Windows and Software Tips and Tricks - Page 2 |
Last updated on 13 November 2007
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| CONTENTS This is Page 2 of four pages of Tips and Tricks. Page 1 contains the latest additions, which appear at the top of the list. Click here! to go to Page 3 Click here! to go to Page 4 |
Scroll down the list of links below, and click an article's heading to go to that information. - Use your browser's Back button to return here.
2. - How to install and Configure Speech Recognition in Windows XP
3. - Problems saving a database to CD-R and CD-RW disks
4. - Disappearing taskbar icons in Windows XP
6. - How to avoid buffer underruns when 'burning' files to a CD/DVD
7. - Some USB devices won't work from a motherboard's USB port no matter what I do
8. - The Windows Update Troubleshooter
9. - Restricting access to features in Windows 95/98/Me systems
10. - Recovering Windows - the Windows boot menu
11. - How to save a webpage in a single file
12. - If the hard disk drive is constantly at work and processor use is always high
13. - Cannot access the Internet after installing the Windows XP SP1 update?
14. - Windows XP auto-dials the Internet
15. - How to restore the Windows Component Wizard list to the Windows XP Home Edition
16. - The easiest remedies for most serious problems with Windows XP
17. - A typical DLL (Dynamic Link Library) device-driver problem
18. - FireWire networking
19. - Standby and hibernate modes won't work in Windows XP
20. - A problem installing adapter cards in a Windows XP system
21. - How things can go wrong with a USB device
22. - Keeping Pentium 4 processors cool
23. - Removing executable files, normally undeletable, placed in the system by websites
24. - Using Windows XP to make a startup floppy disk
25. - Dealing with limited IRQ resources
26. - How to fix partitioning problems caused by Norton AntiVirus and Norton System Works
| This is Page 2 of four pages of Tips and Tricks. Page 1 contains the latest additions, which appear at the top of the list. Click here! to go to Page 3 Click here! to go to Page 4 |
Question
I want to email a large collection of digital photos to friends and family that consists of about 25 images that come to 80MB. Most broadband connections are fast enough for a relatively quick tranfer, but most email services won't accept such a large attachment. Is there a way to overcome this limitation?
Answer
Most email services allow attachments of between 10 and 20MB, so you could try sending them in smaller groups, which is a tedious business. The best method is to zip them up into a single .zip file using Zip compression and then send it through a file-delivery service such as YouSendIt.com.
You can use WinZip or Windows XP/Vista to zip the files.
To create a zipped compressed folder open My Computer/Computer. Double-click a drive or folder. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Compressed (zipped) Folder. Type a name for the new folder, and then press ENTER. Then all you have to do is drag-and-drop files into the zipped folder to add them. Note that this option is removed if you have WinZip installed, because it takes over as the default zip program. With WinZip installed, just select the files that you want to zip with your mouse and then right-click on them and choose the WinZip option. WinZip itself contains help files that can answer any other questions that you may have.
You would then visit http://www.yousendit.com/, enter your email address and the address of your recipient, and browse to the zip file that you created. YouSendIt.com is free for files up to 100MB. If you have a larger file, you could spit the contents half and send it as two files.
The following MS Knowledge Base article outlines, step-by-step, everything you need to know to get the Speech Engine installed and functioning on your Windows XP machine. Please keep in mind that there are some basic requirements, such as a high-quality close-talk microphone (Microsoft recommends a USB microphone). Although not on the required list for speech recognition, speakers should be used for the text-speech functionality. The article doesn't say so, but you will also need Office XP installed to do any of this. - http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=306537
Problem
You have created a database with MS Access that is 2MB in size. You used Adaptec's Easy CD Creator - Standard Edition to burn the database to both CD-R and CD-RW disks. But whenever you attempt to open the database from either type of disk, the message "The database K.M.S. is read only" appears.
You want to know how you can transfer the database to another computer so that data can be added to it and design changes can be effected.
Solution
Easy CD Creator creates a disk that can be used in the same way as a CD-ROM disk is. CD-ROM disks are read-only, so you can't write to CDs created with Easy CD Creator. Even if you copy the files from the CD to the hard drive, they will be set to read-only. You have to right-click on each file, click Properties, and then uncheck the Read-only box.
However, the Universal Disk Format (UDF) allows you to write to CDs in the same way as you can write to floppy disks, but you need to use software that can use this format. Adaptec's Direct CD is a program that provides this facility. Note that the computer to which you want to transport the database has to have CD-writing software installed on it that can handle UDF.
It is not advisable to access a database directly from a recorded CD, because database software writes to many different records in various parts of the file, and, because of the nature of CDs, accessing the information will be very slow as the blocks of data are copied to the hard drive, Windows finds the relevant data within them, and then brings it to the screen. The best method is to copy all of the files to the hard drive, work on it there, and then copy the modified version back to the CD. This method is especially effective when using CD-R disks that can only be written to once.
For some strange reason, the System Tray in Windows 9.x is called the Notification Area in Windows XP. If the icons make a habit of disappearing from the taskbar or System Tray in an XP system, this is a known bug that can be corrected by installing Service Pack 1. For some even stranger reason, the problem can be corrected by disabling the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) networking feature, which can be most easily done via the utility on this page of Steve Gibson's site. - http://grc.com/unpnp/unpnp.htm
Few people make use of UPnP, which, if it is enabled, seriously weakens the system's security, so it is advisable to have it disabled.
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.
For more detailed information, visit the How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard on this site, and this page on Microsoft's site:
Files and Settings Transfer Wizard - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/columns/crawford/november12.asp.
If you need more information, search for Transfer Files and Settings under Help and Support => Index (in Windows XP), or make use of the Google search box at the top of this page to look for: "windows xp" + "transfer files and settings".
When a CD/DVD writer 'burns' files to a CD/DVD disk, it needs to stream the data without any kind of interruption. If an interruption of some sort occurs, the disk is ruined. A CD/DVD-R disk has to be thrown away, but a CD/DVD-RW disk can be wiped and re-recorded.
To prevent this from happening, CD/DVD writer manufacturers have built memory buffers into their drives.
This buffer is used to provide a steady stream of data during the 'burning' process. However, there may be what are called buffer underruns if certain activities take place, such as browsing a webpage, or the scheduled running of a utility. The buffer runs out of data because it has not been continuously fed, the burning process fails, and the disk is ruined (CD-R/DVD-R disks), or has to be wiped CD-RW/DVD-RW disks) and re-recorded.
Some modern CD/DVD writers claim to provide protection against the occurrence of buffer underruns. A programmed response halts the 'burning' process when it detects that the buffer is in danger of being emptied. Burn-Proof, SafeBurn and Smart-Burn are some of the names given to this feature. It doesn't always work, but it is generally very effective.
The following are ways of avoiding buffer underruns.
Upgrade old, slow hard disk drives to newer, faster models.
If necessary, upgrade your whole computer. Early Pentium models are not up to the process, but a processor running at 200MHz and higher (with sufficient RAM to run the operating system and burning software without using the virtual memory swap file), should be sufficiently fast.
Buy a burn-proof drive.
Never shake or move the computer while the 'burning' is taking place.
Close any start-up programs (enter msconfig in Start => Run), and disable scheduled activities.
Install the CD/DVD writer on a different IDE channel on the motherboard from the main (boot) hard drive. See the Build3 page on this site for information on how to do that.
Run the Disk Defragmenter utility on the hard drive that contains the operating system (Windows/Linux/OS X), and do anything else that speeds up hard drive access, such as making sure that DMA is enabled for the drive in the Device Manager.
Record directly from the hard disk drive instead of from another CD/DVD, or other recorded media. For instance, when copying CD/DVD's, copy the data to the hard disk drive, and then burn it to CD/DVD disks. You can create an ISO image on the hard drive of a CD/DVD or program that you want to record, and then 'burn' the image.You should also not attempt to 'burn' files across a network.
Set the 'burning' software to 'burn' at a slower speed that the drives maximum recording speed.
Problem
It is not uncommon to have some USB devices working perfectly well (a Smartmedia card reader, a digital camera, an external CD-RW drive, etc.), yet a particular device (say a USB scanner) refuses to work from the motherboard no matter what action is taken.
Possible solutions
It could be that the troublesome device does not conform to the USB standards properly, or pushes the standards to their limits so that the device will work from some motherboards' USB ports but not from others.
Even after reflashing the BIOS and installing updates for the motherboard's chipset drivers,some motherboards' USB ports will not work with certain USB devices not matter what action you take short of buying a PCI USB adapter card (examples are shown at the end of this article). If you buy a USB 2.0 card, you will be able to use high-speed devices such as a CD writer or external hard disk drive.
You can also connect power-hungry devices, such as a scanner, through a self-powered USB hub (an example of which is also shown at the bottom of this page).
If you want to troubleshoot a particular USB problem first have a look at the USB Problems page on this site, or try using a search phrase such as: troubleshooting + usb + problems in the Google search box at the top of this page.
You should be able to obtain the latest USB Controller and BIOS update from the motherboard's site. If you can't identify the computer's motherboard, click here! to go directly to the links on this site to free utilities that can identify a motherboard.
It is always a good idea to boot in Safe mode in order to clean out the Device Manager of repeat instances, which are not shown in Normal mode. (Press the F8 key at start-up to boot into Safe mode.) There should only be multiple instances of IRQ Holders for PCI Steering (if IRQ Steering is enabled in the Device Manager under System devices => PCI Bus in Windows 9.x). Otherwise there should only be one of every device showing. You should remove all of the instances so that Windows can reinstall only one. (Don't attempt this if you don't have a Windows CD, because Windows might ask for it.) If you leave one instance, Windows will add another instance, making two instances. -
If you require more detailed information try using a search phrase such as: clean + "device manager" + "safe mode" in the Google search box at the top of this page.
You don't need to go into Safe Mode in Windows 2000 and XP to clean out the Device Manager, because there is an option in the View menu to Show Hidden Devices.
USB problems seem to be more common with VIA and SiS chipsets than with Intel chipsets. Microsoft has issued a patch for a USB problem in Windows 98 SE. The article is called "USB Devices May Not Work in Windows 98 Second Edition". Enter 240075 in the search box on this page - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo&.The note says that it applies to VIA USB Controllers, but it can cure problems with SiS chipsets as well.
For motherboards with VIA chipsets, always install the VIA Hyperion or "Four-in-One" drivers from http://www.viaarena.com/.
If you are having problems using Windows Update, Microsoft has identified and provided solutions for about fifty problems that users have experienced with it. The company created a special support page called Windows Update Troubleshooter, which is designed to provide quick access to fixes. - http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/troubleshoot/
You can use a feature called the Policy Editor to restrict access to features in Windows 95/98/Me systems. To find out more about this feature and tutorials on how to make use of it, enter poledit in the Google search box at the top of this page.
If you press the F8 key as a Windows 95/98/Me (Windows 9.x) or Windows XP system boots, the boot menu will present itself, but the menus don't have much in common.
In Windows 95/98/Me/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.
These are the selectable boot-menu options available in Windows 9.x. -
1. - Normal [boots normally to Windows]
2. - Logged (bootlog.txt) [logs the start-up to a bootlog.txt file]
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]
7. - Safe mode with networking [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
Enable VGA mode [loads the standard VGA video card device driver]
Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked)
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 95/98/Me system, but since Windows XP no longer has DOS, you have to use a different procedure to recover an XP system. Click here! to read an article on this site called Recovering Windows XP on the various ways in which that can be achieved.
When you use the File => Save as feature in Internet Explorer to save a webpage, with the Save as type drop-down menu set to Web Page complete (*.htm *.html), two files are saved - a folder containing the images, etc., and the HTML page itself.
You can avoid this split-up in all Windows versions if you're running Internet Explorer 5 or 6 simply by saving web pages by using the Save as feature, but this time by selecting Web Archive, single file (*.mht) in the Save as type drop-down menu. An MHT file (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension HTML) is an archive feature that automatically puts everything - text, graphics, etc. - into a single file.
See http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;221787
When you click on an MHT file, it loads normally into your browser, with all the graphics, etc., in place. Saving a webpage this way avoids the likelihood of losing one or other of the two files that are generated using the Web Page complete option.
Make sure that you test the saved webpage to make sure that it can be recovered, because not all pages like to be saved in this way, but still might be saved successfully by using the other options.
Note that there is also an option for saving only the HTML of a page, which leaves the graphics files, etc., unsaved.
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 9.x systems could have itsown 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 these free programs regularly. -
Ad-aware 6.0 - http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
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.
After installing the SP1 update for Windows XP, many users have found themselves unable to access the Internet with Internet Explorer 6.0. But for some reason another browser, such as the Firefox browser from Mozilla, is not affected.
Many users who updated their systems with SP1 have suffered from this problem, but most users have not experienced this problem.
The downloaded Express installation of SP1 could be responsible, especially if you are using a USB-connected DSL or cable modem. To avoid this, install a complete "network install" version of SP1 from a CD instead of the download.
Firewalls could also be responsible. There are reported problems after applying SP1 with the ZoneAlarm, Norton, and McAfee firewalls. To get around this, try uninstalling the firewall before installing SP1, and then reinstall it.
Another remedy I have read about on forums is to reset all the user's Internet Explorer 6.0 Security settings under Tools => Internet Options to the Default Levels.
If, after having installed the SP1 update, Windows XP reboots when a dial-up connection has been made and the transfer rate has petered out to almost nothing, try disabling the setting that makes XP restart after a system failure of any kind.
To do this, follow this click-through path - Start => Control Panel => Settings => System => Advanced => System And Recovery => Settings. In the System Failure section, clear the Automatically Restart checkbox, and place a check mark in the Notify me when critical errors occur checkbox, and then click OK. Now instead of rebooting, XP will simply display an error message. This may provide you with the information you need to diagnose the problem.
Since this failure only happens when you're connecting to or disconnecting from the Internet, incompatible modem drivers for XP might be responsible. Visit your modem manufacturer's site, and download the latest XP drivers for the modem. While there, look for any updated information on that modem. If the XP drivers won't work, try using the Windows 2000 drivers, which often work when the XP drivers have failed.
The programmers who designed Windows XP obviously designed it with broadband Internet access (that is permanently connected) in mind. Unfortunately, they probably stopped using dial-up connections a long time ago, and consequently have neglected to consider the effects that their programming has with such connections.
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To make it more tamper-proof and appear more simple than it is, Microsoft has hidden or disabled many features and tools in the Windows XP Home edition.
For example, many of the components have been ommitted from the list in the Windows Component Wizard. Most of the ommissions are installed by default, but, because they are missing from the list, cannot be uninstalled or added.
But you can restore the list by using a trick that worked in Windows 2000. Open the file \Windows\inf\sysoc.inf by using Notepad, and remove any of the HIDE or hide commands, and leave just two commas.
For example, this entry - TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, Hydra.Oc, TsOc, Hide, 2
becomes - TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, Hydra.Oc, TsOc, , 2
Now when the Windows Component Wizard is started by opening the Add/Remove Programs utility in the Control Panel, many more options than were there before are available. You can add or remove any of the components listed, but some components, such as net chat and phone dialler, do not appear in the Start bar. These can be added manually by locating and running the relevant .exe file for them.
If you have a serious problem with Windows XP, the best way to remedy it is to set the BIOS program to boot first from the CD-ROM drive, and then boot the system with the Windows CD in the CD-ROM drive.
A blue Windows setup screen will appear. When the device drivers have been loaded to make the system operate, you will be presented with the option to press Enter to setup Windows XP, or press R to run the Recovery Console.
If you are not a daring soul, you should elect to run the Windows setup option. The process does not take long, and installs over the existing installation, but, unlike with a Windows 9.x system, retains all of the data and settings.
Note that Windows XP is far more complex than Windows 98. When you reinstall XP, data such as e-mail and the address book will be saved under the user's profile. Look under the Documents and Settings folder to see the profiles that are available. Data for games are saved in a games' folder, which is independent of the profile.
The Recovery Console provides a DOS-like command prompt that allows the use of a number of repair commands. Enter Help to bring up a list of these commands.
MAP displays drive letter mappings.
FIXMBR rewrites the code of the Master Boot Record of drive 0 - usually the primary master hard disk drive.
FIXBOOT rewrites the above drive's boot sector.
BOOTCFG displays or rebuilds the operating system list in the Boot.ini file.
You can, of course, read up on the Recovery Console in the Help files, and you can find plenty of articles on the subject by entering the term in the Google search box at the top of this page, or by conducting a Google Groups search of past Usenet posts.
Remember to set the boot sequence in the BIOS back to booting from the primary master hard disk drive (usually the A: -> C: -> CD-ROM boot sequence) after the reinstallation or the recovery process has been completed.
Problem
You have purchased a Minolta QMS PagePro 1100L mono laser printer. Unfortunately, the installation routine seems to have corrupted the system, which is issuing the following confusing message:
The MSVCP60.dll is linked to the missing export MSVCRT:dll:_lc_collate_cp.
Consequently, the printer works erratically, and several other applications that use the files, such as MS Works and Serif PagePlus 8, refuse to work.
You have downloaded and installed the updates from the Minolta website , and you have read the Knowledge Base article 240032 - http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=240032 - that addresses this problem in MS Office 2000, in vain. You want to know how to rectify the problem.
Possible solutions
The message comes up because the copy of Msvcrt.dll is incompatible with the copy of Msvcp60.dll, most probably because one of them (probably Msvcrt.dll) is an old version. Both of these files are part of the Microsoft Visual C compiler run-time library.
It is a protocol of software installation programming that an application should never replace a new file by an older version. However, when it was installed, it is still possible that the printer driver may have overwritten the Msvcrt.dll file in the Windows\System folder with an older version. But it is more likely that the driver installation software has installed an old version of the file in its own folder, and it is this version that loads when a printer-monitor utility starts up with the rest of the system, because an application always searches in its own folder for the DLL files it needs before looking in the Windows and Windows\System folders.
The problem occurs when other applications that use this DLL library search the RAM to see if it is already loaded (all device-drivers are loaded into RAM). If the application finds it in RAM, it uses that version. So if an old version of a DLL file is loaded at start-up by a device driver, all of the applications that use it will use that version instead of using the newer version in the Windows or Windows\System folders.
To view the versions of modules (DLL and driver files) loaded into RAM in a Windows 9.x system, go to Start => Programs => Accessories => System Tools and run System Information. You can see the list of 32-bit modules loaded under the heading Software Environment. The version and the exact path from which it was loaded is provided. Look for system library files that are located outside the Windows\System folder.
Next, use the Find => Files or Folders feature to locate the msvc*.dll files. With View => Details enabled, sort the files alphabetically by clicking the Name column header.
Don't rely on the file date shown to tell you which of the files is the newest version, because the date of the file is often set to the same date as the date the whole package was released or completed. If you right-click on each of the files and click Properties, the Version tab provides the exact version number.
The version of Msvcrt.dll included with Windows 98 SE is 6.008397.0. The 6.00 indicates that it was distributed with the Visual C 6.0 file library, but the important version information is the 8397. If you find a newer, higher version on your computer, it just means that the file has been updated.
You should find that there are several versions of this file in different locations. Check for the latest version, and copy it into the Windows\System folder. If you can't find a later version than the one in use, you can try entering sfc in the Start => Run box to tun the System File Checker, which can be used to extract the original version from the Windows CD's cabinet (.cab) files.
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Note that the System File Checker is still available in Windows 2000, and Windows XP systems. But, for some reason, it has been well hidden in Windows XP. There is no information on it in Help and Support.
It is run from the Command Prompt, which is opened by entering cmd in the Start => Run box. Enter the command sfc /? to bring up a list of the commands and switches that can be used with it.
It can be a useful problem-solving utility if you know how to avoid the pitfalls, which are provided on this page.
SFC Explained - http://www.westelcom.com/users/rogersr/sfc.htm
If you want to use SFC, you should have a certified Windows XP CD - not a System Recovery CD of the kind that comes with many brand-name computers instead of a Windows CD - because SFC makes use of it.
Problem
You have been informed by an article in a computer magazine that a FireWire (IEEE-1394) network connection can provide a connection speed of up to 400Mbit/sec. You wanted to link a notebook computer to a desktop computer, so you purchased a PCMCIA FireWire card and cable. The notebook computer runs Windows Me, and the desktop computer runs Windows 98 SE. Unfortunately, when you tried to connect the computers, you discovered that neither of them supports FireWire, because a network cannot be set up, so you want to know what you have to do to resolve the problem without updating to Windows XP, which you know does support FireWire.
Possible solutions
To set up a FireWire network of two or more computers, a protocol called IP over IEEE-1394 has to be installed on each of them. If the operating system (usually Windows) supports the FireWire standard, this will be installed automatically as soon as Windows detects a FireWire device.
If both of the computers run Windows XP, then it is a simple matter to set up a FireWire connection. You merely connect them with a FireWire cable, and XP makes the network connection automatically.
The operating system and the BIOS setup program on both computers must support FireWire. If the BIOS does not support the standard, you will either have to update it, or purchase a motherboard that does support it. USB software installs a USB Controller, and FireWire software installs a FireWire Controller in the Device Manager.
In theory, Windows Me supports FireWire, but it is a buggy and unreliable implementation. - See the MS Knowledge Base articles 266081 - http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=266081 - and 252208 - http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=252208 - for more information on the subject.
Windows 98, 98 SE, and Windows 2000 have no built-in support for FireWire networking. But a company called Unibrain at http://www.unibrain.com/ makes the Firenet FireWire networking package, which runs on Windows 98, 98 SE, and Windows Me. The demo version will work for 30 minutes, and a licence for two computers costs about £40/$60.
There are two different FireWire connector types. The six-pin connector is most commonly used, but a four-pin connector is used on some devices, such as on the Sony Vaio notebook computer. So obtain a cable that matches the connectors used on the two computers. If there is a different type of connector on each computer, you will probably have to have a computer shop make a suitable cable for you. But this is unlikely to be the case, because most computers use the six-pin connector.
According to the FireWire standard's specifications, a cable no longer than 4.5 metres should be used, but you can buy repeater units that connect two or more cable maximum lengths together. A repeater strengthens the signal and passes it on to the computer or to the next repeater. You can also buy an "active" extension cable 10.0 metres long that contains a built-in repeater. These cables can themselves be attached to external repeaters.
No hubs or routers are required on a FireWire network. To connect more than two computers, just obtain more network cables and connect them to the FireWire ports on the computers. It is possible to daisy-chain up to 15 computers in this way.
Problem
You upgraded your IBM desktop computer from Windows 98 SE to Windows XP Home Edition. Before upgrading you followed Microsoft's advice, and reflashed the BIOS with the latest XP-compliant update, and downloaded the relevant XP device drivers for the system's devices and peripherals from IBM's website.
Everything installed properly, but a mysterious "unknown device" keeps being recognised at startup, and whenever you try using the standby and hibernate modes the following message comes up:
"The device driver for the 'PC/AT Enhanced PS/2 Keyboard (101/102-Key' is preventing the machine form entering hibernation. Please close all applications and try again. If this problem persists, you may need to update this driver."
XP's Device Manager reports that the keyboard is using the XP driver, and that there is no update available. You want to know how to make the hibernate and standby modes work.
Possible solutions
As is often still the case, the error message is misleading. The device driver for the keyboard is not at fault here, so even if an update is available, it won't help.
The problem is caused by third-party software that has installed a kernel-mode device driver, which has attached itself to the 18042prt.sys keyboard driver - and it is not compatible with XP. The most common culprit is Adobe Type Manager 4.0 (ATM), which installs the Atmhelpr.sys driver.
As a temporary fix, either uninstall ATM, or use Find, and rename the offending file Atmhelpr.xxx. Doing that disables ATM's font-smoothing effect. If you want to use font-smoothing, you can enable XP's version.
Note that other third-party software can cause the same problem. That is why it is always best to do a clean installation of a new operating system instead of upgrading from one operating system to its successor, because the upgrade doesn't allow you to install and test each piece of software on its own. The upgrading process merely rebuilds the Registry around the installed software, and therefore leaves much of the old operating system in place when it should be removed.
You can read a Knowledge Base article 302414 on this subject called, "Unable to Use Power Management Features": http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=302414
That deals with the confusion surrounding the error message. But you still have to sort out the mysterious "unknown device". To track it down, you can search the Windows Registry.
From Start => Run, enter RegEdit, click on OK, click the + beside HKey_Local_Machine, and click on Enum to highlight it. Press the Ctrl and F keys, and enter "unknown" into the search box. When you press the Enter key the window that comes up should show the entry for a device with class "Unknown". This is the unknown device.
Next, look in the other lines in this Registry entry for clues, which will depend on the device. A plug-and-play printer, for example, will have a hardware ID string that usually states the printer's name. But a PCI adapter card, the key for which shows up in the left-hand window, will have a name such as -
Ven_11C1&De_0042&Subsys_00401668.
This string identifies the vendor, the device, and the subsystem. The name of the manufacturer is not usually provided, but knowing the manufacturer of the chipset used on the card, which is provided, is usually enough information to make it possible to obtain the latest driver file for the card.
The identification codes used in the string are listed on several Internet sites, and can easily be found by entering them in the Google. All you have to do is enter "PCI vendor list" in the Google search box at the top of this page.
Once you know the device's manufacturer and model, you can download and install the latest driver file for it from its website, and then the message the shows up at startup should disappear.
Problem
You have purchased a new motherboard and installed it in your Windows XP system; successfully for the most part, but whenever you try to install a sound card or network card, and then boot the system you get the message, "An error has occurred during the installation of this device. The data is invalid." For some reason, you have not been able to install an AGP video card, but you have been able to install a PCI video card, You have also tried unsuccessfully to install two different makes of network and sound card. The other measures you have taken to rectify the problem are: - reflashed the BIOS with the latest update, and tried replacing Windows XP with its forerunner, Windows 2000. Because the same error occurs with both versions of Windows, you suspect that the problem has to be hardware-related.
A possible solution
The usual cause of this problem in Windows 2000/XP systems is Registry keys that are set as read-only.
From the Start menu, click Run and enter RegEdit to run the Registry Editor. Open the following - Keys => HKey_Local_machine => System => CurrentControlSet => Enum => PCI.
You will see several keys in this form - Ven_xxxx - where xxxx represents a string such as - 1102&Dev_004&Subsys_00011103&Rev_04.
In each of these folders there is another folder that has a long numerical name. Open each of these folders, and look for the DeviceDesc entry that matches the type of hardware that you are trying unsuccessfully to install. Use the right mouse button to click on the Ven_xxxx entry for that device, and click Permissions. If it is set to read-only, then that is the cause of the problem. To rectify it, change it to Allow Full Control.
Problem
A SanDisk SDDR31 Imagemate USB card-reader works on a notebook computer running Windows XP, but when connected to a desktop PC running Windows 98 SE, a blue screen of death appears within 15 seconds of the device being connected to a USB hub, even though the software was loaded according to the instructions, followed by the installation of the latest device drivers from SanDisk.
The error message reads: "A fatal exception OE has occurred at 0028:c15b0527 in VXD APIX(01)+00003207."
Possible solutions
Any fatal exception OE that has a segment address of 0028 strongly suggests an interrupt request (IRQ) conflict, with it being most likely that the USB device is sharing an IRQ, and the device drivers are not properly programmed to enable IRQ sharing, which, of course, both Windows 98 SE and Windows XP support.
If you don't know anything about interrupt requests, and IRQ sharing, enter the terms within double quotation marks in the Google search box at the top of this page.
The first thing to do is in such a case is to check (or check again) for driver updates. If the latest drivers are loaded they should support IRQ sharing properly. If the problem still exists, the most likely cause is that an application has installed a conflicting version of the Apix.vxd file - the VXD file named in the error message.
Programs from Adaptec, Roxio Easy CD, and Direct CD are notorious for installing their own versions of the Apix.vxd file in the C:\Windows\System\IOSUBSYS folder. If any of these programs are installed on the system, upgrading them to the latest versions will allow you to restore the original Windows 98 versions of Apix.vxd and Wnaspl32.dll into this folder. This is because the latest versions of these programs don't share the Windows versions of these files - they place their own versions in their programs' folders.
The original Windows files should still be in the same folder and have been renamed with a .bak (backup) extension. If so, rename the existing Apix.vxd and Wnaspl32.dll to Apix.adp and Wnaspl32.adp, and then change the .bak extension on the backup files to .vxd and .dll respectively.
If the .bak versions of these files don't exist, then use the right mouse button to click on the Apix.vxd file, click Properties and check under the Version tab. If the Company name is listed as Adaptec instead of Microsoft, the Adaptec version of both of theses files have to be replaced with the Microsoft versions from the Windows 98 CD.
The easiest way to replace the files in a Windows 98 /98 SE system is to follow this path Start => Run - and enter sfc (for System File Checker). Choose the option that allows a single file to be extracted from the Windows CD, and enter the file's name in the search box. The source and destination folders do not have to be specified, because the SFC already knows them. Rebooting the system should solve the problem.
If there is still a problem, try conducting a Google Groups search by entering the the name of a newsgroup such as alt.windows98 in the first search box, followed by the error message (or part thereof) within double quotation marks in the second search box that comes up.
First, remember that all processors are designed to be able to run continuously at 100% of their capacity, so you should not feel worried if a utility that measures the processor load is constantly showing a reading of 100%. This will not be a source of processor overheating if the processor is being adequately cooled.
If the processor is overheating, it is overclocked (see the Motherboards pages on this site for more information on overclocking a processor), being run at a core voltage that is too high, or the heatsink and fan unit is inadequate, or wrongly mounted.
All Pentium 4 processors incorporate thermal protection circuitry. If the processor becomes too hot, it automatically reduces its operating frequency (measured in MHz or GHz), or switches itself off. The thermal control circuit (TCC) provides a frequency-throttling feature that can be set to function automatically, or to work on demand, in the BIOS setup program.
If a serious cooling failure occurs, the processor will shut down automatically when the processor reaches a temperature of approximately 135 degrees Celsius.
The life of a processor is reduced considerably if it is always running at a higher range of temperatures than it was designed for. For example, a Pentium 4 processor that runs at 60 degrees Celsius is supposed to have a lifespan of at least 50 years, but this is only 40 to 60 days if it is run at between 80 and 90 degrees Celsius.
Temperature-monitoring software is available that displays the processor's temperature continuously. Some makes of motherboard provide it as part of the package, such as Intel's Active Monitor software. And Motherboard Monitor is a good freeware utility that works with most, if not all, Pentium 4 motherboards.
Some sources have suggested that Intel has allowed manufacturers to provide an under-performing cooling unit with P4 processors, because the automatic cooling features built into the processor will prevent overheating. But this could mean that the processor operates at only 50% of its capacity during heat-producing processor-intensive tasks - just when the tasks require full processing power. You wouldn't be aware of this unless you were running software that measures the load being placed on the processor as a percentage of the maximum possible load.
To avoid any such deterioration in performance, you need to make sure that you are using a heatsink and fan unit that is up to keeping the processor cool enough so that the automatic drop in load does not occur. The retail, boxed Pentium 4 processors that are slightly more expensive than bare, OEM processors, are provided with a fully-approved cooling unit that has a three-year warranty. You can also purchase expensive brand-name cooling units from retailers that will provide the cooling protection that the processor requires.
If possible, you should also buy a tube of Arctic Silver II thermal paste, because it is widely regarded as the best product of its kind. You would only apply a thin coat of the paste to the part of the processor that requires it, which will be indicated in the instruction manual provided with the processor, or which can be downloaded from Intel's website. The use of too much paste will cause overheating. You need to apply just enough to create a close contact between the surfaces of the two devices.
Note well that the temperature inside the computer case has to be cool as well, or the heat being radiated by the all of the devices will increase the temperature to levels that will reduce the cooling abilities of the processor's and the video card's cooling units. Therefore, if you have more than one case fan to augment the power supply unit's fan, you will have to make sure that they are not working against each other by pushing and pulling air in opposing directions.
You can monitor the internal temperature of the case by using a cheap digital room thermometer that has a sensor on the end of a lead that can be inserted inside the case through an opening.
The Pentium 4 processors with the Northwood core use 0.13 micron technology, which reduces path lengths within the processor's core, and thereby makes it possible to use a core voltage of 1.5V instead of the 1.75V used by the earlier 0.18 micron Williamette core. The Northwood core reduces heat production in a 1.7GHz Pentium 4 processor from the 67W produced by the Williamette core to 55W - a considerable reduction.
Often when you click on a link in a website that allows you to view movies or video presentations in real-time, the site downloads an executable file to your system that often secretly registers itself with Windows as a start-up program, and then tries to access the Internet immediately from your system, supposedly to make it possible to view the movie or presentation. The file is usually called something like video2.exe.
It is highly suspicious if any alien program downloaded from a website without your knowledge tries to make Windows register it as a start-up program! It could easily be a Trojan file capable of 'phoning home' to download more files to keep it company, and your system under scrutiny to the point of logging every keystroke, and sending it 'home' for analysis, or even being able to control the whole system via a remote connection.
You can tell that it wants to install itself as a fully active start-up program (that loads itself every time Windows starts up) if you have a program such as the StartUp Monitor installed. This program lets you know every time a program tries to make itself a start-up program, and allows you the options to allow it to do so, or refuse it.
You can tell if a website is trying to obtain unauthorised access to the system, or if a program in the system wants to access a website if you have the ZoneAlarm firewall program monitoring your connection, because, if it is set to provide visible alerts, it will tell you whenever it has stopped any unauthorised access to the system from the web, or it will ask you if you want to grant Internet access to any program that tries to access the Internet, and will provide the program's file name, and the IP address it wants to access in the alert message.
Even if you instruct the StartUp Monitor to prevent the alien program from making itself into a start-up program, it will try to access a website. If you note the program's file location in ZoneAlarm's alert message, and then navigate to it in Windows Explorer, you might find that it cannot be deleted or removed to the Recycle Bin, because system access to the file is denied. Or you might get as far as deleting it to the Recycle Bin only to find that it cannot be cleared by emptying the bin for the same reason.
The best way to get rid of the file is to make a note of the path to the folder that contains the file. If it is stuck in the Recycle Bin, the path to the file is C:\Recycled in Windows 9.x systems. Then, in Windows 9.x systems, you click Start => Shut Down => Restart in MS DOS mode.
The DOS prompt will look like this - C:\Windows> - so you have to change to the root directory - \ - by entering cd \. Then, at the C:\> prompt enter the command deltree c:\recycled, to empty the Recycle Bin. The warning will ask you if you want to delete the named folder and all of its sub-folders, but when you reboot into Windows the Recycled folder will still be there, and the Recycle Bin will function normally, but the offending file will be missing from it.
You should then search the Registry for the file name v(video2.exe in my example) by entering regedit in the Start => Run box, and then clicking Edit => Find to conduct the search. The F3 key can be used to launch Find Next. Any references to the file should be deleted.
You should also right-click the Internet Explorer icon on the Desktop, click Properties, and then open the Internet Option's Security tab to make sure that no unauthorised website has made itself a Trusted Site.
Some of these programs also place a reference in the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. If you cannot remove it, use the Add/Remove Programs tab in TweakUI, which doesn't remove programs, just program references in the Windows program that can't be made to disappear.
Shep - TweakUI - http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/tweakui.html
Anyone wanting a DOS or Windows 9x boot disk in order to convert it into one capable of flashing a BIOS file update for Windows XP systems could download the files from http://www.bootdisk.com/. Well, it is also possible to create one from within Windows XP.
Here is how to do it. - Insert a floppy into the A: drive, right-click the floppy drive icon in My Computer, and select Format => Create MS DOS start-up disk. Copy the BIOS update and flash utility to the floppy disk, then, with your flash command ready, boot with it.
Remember that if you have set your BIOS to use the boot sequence - CD-Rom, C, A - you will need to reset the BIOS to boot from the A: drive before it boots to the C: drive.
Visit the Recovering Windows XP page on this site for information of how to create a bootable BartPE rescue CD for Windows XP.
If you keep adding devices to your system, you will eventually run out of unused Interrupt Request (IRQ) lines that are required to accommodate additional devices.
An IRQ line is used by a device to summon processor attention. All of a system's devices cannot have access to the processor at the same time, so they have to use an IRQ line to request attention from the processor.
A PC has 16 IRQ lines numbered 0 - 15. But many of them are reserved for essential system functions or devices. The IRQs available for general use are numbers 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Most of these are assigned to specific devices - 3 (COM2), 4 (COM1), 7 (LPT1), and 12 (PS/2 mouse), leaving only 5, 9, 10, and 11 for all of the other devices that require an IRQ line.
Note that APIC mode (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller) is a BIOS setting made available to Windows 2000 and Windows XP systems that increases the number of IRQ (Interrupt Request) lines available to the processor from 16 to 23.
PCI cards are designed to use a single IRQ, and Windows allows them to do this with its IRQ Steering implementation, which is accessed and enabled/disabled via the Device Manager. But many drivers for bus mastering devices, such as networking cards and SCSI adapters, do not like sharing an IRQ line. To get around this, Windows has to be persuaded to grant selfish devices an IRQ of their own.
This is done by using the right mouse button to click on My Computer, and then clicking on Properties, followed by the Device Manager tab of System Properties. Select the Computer entry at the top of the list, and click the Properties button. You can now view the list of IRQ assignments.
You can then see where you can remove/disable one or more devices in order to free one or more IRQ lines.
For instance IRQ 3 and IRQ 4 are reserved for the two COM serial ports. Most users do not use these serial ports unless they have an external dial-up modem. If this is the case, one or both of the COM ports can be disabled in the BIOS, thereby freeing one or two IRQ lines. If your PC can boot from the CD-ROM drive, and you copy data to CD-R disks instead of to floppy disks, you can remove the floppy disk drive from the system (or disconnect its cables if you don't have a cover for the hole at the front of the case), disable the FDD drive in the BIOS, and thereby free IRQ 6.
It should be mentioned here that newer versions of Windows that work with BIOS support for Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), have introduced Virtual IRQs. With Windows 2000 and Windows XP, Windows assigns all of the devices to the same physical IRQ line, By using the virtual IRQ table of 256 IRQs ( 1 to 255) that it generates, Windows can identify a device that has been assigned a Virtual IRQ by looking it up in the table whenever the device uses its IRQ to request processing time from the processor. The assigned Virtual IRQ for a particular device is passed on to its software drivers.
Obviously, if a device or its drivers are not fully ACPI compliant, this can be a source of problems, in particular with networks cards, SCSI cards, and certain sound cards. For the users of Windows 2000 or XP, the only way round any problem with the Virtual IRQ implementation, is to reinstall Windows without ACPI. When you run the Windows Setup program and Windows issues a message that says, "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration, " press the F5 key and choose the Standard PC option.
Whenever I have a problem with Norton AntiVirus / Norton System Works interfering with what I wanted to do in Windows XP, such as Norton AntiVirus causing partitioning problems, I go into Services by entering services.msc in the Start => Run box, and disable everything named or associated with Symantec and Norton. That shuts all of the Norton programs down so that I can accomplish whatever the Norton products prevent me from doing. When I have finished, I reversed the disabling and everything goes back to normal. This same procedure works with other programs that interfere. In fact, it's a good idea not to use such multitasking, controlling programsin the first place and use less invasive programs instead. Programs that are just as effective and don't have to be shut down because they don't cause any problems with the system. Moreover, it's a nuisance having multiple programs that are all trying to get automatic updates at the same time, or at inconvenient times. Without them, a computer runs much better into the bargain.
I recommend these alternatives: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition - an excellent paid-for virus scanner from: http://free.grisoft.com/ - and BootIt Next Generation, which takes most users a while to master, but is well worth the effort.
"BootIt™ Next Generation (BootIt NG) (BING) is a partition and multi-boot manager with a powerful and simple-to-use set of tools for partitioning, imaging, and multi-booting your computer. It combines the features of several standalone products costing hundreds of dollars more."
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PC Buyer Beware! Copyright © Eric Legge 2004-2008. All rights reserved.