Deleted Photo Library and iPhoto Library, manually copied iPhoto Library from old Mac again, relaunched both iPhoto and Photos - same result.
5. Attempting to run iPhoto Library Upgrader 1.1 (which "prepares libraries from iPhoto 7 or earlier so they can be upgraded with the current version of iPhoto") on yet another copy of the original iPhoto Library returned "Your library can open with the current version of iPhoto and does not need to be prepared with this tool."
6. Rebuilding the iPhoto library on both the old and new Mac (by holding down Command and Option while starting iPhoto, etc) did not help.
7. Opening yet another copy of the original iPhoto Library in iPhoto Library Manager showed only the same 1,794 photos and misidentified the library as an iPhoto 8 library.

Resolution:

1. Copied original iPhoto Library to a third Mac running OS X 10.6.8 and iPhoto 6 (all 5,238 items appeared in iPhoto).
2. Installed iPhoto Library Manager 3.8.6 (for Mac OS X 10.5.8 and iPhoto 7.1.5 and earlier).
3. iPhoto Library Manager.app > File > Rebuild Library. As Christoph Bartneck explains, "The software has a tool to recover corrupted libraries. But it works differently from Apple’s approach. It starts with a fresh clean library and imports all the photos, including their meta data, such as location, faces, date. It also manages to rebuild albums and folders."
4. Copied rebuilt iPhoto Library to new Mac running OS X 10.11.5.
5. Ran iPhoto Library Upgrader 1.1 (which now ran normally intead of returning "Your library can open with the current version of iPhoto and does not need to be prepared with this tool" as above).
6. Opened the upgraded iPhoto Library in iPhoto 9.6.1, which reported "This photo library needs to be upgraded to work with this version of iPhoto." After the upgrade process, all 5,238 items (including albums, metadata, etc) appeared intact!
7. Opened Photos.app which imported the entire iPhoto Library successfully.

/mac | Jul 18, 2016

Copy actual URLs from Google search results, not nested nonsense #

• Google Revives Redirect Snoopery
• Why does Google Search use redirects instead of direct links?
• "Real" link to file in Google search results?
• How To Copy Crap-Free URLs From Google’s Search Results
• Copy raw link found by Google search, not the one with extra redirect added
• Turning off Google search results indirection
• Google copy link location annoyance?

• Clean Links (Firefox) "Converts obfuscated or nested links to genuine clean links."
• Copy Real Url (Chrome) "Provides an option to copy the real link on Google Search, Yahoo Search, Facebook Chat and Hangouts instead of redirecting url"

/misc | Jul 10, 2016

Stop ransomware process and dump memory to extract key #

• Source code
• Video of Anti Ransom in action
• Article from the creator | English translation

/windows | Jul 09, 2016

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