Windows Update Errors 0x800xxxxx

I had been encountering Update errors of all sorts and too many error code to even remember. It stop at 83% or before... But I finally found a solution.

You will never imagine how simple the solution is when you know what is wrong. Windows Update simply does not play nice with MS SQL Server... Yes, Microsoft very own! If you have some cryptic error 0x800xxxxxx, don't do the reset, try to disable you SQL first.

Try these step to disable the SQL Server.

1. Run msconfig
2. Services. Uncheck all service with SQL....
3. Install the update, reboot etc
4. Run msconfig again.
5. Select Normal Startup.

That will be all needed to put you to the latest Windows 10 RS3.

Windows 10 Activation Error 0xc004f210 0x8007007B 0x8007232B 0x8004FC12 0x80004005 or 0XC004E003

If you have one of the error mentioned above, it is likely you upgrade or reset Windows 10 and it did not activated properly on its own. One way to solve this is to change your key, But what key? Well if you Windows 10 is beyond Build 1151, then good news. You can use your Windows 7 or Windows 8 key on it. But you need to follow these steps first.

1. Find out what is your current version. Run Winver will help.
2. Windows + R and run "Slui 3". 
3. Use the follow "Generic Key" based on your current version.
• Windows 10 Home:
• TX9XD-98N7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99
• WIndows 10 Pro:
• VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
• Windows 10 Home Single Language
• 7HNRX-D7KGG-3K4RQ-4WPJ4-YTDFH
• Windows 10 Enterprise:
• NPPR9-FWDCX-D2C8J-H872K-2YT43
4. You wish you can activate with it, but you cant. It will fail.
5. Run "Slui 3" again. Key in your Windows 7 or Windows 8 key.
6. You should be able to activate it now.

Let me know if this works for you in the comments.

VMWare Failed to lock the file...

Although I had switched to Virtual Box for a while, I still have no choice but to open up some older VMs in VMWare to migrate or retrieve information from them. One such VM gave a similar error as above and in fact, it is not even a persistence VM. The very thought that I have to rebuild this VM strike horror in my heart, but luckily the good news is that I did not need to do that to resolve this issue.

It turns out that this usually happens after you had not power up the VM for a while and over a few version of VMWare upgrade. Somehow the lock file just get corrupted. Go into your VM Machine's directory and you will see some directories with *lck* and maybe 1 or 2 tiny files inside. Well those are are source of the issues.

Simply delete all those directories with the tiny files with the lck extension or keyword in them. That fixed my problem and the VM is back booting up happily. If you want to be safe, you can always make a copy of the VM or a copy of those directories before you go ahead with the deletion.

It is a simple problem, but VMWare seems to make it into such a big issue that your VM no longer starts. But luckily the fix is just as simple.