Software Problems: Fixing Problems with Windows XP, Programs and Utilities - Page 3 of 4

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SOFTWARE PROBLEMS: WINDOWS XP, PROGRAMS, AND UTILITIES - Page 3

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1. - My Windows XP Professional PC reboots whenever I try to go into Standby

2. - Is there software that can unlock the region on a DVD drive or a region-free DVD drive?

3. - An update installation of Windows Installer failed, now Windows Update keeps trying to install it but it won't install

4. - How can I make the company logos for websites remain as the icons under Favorites in Internet Explorer?

5. - How can I upgrade from Windows Media Center 2004 to the MCE 2005 version?

6. - How can I limit my child's access to games on a computer running Windows XP?

7. - Compatibility Mode: FoxPro for DOS hogs memory and processor resources after Windows XP SP2 was installed

8. - How can I get a deleted Administrator account back in Windows XP?

9. - Why can't I schedule Norton AntiVirus in Windows XP?

10. - Windows XP system randomly reboots...

11. - "Low system resources" messages with Windows 95/98/Me systems

12. - The print spooler service stops randomly in Windows 2000/XP

13. - Problem: A recurring virus that hides in the system's System Volume Information folders in Windows XP

14. - Why didn't a restored back-up restore properly?

15. - Solving Windows Kernel32.dll (and other) error messages

16. - How to fix device driver problems

17. - How to use Windows XP's Files and Settings Transfer Wizard

18. - Chkdsk in Windows XP is "Unable to read security descriptors"

19. - A virus problem: "Program not found. Windows cannot find SirC32.exe. This program is needed for opening files of type 'Application'."

20. - Windows fails: Knoppix Linux on a bootable CD to the rescue

21. - Error message: Windows Me can't find 'C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe'. Windows has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL

22. - Can a foreign notebook computer with a foreign version of Windows XP work with English software?

23. - My Windows XP computer constantly freezes whenever I touch a key on the keyboard, reporting "Keyboard driver cannot start, Code 39"

My Windows XP Professional PC reboots whenever I try to go into Standby

Problem

My Dell Dimension 8400 desktop PC has suddenly developed a fault. It reboots when I click on the Standby icon that presents itself in a window with the Turn Off and Restart icons when I click Start => Turn Off Computer. I have no idea how to fix it or even if it can be fixed.

Answer

Standby and Resume problems are not as common as they used to be. They are most commonly caused by device driver or firmware issues and by incompatible hardware. Each device, internal or external, cannot work without a software device driver that is installed by Windows. Some devices, such as an external router, and internal devices such as an optical DVD drive have what is known as firmware, which is software that is installed into a chip in the device that makes it function. Both drivers and firmware can be updated if updates are available.

You should therefore visit Dell's site and download the latest drivers. To do that, visit http://www.dell.com/. If you live in the US, the dell.com site will come up, but it will relocate to the EU site if you live in the UK. Enter Dimension 8400 in the search box. You should find a drivers link that will go to a page listing all of the devices in the 8400 that have drivers. If you have a no-brand-name PC, you can go there to get an idea of the drivers to update and then use the free Belarc Advisor from http:www.belarc.com/ to identify the makes of the devices in your PC. You can then visit the manufacturers' sites (which you can find by making use of the Google search box at the top of this page, with its Web radio button enabled) for the drivers.

The following action might result in pinpointing which drivers to update. Click the Start button, right-click My Computer, click Properties in the menu that comes up, and click the Hardware tab. Open the Device Manager and click on the + beside Computer. There should be an entry for Automatic Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI). If it is not there or Automatic Power Management (APM) is, the correct drivers for the PC's motherboard probably have not been installed. You should be able to obtain them from the website of the motherboard's or its chipset's manufacturer. You should also make sure that the latest drivers for the PC's graphics card are installed, because they are a common cause of standby problems. You may have to install the latest version of DirectX from http://support.microsoft.com/ before you install the latest drivers.

If updating the drivers doesn't fix the problem, click the Start button, right-click My Computer, click Properties in the menu that comes up, click the Advanced tab and click the Startup and Recovery Settings button. If the box beside Automatically restart is ticked remove the tick with your mouse. Doing that will prevent Windows from restarting before you can see the error message that should come up whenever you click on the Standby icon. That error message should tell you the name of the source (file/module) of the problem. If you know the source, you can conduct a search for information on the problem on the web or on http://support.microsoft.com/. If you already know the source, you can make use of the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled).

The Event Viewer's log may be able to supply some diagnostic information. Enter eventvwr in the Start => Run box and look in System for a warning from TCP/IP that the network adapter has disconnected and reconnected.

If the problem still exists, try disconnecting all of the nonessential devices/peripherals (router, printers, external drives, etc.) one at a time to find out if it is the cause. Removing an incompatible device will fix the problem. You can then find out if that device has a driver update that might allow you to reconnect it without causing the problem.

Is there software that can unlock the region on a DVD drive or a region-free DVD drive?

Problem

I live in England and my work involves travelling to many countries around the world. I take a Sony Vaio VGN-S1VP notebook PC on my trips abroad. Because the DVD drive has become locked on Region 2, I can't watch a DVD movie bought in a country that isn't in Region 2. Sony told me that it was the company's policy to lock the DVD drive and it was not possible to make it region-free. The notebook's DVD writer is a Matshita UJ-812. Is software available that can unlock the DVD drive and make it region-free, or could I buy one that is region-free that I could install in the notebook?

Answer

Movies released in the USA usually arrive in Europe when the DVD is released in the USA, so the regional locking of DVD players and drives was brought in to prevent people watching the American DVD of a movie when only the movie is available in another region, such as Europe.

It is possible to change the region five times in Windows XP by entering devmgmt.msc in the Start => Run box to bring up the Device Manager. (There are several other way to enter the Device Manager). Click the + beside DVD/CD-ROM drives and double click on the drive that you want to set a region for. The setting is to be found under the DVD Region tab. You will see a warning in that window that says that you can change the region five times only. However, the DVD drive manufacturer can change it a limited number of times thereafter. After that, you're stuck on a particular region for good with that drive.

The idea behind regional locking is bad, if only because many movies released on DVD in the USA never make it to the UK or Europe. Thankfully, many home DVD players (not to be confused with computer DVD drives) are now region-free and can therefore play any DVDs.

With a computer's DVD drive, you can either choose to buy only imported (US) Region 1 DVDs wherever you are in the world, or make the DVD drive region-free.

The firmware of DVD drive itself, the DVD decoder software such as PowerDVD, or WinDVD (or, more rarely a hardware DVD decoder adapter, and Windows XP are involved in the region-locking of a DVD drive. All three of these must be set to the correct region before it is possible to play a region-encoded DVD for that region. Even if the DVD drive is itself region-free, Windows XP (as was explained above) requires a region to be set for the drive in the Device Manager before it will play a DVD.

A way of making a DVD drive region-free is to download and install a version of the drive's firmware that doesn't have region protection. However, if the drive manufacturer hasn't created region-free firmware for the drive, if you can find it for a particular drive, it will have been modified by a hacker, which makes using it a risky matter. You should search for reports on the web on any such firmware before you install it.

A driveinfo utility called Drive Region Info reports if a drive's hardware is region-locked and identifies the drive's model can be downloaded from:

http://www.remoteselector.com/driveinfo.htm.

Even if the DVD drive is region-free itself, you have to hack both the DVD player software and Windows XP to make the system region-free. You can visit a guide, slightly out of date, that provides the relevant information here: http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/articles/region_detect.html. It provides links to firmware patches and a list of utilities that can get around the region-change limit for many software DVD decoders. The best one is probably DVD Genie from http://www.inmatrix.com/, which only works if the DVD drive itself is region-free.

Alternatively, a more simple method involves a free utility called dvd43 that makes a DVD drive identify any DVD it plays as being region-free. The authors of the program appear to have gone into hiding, probably because of a fear of being prosecuted under America's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA). The website http://www.dvd43.com/ claims to have no connection to the software's authors, but links to several download locations all the same. A similar commercial program made by DVDidle.com is called DVD Region Free Lite, and it costs around $25/£15.

An update installation of Windows Installer failed, now Windows Update keeps trying to install it but it won't install

Problem

My PC's hard disk drive failed, so I installed a new one and then installed Windows XP SP2 on it. I had to install all of the missing updates, so I visited Windows Update. It seems that Windows Installer 3.1 was one of the updates, but somehow it failed to install properly. Now the PC thinks that the update is installed, but the update site thinks otherwise, because it keeps downloading and trying to install it. Each time the installation fails. Windows Update 3.1 doesn't show in Add or Remove Programs. Can it be removed manually so that Windows can install it properly?

Answer

There have been many cases reported of Windows Installer 3.1 failing to install.

It could be that the installer has installed properly, but that Windows Update has failed to recognise that it has. The Windows Update log files stored on the PC can become corrupted and cause the problem. However, it is more likely that something is wrong with Windows Installer.

To begin with, you should try to bypass Windows Update and download and install the latest Windows Installer program directly from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads where it is listed as Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable. It includes a standalone installer because if the Windows Installer is corrupt, how else would you be able to install an update that uses it to install?

If taking that action fails, you should test the PC's hard drive. It's best to make use of the free low-level diagnostic utility that is supplied from the website of the drive's manufacturer. You should be able to identify the make and model of the drive under Disk drives in the Device Manager. Click here! to go to information on these diagnostic utilities on this site. You can also make use of the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled) to locate its manufacturer's site. Alternatively, you can make use of MHDD from http://www.hddguru.com/.

Note that apparent drive errors can be caused by bad drive IDE/SATA ports and cables. RAM memory errors can also be the cause of installation issues, so you should also run memory diagnostic tests using a suitable program. Click here! to go to information on these diagnostic utilities on this site.

If the problem still remains, try investigating the error logs that are created by Windows Update. When you are online, click Start => All Programs, and Windows Update should be listed in the top left-hand column. A browser window opens. On the left under Options, you should see Review Your Update History. When you click on it, you should see a long list of updates. The updates that have failed have a red X beside them in the Status column. When you click on a red X, a new window opens that provides an error code, such as Error Code: 0x80080008.

You should then make use of the Google search box provided at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled) to conduct a web search for information using the Error Code and the name of the update that has failed in the search term.

Note that Microsoft provides free online support for Windows Update issues.

More detailed troubleshooting steps are provide in this MS Knowledge Base article: How to troubleshoot common Windows Update, Microsoft Update, and Windows Server Update Services installation issues - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906602.

Remember that if you have trouble with an update, the Windows Update site provides good help files. All you have to do (if you are online) is click on the link that is provided after an update fails, and it provides information on the procedure to follow.

How can I make the company logos for websites remain as the icons under Favorites in Internet Explorer?

Problem

When I add a link to a website by clicking Favorites => Add to Favorites in Internet Explorer, the site's logo is often used as the icon instead of the standard blue E icon. These logo icons remain beside the link to the site for some time before they disappear. A few of them can disappear, or they can all disappear. Is there any way to make them stay put, because I prefer them to the standard blue E icon?

Answer

When you add a site to the Favorites in Internet Explorer, when you access a site online, IE has saved its files in the Temporary Internet Files folder, and looks for a file called favicon.ico that contains the icon. Unfortunately, when you clear files in the folder manually or schedule their removal under Internet Options in the Control Panel, or run a cleaning program such as CCleaner, all of the favicon.ico files are removed. Favorites has no source for the icons, so they are replaced by the standard blue E icon.

Some browsers, such as Firefox, retain those icons.

To retain the icons in Favorites, you can save the icons to a folder you create called, say, Favicons, and then right-click on the site's link in Favorites, click Properties, and use the Change Icon button. You would enter the path to the icon in the Favicons folder.

The following two free utilities automate the process: PC Magazine - http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,9883,00.asp - and Faviconizer from http://www.codeproject.com/tools/faviconizer.asp. Registration with the site is required to obtain Faviconizer.

Those utilities can only handle links in the Favorites folder, but after they are used to update the Favorites, the icons can be copied and pasted anywhere else.

How can I upgrade from Windows Media Center 2004 to the MCE2005 version?

Question

Version 2005 of Windows Media Center (MCE2005) has been released. I have a Windows Media Center 2004 (MCE2004) computer. How do I upgrade? I would also like to know where I can buy a spare remote control, and which analog TV card to buy to replace the digital TV card that came with the computer.

Answer

For anyone who doesn't know, Windows Media Center is a special version of Windows that is used on computers that are used as home entertainment centres - for watching TV, playing DVD movies, etc. However, it's not advisable to buy that version of Windows on its own in the way that other versions of Windows can be purchased over the counter. You should buy a specific Windows Media Center computer that has it pre-loaded.

It's possible to buy legitimate OEM copies of Windows Media Centre 2005 from many websites. But, because it's an OEM version, the purchaser has to buy a non-peripheral item of hardware with it to qualify for an OEM licence (US: license). The hardware can be a motherboard, a processor, a disk drive, a video card, memory module, keyboard, mouse, or even a heatsink and fan cooling unit. Printers, scanners, etc., don't qualify.

But note well that the Windows Media Center is very choosy about the hardware that it will run on. For instance, a compatible graphics card and TV tuner card are required that use specific Windows Media Center device drivers. DVD decoding software is also required or you won't be able to record or play DVDs. Moreover, Microsoft has specifically stated that it doesn't support the practice of certain vendors that sell OEM versions of the Windows Media Center. In other words, because it doesn't want vendors to supply substandard components that provide a degraded experience, Microsoft has made it as difficult as possible to run Windows Media Center on non-compatible hardware.

Since you have a legitimate Windows Media Center 2004 computer, the vendor that sold it to you should be able to provide you with the upgrade.

Most of the high-end computer retailers and web vendors can provide the remote control that is used with a Windows Media Center computer. The new 2005 version of the Windows Media Center remote control is currently (February 2005) priced at around £25 in the UK, including VAT. To locate web vendors, try entering "windows media center" + "remote control" + uk - as is - in the Google search box at the top of this page. Note the use the US spelling of centre. The English English spelling is not used.

To make sure that it works with Windows Media Center, you should choose a brand-name analog TV card. The Hauppauge PVR 150 (has only one tuner) and the more expensive PVR 500 (has a dual-tuner on a single PCI card that allows watching and recording, or recording and recording on two channels at the same time) are specifically designed for use with Windows Media Center edition of Windows.

Enter hauppauge + "pvr 150", etc., in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled) to locate, reviews, more information, and possible suppliers.

How can I limit my child's access to games on a computer running Windows XP?

Question

My son spends time playing games when he should be doing his homework on his computer that runs Windows XP Home edition. I would therefore like to know if it's possible to prevent him from playing games while allowing him access to MS Office, which he uses to do his homework?

Answer

Restricting access in the way that you envisage can be achieved by setting up a limited user account for your son, which is also known as a Restricted account. It's not a perfect solution, but it's the best one you can achieve. You would then change the passwords on all of the other user accounts, including the Administrator account, which is a hidden account that can only be accessed from Safe Mode.

The password you entered when Windows XP was installed gives you Administrator rights to the whole system. After the installation is complete you can create limited user accounts for all of the people that you want to allow to use the system, including yourself. You should create a user account for yourself even though you have control of the key Administrator account.

User accounts are created under Start => Control Panel => User Accounts.

If you want more information on the Administrator and user accounts, look up the terms under Help & Support => Index.

To enter Safe Mode from within Windows XP, click Start, click Shut Down, and then, in the drop-down list, click Shut down. In the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click Restart, and then click OK. When you see the message "Please select the operating system to start", press the F8 key. Use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode on the list of options, and then press the Enter key. To enter Safe Mode at start-up, keep pressing the the F8 key before Windows begins loading to bring up the boot menu.

Your son will only be able to run the programs that you have pre-installed for him, because a limited user can't install new programs. A limited user has access to programs installed for All Users, which have shortcuts to them stored under the All Users settings, which themselves can be seen in Windows Explorer from an account that has Administrative privileges. You would copy the shortcuts to the user folders belonging to the people that you want to have access to them and then remove them from All Users.

If you want to allow your son to access the Internet but want to prevent him from playing games online, you would have to set site restrictions in Internet Explorer by opening Internet Options in the Control Panel and adding the sites to Restricted sites under the Security tab - before you limit his account. Doing that would prevent him from changing the settings. Of course, you would have to know what the online game sites' web addresses are.

Windows XP Professional edition has an additional tool called the Policy Editor that allows much more detailed access control, but it isn't available in the Home edition.

Microsoft Office should behave normally when run from a limited user account, but note that many programs require greater access than is provided in this restricted mode. For instance, the LiveUpdate feature of Norton AntiVirus would attempt to obtain an update but would fail to complete the process because it wouldn't be allowed to install the update. Moreover, many badly programmed programs would fail if they attempt to create temporary files in their own program folder instead of to a folder created in the user's Documents and Settings folder.

Compatibility Mode: FoxPro for DOS hogs memory and processor resources after Windows XP SP2 was installed

Problem

I use a version of FoxPro for MS DOS. It ran just fine on Windows XP Home edition, and also when I upgraded to Windows XP Professional. But since I installed the SP2 update, two files that enable the DOS Virtual Machine, which appears to allow the DOS program to run, use up to about 99% of the power of the processor. All multitasking ceases because there isn't enough processing power available. Those two files are hogging most of the available RAM memory. Should I install more memory? The computer has 256MB. Or is there a way to limited the two files from using up most of the processor's power?

Answer

I haven't ever used FoxPro for DOS, but here is some information that can help in the control of a resource-hungry application - the older ones in particular:

Use Windows Explorer to locate the program's folder. Use your mouse's right button to click on the software's main .exe file - the file that starts the program running - and select Properties. You can tell that it's the right file because if you left-click on it the program itself will start running.

A window containing several tabs is presented. Open the tabs one at at time and set the appropriate options. You can always change them back to the original options if the new one don't work, so make a note of what they are before you change them.

For example, click the Memory (RAM) tab and set the memory to the amount that FoxPro recommends for the version that you're using. If you don't know what the amount is, try using Google to find out. Note that allowing an older application much more or much less memory than the recommended amounts can cause problems.

Under the Compatibility tab, choose the mode that best fits the software (FoxPro). In the case of old MS DOS software, the Windows 95 mode looks like the best option. Under Misc, try setting the Idle Sensitivity to High. Look the others options up in the Windows XP Help & Support to find out how to set them.

There is another method you can try if doing the above fails. Bring up the Task Manager (Taskmgr), either directly or by pressing the Ctrl-Alt-Del key combination, and click the Processes tab. Find the process you want to control. DOS applications may only show up via their DOS Virtual Machine process called NTVDM. Right-click on the process, and then use the set priority menu to give that process more or less processor time. As for the amount of RAM available, 256MB isn't a large amount nowadays. It's very doubtful that the amount of RAM is the direct cause of the problem, but any computer running a modern operating system - Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Linux - should benefit from having more than 256MB of RAM.

How can I get a deleted Administrator account back in Windows XP?

Problem

I have Norton AntiVirus 2004 on one of the computers on my home network that consists of a desktop PC and a laptop. The affected computer had one Administrator account and several ordinary User accounts. Unfortunately, my daughter deleted my wife's account. She was the Administrator, so without an Administrator account I am not able to uninstall Norton AntiVirus, which keeps saying that I have no supervisor access. I am not able to access most websites because Norton AntiVirus is blocking me from all except secure hpps:// sites. I therefore have to uninstall it, but how? Any help would be appreciated.

Answer

You cannot delete the built-in Administrator account.

In Windows XP Home Edition, start the computer up in Safe Mode. You do that by repeatedly pressing the F8 key as the computer is starting up (after the memory count and before Windows starts to load). A screen will present itself containing several menu items, the first of which is Safe Mode. If it isn't the top item, use the up/down arrow keys to select the menu items, because the mouse doesn't work until its drivers have been installed. Select Safe Mode and press the Enter key. Before the system goes into Safe Mode, a screen presents itself that has all of the user accounts installed, one of which is the Administrator account that is hidden from view in normal Windows mode - it can only be accessed from Safe Mode. The default password is a blank. Log into this account and go to the User Accounts applet in the Control Panel. You will now have access to your wife's account, and you should be able to fix it.

In Windows XP Professional Edition, you don't need to go into Safe Mode. At the Welcome screen, press the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination twice to bring up the classic Windows logon box. Type in Administrator and whatever password you assigned when you set up Windows.

Why can't I schedule Norton AntiVirus with Windows XP?

Norton AntiVirus will sometimes not be able to obtain the latest virus definitions automatically from Symantec's site, and so users have to click the Live Update button to update the program.

The cause of this has turned out to be a problem with Windows XP.

To check if this is the case with you, visit the Control Panel => Performance And Maintenance => Scheduled Tasks. There should be a task for Symantec Netdetect.

This task checks to see if the computer is connected to the Internet every four minutes, and, if it is, visits the Symantec Live Update site for the latest updates. If the Status for this task is described as Could not start, then you have the problem.

Most of the Windows XP Home systems I've encountered are set up to use user accounts without having to supply a 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 the scheduled task from running, and 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.

A Windows XP system randomly reboots...

Problem

System: Dell Pentium 4 1.8 GHz, 256MB RAM, Windows XP. I got this PC for Xmas 2002 and the first time I fired it up it would make it to the Windows XP startup screen then it would reboot. I got it to boot after a few tries and got it up and running. It kept on doing it so I called Dell and we went through some troubleshooting and we narrowed it down to the CD-ROM drive. We set it to boot directly from the CD-ROM drive and that is when it would reset itself on booting. They sent me a new drive, installed it, ran fine while booting from then on. My problem now is it sometimes randomly reboots and usually if I leave it on overnight I'll wake up to the Windows login screen, which tells me it rebooted. The most I ever made it [being trouble-free] was about 1.5 days. I called Dell today and the guy told me to open msconfig [Start => Run - enter msconfig] and remove a few things from Startup and call him back if it still does it. This sucks because it is hard to reproduce the random reboot to try to diagnose what is causing it. Anyone have any thoughts or pointers for me? - Thanks in advance.

Response

I can't believe that they pay those Dell bozos. [Open] Control Panel => System => Advanced => Startup and Recovery. Uncheck Automatically restart and set memory dump to None. Hopefully, you'll get a blue-screen error with a message next time.

"Low system resources" messages with Windows 95/98/Me systems

If your Windows 95, Windows 98, 98 SE, or Windows Me system (collectively called Windows 9x) produces a message saying that because the system resources are too low or used up you should close applications or shut down and reboot, the "system resources" refer to three reserved memory blocks of 64KB each within the Conventional Memory, which is the first 1024KB of RAM reserved for use by MS DOS and to keep track of the state of the programs being used.

Windows 98 and Me increased those reserved memory blocks, but not by much. They are fixed in size no matter how much RAM is installed in your system. Consequently, with many programs open in any of the Windows 9.x versions, the resources run out when all of the very limited memory in those reserved areas is in use. Moreover, if a program is badly written and uses some of this system resource memory but then fails to relinquish it when it is closed down, these memory blocks can be fully employed with only a very few programs running.

The users who don't know about any of this mistakenly think that "low system resources" refer to a low amount of system RAM. The problem usually baffles them if they know that the system has plenty of RAM installed. If the system doesn't have much RAM, many users will mistakenly buy and install more.

You have to avoid creating the conditions that result in this condition, because there is no way to increase the size of the system resources.

Windows 2000 and Windows XP have a different system architecture that is not built on MS DOS, as is the case with Windows 9x systems. With Windows 2000 and XP, the available amount of RAM and the virtual memory swap file, located on the hard disk drive, should be the only resources that limit the number of programs being run at any particular time.

Here are two pages that deal with system resources in Windows 9x systems. -

System Resources FAQ - http://www.aumha.org/a/resource.htm

System Resource Issues - http://content.techweb.com/winmag/columns/explorer/2000/14.htm

The print spooler service stops randomly in Windows 2000/XP

Problem

The print spooler service seems to stop randomly on its own. When it does this, no printers are available. Going into Services and restarting it works, but what is causing it to stop, and how can this be corrected?

Answer

Some people have been experiencing a similar problem on some servers. The results of researching the problem suggest that if you're running any sort of fax printer, this could cause this cause.

In Windows XP, follow this clicking path: Control Panel => Administrative Services => Services.

The suggested way to get around the problem is to go to Properties of the print spooler service, click the Recovery tab, and select Computer's Response To Service Fail, change First Failure to Restart Service. This won't prevent the service from stopping, but it will automatically restart the print spooler service if it stops.

With a server, check the event viewer on the server to see if there may be some information on why the spooler service stops. If not, disconnect any dot matrix printers - the oddball of printers - to find out if doing that solves the problem.

Problem: A recurring virus that hides in the system's System Volume Information folders in Windows XP

Problem

You are using Trend's PC-cillin 2000 virus scanner and Windows XP Professional. The scanner keeps telling you that your system is infected with a worm called TROJ_DLUCA.F. You have followed the instructions on Trend's site to remove the virus, but it keeps returning. According to the scanner the infection is in System Volume Information. You have tried to delete that folder, but Windows XP won't allow it because it is vital to its operations. You want to know how to get rid of the infection once and for all, and if you should upgrade PC-cillin to the 2003 edition.

Answer

Windows XP keeps its System Restore Point information and data folders/files in the folder called System Volume Information.

By following the instructions on Trend's site, you've removed the active infection of the virus. As you should know, you can recover Windows XP by running its System Restore facility if it was enabled to create restore points, which contain the information and files necessary to restore Windows to the state it was in on the date of the creation of the restore point. The virus/worm files in the folder were copied there when Windows created a restore point before they were removed, so they're not ever going to re-infect the computer unless you perform a System Restore that uses that infected restore point.

Fortunately, the virus scanner is only warning you of the infected files that are in the locked System Restore folders.

The only solution is to disable System Restore, because then Windows XP won't protect the virus/worm files from being deleted.

Unfortunately, in doing this, you will lose access to all of the available restore points. This, in turn can make it more difficult to replace files that have been corrupted by the virus/worm. But, thankfully, no files have to be replaced in this case.

System Restore in Windows XP Pro is disabled by logging on as the Administrator. You then right-click My Computer and click Properties. Open the System Restore tab and disable the facility. But be sure to re-enable it after you have removed the virus/worm or you won't have any new restore points created from which the system can be restored.

PC-cillin 2000 was created before Windows XP was released, so it would be advisable to upgrade to the 2003 version. But note that the new version won't be any more able to remove infected files from the System Volume Information folder that is protected by Windows XP when System Restore is enabled.

Why didn't a restored backup restore properly?

Questions

When your hard disk drive suffered from a serious non-mechanical failure, you were able to restore a back-up set, but soon discovered that some folders/files of the system weren't restored, such as the Address Book in Outlook Express , the Favorites for Internet Explorer (four lots of Favorites, because each member of your family has his or her own user logon), some saved games, and many images. You thought that you had archived the images, but suspect that these were overwritten when you performed an incremental back-up that was given the same filename in order to save time. You would like to know if any of these missing folders/files can be recovered from the hard disk drive, or from the CD-RW disk that contains the back-up.

Answers

In Windows 9.x systems, the Address Book and Outlook Express e-mail are stored in a hidden folder that is either under Windows\Application Data\Identities\Outlook Express if you don't use any user profiles, or under Windows\Profiles\User Name\Application Data\etc. if you do. [User profiles are created so that any one of several users can customise and use the system as if he or she were its only user.] Some back-up programs may miss backing up hidden folders/files, but it's more likely that you can't find the hidden files after the back-up was restored. It's also a possibility that you created user profiles after restoring the back-up. In which case, the restored data is being overwritten.

A full system back-up should restore everything exactly as it was.

The situation is a lot easier under Windows 2000 and Windows XP, because user profiles are stored under Documents And Settings\User Name.

However, if you use the NTFS file system (that is the native one for Windows 2000/XP), it is possible to set the directory settings so that users can't see the files of other users. If this is the case, you have to make sure that the back-up program is seeing all of the files, not just the user files of the current user.

Note that there is another security-related problem with using NTFS. When Windows 2000/XP is reinstalled over itself (not restored after a hard-drive format, or from a back-up), and usernames are re-created, the new usernames are associated with a different security identifier. The security identifier is a randomly-generated code that is unique to each installation of Windows 2000/XP, so even if the new usernames are identical to the usernames on the previous instance of Windows, it will see them as different users, and will create slightly different, named folders for each profile.

This situation can result in user files being present on an NTFS system that are invisible to all of the users except the Administrator. On a Windows XP Home system, the Administrator account is not visible on the Welcome screen unless you restart in Safe Mode, which is done by pressing the F8 key at start-up.

In Windows XP Professional, starting up in Safe Mode isn't necessary in order to access the Administrator account - pressing the Alt+Ctrl+Del keys twice allows you to log in as the Administrator. Once you've logged in as the Administrator, you should be able to access all of the files on the computer, so you can then move files from the old, now hidden, user profiles to the new ones.

Recovering data can be an easy process, or it might require expensive expert help.

Software such as Ontrack's Easy Recovery can recover data if there is no physical damage to the hard drive. Alternatively, a silent hard drive can indicate that it has a damaged printed circuit board (PCB). Replacing the PCB with a similar one can revive the hard drive and so make it possible to access the data again. However, often internal damage to the hard drive makes it impossible for the operating system to see the drive, and the only way to recover the data is by paying for an expensive repair job in a dust-free laboratory, which the drive's manufacturer could perform.

You should note that it's also possible to perform data-recovery on CD -R/-RW and DVD -R/-RW and +R/+RW drives.

For one reason, because usually when writing to a CD/DVD + or - RW disks, when adding a new file which has the same name as the old file, the new file will be written to a different area of the disk, and a new directory will be created. On an RW (rewritable) disk, reclaimed data areas will be marked as being available for reuse but won't usually be overwritten immediately, hence allowing the recovery of the previous data that was stored there by using special software recovery tools.

Moreover, most backup programs store a catalog of the files in each back-up on the hard drive so that they can be accessed quickly. This very handy catalog is also added to the end of any backup CD/DVD disk, which makes it possible to rebuild the catalog with special software.

Standard hard drive recovery tools won't work with a CD/DVD. But specialist programs such as CD/DVD Diagnostic, which costs £30/$50 from http://www.arrowkey.com, can recover data from them. A free evaluation program is available for downloading, which tells you which type of files it can recover.

As for the difference between incremental and differential back-ups, you should know that the operating system (usually Windows) flags files that are changed after a full back-up has been created, and removes them after the next full back-up is performed.

Incremental and differential back-ups only back-up the files that have this archive flag set.

An incremental back-up clears the archive flag as it copies files so that it only backs up the files that have changed since the last incremental or full back-up was performed. If a file is changed the flag will be put back and it will be included in the next incremental backup. Therefore, to restore the system requires restoring the last full system backup and all of the incremental back-ups. - Not such a safe procedure if an incremental back-up goes wrong, or is somehow damaged, or is lost.

You should therefore not have overwritten an incremental backup. It looks as if you backed up the files using this method thinking that they were archived, then you deleted the files on the hard drive, and later performed another incremental back-up that wrote over the original incremental back-up. In short, your misunderstanding of what the different kinds of back-up do has lost you those images.

A differential back-up leaves the flags as the operating system has set them, so it backs up all of the files that have changed since the last full back-up was performed. A full restoration of the system (or the files/folders that were backed up) therefore only requires the last full back-up plus the last differential backup. If you are using a tape drive, then you can overwite a whole differential back-up, which, of course you can't do when performing incremental back-ups to tape, because each one is required to perform a complete restoration.

How to fix 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.

Problem

You've tried several times to replace an old PCI network adapter (NIC) with a new one. When you try to install the device drivers, an error message is presented that says: "Windows cannot find the specified file!" You have spent several hours trying to point Windows XP to the driver files to no avail. You've checked the MS Knowledge Base, but can't find a solution. You've also deleted all the references to the original NIC in the Windows Registry.

Answer

I'm assuming that you have access to the driver disk that came with the new NIC. Here are a few options you can try. Don't depend on Windows XP to locate and install the drivers for you, install them manually. Use the Device Manager and select the appropriate device under Network adapters. Then choose the Install from specific location option to install the drivers. Use the Browse.. facility to find and select the location of the driver's CD, floppy disk, executable file, etc. Browse all the way to the folder that the driver file(s) are located in. You could also check the manufacturer's site to find out if there are any known issues posted, or even an updated driver file.

How to use Windows XP's Files and Settings Transfer Wizard

Problem

You have purchased a new motherboard, hard disk drive, and Windows XP Home edition. You want to install Windows XP on the new hard disk drive, install the old hard disk drive (with Windows 98 SE on it) as a slave, and transfer the files and settings from the old drive to the one with XP on it.

Answer

The Files and Settings Transfer wizard that comes with Windows XP can work via almost any data-transfer medium, including a hard disk drive, or a network, or a direct cable connection, or via CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW disks.

In the case of network or direct cable connection, the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard on the computer running Windows XP will take you step-by-step through the process of getting connected to the old computer. You have some choice in what is and is not transferred. The wizard collects the files from the old computer, transfers them via the connection, and sets them up on the new computer.

In the case of disk-drive transfers via recorded CD/DVD disks, a hard disk drive, etc., the process is broken down into individual steps. You run a version of the wizard on the old computer, which can be run from the Windows XP setup CD without installing XP. The wizard collects the files and stores them wherever you specify. You can then bring that set of files to the new computer on the medium of your choice. You then run the wizard on the new computer, and point it at the files you previously gathered from the old computer. It then extracts the files and installs them on the new computer.

The wizard is very good at guiding you through the steps involved. It can transfer files and settings from an old computer running any version of Windows (from Windows 95 up) to a computer running Windows XP, via virtually any available medium, including a second hard disk drive.

How to transfer files and settings from a Windows 95, 98, Me, or 2000 system to a new computer running Windows XP

There are two methods that can be used to transfer the settings and/or files from a computer running Windows 95, 98, Me, or 2000 to a new one running Windows XP. The first method involves the use of the Windows XP CD. The second method is used if the new computer didn't come with a Windows CD.

Method 1 - Insert the Windows XP CD in the old computer's CD-ROM drive. It should start automatically, but if it doesn't click the CD-ROM icon in My Computer. In the opening window, select Perform Additional Tasks. In the next window, click Transfer Files and Settings, which starts the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

Method 2 - You can create a Wizard Disk if you don't have a Windows XP CD. In Windows on the new computer, click Start => Programs => Accessories => System Tools, and select Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. Click Next, and select New Computer in the next window. In the window that comes up, opt to create a Wizard Disk. You can use a floppy disk, but something with more space such as a zip disk or a USB thumb drive / memory stick / Flash Drive / Mini Vault (a small device that plugs into a USB port and allows you to save about 48 to 64MB of files to it) is recommended. When the files have been transferred to the disk or USB device, a screen will appear containing instructions on how to run it on your old computer.

You have three options for transferring the files - by connecting the two computers with a serial cable, by using removable media such as floppy/zip disks, etc., or through a network. - See the Networking page on this site for information on how to use a special, inexpensive USB cable to network two computers.

Visit Windows XP: How to Use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard page on this site for more comprehensive information on the topic.

If you require more information, visit Files and Settings Transfer Wizard -

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/columns/crawford/november12.asp.

If you need still more information, conduct a web search for the term by using the Google search box at the top of this page with the Web radio button selected.

Chkdsk in Windows XP is "Unable to read security descriptors"

The Chkdsk HDD utility that is part of Windows XP can be used with any of the latest large HDDs. Click here! to go directly to information on it in the Recovering Windows XP page on this site. Use your browser's Back button to return here.

Problem

When Windows XP boots, it runs the Chkdsk hard-drive utility automatically. Chkdsk stops working, and an error message saying: "Unable to read security descriptors" come up. Windows XP can boot past this error message, but another error message comes up that contains Windows\system32\Nvcpl.dll. You have scanned the system with Norton Antivirus, and Trend's free online virus scanner, but both found nothing.

Answer

A Google search found that Nvcpl.dll is part of your nVidia video card's drivers. (To find out what happens, you can try using the file name in the Google search box at the top of this page.)

Downloading the latest driver file from http://www.nvidia.com removing the old drivers by using Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel, installing the standard Windows VGA driver by using the Update Driver option for the named video card under Display adapters in the Device Manager, and then installing the latest nVidia file for the video card, might remedy the situation, but, unfortunately the problem is probably the result of a corruption of the setup on the hard disk drive.

There is probably something seriously amiss with the New Technology File System (NTFS) being used by the hard disk drive. If Chkdsk - the equivalent of the ScanDisk utility in Windows 9.x systems - can't fix it, then I don't know of a tool that can fix it - safely.

Usually the only solution is to reformat the hard disk drive and reinstall Windows. Unfortunately, there may be physical damage to the drive, such as bad sectors.

A security descriptor is an entry in the NTFS that describes the owner of a file or folder, and the permissions (set in Windows) that are associated with it. Damage to these descriptors would make all of the files, or part of them, inaccessible on the hard disk drive.

If this is the case and you want to save the inaccessible data, the best option would be to read the files with software that can ignore the security features in Windows XP.

This can be done by using a version of Linux that can be booted from its CD. Knoppix Linux comes on a single bootable CD. You can use this version of Linux from the CD without ever installing it on the hard drive. Unless yours is a very new system that it doesn't have the device drivers for, it should install the device drivers for the motherboard, video card, sound card, USB devices, and the hard drive from the CD.

There are many download pages for Knoppix Linux, including its home page. I haven't provided it because it keeps changing. To find them, enter knoppix in the Google search box provided at the top of this page (with the Web radio button selected).

Windows XP a Goner? First Aid for your Windows PC -

Deals with the Windows XP Recovery Console and using a bootable Knoppix Linux CD to recover Windows XP.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/windows-xp-a-goner,review-1174.html

Boot disks of the above-mentioned kind can use the NTFS file system, and therefore allow you to access the folders and files in Windows XP. If there aren't too many, a handy way to save files would be to save them to a USB flash drive (memory stick), or, if there are too many files to make use of that method, if you have a separate CD-writer, use Linux to burn them to recordable CDs. You could also install another hard disk drive and copy the files to it.

Norton's Ghost 2003 has an option that works with some damaged drives. It is a DOS-based program that can run from a floppy disk. You would use it to copy the files from an NTFS partition to another hard disk drive. But beware, because it may copy the corrupted part of the NTFS (file system) that is preventing access to the data in the first place.

If the problem with the hard disk drive was caused by physical damage, having recovered any data, you would have to trash it. But if the problem was caused by a corrupt NTFS, you would be able to keep the drive in use after the drive has been reformatted, and Windows XP has been reinstalled from its CD, not from a system backup, because it may also have copied the corrupt part of the NTFS.

A virus problem: "Program not found. Windows cannot find SirC32.exe. This program is needed for opening files of type 'Application'"

Problem

Your virus scanner, running on Windows 98 SE, discovered and disabled the I-worm/Sircam virus. But now you're greeted with the message "Program not found. Windows cannot find SirC32.exe. This program is needed for opening files of type 'Application'". You also can't open or gain access to programs such as MS Works and Outlook Express, but, for some unknown reason, you have no problem using Internet Explorer and your Hotmail account.

Answer

The virus-signature files that detect the presence of a virus such as Sircam should but don't usually warn you that it needs to be removed with a removal tool that will get rid of any folder/directory and Windows Registry entries.

The default action that Windows takes when running an .exe file (or any other type of file) is not hard-coded into Windows. The method is recorded in the Registry as part of a long list of file associations, so that when you click on a type of file, such as a .doc file, Windows opens it with MS Word, or Wordpad, depending on how the file association has been set under Start => Settings => Folder Options... => File Types in Windows 98. A .PDF file will be opened by the Adobe Acrobat reader, etc.

The Sircam virus will have changed the Registry in such a way that afterwards Windows will require SirC32.exe - the virus file - to open every .exe file (a program's executable file). In this way, the virus will run every time you open any program, because all Windows programs are either .exe or .com files.

You can't just delete the virus and expect everything to function normally thereafter. You have to change the Registry back to the way it was before the virus changed it. This is made more difficult because the Registry Editor's file is an .exe file called Regedit.exe.

If you can access the web, visit an antivirus program's site and download a Sircam removal tool. Here is the removal-tool download page of the Symantec site (the owner of Norton software): http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html.

These removal tools should be .com files, which Windows runs in the same way as .exe files. They should restore the Registry so that Windows file associations work again - even if they don't detect the Sircam virus, which your scanner has removed.

You'll have to use another computer to download the removal tool if you can't access the web. Copy it to a floppy disk, and then run it on the infected computer.

There is also a manual way to restore the Windows 98 Registry. Enter the word command in the Start => Run box to bring up a DOS window. Enter the following commands:

cd \Windows [changes the directory to C:\Windows> instead of C:\Windows\Desktop>]

ren regedit.exe regedit.com [renames the regedit.exe file to regedit.com]

regedit [runs the Registry Editor]

Now that the Registry Editor is a .com file, it can be run without running the SirC32.exe virus file that has taken over.

When the Registry Editor is open, navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT => Exefile => Shell => Open => Command. Change the entry that reads: C:\recycled\sirc32.exe "%1"%* to just "%1"%*, including the quote marks.

Note that a command prompt can't be used in Windows XP to rename the Regedit.exe file. Instead, restart and press the F8 key to bring up the boot menu, choose the option Safe Mode with Command Prompt, and then enter the command regedit.

Windows fails: Knoppix Linux on a bootable CD to the rescue

Knoppix Linux - currently on version 3.3 - boots from a CD and installs itself in RAM. You can install more RAM, or install it on a hard disk drive if you want it to operate much faster than from a slow CD drive. The devices are detected and the drivers installed from the CD. An existing installation of Windows is unaffected because it isn't being run. The Knoppix CD takes over the system from the start as if Windows doesn't exist.

The computer's BIOS has to be set to boot first from the CD drive. Then just place the CD in the drive and boot the system. The boot screen will come up. Just press enter to boot into Knoppix.

If you have plenty of RAM (more than 512MB), you can type in the command knoppix toram. This copies all of the contents of the CD into RAM, which takes several minutes, but the speed of execution will be increased dramatically. Normally, when an application is opened in Knoppix, the application is uncompressed and then loaded into RAM. A process that takes time and may give users an impression that Knoppix is slow. If the knoppix toram command is used, then Knoppix will run much faster, because the application is uncompressed directly into RAM.

It's possible to install Knoppix to a hard disk drive. You should be able to find the instructions on how to do it here: http://www.knoppix.org/.

Knoppix is known for its wonderful hardware detection capabilities. USB device detection might be problematic, depending on which version of is being used. For example, you might not be able to hotplug USB devices (plug them in while the computer is running and have Knoppix load the device drivers), but USB should work if you have the USB devices plugged in before the system boots.

If Windows won't boot under any circumstances and you have important work on the computer, what can you do? - A situation such as this one is where the Knoppix CD becomes really useful because it contains an excellent range of imaging and recovery tools.

Since Knoppix allows you to read files on the hard drive's partitions, you can always copy the files to another computer on a network via Samba. Of course, you can also install a second hard drive and copy the files to it. This would be the ideal method for the transfer of very large files.

Another very useful way of recovering files is to use kb3 (an open-source CD burning program) to burn the files to a CD. This eliminates the need to add another hard drive or use a network.

You can use its graphical interface to create, delete, and resize partitions with QTParted, a free application that functions just like Partition Magic. Knoppix also has a partition imaging program called Partition Image, which can be used instead of Norton's Ghost. Partition Image has saved many laptop users, because, unless you have specifically used it to create a bootable CD to which you have burned an image, to restore it, Ghost needs to boot from a floppy disk drive, which is something that most laptops no longer have. But with an undamaged Knoppix CD, you're can be sure that if the computer has a CD-ROM drive, you'll be able to recover the system from any software or virus problem.

You can download it for free from http://www.knoppix.org/ or buy the CD for between $3 and $5 from many Internet vendors that are linked to from the above Home page.

Knowing Knoppix - 134 pages - includes information on how to use Knoppix for the disaster-recovery of a Windows system. -

http://www.pjls16812.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/knowing-knoppix/index.html

Windows XP a Goner? First Aid for your Windows PC -

Deals with the Windows XP Recovery Console and using a bootable Knoppix Linux CD to recover Windows XP.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/windows-xp-a-goner,review-1174.html

Error message: Windows Me can't find 'C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe'. Windows has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL

Problem

A computer I've just bought from a friend runs Windows Me (Millennium Edition). When I attempt to make any kind of configuration change, the following error message appears: Windows cannot find 'C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe'. Windows has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL. When I tried to install my broadband connection this happened every time. I couldn't even get into Control Panel => Network, because an error message saying AutoIt Error (Line2) kept coming up. Unfortunately, the System Restore feature also doesn't work.

Answer

There are many viruses and Trojans that are given the same names as two critical Windows files called Rundll.exe and Rundll32.exe that are required to load Dynamic Link Library (DLL) files. The programmers of these viruses/Trojans do this to confuse users by placing files with the same names in folders other than in the Windows folder, where they should be in Windows 95/98/Me. (In Windows XP, those two files are in the Windows\System32 folder). Some of the nastier viruses/Trojans, such as the many variants that go under the name of CoolWebSearch (CWS), replace the genuine Windows Rundll.exe and Rundll32.exe files with their own versions that have the same names.

The previous owner of the computer may have removed the files, having been told by a virus scanner that they are viruses, or one of the large numbers of variants of the CWS virus might have either replaced or removed them. To find out if that is the case, use Start => Find to search for them. Perhaps you have a friend with a computer that runs Windows Me who can provide you with copies of the files that you can copy into the Windows folder. If not, register with a computer forum such as the one at http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/forums.html and post a request for someone to send you copies of the versions of those files used in Windows Me.

AutoIT is mentioned in the second error message. It is a program that is used to run some network setup tasks. It should be listed in Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. If so, it can be removed, and you might be able to get into Network.

Also, make sure that you can't run System Restore by entering msconfig in the Start => Run box. At the bottom of the General tab of the window that comes up you should see a button called Launch System Restore.

If none of those actions fix the problem, the computer is probably badly infected by viruses and spyware and reinstalling a fresh copy of Windows is probably the only solution.

If you don't have a Windows CD with the product key on it, or it isn't on a sticker on the case of the computer, enter regedit in the Start => Run box, and click the + sign beside Hkey_Local_Machine. Open Software => Microsoft => Windows => Current Version => ProductKey. Make a note of the number that appears in the left-hand window for that key, because you'll need to enter it during the setup process.

If you have the Windows Me CD, you can start the computer in MS DOS mode by pressing the F8 key until the boot menu appears, choose the Command Prompt option and format the C: drive by entering the format c: /s command. After the C: drive has been formatted, you can place the Windows CD in the CD-ROM drive, and then change to its drive letter, which is probably D: by entering cd d: at the prompt. To run the Windows setup program just enter setup or setup.exe. Alternatively, you can boot from the Windows CD if you have the CD-ROM drive set as the first boot drive in the BIOS setup program.

If you don't have a Windows CD, use Windows Explorer mode and look for the Windows files stored in files with the .cab extension in one of these locations: C:\Windows\Options\Cabs - C:\Windows\Options\Install - C:\Windows\Options\Win9X.

To run Windows setup, look for the setup.exe file in the folder containing the .cab files, and just click on it to make it run. But before you do that make sure that you have the product key at hand.

16. - Can a foreign notebook computer with a foreign version of Windows XP work with English software?

Question

My daughter is living in France with her husband. She doesn't speak much French, but her French husband speaks English fluently. They want to buy a notebook computer, but don't know if a French notebook running the French version of Windows XP will work with English software. Can a Windows computer be set up so that it works in English for my daughter and in French for her husband?

Answer

French keyboards use the same standard QWERTY layout as UK keyboards. You can change a UK keyboard's layout so that it uses the French layout and regional settings, and vice versa, under Regional and Language Options in the Control Panel in Windows XP, but you have to find out which keys are changed. For example, changing a UK keyboard to a French keyboard will make the colon and @ keys into accent keys, etc. Some notebooks provide replacement keys for different languages. If so, you would change the keyboard in Windows and then change the keys to reflect the change. If you don't have replacement keys, you'll just have to remember where the changes are or put stickers on the keys.

However, you can't change the language that Windows uses for its menus and help files, etc., unless you are using the corporate version of Windows for business use.

Since your daughter and her husband can both speak English, buying a notebook in the UK is probably the best option. You should make sure that it has a European warranty to cover them if it develops a fault that requires repairing.

If the English version of MS Office is being used, you can set its dictionary to the language of the person who is using the notebook. Moreover, Windows XP provides multi-user support. It would allow your daughter to set up a user account (under User Accounts in the Control Panel) that makes use of the British English dictionaries and regional settings, and her husband can set up a user account with the French options.

Alternatively, you can install an English version of Windows XP on a French computer, or run a dual-boot system with both the English and the French versions installed. In a dual-boot system, a boot menu would present itself at startup and allow the user to choose which version to boot.

My Windows XP computer constantly freezes whenever I touch a key on the keyboard, reporting "Keyboard driver cannot start, Code 39"

Problem

My Windows XP computer constantly freezes whenever I touch a key on the keyboard. In Device Manager there is a keyboard driver error that reads "Keyboard driver cannot start, Code 39". It was working well, but one morning it wouldn't start up properly. I've tried searching on the web using the error code, but the suggested solutions don't work. Moreover, I've tried running various anti-virus and anti-spyware applications, booted to the Recovery Console, where I tried the bootcfg and chkdsk/p commands, and reinstalled the keyboard drivers. I have a backup of the whole system, but I don't want to restore it unless there is not an easier fix.

Answer

Code 39 in the Device Manager means that Windows can't read one of the drivers for the device in question because it is corrupted or missing. To solve the problem most of the time all you have to do is enter devmgmt.msc in the Start => Run box to bring up the Device Manager, right-click on the device with the problem (the keyboard in your case, under Keyboards), select Uninstall and reboot. The device should be detected on startup and the correct driver will be installed.

If that doesn't fix the problem, the keyboard may be damaged. You should try a different USB or PS/2 keyboard. If you are using a PS/2 keyboard, switch the computer off before you connect it, because you can damage the motherboard if you connect it with the machine running. USB devices (keyboards, mice, etc.) can be hotplugged (connected while the computer is on). The following diagram shows what a PS/2 keyboard looks like. The port above it is for a PS/2 mouse. Two USB ports are beside them.

If the new keyboard doesn't work, possibly because other software has installed its own filter driver that is corrupt or is no longer present, then the error is occurring when Windows XP cannot load this driver. Corrupt keyboard drivers can render an otherwise sound system unusable. If that is the case, you're going to need to edit the Registry. However, because the keyboard isn't working, you need a way to type.

Click Start => All Programs => Accessories => Accessibility and select On-Screen Keyboard, which allows you to type using the mouse. Now you can edit the Registry. There should be no problem in doing this if you follow the following instructions exactly. However, if you are not familiar with editing the Registry, you should make a backup first by using System Restore. To do that click Start => All Programs => Accessories => System Tools => System Restore and follow the instructions.

Now click Start => Run, and, using the onscreen keyboard, enter regedit in the Run box and click OK. In the Registry Editor, make sure that the mouse pointer is on My Computer at the top of the left column, then click on Edit => Find. Enter kbdclass and uncheck the the Keys and Values options, but leave the check mark next to the Data Search option, then click Find Next.

There may be several occurrences of kbdclass. You must look for one in a value called UpperFilters. If you find instances that are not in that value, click on the F3 key (Find Next) to keep looking. When you find the UpperFilters value, is there anything before or after kbdclass in its data string? In a standard Windows installation, this value should contain kbdclass on its own, so delete any other entries.

Also, look under the same Registry key/folder for a line called LowerFilters. If you find one, delete it. LowerFilters will occur for other devices (CD drives, etc), so you must not delete LowerFilters from anywhere other than the keys where you found kbdclass. Keep clicking on the F3 key until you find no other occurrences.

Next, close the Registry Editor, go back to Device Manager, find the keyboard (where it should still be reporting a Code 39 error) and uninstall it by right clicking on it and then clicking on Uninstall in the window that presents itself. Then restart your computer. Your keyboard should work when the system has rebooted.

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