Windows 7/10 - Printer Sharing (A policy enabled on your computer that blocks Windows NT 4.0 kernel drivers)

Recently I've encountered a very weird and odd problems when performing printer sharing in Windows 7/10.

The Windows 10 (aka PC-1) is connected with a new HP LaserJet Pro M402dn via a USB cable, the drivers installed without any problems and sharing was configured with correct credentials and permissions.

Now the problems occurs on a Windows 7 (aka PC-2) which need to use that new printer and since its networked the sharing should have no problems, but there's where I encountered the problems. It kept on prompting the same error message "A policy enabled on your computer that blocks Windows NT 4.0 kernel drivers...."

I was surprised on this error, as there's no policy configured for such blocking on both of the computers. Well, I will just go have a look in the local GPO and there's nothing configured on the kernel thingy.

Well, "Googling" was my next choice and found out that this was a common problems for Windows 7 which are not properly patched. Well doing a full patching will waste my time thus I go for more shorter time workaround which was a very simple steps :-

1. Open --> Services.

2. Browse for --> Print Spooler --> and Stop it.

3. Next, open Windows Explorer and browse to --> C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers folder.

4. Inside the folder contains 2 folders called "W32x86" and "x64" folders, now you will need to rename both folders to another. I just add a ".old" to them, which end up to "W32x86.old" and "x64.old" folders name.

5. Now, go back to "Services" and START back the "Print Spooler" service.

6. Next is add the shared printer manually, by either creating a "Local Port" (eg. \\[Hostname]\[Printer 's Shared Name]) or by IP Address and manually point it to the correct drivers.

Simple as that and it only takes me 5 minutes.

HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Windows 10 - Install .NET Framework 3.5 (Offline Method)

Windows 10 have been released for quite sometimes now, for those who involved in creating a master image (reference image for mass deployment) find it some features was not enabled by default and vice versa.

Sadly, some drivers or applications required the use of .NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 & 3.0) to works correctly.

Some applications may have bundled the offline installer together while others doesn't and I find troublesome to connect to internet to download the installer (which took me about 20 mins to complete & time wasting).

Actually the .NET Framework 3.5 was already inside the Windows 10 DVD but it was not installed by default. I find this to be odd as when you enabled the features via the "Programs and Features" menu, the wizard will still connects to the internet instead of searching for it in the DVD itself.

Follow these steps to install the .NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 & 3.0) from the DVD source :-

1. Ensure the Windows 10 DVD is inserted then run the "Command Prompt" as administrator.

2. Type in the following command --> dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /All /Source:E:\sources\sxs /LimitAccess

Note : the [E:] drive corresponds to your DVD drive letter and may differ from your computer.

3. Please be patience and leave it to run until complete (as shown below).

4. After completion you can now check it via the "Programs and Features" menu, the ".NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 & 3.0)" features is now selected and enabled.

5. You might need to restart your computer before continue any drivers or applications installations.

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Windows 10 - Remove Provisioned Apps

This is my second post about Windows 10 built-in apps (Provisioned Apps), some of us just don't like the built-in apps... just like the ridiculous Xbox apps which I find it to be best at hogging system resources.

Now my last post was to remove those built-in apps, but later I found it was still in Windows 10 when another user logged-in. After much googling and studying MSDN and TechNet, I found a powershell script and I wrote some sample of my own.

First of all, you still need to run the previous powershell script to ensure that all users are not provisioned with the built-in apps, just in case I have re-posted those script here for your references.

Get-AppxPackage -allusers *3dbuilder* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *windowsalarms* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *zunevideo* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *officehub* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *skypeapp* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *getstarted* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *zunemusic* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *solitairecollection* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *bingfinance* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *bingnews* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *people* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *windowsphone* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *commsphone* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *bingsports* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *windowsstore* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *bingweather* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *xboxapp* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *twitter* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *office.sway* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *xboxonesmartglass* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage -allusers *messaging* | Remove-AppxPackage

Note : You can choose which apps you want to retain back. 

After you have completed the above script, now you can run the 2nd script as below, also you can choose which apps you want to retain back.

Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.3DBuilder_11.0.47.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.BingWeather_4.9.51.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.Getstarted_3.11.3.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.Messaging_2.7.1001.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_2015.6801.23751.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection_3.9.5100.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.Office.OneNote_2015.6868.57981.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.OneConnect_1.1605.17.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.People_2016.709.155.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.People_2016.709.155.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.SkypeApp_11.4.86.0_neutral_~_kzf8qxf38zg5c Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.StorePurchaseApp_1.0.454.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.WindowsAlarms_2016.622.2118.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_2015.6868.41201.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub_1.3.1741.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.WindowsMaps_2016.701.2235.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.WindowsStore_11606.1001.394.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.XboxApp_2016.623.248.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_2016.616.818.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.ZuneMusic_2019.6.19261.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename Microsoft.ZuneVideo_2019.6.19281.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe

 

After completion, you just need to restart the computer. Please be aware that if an apps was still provisioned to a user, you cannot remove that apps. As such it is important that you ensure no users is still requiring that apps before removing.

I find this to be useful especially when you want to create a consistent operating environment (COE) for a corporate/enterprise system.

!!! HAPPY SCRIPTING !!!
!!! HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR !!!