Resolved: Error message Windows is unable to install to the selected location. Error: 0x80300001 after loading additional drivers

There is a very misleading/deceptive error that you might run into when installing various versions of the Windows operating system. It typically happens when you load additional drivers for raid controllers, fiber cards, SCSI controllers, etc. That error is:

Error: "Windows is unable to install to the selected location. Error: 0x80300001."

How to Turn On Debug Logging for Group Policy

When you are troubleshooting group policy issues, it's helpful to turn on some additional logging. Unfortunately, it's not just a simple switch you turn on. You have to know what you are doing to get those logs.

How To Remove The Root Hints from Windows DNS

I ran into a problem while I was locking down a Windows DNS server where I would remove the root hints, but they would keep coming back. I first thought it was because of the "root hints" updates that Microsoft releases every so often. In reality, it was because the root entries were listed in the %windir%\system32\dns\cache.dns file. If you comment out those root hints with a semicolon (including the lines that start with a period (.)), then remove the root hints from your DNS server properties in the DNS Manager MMC snap-in. They should stay away. An example of the cache.dns file after it's been commented out is below.

List all of the Microsoft Hotfixes Installed on a System

If you need to list all of the Microsoft hotfixes/patches that are installed on a system, you can run the command below from a command prompt. Add/Remove Programs does not list them all.

The Distributed Transaction Coordinator service terminated with service-specific error 3221229584 (0xC0001010).

If you get the following error in the system event logs while trying to start the Distributed Transaction Coordinator service, we can help.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7024
Description: The Distributed Transaction Coordinator service terminated with service-specific error 3221229584 (0xC0001010).

The IP Address You Have Entered for this Network Adapter is Already Assigned to Another Adapter

If you have ever replace and NIC card, either virtual or physical, and used the same static IP address as the old card had, you probably recognise the error below.

The IP address XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX you have entered for this network adapter is already assigned to another adapter <Name of adapter>. <Name of adapter> is hidden from the network and Dial-up Connections folder because it is not physically in the computer or is a legacy adapter that is not working. If the same address is assigned to both adapters and they become active, only one of them will use this address. This may result in incorrect system configuration.

Do you want to enter a different IP address for this adapter in the list of IP addresses in the advanced dialog box?

VMWare Console Window Blank

There's an issue with Data Execution Prevention (DEP) in Windows that causes you to get a black empty screen , or a white blank screen while trying to connect to a VMWare console using the VSphere client, or the Virtual Infrastructure Client (VIC). You might also be presented with one of the following errors

• Unable to get the window handle for the 'AxQuickMksAxCtl' control. Windowless ActiveX controls are not supported.
• Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation

How to Configure Windows Event Logs as SNMP Traps

There are a lot of different monitoring suites out there that monitor servers by using SNMP traps. If you want to be alerted when a specific error or warning occurs in any of your event logs, you need to configure those events to send an SNMP trap.

To do this, you need to launch %windir%\system32\evntwin.exe to start configuring them. That opens up a window like this.

Tips on How to Free Disk Space on Your PC or Server

I have noticed a lot of people on the internet having issues with their hard drives filling up "mysteriously" and they are not sure what to do to reclaim some of that disk space. I've already written a handful of articles that touch on various consumers of disk space, so I am going to bring all of them together in one place for your convenience. I will keep adding to this page as I write more articles that are along these same lines.