DVD/CD DRIVES NOT SHOWING UP IN WINDOWS EXPLORER - WINDOWS XP FIX

If you can't see your optical drives (CD/DVD Drives/Writers) in My Computer window, follow these solutions to fix the issue.


OPTION 1

a) Right click on my computer (or type diskmgmt.msc on run window: on this way you can go to step d directly)
b) Click on manage 
c) then click on disk management 
d) then right click on your device - DVD/CD
e) select Change Drive letter and path
f) Assign a Drive letter.

OPTION 2

1.Go to start, run and type regedit. Locate the key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.

2.Locate the values on the right for UpperFilters, and/or LowerFilters. Remove these values; then reboot your computer. Be careful here, there are very few second chances when it comes to the registry.

3.Restart the Computer 


OPTION 3

If you cant find the above registry key , Open Command Prompt as Administrator, and copy the below code and press enter to add. Restart the computer
reg.exe add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Controller0" /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001

OPTION 4

1. Open Device Manager using devmgmt.msc command and enable "View -> Show hidden devices" option. Now locate the DVD/CD-ROM drives and IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers items.

2. Right-click on each entry present under both "DVD/CD-ROM drives" and "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" sections one bye one and select Uninstall.

3. Once all have been removed, right-click again and select Scan for hardware changes.

The drives will be rediscovered and when the drivers are loaded back, the drives will re-appear in My Computer window.

4. Restart your computer.

ACTIVE DIRECTORY: MANAGING USERS AND GROUPS WITH POWERSHELL

Automate Active Directory PowerShell scripts

"To use the Microsoft cmdlets, you must have a Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller (DC), or you can download and install the Active Directory Management Gateway Service on legacy DCs."

“Download Remote Server Administration Tools on client machine”

Open Programs in Control Panel and select Turn Windows Features On or Off. Scroll down to Remote Server Administration Tools and expand Role Administration Tools D DS and AD LDS Tools > Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell. Enable Active Directory Module.

Open the PowerShell console and type the following command to see which commands are in the module:

PS> Get-Command -Module ActiveDirectory

"User name Taken for the below commands -Tmantra"

 

·       Find Users

PS> Get-AdUser -Identity 'Tmantra'

·       Create Users

$NewUserParameters = @{
    'GivenName' = 'Tech'
    'Surname' = 'Mantra'
    'Name' = 'Tmantra'
    'AccountPassword' = (ConvertTo-SecureString 'p@$$w0rd10' -AsPlainText -Force)
    'ChangePasswordAtLogon' = $true
}

New-AdUser @NewUserParameters

·       Add users to Groups

Add-AdGroupMember -Identity 'Manager' -Members 'Tmantra'

·       Delete a User

Remove-ADUser Tmantra -whatif

·       Reset a User Password

PS C:\> $newpwd = Read-Host "Enter the new password" -AsSecureString

 Enter the new password:

PS C:\> Set-ADAccountPassword Tmantra -NewPassword $newpwd –Reset

·       Disable and Enable User account

PS C:\> Disable-ADAccount Tmantra

PS C:\> Enable-ADAccount Tmantra

·       Unlock User Account

PS C:\> Unlock-ADAccount Tmantra

Automate Creation of Users

We can combine these commands when the human resources department provides a CSV file that lists new users to create in Active Directory. The CSV file might look like this:

"FirstName","LastName","UserName"
"Adam","Bertram","abertram"
"Joe","Jones","jjones"

To create these users, write a script that invokes the New-AdUser command for each user in the CSV file. Use the built-in Import-Csv command and a foreach loop in PowerShell to go through the file and give users the same password.

Import-Csv -Path C:\Employees.csv | foreach {

    $NewUserParameters = @{

        'GivenName' = $_.FirstName

        'Surname' = $_.LastName

        'Name' = $_.UserName

        'AccountPassword' = (ConvertTo-SecureString 'p@$$w0rd10' -AsPlainText -Force)

    }

    New-AdUser @NewUserParameters

}

How to turn off Windows Update in Windows 10

If you face slowdown of computer due to updates downloading and installing in the background, the following tips will help you to turn off Windows updates in Windows 10

OPTION 1  SET AS METERED CONNECTION

Setting your network connection to ‘Metered’, stops Windows 10 from automatically downloading the Updates. 

Settings app > Network & Internet > WiFi > Advanced options. Move slider to On position for Set as metered connection.

OPTION 2  DISABLING WINDOWS UPDATE SERVICE


By disabling the windows update service you can also disable Automatic Updates from Microsoft.

Control Panel  >  All Control Panel Items > Administrative Tools >  Services.

Find windows update service from the list > Right Click on the service > Properties >  Startup Type > Select Disabled.

note: you will have to go to the Services and turn it on once in a while to download and update your copy of Windows.

OPTION 3  GROUP POLICY

Run > gpedit and navigate to the following policy setting:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update.

On the right-side, double-click on Configure Automatic Updates and change it to disabled

Windows 10 Keyboard Shortcuts

1. Win + I

Using this simple shortcut you can quickly open the All Settings window. Since Microsoft is
slowly unifying all the control panel items with the modern Settings app, this is one of the
most useful shortcuts of Windows 10

2. Win + A

Using the keyboard shortcut “Win + A,” you can easily open and see all the current
notifications in the panel. There is no need to click on that small icon on the taskbar.

3. Win + S

Using the keyboard shortcut , Cortana launches in the keyboard input mode which simply means that you can type in your search query, and Cortana will search for it both in your PC and on the Web.

4. Win + C

This shortcut will launch Cortana in the listening mode.

5. Win + Ctrl + D

Using this quick keyboard shortcut, you can create and open a new virtual desktop.

6. Win + Ctrl + Left / Right Arrow Keys

If you have multiple virtual desktops opened for different works, then use this keyboard
shortcut to navigate between the virtual desktops.

7. Win + Ctrl + F4

You can use this shortcut to quickly close a virtual desktop. Don’t worry – any opened
programs in the virtual desktop will be transferred to the main desktop workspace.

8. Win + Tab

which displays all your opened programs and your virtual desktops.

10. Win + Arrow Keys

You can use the “Win +Arrow Keys” shortcut to quickly snap windows to any corner of you screen.

11. Win + G

Game DVR is one of the lesser known tools, but it is one of the best video capture tools
added to Windows 10. Using this handy shortcut, you can quickly open the Game DVR
tool and start recording. Though this tool is particularly aimed at gamers, it can also be
used to quickly record other programs. However, you cannot record the entire screen, just
a single program window.

12. Win + Alt + G

If you want to quickly start recording the activity in the current program or game window,
then use this shortcut. It will launch the Game DVR and start recording the activity of the
active window.

13. Win + Alt + R

After starting the Game DVR, you can use this quick shortcut to stop recording the activity
in the current program or game window.

Best Way to Clean Windows 10

Lets Clean Useless Files

DISK CLEANUP

The Disk Cleanup utility is part of Windows. You can access it by typing Disk Cleanup into the
Start Menu (OR type CLEANMGR on the run command) .It will immediately scan for files it can delete and display a list to you.You might want to hold off on cleaning the Windows ESD installation files option though. Removing this saves space, but you won’t be able to reset your computer using the PC Refresh feature without Windows 10 installation media.

CCleaner

This trusted utility cleans many more applications than the built-in Windows tool. CCleaner allows you to clean up more Windows files than Disk Cleanup.You’re also able to clean up files for installed apps, such as Chrome and Firefox, media players, and Office applications. Use the Analyze button to find out how much space each category is taking up. Choose Clean when you’re ready to delete those files. CCleaner also has an option for cleaning the registry. Don’t do this. Even a trusted registry cleaner like CCleaner is useless at best, as removing hundreds of registry “errors” won’t improve performance at all, and you’re more likely to break something with the excess cleaning than help anything.

TreeSize Free

TreeSize Free can help you identify the folders that take up the most space on your system.Open up TreeSize and click Scan on the top bar. You can choose your entire C: drive (which is a good idea) or scan a particular folder.Massive installations like Adobe

creative products, as well as games, are likely to show up here. Have a look to see which apps are taking up the most space.

Clean Bloatware

To remove pre-installed bloatware. Whether “recommended” Windows 10 Modern apps or

manufacturer-installed junk, removing this is a great step anytime you install Windows or take a big cleaning run. Use the PC Decrapifier to uninstall manufacturer crapware.