How To Remove Windows 8 From Dual-boot (or Multiboot) Machines

Easily Remove Windows 8 Beta from Your PC

The time has come for me to uninstall Windows 8 Developer Preview (I just could not adapt to Metro). Here’s how I did it.

To test out the new Windows operating system, I had created a 3rd partition on the machine’s hard drive and installed the Win8 DP there. The other 2 partitions held a Vista and a Win 7 operating system. My concerns about removing Win 8 centered on the fact that Windows 8 had installed its own bootloader — would simply deleting the (Win8) partition prevent the other OSes from booting? To eliminate that possibility, I started the operation by editing the machine’s BCD file ¹.

** Backup Your Important Files To Another Location Before Doing Things Like This! **

1) Download BootICE (or EasyBCD) and extract it. ¹ It is a “portable” app, so you can run it from a thumb drive, or your Desktop. Double-click to Run (aka Open) the bootice.exe file.

2) Click on the BCD Edit tab, then click the “View / Edit” button.

3) In the left column, click on the “Windows 8” entry and turn it blue (aka “select” it)…

.. and then click the “Del” (delete) button.

4) Reboot the machine. You should now see the old style multi-boot menu. Choose one of your older OSes (in my case, I chose Windows 7).

5) Now you can go into Disk Management and delete the partition where you had installed Windows 8, and reclaim the space it took up.

5a) Press the Windows Key + “R” key to launch a Run dialogue box, and type “diskmgmt.msc” (no quotes) into the run box.

5b) Right-click on the appropriate drive in the list, and click on the Delete Volume option in the context menu. You will be prompted and warned that all data will be lost, select “Yes” to continue. (You did make a copy of anything important, right?)

5c) You should now see “empty” space.. and the top bar has turned black. Right-click on the the partition the partition with the blue header, directly before it, and select Extend Volume from the context menu.

A “wizard” will open – simply click “next”, “next”, OK.

That’s it. You’re done. Windows 8 is gone, and your machine is back to how it was before you installed the beta.

¹ Note: This is for machines where at least one of the other operating systems is Vista/Win 7 (which uses a bcd boot loader). If the only other OS in your multiboot setup is XP, you might try the msconfig method instead of Steps 1 – 3. A tutorial for that is here.

 Today’s quote: “A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.” ~ Mark Twain

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

New Computer? Decrapify it! (A How To)

If you are one of those lucky people and you now have a shiny new Laptop or Desktop computer, congratulations! There are several things one needs to do with a brand-new computer: the first will be to visit Windows Update, and get the machine ‘patched’ with the latest security Updates. (Click the Start button, click All Programs, and then click Windows Update.)

Then of course, you will spend some time “personalizing” the system — say, giving it your favorite “wallpaper” (or Theme), and installing your favorite programs. And then you want to de-crap-ify your machine.

What I mean by that, is remove (aka “uninstall”) the “trial” programs, and Polar Penguins Bowling games, and “Connect to AOL” crud that the computer manufacturers insist on loading onto the units they sell. This software “free trial” stuff can cause that new machine to slow to a crawl, and sooner or later, fill your screen with annoying pop-ups! (trial is over, buy now!)

Every year I tell you guys that the tool for that is the wonderful PCDecrapifier utility. This little tool gives you a simple and easy way to sweep away all that junk in one action, which saves you from the normal, one-at-a-time, method of Control Panel > Programs and features > Uninstall a program.

Click on image to read PC Decrapifier's "How It Works"

This year, I am also going to tell you that instead of re-inventing the wheel, I will refer you to an illustrated How To on a rival site (How To Clean Up your New Computer With PC Decrapifier). Which means even those of you with not a lot of confidence in your abilities can (read+follow) use this tool.
And I highly recommend you do.

And, if you have simply never gotten around to cleaning that trialware off of your not-so-new machine, well.. it’s not to late.

Today’s (other) reading reco: 2011: A year in review

“The year 2011 saw Android and Apple battling for mobile domination, with patents rivaling technology as the weapon of choice. We watched HP’s soap opera, RIM’s decline, and Netflix’s crash. We said goodbye to Steve Jobs. And the answer to most every question continued to be “the Cloud.” Read more..

Today’s quote: “The more sympathy you give, the less you need.” ~ Malcolm S. Forbes

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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How To Remove Internet Explorer 9

“…for some reason should want to uninstall it, you need to know a little trick..“

If you read this series, the odds are good you read other tech-type websites as well, and so you probably know that Microsoft is getting a lot of good press over their latest release of their web browser, Internet Explorer 9 (aka “IE9”).. which is still a “beta”. It’s fast!, seems to be a common laud.

As a matter of fact, I mentioned it last week as a Today’s Free Download pick.. which I will repost here, as it includes a mini-review:

Today’s free download: Internet Explorer 9 (beta)
Reviewed by: Seth Rosenblatt on September 16, 2010

“First Take: After several months of teasing Internet Explorer’s upgrade with a series of feature-free developer’s previews, Microsoft has unleashed on the world an Internet Explorer 9 beta (32-bit Windows 7; 64-bit Windows 7; 32-bit Windows Vista; 64-bit Windows Vista) with some impressive new features. Like any properly named beta, though, there are also some bugs to be ironed out.

This is the biggest overhaul to the browser since Internet Explorer 7 landed. The changes to the interface are enormous, the browser’s overall usability has greatly improved, it’s more secure, and it’s significantly faster and more standards compliant.”

(Click any of those 4 links to read Seth’s full review.)

Even though Microsoft has been releasing remarkably stable and usable “betas” of late, I have not yet tried IE 9. But if you have, or do, and for some reason should want to un-install it, you need to know a little trick..
[update: I am currently evaluating the IE 9 beta. I will “review” it soon.]

To wit: Microsoft considers IE 7, 8, and 9 to be Updates, and not stand-alone programs.

So, when you open Programs and features in your Control Panel, you will not see Internet Explorer 9 listed in your Installed programs list.

Until you click on the “View installed updates” link in the sidebar (on the left), that is.

Once you do, all the installed Hotfixes, and Updates will be added to the list.

Scroll until you locate IE 9, and then right-click on it, and then click on Uninstall.

Uninstalling IE 9 will revert your machine to the last version of IE you had.

So there you go. Internet Explorer is an Update, not a program.

Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

In case you’re wondering:
… I was quite eager to try out IE 9 – in spite of my reluctance to fool with betas (or, even 1st releases) until I read about the combined address and tab bar. I typically have at least 5 tabs open, and often as many as 10, so I want a separate tabs bar, to avoid “tab crowding”.
(There. Someone at Microsoft will read that, and make the change.)(Because I put it in bold font.)(And my opinion is that powerful.)(Not. But one could hope. Ha!)

Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

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How To Remove Windows Live Messenger

(or other ‘Live’ program)*

Microsoft’s Instant Messenger (IM) program, “Messenger” is now a part of the “Live” family of download-able programs and utilities, (see, The “Live” Line – Microsoft’s *New* Product Family) and like the others, is now re-named to add “live” in front — “Live Messenger”. The “Windows Live” programs you can download are: Messenger, Mail, Writer, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Family Safety, and Toolbar.
(Toolbar?! Uh, no.)

Some of those are keepers for sure, but renaming Messenger to “Live Messenger”, and giving it a fancier look, um, er, well, let’s just say I don’t want it on my machine. If you have it, and do not want it either, keep reading.

How To Uninstall Windows Live Messenger (or other Live program):
1) The normal way to remove (technically, “uninstall”) programs from your computer is to use the “Add/Remove Programs” tool in the Windows Control Panel (called “Programs and Features” in Vista/Win7). And this is where you go to uninstall Live Messenger too.

“But Paul! I looked there already! Messenger isn’t there!“, you say? Well, yes it is, but it’s kind of hidden. So click Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features >Uninstall a program. And let the list “populate”.
The “pack” of downloadable “Live” programs – including Live Messenger – is called “Windows Live Essentials” so that’s is what you want to look for. (Click on images to see larger versions.)

2) Click on “Windows Live Essentials” to ‘select’ it, and then click the “Change/Remove” button. A new window will open.

3) Select the “Uninstall” ‘radio button’ (if it isn’t already) and click “Continue”.

4) Place a check in the checkbox for Messenger (and any others you no longer want) and click “Continue”. Follow the steps until it says “Finished”, reboot if necessary, and that’s it, you’re done. Live Messenger will be gone.

Today’s free download: For my Instant Messaging (aka “chat”) needs, I use Trillian Astra, which lets me monitor multiple ‘identities’. (Works on Macs now too.)
Connect to IM & Social Networks. Trillian lets you connect to multiple IM and social networks at the same time, managing contacts and real time status feeds efficiently.

In The News:
* Dell finally gives up on Windows XP

“Dell said on Tuesday that it plans later this month to stop selling PCs downgraded to Windows XP, ahead of next month’s deadline to stop nearly all shipments of PCs running the older operating system….”

* New antibiotics might come from the brains of cockroaches

“British researchers discovered that molecules found inside the brain tissues of insects can fended off unwanted bacteria….”

* Orig post: 4/2/2010

Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

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How To Uninstall Live Messenger

Microsoft’s Instant Messenger (IM) program, “Messenger” is now a part of the “Live” family of downloadable programs and utilities, (see, The “Live” Line – Microsoft’s *New* Product Family) and like the others, is now called “Live Messenger”. The “Windows Live” programs you can download are: Messenger, Mail, Writer, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Family Safety, and Toolbar.

Some of those are keepers for sure, but renaming Messenger to “Live Messenger”, and giving it a fancier look, um, er, well, let’s just say I don’t want it on my machine. If you have it, and do not want it either, keep reading.

How To Uninstall Windows Live Messenger (or other Live program):
1) The normal way to remove (technically, “uninstall”) programs from your computer is to use the “Add/Remove Programs” tool in the Windows Control Panel (called “Programs and Features” in Vista/Win7). And this is where you go to uninstall Live Messenger too.

“But Paul! I looked there already! Messenger isn’t there!“, you say? Well, yes it is, but it’s kind of hidden. So click Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features >Uninstall a program. And let the list “populate”.
The “pack” of downloadable “Live” programs – including Live Messenger – is called “Windows Live Essentials” so that’s is what you want to look for. (Click on images to see larger versions.)

2) Click on “Windows Live Essentials” to ‘select’ it, and then click the “Change/Remove” button. A new window will open.

3) Select the “Uninstall” ‘radio button’ (if it isn’t already) and click “Continue”.

4) Place a check in the checkbox for Messenger (and any others you no longer want) and click “Continue”. Follow the steps until it says “Finished”, reboot if necessary, and that’s it, you’re done. Live Messenger will be gone.

Today’s free download: For my Instant Messaging (aka “chat”) needs, I use Trillian Astra, which lets me monitor multiple ‘identities’. (Works on Macs now too.)
Connect to IM & Social Networks. Trillian lets you connect to multiple IM and social networks at the same time, managing contacts and real time status feeds efficiently.

AIM , Yahoo! , ICQ , Windows Live (MSN) , MySpaceIM , Google Talk , Jabber/XMPP , Facebook , Twitter , Skype , Bonjour.

Copyright 2007-2010 © Tech Paul. All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

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My CD-ROM Is Gone. Help!

How To Get Windows To See Optical Drives Again

Q: Paul I need your help. Yesterday I put a CD in my computer nothing happened. It has been working fine, and usually it will just start playing the first song. I put in a different disk and again nothing. I opened My computer and there was no icon for the DVD. Just icons for the Floppy A:, Local disk and no CD player. It just vanished! I rebooted and that didn’t help. What happened? How do I get my CD player back?

A: The exact steps required will depend on the cause of the issue, so the following answers are ‘generic’, and may not apply to your particular situation.

1) In Windows XP and older have a reputation for “losing” optical drives (but I have seen it occur in Vista) after uninstalling disc burning software — such as Roxio or Nero. Sometimes.. after installing; but usually it is an uninstall failing to work properly, which leaves incorrect values in your Registry.
Sometimes, though less frequently, a Windows Update, or other software change can cause this as well.

Sometimes Microsoft gets it right:
If this is you — you have uninstalled Roxio, say — the solution is to visit Microsoft Help & Support and click the “Fix It” button. (I have written about using the built in troubleshooter before, see Microsoft “One-click” Fixes)

The appropriate Fix it page/button is found here. One click should do it!

———————————

2) If that doesn’t resolve the issue, you can next try restoring your system to a prior (working) state by using System Restore. Please read How To Use System Restore To Fix Windows for instructions.

3) If that doesn’t help, or isn’t appropriate..
Open your computer’s case and check to make sure the power wires, and the ribbon cable are firmly connected to the back of the drive and to the motherboard — they may have become loose or disconnected.

No? Then open your Device Manager. Right-click on “My Computer” and select “Properties”. In Vista, click on Device Manager in the left column; in XP, click on the “Hardware” tab, and then click the “Device Manager” button.

In Device Manager, find “Optical drives” on the list, and expand the category by clicking once on the “+” sign. You should now see the device and a yellow triangle – which is telling you there’s an error.

Right click on the device’s name, and click “Uninstall” from the menu which opens. Answer “Yes”, you want to do that. Then restart (aka “reboot”) your machine. Windows should “find” a “new” CD-ROM and install it for you, thus restoring functionality.

4) If these steps fail, there is something else going on (maybe malware) and I recommend you contact a knowledgeable repair tech.. such as myself (shameless plug).

Today’s free link: KidsEmail.org. Along with ZooBah, something to consider when your child wants their own e-mail address.

Today’s free download: GOM Player is a free multimedia player with popular video and audio codecs built-in. GOM Player supports file formats such as AVI, DAT, MPEG, DivX, XviD, WMV, ASF. Users don’t have to install codecs separately. GOM Player is capable of playing incomplete or damaged AVI files by skipping the damaged frames. It can also play locked or partially downloaded files.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Do Not Want That Update? How To Stop A Nag

IE 8 is an “Important” Update, Yes, But I Don’t Want It

Sometimes we need to tell Windows Update to stop prompting us to install a particular Update.

When Microsoft has released important and/or critical Updates (aka “patches”) for us, Windows has various ways of letting us know, including a System Tray icon. [note: The normal route for accessing Update choices is Start >Windows Update, or Start >Programs >Windows Update. Click “View available updates”.]

I am a big fan of Updates. I (almost) always install them the moment I become aware of them. I use Secunia’s Personal Software Inspector to keep an eye on all my installed programs’ update state.. and I recommend you do too. Updates are ‘good’ and you want them.

Tip of the day: Manage Windows Updates prompts.
Currently, Microsoft Update is annoying me by continuously nagging me that there are Updates available. And when I click on the icon to see just what these updates are…

.. and I see that there is just one Update Microsoft wants me to install (the others only rate “optional”) — Internet Explorer 8.
Now, I understand why Microsoft wants us to be using a more secure browser (and I understand why it’s considered “important”) and I will upgrade from IE7 on most of my machines — but not all. Not yet.

So I right-click on the Update I don’t want to be nagged about and then click on “Hide update”.

That’s it. I’m done. Windows Update will no longer prompt me to install this (now) ‘hidden’ update. At a later date, to see Updates that I’ve hidden, I just click on “Show hidden updates”. I can undo my change.

Note: This technique can be used on troublesome Updates that cause incompatibility issues such as BSOD. If a Windows Update install causes you trouble, and you need to uninstall it, the “Hide” tip won’t help you (it’s too late). Please refer to the 3rd answer in this article, IE’s Menu bar, Taskbar icons, and bad Updates*, to see how to remove Updates.
After you get that Update uninstalled, (then) use the Hide feature to prevent Windows Update from re-Installing it on you again.

Today’s free link(s): Panda Cloud Antivirus – Free Cloud Protection
Panda Security has launched a brand new type of antivirus, and Security blogger Bill Mullins has this excellent write up. “FREE, antivirus thin-client service for consumers which is able to process and block malware more efficiently than locally installed signature-based products.” Click the link for more..
[update: For more, also see Panda Cloud Antivirus – Is it netbook ready?]

Today’s free download: Adeona is the first Open Source system for tracking the location of your lost or stolen laptop that does not rely on a proprietary, central service. This means that you can install Adeona on your laptop and go.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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