news

Horodruin – Cannot download Visual C++ redist from MS hosts

If you will not be able to install and run Horodruin without MS Visual C++ redist package, because of hosting server problem like this one: …   After a first panic phase, I improved it to a specific local dedicated Support for External Packages page including all the related needed warnings. Good Luck 🙂   NOTE 12/05/2022: during the nightfall, the server problems seem to … Continue reading Horodruin – Cannot download Visual C++ redist from MS hosts »

Windows programming tips

HOWTO: uninstall a program from Inno Setup kit

Introduction One of the many challenges in releasing the latest version of Horodruin was that the main edition switched to 64-bits. This means that we cannot simply install/update the new program over the existing one, mainly because 64 bits programs have a different default system folder (‘Program Files‘) than 32 bits ones (‘Program Files (x86)‘). The best option here is to uninstall the old one, … Continue reading HOWTO: uninstall a program from Inno Setup kit »

tech pit

HOWTO block Windows 11 automatic upgrade

Introduction Recently I tried to upgrade my previous flagship notebook to Windows 11 but it didn’t work. The update constantly failed because of several problems that I wasn’t able to fix. When I decided to sign off from W11 upgrade, I discovered that I cannot change my previous decision anymore. This problem is that Windows Update constantly tries the upgrade process failing every single time … Continue reading HOWTO block Windows 11 automatic upgrade »

releases

Released Horodruin v6.0.708.0

After about 3 years from the last update, finally, the new shining version is ready. It is landed with 2 different editions: the main/default one: compiled for 64 bits Windows editions. the portable one: compiled for 32 bits Windows editions. link

tech pit

HOWTO block Windows Update from installing old drivers

Introduction One of the problems with the new notebook is that Windows Update keeps installing old AMD Radeon software for courtesy GPU, and the CPU itself. Even if I installed the latest ones (v30.0…), it keeps installing the 2-years older ones (v27.0…). Yesterday I overcome my tolerance limit and decided to solve the problem once for all. First steps First of all, we need to … Continue reading HOWTO block Windows Update from installing old drivers »

tech pit

HOWTO set new SVN server in git-svn

These days, we migrated our SVN server to a cloud VM, and one of the needed tasks is to switch also my GIT repositories. An easy approach is to rebuild them, but it has one major drawback: it is possible only if your GIT repositories don’t include uncommitted revisions.  In these cases, you will lose them all. Since I have several unaligned GITs, I needed … Continue reading HOWTO set new SVN server in git-svn »

tech pit

HOWTO remove F12 exceptions during debugging sessions

I was debugging a new feature when I discovered that every time VK_F12 is pressed, the debugger triggered an exception. After some investigations, I found this forum thread, and I discovered that it is a kernel debugger reserved key. The Solution To fix this annoying problem, we can remap this hotkey going into the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug and editing the following value: UserDebuggerHotKey Setting it … Continue reading HOWTO remove F12 exceptions during debugging sessions »

releases

released sys_minion v1.10.56.0

[oem drivers repository] improved removal procedure with soft & forced attempts. [oem drivers repository] added an exception for Intel Bluetooth drivers in the automatic selection to avoid removing updated items. added new option for component store health restore. minor tweaks and enhancements. compiled with the new VS2022. link

tech pit

HOWTO to tune remote session font size

I am in need to frequently use remote desktop sessions, and I was struggling to increase the font size. I finally I discovered an easy way to complete the task. open the Settings window (by pressing <windows_key> + I) type the following string in the search bar: make text size bigger click the suggested topic The program will take you into the Display Settings page … Continue reading HOWTO to tune remote session font size »

tech pit

HOWTO enable Powershell script execution

updated: 09/10/2021   Powershell is indeed a very powerful tool, and sometimes we may need to commit several similar operations that we can quickly organize in a script.  By default, you cannot execute any unsigned PowerShell script.  This can be a problem if we don’t know how, or you need to do a quick maintenance task. We can update this setting, by opening a Powershell … Continue reading HOWTO enable Powershell script execution »