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I recently did a clean install of Windows 7 on my PC and downloaded all the drivers from the manufacture’s website and thought everything was good to go. I happened to go into Device Manager and noticed that there was a problem with Base System Device.
Actually, there were several Base System Device driver errors, all with question marks. I was surprised because I thought I had downloaded the important drivers for the system such as the graphics card, touchpad, network adapter etc.

Unfortunately, I didn’t seem to have downloaded all of the drivers. I eventually figured out what the problem was and didn’t get the error in Device Manager anymore. In this article, I’ll show you how to fix the driver issue in Windows.
Even though I installed most drivers, there were a couple that I didn’t install thinking that they were not necessary. The Base System Device is usually related to one of three pieces of hardware: the chipset, bluetooth or the SD card reader.

Go to the manufacturer website and find the drivers for your specific model. Make sure to download the chipset drivers and install the latest version. Also, find the the drivers for bluetooth and SD card reader, if you have those on your system.
Also, you can figure out what driver is needed by finding the hardware IDs for any device that shows up as unknown or with a question mark in Device Manager. To do this, double-click on the Base System Device and choose Details. Then click on Hardware IDs from the drop down.

It should look something like this:

PCI\VEN_15AD&DEV_0405&SUBSYS_040515AD&REV_00
PCI\VEN_15AD&DEV_0405&SUBSYS_040515AD
PCI\VEN_15AD&DEV_0405&CC_030000
PCI\VEN_15AD&DEV_0405&CC_0300

Now you can go to a site like PCIDatabase and type in the vendor ID and device ID. Where are those numbers? The part after VEN_ is the Vendor ID. In the first line above, it’s 15AD. The device ID is the part after DEV_, which is 0405 in the above case.

Now if I type those IDs into the respective Vendor search and Device search boxes on the PCIDatabase website, I’ll get the following results:


As you can see above, it’s a NVIDIA graphics card running under VMware. Since I have installed Windows 7 in a virtual machine, VMware is the the vendor. The device is the graphics card installed on my host PC. Pretty neat huh? The next time you see a big question mark or Unknown Device in Device Manager, you can now figure out exactly what piece of hardware is missing a driver.
Now just go through all the Base System Device listed there and figure out exactly which driver you need to download. If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment. Enjoy!

I recently ran into a problem on one of my Windows 7 machines where I could not change the date and time. Every time I clicked on the Change Date and Time dialog box shown below, I kept getting an error message.

The message that kept popping up was:

Unable to continue. You do not have permission to perform this task.

I had previously had some problems with this machine and thought it might be related. In the end, I had to try a couple of different solutions before I stopped getting the error message about not having permission. Hopefully, one of the solutions will work for you.

Method 1 – Safe Mode

One thing you can try is to change the date and time in Safe Mode. If you are able to change it here, you then know it’s a problem with either a startup item or a Windows service. You can then perform a clean boot of Windows 7 to narrow down the issue.
You can check out this article from Microsoft that details how to perform a clean boot in Windows 7:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Method 2 – System File Checker

The next thing you can try is to run the system file checker. If you’re having strange permission issues in Windows, it’s probably some type of corruption of system files and settings. You can run SFC by opening a command prompt and typing in the following command:

sfc /scannow

System file checker will verify all system files and will replace any file that is corrupt, modified or damaged.

Method 3 – Command Line

You can also change the date and time in Windows using the command line. Open a command prompt and type in the word date and press enter. You’ll be prompted to enter a new date.

What about the time? Pretty easy too. Just type in the word time and you can change the time too:

Note that the time is in 24-hour format and you can specify it down all the way to milliseconds. You should be able to change the time without having to open an elevated command prompt. If you get an error, however, then try running the command prompt as Administrator.

Method 4 – Local Security Policy

If you get an error message like “A required privilege is not held by the client” when trying to use the command prompt, go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Local Security Policy and then navigate to Local Policy\User Rights Assignment and ensure that Change the system time and Change the time zone privileges are given to Administrators.

Note that if you are in a domain, you may simply be restricted by the group policy set by your company. If you’re not on a domain and Administrators don’t have the two privileges shown above, then adding the group to the security setting should fix the problem.

Method 5 – Windows Time Service

If you’re still having problems changing the date and time in Windows, go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools and click on Services. Scroll down to Windows Time and right-click and choose Properties. Click on the Log On tab and make sure it’s set to This account – Local Service.

The password fields should automatically be filled in, so there is no need to type in any passwords. Go head and restart the computer and see what happens.

Method 6 – Uninstall Third-Party Clock Applications

If you have any third-party clock manager or time programs, go ahead and uninstall them and see if that resolves your issue with changing the Windows date and time. Sometimes a conflict can occur and a third party program might prevent you changing the time.
Hopefully one of the solutions above fixes your issue. If not, post a comment here and I’ll try to help. Enjoy!

I recently got a blue screen of death (BSOD) error on a Windows 7 computer. However, upon restarting the computer and adjusting BIOS settings, the BSOD error would still display, but the computer was restarting so quickly that I didn’t have time to analyze the specific BSOD error codes.

In other words, the BSOD screen would only display for a second or so, before Windows 7 automatically rebooted itself. Thus, I couldn’t retrieve the specific error codes needed to diagnose the BSOD error.
Here’s a quick tip for not only those that have gotten the BSOD, but also those who haven’t encountered it.
Start by opening the Start Menu and navigating to the Control Panel. Next, select the System listing within Control Panel to navigate to the System pane.

From the System window, select the option Advanced system settings, located along the left side of the window.

Finally, select the Settings button listed under the Startup and Recovery, Advanced tab of System Properties.

This will launch the Startup and Recovery panel, where you should uncheck the option Automatically restart and click the OK button to apply.

This simple tip will prevent Windows from automatically restarting itself, should a BSOD error occur. Above, it was mentioned that even those that haven’t gotten a BSOD error should uncheck this option…
I did not have this option checked when I got a BSOD error on a Windows PC. Additionally, Windows would not boot into Safe Mode, so I couldn’t access the desktop to toggle Automatic restart off. Thus, Windows kept rebooting itself and queuing the BSOD. In this case, Windows of course, wouldn’t respond to the Start Windows normally option either.
With no CD/DVD drive on the PC to accept a Windows repair disc, I eventually ended up reinstalling Windows via USB drive.
With the Automatically restart option checked off, Windows will stop at the BSOD so that you can note any specific error codes. You can of course restart the PC too, by simply holding the power button down.
Thank you for stopping by the site for today’s post, which offers a simple tip to help diagnose BSOD error codes. If anyone has any Windows BSOD error problems, you can leave a comment and I will try to reply if I have a suitable response or tip. Enjoy!

This brief guide will show you how to have ‘drive icons’ (shortcuts) automatically appear on your desktop when you plug in a USB drive, SD Card, insert a CD or DVD etc.

1. To get started, head over to the Desktop Media download page and download their free app, Desktop Media. Once the file has finished downloading (it’s very small) – open the .zip and run the installation program. The procedure is very straight forward – just click Next a bunch of times.


2. Once the installation has completed, Desktop Media will launch. Now try plugging in a USB drive, an SD Card or CD/DVD. A shortcut to that drive will automatically appear on your Desktop.


3. You can customize Desktop Media by right-clicking on its icon in the System Tray and then select Options…


4. One item of note is the option to display Fixed drives. A “fixed” drive is one that’s “built in” to your PC (for example, your C: drive). Place a check in the Fixed box to have shortcuts created to them on your Desktop.


5. Now you’ll be able to quickly access your fixed drives as well.


6. For your external drives (USB, SD, CD/DVD) – you can also right-click on the shortcut and select Eject to safely remove them from your PC – a very handy option!

Have you ever run into the problem where every time you start up Windows, you get the following message:

Setup is preparing your computer for first use

This happened to me on a Windows 7 machine. Actually, I had created an image of Windows 7 and then restored that image to a different machine. When I booted up the machine, I kept getting this message every time and it was really annoying.
You’ll probably only ever see this error if you tried to restore an image of Windows 7 to different hardware. In this article, I’ll mention a few possible solutions that hopefully will get rid of the message on startup.

Method 1 – Registry Keys

The solution that worked for me involved checking the registry for a few keys and making sure the values were correct. Navigate to the following key in your registry:

 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup

Here you will see a few keys related to the system setup. The registry keys and their values should look like this:

“SetupType”=dword:00000000
“SystemSetupInProgress”=dword:00000000
“SetupPhase”=dword:00000000
“CmdLine”=”" (This field should be Blank )
“OOBEInProgress”=dword:00000000

Here is a screenshot on my computer of what the registry keys and their values should be. I have highlighted the important ones that cause this error:

If you’re having this problem, then you might have something like oobe/windowsdeploy in the CmdLine key. It should be blank like shown above. Also, SystemSetupInProgress and OOBEInProgress also should be set to 0, not 1.
Hopefully, this will fix the setup is preparing your computer for first use message on every startup. If not, there are a few other thins you can try, but your best shot is the registry edit.

Method 2 – Perform a Startup Repair

You can also try to perform a startup repair in Windows 7, which might be able to fix the setup problem. You can check out this article from Microsoft
on how to do a startup repair.

Method 3 – Do a Clean Boot

The only other way you could be getting this message is if there is a program or service that is causing it to occur. By performing a clean boot, you can quickly determine whether it indeed is a program or service. You can read the following post from Microsoft that details the steps to perform a clean boot
.
Hopefully, one of the above solutions fixes your problem. If not, post a comment here and let us know what you tried. Enjoy!

This guide will show you how to change the Windows 7 “Login Screen” background wallpaper to the image of your choice.

The default wallpaper for the Windows 7 sign in screen (also known as the “Lock Screen”) can get a little boring after you’ve seen it a thousand times. This brief tutorial will show you how to change it to a different picture, using a small, safe and free Windows program.

1. Head over to the Windows 7 Logon Background Changer download page, and click the Download button towards the bottom of the page (it’s below the Change log section).
2. Once the download has completed, open the .zip file and run the program Win7LogonBackgroundChangerSetup


3. Select I Agree on the License Agreement screen, then click the Next button. The rest of the installation is just as straight forward – keep clicking Next until you’re done.


4. Launch Windows 7 Logon Background Changer from your Start Menu (it can be found by selecting All Programs and then scrolling through the list).


5. Now you’ll be presented with the main interface.

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6. The bar at the bottom of the screen has a list of “included” images that you can use. The main Window will display your current Windows Login screen, and then ‘preview’ what it will look like when you select a new image. Try selecting one of the included example pictures, and you’ll see a preview of what it would look like.

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7. To set your own picture as the background, click the Choose a Folder button from the top menu.


8. Navigate to the folder that contains the image you want to use, select it, then click the OK button.


9. The bar at the bottom of the screen will now display all of the pictures in the folder you selected. Choose the image you want to use from the lower bar by clicking on it once.


10. The main window will now give you a (basic) preview of what your new background will look like. Click the Apply button if you’re happy with it (or even just want to try it out – you can change the wallpaper/image at any time, as many times as you want).

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11. The screen will flash momentarily as the program applies the change.

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12. To check out your new background, click the Start Button, then the small ‘arrow’ next to the Shut down button, and finally Lock .


13. Ta-da! Your new Windows Login/Lock screen!

click to enlarge

14. If you’re unhappy with the results, just log back in and try another picture :)

Creating a customized Windows 7 image can be accomplished using a few different methods and Microsoft even supplies some tips for creating unique and custom Windows 7 deployments. However, many of these custom imaging methods revolve around straight enterprise structure, which may require several workstations, a master PC and Windows 7 Enterprise edition.

For non-enterprise Windows 7 imaging, which will work with all versions of Windows 7, you can use a program called RTse7enLite. The program is available as freeware.
Lately, Windows 8 has been covered quite a bit by many of the tech blogs, but it is still yet to be officially released, and as far as enterprise and IT, many businesses may stick with Windows 7. Windows 8’s metro interface and simplified apps are of course great for tablets and consumers who may like simplicity. However, Windows 7 may be skipped by several enterprise environments like Vista was…
If you still plan on using Windows 7, and fix or repair computers or offer your own IT services, you can create custom Windows 7 images that easy way, which will allow you to tweak a Windows 7 Installer ISO.
To get started, simply jump to the RTse7enLite downloads page and download the according 32 or 64-bit
version. Once the download is complete, proceed to install the program onto your PC as you would any other app.
Next, you will need a Windows 7 ISO file, it can be any version. If you don’t yet have Windows 7 in ISO format and want to create a bootable ISO from a Windows 7 disc, be sure to download the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool
.
Once you have a Windows 7 ISO, launch the RTse7enLite program and click the Browse button to select the ISO. You will also need to select a destination for the customized image.

Once you’ve selected the ISO and destination, the program will proceed to load the ISO. This may take several minutes. With the ISO images ready, you will be presented with the following screen:

Next, a feature that many of our site visitors may like, is the option to directly change the default Windows 7 UI Language. Simply select a language using the menu.

Next, click the Task menu located on the left side of the RT Lite program window, which will present you with several check boxes. On this screen, you can simply click to check any customization settings you want to utilize for your custom image.

With the Task selection configured, you can now select Integration, Components, Tweaks, Un-Attended, Customization and ISO Bootable.
From here, the program will present you with several different customization options, which you can configure to your own preferences. Some of the more useful options may be:
Integration
Using the Integration option, you can configure your custom Windows 7 image with the latest Windows Updates, drivers for specific devices, and even your own set of default applications. When you buy a branded PC such as a Dell, it comes configured with some apps already installed. The Applications option in this program allows you to define your own custom apps that will be equipped with the image.

Those are just a few of several unique options that the program offers. Want to install your own custom desktop backgrounds and even define a custom login screen for the image? The Customization menu allows you to set and apply several Windows 7 based customizations.
Once you’ve configured the image to your preferences, you can simply select the ISO-bootable option, configure settings for the image and click the Make ISO button.

That’s basically all there is to it, and as mentioned above, we’ve only reviewed a few features that this Windows 7 customization program offers. Now, you can create your own custom Windows 7 images with less hassle, the easy way.
Thank you for stopping by the site for today’s post. If any of our site visitors or subscribers know of any other programs similar to RT 7, feel free to link to them in the comments section. Enjoy!