Troubleshooting

Accessing Windows network shares (SMB) is a daily task for most IT professionals, but it can be a source of major frustration when it fails. Cryptic error messages like “Access is Denied” or “The network path was not found” can stop an automation script in its tracks. I’ve found that these errors almost always fall into one of three categories: Connectivity, Permissions, or Security Policy. This guide provides a systematic, step-by-step process to diagnose and solve the most common SMB errors, saving you from hours of frustration. ...

Leaving and rejoining a Windows computer to an Active Directory (AD) domain is a common troubleshooting step, but in modern hybrid environments, it’s a process filled with pitfalls. A single computer often has multiple identities—in local AD, in DNS, and in Azure AD (Entra ID). When these get out of sync, it leads to “ghost” identities, connection issues, and even being locked out of the machine entirely. This guide provides a definitive workflow for diagnosing these identity conflicts using the essential dsregcmd tool, cleaning up stale records, safely rejoining a domain, and recovering if you get locked out. ...

Overview When I logged into Windows, I saw a system popup: Unknown software exception (0xe0434352) Tried to copy a file to C: drive and failed-no enough space, then discovered: C: Drive: -475GB 475 GB used, 5.53 MB free This issue was caused by BackgroundDownload.exe failing during a Windows Update/Store download, temporarily filling the C: drive with update cache files. After a reboot, disk space returned to normal. What Is BackgroundDownload.exe? BackgroundDownload.exe is a legitimate Windows 11 system component used for: ...

When diagnosing network connectivity issues, one of the most fundamental steps is to determine if a specific TCP port is open and listening on a remote host. A closed, blocked, or unresponsive port is often the root cause of application failures, and knowing how to test it is a critical skill for me. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the most common and reliable methods to test port connectivity on Windows, from modern PowerShell cmdlets to classic command-line tools. ...

When installing Windows 11 on a VMware virtual machine (Workstation, Player, or ESXi), it’s common to run into a frustrating roadblock: “This PC can’t run Windows 11” or “TPM 2.0 requirement not met.” This error occurs because Windows 11 has stricter security requirements than its predecessors, mandating features that are not enabled by default on most virtual machines. Fortunately, this is easy to fix. This guide will walk through the best ways I found to resolve the TPM error, from the official VMware method to simple bypasses. ...

If I am a user of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), I might have noticed that when I plug in a USB flash drive, it doesn’t automatically appear in my Linux environment. Unlike my C: drive, which is typically mounted at /mnt/c, WSL does not automatically mount removable drives. Fortunately, accessing my USB drive from within WSL is a straightforward process. This guide will walk through the two primary methods I use for mounting a USB drive in WSL2, from a simple drive letter mount to accessing the raw physical disk. ...