Mustang PEBuilder 2 winpe_x86 exists

On a Windows 8 system, I had to kill Mustang PEBuilder 2 through the Task Manager due to it hanging while creating an ISO file. When I restarted it and clicked on Create WinPE ISO, I saw the error message below:

Folder C:\winpe_x86 exists. Move, rename or delete and try again. Program will terminate.

When I clicked on OK, the Mustang PEBuilder window closed. The C:\winpe_x86 directory gets created during the process by which Mustang PEBuilder 2 creates the .iso file. The directory and its contents are normally deleted after the ISO file is created. When it has not been deleted and I had previously seen the error message, I was able to delete the C:\winpe_x86 folder and all its contents and restart the process of building an ISO file without a problem. But this time I received "access denied" messages when attempting to delete some of the directories and files within it.

The problem was due to the directories and files being owned by TrustedInstaller. To remedy the problem, I took the following steps:

1. Right-click on a directory that can't be deleted and choose Properties.
2. Click on the Security tab.
3. Click on the Advanced button.
4. The owner will be listed as TrustedInstaller; click on Change then in the "Enter the object name to select" field, type Administrators.
5. Click on OK.
6. Click on the checkbox next to "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects" to check the box.
7. Click on the Apply button.
8. In the "Permission entries" list, make sure Administrators have "Full control".
9. Check the checkbox for "Replace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this object. When notified that this will replace explicity defined permissions on all descendants of this object with inheritable permissions, click on Yes.
10. Click on the Apply button.
11. You can now close the "Advanced Security Settings" window by clicking on OK.
12. You can click on OK again to close the Properties window for the directory.

You should now be able to delete the directory and all subdirectories and files within it.

References:

1. Windows 7 - How to Delete Files Protected by TrustedInstaller
   Help Desk Geek

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Memory Errors Encountered During Testing on 2009-09-26

My wife's Windows XP Professional PC would boot into Windows, but whenever she logged on and tried to do anything, the system would reboot. I ran memory tests on the system with five free programs and one commercial program.

Program	Version	Free	Errors Detected
Windows Memory Diagnostic	Beta 0.4	Yes	Yes
MemScope	1.10	Yes	Yes
QuickTech Pro	4.11	No	No
Memtest86+	1.70	Yes	No
Memtest86	3.3	Yes	No
DocMemory	3.1beta	Yes	No

More Info

[/os/windows/utilities/diagnostic/memory] permanent link

Viewing the Registy with BartPE

To view registry values for the version of Microsoft Windows on a system's hard drive using a Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD boot disc take the following steps:

1. Boot the system from the BartPE disc.
2. Click on Go and select Command Prompt (CMD) .
3. At the command prompt, type regedit.
4. Click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
5. From the File menu, choose Load Hive.

   A series of message boxes may appear that state that the folder cannot be found and that the location is unavailable. Ignore these messages and click OK when they appear.

   The Load Hive dialog box appears.

6. In the Files of type box, select All Files .
7. Navigate to the registry location on your target device.

   For example, if Windows is on drive C, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\system32\config.

8. In the config folder, select the hive you want to edit. The choices are as follows:
   • SAM
   • SECURITY
   • SOFTWARE
   • SYSTEM
   Select a file with one of the above names without an extension (you may also see .sav and .log files in the directory).
9. Click on OK.
10. In the Load Hive dialog box type a Key Name. For example, Drive_C.

    To load more hives, repeat the previous steps.

11. Choose HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and then choose the new registry key(s) you created.
12. Edit or view the registry keys.
13. When you have completed your reg key changes, choose HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and a key you created within it, e.g. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Drive_C
14. Choose the File menu, and then choose Unload Hive When prompted as to whether you are sure you want to unload the current key and all of its subkeys, choose Yes.

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Adding PuTTY and Firefox Plugins to BartPE

I've started writing up steps to add plugins I find useful to a Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD.

Firefox
PuTTY

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Dxdiag - The DirectX Diagnostic Tool

Microsoft provides a DirectX Diagnostic Tool, dxdiag.exe , with Windows systems. The tool is designed to help you troubleshoot DirectX-related issues. You can run the tool from a command prompt by typing dxdiag or you can click on the Start button, select Run, type dxdiag, and hit Enter.

[ More Info ]

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