Friday, December 9, 2016

How to find your Windows 10 Serial Number ?

If you are one of the few million that upgraded to Windows 10 freely and now wondering what would you do in a certain scenario of reformatting your machine and how to find your "free Windows 10 upgrade key" you are in the right place.


Firstly, I have to point out that you do NOT need your key to rewrite your key in a case of reinstallation, because your Windows 10 Upgrade key is bound to the Microsoft account you have used to login to before to that computer. 

Nevertheless, if you wish to find out your Windows 10 and back it up somewhere safe, all you have to do is to run the visual basic script linked here

If your download settings doesn't allow you to download visual basic scripts (.vbs) copy the below text to a notepad and save it as serial.vbs and then double click to execute it. It will run automatically and will allow you to save the Windows 10 serial key to a text file named "WindowsKeyInfo.txton your Desktop.


Option Explicit 

Dim objshell,path,DigitalID, Result 
Set objshell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
'Set registry key path
Path = "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\"
'Registry key value
DigitalID = objshell.RegRead(Path & "DigitalProductId")
Dim ProductName,ProductID,ProductKey,ProductData
'Get ProductName, ProductID, ProductKey
ProductName = "Product Name: " & objshell.RegRead(Path & "ProductName")
ProductID = "Product ID: " & objshell.RegRead(Path & "ProductID")
ProductKey = "Installed Key: " & ConvertToKey(DigitalID) 
ProductData = ProductName  & vbNewLine & ProductID  & vbNewLine & ProductKey
'Show messbox if save to a file 
If vbYes = MsgBox(ProductData  & vblf & vblf & "Save to a file?", vbYesNo + vbQuestion, "BackUp Windows Key Information") then
   Save ProductData 
End If



'Convert binary to chars
Function ConvertToKey(Key)
    Const KeyOffset = 52
    Dim isWin8, Maps, i, j, Current, KeyOutput, Last, keypart1, insert
    'Check if OS is Windows 8
    isWin8 = (Key(66) \ 6) And 1
    Key(66) = (Key(66) And &HF7) Or ((isWin8 And 2) * 4)
    i = 24
    Maps = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
    Do
        Current= 0
        j = 14
        Do
           Current = Current* 256
           Current = Key(j + KeyOffset) + Current
           Key(j + KeyOffset) = (Current \ 24)
           Current=Current Mod 24
            j = j -1
        Loop While j >= 0
        i = i -1
        KeyOutput = Mid(Maps,Current+ 1, 1) & KeyOutput
        Last = Current
    Loop While i >= 0 
    keypart1 = Mid(KeyOutput, 2, Last)
    insert = "N"
    KeyOutput = Replace(KeyOutput, keypart1, keypart1 & insert, 2, 1, 0)
    If Last = 0 Then KeyOutput = insert & KeyOutput
    ConvertToKey = Mid(KeyOutput, 1, 5) & "-" & Mid(KeyOutput, 6, 5) & "-" & Mid(KeyOutput, 11, 5) & "-" & Mid(KeyOutput, 16, 5) & "-" & Mid(KeyOutput, 21, 5)
   
    
End Function
'Save data to a file
Function Save(Data)
    Dim fso, fName, txt,objshell,UserName
    Set objshell = CreateObject("wscript.shell")
    'Get current user name 
    UserName = objshell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%UserName%") 
    'Create a text file on desktop 
    fName = "C:\Users\" & UserName & "\Desktop\WindowsKeyInfo.txt"
    Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
    Set txt = fso.CreateTextFile(fName)
    txt.Writeline Data
    txt.Close

End Function


Please comment back, if you run into any problems.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Windows 10 Sound Volume Changing Randomly - Fixed.


Summary:
You are most probably here because after upgrading to Windows 10, you realize that while watching a video or listening to music, the volume is changing randomly by itself and yes, it is annoying. 

Generally, the problem only occurs with pc's equipped with Realteak HD sound. 

This problem mainly occurs with Realtek Sound chipped computers. So do not worry it is not a bug, but another useless feature that is built into Windows 10.

As Microsoft usually orphans the legacy devices, Realteak sound chips took their fair share. The original Realtek driver that is included in the Windows 10 installation package does not function as we expect. 

Symptoms:
Sound volume level changes randomly by itself whilst listening to music, watching a movie or youtube videos. 

Reason:
The Realtek driver included inside the Windows 10 driver repository is not fully compatible with your soundchip.

As a feature Windows tries to control the sound chip to enhance the sound quality as well as the noise cancelling/levelling. With the built-in device driver there is no option to cancel the Enhancements.

Try solution 1 and if it doesn't work for you, try solution 2. One of them will work.


Solution 1 - Disable the Sound Enhancements


Click Start and type Sound and select Sound Control Panel.


  1. In the Playback tab, double click on Speakers 
  2. In the Enhancements tab (if you have it) and check Disable All Sound Effects.
  3. Press OK.
  4. In the Communications Tab, select the Do nothing radio button and OK to exit. 




Solution 2 - Disable the Sound Enhancements

  1. When you load the original driver from your vendor or directly from HERE, the MAXX control panel comes back. Yes, I know, it is a Dell driver, but it is for Realtek HD Soundchips in general, branded for Dell (tested on Asus and HP Precision). If you feel weird about it you may test the original from Realtek, but it may not work too well.
  2. When the installation is complete, reboot.
  3. From the tray menu (black speaker icon) or Start Menu > Dell Audio, run the Dell Audio application.
  4. In Main Tab, Turn OFF the Speaker Enhancement.