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Software: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Tips and Tweaks, Licensing, Fixing Problems, OEM Software, How to Make Restorable Backups - Page 2

Last updated on 10 March 2008

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Access a database of definitions of Windows error messages

If you're sick of having Windows produce error messages that are as understandable as written Chinese to you, WinErrs is a free utility that accesses a meaningful database of 1554 Windows error messages:

http://www.sofotex.com/WinErrs-download_L3957.html

Visit the Diagnostics page on this site for MS Knowledge Base articles on Windows error messages.

And hereare two sites that deal with Windows error messages:

Bootdisk.com - Look for the "Errors" heading on the Home page -

http://www.bootdisk.com/

You can also download the files to create a boot disk for any version of Windows from there.

The Windows Support Center - http://aumha.org/kberrmsg.htm

And don't forget that you can usually find plenty of links pertinent to a particular error message by using the intelligible part of it as the search term (enclosed within double quotation marks) in the Google search box at the top of this page.

Past posts on Windows error messages in Google Groups

Enclose the main body of the error message within double quotation marks and use it to conduct a Google Groups search. It would be quicker than searching through error-message sites, because the search engine will find all of the available references to that error message. If necessary, keep shortening the search phrase until you get links.

Enter the name of the newsgroup you want to search in the search box. For example, use alt.windows98 or alt.os.windows-xp. (There are more such newsgroups listed on the Newsgroup page of this site.) In the next search box, enter your search phrase (or error message) within double quotation marks. You have the options to search that newsgroup only, search all newsgroups, or search the web.

Google's archived Usenet newsgroups -

http://www.google.com/grphp?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=

The easiest remedies for most serious problems with Windows XP

Click here! to read an article called Recovering Windows XP on this site that deals with the several ways in which that can be achieved.

HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

Visit this MS Knowledge Base page to read the above-named article:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;316434

Recovering Windows - the Windows boot menu

If you press the F8 key as a Windows 9.x or Windows XP system boots, the boot menu will present itself.

In Windows 95/98/XP you can boot into Safe mode in order to service or repair the system.

Windows XP doesn't have it, but you can use the Command prompt only option to restore a backup of the Windows Registry in Windows 95 by following a procedure that is detailed in its user manual, and you can enter the scanreg /restore command in Windows 98 and 98 SE to restore the system from a choice of five days' worth of backups of the Registry (user.dat and system.dat), system.ini, and win.ini files that are stored in restorable CAB files.

If you want to know how to customise scanreg, read ScanReg Customization (Win98 and Me): http://aumha.org/win4/a/scanreg.htm. It can be customised to exceed the default five days' worth of system-file backups.

These are the selectable boot-menu options available in Windows 9.x. -

1. - Normal [boots normally to Windows]

2. - Logged (bootlog.txt) [logs the successes or failures of the start-up to a bootlog.txt file that you have to locate and peruse]

3. - Safe mode [loads Windows using DOS-mode device drivers]

4. - Step-by-step confirmation [confirm or skip everything that loads]

5. - Command prompt only [full DOS mode - C:\>]

6. - Safe mode command prompt only [self-explanatory - only the DOS compatibility-mode device drivers are loaded]

7. - Safe mode with networking [also loads network drivers]

These are the selectable boot-menu options available in Windows XP. -

Safe Mode

Safe Mode with Networking

Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Enable Boot Logging [used for troubleshooting boot problems]

Just before Windows XP starts to load, press the F8 key. Select the Enable Boot Logging option, and then press the Enter key. When the start-up process is over, use Windows Explorer and locate the Ntbtlog.txt file in the Windows folder. It contains a a list of all of the device drivers that were successfully loaded or failed to load. Note that some device drivers can fail to load without anything being wrong. All the same, you should be able to determine which service or driver is causing a particular problem.

Enable VGA mode [loads the standard VGA video card device driver]

Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked) [a very useful option if the system fails to boot due to a problem with the Windows Registry files]

Directory Services Restore Mode (Windows domain controllers only)

Debugging Mode

Start Windows Normally

Reboot

Return to OS Choices Menu

You can use a DOS start-up floppy disk to help recover a Windows 9.x system, but since Windows XP no longer has DOS, you have to use a different procedure to recover an XP system.

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Recovering Windows XP

Visit Recovering Windows XP on this site that deals with the several ways in which that can be achieved.

The safest way to upgrade RAM: Use the UK and US Crucial Memory Advisors

Paul Mullen, the highly-respected computer guru of the Helpfile at ComputerShopper.co.uk - "I have recently been buying my memory only from Crucial Technology. I would rather pay the extra cost than waste time trying to track down the obscure program faults that bad memory can cause."

The memory requirements of the versions of Windows Vista

Most of the versions of Windows Vista require more RAM memory to run optimally on a computer that doesn't use memory-hungry applications than Windows XP. A video-editing application is an example of memory-intensive software. Only Windows Vista Home Basic has a recommended minimum amount of memory of 512MB, which is the same amount recommended for Windows XP. Windows Vista Home Premium, the most popular version, and Windows Vista Ultimate require a recommended minimum of 1GB (1024MB) of memory, which is twice the amount of minimum memory recommended to run Windows XP. For more information on computer memory, read the RAM pages of this site.

For example, if your computer has an Asus motherboard, open the menu, scroll down to ASUS, and click GO. If, say, you have a Dell computer, scroll down to DELL, and do likewise. You will be taken to the relevant information on Crucial's website.

If you don't know the make and model of the motherboard installed in your computer, here is a good free utility - Belarc Advisor - that creates an analysis of the hardware and software on a personal computer. Look under FREE DOWNLOAD - http://www.belarc.com/. Another utility that also provides detailed information on the memory itself is CPU-Z.

Securing files in Windows XP

The NTFS file system that is native to Windows XP and its predecessor Windows 2000, offers much more in the way of system security than the FAT32 file system that is native to Windows 95/98/Me. Some of these security measures are passwords that cannot be bypassed (as they can be so very easily in Windows 95/98/Me), user accounts, folder and file permissions, and folder and file encryption.

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Here is the definition of NTFS provided in the Windows Glossary in under Help and Support:

NTFS file system

"An advanced file system that provides performance, security, reliability, and advanced features that are not found in any version of FAT. For example, NTFS guarantees volume consistency by using standard transaction logging and recovery techniques. If a system fails, NTFS uses its log file and checkpoint information to restore the consistency of the file system. In Windows 2000 and Windows XP, NTFS also provides advanced features such as file and folder permissions, encryption, disk quotas, and compression."

Click here! to go to a Q&A on this site called Windows files systems: FAT32 versus NTFS.

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Most of the Windows XP Home systems I've encountered are set up to use user accounts without having to supply a password. This is probably to reduce the support costs for idiots who forget their passwords. But in Windows XP Professional, you can't do anything without first entering a valid user name and password.

However, the Windows XP Scheduler (unlike the one in Windows 2000), can only run scheduled tasks if a user account and password are supplied. Even a blank password when no password is needed will prevent a scheduled task from running, and one such as the Norton AntiVirus Live Update won't ever run as scheduled. To remedy the situation, add a password to your usual user account. If you don't want to have to enter a password every time you log on, you can set up a separate user account with a password to run scheduled tasks. Go Control Panel => Performance And Maintenance => Scheduled Tasks, and right-click on the NetDetect task and then click Properties. Enter the username for the scheduled task, and click Set password to enter a password.

In Windows XP Professional (but not in Windows XP Home edition), you can also set folder and file permissions and folder and file encryption. If folder encryption is used, only someone who logs on to the computer by using a user account and password can view the encrypted files.

Experts recommend using encrypted folders but not encrypted files, because an encrypted file can be decrypted when modified. The recommended approach is to create a special folder and call it, say, Encrypted Files. You would use Windows to make the folder an encrypted folder. When this is done, any files saved to that folder are automatically encrypted.

This would be especially handy if the hard disk drive fails, and the computer or the drive has to be returned to the manufacturer for replacement or repairs. No one will be able to access your files in any way - not even by using specialist drive-editing software.

To find out how to do this in Windows XP Professional , look up the term encryption by entering it in the search box under Start => Help and Support => Index.

Using the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled) should also be able to provide plenty of relevant links if a search phrase such as "windows xp pro" + encryption (as is) is used.

Some good recovery tips

With hard-drive space so plentiful, it is a good idea to copy the entire contents of the Windows installation CD/DVD to a partition of its own on the main HDD, or to a partition on a second drive. Then, if Windows wants to access its CD/DVD to install or remove components, you can point it to the copy. If it is the Windows 98 SE CD that has been copied in this way to, say, the F: drive of the primary HDD, all you have to do is click on the reference for the F: drive in My Computer and the interactive Windows window appears allowing you to Add/Remove Software, Browse This CD, etc. It is a common occurrence for users to lose or damage the Windows CD, so, if this were to happen and you didn't have a backup of the system burned to CD-R disks, you could save the situation with the hard-drive copy.

You could also install a second hard disk drive and clone the system to it by using software such as the free XXCopy. The clone is bootable so could be used to recover the system in an emergency. You would just have to make the secondary hard drive the boot drive. Search the Tips pages on this site for articles on how this can be done.

The Java Virtual Machine (JVM)

Many websites run Java applets when accessed, and can become unusable if the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that is either incorporated into the web browser, or added to it as a plug-in, doesn't work properly, or is absent, because the JVM is the software that runs Java programs.

Microsoft no longer makes its version of the JVM for Internet Explorer available directly and no longer supports it. Sun, the original developer of the Java programming language, provides its own version. Microsoft's version created confusion and problems because it differs from Sun's version. If you installed Microsoft's version and then installed an update made available from Sun, or vice versa, problems accessing sites that only supported one of the versions were common.

Many websites, including bank sites, etc., require the use of the JVM in order to function, therefore if your browser says that it requires the JVM in order to use a particular site, you should install Sun's version, which is made available from Sun's Java site: http://www.java.com/.

Visit http://java-virtual-machine.net/index.html for information on the various Java Virtual Machines.

"How to Log On to Windows XP If You Forget Your Password - or Your Password Expires"

The information on how to log on to Windows XP Home and Professional editions if you forget your logon password, or it expires, is provided in the Microsoft Knowledge Base - article number 321305.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=321305

If you can't get online, here is some useful password information.

When you create a password in Windows XP, you have the opportunity to create a password hint that reminds you of it. If this is the case, click the ? next to the password prompt. Remember that passwords in Windows XP are case-sensitive. To use a password, you have to use the same upper and lower case letters that were used when the password was created.

If you created a Password Reset Disk when you created the password, you can use it to reset the password. Otherwise, as the Administrator, you can create such a disk.

To do this, insert a formatted floppy disk in the A: drive, log on as Computer Administrator, and open User Accounts in the Control Panel. Select your own account, and click Prevent A Forgotten Password in Related Tasks to open the Forgotten Password Wizard. Click Next, confirm that you want to use the A: drive to create the disk, and click Next. Enter the current password for this account, and click Next. After Windows has completed writing to the floppy disk, label it suitably, and keep it in a safe place. You'll be able to use it to reset the Administrator's password should the need arise.

If you can access the Administrator account, you can reset the passwords for user accounts from it. Enter 'control userpasswords2' -as is - in the Start => Run box.

An advanced control panel opens which has a button for that user account that resets all of its passwords. But to be able to specify a new logon password, you'll have to delete the password cache file called yourusername.pwl in the Windows folder for that particular user account (where yourusername represents the name you used when creating the user account). Windows XP generates a new empty password cache file that allows you to create a new logon password for that user account.

That said, the security in Windows XP is not as secure as it is made out to be. Several programmers have written tools that can reset forgotten Windows XP passwords. You should be able to find them by entering a suitable search phrase in the Google search box at the top of this page, such as: reset + password + "windows xp".

One such tool is called chntpw (ChangeNTPassword) by Peter Nordahl-Hagen, which can be obtained from:

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd

The downloaded file creates a complete bootable floppy disk that is then used to reset the password.

Click here! to read some more Windows XP password-related information on this page.

Windows startup, shutdown, and restart problems

Startup and shutdown issues are the most common problems that affect Windows 95, 98, Me, and Windows XP systems.

Visit Windows XP : How to Troubleshoot and Fix Shutdown, Restart (Reboot) and Startup Problems on this site for detailed information on the various aspects of those problems.

Problem: Windows XP auto-dials the Internet

Click here! if you are suffering from this problem, or just want to read the article on it on this site. - Use your browser's Back button to backtrack.

If the hard disk drive is constantly at work and processor use is always high

If any IDE CD/DVD drives are not being used, and the hard disk drive (HDD) is therefore the only IDE drive shown as being accessed all the time (as shown by the IDE-use indicator light on the front of most cases), the cause could be one or more services running in the background, such as the Windows XP disk-indexing service, which runs by default. It appears as Cisvc.exe in the Task Manager, and runs during idle periods to create an index of documents so that searches can be conducted quickly. To disable it, look under Start => Control Panel => Admin Tools => Services.

A Windows 9x systems could have its own indexing services running, such as Find Fast in the Control Panel.

Other programs that can be set to run in the background, such as a virus scanner, cleanup utility, or disk defragmenter, might also be responsible for unexpected HDD activity.

Constant HDD activity could also be caused by a virus or spyware running on the system. Therefore, even if you run an updated virus scanner regularly, you should consider using an alternative virus scanner such as the free on-line scanner offered by Trend at http://www.antivirus.com/. It can frequently detect viruses that other scanners fail to detect.

You should also use the following free programs regularly. -

Microsoft's Windows Defender - currently the best spyware scanner - from:

http://microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Ad-aware - http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ or http://www.lavasoft.de/

Spybot Search & Destroy - http://www.safer-networking.org/

A utility that is not fully compatible with the version of Windows being run could also be responsible.

The program that is accessing the HDD is probably the one that is also hogging the processor. Windows XP's Task Manager can show how the processor's time is being used. When you press the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys to bring up the Task Manager in Windows 9.x and Windows XP, in Windows XP only, the overall processor usage and the usage per running process is shown. Looking down the list should reveal the culprit.

Note that when the Windows XP feature called Processor Throttle is enabled and the installed the hardware supports it, the processor speed can be reduced to match the workload. Processor speed is closely matched to the actual use with this feature enabled, so the Task Manager's processor usage will always show high percentages.

Badly written device drivers, such as display drivers, can also cause high processor use. The cure for this would be to download and install the latest drivers from Microsoft Update and the device manufacturers' websites.

Many of the processes listed in the Task Manager are obscure, so, if you don't know which process belongs to which program, enter msconfig in the Start => Run box of Windows 9.x and Windows XP systems, Under the Startup tab you will be able to enable and disable the processes one at at time until you discover which one is causing the high processor usage.

Windows XP in particular starts plenty of services that most users don't require. To disable any of them, look under Start => Control Panel => Admin Tools => Services. Click Here! to view a long list of them.

Software problems and solutions

Click here! to visit an article on this site called Recovering Windows XP.

There are also many software issues and problems discussed on the two Tips pages on this site.

Typical DLL (Dynamic Link Library) device-driver problems

Click here! to read the solutions to some typical problems with DLL files used by Windows.

If you want a computer that can play the latest games, it must have a PCI or AGP graphics video accelerator card that is capable of running the latest DirectX and OpenGL software device drivers. You should also check the card's website for the latest software drivers for the device, because if you install a new version of DirectX or OpenGL, it might not be compatible with the video accelerator's driver, and as such would probably cause problems. Indeed, for this reason, it is always a good idea to download the latest versions of all of the drivers for the devices used by your computer - video card - sound card - cable or analogue modem - network card - IDE busmaster drivers for the hard disk drives - and the updates and patches issued by Microsoft for your operating system.

Obtain the latest version of DirectX here. -

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.asp

DirectX removal programs

DX Extractor (removes DirectX 9.x from all versions of Windows) -

http://www.geocities.com/clb92001/

DXBuster (removes some versions of DirectX) -

http://www.dxbuster.de/index_e.html

Click here! to go to more information on DirectX on this site. - Use your browser's Back button to return to this point on this page.

You should download the latest versions of the device drivers your system uses

Driver incompatibilities cause many problems. Update all of the device drivers - for the video card, sound card, and motherboard, etc. - by installing downloads from their manufacturer's sites, or third-party sites such as http://www.monitor-drivers.com/.

Click here! to go directly to the list of utilities (on the second of the four Links pages on this site) that can identify hardware such as video cards, the motherboard, etc. Click here! to go directly to driver download sites. Both third-party drivers' sites, and the motherboard chipset manufacturer's sites are provided.

If your video and sound cards support DirectX, make sure that your system has the latest version installed before you update the video and sound drivers. Windows 98/98SE installs version 6.x, Windows XP can only install up to version 9.x, Windows Vista currently uses version 10.x If you haven't updated the system to the latest version that it supports, it might be incompatible with the latest video and sound card drivers. Therefore, install it before you install the video/graphics card update. The latest version can be obtained directly from -

MS DirectX download - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.asp

DXBuster - a DirectX removal tool - http://www.dxbuster.de/index_e.html

You can test if your system supports DirectX by running its diagnostics program. Just enter dxdiag in the Start => Run box. If you are worried that your video card might not support DirectX 9.0, install it, because the installer will inform you if the video card doesn't support a particular version.

I have successfully upgraded form DirectX 8.1 to DirectX 9.0 on a system using an 8MB ATI Rage Pro Turbo video card.

Once you know the manufacturer of a particular device (motherboard, video/sound card, modem, etc.) you can use the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled) to find the manufacturer's site. The drivers are usually located under a site's Support menu item.

Fixing device-driver problems

Installing the latest drivers for a device can sometimes cause problems, or even render the device or the whole system unusable.

If this is the case, in a Windows 9.x system, uninstall the device in Safe mode (Safe Mode in Windows XP) by pressing the F8 key at startup to bring up the boot menu, and then choose it from the list. Open the Device Manager and remove the device, then allow Windows to reinstall the drivers, and, if necessary, install an earlier version.

Windows XP has a Roll Back Driver feature in the Device Manager that allows you to roll the system back to the state it was in before you installed a new driver file. You can also use its System Restore feature to roll the whole system back to a former state.

Windows XP/Vista Product Activation

The Windows Product Activation (WPA) policy for the Windows XP and Windows Vista (MS Office also requires activation) means having to obtain a Windows Product Activation (WPA) key from Microsoft for a particular Product ID number. After a predetermined number of hardware changes, the system requests a new activation key, which can be obtained online or over the telephone. If this is not provided, the software will refuse to function properly.

Click here! to go to information on this site on Windows Product Activation.

Computer security: Viruses, worms, spyware, adware, malware, and phishing scams

Visit the Security pages on this site for information on how to protect your computer(s) from viruses, worms, spyware, adware, malware, and phishing scams.

Dual-booting different versions of Windows

For your information, Microsoft has a Knowledge Base article that details how to configure multiple-boot with DOS, Windows 95 or 98, NT, 2000, and XP. - To read it, visit -

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q217210&GSSNB=1

Also read Multibooting with Windows XP at -

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gettingstarted/multiboot.asp

Adding Windows 2000/XP/Vista to an existing Windows 98 or Windows Me installation is extremely easy. Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista have excellent setup routines that are able to configure a multiple boot system - automatically.

But adding Windows 98 or Windows Me to an existing installation of Windows 2000 or Windows XP is far more difficult. (It is highly unlikely that anyone would want to add them to an installation of Windows Vista, but it shouldn't be any less difficult.) Indeed, installing the operating systems in this order is an art, so, unless you know how to do it this way, always add Windows 2000/XP to an existing Windows 98/Me installation. Windows 98/Me want to be the only operating system running on a computer. The installation routine looks for another operating system. If it finds one, which it will if Windows 2000/XP is installed, then it will refuse to install. You have to find a way to hide Windows 2000/XP so that Windows 98/Me cannot locate it. This can be done, but it is an involved process best avoided.

But if you simply have to add Windows 98/Me to a system already running Windows 2000/XP, visit this website for information on how to do it. - http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_9x.htm

And, if that one isn't adequate, I'm sure you could find several other guides by making use of the Google search box at the top of this page. Use a search phrase such as "How to add Windows 98 to a Windows XP system", etc.

Useful computer forums and some interesting software-information websites

Computer-related forums

There are hundreds, if not thouusands of computer-related Forums, many of which are conducted live in real time. Here are just a few. Use the Google search box at the top of this page to find others by using terms such as "Computer forums", "PC forums", "Mac Forums", etc.

http://help.lockergnome.com/

http://forums.sysopt.com/

http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/

http://www.techspot.com/

http://www.experts-exchange.com/

http://www.computershopper.co.uk/ - Look under Interactive

http://forums.webdeveloper.com/

If you want to find out about the technical details of how an operating system works, visit this article. -

How Operating Systems Work -

http://www.howstuffworks.com/operating-system.htm

Data is encrypted - changed by a mathematical program used by an encryption program - so that it cannot be read unless it is unencrypted by a program that has the special software keys that allow it to do so.

If you want to find out how data is encrypted on the sending computer, and then sent to and unencrypted on the receiving computer across an Internet connection, visit this article. -

How Encryption Works - http://www.howstuffworks.com/encryption.htm

Google searches

If you want to make your own searches of the web for software or information about software, you can make use of the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled).

PC Buyer Beware! Copyright © Eric Legge 2004-2008. All rights reserved.