Monitoring changes in network equipment configurations using Efros Config Inspector. Resolving the error “Windows could not start due to hardware configuration changes or updates. Hardware configuration changes may not have been detected.”
Windows 7 includes a huge range of drivers for the hardware that existed when the operating system was released, but as time goes on, more and more devices from different manufacturers are released, and each of them requires its own driver. The first rule of installing computer hardware is to never use the disk that came with the device. Straightaway
Open the manufacturer's website and download the latest driver. Overall, installing devices in Windows 7 is a simple and straightforward process... when it works, of course. If something doesn't work out, it is useless to rely on the operating system for help.
You've probably already found the Add a device link on the Devices and Printers page of Control Panel. However, as much as you'd like to click on it and take the easy route, that's not what you want. Any modern device, if it works correctly, is recognized by the operating system immediately after connection (in some cases, immediately after Windows boots). When Windows sees the new hardware, it completes the installation process on its own. Never try to outwit the operating system and do it your own way - such experiments always end in tears.
So what should you do if Windows is unable to detect your new device? First, open the Troubleshooting page in Control Panel, click the Hardware and Sound link, and select Hardware and Devices to open the hardware troubleshooter. Click the Advanced link, clear the Apply repairs automatically check box, and click Next.
After a short introduction, a window will appear asking you to select the necessary corrections from the list. If none of the entries match your problem exactly, clear all the checkboxes except Scan for recent hardware changes, and click Next.
The same can be done faster: open Device Manager with the command devmgmt.msc or through the Control Panel and select the first item in the list ^ 1 v (your computer name). Now select the J Scan for recent hardware changes command from the Action menu and wait a bit.
If the equipment is not automatically recognized, it is very likely that it is not connected that well. For example, in the case of a USB device, the USB port may be disconnected or damaged; try connecting the device to a different port. Also check your BIOS settings to make sure all the required ports are enabled.
Hello! Help me please. When you turn on the computer, it gives the following error: “Windows could not start, perhaps this was due to a recent change in the hardware or software configuration” and the reboot begins. And so on in a circle. I never found any restore points. What to do?
Expert answer:
Hello, Nikita! This error, in its essence and difficulty of elimination, is in many ways similar to the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).
Option 1
The error text also contains standard recommendations for troubleshooting, which unfortunately do not always help, but it’s worth a try. To do this, insert the installation disk or bootable USB flash drive with the Windows operating system into your computer. Next, you should simply follow the installer’s recommendations to install and fix damaged files and boot sectors.Option 2
If unsuccessful, try pressing the “F8” button when booting the operating system to gain access to the “Advanced Boot Options” section. In this section, you should pay attention to two items “System Restore” and “Safe Mode.” “System Restore” is carried out by analogy with the steps described in “Option 1”. “Safe Mode” - the operating system will boot with minimal “baggage”, which allows you to bypass errors and load the OS (not always). If you managed to boot into Safe Mode, open “Start” - “Standard” - “Service” - “System Restore” and “roll back” the state of the operating system to the last successful configurations.Option 3
The error text contains the line “Status”, opposite which the error code is indicated, the most common is “0xc000000f”. The elimination methods are the same as described above; in addition, try the following:- When you turn on the computer, depending on the model, hold down the “BIOS” key - this can be “F2”, “F10”, “DEL”.
- Find the “Hard Disk Drivers” section, with two lines active, highlight the first one and press “Enter”.
- The second line is called “SATA: 4S-WDC WD20EARX-00PASB0” and it is this line that should be moved to the first place using the “+/-” or “up/down arrow” function keys.
I have no sound on Windows 7, I have no experience in troubleshooting such malfunctions in this operating system, but I really want to figure out what’s wrong and fix the problem myself. You have a similar article about Windows XP, but unfortunately it didn’t help me. Denis.
No sound on Windows 7
The reasons for the lack of sound in Windows 7 are sometimes simple, and often it takes quite a long time to find the problem. Very often, when asking a question, users do not provide complete information about the problem, for example, they do not say that they tried to update the sound driver the day before, or tried to connect other sound speakers to the computer, or made changes to the settings of the “Sound” tab in the Control Panel. Or maybe you installed some plugin on your laptop to improve the sound quality of the players installed on your system and after that you no sound on Windows 7. But no matter what happens to you, friends, do not despair, there is a solution to your problem and, as usual, we will start with the simplest.
- Note: at the end of the article, as an option, there is a way to work with a little-known to a novice user - Universal diagnostic tool for Windows 7, it can automatically find and fix various problems related to more than just no sound. We have also published a new article, in which you can learn in detail how to set the exact name of your sound card, how to download drivers for it from its official website, and how to install them.
- If you have Windows 8, read our article
- If your built-in sound card has failed, read our article.
- If you are not satisfied with the sound quality on your laptop, you can.
Even very experienced users have situations when, for some reason, they disconnected the sound speakers from the system unit and then forgot about it. Check that everything is securely connected. The output for connecting audio speakers is marked green.
You can check the serviceability of the sound speakers by connecting headphones to the sound output; if there is sound, then the speakers are faulty. Also, if there is no sound in Windows 7, you need to go to the device manager and pay attention to whether you have an exclamation mark in a yellow circle next to the Sound devices item. Start->Control Panel->right-click on “Computer” and select Properties from the menu, then Device Manager. If the yellow circle is present, then your sound driver has simply crashed and you need to reinstall it again.
How to do it? Read our article How to install a sound driver(link above), but on the other hand, the sound driver just doesn’t crash, which means that some of your actions led to the problem, by the way, Windows 7 has a system restore service, which you of course know about, so you can use it in this case.
- Note: In order not to rack your brains over which of the two hundred programs and games you installed yesterday led to sound problems, you can use a simple system restore, fortunately in Windows 7 it is usually turned on for everyone and roll back a little.
Just yesterday, my friends asked me to fix the problem of no sound on their computer. The day before, for some reason, they downloaded and installed two multimedia players on the Internet at once, after which they lost sound. First of all, I looked at the speaker volume indicator in the Taskbar to see if it was completely turned down, but everything turned out to be fine.
I also right-clicked on the Speakers button and selected Playback Devices from the menu.
At the Dynamics item there was a green check mark as expected.
Although sometimes when there is no sound in Windows 7, the Sound window displays only Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
or absolutely nothing is displayed, then click on an empty space with the left mouse button and a menu will appear in which you need to check two items “Show disconnected” devices and “Show disconnected devices”
and we will immediately see our Speakers, right-click on them and select Enable.
We do the same with headphones, then “Apply” and “OK”.
It’s strange, but for my friends, the Sound window displayed Speakers marked with a green checkmark and in the device manager there was a working sound device with support for NVIDIA High Definition Audio
Everything indicated that the sound was fine. I brought headphones with me and connected them to the sound output located on the back of the system unit and made sure that there was actually no sound, which means the sound speakers were also working.
The first thing in this case is that the sound device driver may be damaged or not working correctly, which means you need to go to the device manager and try to update the driver, which will not always help, in this case you need to completely remove all sound devices from the system.
After the operation was performed in the operating system, my friends started hearing sound. By the way, in this case, you can also use system recovery and, of course, a complete reinstallation of the driver.
Another time there was a different problem, a person installed Windows 7 on his computer, everything would be fine, but there was no sound, there was eloquent information in the device manager.
In such cases, you need a disk with drivers for the motherboard that came with your computer when you purchased it. On this disk you need to see whether the drivers on it are suitable for Windows 7. If the drivers on the disk are intended for Windows XP, naturally you should not install them, you need go online and download native drivers for your sound card on its official website.
How to do this is written in detail and step by step in the article. Often, not only searching for drivers, but also correctly determining the name of the device is a problem for a novice user, so I still advise you to follow our link and read the article. If you still don’t find a driver for Windows 7, but you have an installation package of drivers for Windows XP, you can try to install it in the Compatibility Troubleshooting mode, but I’ll tell you, friends, this is not exactly the best option.
It happens that it is not possible to find the reason for the lack of sound at all; if the built-in audio card fails, in the device manager there may be a red circle with a cross next to it, or there may be nothing, in this case, many decide to completely reinstall the operating system, then install it on the sound card drivers and if in this case the sound does not appear, you just need to buy and install a separately installed PCI interface sound card. It is advisable to buy it together with a disk containing drivers specifically for your Windows 7-64bit or 32bit. You also need to know that immediately after you have installed a separate PCI sound card in the system unit, the built-in one in most cases must be disabled in the BIOS, otherwise the sound will not appear. Many people do not attach importance to this, and in vain. High Definition Audio should be set to Disabled.
A simple PCI interface sound card is not expensive at all, about 100-200 rubles, and for example, I always carry it with me. The first signs of failure of the integrated sound card are occasional missing or low-quality sound. This means it’s time to replace it with one installed in the form of an expansion card.
By the way, individual PCI interface sound cards are different, for example Sound Blaster manufactured by Creative Technology, are essentially a very high-quality and professional solution, but cost from two thousand rubles.
But keep in mind that if you have such a card, as well as a good audio system, and in some game you decide to shoot with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, your neighbors may misunderstand this and decide that you are actually firing at houses with a machine gun.
An interesting story about how we searched for the missing sound with our reader.
Denis wrote me a letter saying that he had no sound on Windows 7-64bit, suspicion of a faulty built-in sound card. The sound speakers are missing, they were checked on another computer and they were fine. Reinstalling Windows 7 and installing native drivers from the disk on the motherboard that was included when purchasing the computer did not help. Also, the downloaded driver package from the official Realtek website did not bring any results after installation.
Our reader bought and installed a sound card installed separately in the PSI connector; before purchasing, he inquired whether there was a disk with drivers for Windows 7-64bit for it. Next comes the most interesting part: he puts the side cover of the system unit in place, then connects all the cables and sound speakers, and turns on the computer. I remind you that the sound card came with a disk with drivers, which it successfully installed, but the sound did not appear. He wrote me 10 letters, we sorted out all the faults that could be there, but the sound still did not appear, I began to have thoughts that the purchased sound card was also faulty, this happens or it is not fully inserted into the PCI connector. Denis, at my request, took the card to the service center where he bought it, where they checked it in front of him and it turned out to be working.
In his last letter, Denis sent me a screenshot of the system unit and showed me his mistake, it turns out that he still connected the speaker cable to the old built-in faulty sound card, like this. Our reader’s system unit was under the table and our friend, according to him, had to act literally by touch. It’s not surprising that he made such a mistake and he can be forgiven for it, since you’ll agree, friends, in the absence of experience, the chances of connecting the speakers incorrectly increase greatly. So I ask you to take all of the above carefully.
The arrow shows the sound output of the purchased audio card, the place where the speaker plug needed to be connected; on top you can see the same connector, only belonging to the failed built-in sound card.
Universal Windows 7 Diagnostic Tool
As I promised, I will give an example of working with the Windows 7 Universal Diagnostic Tool, let's try to use it to fix the problem of no sound in Windows 7.
Control Panel->System and Security
Support Center
Maintenance and Troubleshooting.
As you can see here, you and I will be able to solve many problems that arise, and not only with sound. Equipment and sound.
Play sound.
Error “Windows could not start”
I welcome you to the Computer76 website page, and today we are looking at another system error, which in the description looks like this:
Windows failed to start. This may be due to a recent hardware or software configuration change. To resolve the error:
1. Insert the Windows installation disc and restart your computer
2. Select language options and then click “next” button
3. Select “Restore your computer”
#Here may be a description of the file that caused the failure.
If this drive is missing, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.
Status: 0х000000f
Details: The boot menu failed because the required device is not available.
Well, accordingly, a screenshot:
Symptoms:
- It is impossible to get into Windows (an attempt to enter in safe mode via F8 failed)
- All kinds of tests for errors in RAM and hard drive do not bring results: the equipment is operating normally, everything is fine.
- don't get into it - windows doesn't work.
ADDITION.
The client’s computer had two operating systems installed at once: Windows 7 and Windows XP. And when I tried to log into the previous version (Windows XP), a similar error was displayed (it also failed to boot):
STRAIGHTAWAY. Looking ahead, I’ll say that everything is very bad. The description that pops up is a disguised BSOD that Windows managed to recognize. But there are many reasons why a failure occurred (as well as with the blue screen of death) - from damage to system files to “dying” components. In my experience, the following are to blame for the “windows failed to start” error (for the most common problems):
- computer power supply - everything comes from it, no doubt about it.
- which means a hard drive with a dying controller
- and probably the motherboard
Let's summarize...
- The message is issued by the operating system. This means there is no need to check whether the hard drive is visible.
- According to all the available symptoms, we are dealing with damage to the boot sector of the disk (thank God, not physical damage): both systems do not start. What was the reason is not important yet: a damaged controller, a dying motherboard... After all, both boot records are detected correctly. And when you try to log in from the emergency boot disk, both local drives (and the entire hard drive) with the existing files are alive and well.
- The simplest test with a program like Victoria does not detect a single one. This means that Windows and hardware are alive.
We fix the error “Windows could not start” using a boot disk.
Let's just try to follow the instructions given in the screensaver. This should always be done. I’ll warn you right away - probably nothing will work out. But we will go through this stage. If, however, it goes wrong, consider that you got off lightly.
We set the BIOS to boot from a disk or flash drive, in general, where are the Windows files. We follow the instructions point by point. Select the language, indicate our operating system (I hope the installer detected it) and click Boot Recovery. A couple of moments and... we rejoice early. After the reboot, despite the message about the successful resolution of the error “Windows could not start,” the problem did not go away, and the message now appears in English: this is exactly what the boot repair utility did. Yes…
Solving the problem “Windows could not start”.
The fact is that the appearance of an error may be accompanied by the inclusion of a description of the damaged file. For example, the message can be diluted with an indication of the type:
File: file path\file_name.extension
There is nothing in the photo. You may have. But the algorithm of actions will depend on this. Unfortunately, there can be a lot of damaged files and they are scattered across all folders of the system. Damage to one of them may be accompanied by the problem “Windows could not start.” So there simply CANNOT BE STRICT compliance in the execution of actions. We will briefly consider the most typical errors.
If something is unclear or not described here, please unsubscribe. I'll help as much as I can.
File:\windows\system32\boot\winload.exe
The most common reason is failure to select a boot device (the message above, for example, indicates a damaged bootloader file). Check that the hard drive settings in the BIOS are correct. Pay special attention to this if there are two disks. Plug in the SATA data cables on the motherboard (the ones that are red or dark yellow). If necessary, set the BIOS settings to factory defaults or remove and insert it for 10 minutes.
File:\Boot\BCD
Here you will have to work with the command console directly from under. In the window for selecting recovery tools, you will have to select the console and use the utilities BootRec.exe(creating a new boot entry for Windows 7).
And BCDboot.exe(creating and restoring a Windows boot environment that is located on the active disk partition). Don't be afraid: everything is simple here.
To try to fix the boot record, run the command:
Bootrec.exe /FixMbr
If all else fails, rewrite the entry again:
Bootrec.exe /FixBoot
Check if your operating system is in place (Vista or 7):
Bootrec.exe /ScanOs
and the command:
Bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd
will check to see if there are any systems on your disks that are not listed in the existing list. After entering this command, all of them (if any) will appear in a list, and they can be added to the entry. To do this, you need to rewrite the real list with simple commands:
Bcdedit /export C:\BCDcfg.bak attrib -s -h -r c:\boot\bcd del c:\boot\bcd bootrec /RebuildBcd
Here the download setting is exported to a special file C:\BCDcfg.bak, the rights to edit it are granted by removing the attributes “system”, “hidden”, “read-only”. Team del immediately overwrites the file c:\boot\bcd and a new team list is formed bootrec /RebuildBcd.
But if you need to not just rewrite, but recreate the Windows 7 boot environment itself, run another utility:
Bcdboot C:\Windows
C is the drive letter where your copy of Windows is located. 99% of the time this path is the same for everyone. The command will also restore all files and storages specified in the previous paragraphs.
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Most cases of operational errors and denials of service of the IT infrastructure are associated with uncoordinated changes or configuration errors or incorrect settings of access rights. Thus, an important aspect of network security is the implementation of configuration management processes, in particular, monitoring the integrity of network device configurations.
In general, IT and information security departments face difficulties when working with equipment. When adjusting settings, system administrators spend a significant amount of time preparing for changes in order to restore in memory all the details and features of the settings of a particular IT infrastructure component. The same factors complicate IT infrastructure development efforts. These difficulties are compounded by the fact that many enterprises use equipment from a wide range of different manufacturers.
Faced with the operation of large systems, many people think about tools that could help in the operational analysis of the configurations of its components and effectively plan and implement changes. To solve this problem, there is a need for centralized storage of reference configurations with the ability to conveniently work with the data accumulated in such a storage.
By ensuring centralized storage of reference configurations, the problem of monitoring the integrity of settings and equipment parameters, which is determined by regulatory documents, is solved. In particular, FSTEC puts forward requirements for monitoring the information and software parts of firewalls and regulates measures such as integrity control and configuration management (ANZ, OCL, UKF). Depending on the threats and security conditions, additional requirements for integrity monitoring, including monitoring of dynamic parameters, may be put forward.
Centralizing the storage of configuration information also simplifies the control and accounting of changes in the IT infrastructure and is the basis for automating this process.
Often, IT departments in their practice use the ITIL library as a standard for management and pre-
delivery of various services for business. One of the most important parts of ITIL is the processes of configuration management (Configuration Management, CfM). CfM's primary focus is on identifying, storing, and verifying information about IT assets and configurations in an enterprise. CfM maintains up-to-date information about configuration elements, which are components of the IT infrastructure, such as hardware, software, documentation or personnel.
All information is stored in a configuration management database (CMDB). Configuration management activities include:
- Define control parameters populated in the CMDB.
- Defining a list of specific devices and entering them into the CMDB.
- Collect, record and store accurate item information.
The ITIL standard describes the configuration management process in some detail. In addition, the ISO 2700X standard, describing the information security management system, regulates the requirement for the need to formalize the process of managing elements of the IT infrastructure. This requirement can be met by implementing configuration and change management procedures. Both of these procedures are implemented at the third level of the Information Security Management System and relate to the process of managing the organization’s information infrastructure.
Unlike IT departments, a slightly different list of parameters defined within the CMDB and required for control is important for information security administrators. For network equipment, this may include, in particular, ACLs, user information, VPN parameters, etc. In addition to change control, it is also important for information security administrators to securely configure devices, for which the Compliance mechanism is usually responsible in various systems. The essence of such a mechanism is to automatically analyze configurations stored in a database (CMDB) and provide the information security administrator with recommendations for the safe configuration of equipment. Also relevant is the issue of informing the administrator about vulnerabilities that can be found in equipment configurations.
Currently, there are a number of systems on the market that allow you to implement the process of managing configurations and changes from an information security point of view. The class of such systems can be called NCCCM (Network configuration, change & compliance management).
From the general set of NCCCM class products, there is a sufficient number of tools that can help meet the above requirements. However, most of them are only capable of auditing network devices. But what if an attacker changes the configuration or replaces a file in the file system of a network device? In this case, the auditing system may not “notice” the immediate configuration change and display a message that everything is in order. Especially if the attacker's changes do not affect the key points that are being audited.
It is also important to note that the vast majority of products are aimed at a limited set of equipment manufacturers. Accordingly, it is not possible to use these tools with devices from other manufacturers.
One of the tools for monitoring and managing configurations is the software package developed by Gazinformservice LLC - Efros Config Inspector.
The main objective of this complex is to automate the control of network equipment configurations, virtualization platforms based on VMware and control the integrity of files and parameters of Unix and Windows servers.
Efros Config Inspector collects, centralizes storage and controls the integrity of both configuration information and software, hardware, switching and routing tables.
In accordance with the CobiT standard, Efros Config Inspector's configuration management capabilities correspond to the following controls:
DS9 Manage the Configuration (Configuration Management)
- DS9.1 Configuration Repository and Baseline
- DS9.2 Identification and Maintenance of Configuration Items
- DS9.3 Configuration Integrity Review.
In addition to the ability to manage network equipment configurations, Efros Config Inspector monitors virtual infrastructure configurations. The following types of control are supported for virtual infrastructure:
- control of the hierarchy tree of virtual infrastructure objects;
- control of the list of roles of virtual infrastructure objects.
The client-server architecture of Efros Config Inspector provides the possibility of round-the-clock operation of the server part, storing data in a DBMS, simultaneous work from several computers, supports maintaining a list of program users with ensuring their authentication and encoding of transmitted data using AES or GOST 28147–89 algorithms using a crypto provider
CryptoPro.
The Efros Config Inspector server part connects to devices and monitors the integrity of configuration files and parameters. Checks are launched according to a schedule or on demand.
For users, information about equipment parameters and settings is displayed in the form of conveniently readable and easy-to-understand reports.
When changes are detected, the new value is saved, a Syslog message is sent to the management tool, and the administrator is notified via email.
The software package operates on the Windows OS platform.
Efros Config Inspector can be integrated with solutions such as an authentication and access control server as part of an identity and access control process management platform for centralized management and storage of administrator credentials and rights.
In addition, the software package can be integrated with the system for collecting, consolidating and managing enterprise-level information security events ArcSight ESM using developed specialized connectors.
The Efros Config Inspector software package can be used to solve the following problems:
- Reducing costs and risks when administering IT infrastructure. Detection and notification of configuration changes, maintaining the history of their versions, and indication of unsaved changes make it possible to simplify the task of administering and managing devices.
- Strengthening the level of security of IT infrastructure elements. Analysis of current device configurations and provision of recommendations for safe configuration of equipment. Analysis of devices for vulnerabilities.
- Compliance with the requirements of standards and regulations. Configuration change control is one of the requirements of the PCI DSS standard. In addition, the requirements for monitoring the software and information parts are put forward by the FSTEC of Russia for certified firewalls (FW). Providing dynamic control allows you to fulfill the requirements of ME control up to the second class inclusive.
The product can be used as part of a set of security tools in terms of recording the state and monitoring the integrity of data protection and transmission tools, including to meet the requirements of Federal Law No. 152 “On Personal Data” and FSTEC Order No. 31 “On approval of requirements for ensuring information security in automated control systems for production and technological processes at critical facilities, potentially hazardous facilities, as well as facilities that pose an increased danger to human life and health and to the environment.”
