Intel SSD Toolbox - installation fails, reboots Windows before installation is completed

The problem:
I wanted to install Intel SSD Toolbox 3.4.0.400. After clicking Next a few times in the wizard and the actual installation has started, Windows reboots and the installation is interrupted. Nothing of Intel SSD Toolbox is installedor changed.
Additionally, for each interrupted installation, a number of folders called "IIxxxx.tmp" (xxxx = random characters and numbers) are left in the C:\Windows\Temp folder, each containing 300+ MiB.

The cause:
The first thing the installer does, is to run the included vc_redist.x86.exe. This is the Visual C++ Redistributable runtime installer - essentially an installation program which installs a few DLLs that the toolbox apparently requires. On my computer, the VC++ runtime installer determined my computer needed to reboot. The Intel installer should have ran this installer with the command line that instructs the installer to suppress such reboots, but it does not.

The fix:
Download the installer.Run it.
Wait while "Please wait while setup initializes".
When the installer is waiting for you to hit Next at the first step, do NOT press it.
Instead, open C:\Windows\Temp.
Find the LAST folder (order by Modified date) called "IIxxxx.tmp". Check the modified time - it should be just a minute ago.
Open the Dependencies subfolder. It should contain a file called vc_redist.x86.exe file, and a few DLL files.
Rename the vc_redist.x86.exe file something else or delete it.
Find any other exe file - I picked C:\Windows\notepad.exe.
Copy it to the Dependencies folder and rename it to vc_redist.x86.exe.
Go back to the installation wizard and hit Next to let installation proceed.
Hopefully installation should be fine.
After completion, the installer will ask you properly to reboot. Do so.
After reboot, make sure to remove all of the "IIxxxx..tmp" folder in your Temp directory to avoid wasting disk space.
Complain to Intel that the installer has a bug.

Note: If the toolbox doesn't work properly, or if installation now fails at a later stage, you might have a problem with the VC++ runtimes. One thing to try then, is to follow the instructions above, but copy the vc_redist.x86.exe file to a separate folder and run it on its own by just double clicking it. It should show you a GUI offering to install, repair or uninstall the runtimes. You could also try downloading the runtimes from Microsoft.


Please leave me a comment if this helped you or not!

Problems upgrading WiFi + BlueTooth on HP laptop

My mission: Upgrade the Broadcom 54mbps WiFi in my old HP 530 laptop to something faster, "Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230" (300mbit N-card with Bluetooth). It was not as easy as I first thought :(

First problem: Full-length vs half-length PCI Express Mini. The newer card was (like most other cards) half-length, to fit that in the older computer I needed an adapter which was about €1 on eBay.

Second problem: "104-Unsupported wireless network device detected". The BIOS of most HP/Compaq laptops whitelist only a few specific wifi cards and will not boot if they detect any other card. This is f*cked up and this alone makes me never buy an HP laptop again (or a Lenovo, which appearantly does the same). I bought the laptop, let me do what I want with it!
Fortunatelly, some very skilled people have found ways to disable the lock-out in the BIOS and have published these hacked BIOSes. See links below.

Just make sure you don't accidentally downgrade your BIOS. And of course, do this at your own risk, etc :)

Third problem: No Bluetooth device detected by Windows. The wifi device was found in device manager and worked fine after I downloaded the appropriate drivers. However, no Bluetooth devices were found or listed in the device manager - like the Bluetooth didn't even exist. Unfortunatelly, after reading a bit about the PCI Express Mini standard, I realize that it has two interfaces: PCI-e and USB. I think that the Bluetooth portion of the card works over the USB interface, while the wifi use the PCI-e interface, and that none of my two computers implement the USB interface, only the PCI-e interface. Either that or only the BT component of my card is broken, but I think that is less likely. So... Pity, I'll have to get a Bluetooth USB dongle I guess. But at least the wireless is a lot faster now :)

Please let me know if this helped you! Also please share any additional findings about this if you can!

Links I learned stuff from:

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/7681-This-is-no-request-thread!-HP-COMPAQ-bioses-how-to-modify-the-bios/page111?p=333358#post333358

http://www.pugetsystems.com/parts/Networking/Intel-WiFi-Bluetooth-6230-300-Mbps-Mini-PCIe-Card-W-Desktop-Adapter-8591

http://www.allpinouts.org/index.php/PCI_Express_Card_and_PCI_Express_Mini_Card

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express