OpenVPN service dependency service failed to start (Error 1068)

Problem: I wanted to start OpenVPN as a service so that I could use a Windows Server 2003 as a router for an OpenVPN connection. The service would not start even though I set it to start automatically from the Services app in Administrative Tools, claiming error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start.

There's a lot of people complaining about this error out there, but I could not find a better answer around than reinstalling the OpenVPN software. I am not a big fan of reinstalling without getting to the bottom of the problem - it means you haven't learned anything useful for the next time you encounter the problem.

Investigation: In the process of setting up OpenVPN, I had installed a previous version of it some time ago, and then reinstalled at a later time to get the latest version. By examining the system event log, I discovered that together with an error message (event 7001) for an unsuccessful start of the OpenVPN service, there was also an event ID 7000 stating that "The TAP-Win32 Adapter V8 service failed to start". Funny, since my TAP virtual adapter that came with the (latest) OpenVPN installation was marked V9, not v8. That nailed it:

Solution: The OpenVPN service referenced an older version of the TAP virtual adapter than the one now installed. I changed the following registry value:

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\OpenVPNService\DependOnService

...from "TAP0801" to "TAP0901", rebooted and the OpenVPN service had already connected by the time I was logged in.

VS2010 crashes when editing

Problem: VS2010 crashes the instance you enter a character or paste text into a source file. The message displayed (sometimes - other times VS2010 simply dies and disappears without further notice) is:

Visual Studio has encountered an exception. This may be caused by an extension. You can get more information by running the application together with the /log parameter on the command line, and then examining the file 'C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\ActivityLog.xml'

Solution: The solution was found in this forum, which states:
It appears to be due to missing registry information. Adding the default value to the below registry key solved the problem.
On 32-Bit Windows: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{73B7DC00-F498-4ABD-AB79-D07AFD52F395}\InProcServer32]
On 64-Bit Windows: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{73B7DC00-F498-4ABD-AB79-D07AFD52F395}\InProcServer32]
The "(Default)" value should be one of the following:On 32-Bit Windows: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSEnv\TextMgrP.dll"
On 64-Bit Windows: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSEnv\TextMgrP.dll"

Win7: Restore .bat default behaviour

One of those small, very annying problems: I had managed to assign .bat files to open with my favourite cleartext editor (Notepad++ by the way), so that instead of running the bat file upon double-click, it opened in the editor. Now I wanted it reverted back to the original behavior.

I finally came up with a working solution: Just delete this registry key with all subkeys and life as you knew it before will be smiling to you again:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.bat