Diagnosing repetitive BSOD

I had repetitive BSOD on my Windows 7 x64 Samsung laptop.

Here is the steps I think I should have taken (stop when the problem found):
1. Download Blue Screen View by Nir Sofer and check which driver cause the BDOS. If it's the same driver all the time - root cause found.

2. Memory check: (don't use the Windows 7 built-in memory check, it missed my problem) Download memtest86+ and check your physical memory. This tool might taken few hours to run.

3. Disk check: Run full disk check - open the disk in Windows Explorer, right click on the driver root, click on "Properties", than "Tools", under "Error Checking", check all check boxes and press on check now. After rebooting you can view the results in the "Events Viewer" under "Windows Logs" -> "Application", sort by "Source" column and search for "Wininit"

If nothing found so far, my best guess is  to backup the computer & re-format it. If the BDOS continues it's an hardware issue, otherwise it was some other software issue.

Improving Remote Desktop speed on Vista/Win7

A fellow kept complaining that his Remote Desktop (mstsc) connection to the office is super slow. I told him that I had the same problem since I moved from Windows XP to Windows 7 & he found the following solution:

Run the following command line:
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
to undo it:
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

For full details check this post. It's not optimal, but it works & I didn't notice any problem since.

How to delete VPN or Dail-up connection in Windows 7

It took me a while to find out how to delete a VPN connection I've setup on Windows 7.

So here's how:
1. Click on the connection icon in the icon tray (right-bottom side of the screen)
2. Click on "Open Network and Sharing Center" (you can open it also from the Control Panel)
3. On the left side of the window, click on "Change adapter settings"
4. Delete the VPN/Dail-up

Error 2869 during installation

The problem:
Error message during installation on Windows Vista / 7:
The installer encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with the package. The error code is 2869.

Reason:
The MSI contains a custom action that require more privileges than the current user have.
Due to UAC (user access control) even if you're administrator, you're not REALLY administrator unless specifically run as such.

Resolution:
- Simple option - Install as administrator.
- If you wrote the package in Visual Studio 2005/2008 add the following to require administrator privileges to begin installation:
1. Right click on the setup project -> View -> Launch Conditions
2. In the Launch conditions window, right-click the node "Launch Conditions" and select "Add launch condition".
3. Rename the new launch condition to something like "Require Administrator".
4. In the new launch condition property window set "Condition" to "AdminUser"
5. Set the error message to something meaningful ("Only administrator can install this software").
6. Check the following post & add "NoImpersonate.js"
7. Rebuild the package.