Fix: Windows 10 upgrade couldn’t update the system reserved partition

Buck HodgesAugust 10, 2015Aug 10, 201508/10/15

Disclaimer: This is what worked for me, and it’s not guidance from Microsoft. It may not work for you. Since this involves resizing partitions, it could wipe out all of your data. You may want to create a backup first. Proceed at your own risk. Over the weekend I upgraded my machines at home to Windows 10. I had two desktops and one Surface...

Original Surface RT is a great digital photo frame

Buck HodgesMarch 9, 2015Mar 9, 201503/9/15

I have four Surfaces: the original RT, Surface 2 RT, Surface Pro, and Surface 3. When I got the original Surface RT, which Microsoft gave to every full time employee shortly after it came out, I bought the Type keyboard and stopped using my iPad. The device was sluggish, though, particularly with Outlook. I bought a Surface 2 RT when it came ...

Ten years of blogging

Buck HodgesMay 16, 2014May 16, 201405/16/14

This past week was the tenth anniversary of blogging here. Over that time I’ve written 560 blog posts. There’s clearly been a drop in my blogging frequency, unfortunately, in recent years. I’ve spent more time interacting with folks on Twitter over the last couple of years than on blogging because of the Visual Studio Online ...

How to fix an error with the Windows 8.1 upgrade utility

Buck HodgesOctober 19, 2013Oct 19, 201310/19/13

I had gotten a Windows 8 upgrade key with the purchase of a computer last summer. I hadn’t used it, so I wanted to upgrade a desktop my family uses. I ran the utility WindowsSetupBox.exe that you can download from the Upgrade Windows with only a product key page. However, it failed quickly after choosing either to run the upgrade or to ...

Bing desktop–set your background to the Bing image of the day

Buck HodgesJanuary 2, 2013Jan 2, 201301/2/13

Okay, so this has nothing to do with ALM, but I really like the Bing desktop app for one feature: It sets the desktop background to the Bing image of the day. I used to run this app on Win7 and had missed it since moving to Win8 (I love Win8 and have it running on all my machines). Before the recent update, installing it on Win8 would result ...

We’re here, and we have a sign to prove it

Buck HodgesMarch 30, 2011Mar 30, 201103/30/11

Yeah, seven years in this location, and the building had no outward markings to indicate that our office is here.  It’s official.  We’re here.  Really...

Fix for Message Size Issue in Outlook 2010 Beta

Buck HodgesFebruary 11, 2010Feb 11, 201002/11/10

If you are using Outlook 2010 Beta, you probably need this fix because all of your emails are huge.  It was killing me (and a bunch of other folks internally).  It is fixed in the recent RC, but most people don’t have access (it’s not a public RC).  The Office team has just posted a fix for this issue for folks using...

Installing an evaluation copy of Windows Server 2008 and extending the evaluation period

Buck HodgesOctober 24, 2008Oct 24, 200810/24/08

More than a year ago, I posted a reference to Jeff Atwood's post on extending the evaluation period for Windows Vista.KB article 948472 describes the process for Windows Server 2008 and includes instructions on installing an evaluation version of Windows Server 2008 from the standard media as well has how to set up a recurring task in Windows ...

SharePoint lists in Outlook 2007 are awesome

Buck HodgesNovember 7, 2007Nov 7, 200711/7/07

If you use Outlook 2007 and SharePoint, you really need to read this.  I've been using this feature for the last couple of weeks.  It syncs the documents into Outlook so they are available offline, you can search them, and you can edit and upload when you get back online.  It's really slick.  Read the post. SharePoint and...

Windows Live Writer 2008 is now available

Buck HodgesNovember 6, 2007Nov 6, 200711/6/07

The first version of Windows Live Writer is now available.  I've been using the betas for a long time, and I think it's a great application (and it's free).  I use it to write all of my blog posts.  If it weren't for Live Writer, I wouldn't have written nearly so many blog posts. Windows Live Writer: Out of Beta Thank you to ...