Buggy Windows 8 network charms - works from command-line!

I have struggled with two network related problems on my older laptop for some time after upgrading it to Windows 8 and later 8.1. Both problems occur when I try to go to the Settings charm (Winkey+I), in the submenu under the networking icon (upper left of the icons). Both however seem to have one very simple workaround: Using the command-line equivalents.

Problem 1 - Connect to WLAN: Sometimes, registering to a known WLAN does not work, or the connection is randomly or immediately lost after being registered. Sometimes, the desired WLAN network is not even visible in the networks list, although any other WLAN capable device (e.g. a phone etc.) can find the WLAN in question.

Solution 1 - Connect to WLAN from the command line: For some reason, connection works great when doing it from the command line. To see all avaiable WLANS:

netsh wlan show networks

Issue the following command to connect to one of them:

netsh wlan connect name=WlanName

-where WlanName is the name of the WLAN. Observe that this name is case sensitive!

Those are the basics - explore other possibilities by using the help system (a ? sign  will give you available commands).

Possible mitigating factor to this problem: I am using an Intel 4965AGN network card, which some suggest is not supported under Windows 8. However, the Windows Compatibility Center suggests otherwise - at least for Windows 8 (while 8.1 is marked with "no info"). I have had bluescreen problems with both the Windows 8 native driver and the latest Intel driver, but the latest Dell driver works for me (version 12.4.3.9 dated May 28, 2009) on my Latitude D830 without bluescreen problems.

Problem 2 - Connect to RAS (PPTP) connection: When trying to connect to one of my RAS connections (VPN to another location), sometimes I loose the WLAN connectivity even by clicking the desired RAS connection on the Settings-networking charm, without even clicking its Connect button that will now be displayed. Needless to say, when my WLAN is gone, so are my chances to connect to the RAS connection. I am stuck.

Solution 2 - Connect to RAS from the command line: Again, performing the same task from the command line succeeds without any hassle. Here's the command:

rasdial "RAS connection name" username password

More information about problem 2: What happens when clicking the RAS link, seems to be that the WLAN Extensibility Module crashes and logs an event 10003 and an event 10000, "WLAN Extensibility Module has failed to start" with a reference to the file IWMSSvc.dll and an error code 1726

Converting physical computer to virtual: Bluescreen

I have finally taken the leap and upgraded my trusty but painstakingly slow Windows Vista computer to Windows 8. I wanted to do a fresh install, but it is always nice to have a path back to using the old OS in case something goes wrong with the new installation. What better choice than doing a conversion of the physical Vista computer to a virtual one (a P2V)!

The free VMware vCenter Converter specializes in just that - it is an easy download and run application (the documentation is also good, but you won't really need it).

Caveat: Your only option is to do a full copy of your disk volume, which means you really need an extra disk drive of some kind (I used an external one) with at least the same amount of free space as the total capacity of your physical disk with all its partitions. It is fast however - a couple of hours was all it took to clone my 160 Gb drive - fully acceptable.

I went with all recommended/standard options and chose a VMware Workstation or other VMware virtual machine as the destination type, since I wanted VMware Player to handle the computer from inside my new Windows 8 after the installation.

Problem: The first conversion failed at around 96% with an error message stating that it could not update drive letters. However, the virtual disk and the .vmx file was already there, so I went ahead and tried to boot it from VMWare Player, making sure the network interfaces on the toolbar were all turned off to avoid the physical computer and the virtual one to find each other. Of course, the VM would not boot, but went into the bluescreen of death (BSOD) after the initial progress bars.

Cause/Solution: One of the recommended settings was to use SCSI as the virtual disk controller. On a second conversion attempt, I only changed this to IDE (corresponding to the physical controller in my computer). Another couple of hours later, my VM was ready and booted fine.