Other

You can update the program both when the ASTER state is on and off, but after installing and rebooting the computer, ASTER will be disabled in any case.​​​​​​​

After the upgrade, before you turn on ASTER again, it is recommended to check the monitor settings and, if the monitors are displayed in gray, you need to expand the desktop again to all monitors.​​​​​​​

1. Before you enable the ASTER V7 software on Windows 10, it is necessary to extend the desktop on all the displays and set the desired resolution for each display.

2. Applications that change screen resolution may work improperly, particularly game applications may fail to enter fullscreen mode. For running games please use their windowed mode.

Troubles with the PC operation, for instance, BSOD / freeze at the OS start or a blank black screen when turning on the PC, can be repaired in the following ways.

For any operating system:

Unplug the video cables of all monitors except the main one, and unplug all optional peripherals. ASTER can be disabled or reconfigured after booting the OS.

For Win 8-10:

- If you interrupt the system boot by pressing the “Reset” button, or, if you do not have this button, simply turn off/on your PC at the very start of ОS boot (right after the Windows logo and whirling dots appear), it will transfer ASTER into the safe mode for one boot in which you can disable or re-adjust ASTER.

- If you interrupt the system boot 3 times at a run (by the method described above), the recovery mode will start when you do it for the fourth time. In this mode, you can select the safe mode boot or the other options which can recover OS boot.

- Moreover, you can go to recovery mode with the help of a recovery disc (CD/USB).

For Win 7:

If you press F8 before OS boost (before the Windows logo appears), you will see the menu in which you will have to choose one of the following options:

- F8 – safe mode (which allows disabling ASTER)

- F8 – disabling the obligatory driver signature check

- F8 – downloading the last successful configuration

- F8 – PC troubleshooting – return to the recovery point

After the normal boot of your PC, you should send to the support service the technical report (created with the “Detailed troubleshooting information” option) containing a detailed description of the problem. However, after the return to the recovery point, the technical report might not contain the data required for solving the problem, and the problem itself might not repeat in the future.

In Windows 10 Build 15063 the OS will stop loading (and go into recovery mode) when ASTER is enabled with the SecureBoot option is enabled in the BIOS. To solve this problem, you have to disable the SecureBoot option in the BIOS. Or you can enable the “Disable Mandatory signature verification of drivers” from the recovery mode. Windows will boot even with the SecureBoot enabled.

To disable SecureBoot:

  • Open the BIOS by pressing a del key when you see the Motherboard brand logo some manufacturers the key may be (F1/F2/Esc), for more details see the motherboards manual.
  • Find the “SecureBoot” option and set it to “Disabled”. This option is usually located in the “Security” or “Boot” or “Authentication” depending on the motherboard manufacturer. On some boards, you need to delete secure boot keys on the “Key Management” option.
  • Save the changes and restart the PC (F10 » YES » Enter)

The main idea is that a USB flash drive (or the HDD/CD partition) can be used as an NTFS folder in the “Computer management” snap-in. It can be done independently, without additional software, but USBDLM will help to make this process automatic.

The following steps describe the setting up process, using the USB flash drive as an example:

1. Download and install USBDLM

2. Run the files _service_register.cmd и _service_start.cmd from the directory C:\Program Files\USBDLM\

3. Run the file C:\Program Files\USBDLM\_edit-ini.cmd. After that, the USBDLM.ini file will be created and opened for editing in the same directory.

4. For each USB flash drive in the DriveLetters segment of the USBDLM.ini file the parameters should be added which will determine the actions of USBDLM after its connection. The parameters can describe both the connection port [PortName], and the device as well [DeviceID], [VolumeSerial], etc. Depending on the task, one can use various parameters and their combinations. The UsbDriveInfo.exe utility from the catalog C:\Program Files\USBDLM\ allows one to obtain the required data about the connected device. To do this you should run UsbDriveInfo and choose the required device from the list. After that, you will see all the necessary data in the field on the right. We will need the “USBDLM Criteria“ section – it is at the very end of the list.

5. To identify the USB with the USB flash drive let us add the following entry in USBDLM.ini in the partition DriveLetters:

[DriveLetters]
PortName=2-12
;UserName=User1 {these are comments }
Letters=c:\Users\User1\Desktop\usb-stick
; position №1 1.1 { these are comments }

Thus, any USB flash drive, connected to ports 2-12, will be installed in the folder “USB-stick” on the desktop of User1. In this example 12 is the number of the USB hub port, and if its value is changed to?
(the number of signs ? must equal the number of digits), then the USB flash drive can be connected to any port of this hub.

6. The entry in USBDLM.ini like :

[DriveLetters]
DeviceID=USB\VID_0951&PID_1642\0019B92B179BBBB175080057
;UserName=User2
Letters=c:\Users\User2\Desktop\usb-stick
;position №2 1.2

allows us to identify the USB flash drive and install it in the folder “USB-stick” of the desktop of User2, no matter which USB port it is connected to.

7. Add several entries in USBDLM.ini in the partition DriveLetters to describe all the necessary options. In this case parameters PortName, DeviceID, and others can be combined at one’s discretion.

* The other users who have access to the desktop (in this case – of User 2’s), can also get access to the data in the USB flash drive, installed in the folder on the desktop.

Our thanks to user Frederik Dewanckele for the provided information.

For the rapid deployment of the OS, organizations often use the method of recovery from the finished image/clone HDD with a fully configured and ready-to-work OS.

However, after deploying an image on a new PC, the ASTER license will become invalid, since the equipment has changed (the license is tied to the HWID CPU / HDD).

At the same time, if there are quite a lot of PCs with ASTER in the organization, and there isn't control of the licenses, then technical support staff will have to look for the necessary activation code, and in this case, problems will arise. Since all PC clones will have the same name and ID of the ASTER installation - this will not allow you to restore the license yourself from the backup (see how to do it here) stored on the ASTER activation server. This will make it difficult for technical support staff to find the right license and, accordingly, will increase the time frame for solving the problem.

In this regard, after deploying the HDD image, it is strongly recommended to perform a few simple steps:

  1. Assign a unique (within the organization) name to the computer. To do this, develop and adhere to a certain naming scheme for computers.
  2. Clear ASTER license information, as it will not be suitable for a new disk (how to clear license information here).
  3. If you have problems with activation, find out the MAC address of the computer and send it to technical support along with the technical report.

Example of getting the MAC address from the Windows command line:

Win+R

cmd.exe

ipconfig /all> myips.txt //txt-file add to report

P.S. Since after deploying an image you have to activate and configure ASTER, it will be easier to create an image before installing ASTER.