The Windows Servicing Guy
Tips and tricks from a Windows support engineer on issues related to servicing
How hard links work
I was asked in a prior comment to give greater detail on how hard linking works in the file system...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 01/06/2011
This week’s servicing issue
It’s been asked several times that I start to write more about how to troubleshoot servicing...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 12/15/2010
Show me the documentation
This was written by a co-worker of mine recently and I thought I would post it here as I think it's...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 11/29/2010
How to enable verbose CBS logging
Although I know it may appear that the CBS.log is a really verbose log, there are times when you...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 11/18/2010
Questions you shouldn't call Microsoft for....
Odd day at work today, I kept getting asked questions by people that simply cant be answered. Some...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 10/29/2010
What's on the grocery list?
A co-worker of mine overheard me talking with a customer the other day and said he thought my...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 10/21/2010
New topics?
Sorry about the last of a new posting recently, I'm busy working on a new project here at work.I'm...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 10/12/2010
So what about the driver store?
I was asked this recently and I thought it was an interesting question: I know I cant delete things...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 09/15/2010
Need more information about what’s in Winsxs, look here
I havent posted in a while because of work I am doing on another project but someone asked me about...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 09/14/2010
Adding features with DISM
While I find it a little odd, for some reason this has been the week of DISM requests at work. One...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 08/26/2010
Should you delete files in the WinSXS directory? And what’s the deal with VSS?
I like to read about how Windows is affecting peoples lives, specifically, the servicing components....
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 08/06/2010
Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Beta now available
In case you somehow missed it, Service Pack 1 beta for Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 is now...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 07/17/2010
Having .Net servicing issues?
I wanted to make everyone aware of a new blog entry I wrote for my teams blog regarding .Net...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 07/12/2010
Servicing Windows: Part Two
I wanted to talk a little more about the way things work inside of the component store and how...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 07/06/2010
Servicing Windows: Part One
I wanted to do a multi-part blog from a high level on how servicing in Windows works. The majority...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 06/15/2010
Where is VSP1CLN on Windows 2008?
We're asked all the time about the size of the WinSXS directory. So much so that my original blog on...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 06/12/2010
General guidance on disk provisioning for WinSXS growth
Seems like this question has come up a lot this past week at work: How much space should I plan to...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 06/12/2010
Using CheckSUR and update packages to fix corruption
My last post was on CheckSUR and I wanted to follow it up with how you can use the CheckSUR utility...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 05/26/2010
Why does CheckSUR take a long time to run?
I've been asked a lot recently about the CheckSUR utility that our engineers send to customers to...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 05/11/2010
What is blobs.bin and why does it grow?
Recently I have been asked a couple of questions about the \Windows\winsxs\ManifestCache\blobs.bin...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 04/19/2010
New build of the AD recovery tool for 2008 SP2 is now available, please try it out
Thanks again for making us aware of this issue. Please try this out and let me know if you have any...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 03/31/2010
Quick update on the Bitlocker Password Recovery tool for x86 editions of Windows
Thanks again to all of you who brought up the fact that the Bitlocker Recovery Password Viewer tool...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 03/09/2010
Bitlocker tools updates have been reissued for SP2 installations
If you were not aware, the Bitlocker tools have all been reissued last week to work properly on SP2...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 02/17/2010
Why are all the files not installed when you install a hotfix?
I was asked this question the other day at work and thought it might make for an interesting post....
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 01/26/2010
New years answer's cont'd
Second question that was asked was the following: "Another one: Why is the /passive switch not...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 01/14/2010
New year answers...
Thanks for the couple of questions that I got on my end of year post. Let's look at the first one:...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 01/08/2010
What servicing questions do you have?
I am finishing up some training internally here on servicing technologies and will probably leverage...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 12/17/2009
New, but not uncommon question I've seen a lot lately
As you can imagine, we get all sorts of calls in CSS regarding different things in Windows. Because...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 12/08/2009
Win7 is out....
Like you didnt know it already, but just in case you missed it, you can pick up your copy of Windows...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 10/22/2009
Bitlocker updates for SP2 are available
As a followup to my post over the summer, the Bitlocker tools which were not working with SP2 have...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 10/08/2009
New CheckSUR versions for Windows 7 and 2008 R2 are now available
The CheckSUR utility is now available for Windows 7 and 2008 R2 clients. It can be downloaded from...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 09/23/2009
Interesting Bitlocker question that came up the other day
I wanted to mention something that came up the other day here at work that might prove informative...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 09/23/2009
Windows 7 top issue right now
I wanted to make everyone aware of this via a link to my team's blog site. Our top Win 7 issue right...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 09/09/2009
Something I am working on now, Virtual PC 7
Sorry I havent posted in a bit, I was on vacation.One of the new things I am working on for our guys...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 08/19/2009
Errors while installing SP2 for Windows 2008
I've noticed we've had a couple of calls lately with customers having issues getting SP2 installed...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 07/30/2009
Windows 7 and 2008R2 has reached RTM
Very cool news last night that we officially RTM'd with Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2.For...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 07/23/2009
More Win7 coolness
One of the other cool new logs, as it relates to servicing, is the new sessions.xml log. Located in...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 07/22/2009
Addressing some comments given so far....
First, I appreciate all of you who actually take the time to read my blog. Secondly, my last post...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 07/15/2009
The coolest new DISM command (to me at least)
Since I spoke about DISM in the last post, I wanted to highlight my personal favorite new DISM...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 07/14/2009
Doing things differently with Windows 7
Because I wanted to keep a lot of these blog posts relevant to servicing the operating system, I...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 07/09/2009
Reclaiming disk space after applying a service pack on Vista or 2008
There are always requests here at Microsoft for reducing the footprint that the component store...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 07/01/2009
Bitlocker drive prep tool not working on Vista and 2008 SP2 installations
Just heard about this last night so I wanted to put this out there. We're aware of an issue with the...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 06/19/2009
CheckSUR will not work with Windows Vista and 2008 Service Pack 2 installations
I wanted to let everyone know that we're aware of an issue with running the CheckSUR utility on...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 06/18/2009
Help me, help you
We frequently get cases where customers have issues with installing updates or service packs. With...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 06/16/2009
Why is the Windowswinsxs directory so large?
I wanted to put some sort of content on here quickly, so here is a link to my teams blog which I...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 06/12/2009
Introduction
Hello. My name is Joseph Conway and I am a Senior Support Escalation Engineer on the Windows CORE...
Author: joscon [Microsoft] Date: 06/12/2009