WizYo Sytes Net

Dell Inspiron 1440 Windows 7 laptop

2011-10-26T02:16:00.002-05:00

Nice laptop. Horrible, horrible situation...

System would consistently boot to the repair area of Windows 7. Unfortunately, the repair failed every time and there was no option for running a factory restore.

No product key sticker on unit. Two years after purchase, but one year out of warranty. No available recovery CD/DVD's.

Switch the SATA mode operation in bios to ATA from AHCI in order to get BartPE to boot. Run chkdsk on drive to confirm it is fine. Create Windows 7 repair disks (both 32 & 64 bit). All repair attempts fail.

Download Windows 7 Professional DVD image. Locate instructions for creating Win7 bootable flash drive. Prepare flash drive. Boot to flash drive & install Windows 7. Fail to open any recovery options from Dell recovery partition.

Locate instructions for re-imaging system drive using "imagex" on Microsoft "WAIK" software package. Download ISO and mount using freeware utility. Install WAIK & copy specified folders to same flash drive. Boot to BartPE and try imaging with "imagex" utility; failed. Manually delete all files from target drive. Successfully restore files with "imagex" utility.

Change SATA mode operation from ATA to AHCI after receiving stop 0x7B errors. Boot normally.

( Win7 Pro 0x0000007B )

Ivans not working properly

2011-09-07T10:11:00.001-05:00

Situation:
Ivans opens, but mentions it's databases are corrupt. Reinstalling doesn't fix anything and tech support can't help.

Fix:

Uninstall Ivans from Add/Remove Programs
Select the option to remove all user settings
reboot
Reinstall Ivans & reconfigure user settings (vpn, users, applications)

Hopefully, this is all you have to do. I had removed AVG prior to the reinstall to make sure it wasn't causing trouble during the install. Afterwards, AVG was reinstalled without causing any trouble.

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WMIC random tip

2011-08-26T14:02:00.000-05:00

wmic bios get serialnumber

wmic csproduct getname

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Manual IPL (reboot) AS/400

2011-08-01T10:25:00.002-05:00

If your AS/400 is "stuck" and can't be controlled via either the main system console or any virtual terminals, you may need to perform a manual reboot (IPL) by using the following instructions:

Select 02 on the little console window on the front of the machine. (Use the up and down arrows until 02 is displayed in the top left of the display. Press the right arrow to select)
Select B for "boot type"
Select M for "manual"
Go back to the 02 and change it to 03 to instruct the system to restart
Since the system is starting in attended mode you will need to answer any questions on the system console
After the system is up, be sure to change the boot type back to N for normal, unattended mode booting (select 02, B, N, P then 01 to return the display)

(There will be a delay before the Client Access host services start)

( Reboot AS400 no display console )

Best Buy and Gateway - worst tech support ever

2011-05-03T21:24:00.005-05:00

The PC is a Gateway DX4831-01e purchased in July 2010 at Best Buy in Lufkin, Texas. It failed after about 6 months and was returned to the store for repair. The customer paid the extra "911" service fee to expedite geting the system back in place at her office as soon as possible.

The story gets a little fuzzy here, but involves a Best Buy employee mentioning the PC had "crashed out our system 3 times" before it was sent off to Gateway for some hardware replacement (or maybe the warranty stipulated it had to be sent off). The customer received an email that the PC was ready, but was told they "still need to load the system" before she could pick it up. Just over two weeks after being dropped off, the system was finally ready to be picked up.

While I was on site for another task, the customer asked me to migrate her programs and documents to the repaired Gateway PC. (She had already migrated to an alternate system while the one was away for repair.) Most everything loaded properly, but I did have trouble loading drivers for two USB to serial (RS232) adapters. They reported a strange message about the drivers not being able to verify whether or not they were signed by Microsoft. The devices seemed to show up fine in Device Manager (even though they did display a bit differently than normal).

I did not think much about the driver message until a few days later when the customer called about her timeclock software not being able to detect the clock. After digging around, I discovered that Windows update consistently failed to operate properly and there are repetitive messages in the event log mentioning "Cryptographic Services" failing.

Every blog and forum I found while researching "Cryptographic Services" ended up with someone reloading Windows as the fix. I assumed a technician at Best Buy must have loaded something wrong or somehow corrupted Windows while loading the machine. I didn't figure it was Gateway since the PC had a load of Best Buy software on it and I'd never had trouble with a freshly imaged system from any manufacturer. I offered to reload the system using the provided recovery CDs in the handy little "Geek Squad" packet.

Immediately after reimaging the system from the provided Best Buy CDs, the system failed to open Windows Update. My new assumption was that Best Buy had taken an image of a machine that was corrupt and was distributing the corrupt image. I returned the PC to the customer and recommended she take it to Best Buy for repair since it was obviously not working 100% when it was given back to her.

A few days later I found out Best Buy was demanding $200 to look at the PC. They said something about how it had been changed since "another technician" (me!) had done work on it (I only recovered it with the CDs they provided). They also told her that she needed to bring all the peripherals and cables with her and that they wouldn't be able to figure out the trouble without them (all they had to do was plug the box in and try opening Windows Updates). They instructed the customer to "take the PC" with her and "bring it back" with the peripherals. The customer said "if I take this out of here, I'm not bringing it back."

I was shocked that she had so much grief over such a simple customer service issue. I can't remember how many times I appologized for all the trouble and assured her that I would be able to take care of everything for her. We then ordered a set of recovery CDs directly from Gateway (after arguing with them that the PC is in Texas and not New Jersey).

The Gateway restore felt like it was going to work. It stepped through 5 different disks and looked like Windows 7 was loading and configuring as it went along. Unfortunately, the desktop looked exactly the same and the system had the exact same event log issues. The Gateway restore CDs put all the Best Buy and Norton Antivirus software on there just the same. Windows Updates failed to open and refused to do anything else.

I called Gateway tech support (1-800-Gateway) thinking this has to be a "known issue" and would probably be a quick fix since it's broken right off the recovery CDs. Instead of talking with a technician, the idiot who picked up repeatedly tried to explain to me how software isn't covered under the "limited warranty" of the machine. I tried to explain how that after a "complete factory recovery" the system is in essence "brand new" and any "brand new" machine should be completely covered by warranty. Our conversation was not fruitful.

The only option suggested by Gateway was to purchase a $150 tech support "package" to cover up to 5 computers. Under this "package" they would be able to correct this "simple issue" that we are having with the PC.

I told him that I suspected the trouble was all the add-on "crap" software (mainly Best Buy stuff) and asked if I could simply get a copy of Windows 7 to load to eliminate the possibility of software conflicts. He said I could buy one for $200+

Out of frustration, I decided to uninstall all software from the PC. Uninstall, reboot.. uninstall a few .. reboot again .. everything is uninstalled .. discover the Windows Update icon is next to the clock. Look in the event log and the errors are gone. Curious...

Through "trial and error" I was able to reload the system a few more times and determine the "Intel Matrix Storage Manager" was causing the trouble. After removing it, everything is working properly.

The failing Application Event Log entry was for Source: CAPI2 and Event ID: 257. It's description states "The Cryptographic Services service failed to initialize the Catalog Database. The ESENT error was: -583."

Another failing Event Log entry listed under System was for Service Control Manager and Event ID: 7000. It's description is:
The Windows Update service failed to start due to the following error:
The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.

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Word and Excel opening documents very slowly

2010-06-29T12:01:00.003-05:00

Word and Excel would open just fine when using the program icon. The trouble only appeared when attempting to open a document or spreadsheet without opening the respective program first. After 5 to 30 seconds of "nothing" the program would open, followed by the document 2 to 10 seconds later. The fix was simple enough, but took a little while to find.

The following is directly quoted from this page ...

Go to the Control Panel, Folder Options, File Types. Highlight the XLS extension and then click Advanced. Click Open from the list, and then click Edit. Add "%1" (quotes are needed) to the end of the Application used string (which will probably end with /e for the Excel XLS extension example.) Also uncheck the DDE box.

( Microsoft Office 2003 2007 )

Windows XP fails to boot to desktop after Windows Updates strikes in the middle of the night.

2009-12-09T09:38:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I fixed the 3rd one of these. #2 was last week. #1 was in October. I have a feeling there will be many more and occurring at an increasing frequency.

During researching #2, I found several articles mentioning Windows Updates that are including files compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7, but that have issue with Windows XP Service Pack 2. In fact, they referred to it as XP's SP2 having a bug that is causing the trouble.

Here is the simple fix used on these last two: (budget a little over an hour to complete if SP3 is on hand)

Boot to Safe Mode
Use MSconfig to disable all SQL services and Outlook's Business Contact Manager
Boot normally
Install Service Pack 3 for Windows XP and reboot
Enable services and reboot again

This stop error was listed in the Event Log:
Stop: 0x0000007B (0xF78D6528, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

This information was listed on the BSOD after disabling automatic reboot:
Stop: 0xC000021A
Stop: 0xC0000005 (0x7C9101B3, 0X0069EC24)

This information is listed in the Event Log just prior to the crash/reboot cycling:

Installation Ready: The following updates are downloaded and ready for installation.

- Update for Windows XP (KB968389)
- Update for Windows XP (KB970653)
- Security Update for Jscript 5.7 for Windows XP (KB971961)
- Security Update for Windows XP (KB923561)
- Security Update for Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package (KB973923)
- Security Update for Microsoft XML Core Services 4.0 Service Pack 2 (KB954430)
- Security Update for Windows XP (KB956802)
- Security Update for Windows XP (KB955069)
- Security Update for Windows XP (KB971032)
- Cumulative Security Update for ActiveX Killbits for Windows XP (KB973525)
- Security Update for Windows XP (KB968537)
- Security Update for Windows XP (KB973815)
- Security Update for Windows XP (KB960803)
- Security Update for Windows XP (KB958470)
- Security Update for Windows XP (KB971486)
- Security Update for Windows XP (KB970238)
- Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1 Security Update for Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2 (KB95329

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OE 0x800CCC0E & 0x800CCC0B

2009-11-10T11:39:00.004-06:00

After receiving errors 0x800CCC0E & 0x800CCC0B from Outlook Express while trying to send mail, I accidentally corrected the trouble by using a test PC. The account was configured and failed just like the first system, but then the trouble magically went away and both are now able to send mail.

Addition: A few days later, the trouble returned. I discovered "Leave a copy of messages on server" was checked. Attempts to access the POP account via Mail2Web.com failed, but the hosting provider's own webmail worked just fine. Messages sent to the affected address were failing with a bounceback stating the user is over quota. After clearing "Leave messages on server" and attempting access via web and Outlook Express several times, the trouble cleared itself. At this point I noticed a rather large email was received a day ago.

I conclude that the mail server became confused about the available space of the user's mailbox quota. For some reason, it acted as though there was no space available even though the mailbox was empty. This seems to be the reason for the errors received while attempting to send mail.

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LinkSys RV042 & Microsot PPTP VPN connectivity

2009-09-16T10:45:00.001-05:00

Replaced working LinkSys RV042 firewall/vpn/router after lightening strike, but Microsoft VPN fails to connect with new router. Current firmware on new router is 1.3.12.19-tm. Swap out RV042 with BEFSX41 router and VPN connects just fine.

Discover another location with RV042 is working just fine with MS PPTP VPN clients. Note the firmware on the working router is 1.3.9

Nothing earth-shattering, but maybe this info will save someone a few hours of troubleshooting.

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LinkSys RV042 & Microsot PPTP VPN connectivity

2009-09-16T10:34:00.003-05:00

Discover another location with RV042 is working just fine with MS PPTP VPN clients. Note the firmware on the working router is 1.3.9

Nothing earth-shattering, but maybe this info will save someone a few hours of troubleshooting.

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USB Drive won't Eject (unsolved)

2009-08-19T11:18:00.003-05:00

Windows Server 2008 running nightly Acronis 10.0 backup refuses to Safely Eject external USB drive after the backup has completed. Using USB Safely Remove results in a listing of the following items that simply refuse to release the drive:

System e:
e:\
e:\$Extend\$RmMetadata\$TxfLog\$TxfLog.blf
e:\$Extend\$RmMetadata\$TxfLog\$TxfLogContainer00000000000000000001
e:\$Extend\$RmMetadata\$TxfLog\$TxfLogContainer00000000000000000002

C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe e:
e:\System Volume Information\tracking.log
e:\$Extend\$ObjId

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OpenVPN 2.0.9 is not compatible with Symantec Endpoint Protection 11

2009-07-10T10:24:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to go ahead and let everyone know before they end up wasting time trying to make this work,

This commend was made March of 2008:
After talking to the symantec support guy, I learned that it is currently not supported and their next version due out in april has better vpn support.

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LinkSys GRE Protocol 47

2009-04-17T08:33:00.002-05:00

LinkSys BEFSX41 firewall router failed to allow VPN connection from Windows XP client to Windows Server 2003 Enterprise 64-bit with port 1723 forwarded. Upgrade firmware from 1.45.6 Oct 20, 2003 to 1.52.9 and discover all settings have been lost. Reconfigure IP addressing and port forwarding on router and successfully connect!

fyi: Port 47 is not the same as Protocol 47

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Server 2008 notes

2009-02-16T09:29:00.002-06:00

ODBC configuration on 64-bit Windows server 2008 had me looking in the SysWOW64 folder and running Runas /user:admin... ODBCad32.exe (use correct name here)

The RemoteApps feature is awesome !

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Activate Windows Server 2008

2009-01-28T00:17:00.002-06:00

Enter the following in a command prompt window (use your volume license key):

slmgr -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Error message when you try to activate Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Business, or Windows Server 2008: "Code 0x8007232b"

( 0x4004f00c )

AS/400 notes QDLS

2008-10-29T15:07:00.001-05:00

I just found these old notes so I'm not sure, but it seems as though the trouble was related to browsing the AS/400 file system from a Windows workstation.

wrkdire

QDLS - office vision

wrkusrprf *all

F21 to select assistance

"yes" officeVision user

System Directory

rtvscst F4
*transform

Kyocera Mita
KM-3035 KX

The trick was to add the user to Office Vision so he/she could access the file system (by way of the "directory" service?).

( as400 )

Outlook scroll and font fix

2008-10-20T11:36:00.001-05:00

If you are having trouble with small text or lines that continue too far to the right causing you to have to scroll back and forth to read them, perform the following fix:

In Outlook, click the "Tools" menu and select "Options" ...

Click the "E-mail Options" button ...

Check the box next to "Read all standard mail in pain text" and click OK

Click the "Mail Format" tab and then the "Fonts..." button

Click the "Choose Font..." button next to "When composing and reading plain text"

Modify settings as desired. (I increased my font size to 12 and changed to Comic Sans)

Messages with pictures or other formatting will have a notification to let you know. Clicking the notification displays the message as it was intended with pictures, but removes the custom font size temporarily.

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Outlook working Offline fix

2008-10-20T10:56:00.001-05:00

If Outlook stops checking mail automatically and you have to click "Send/Receive" to get your messages (or to send them), check to see if you have gotten switched to "Offline" mode.

The bottom right corner of Outlook should display your connection status. If it shows Offline, click to uncheck "Work Offline" and you should see "Connected" instead.

(If Outlook has to "play catch-up" with the server, you may see a notification or two for the next few seconds)

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Outlook 2003 set column spacing for all folders

2008-10-17T11:44:00.003-05:00

There is a way to reset all folders in Outlook so that the column spacing is uniform in all folders. (I located this information after constantly having to resize the columns to be able to view date or size information each time I changed folders.) It is not a difficult procedure, but took me a few tries to get it to work properly. Below is a brief summary of the steps and a link to web pages with the information:

(Warning this will reset all your Views to default)
Close all instances of Outlook 2003
Click Start
Click Run
Type: Outlook /CleanViews
Click OK

Open Outlook 2003 (if it isn't already opened)
Click View
Select Arrange By
Select Current View
Click Define Views...
Clicked Messages
Click Apply View
Click Close

The above information was gleaned from these forums:
Outlook 2003 - how do you change the columns displayed for all subfolders?

Applying views to all folders | MSOutlook.info

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Outlook 2007 locking up

2008-09-11T10:21:00.005-05:00

(sorry about the formatting)

We have a customer experiencing locking up in Outlook 2007 with a hosted Microsoft Exchange 2008 server. Here are several suggestions that I found when researching the trouble:

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update for Outlook 2007: April 13, 2007 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933493/

1. Exchange users: Remove Outlook 2003 and do a clean install of Outlook 2007, making sure that a new offline store is created from scratch.
2. Run on Vista.
3. Turn off indexing. Tools - Options - Search options - uncheck all folders. Its a shame to do this as the indexed search is useful.
4. Let indexing complete. Might be worth leaving the machine running overnight.
5. Reduce the size of your mailbox (of course).

http://www.itwriting.com/blog/54-outlook-2007-is-slow-rss-broken.html

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(The following article lists out some good information for troubleshooting the application) Problem with Outlook 2007 - Email Receive is Broken!
http://www.roundtripsolutions.com/blog/2007/02/19/208/problem-with-outlook-2007-email-receive-is-broken/

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Look for this item:
Tools->Trust Center and went to the Add-Ins tab. Sure enough, Windows
Tools->Search Email Indexer
uninstall "Windows Desktop Search"

The solution is to disable the live desktop search indexing for Outlook in the preferences (right click on the magnifying glaas icon in the tray bottom right on your screen), edit and deselect Outlook (and anything else if you want it to stop completely).
Enjoy fast(er) Outlook again.
http://www.embracingchaos.com/2007/06/outlook_2007_lo.html

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After installation of Office 2007 SP1, I noticed Outlook 2007 was hanging when navigating from Calendar to Mail panes. I regularly had to end Outlook with the Task Manager.
Until now, I had the "To-Do Bar" displayed with the Mail pane. Removed it. I can confirm that navigation between the two panes is now smoother.
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I just spent $49.00 to pay for support on Microsoft to get the hanging and freezing problem fixed. While I hate the idea that I had to pay for it (since Gateway Tech Support was clueless on this problem), I had not choice but to pay the fee. Nevertheless, after trying everything in the book, they fixed the problem.

Let me tell you what DID NOT work so that I can save you the agony of spending hours.

* Re-loading my Outlook 2007 did not work.

* Re-loading Office Vista did not work.

* Re-loading Vista Operating System did not work.

* Installing and re-installing updates did not work.

* Removing Adobe Acrobat did not work.

* Reducing the size of the .pst file did not work.

Here are the steps that I did to stop the freezing and hanging so that you don't have to pay the $49.99 fee that I had to pay.

- In Outlook, go to "Tools";

- Select "Trust Center"

- In Trust Center, click "Add-Ins"

- At The Bottom Make Sure That "Com Add-Ins" is selected and Click "Go"

- You must uncheck, as many of the add-ins as possible. There may be some Microsoft programs that it will not let you uncheck. That's OK. Uncheck as many items as possible.

- After you are done, you must close Outlook 2007 completely and restart Outlook.

When I did this, the hanging and freezing stopped and my computer also stopped crashing. You should note that if you are using add-ins like Plaxo, MagicJack, or similar applications, these programs may re-appear in your Outlook the next time you boot your computer unless you remove them completely. So if the problem appears fixed, but it re-appears, you may want to check to be sure that some of those add-in's didn't re-appear in Outlook 2007.

I hope this is helpful to you.
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outlook /resettodobar

outlook /cleanprofile

outlook /cleanviews

outlook /cleandmrecords
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http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2755269&SiteID=17

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Outlook 2007 just started freezing for me today. I had just applied a handful of updates from Microsoft update and after doing so, Outlook was freezing when I launched it. I was going to begin uninstalling all of the patches one-by-one, and by coincidence, the first one I uninstalled (KB934062) seemed to fix my problem with Outlook 2007. I hope this helps you and others experiencing the same problem. Post either way.
http://office-outlook.com/outlook-forum/index.php?t=msg&th=60188/

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outlook 2007 hangs search Google

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SOLVED: WMS IDLE Not Responding

2008-08-25T17:17:00.002-05:00

Disable Nero Scout from scanning for media when the system is idle.

(sorry for not writing this up completely on my own. I fixed a PC via remote with these instructions and didn't have an opportunity to take down the information myself) I've copied the following information:

Start / All Programs / Nero 7 Essentials / Nero Scout
then Nero Scout Options Windows / Indexing / folder / Clear All / Apply / Uncheck Enable Nero Scout (not "Unable") / Apply / OK.

MSCONFIG and removing NMBgMonitor (which is a Nero Essentials component) from Startup

Thanks to the good folks at TechArena Community and their helpful article "WMS IDLE Not Responding" when logging off or shutting down

( WinXP End Task Nero Ahead )

Add default route to AS/400

2008-07-30T10:35:00.002-05:00

CFGTCP
add *DFTROUTE *NONE 192.168.1.254

( AS400 TCP/IP internet gateway )

Windows XP open file Annoyance

2008-06-04T11:45:00.003-05:00

I've been seeing this on a few systems, but it hasn't been an issue until it cropped up on only one workstation out of 30.

When trying to access a program located over a Windows network, the following annoyance appears so the user has to click an extra time:

The fix is to disable the Automatically detect intranet network selection if it is available after opening up Internet Properties, Security tab, click Intranet, and then click Sites.

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Can't access server share with Domain User account

2008-06-04T11:01:00.007-05:00

Windows XP Pro workstation would not access Windows 2000 server shares. I think the error mentioned "invalid username" even though both systems are on a Windows domain and the user in question is a domain user. All other network connections to other servers appear fine.

Turns out, the workstation had somehow saved a different password specifically for this server's connection. Removed it by going through Control Panel, User Accounts, Advanced, and Manage Passwords.

Here are some sample images of this bizarre area:

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XP Home Permissions Fix

2008-05-06T11:00:00.003-05:00

Here's a handy command for allowing access to a permission restricted folder on XP Home:

cacls dir /e /c /g everyone:f
(where dir is the folder to target)

QuickBooks failed to install on a PC because of some restriction on a folder in the "All Users" folder. After making the correction, it appeared as though the permission had been removed by the loss of any users (or groups) that had been listed previously.

Everyone listing similar commands also mentioned to be careful with permissions because of potentially locking up your computer, but I didn't have any trouble.

( Win WinXP Windows XP Home Security Permissions )

Time Policy Lockdown

2008-01-27T18:33:00.000-06:00

(incomplete) Control Panel .. Administrative Tools .. Local Security Settings Change the system time .. remove all entries --- change the key at the following location .. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config from .. "UpdateInterval"=dword:00057e40 to .. "UpdateInterval"=dword:00000e10 360000

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old, but still good NTFS file system tweak

2008-01-01T00:31:00.000-06:00

This information was fairly easy to come by, but I wanted to keep it in my files anyway.

Set NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate DWORD to 1 at this location in the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Filesystem

Grabbed this tip from: Increase XP NTFS performance

As usual, I got distracted along the way and found this tip at: Show File and Folder Names Using the Correct Case. I frequently capitalize my folders as I wish, but have noticed Windows "corrects" these items for me. This fix removes such behavior.

Set DontPrettyPath DWORD to 1 at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ Advanced

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Still using Windows Update ?

2007-12-28T12:03:00.000-06:00

Internet Explorer 6 crashes after you install security update 942615 on a computer that is running Windows XP Service Pack 2

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HyperTerminal missing ? Install Fix !

2007-12-10T10:49:00.000-06:00

Surprisingly, the install command for HyperTerminal is significantly difficult to find online. I've copied it from the following article as a quick reference for anyone else searching for this info:

How to reinstall Hyper Terminal on Windows XP

Click "Start" .. "Run" .. and then paste in one of these commands before clicking "OK" ..

install:
RUNDLL32 ADVPACK.DLL,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\communic.inf,Hypertrm

remove:
RUNDLL32 ADVPACK.DLL,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\communic.inf,HypertrmUninstall

( hypertrm hypertrm.exe HyperTerminal WinXP Windows XP Professional Pro Home )

Dell hard drive recovery

2007-12-04T11:43:00.000-06:00

One Dell XPS/Dimension 200/5150C has been reloaded several times since it's purchase. An identical unit purchased at the same time has had no trouble at all.

The latest round has been for data recovery after the unit locks up and then will not boot at all.

clipped from my service ticket...
Hook up on workbench and boot to BartPE CD. Hard drive isn't recognized properly. Reseat SATA cable and power to hard drive. Try booting again, but CD doesn't see drive. Try booting normally, but system crashes. Download Sata drivers to floppy from Dell's website. Boot using drivers on diskette, but system takes a long time to come up. System still fails to run chkdsk and R-Studio on drive. Try Dell hard drive diagnostics, but they don't appear to run completely. Boot to PowerMax utility and receive error code dd69937b after read scan fails. Try recovering data using Windows XP CD with Service Pack 2. Boot to Ubuntu live CD, but receive errors. Download and create "Ultimate Boot CD" but all utilities fail to read drive. Pick up SATA adapter and return PC. Pull hard drive and hook up to another PC using SATA adapter. Drive fails to access, but does display a drive letter. Successfully kick off "chkdsk /f" and allow to run. Successfully access documents! Copy "My Documents" folder and Outlook data from problem hard drive to network server. Replace drive in PC and it boots to desktop without any trouble. Reboot to Dell diagnostic CD and hard drive scan reports numerous errors.

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Change Drive Letter Assignments

2007-11-30T10:12:00.000-06:00

this is a quick email written for a customer to help with a card reader conflict...

Right click My Computer and choose Manage .. Computer Management will open
On the left side under Storage, click to select Disk Management Your drives will display on the right side now.
Look for errors.
Look for conflicts.
Look for missing drive letter assignments.

To change or assign a drive letter...
(don't change C: drive!)

Right click the space to the right beside the drives listed on the bottom right of the window.
Select Change Drive Letters and Paths...
Add or change to prevent conflicts.
Pay special attention to drive letter assignments that conflict with network drives. Windows will automatically handle local drive conflicts most of the time. For some reason, Windows doesn't pay attention to network drives and may assign the same letter twice (only one will work at a time).

There is a software package that I've seen, but never used that boasts that it will automatically monitor and assign correct drive letters for usb drives. It is not free software, but may be handy if you continue to have trouble.

( WinXP Windows XP 2000 Win2k )

Can't access Control Panel

2007-11-13T15:57:00.000-06:00

"This operation has been cancelled due to restriction in effect on this computer."

After receiving the above error, locate helpful suggestions at the following forum:
Control Panel disappear

Type GPEDIT.MSC from the Run box. Navigate to User Configuration>Administrative Templates>Control Panel:Prohibit Access to the Control Panel=enabled.

Make sure this is set to not configured or disabled

Also check HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Policies
and HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Policies

( )

More AS/400 notes

2007-11-08T11:02:00.000-06:00

Handy commands used in troubleshooting a printing error ..

WrkOutQ *all	work with outqueue
Go CMDS36	control for System 36 environment
ChgS36	change system 36 settings
DskSts	show disk space used
WrkWtr writernam*	work with writer (don't use last character of name?)

items located while researching:

My job is hung up on the AS400!

THINGS TO CHECK AT THE AS/400

( AS/400 as400 os400 System36 )

Revisit: Handy time zone information

2007-10-30T21:24:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in a previous article (WizYo Sytes Net: Handy time zone information) recent changes to the laws concerning Daylight Savings Time have caused several computers to have their clocks set incorrectly since no one has bothered to inform your computer that someone at NIST changed the dates.

The simple solution is to let your computer know what the correct dates are for falling back and springing forward. The following utility makes this process very simple. Download and run to update your computer.
EZ Time Zone Update Released !

( )

State of the Webmaster - Fall 2007

2007-10-18T23:42:00.000-05:00

This started out as an email response. After rambling on for several minutes, I realized this is not quite a response to a friend, but instead turns out to be me letting off a little steam .. enjoy

Let's just say this is a bad week for a positive response :)

I'm still breathing, so I guess it's not too bad yet ~!

All in all everything is just about the same for me. I work as fast and hard as I can, but never seem to catch up.

This week's catastrophe is flavored with a touch of "bad UPS battery" and topped off with "nearly total loss of your data" served up on a well aged IBM server with a side of "pointless USB backup via Acronis 8.0" .. and of course, your beverage of choice ~! :-D

Tip from the tip-meister .. Dawn in a spray bottle ! Take an ordinary spray bottle and fill with water. Add about a teaspoon squirt of Dawn dish soap and screw on the sprayer top. Shake for 5 seconds and use on everything. Engine parts, cabinets .. air conditioner coils! .. hands .. anything greasy or just dirty .. etc .. Take in the car with a roll of paper towels for quick and easy cleanup.

BartPE is good, CleanUp and Windows Updates are bad .. VPN can be done with software instead of router hardware. Ubuntu Linux is highly recommended.

P4 processors are too slow for QuickBooks.

I should probably find a therapist to talk to.. but he'd probably ignore me too! haha

( )

Surge Protection 101

2007-10-04T11:14:00.000-05:00

Surge protectors don't provide any protection if the "ground" is not present. The way they protect is by bleeding off excessive voltage to ground during a spike situation. If the ground is missing or overloaded, the surge passes right on into the connected equipment (Computer/Modem/Monitor/etc..).

( )

MatchMaker Workstation Installation

2007-10-02T10:23:00.000-05:00

Open DOS window and browse to program folder (eg F:\M2)

Type: ADDUSER DBFS and press enter

Select Hard Drive Directory and confirm C:\M2FOX

press enter

Add mode con lines=25 to your batch file to fix display in full screen mode

( Matchmaker 2000 )

Unfortunate Realization

2007-10-01T15:58:00.000-05:00

I've come to the conclusion that not all P4's are worthy of being upgraded.

Latest evaluation finds a P4 2GHz with 768MB RAM running Windows 2000. PC's slow performance is most likely the result of the older architecture and will not see any benefit in upgrading the memory.

( )

Wanted: QoS and VPN firewall router

2007-09-27T10:52:00.000-05:00

After much research, I've discovered that there is no hardware solution to match using VoIP with QoS and VPN capabilities.

Customer was wanting to sign up with Vonage for long distance service, but also establish a VPN from the remote office back to the corporate office. Both devices would be required to be connected to the DSL modem. A single hardware solution does not exist.

I have proposed a software VPN solution between key PCs. The Vonage box should now have no trouble bordering the internet and controlling traffic.

(btw, Vonage phone support is horrible)

( )

Display session fails to connect

2007-09-27T09:46:00.000-05:00

If your AS/400 Client Access display session opens, but only shows a black screen without the cursor flashing, try this:

Click Communication on the menu bar
Click Connect
If this works, go back and click Autoconnect to have the session connect automatically when opened.

Usually, autoconnect is enabled by default, but it can get turned off (somehow) and ends up costing a service call.

( CA400 AS/400 )

CA400 Print Screen on Kyocera Mita

2007-09-20T08:48:00.000-05:00

Problem:
Kyocera Mita FS-1010 networked via Standard TCP/IP Port produces only a blank page (with faint dots) when trying to use the Print Screen feature in Client Access for AS/400.

Solution:

File
Printer Setup...
Check Use PDT
Click Select PDT... button
Select PDT file basic_ascii
Click OK
Click OK again

notes:

"Publisher could not be verified"

Personal Communications

iSeries Access for Windows

( )

Misc links ...

2007-09-13T21:31:00.000-05:00

VPN and QoS (quality of service) solved!

Password Exporter 1.0.6

XML Viewer 2.0 Simple, very useful program for XML viewing.

( voip vpn qos )

Fax Confirmation (aka: Fax Call Report )

2007-09-12T00:35:00.000-05:00

"Fax confirmation" is a very difficult item to locate in the HP LaserJet 3390 manual. "Fax call report" is easier to find, but is a little confusing to configure. Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?

The following information is quoted from the service manual:

On the all-in-one control panel, press Menu.
Use the < or the > button to select Reports, and then press (check).
Use the < or the > button to select Fax Call report, and then press (check).
Press the > button to select Print report, and then press (check).
Use the < or the > button to select the option for when you want the fax call reports to be printed.
Press (check) to save your selection.

Send fax only is the correct selection for printing confirmation pages for only sent faxes. (what exactly is the point of printing a confirmation for received faxes??)

This multi-function printer also offers faxing from the desktop of multiple Windows PCs with the convenience of a shared address book (fax-dress book?).

( )

Great add-on for Windows Mobile

2007-09-05T22:07:00.000-05:00

Definitely a must have for Windows Mobile 5.0 !! I simply can not understand why there is no included utility for switching and closing programs. Clicking the little X appears to close programs, but they keep running for some reason.

Enter Pocket Nav and easily switch between programs or terminate a rogue application on the loose! With it's nifty little lightening bolt and easy access to other advanced options, Pocket Nav will quickly become your most commonly used mobile utility.

Quoted from Scott's CE Applications (the author's page):
Pocket Nav is a Task Switcher for Windows CE and Pocket PC's. It allows you to close any program, and on the pocket pc's it also gives one tap access to the desktop at any point.

(Palm Page didn't quite work the way I expected, but it is listed on the page so I tried it first.)

Here's the steps I like to follow when setting this up:
Download pocketnav.zip and extract the files. Look at the extracted files and the one you want has a little lightening bolt. Right click the file and choose cut. Navigate to the Program Files folder, right click and choose paste. Right click the file again and choose copy. Navigate to the Windows\StartUp folder. Right click and choose paste as shortcut. Right click the new shortcut and choose rename. Edit off Shortcut to to make it look better. Now the program will automatically start after rebooting. Double click your new shortcut to start the program. There should now be a little lightening bolt in the top right hand corner of your screen. Click it and have fun!

( ce task switcher pda )

3gp Ubuntu

2007-09-03T03:12:00.000-05:00

Ubuntu has this nifty little feature where it shows a thumbnail of movies which is a great tool in locating a particular video. I've actually uncovered a few untitled videos that had been somewhat misplaced and forgotten. Without making any modifications, Ubuntu plays video recordings from my Motorola Slvr L7 cell phone, but there is no sound :(

After doing a quick bit of searching on Google, I download and install Mobile Media Converter and easily batch convert all my phone videos into MPG format with sound!

Not completely impressive, but then I got a wild hair to go the other way. I grabbed an old MPG and converted it using the same tool, but this time to 3GP and then copied it to my phone. It sure was neat to watch videos that are several years old being played just fine on my cell phone.

This thread is where I got the tip for the program. I had actually been searching for a way to play the 3GP files with sound as this thread describes, but I didn't get that far tonight.

Mike Rowehl: This is Mobility has some good info, but I'm going to bed. (sorry ~!)

( )

WizYo Sytes Net: Registry hack so that multiple users share one profile

2007-08-27T09:10:00.000-05:00

Profile hack does not work on Vista. (tried it .. ewww nasty!) WizYo Sytes Net: Registry hack so that multiple users share one profile

Record MP3s ? no! OGG is better :)

2007-08-21T23:08:00.000-05:00

Playing around with Ubuntu, I ran across the Sound Juicer CD Extractor application. It's a handy little tool, but it doesn't natively create MP3 files. After a lot of research and very little progress, I sat back and re-evaluated my overall project scope.

The end result would be to have a small and compatible file extracted from a CD that would play using Winamp on a Windows workstation. Playing them on the recording station is also important, but I didn't want to be limited to using only that station after investing time recording my music. Wav files worked, but are much larger to store and transfer.

Enter OGG file type. This is an open source and completely free compression and recording format that is compatible in both applications. WinAmp lite version 5.35 works fine, but requires Nullsoft Vorbis Decoder 1.49 (an additional plugin) to play the files.

Handy list of Winamp's Most Requested Features / Plug-ins

( )

autologin ubuntu

2007-08-15T03:56:00.000-05:00

System .. Administration .. Login window

enter your admin (root) password

click Security tab

I checked Timed Login for 5 seconds and selected my normal user.

knowledge gleaned from Rxke on Auto Logon Configuration

( autologon ubuntu )

Accessing file share on Linux from Windows

2007-08-15T03:26:00.000-05:00

The Networking & Wireless forum on Ubuntu Forums listed an article, Default network password? by salthog that provided invaluable advice on running two simple commands to allow for a Windows based system to access a file share on a workstation running Ubuntu Linux.

Quoted indirectly from the article mentioned above:
In the Terminal Window enter
sudo smbpasswd -a youruser
sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart

I'm just glad I didn't have to dig around and mess with samba.conf or any of those other funky little files :)

search terms that lead me here:
set samba password ubuntu
can't connect to ubuntu samba share

( smb )

Hot wire AT power supply

2007-08-05T22:46:00.000-05:00

I know this one is a little late in the game, but it is still good information if you have some old AT based power supplies in use. The one I ran across was an old NT 4.0 server that was missing it's power switch. When the power supply went out, it was easily replaced, but the new power switch wouldn't mount in the case so I copied the previous hack and used little wire nuts to short these contacts and keep the system on.

Blue & White

Black & Brown

( )

GoDaddy "Change of Account"

2007-08-03T09:37:00.000-05:00

If you need to change the account on a domain name, be prepared for a fight.

Be very careful how you start the request and follow through completely using a single email address. Otherwise, it is nearly impossible (and from what I understand, illegal) to get any help from GoDaddy.

Do not use a fax! Despite repeated use of this term "fax" throughout their literature, GoDaddy administrators have trouble viewing faxed documents. They will respond by email roughly 6 to 8 hours later that the fax was bad and to try again. (of course this is quite unnerving if your customer's email is down during this time)

Scan in all requested documents (i picked jpg format) and send in an email from the account used when you filled out the initial form. They are unable to accept information from anyone other than the "requestor"

The department at GoDaddy that handles this information has no phones. There is no way to phone these people. Calling GoDaddy's other numbers will do no good unless you are simply wanting to inform them of your feelings on this matter.

( )

Slow XP? Try chkdsk /r

2007-07-26T00:30:00.000-05:00

Dell laptop less than 6 months old started running very slowly. The mouse would freeze ever few seconds and then continue

First step was to connect via remote control. Since that took so long to connect, I opted for kicking off a disk check and then reconnecting after an hour or so.

Start .. Run
Type "cmd" and press [Enter]
Type "chkdsk /r" and press [Enter]
Answer "Y" for yes to scan drive during next reboot
Reboot system normally (Start .. Shutdown .. Restart)
Chkdsk should run 5 tests on the hard drive over the next hour or so

System came up, but blue screen stop error 0x000000F4 came up. In researching this error, I found a handy article and one not so handy. The handy one comes first:
Windows XP Crashed? Here's Help A salvage mission into the depths of Windows XP, explained by a non-geek
Solved: BSOD...0x000000F4...Please Help

Luckily, after rebooting once more, the system came up fine and continued to work without any trouble. I just thought that detailed guide was nicely explained and wanted to provide a link to it in case anyone may need it in the future.

( 0xF4 F4 )

Cingular does cellular, not software

2007-07-25T16:21:00.000-05:00

Twice now, I've seen trouble using Cingular and Sierra Wireless AirCards. The first time, the Cingular software kept inserting a strange dll file that stopped all internet traffic. We were able to use LSPfix to remove the item, but it was a large hassle for the customer and sometimes happened more than once a day. This last time some trusted sites wouldn't open or take form data properly.

Both times I fixed the problem by removing the Cingular software and using software and drivers directly from Sierra's website. The call manager/monitor program looks different, but works much better.

This is the exact information from the card:
Sierra Wireless AirCard 3G Adapter 860

( )

Global Catalog nightmare (incomplete)

2007-07-13T14:08:00.000-05:00

How much fun can you have when a single domain controller goes offline? Well, I'm hoping to enlighten you as I finish this article ..

Þ Event ID: 5719

Þ Global Catalog (GC)

Þ How to create or move a global catalog in Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, or Small Business Server 2000

Þ How to view and transfer FSMO roles in Windows Server 2003

Þ FSMO RID problems

Þ Using Ntdsutil.exe to transfer or seize FSMO roles to a domain controller

Þ Event ID 16650: The account-identifier allocator failed to initialize in Windows 2000 and in Windows Server 2003

Þ How NOT to decommission a Active Domain Controller

Þ seized schema master, domain, RID, PDC, infrastructure and I'm done 'adprep'

Þ How can I forcibly transfer (seize) some or all of the FSMO Roles from one DC to another? could this be it ?!

Þ How can I determine who are the current FSMO Roles holders in my domain/forest?

Þ DCDIAG /FIX IPCONFIG /REGISTERDNS

Þ Troubleshooting - A domain controller is not functioning correctly?

After 6 hours on the phone with Microsoft Active Directory and DNS support technicians, the ISA firewall client was identified and removed as the cause of the trouble.

( )

32-Bit and the 4GB ceiling

2007-06-15T16:07:00.000-05:00

A 32 bit system can address a maximum of 4 gigabytes of memory. This is the reason a FAT 32 file system can't support a file larger than 4 GB in size. This is the reason Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition 32-bit will only recognize a maximum of 4GB of RAM no matter how much is really installed. 4GB is the max.

4GB can be represented by each of these examples:
Hex · FFFFFFFF
Dec · 4294967295
Oct · 37777777777
Bin · 11111111111111111111111111111111

Interestingly enough, three of these examples illustrate how the number really is the maximum at this point. One more and they roll right over into another "tens place" so to speak. Decimal (base 10) is the only one that seems like adding one more wouldn't really make all that much difference at all (95 .. 96 .. so what).

For those interested in IP addressing, notice how easily the 32-bit address can be broken into four separate groups of octets (8 bits each).
Hex · FF.FF.FF.FF
Bin · 11111111.11111111.11111111.11111111

Since FF = 255, it's easy to see where 255.255.255.255 comes from. Binary makes it more apparent when it comes to routing and subnet masking, but the numbers work just the same!

With these limits in mind, it's easy to see how a 64-bit operating system wouldn't have the same limitations (ceiling) when it comes to addressing memory. In fact, the ceiling for Windows Server 2003 Standard 64-bit is 2 terabytes !

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition 32-bit can support up to 64GB of RAM, but accomplishes this by running in a special compatibility mode. This may be helpful if your software has not been made compatible with 64-bit Windows (most have not). Another concern for 64-bit Windows has been hardware and driver incompatibilities. Most of the major manufacturers have already gotten up to speed, but there are many custom vendors that just haven't made it that far with their products.

Terminal Server throws another kink in the mix. Server memory is divided evenly between kernel and application usage. This means that if you have 4GB RAM, only 2GB can be available for your application. It also means that all your RDP users get to share 2GB of RAM with the system. Once either 2GB portion is used up, your server becomes maxed out.

There are special switches that can be used to modify how much RAM is allocated to the kernel, but these come with a performance loss and increase CPU load. These switches should never be used with Terminal Server since it normally pushes the limit on memory utilization.

Here are a few links to good info I ran across while researching this topic:

( )

Rusty leg

2007-06-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

This item remains unsolved, but I'm listing it anyway in the hopes it may save someone troubleshooting time. Customer's PC was full of viruses and spyware. After cleaning, it was better, but then after someone ran Cleanup!, the system started acting up. I knew the trouble was serious when Notepad.exe and other basic programs failed to open with the following error:

The system cannot execute the specified program.

This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

Two hours, SFC and a spyware scan later, the issue persists. I'm suspecting the registry sustained damaged and recommended the system be completely reloaded.

be careful removing the rusty leg .. it may be the only one keeping the table from falling ~!

( WinXP Pro Windows XP Professional )

Change Password

2007-06-06T10:58:00.000-05:00

An easy way to change your password is to it from the Windows Security screen. To access this screen, hold down the Control and Alternate keys on the keyboard and tap the Delete key once. If Task Manager comes up instead, you may want to look in Control Panel and open the Users applet. There is a Change Password button on the Windows Security screen. Click the button and follow through by entering your current password (the one you want to change) and then key in your new password (the one you are changing it to). Confirm New Password means to type the new one again to make sure it has been entered correctly. It is always a good idea to write down you password before making a change. (Security Gurus are probably saying Don't Ever Write Down Your Passwords !!! but I say it's okay if you just remember to go file it in your safe afterwards)

( )

BackupExec 9.1 Tape Drivers

2007-05-26T01:12:00.000-05:00

After installing a new tape drive on an older server, I had trouble finding the tape driver update information for Veritas BackupExec 9.1 Rev 4691 so I decided to list a few things here for future reference. Symantec now owns Backup Exec but their website is very difficult to navigate. The server needing the updates only brought up a blank screen when trying to access either Symantec or Veritas support websites.

Document ID: 273853 VERITAS Backup Exec (tm) 9.1 - Device Driver Installer (20050115) - Includes Tape Driver Release (20041231) and Robotic Library Release (45) (Intel Only)
Symantec link for same document
Direct link to BackupExecTapeDeviceDriverInstall_273853.exe

Document ID: 245418 How to troubleshoot IDE/ATAPI connected devices in Backup Exec 8.x/ 9.x and 10.x for Windows Servers

Browse the FTP files by Product

( Windows Server 2003 Small Business Win2k Win2003 SBS tapeinst.exe )

Fonts display incorrectly in Internet Explorer

2007-05-16T10:06:00.000-05:00

Customer had trouble printing a certain report from a program called "Factor". Turns out, the program generated a web page and called Internet Explorer for viewing and printing the report. Unfortunately, IE wouldn't print the information all on one page. Even with condensed checked, the report always spilled over onto a second page.

I immediately noticed the trouble was related to Internet Explorer after seeing how my website tool bars and such weren't displayed correctly, but I had quite the time locating the magic checkboxes to correct the issue.

It would make sense to have these options in Control Panel under Accessibility settings, but instead, they're under Internet Options and then Accessibility!

Thanks to the good folks at Penn State for the tip (and the images) !

The following searches were attempted in locating this solution :
font override internet explorer
corrupted internet explorer fonts

( IE7 WinXP )

Windows Update (and Breakdown)

2007-05-14T10:01:00.000-05:00

After an automatic Windows update, networking and other items failed to run properly. Upon investigation, I discovered many services were disabled and the following information began to seem highly suspicious:

Installation Ready: The following updates are downloaded and ready for installation. This computer is currently scheduled to install these updates on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 at 12:00 PM: 
- Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - May 2007 (KB890830)
- Update for Windows XP (KB930916)
- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP (KB931768)

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

===

The process winlogon.exe has initiated the restart of TUTT for the following reason: No title for this reason could be found
 Minor Reason: 0x2
 Shutdown Type: reboot
 Comment: 

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

My suspicion is that these automatic updates caused the customer a service call. It appears that they automatically downloaded, installed and rebooted the computer. Unfortunately for the customer, after the reboot he could not get online any longer.

Thanks to the good folks at HTCC for their Comprehensive List of Recommended Service Settings for Windows XP, the services have been set as per the "Recommended Settings" and all is well again.

( Microsoft WinXP XP Automatic Updates )

LinkSys Firmware Strikes Again !

2007-03-15T10:24:00.000-05:00

LinkSys BEFSX41 with firmware 1.45.6 Oct 20, 2003 was causing trouble submitting a form on Tranzact website. Pages displayed properly and files downloaded just fine, but posting information failed every time. After upgrading firmware to 1.52.10 5/10/06 all is well!

( )

WordPerfect for DOS printing issues

2007-03-14T09:50:00.000-05:00

This item remains unsolved, but here's the details:

Word Perfect 6.x for DOS is configured on a pier to pier network with Windows XP. Dell PCs and laser printers complete the mix. I used wpdosanyprintermethod to facilitate printing from WordPerfect to the USB color laser printer. This configuration worked properly, but we soon discovered an annoying hesitation while printing multiple pages. The sequence results in a pause between every two pages that print.

PrintFile is another older looking program that might be handy, but I haven't had a chance to try it out.

( )

Handy time zone information

2007-03-09T08:30:00.000-06:00

This online wizard provided by Microsoft makes it easy to check and update your system.
Daylight Saving Time Help and Support Center (Javascript is required)

The following article at Microsoft is the best and most detailed information regarding Daylight Savings Time for 2007 and the Windows registry components that I've seen so far.

How to configure daylight saving time for the United States in 2007 (Article ID : 914387)

A non-Microsoft approach would be to use the following tool to update your system:
EZ Time Zone Update Released !

Palm device update
(notification received 03/10/2007 12:56 AM)

( )

Flashing left hand cursor after SATA drive copy

2007-03-08T10:13:00.000-06:00

If you run into trouble after copying a SATA hard drive, repair the Master Boot Record of the destination drive using either "Fdisk /mbr" from a Windows 98 diskette or by using "fixmbr" and "fixboot" from Recovery Console.

I had this trouble after using Ghost 8.0 and MaxBlast 4.0 to copy a 40GB SATA drive over a 250GB one in an IBM Lenovo ThinkCentre m/t: 8143-3EU

( 250GB SATA Maxtor upgrade )

Mas90 4.05 on TS 2003

2007-02-21T10:45:00.000-06:00

Mas90 4.05 installed on Windows Terminal Server 2003 results in printing issues with Graphical Forms.
(Red X) Error 12, Program: SWCOCX, Line: 130
A DLL is either corrupt, not been properly registered, or incorrect version.
Please contact your System Administrator..
OK

Support recommended the first fix listed below, but nothing seemed to change. I did get the following error, but discovered Mas90's Workstation Setup had to be run from within a terminal services session.

Run through workstation setup and the original error returns. Support then recommends using the Add/Remove Programs in the Terminal Server's Control Panel. He said that sometimes the DLLs don't register properly by just running setup the other way. Proceed through pretty much the same install, but this time it works!

-------------------------
Error 12 SWCOCX 130, "A DLL is either corrupt, not been properly registered, or incorrect version..." when printing graphical forms or Crystal reports

Entry Type: Informational
Product: Sage MAS 90 ERP, Sage MAS 200 ERP, Sage MAS 200 ERP - SQL Server Edition
Application: All
Version Reported: 3.71
Subject:
Error 12 SWCOCX 130, "A DLL is either corrupt, not been properly registered, or incorrect version. Please contact your System Administrator" occurs when printing graphical forms.

Possible Resolutions:
Notes: Use extreme caution when editing the Registry. If the Registry is edited incorrectly, Windows may not function properly or may not run at all. Sage Software Support is not responsible for assisting with editing the Registry. Always back up the Registry before accessing it. If necessary, seek the assistance of a qualified computer technician.

Resolution 1: MASCR.DLL is missing from ..\Mas90\Home. Sage MAS 90 or 200 may have be upgraded from version 3.51 or prior versions, but Workstation Setup has not been run on the workstation. Run Workstation Setup at the workstation (..\Mas90\Wksetup\Autorun.exe)

Resolution 2: MASCR.DLL has not been properly registered. The user might not have sufficient permissions to register MASCR.DLL. Grant the user local Admin Rights, run Workstation Setup and print at least one graphical form or Crystal report from within Sage MAS 90 or 200. If this fails, open a command prompt and try manually registering MASCR.DLL using REGSVR32 ("regsvr32 mascr.dll", no quotes).

Resolution 3: Crystal Reports has incorrectly registered DLL's for use by the computer's system account.

Note: Sage Software cannot guarantee nor be responsible for the content of third party Internet sites. Contact that site's Webmaster with questions or problems. This is a known Crystal Reports issue. Please contact the product manufacturer for assistance or updates.

Download the Registry Permissions Restoration Utility from the Business Objects Web site (URL Attached)
Note: The instructions for this utility indicates that it is for version 8.0. This information can be disregarded. The executable is a self executing zip file.
Double-click the file, and place the unzipped scr8_webregfix.exe file on the root drive (typically C:\) using Windows Explorer.
From a DOS command prompt, enter "AT time /INTERACTIVE CMD" (without quotes, where time is the system time plus 2 minutes. This command opens a second command prompt window at the time specified.

A 24 hour clock should be entered when entering the time.
If running in a Terminal Services session, the command line window opens on the Terminal server desktop; not in the terminal session.

At the second command prompt, open the root directory, and type "scr8_webregfix.exe" (without quotes).
Close the second command window after the program runs.
Test the Crystal Reports. This can be done by manually registering the MASCR.DLL in the first window, or by running a Crystal Report.

Resolution 4: CRPE32.DLL may be damaged or missing.

Search the local drive for CRPE32.dll.
Note: The file is normally located in C:\Winnt\System32 or C:\Windows\System), but may appear in other folders.
Rename all occurances of the file (e.g. CRPE32.BAD).
Run Workstation Setup (..\Mas90\Wksetup\Autorun.exe)
Note: The renamed occurances of the file can be deleted after determining that no other programs are affected.

-------------------------

( )

New Lenovo takes 3 hours to boot!

2007-01-30T10:20:00.000-06:00

Lately, I've been hearing more about new Lenovo systems that either won't boot at all or end up taking 3 or more hours to complete their factory software installation.

From what I've heard, the bios is not set to boot to the hard drive. Because of this, the system never completes it's factory imaging process. This means that when the system is unboxed, it needs to be set to boot to the hard drive and then left alone for about three hours for the process to complete!

Come on! Where's the quality control on these units?

This might not be so bad for a single system, but if you run into more than one during an installation, it can severely impact your schedule. Plan accordingly!

( )

Enable SATA RAID before loading IBM server

2006-12-15T16:30:00.000-06:00

After installing a second drive in an IBM server (shipped with a single drive), be sure to enable HostRAID in the BIOS before launching ServerGuide.

Page 40 of the included Installation Guide has a nice description, but I wanted to keep it in my online notebook for later.

Press F1 when booting the server to access the Bios/Configuration

Devices & I/O Ports
Advanced Chipset Control
Serial ATA

Parallel ATA: Enabled
Serial ATA: Enabled
SATA Controller Mode Option: Enhanced
SATA RAID Enabled: Enabled

Native Mode Operation: Auto -> Serial ATA
(dissapears when "SATA Controller Mode Option" is switched from "Compatible" to "Enhanced")

"SATA AHCI Enable" disappears when "SATA RAID Enable" is switched from "disabled" to "Enabled"

Save this configuration and run through ServerGuide. Pick the Express RAID configuration, but change the initialization from "Clear" to "Quick" if the drives are new and haven't been used before now to help speed up the process.

Reference page at IBM website with information on using "Quick" instead of "Clear" to initialize a newly created array. IBM

( IBM xSeries 206m SATA RAID ServerGuide HostRAID ServeRAID Windows 2003 Win2k3 Server )

Internet Explorer and Explorer.exe corruption

2006-12-12T10:53:00.000-06:00

Corrupted index.dat in Cookies caused explorer.exe to crash immediately after logging in to system. Disk error was listed in EventLog, but the event logs were not corrupt and checkdsk said the drive is fine. Discover corrupted file during profile copy. Delete file and reboot to fix. Notice active desktop is in effect and was probably calling Internet Explorer to manage the desktop which caused a cascading effect when it failed to launch.

This is similar to the corrupt index.dat in Temporary Internet Files encountered last week. That system booted fine and launched Internet Explorer, but IE locked up as it was trying to receive web page data.

Cookie trouble on Windows 2000 and the other was Windows XP

( )

Handy tape backup script

2006-12-10T19:05:00.000-06:00

This script has been designed to interface with NTbackup on a Windows 2000 server

I have decided not to allow line wrapping to help with readability. If your browser doesn't support scrolling of this article, consider using FireFox.

Set this batch file in "C:\Tech" and schedule a task to run it with administrative priviledges. The script below should create two log files on it's own with the date and time of "starting" and "stopping" in the same folder. It should also start backing up on "4mm DDS" tape drive (change this to your hardware) in overwrite mode and name the tape using the date and time. This should provide a unique name every time it is run. The next few commands append to the tape with the same name (the one still in there).

(the eject command doesn't quite work yet, but has been left as a future reminder to include it at some point)

@echo off
c:
cd\tech
FOR /F "Tokens=1-4 Delims=-/ " %%i IN ('date /t') DO SET dt=%%i-%%j-%%k-%%l-
FOR /F "tokens=1-4 delims=:/ " %%i IN ('TIME /t') DO SET dt=%dt%-%%i-%%j

echo ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   Start %dt% >1start.log

%windir%\system32\NTBACKUP.EXE backup E:\ /j "E Drive" /n %dt% /p "4mm DDS" /d "Daily Backup"    /v:yes /r:no /l:s /m normal /rs:no /hc:on  /um
%windir%\system32\NTBACKUP.EXE backup D:\ /j "D Drive" /t %dt% /d "Daily Backup" /a /v:yes /r:no /l:s /m normal /rs:no /hc:on
%windir%\system32\NTBACKUP.EXE backup systemstate C:\ /j "C Drive" /t %dt% /d "Daily Backup" /a /v:yes /r:no /l:s /m normal /rs:no /hc:on
rem %windir%\system32\NTBACKUP.EXE eject

FOR /F "Tokens=1-4 Delims=-/ " %%i IN ('date /t') DO SET dt=%%i-%%j-%%k-%%l-
FOR /F "tokens=1-4 delims=:/ " %%i IN ('TIME /t') DO SET dt=%dt%-%%i-%%j
echo ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   Stop %dt% >2stop.log

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incorrect date/time info on new Lenovo towers

2006-10-17T12:12:00.000-05:00

This may sound like a trivial setting, but ended up causing the trial of Norton Internet Security to expire almost immediately.

I have only seen this on two PCs so far. Both have been Lenovo towers. Right out of the box, the system date is set sometime in April of 2006 and the system time is roughly 12 hours off. Be sure to fix this before stepping through Norton's startup config or the product will be useless.

Timezone defaults to Pacific, so if you're here in Texas, change it to Central.

( )

Microsoft error reporting strikes again !

2006-10-05T15:55:00.000-05:00

Adobe Acrobat has been crashing on a particular set of networked computers. Since the "error reporting" offers no obvious direction, I proceeded to transmit the error to Microsoft. Today, I am pleasantly suprised to be directed to the following information:

Adobe Acrobat 7.0.7 Professional and Standard update - multiple languages

The Adobe Acrobat 7.0.7 Professional and Standard update addresses several known issues in Adobe Acrobat 7.0.5 Professional and Standard software. Adobe recommends that all Adobe Acrobat 7.0.x Standard and Professional users apply this update.

( AppName: acrord32.exe - ModName: acrord32.dll )

Reboot workstations after SP2 for Exchange 2003

2006-09-21T16:21:00.000-05:00

Be sure to reboot the workstations on your LAN after installing Service Pack 2 for Microsoft Exchange 2003. One station was automatically sending new mail to the Deleted Items folder. The other was hung at 95% while checking mail. Both were fine after rebooting.

The server had been rebooted once after installing the update.

( )

Firefox tweaks

2006-09-16T11:26:00.000-05:00

Access the configuration of Firefox by typing about:config on the address bar and then press [Enter]

add this (New .. boolean)

config.trim_on_minimize
Set it's value as true to have Firefox release as much memory as posible back to the system whenever you click to minimize. This doesn't work for "Show Desktop" (Window+D) or "Minimize all" (Window+M). Every program should have this feature by default. When I minimize a program, that generally means I'm on my way to another program. Releasing used memory makes sense since it becomes available for other programs to use.

I like to manually set this item since I almost never go back more than one page. Reloading doesn't take that long if clicking "back" is required. (You can also do some fun things with "History" in Firefox).

browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers 1 instead of the default -1

( )

RDP Client - printer access

2006-09-15T15:01:00.000-05:00

Windows Terminal Server 2000 does a fair job of allowing a remote user to be able to print to a locally attached printer. Printing to another remote user's printer is much more elusive.

The simple fix is to add the user needing access to the Power Users group on the server. Power Users automatically have permissions to access these automatically created and mapped printers.

Depending on your configuration and security requirements, you may require a different solution. The scenario here is a perfect solution for management personnel to print documents at remote offices over already established RDP sessions.

( Win2K terminal server shared printer sessions )

Outlook Express SMTP Authentication Instructions

2006-09-08T15:55:00.000-05:00

Open Outlook Express
Select Tools from the menu bar.
Click Accounts

Select the Mail tab (#1 photo below)
Click the email account name (#2)
Click the Properties button (#3)

Select the Servers tab
Check the box at the bottom titled My Server Requires Authentication
Click the Settings button

Confirm Use same settings as my incoming mail server is selected
Click OK to return to account properties
Click OK to return to internet accounts
Click Close to return back to Outlook Express

( )

16-bit Application Reveals System File Mismatch

2006-08-30T18:55:00.000-05:00

Application Error

WOWEXEC caused a General Protection Fault in 
module MMSYSTEM.DLL at 000A:0032.

Choose close. WOWEXEC will close.

This error appeared when attempting to launch a compressed file located on the desktop. Since Windows XP has built in support for Zip files (compressed packages), I wanted to see if WinZip or some other add-on software had been installed and became corrupt. Since there was a folder on the desktop, I simply right clicked it and picked "Send To" and "Compressed File" to create a file on the desktop. This new file opened up just fine with XP's internal Zip support. This is when I realized the file having trouble is ".exe" instead of ".zip"

At this point, I was suspecting spyware had done something to Autoexec.NT or Config.NT so I referenced my previous post: Autoexec.NT is corrupt and unusable

Unfortunately, those files didn't show any trouble and so I began researching online. Many of the proposed "solutions" were a touch shady, so I dropped to a command prompt to snoop around. Turns out the MMSYSTEM.DLL file had an old date so I assumed it had been replaced with an older copy by some software installation.

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\system32

08/24/1996  01:11 PM           103,248 MMSYSTEM.DLL

Luckily, the compressed version of the file was located on the hard drive, so it was fairly easy to expand a copy back where it needed to be.

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\I386

08/29/2002  07:00 AM            31,349 MMSYSTEM.DL_


C:\>cd \windows\system32
C:\WINDOWS\system32>expand ..\i386\mmsystem.dl_ mmsystem.dll
Microsoft (R) File Expansion Utility  Version 5.1.2600.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp 1990-1999.  All rights reserved.

Expanding ..\i386\mmsystem.dl_ to mmsystem.dll.
..\i386\mmsystem.dl_: 31349 bytes expanded to 68928 bytes, 119% increase.

This was a much easier fix than any others I happened across and it worked quite well. Be sure to make a backup of any file before deleting or replacing just to be safe in the event the new copy causes more trouble than the first. When in doubt, always keep a safe copy.. especially when working on the command line (no recycle bin!)

( Windows XP Home WinXP )

Backup Integrated Network Server

2006-08-23T09:44:00.000-05:00

A network server integrated into an AS/400 gets backed up during a full system backup. Unfortunately, it does not get backed up during a regular system backup on V4R3M0 with NT 4.0.

In researching this issue, these documents and links look promising:
AS400 NWSD link Use search term backup integrated network server. Click the Back up NWSD and disk drives... link on the left.

( AS/400 )

How aggravating !

2006-08-23T09:31:00.000-05:00

I just spent the last ten minutes trying to figure out why my normal access to Blogger just wouldn't work! It kept sending me over to some "beta" site with a cutsie little wizard asking how I want my new blog to look. NO! That's not mine I said, but little mrWizard just kept on grinning.

Somehow, my Google email and password passed me on through without using my good old blogger username and password. Whatever. I got something to say! Let me in!!!

uhhh .. huh huh .. yeah

( )

Exclude extensions from network scan

2006-08-16T08:36:00.000-05:00

I received an email about two weeks after several PCs on our network were swapped out. These Windows XP Pro systems were running a certain network application ( Mas90 version 4.0.5 ) very slowly. Printing was even slower. While looking over these systems, I discovered the Symantec Corporate settings did not match the server.

After much frustration and vocabulary exercise, I discovered that the little padlock is the key to it all. While this setting noticeably locks the users out of the client configuration screen, it hides the fact that this setting is necessary to force clients to exclude files specified by the server. Apparently, the lock mandates server settings are to be forced on the clients. Without this "lock down" setting active, the server suggests the exclusions to the clients and they can accept them if they feel like it. The end result is that everyone can have different settings without lockdown.

Yes, the document from Symantec did mention that little lock, but since I had no way of looking at the settings on each client, I didn't keep it locked. Big mistake! I did locate the registry keys that coincide with the exclusion settings and that's an easy place to verify the clients are configured correctly. I was able to check all clients' registry settings right from my desktop (logged on as a domain administrator).

These two registry locations are for excluded file and folder specifications. (extensions, network drives and folder paths):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\INTEL\LANDesk\VirusProtect6\CurrentVersion\Storages\Filesystem\RealTimeScan
"ExcludedExtensions"="SOA,M4T,M4L,LIB,DDF,DDE,DD"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\INTEL\LANDesk\VirusProtect6\CurrentVersion\Storages\Filesystem\RealTimeScan\NoScanDir
"u:"=dword:00000001

Yes, these can be imported into the registry by a login script if your clients are unmanaged, but hey, why do you have Symantec Corporate if it's unmanaged ?!! (hehe .. just kidding)

This is the configuration article on Symantec's website along with the instructions for client configuration. They specifically say to click the lock, but if you don't think that's important, have fun trying to figure out why it doesn't work~!

Excluding specific drives and folders from Symantec AntiVirus scans
To set up Auto-Protect exclusions for Symantec AntiVirus clients by using Symantec System Center

Right-click a server group, server, or client group, and then click All Tasks > Symantec AntiVirus > Client Auto-Protect Options (or Client Realtime Protection Options).
Check Exclude selected files and folders and then click the lock icon so that it appears as locked.
Click Exclusions.
If you use Symantec AntiVirus 8.x, check Check for exclusions before scanning and then click the lock icon so that it appears as locked.
Click Extensions, and follow the on-screen instructions.
Add the extensions without punctuation.
Repeat the previous steps for as many extension exclusions as necessary, and then click OK.
Click Folders, and follow the on-screen instructions.
To exclude a drive, type the drive letter followed by a colon.

These are a few of the search phrases used in researching this issue:

symantec client file folder extension exclusions not taking from server group setting

symantec client file folder extension exclusions

symantec exclusions not propagating

symantec exclusions propagating

( Symantec Corporate Mas90 )

Microsoft Exchange is a stupidhead

2006-08-10T09:21:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm at a loss again with Microsoft. Apparently, they are such greedy filth that they have designed this whole Exchange Server with Outlook package to fill up so you're forced to upgrade to the next (more expensive) level.

It appears that Exchange will happily keep your email all in one nice little message store until it reaches it's preset ceiling and then the server barfs allover itself.

Mailbox Manager should be called "mailbox trash pickup" because that's all it really does. It'll sift through folders and pick out messages that are either too large or too old and then trash them. Oh, you might elect to shuffle them into the "System Cleanup" folder, but that's just for teasing the users by saying "This is what would have been deleted. Bwahaha!!," says the evil Mailbox Manager.

Seriously though, shouldn't the manager be able to set up scheduled archiving and access instead of simply shuffling messages around until they are eventually lined up to be deleted? There are several add on packages to accomplish these tasks, but the server should have these features itself.

Outlook does a remedial job of clearing out items to a 2GB limited PST file. It does fine with the inbox, but folders confuse the heck out of it. "Do Not Archive" appears on folders at random and folders without this setting don't archive properly either. "Oh, that's a setting on your machine." Nope, I got five doing this. Outlook 2002 and 2003! And you can forget about mobile users even dreaming of this feature.

grrr .. can you hear me? hehe grrrr .. well, i guess i'd better shut up and get back to beating this dead horse .. he's about to get up .. i just know it!

( )

Check and Set Time on AS/400

2006-08-08T09:57:00.000-05:00

Check the time by using the command Time on a command line. (simple enough!)

Set the time with WrkSysVal and selecting QTime followed by 2 to change (i think .. i watched someone, but haven't tried it yet myself)

( AS/400 )

Is it live or is it PSCAN !

2006-07-30T21:22:00.000-05:00

Memorex MVD2042 - The only switch on the back of the unit had gotten bumped when something fell behind the unit, thus causing the same issue mentioned here. Looking at the front of the unit, the switch is straight back from the disc tray on the left. (of course, if you're looking at the back, it's on the right side) This switch is for "Progressive Scan" either "on" or "off"

PSCAN on screen, splits my tv screen in half
memorex dvd player pscan split screen

( )

Firefox memory tweak/hack

2006-07-16T18:08:00.000-05:00

After noticing Firefox was using up about 130+ meg of my RAM, I figured there was some sweet little extension to correct this behavior. Unfortunately, I discovered it appears to be a bug, but fortunately for me, I ran across this article which provided the instructions below. Upon minimizing Firefox, all but about 8 to 18 MB ram is returned to the system. Granted, it's only a workaround, but it is one that I'm happy to use and to share.

Open Firefox and go to the Address Bar. Type in about:config and then press Enter.
Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean.
In the box that pops up enter config.trim_on_minimize. Press Enter.
Now select True and then press Enter.
Restart Firefox.

( )

IBM CD issue

2006-07-12T16:30:00.000-05:00

nice bit of information from a fellow colleague...

My motherboard would have proably been ok for awhile even though it tested defective.

My problem was I installed iTunes and then I installed the new IBM Record Now. Everytime I did this I lost my cd drives.

I uninstalled iTunes and the new IBM Record Now. I restarted the computer. I then reinstalled the new IBM Record Now and restarted my computer. Then I reinstalled iTunes. I have not had the problem since.

( )

Is Adobe really to blame?

2006-07-10T10:17:00.000-05:00

Adobe Acrobat 7.0.8 was having trouble. The errors below appeared after selecting duplex on a Kyocera 5056.

After troubleshooting for quite some time, I discovered the error would appear only if the Kyocera was not the default printer when Acrobat was opened. The trouble appeared when either another networked Kyocera (3035) or a locally attached HP LaserJet 6 was set as default when Acrobat was opened. Specifically when selecting File .. Print and then selecting the 5056 followed by the Properties button. Whether making changes or not, when selecting OK, the first error appears. The same error appears a few times before Acrobat can be closed.

Just after Acrobat closes, the second error appears.

I had reinstalled the printers recently because of a different issue, so I assumed the drivers were not the problem. While trying to focus on Acrobat, I found many issues related to version 7.0.8, but after locating a troubleshooting document on Adobe's website, I decided to take another look at the printer drivers. The printing is routed through a Windows server which means the workstations use the same driver that is installed on the server, so I updated the printer drivers on the server and everything is working perfectly!
(Some workstations had to be rebooted before the updates trickled down from the server)

Function address 0x11c3d459 caused a protection fault. (exception code 0xc00000005) Some or all property page(s) may not be displayed.

The instruction at 0x11c3d459 referenced memory at 0x00000004 The memory could not be written. Click on OK to terminate the program

( AcroRD32.exe Application Error )

Disable Standby annoyance

2006-07-05T00:09:00.000-05:00

Windows ME did a strange thing to me the other day. A message mentioned something about failing to go into standby a few times and did I want to disable this feature.. so I clicked OK or Yes without thinking about capturing the change as it happened. Since then, Standby feature is disabled

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VPOWERD]
"UseS4OS"=hex:01,00,00,00
"StaticVxD"="*VPOWERD"
"Start"=hex:00
"Skip32BitAPMS5"=hex:01
"Flags"=dword:00000000
"BiosDate"=hex:00,02,12
"SuspendFlag"=dword:00000002

( )

How did they miss this until now?

2006-07-04T22:59:00.000-05:00

Since just about everything is managed from Group Policy in Active Directory, I was quite shocked to find out that power management was left out.

After finding quite a few articles mentioning registry settings, this article pointed me to EZ GPO software appears to be the solution (at least until we upgrade to Server 2003 ! How to use Powercfg.exe in Windows Server 2003)

other items of interest:
Change Power Management Configuration (All Windows)
Enable Monitor Power-off on the Logon Screen (All Windows)

"standby" and "hibernate" disappeared!? - this one needs a reply .. if I get time
Remove Stand By from Shutdown Options
How do I disable Standby mode on Win98 for good
Disable standby when laptop lid is closed
How to disable "Standby" key on MS Internet keyboard?
How To Enable or Disable the Standby Mode
Group Policy Changes in Vista - here's where Microsoft is finally catching on
Disable standby through registry?
tip # 137 has some help

phrases attempted while reasearching this topic:

power management windows group policy
power management windows
power management dynamic
power management policy
network power management windows group policy
network power management windows 
domain power management windows 
disable standby
CurrentPowerPolicy
group policy administrative template power disable standby

( )

Close application gracefully

2006-06-25T00:10:00.000-05:00

After much searching and sifting through several programs that forcefully terminate processes, I finally located this article that mentions a simple program named close that does a great job of asking an application to shut down. I tested it on notepad with some unsaved changes and instead of killing it off, notepad asked if I wanted to save the document. My main focus was for a program called HideIt. It will hide programs automatically, but only when it is first launched. If HideIt is already running, it won't hide the other windows. This is expecially annoying for some scheduled tasks that run that I don't need to see the window or that I don't want to take focus away from what I'm already doing.

Now, the scheduled task launches a batch file. The batch file closes HideIt and then opens HideIt again which hides the batch file from view and returns focus to the previous application (usually something I'm typing). Perfect!

Previously, I had to either wait for the batch file to finish or click back on the window I was keying in text. I had tried using PSKILL from SysInternals, but it left the system tray icon each time and eventually there were several duplicated icons. Now, the icon goes away and comes back so fast it appears to not even change.

( close windows application gracefully )

Free AutoCad Viewer

2006-06-14T20:48:00.000-05:00

Free viewer for AutoCAD formats.
View and measure DWG, DWF and DXF files in one viewer.

This AutoCad viewer does a fair job viewing simple DWG files. Printing is disabled, but looks like it can be added through purchasing a license. Drawings that include portions of other files produce an error and fail to load completely. This works great for being able to look over a drawing on a PC that doesn't have AutoCad installed.

AutoCad DWG Viewer
Other free viewers from Brava! software

( )

Recover Outlook Express email!

2006-06-14T11:06:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am excited about this one. After performing a normal data recovery and finding very little data that shows it had been obviously deleted, the Deleted Items.dbx folder began drawing attention. No, the data wasn't in there to grab easily. Instead, the file showed to be empty, but was sitting there all fat and happy at a whopping 346 megabytes. Since there are so many scams claiming to Recover Outlook Express corrupted .dbx files, I thought it would be nice to share one that does actually do the job.

Use "DBXtract" To Extract Messages In Outlook Express DBX Files... has good information on using DBXtract, but offers only a pay-to-download link. The free download of DBXtract v4.50 from PCWorld.com seemed better to fit my requirements. The software is free, but a donation is recommended .. I'll be sure to inform the customer that they need to donate some $$ to the cause. (alternate download link)

Be sure to check the Recover Mode box and give it several minutes to run. So far, this one had recovered 700+ messages. I am now noticing the Sent Items folder is quite large even though no messages show up there either. Good luck!

Other articles of interest:
This one doesn't work .. dont' even try it
The Other E-Mail Threat: File Corruption in Outlook Express

( )

Trouble with Maxtor OneTouch bundled software

2006-06-13T18:03:00.000-05:00

Dell PC with Windows XP appears to hang when launching Dantz Retrospect Express HD.

After paging through several suggestions, locate the following document on the Dantz support website: Fixing Updating Status messages in Express HD. You can also locate the information by looking for "Fixing Updating Status" in the EMC Retrospect Knowledgebase.

I haven't tried it yet, but should know tomorrow if it works or not.

apparently .NET 2 breaks Dantz Retrospect Express HD:

( retrospect updating status )

Tell MSN to forget dial-up configuration

2006-06-12T15:01:00.000-05:00

MSN internet client was giving me a fit and, basically, refusing to dial up to get online. After much frustration, a message appeared stating that by pressing [Ctrl] + [ALT] + [F12], all the previous dial-up information would be cleared. I did this and was guided through the setup wizard which set everthing up just fine. (after about two tries that is)

( MSN 9.0 dialup )

Gaining perspective

2006-06-12T00:22:00.000-05:00

The stories of these two people just caught my attention:

Lt. Ehren Watada

Raising Yousuf: a diary of a mother under occupation

( )

Mas90 archive and purge

2006-06-09T15:54:00.000-05:00

Use the SVDATA command to copy company an entire company's data to another (or new) company. Key it in inder File .. Run while logged in to Mas90 versions prior to 4.0

( )

Recommended Firefox Extensions

2006-06-08T00:15:00.000-05:00

This list is of all the Firefox Extensions that I use regularly on my computers. I have placed them here for convenience and as a reminder of what I use when I'm introducing someone to Firefox.

If you don't have Firefox, I suggest you check it out. I tell people that it's kind of like Netscape was back when it was better than Internet Explorer. Firefox is the best web browser and is even better when customized to your preferences with some of the free additional features available online.

IE View Lite
SyncMarks 0.3 is not compatible with 1.5.02, but this patch seems to do the trick
NoScript blocks Java and Javascript from unsafe websites
Tiny Menu
PopupMaster
Content Area Focus
NumberFox
Tab Mix Plus
HideTabBar
Fasterfox
Locate in Bookmark Folders
Ez Sidebar
FireBug - web developers only
-dumy link (don't use)-

This image was taken before a few additions and an upgrade ..

( )

AS/400 Telnet key sequences

2006-06-07T12:03:00.000-05:00

Hit [Escape] followed by keys 1234567890-= for F1 through F12
Hit [Escape] followed by [shift] 1234567890-= for F13 through F24
[Ctrl]+R is reset
[Ctrl]+F is page up
[Ctrl]+B is page down
[Ctrl]+P is print screen

( I haven't tried these yet, but I didn't want to lose them either ! )

( AS/400 AS400 )

File transfer issue with Client Access

2006-06-07T11:59:00.000-05:00

When trying to connect to the I-Series access software, receive error "unable to connect to data base server due to communications error 6060"

Took down this proposed solution:

Get the Session name
Use the wrksbs command
Locate Qinter
Use 8
Key in 4
Press F4
Change to *immed
Try to reconnect

Turns out, the help text following the error CWBDB0058 listed above mentioned the following point number 4 in "Recovery"

key in STRHOSTSVR command
followed by the *DATABASE selection

After discussing this item with our resident '400 guru, he tells me that "*ALL" would have been fine since it won't start services that are already running. He also mentions this command should be present in the startup command file of the '400 and should have been running already.

He also mentioned using the NETSTAT command followed by option menu 3 .. then look for AS-something (avgdata or signon? .. files) .. these are part of the Client Access Host Server. If no one can connect using Client Access, this area might prove helpful.

Either way, the file transfer was broke and now it's fine :)

by the way, the file transfer produced this informational message a few times before the transfer program recognized the data properly: CWBTF0004 - No data was matched to the specified options.

( AS/400 AS400 )

IBM RAID upgrade tip

2006-06-07T11:24:00.000-05:00

Upgrading RAID firmware from a really old version to 8.0 first requires upgrading to 7.00 and then making the step up to 8.0 .. this applies to versions 4, 5 and 6

( )

Compaq / HP UPS software

2006-06-05T20:29:00.000-05:00

I had some trouble locating the software CD for a UPS at a customer location. Everything labeled Compaq, but the software has been difficult to locate.

Here's a good link to download the software HP Power Manager

I had been on the hunt for HP Rack and Power Manager when I stumbled across this forum at HP where Scott Robey had this to say:
"...Would you be willing to try power manager 4.0? This I think is the best option. ...power manager 4.0 is designed for the single UPS multi agent environment (similar to lansafe)."

Other notable links discovered on this trek:
HP R1500 XR UPS

Compaq ProLiant DL360
Compaq ProLiant DL380

( )

System36 Emulation notes

2006-06-05T11:33:00.000-05:00

Arrive on site and discuss trouble with customer. Look over her configuration and notice Bossanova card showing up in "other devices" in Device Manager. Research online and download driver patch for device. Install driver and reboot. System still appears to have trouble connecting to System 36. Look through settings on emulation software and click "Disconnect" button which results in a login screen.

( IBM System/36 )