WizYo Sytes Net

Why does Microsoft make it so darn difficult to configure a simple PC?

2013-04-30T11:45:00.000-05:00

I mean really, we have been playing this game for a good 20+ years and the stupid software still won't load properly. And can someone explain to me why versions have to change so often and why interfaces have to play musical chairs? No one of any importance likes change. Anyone who asks for the "latest" version of anything should simply be deported.

Here I am trying to install Microsoft Office 2013. After three failed "simple" installs, I have finally opted for downloading the "ISO" CD image. Even though it shows up as an "IMG" file, it still works the same. Just be careful and don't accidentally click the virtual CD drive a second time. Ouch! No repair available seems to work.

Now we're in the process of uninstalling this beast. Poor little Word and Excel won't open, and Internet Explorer just opens up a blank page because the goofy Office software has it locked up.

Not suprising that Google Chrome works just fine. It sure is nice to have a piece of software that just does what it's supposed to do without being morphed into the collective pudding of software purgatory.

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64-bit Windows 7 Driver for IBM 6400 Printer

2012-11-29T14:40:00.001-06:00

Don't fall for the scammers who advertise drivers for this configuration. Every single one that I "Googled" turned up to be some type of spyware-virus-garbage.

Set the printer to Epson Emulation by stepping through the menu on the printer. Select Emulation Configuration and then Ascii Printer Emulation first.

Manually select the driver for Epson DFX-5000 on your Windows 7 64-bit system.

This worked for me after fumbling with the config for several hours. Good luck!

( Win7 Proprinter III XL IBM 6400-010 )

HP Restore Plus! fail

2012-10-05T09:08:00.000-05:00

Performing a full factory restore on an HP Compaq 8100 Elite Convertible Minitower (Product No. LA008UT#ABA) failed miserably when the restore utility continually prompted for me to "remove the CD and press OK to continue" I ran through the entire process twice, but it never went on to the next step of actually setting up the system. After taking the PC in for further service, I discovered which CDs actually worked well enough to complete the project.

HP Restore Plus · Start with this DVD for restore (Disk 1 of 3) · DVD Kit 593724-L21
Operating System DVD · Windows 7 Professional Service Pack 1 (Disk 2 of 3) · DVD Kit 646917-B21
Language Pack Media · Windows 7 Recovery Media for Windows 7 Products (Disk 3 of 3) · Media Kit 646922-B21

After loading the DVDs, the system takes several minutes to complete the process of restoration. Eventually, a wizard appears that continues with configuring the system.

I'm not planning on testing the first restore disk that was used. The customer has two similar systems with similar recovery disk sets. I used the set that came with one PC, but when it failed, used the set from the other PC. We are lucky this worked. If anyone else is having trouble with the recovery process, check to see if you are using the same disk that gave me trouble. Its ID is: DVD Kit 593724-B27

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Google data mining via Street View

2012-05-27T11:49:00.001-05:00

As with most things in the media these days, I don't believe it exactly as described by others.

Google "Street View" cars collect private data should read Google "Street View" cars collect public data. (Private -vs- Public)

Apparently, the cars were recording unsecured WiFi data that was (and still is) freely available for them (and others) to receive. If you have no password on your WiFi, then it's your data we're talking about.

Unless you are using cables (or "hard wires") to connect all of your computer equipment, you are probably using WiFi. The most popular WiFi (or "wireless") technology being used is of specification 802.11 and is further classified by the notations a/b/g/n. These technologies have a specified range of at least 300 feet outdoors. This is no secret and is generally promoted on the outside of an unopened package along with other product features.

"What does all this mean?" you might ask.
Well, quite simply, if you plug up one of these radios and don't set a password, you are broadcasting your information publicly and out to anyone up to 300 feet or more away from you. You are also providing free internet access. Access that can be abused and that can result in legal action against you resulting in a lot of headache and in some cases fines of tens of thousands of dollars (fo real!).

"What can I do?" you might ask.
Set a password on your WiFi. That's it. Amazing I know. It's as simple as locking your front door. If the door is locked, no one can simply "walk right in".

"Locks are for honest people"
If I were to come across a locked door, I would not go through it. Some people, however, do not respect locks (or privacy for that matter). Just as a criminal will bypass a lock, a criminal hacker can bypass security measures. This doesn't mean you should "give up" and not lock your doors. It means you should make sure your windows are locked too and maybe get a security system. Valuable data networks should be treated with similar respect. Many companies actually pay for intentional hack attempts by "intrusion prevention service" groups who try breaking into their networks several times each year just to prove that a criminal would also fail to gain access.

To sum it up, I feel that the only reason anyone cares that Google gathered this data is because they feel that some money can be made through lawsuits. You don't do private things out in your front yard, you do them in your LOCKED area (home, bathroom, bedroom, etc.). Google drove around with a recorder turned on. They picked up some stuff. Big deal. Your neighbors are doing the same thing. Everyone has a smart phone. Everyone is taking pictures. Everyone is accessing free WiFi. Not everyone can keep a secret. Your house may be on another map somewhere that shows you have open WiFi (yes, there are actual data warehouses and maps of these). The people looking at the map may not be interested in marketing Google services. They could be looking to skim some of your free WiFi or maybe even want to camp out waiting for bank account information or other sensitive data.

We should thank Google for reminding some of us to lock our doors.

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down with Carbon barons !!

2012-03-31T17:07:00.002-05:00

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Windows 7 Home as FileServer - tweak

2012-03-12T11:46:00.002-05:00

Using Windows 7 Home as a file server is fine as long as you remember to increase the following two values in the registry:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\LargeSystemCache
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\Size

The first should be increased to 1 and the other to 3.

You may also notice the following information listed in the System Event log:
Source: srv
Event ID: 2017
Level: Error
The server was unable to allocate from the system nonpaged pool because the server reached the configured limit for nonpaged pool allocations.

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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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