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30 January 2013

Windows 8 Boot Issues? Try Fixing the Master Boot Record (MBR) or Boot Configuration Data (BCD)


Windows 8 received a decent amount of enhancements on the desktop side that I tend to appreciate versus running Windows 7, even if that means I get Metro standing in the middle here and there occasionally. One such area of improvement is notification management and how it handles updates and system restarts. Running the final version of the OS for a few months now, it’s been a painless affair until this past weekend.
I shut down my desktop PC with the purpose of connecting new hardware and on the way out I was prompted to “update and shutdown”. Sure, why not. I went on to install a secondary SSD for maintenance purposes and apparently that was enough for my system to refuse booting right after. I tried to backtrack to no avail.
"Reboot and select proper boot device"
I bet you have no love for the message, neither do I.
Because I had disconnected a few devices, it took me a while to narrow things down to my boot SSD, and for a second I even thought the SSD had gone forever kaput. After booting with a different drive and noting I could read all my data on the drive in question, I took a deep breath and started to troubleshoot the boot record. Once you settle on the idea that it’s not a hardware problem and you are unable to boot up, your best bet is to try to fix the MBR (Master Boot Record).
With a long history of dual booting different versions of Windows over the years, finding a corrupt MBR, boot sector, or Boot Configuration Data (BCD) is nothing new, but it took me longer than usual to come to a solution. Here are a few things you can try and hopefully get back to full speed in no time.
First of all, you will need a bootable disc or pen drive. Here’s a quick guide to accomplish that if you don’t already have one handy. Although it's not a requirement, to be on the safe side it's recommended at this point that you disconnect other storage devices from your PC and leave only the SSD/HDD that you are troubleshooting.
Booting into the Windows 8 setup, select “Repair your computer” in the bottom part of the window, then “Troubleshoot” and “Advanced options”. Here I was given a good reminder of another cool Windows 8 feature. If you have a restore point created you can go back to that working copy of the OS without losing your data. Well, I didn’t have any.
So the first thing you will want to try is the Automatic Repair.
If that fixes your boot problem, you had it easy and go on to create a restore point for another time you are out of luck. If Windows is unable to fix your issue, read on.
Go back to the Advanced options and choose the Command Prompt. Going for the next easiest way to fix the problem, enter the following four commands into the prompt:
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd
After receiving a success confirmation. Close the CMD window and restart your PC.
If you are booted into Windows, excellent! If not, let’s try one last thing. Follow the previous steps until you have landed into the Command Prompt.
Enter the “bcdedit” command. A lists of items will appear under Windows Boot Manager and under Windows Boot Loader. Look for the following items:
  • Under Windows Boot Manager, the Device item should be set to unknown.
  • Under Windows Boot Loader, the Device and os device items should be set to unknown.
Run the following three commands to correct the settings:
bcdedit /set {default} device partition=c:
bcdedit /set {default} osdevice partition=c:
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device partition=c:
One last thing to try (though in theory, it's the repeating what we’ve done before) browse to the folder X:\Sources\Recovery and then enter “StartRep.exe” which executes another automated startup repair utility.

25 January 2010

iPhone 2.0 Beta Hacked

iPhonev2
Apparently the iPhone 2.0 software currently in beta and set to release in June 08 has been hacked out of the iPhone SDK Kit. The folks over at Engadget got a glimpse at the new features and from what it seems , its not going to sweep you off your feet.
Here is what they found:

14 January 2010

MTV Splitsvilla Sexy Riya Bamniyal Hottest Photos










[Riya_Bamniyal_Bollyone.com_A12.jpg]



Nothing sparks off the beauty of our heroines than the backdrop of blue oceans and white sands, here are some of the most sexy breath-taking shots..
More


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Firefox CSS hack: change navigation icons









firefox_custom_icons
Why settle for the standard home icon on your browser? If your home button brings you to hackaday.com, why not make the icon reflect that destination? This hack is quick and simple. We’ll take you through it using Firefox 3 and the default theme with standard sized icons.
We start by using our favorite graphics program to make an icon that is 24×24 pixels, and then saved is as a PNG file without compression.

Custom shortcuts from Firefox address bar








firefox_bookmark
We picked up a great Firefox bookmark tip from [Colin]. He wanted an easier way to look up bug numbers on the launchpad bug tracker. Because the url is always the same with the bug number at the end of the address, he replaced the final portion of the url with %s. Now, when he types the keyword followed by the bug number in the address bar the bug page loads right up.
We don’t do all that many bug searches but it’s immediately obvious that this can be useful in a lot of ways. In the photo above you can see we’ve set up a shortcut to the tag pages for genius-hack-007.com. Now we just type “hack” with the tag we want after it. Add this to your bookmarks and try typing “hack firefox” into the address ba


Programming Firefox: Building Applications in the BrowserEssential XUL ProgrammingCreating Applications with MozillaHacking Firefox: More Than 150 Hacks, Mods, and Customizations (ExtremeTech)Rapid Application Development with Mozilla

MythNetVision to cure borked MythTV hacks









Another group of developers has stepped up to the plate in the never-ending attempt to integrate online streaming video with MythTV. The new plugin is called MythNetVision and aims to bring streaming and downloading video functionality both easily and legally. That means without violating the terms of service of the providing website.
We’ve seen so many attempts that fell short it’s easy to be skeptical about the chances of this plugin actually working. Plugins like MythStream and MythVodka worked only temporarily before breaking and never seemed to provide a reliable option. Many people have tried adding Boxee, Hulu Desktop, or XBMC integration by launching these separate packages via the MythTV UI but that’s far from a clean solution.
It looks like MythNetVision is taking a slightly different approach. Although not yet available, the designers have built the plugin in two parts. The frontend is a fully skinnable user interface that parses RSS feeds to provide the hooks needed to browse, search, and view video. Depending on the content, a browser may be spawned to play the video, it may be played within MythTV’s normal player, or a separate download thread can be launch with video following after the appropriate buffer level is reached. The RSS feeds come either directly from the provider, such as the Revision3 feeds, or a scraper can be written to provide custom RSS feeds from sites that don’t have them.
We’ve seen a glimpse of the progress and we’re optimistic that we’ll see a reliable plugin. Early adoption and user script contribution are the best way to help ensure this so keep an eye out for the public release of this package.



Linux Multimedia Hacks.Hack: GU, Vol. 2: ReminisceHack: How I Stopped Worrying About What to Do with My Life and Started Driving a Yellow Cab.hack, Part 1: InfectionHack!.hack: G.U., Vol.3: RedemptionBig Book of Windows Hacks.hack, Part 4: QuarantineHack//G.U. Trilogy

CHitika