Tag: Windows 10

Delete Windows System Folders From Former OS Drive

Robert LohrLeave a comment

I demoted a former Windows OS drive to a data drive recently without formatting it. The SSD still contained my OneDrive folder, and I did not want to download it again or copy it from a backup. Therefore, all of the Windows system folders were still on the drive. I tried to delete them, but whatever I did using the GUI, Windows slapped my fingers. I was not able to remove the Program Files and Windows folder.

There is a solution using the command line, though. You must execute all commands in an Administrator command prompt.

Example for the Program Files directory.

takeown /f "Z:\Program Files" /a /r /d Y
icacls "Z:\Program Files" /t /grant administrators:F
rd /s /q "Z:\Program Files"

Gotcha: I have noticed that I had to execute the statements a second time on some folders to delete them finally.

An exception is the Windows directory. It cannot be removed using these commands. I have found another workaround that tricks Windows into believing it is a previous Windows installation. Rename the Windows directory to “Windows.old” and then run Disk Cleanup -> Clean up system files. Windows will detect this as an old installation and offer to remove it.

Documentation

  • takeown
    • /f – Path to folder
    • /a – Give ownership to Administrators group
    • /r – Recursive
    • /d Y – Do not require confirmation
  • icacls
    • /t – “Recursive”
    • /grant – Replace previous permission with new owner and full access (:F)
  • rd
    • /s – Recursive
    • /q – Quiet mode, do not require confirmation

OpenRGB – An RGB Software I Want to Use (It Runs on Linux!)

Robert LohrLeave a comment

If you are in the market for anything gaming PC or gaming laptop related, chances are, you have come across the industry-wide trend of RGB illuminated hardware and peripherals. Everything is RGB, from the graphics card to the RAM, to your headset (because you can see the lights when you wear it 🙄), and many, many more. I am not against RGB lighting per se, but if you follow the industry as a PC hardware enthusiast, it is evident that in some aspects, this has gone too far.

Quick side note: after a rant about RGB software, I will show examples of using OpenRGB on Windows and Linux. If you are interested in only that, skip the rant and scroll to the bottom.

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CMake on Windows 10 with Qt5 Error: CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH

Robert Lohr1 Comment

Quick one: Set the proper CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH value for Qt5 development on Windows 10 with MinGW and CMake.

Here is the lovely error you get from CMake.

CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:13 (find_package):
 By not providing "FindQt5.cmake" in CMAKE_MODULE_PATH this project 
has
 asked CMake to find a package configuration file provided by "Qt5", 
but
 CMake did not find one.

 Could not find a package configuration file provided by "Qt5" with 
any of
 the following names:

 Qt5Config.cmake
 qt5-config.cmake

 Add the installation prefix of "Qt5" to CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH or set 
"Qt5_DIR"
 to a directory containing one of the above files. If "Qt5" provides a
 separate development package or SDK, be sure it has been installed.

CMake asks you to tell it where to find the Qt5 *.cmake configuration files. One option is to set the CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH variable. The Qt5 documentation has the following to say about that:

The easiest way to use CMake is to set the CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH environment variable to the install prefix of Qt 5.

Now, what the hell is the "install prefix"? It turns out it is the path where you can find the compiler-specific Qt binaries, include files and the other stuff. In my case, using MinGW, it is located at "C:\Apps\Qt\5.14.2\mingw73_64". If you are using the MSVC binaries, select the corresponding directory, probably something like "C:\Apps\Qt\5.14.2\msvc_2017".

Windows Fluent Design – Rendering Bugs?

Robert LohrLeave a comment

As an avid listener of Windows Weekly I often hear discussions between Paul Thurrott, Mary Joe Foley and Leo Laporte about Microsoft’s Fluent Design. Microsoft continues to evolve the visual language of Windows and thus it’s a regular topic on one of my favorite podcasts. I’ve been noticing it here and there myself, mainly in system dialogs, but I’ve never really paid any attention because none of the applications I use on a regular basis make use of it – and currently I’m rather happy about that fact. Just recently though, I was struck by one effect in particular and that was the spark that got this blog post going. To be honest, in most cases where I notice these Fluent Design elements I think of them as rendering bugs. Like sometimes in games, when the graphics driver is not yet optimized, or a badly programmed game engine draws odd pictures sometimes, flaws in an otherwise normal picture. I have a few examples to show to you.

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Windows 10: First Impressions (Preview Build 10041)

Robert Lohr1 Comment

While I was grooming my unicorn on Crazy-Talk Island I read on the Internet about a thing called Windows 10. Curious as I am, I went out to watch the huge presentation on Jan, 21 where Microsoft officially unveiled the mobile version of Windows 10 and the cool hardware stuff. There’s also a very nice set of videos by Scott Hanselman on YouTube that show the changes from version to version.

Actually I’m very much aware of Windows 10 since the beginning, as a developer I’d be crazy not to, so I registered as a Windows Insider yesterday and downloaded the technical preview build 10041. Here’s a summary of my first impressions.
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