Touch Enable Windows for your Tablet PC

Here we come to the Tablet PC age. Main advantage of the tablet PC is the mobility and give a larger screen to work. Remote desktop your computer at office or home is a key advantage of using a tablet PC. However, I have some problems working in the older windows versions ( Windows Xp ) or Windows Server version as they are not touch enabled. Here is the temporary solution I used to overcome this problem.


You can touch enable Windows 7 without any problem. However there is not direct method to touch enable Windows XP. There for you need to increase the font size, icon size to make it easy to work with the touch screen. It makes the life so much easier as you can easily select the files programs you want to work with. Increa

Go to the Windows computer that you want to access remotely from your ipad or tablet pc. Right click on the desktop and go to properties and go to Appearance tab, click on the Advanced button to change individual Items. I always make the icons bit larger and increase the space between the icons. you can even increace the menu bar and the scrollbar size so you can easily work from the touch screen.

However, there is not direct way to enable fancy multi touch options like zoom in zoom out or scroll down and up touching touching any place in the window. At this stage only option is to upgrade to Windows 7.

How to hack registry to install LNK updates for XP SP2

You can do lot by changing the Windows Registry. This is another hack that allows to install crucial security updates to Windows XP SP2 after Microsoft discontinued support. F-Secure has come up with a registry hack base on the hack provided for the Grand Theft Auto IV. Simply the hack allows you to install the game on SP2 even though it requires SP3. They used the same changes to install the security updates and confirm that it is working perfectly.

"It turns out that an SP2 system will think its SP3 if you edit this key: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows, and edit the DWORD value CSDVersion from 200 to 300 (and reboot)."

however, it is always recommend to update to the latest Service Pack.

How to Start Windows Defender Service Manually

Windows Defender starts giving out the following error while it tries to start.

Application failed to initialize: 0x800106ba. A problem caused Windows Defender Service to stop. To start the service, restart your computer or search Help and Support on how to start a service manually.


Windows XP

Go to Start
Go to Control Panel
Click Administrative Tools

Windows Vista

Search Start Administrative Tools
Click Administrative Tools


Double click on the Services
Find the windows Defender Service
Double click on it to open Windows Defender Properties
Change the Start up type to Automatic
Click Start button to start the service.
Click Apply Button
Restart the computer.

Now you have fixed the problem that caused Windows Defender to stop running properly.

Windows Defender is software that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software by detecting and removing known spyware from your computer. Windows Defender features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it's detected, minimizes interruptions, and helps you stay productive.

KB970892 update failed

SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 update KB970892 has been failed in Windows 2003 for some reason and it is keep on stopping the SQL services every time it tries to install the update. Lets see how it can be solved in details.


Windows update related to SQL server Service pack 3 (KB970892) is been failing to install in Windows XP, Windows 2003 Environments. If you have a close look at the Event Viewer you can notice couple of Error messages related to this.

Product: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition - Update 'GDR 4053 for SQL Server Database Services 2005 ENU (KB970892)' could not be installed. Error code 1603. Additional information is available in the log file C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\LOG\Hotfix\SQL9_Hotfix_KB970892_sqlrun_sql.msp.log.

Annoying part is if the Windows Update is set to Automatic them every time it tries this update will stop the SQL services which cause SQL Database driven websites to go offline.

Simple Registry Hack will fix this issue. I tried it on Windows 2003 Server and it should work on Windows XP in the same way around. Source NetScanTool Pro Inside Out Comment.


1. Go to Run, type regedit, and click ok, or press Enter.
2. Back up your registry, if you don't know how to do this, google it...
3. In Regedit, go to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL
Server\MSSQL.1\Setup]
4. find the Resume REG_DWORD, and change its decimal value from 1, to 0.
5. Check MSSQL.2 and MSSQL.3 for the Resume key and change the value to 0 from 1.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.2\Setup
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.3\Setup

5. install the update, and restart the machine.

This worked like a magic and solve the KB970892 installation problem.

Free Antivirus for Genuine Windows

Microsoft Security essentials released a free antivirus for any genuine Windows copy. It will provide real time protection for your home PC and protect it from virus, spyware and malware threats. If you have a genuine copy you can download it for free.

System Requirements
Operating System: Genuine Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3); Windows Vista (Gold, Service Pack 1, or Service Pack 2); Windows 7

For Windows XP, a PC with a CPU clock speed of 500 MHz or higher, and 1 GB RAM or higher.

For Windows Vista and Windows 7, a PC with a CPU clock speed of 1.0 GHz or higher, and 1 GB RAM or higher.

You can get free support and report any new threats via Microsoft Security essentials. I think this is a necessary step taken by Microsoft to provide a better security for their own operating system which is been mostly targeted by hackers, viruses and all sort of attacks. If you have a genuine Windows copy then you can download it for free from Microsoft Security essentials. Its performances and look and feel will be updated as we tested it by our self soon.

Quickly find out when Windows was last shutdown/rebooted

Every wondered to find out when your desktop was shutdown or rebooted by your mischievous sibling?

Here's a quick way

To find out last reboot
1) Open command prompt and type in

net statistics workstation | more

The second line will say


Statistics since ....

You can find out since when the machine is up

To Find out last shutdown

The easiest way to determine the last shutdown date/time is to check the event logs. When you shutdown a computer Event ID 6006 is written to the Event log which denotes a clean shutdown.

Buying a Laptop Computer or Netbook

It is not an easy task to buying a laptop computer. Not just because of the price of the price of the laptops but comparing the features with the prices will easily makes you feel lost. Do not forget that cheap new notebook have new member. Netbooks are cheaper and portable. So how you decide which laptop, desktop or netbook to buy.


How much you can or willing to spend on your new computer, laptop or netbook comes first. Without proper budget you will easily get lost because you can buy one for $500 as well as for more than $5000. I will leave it with you.

Before you go any further spend couple of minutes to go through the hardware requirements and operating system you would prefer. At this stage you will get Windows Vista
or XP with your laptop and soon Windows 7 would be available. In terms of hardware it is Screen Size, RAM, Hard disk space, Processor and video and sound card would be main components you need to think of.

Then it would be better to decide you want to buy a desktop, laptop or netbook. You might need to answer couple of usability question before you make the decision.

* Do I want it to be portable?
* Do I want 5-6 hours of battery life?
* Do I want to use it mainly for internet browsing and access documents and Excels?
* Will I not constantly use it for couple of hours?
* Do I have another computer?
* 1GB - 2GB RAM is quite enough?

If you answer yes to most of the above questions then I would recommend you to go for a netbook which is cheaper, extremely portable and quite handy to take it when you travel. Not recommended for constantly using for longer hours.

* I want to it to be portable?
* I do not really worried about the battery life?
* I want to run couple of general applications and some photo editing applications?
* I will use it for hours and hours?
* I want more RAM and disk space to be used?

Then it is ideal to buy a laptop base on your hardware requirements. You can upgrade/downgrade RAM and hard drive base on your requirement and budget. With netbooks it is bit hard to work for longer hours as the screen is smaller.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

If you do not want portability at all and want to run really heavy and experiment with application, operating systems and what to run programing languages and databases you must choose a good desktop. Also if you have a limited budget desktop would be a good option as well.

Try to keep your requirements simple. Otherwise new models will add to the market and you will never end up buying a new computer but wasting your time going through specifications and requirements.

Do not forget to share your experience buying a new laptop, computer or netbook...

Start up tasks in XP

I wanted a simple easy way of running a command everytime I started my Windows XP PC.

After coming across many ways fo doing this, here is the simplest and easyest way that worked for me.

Steps as below:
1. Determine what you need to be invoked (in my case a drive mapping command that maps my most used folders into drives for ease of use).
2. Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks -> Add Scheduled Task.
3. Click Next and then browse the file ( This could be a .bat, any program or anything else you need invoked).
4. Click Next. and Select How frequent you need this task invoked.

Options are:

Daily
Weekly
Monthly
One Time Only
When my computer starts
When I log on.

5. Click Next. Enter the necessary details, restart and Viola..

It should work!!

How to recover Windows Password in 10 steps

Here are the 10 steps to successfully recover a lost Windows Password

1. go to http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/
2. download the iso image
3. burn the iso image to a cd
4. reboot the computer with the cd in the drive to start the program on the CD
5. select ophcrack Graphic mode from the Menu that appears after the reboot
6. the software will now automatically start scanning for password for all the users on the computer
7. the password will be revealed for the users as it is cracked.
8. close the ophcrack application, shutdown the pc and remove the cd
9. restart and load windows
10. enter the username and password on the login screen and you have recovered the password :)

Allow PING when Windows Firewall is on

We ve been talking about the how we can use basic Windows command line command "ping" and how it can be used to identify network and Internet related issues.

There are some cases where ping does not work. Specially other machine (which you want to ping) is firewall enabled. In that case ping would give a request timeout. That does not mean that you are having issues with the connection between those two machines.

First check whether the Windows Firewall is enabled. If it is enabled you can allow only ping command without disabling the Windows Firewall. In that way your computer is protected.

How to allow ping with Windows Firewall (Windows XP)?

Click Start

go to Control Panel

click Windows Firewall (If you are in classic mode)

go to Advances tab

click Settings button under ICMP

check Allow incoming echo request

click Ok and Ok

Quickest way to fix this is to disable Windows Firewall but it is always a good practice to allow only the services you need and keep the firewall on.

There is a tool Hardping Pro 1.0.1 which will ping a computer even when it's firewall is enabled.

Uninstall Windows XP Service Pack3 Failed

Installing Windows Service Pack 3 was pretty straight forward and completed sucessfully. However, couple of programs I needed to run did not like Windows XP Service Pack 3 that much. SAP B1 is one of them. I had no option other than to uninstall Windows Service Pack to get things running on. 

Microsoft Website gives out 4 methods to uninstall it in their support document How to remove Windows XP Service Pack 3 from your computer. For some reason first 3 methods did not work for me. It was checking the requirements but when it comes to the uninstalling part it terminate saying files missing. 

I was too lazy to go through the method 4 and install a Windows XP again. Again I was stuck when it comes to the serial number as I have been using it already and had to call up Microsoft and get a new key.  

Not the best method to solve the issue but a easier way to solve it. If you have important data it is always good to back it up before you perform new installation of OS or upgrade or downgrade process. 

I would like to hear how Windows Service Pack 3 is been treating you? 

[Windows] Install Windows XP on Server

Challenge: Install Windows XP on a server machine that originally dose not support Windows XP. 

                   Server Machine was HP ProLiant ML310 G4 Server                   

Problem: You cannot find the right drivers for Windows XP. In this case it could not find the                              Network card drivers. 

Result:    No Internet and cannot communicate with other computers in the Local area network.

Fix: Even though the drivers are not available in the original CD or the web page for the Server, there are drivers for all the versions of Windows if you search for individual component. 

If you check the product page you can find out the individual component and Google for the drivers for the component.  For example the network card is Broadcom NetXtreame Gigabite Ethernet and it will take you to the Broadcom website which has drivers for Windows XP and all the other OS.

You can always try this trick on refine your search to find what you want out of Internet. I would like to hear your stories.

[Basic] why do you need to zip a file?

Zip is a simple and common process to reduce the size of a files or collection of file. As a result of the zip it will create a new file smaller than the original file or the total size of the files. When you zip a large file it reduced up to 80% of size of the original file size. However some of graphic files can be compressed to only a few,because it's already used compression. Also compression is not highly effective for small files.

Simple steps to zip a file using Microsoft windows XP (or Windows Vista) standard Zip File
1. Right click on the folder which you need to zip
You can select a group of files you need to zip and right click as well.
2. select "send to" and click on "Compressed (zipped) Folder.
3. then you can see the new zip file with the same filename.zip

steps to unzip a file
1. right click on the file which you want to unzip and select extract or extract here.
2. then you can see the extracted file with the same name.

advantages of zipping files.
1.when you email a file it reduces the time to attach and transfer
2.when you download ,it will be faster
3.it will save your space of the hard disk
4.Easy to send a collection of files via email, ftp or through websites like yousendit as you only need to send one file instead of couple of files.

There are lot of free and paid software to compress files. What would be the best software to use. It depends on your requirement.
For example if you are trying to send some files to your friend.

1. You need to consider about the compatibility.
That means if you used really good compression tool but if your friends does not have it your friend will not be able to unzip the file. You always need to use a standard (common) and better file compress tool to zip your files.

2. Mention the Software name and the link to download the software. So in any case your friend does not have the software he can install it.

If you are planning to archive your files and save space. Always better to use software that compress the files well and you need to make sure compression process did not corrupt your files. Before you delete the original file unzip the sipped files and randomly check the files are in good condition.

Softwares Available for Compress files

WinZip Download WinZip

WinRar Download WinRAR

What do you use to compressfiles?

What is Conflicker Worm

Simplest definition is it is a computer worm that can harm your computer and recently most of the anti virus companies warn about Conflicker worm. Before going in to more details you should download the simple Conflicker Worm removal tool from Symentic website and run a scan to check whether your machine is infected with the virus.

Three simple steps you should take to prevent any attack from Conflicker Worm.

1. Install a proper antivirus and anti-spyware software.

2. Update your antivirus and anti-spyware definition files to the latest available.

3. Update your Windows to the latest security patch.

Not only to prevent Conflicker worm but to prevent from any virus or worm these three steps will be a great practice.

[Windows Error]The description for Event ID ( 7 ) in Source ( Disk ) cannot be found

Computer slows down and couple of programs such as Internet Explorer and Outlook start crashing most of the time. In the Event log it keeps on giving the following error.


Error
The description for Event ID ( 7 ) in Source ( Disk ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: \Device\Harddisk0\D.

It seems like the Hard Drive is having some issues such as bad sectors or it may die sooner.

First Step - Back up
Back up all the important information you have to a external device such as DVD, External Hard drive or a online storage.


Second Step - Hard drive error Checking
Right click on the Hard Drive that you are having issues with. Most of the case it will be the Hard Drive that Windows is installed. Select Properties and then go to Tools. Under Error Checking Press "Check Now" Button.


It will open a small windows.


Select Automatically Fix File System Errors and Scan for and attempt to recovery of bad sectors.
and then click start.


Most probably you will get the message saying


The disk check could not be performed because the disk check utility needs exclusive access to some Windows file on the disk.


Click Yes so it will start when you restart your computer next time.


Restart the computer and it will start checking the file system. It may take some times.


I will update the result as it finish error checking.
(Update)
Acctually after the second step it fix the
"The description for Event ID ( 7 ) in Source ( Disk ) cannot be found" error.

[Error] Excel Crashes when selecting fonts

I have noticed a wired error when I try to change the fonts in Microsoft Excel. Excel get crashed and close it self when ever I change fonts or make fonts bold. Then I try same with Microsoft Word and result was same.

Problem caused by the default printer drivers. When I remove the default printer to another Excel, Word start working normally.

Solution: To reinstall the printer drivers.

You can easily think that the problem comes from word or excel and I completely uninsulated Microsoft office and install it again and again but nothing was changed.

[Basic Hack] Increase / Relocate the Paging File

Increasing the size of the page file will speed up you computer a bit and allowing you to run some heavy weight programs that use lot of virtual memory. It is a quite simple process. 

Windos XP

Go to Control Panel 

Click "system"

Go to "Advance" tab

Click "Setting" button under performance

Under Performance Option go to "Advance" tab

Click "Change" Button under Virtual Memory

If you are having couple of drives you can change the drive by simply highlighting the drive.

If you need to increase the virtual memory 

select "Custom Size"

specify the Initial Size and the maximum size.  Just make sure specify these values between the recommended virtual memory.

In Windows Vista the process is same as Windows XP. 

[os] XP tips - Windows nt/xp command list

An A-Z Index of the Windows NT/XP command line

ADDUSERS Add or list users to/from a CSV file

ARP      Address Resolution Protocol

ASSOC    Change file extension associations

ASSOCIAT One step file association

AT       Schedule a command to run at a later time

ATTRIB   Change file attributes

BROWSTAT Get domain, browser and PDC info

CACLS    Change file permissions

CALL     Call one batch program from another

CD       Change Directory - move to a specific Folder

CHANGE   Change Terminal Server Session properties

CHKDSK   Check Disk - check and repair disk problems

CHKNTFS  Check the NTFS file system

CHOICE   Accept keyboard input to a batch file

CIPHER   Encrypt or Decrypt files/folders

CleanMgr Automated cleanup of Temp files, recycle bin

CLEARMEM Clear memory leaks

CLIP     Copy STDIN to the Windows clipboard.

CLS      Clear the screen

CLUSTER  Windows Clustering

CMD      Start a new CMD shell

COLOR    Change colours of the CMD window

COMP     Compare the contents of two files or sets of files

COMPACT  Compress files or folders on an NTFS partition

COMPRESS Compress individual files on an NTFS partition

CON2PRT  Connect or disconnect a Printer

CONVERT  Convert a FAT drive to NTFS.

COPY     Copy one or more files to another location

CSVDE    Import or Export Active Directory data 

DATE     Display or set the date

Dcomcnfg DCOM Configuration Utility

DEFRAG   Defragment hard drive

DEL      Delete one or more files

DELPROF  Delete NT user profiles

DELTREE  Delete a folder and all subfolders

DevCon   Device Manager Command Line Utility 

DIR      Display a list of files and folders

DIRUSE   Display disk usage

DISKCOMP Compare the contents of two floppy disks

DISKCOPY Copy the contents of one floppy disk to another

DNSSTAT  DNS Statistics

DOSKEY   Edit command line, recall commands, and create macros

DSADD    Add user (computer, group..) to active directoryDSQUERY  List items in active directory

DSMOD    Modify user (computer, group..) in active directory

ECHO     Display message on screen

ENDLOCAL End localisation of environment changes in a batch file

ERASE    Delete one or more files

EXIT     Quit the CMD shell

EXPAND   Uncompress files

EXTRACT  Uncompress CAB files

FC       Compare two files

FDISK    Disk Format and partition

FIND     Search for a text string in a file

FINDSTR  Search for strings in files

FOR      Conditionally perform a command several times

FORFILES Batch process multiple files

FORMAT   Format a disk

FREEDISK Check free disk space (in bytes)

FSUTIL   File and Volume utilities

FTP      File Transfer Protocol

FTYPE    Display or modify file types used in file extension associations

GLOBAL   Display membership of global groups

GOTO     Direct a batch program to jump to a labelled line

HELP     Online Help

HFNETCHK Network Security Hotfix Checker 

IF       Conditionally perform a command

IFMEMBER Is the current user in an NT Workgroup

INSTSRV  Install an NT Service

IPCONFIG Configure IP

KILL     Remove a program from memory

LABEL    Edit a disk label

LOCAL    Display membership of local groups

LOGEVENT Write text to the NT event viewer.

LOGOFF   Log a user off

LOGTIME  Log the date and time in a file

MAPISEND Send email from the command line

MEM      Display memory usage

MD       Create new folders

MODE     Configure a system device

MORE     Display output, one screen at a time

MOUNTVOL Manage a volume mount point

MOVE     Move files from one folder to another

MOVEUSER Move a user from one domain to another

MSG      Send a message

MSIEXEC  Microsoft Windows Installer

MSINFO   Windows NT diagnostics

MSTSC    Terminal Server Connection (Remote Desktop Protocol)

MUNGE    Find and Replace text within file(s)

MV       Copy in-use files

NET      Manage network resources

NETDOM   Domain Manager

NETSH    Configure network protocols

NETSVC   Command-line Service Controller

NBTSTAT  Display networking statistics (NetBIOS over TCP/IP)

NETSTAT  Display networking statistics (TCP/IP)

NOW      Display the current Date and Time 

NSLOOKUP Name server lookup

NTBACKUP Backup folders to tape

NTRIGHTS Edit user account rights

PATH     Display or set a search path for executable files

PATHPING Trace route plus network latency and packet loss

PAUSE    Suspend processing of a batch file and display a message

PERMS    Show permissions for a user

PERFMON  Performance Monitor

PING     Test a network connection

POPD     Restore the previous value of the current directory saved by PUSHD

PORTQRY  Display the status of ports and services

PRINT    Print a text file

PRNCNFG  Display, configure or rename a printer

PRNMNGR  Add, delete, list printers set the default printer

PROMPT   Change the command prompt

PUSHD    Save and then change the current directory

QGREP    Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern.

RASDIAL  Manage RAS connections

RASPHONE Manage RAS connections

RECOVER  Recover a damaged file from a defective disk.

REG      Read, Set or Delete registry keys and values

REGEDIT  Import or export registry settings

REGSVR32 Register or unregister a DLL

REGINI   Change Registry Permissions

REM      Record comments (remarks) in a batch file

REN      Rename a file or files.

REPLACE  Replace or update one file with another

RD       Delete folder(s)

RDISK    Create a Recovery Disk

RMTSHARE Share a folder or a printer

ROBOCOPY Robust File and Folder Copy

ROUTE    Manipulate network routing tables

RUNAS    Execute a program under a different user account

RUNDLL32 Run a DLL command (add/remove print connections)

SC       Service Control

SCHTASKS Create or Edit Scheduled Tasks 

SCLIST   Display NT Services

ScriptIt Control GUI applications

SET      Display, set, or remove environment variables

SETLOCAL Begin localisation of environment changes in a batch file

SETX     Set environment variables permanently 

SHARE    List or edit a file share or print share

SHIFT    Shift the position of replaceable parameters in a batch file

SHORTCUT Create a windows shortcut (.LNK file)

SHOWGRPS List the Workgroups a user is in

SHOWMBRS List the members of a Workgroup

SHUTDOWN Shutdown the computer

SLEEP    Wait for x seconds

SOON     Schedule a command to run in the near future

SORT     Sort input

START    Start a separate window to run a specified program or command

SU       Switch User

SUBINACL Edit file and folder Permissions, Ownership and Domain

SUBST    Associate a path with a drive letter

TASKLIST List running applications and services

TIME     Display or set the system time

TIMEOUT  Delay processing of a batch file

TITLE    Set the window title for a CMD.EXE session

TOUCH    Change file timestamps    

TRACERT  Trace route to a remote host

TREE     Graphical display of folder structure

TYPE     Display the contents of a text file

USRSTAT  List domain usernames and last login

VER      Display version information

VERIFY   Verify that files have been saved

VOL      Display a disk label

WHERE    Locate and display files in a directory tree

WHOAMI   Output the current UserName and domain

WINMSD   Windows system diagnostics

WINMSDP  Windows system diagnostics IIWMIC     WMI Commands

XCACLS   Change file permissions

XCOPY    Copy files and folders

Hack to Change Windows XP Home to Windows XP Professional

Firstly, please try this at your own risk

Follow these steps

1. Copy the root directory and the i386 directory of the WindowsXP CD to your hard drive.

2. Extract the Bootsector of your Windows XP CD. You can use BBIE to do this.

3. Click START–>RUN–>REGEDIT

4. Highlight HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

5. Click FILE–>LOAD HIVE and select the Setupreg.hiv file
This file is located in the i386 folder. Use the one you extracted to your hard drive from your Windows XP CD.

6. Locate the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Homekey\ControlSet001\Services\setupdd

7. Edit the DEFAULT key and change the following values:

01 to 00
02 to 00

8. Change the name to the value HOMEKEY to anything.

9. Locate the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Homekey\ControlSet001\Services\setupdd

Edit the DEFAULT key and change the following values:

01 to 00
02 to 00
10. Highlight HOMEKEY and select FILE–>UNLOAD HIVE

How to change the Driver Letter and the Path

Changing the driver letter path and the letter did not change from windows XP to Windows Vista. If you are using large external hard drives USB memory sticks this will be handy. Sometimes when you connect hard drives to computers it get confuse and unable to display the driver letter.

Steps to add change the driver letter

(You can follow the same steps in Windows Vista and XP)

Go to Control Panel

Go to Administrative Tools

Go to Computer Management

Select Disk Management under Storage

It will show all the hard drive partitions and external Hard Drives. If it had problems assigning a letter you can manually give one by right click on the partition and by selecting 

"Driver Letter and Path"

It will give options to Add, Change or Remove a driver letter. It is actually manually mounting hard drive in Windows.