DonDamm

hey, XPero, you're somehing else!! :^) Thanks for your efforts and work. I've always liked XPize and am doing a new install next week for a friend who wants Vista. This will make her smile!! Cheers.

Hmmm. I still see a few new 40GB drives (7200rpm) available here in Vienna, but the cost per GB is prohibitive, imho. While you say you don't like partitioning, it is one good way to make use of a larger drive. For example, take an 80GB drive and partition it into 4 20GB partitions. Now format the the first one anyway you like - I assume you want a FAT partition there - and you can format the others as or when you need them. Being a new drive it is likely to be quieter and more reliable (especially if you get something like a Samsung SpinPoint). Your computer will be quite happy and so will your wallet. For the partitioning you could either use another machine, or something like GPartEd which is a linux-based utility free for the download. I carry a CD of GPartEd in my toolbox. Once you have the partitions set both your BIOS ond Win9x will be able to see and seal with them without resort to patches or even bios upgrades. However, it is worth looking into a bios upgrade if one is available for your motherboard. Personally, though I use server OSs and such, I'll be building a new machine shortly and plan to use a single fast disk for the OS only. For this I'll be using a WD Raptor that has a mere 36.5GB, but a 10K rpm speed. It is ridiculously expensive, but it is hard to find smaller disks at a reasonable price and I think there is a definite market for 20-40GB disks. I put all my data on other disks, including email, my Docs, and other folders normally found on C:\. Don't be afraid of using a slightly larger disk than you need at the moment and partitioning it. The process is quite simple really and will solve your problem.

If you know where some of them are, then you already know which keys in the registry need to be modified, and in fact can see how they need to be modified to launch and app or applet. Just alter the path of the required .exe, .dll, or .msc file in the registry key and include the command to show on the menu. I'd understand if you didn't know where to start, but you clearly do. Have you really tried to make it work as you want and failed? The CLSID you are looking for is {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}. The following is from a library of tweaks that I downloaded from some kind soul here on the forum a couple of years ago. You should be able to make any adjustments or modification you need from there. ;======================================================================= ; My Computer Right Click ;======================================================================= ;----- ;----- Adds Control Panel to right click of MY Computer ;----- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Control Panel\command] @="rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL" ;----- ;----- Adds Add/Remove to right click of MY Computer ;----- [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Add/Remove Programs\command] @="control appwiz.cpl" ;----- ;----- Adds Services to right click of MY Computer ;----- ;[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\services] ;@=hex(2):53,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,00,00 ;"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c ;[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\services\command] ;@=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73, 00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00, 65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52, 00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00, 32,00,5c,00,73,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,6d,00,73, 00,63,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,00,00 ;----- ;----- Adds Device Manager to right click of MY Computer ;----- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr] @="Device Manager" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr\command] @="mmc.exe %%SYSTEMDRIVE%%\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\devmgmt.msc" ;----- ;----- Adds Registry Editor right click of MY Computer ;----- [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\regedit] @="Registry Editor" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\regedit\command] @="Regedit.exe" ;----- ;----- Adds LogOff to right click of MY Computer ;----- I add the [] to group these ;----- [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\[Logoff]\command] @="shutdown -l -f -t 5" ;----- ;----- Adds Reboot to right click of MY Computer ;----- I add the [] to group these ;----- [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\[Reboot]\command] @="shutdown -r -f -t 5" ;----- ;----- Adds Shutdown to right click of MY Computer ;----- I add the [] to group these ;----- [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\[Shutdown]\command] @="shutdown -s -f -t 5" =============================== Good luck with it! :^)

I assume you are referring to windows xp. The pictures are held here: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures If you add pictures there, they will show up when you go through the User Accounts in Contorl Panel. :^)

Calendar items are held in the pst/ost files and if you have a lot of items and particularly recurring items like birthdays, and at the same time you have a lot of email items, you may be running into the bloated pst file syndrome. 2GB will cause problems, but you'll run into problems long before that. I like to keep them at under 500 MB. If you're pst file is getting big, you might want to consider archiving evertything but the last 30 or 60 days or so and then compact the thing (under maintenance).

Mine is on 24/7, but I let it go into deep sleep and minimum power mode when idle more than 45 minutes. That doesn't happen too often unless I'm not downloading or uploading something and I'm away for the day.

First remove the extenal drive, then in device manager there uninstall the device driver and remove the samsung drive - remove the other one while you're at it. Then reboot and al let it find new hardware and install the driver. Test the dirve then to see that it works. Reboot and check again. When in doubt, clear the boards and and build it up new. :^)

Thanks for the tip! I've downloaded it and will give it a try. :^)

Fixing a old Toshiba Satellite for a friend. I updated the XP SP2 to all current updates including IE7, cleaned out as much garbage as I couldfind and now is runs a top! Problem - Add or Remove Programs is now blank and displays the Error dialog - Run a dll as an app has encountered a problem and must close. I've seen this three times before. The first was a client who underpaid me when I was doing him a favor. I charged him $100 for what turned out to be some 10 hours of work and he paid me $70. I resolved to let him figure it out. In that case I belive it was an update from MS involving his nVidia card. The other two I solved by one, using system restore, and the other by a repair install. In this case there is no system restore as it was turned off - by me. I wanted to get the things cleaned up tan then turn it back on. Sigh. Also, being a Tosh it only has a recovery disk and not an OEM install disk, so I can't use it to repair an existing installation. I can perhaps create one from some other disks I have and use her serial number and wpa.dbl file, but I am reluctant to do so. Also, I would like to find out what is going on. I've re-registered a whole slew of dlls and the appwiz.cpl to no effect. MS has a older KB article on it which is opaque at best and referred to Win 2000. Google offers many hits, but few solutions and those mostly involved reregistering dlls. In the end not helpful. All the program information is intact in the registry and the system runs just fine fine. I can even uninstall programs - just not through the Add or Remove dialog. This is frustrating, so I was hoping one of you might have some insight to this particular glitch. tia :^)

Just to note: I just bought a 250GB 2.5" SATA Fujitsu Hornet of the same series. Be aware that that it is 12.5mm thick and will not fit in most external cases!! The typical drive is only 9.5mm thick and that is what almost all (if not all at the moment) external cases are built for. I bought mine for storage only, not for speed. That 3mm is annoying though I've been able to work around it. I bought the 250GB one becuase I only paid 120 for it and the the per GB price was hard to beat. The 300GB model is up around 280 - too much at the moment!!!

Well, when I get time I might just write a guide. Part of the problem is that you can't predict what folks will have on their machine. For example, I use an address database program that stores the db under its program folder in Program Files. Somewhat like Outlook stores the .pst file under your profile on C:\. These things can be worked around, so maybe I'll write up a basic guide first and then a a level 2 guide. I'll think about it! :^)

You can more esily control those items by right clicking anywhere on the Taskbar and choosing properties. On the Start Menu tab click Start Menu /Customize... In the dialog box click the Advanced tab and in the middle you'll see all the items you can check and uncheck for the Start menu - including the ones you are asking about! :^) Just uncheck them and they'll go away. No need to go into the registry.

It sounds like your missing a SATA driver which you'd need during the first part of setup from the XP disk. That is accessed by pressing F6 at the beginning while it's loading. Without more info about your system and configuration we can't tel lyou much. However, I can tell you that if you do install XP AFTER Vista, you will end up overwriting the MBR and Vista won't boot until you repair that. Dual booting in general isn't really a very good idea, especially considering the reasonable cost of a decent hard disk these days. You say you want to install XP so you can "multi-task"?? What in heaven's name are you talking about? Do you think you can't "multi-task" in Vista? Do you really understand what "multi-task" means? I don't mean to sound snide, but what you say really doesn't make any sense. If you really want to be able to run both OSs at the same time (which you can't do with a dual boot), then I suggest using a VM. If you are running Vista, I'll bet you have at least 1GB and maybe 2. Memory is very reasonable at the moment so I'd invest in another 1 GB module if you only have one anyway. You can then assign a decxent 512MB to an XP Virtual Machine and you'll have the best of both world's. I like VMware, but MS also offer Virtual PC for free and then there's Virtual Box - also free, and any number of other open source projects like Bochs. If you want the box mostly for gaming or something, then just wipe Vista and install Xp and start tweaking it. Vista's big and lumbering and takes a lot of resources, though it looks nice. I just think you're asking for trouble with a dual boot.

You might want to check in the bios where you say yes or no to Is your OS Plug N Play? If you say no, the bios assigns all the irqs and such, but if you say yes it lets the OS do it. Whichever way it's set, try doing it the other way. Since the advent of virtualized IRQs we mostly have forgotten the pain of them, but once and while they still rear their heads! :^)

There are several things which could be going on here. First, I've seen dodgy RAM many times cause problems which weren't immediately visible or obvious, so yes, it could be a RAM problem. Last December I had to have Corsair replace two modules which began to show errors after three years of stellar service. I was experiencing some of the same symptoms you describe. Definitely check your RAM with memtest or similar. Adding 1GB of RAM will certainly make your system feel better, but 512 MB is adequate for most things. With the cost of RAM much better at the moment it might be a good idea. You also might consider getting two 512 modules so you can run in dual channel mode (if your board supports it). I recently installed a version of ZoneAlarm for a friend on a brand new Dual Core machine running XP Pro. Guess what the machine started to do? It started to reboot just as you describe. Most annoying. I solved it by removing Zone Alarm Pro 7 and telling ZA they'd lost a customer (not that they care). So, that behaviour could be cuased by RAM that is going bad, any installed software that conflicts at a basic level like firewall software, or another program or service that starts when Windows starts which now conflicts somehow (that's why nemesis19 suggested turning off all startup progs in msconfig). You robably don't want to turn off all startup progs and services, but many are unnecessary llike java's update service, adobe's always resident junk, Nero's drive check, and stuff like that, so turn that stuff off anyway. Leave essential services, though.

Is there some reason you can't do a reinstall? Seriously, if you add up the time you've already spent, I'm certain it will add up to more than a few hours. My best advice is situations like these is to backup all your data, email, favorites, etc. on another partition or CD/DVD, wipe the partition and reinstall, defrag, install all your basic apps and configure your net connections, etc. defrag again, move the pagefile to another partition, Clean out System Restore and then set a new restore point, turn off hibernation temporarily, shut down and make an image of your system/programs partition. Store it on another partition and copy it to a DVD. Now should this ever happen again, you'll have a known good and working setup which you can slap onto the active partition in ten minutes and you'll be up and running. You'll save yourself hours of painful work and agro. In fact, it will put a smile on your face. I've seen it many times since I started doing this for clients many years ago. Even it you manage to get your system seemingly working properly, there will always be the nagging doubt. With an image you'll never have that doubt, and that is worth the effort! :^) If for some reason you can't reinstall, I can only sympathize. It seems like you've taken all the right steps so far and as ilko_t mentioned you very well may have a rootkit. If you do, even the rootkit revealers out there are limited in what they can do and you may not be able to fully implement them. All the more reason to do a fresh format and install.

If you're running Ultimate, you'll be offered various language packs during update. I did this for a client recently who wanted both German and English. The English was the base version, so I added the offered German language pack. I also added the German MUI for her Office 2007. Now half the installers appears in German and some of the dialog boxes as well. An example is the Sounds applet in Control panel. It is in English, but when you hit the Recording tab it plainly says, "Mikrofon vorderseite" and "Mikrofon Boost" after the checkboxs! Go figure. The language thing is a nice idea, but they clearly haven't worked out all the bugs yet. If it bothers you, then do a system restore to an earlier point until it goes away. And then be careful not to install any language packs.

I know this isn't a direct solution to your problem, but QuickTime Alternative is free and plays all mov files flawlessly. It just installs the correct codecs and used Media Player Classic. It is much lighter and nimbler, and most likely would solve your problem. In situations like yours, I'm most apt to reset to a known good image, or failing that, just doing a complete new install. It takes less time than trying to track down the culprit which may be an errant dll or some such. Think of all the time you've spent on disk scans, etc, to no avail. Well, yes, you've gained some experience doing that I've done that too, but there comes a time when you realize your time will be better spent doing a clean install. There are so many intervening factors that have occurred since you first posted this a year and a half ago or so that it's not really worth the time to diagnose at this point.

Try your BIOS for a manual setting of the vCore. Notch it down just a little bit and then check the actual frequency. If your board or BIOS isn't equipped, there's not much more you can do.

I opt for Vopt8. It is fast, reliable and scheduleable. The program is lite and nimble and if you like to watch it provides a good show! :^) It's made by Golden Bow, one of the oldest and best in the business. Oh, and it's built for Vista.

He's just troll bait. Average users, as Nuhi noted, would never even think of attempting to customize or otherwise even do a reinstall, much less modify or integrate anything. What silly drivel. If you screw it up you can always revert to your original install media, or better yet, make an image and restore it. The average user won't do that either. Face it. nLite and vLite is for those of us that want to us it. It's not made for those who don't. You can quote me on that!!! lol :^)

@prathapml - As far as I can determine, the setup in O2k7 does not allow for the removal or different placement of the LIS. removal only occurs if Office is not installed for some reason. The MSOcache is created on the same drive and the installation path of the main program. This seems to be by design. Sigh. In 2003 there was a tool in the Office Resource Kit called LISTool.exe which allowed changing the location of the the LIS or it's removal. More specifically, it dealt with the approriate registry entries. I'm willin gto bet it will work on 2007, though it doesn't appear to be included in the the Resource Kit. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ork2003/...1402361033.aspx

Verdana is the easiest on the eyes that I know of.

Just an observation: 38dBa is quite loud, at least to me. I've installed 12cm fans that rate at ~10dBa and they are whisper quiet. I had to disconnect the alarm in PC Probe (it was an ASUS board) because the fan speed was always below the allowed threshold! The last few machines I've built used Antec cases which come with a 3-position switch for the rear 12cm fan. This seems like it might be a good solution for you (the fan, not the case!! lol , though the NSK6500 case is a good one). The low position is extremely quiet, but if you need to move more air you can crank it up a notch or two. The other solution is to use an inline voltage regulator and snake that outside the case where you can get to it. That way you can use a higher rpm fan but reduce the voltage and thus the rpms and noise to acceptable levels.

This is what I'd do. Either use something like miniPE or ERD Commander or a boot disk you make yourself with Bart's PE, and boot to it and then, if you don't have a second partition, I'd create one where you can move your data to. Another thing you can do to preserve your data is to remove the disk from the bottom of your laptop and slave it to another machine. I use an IDE/SATA to USB gizmo and it comes in really handy - about $15. Then you can copy off the data you want to preserve. Here's a hint. Don't upgrade. yeah, it works,...sort of, but in the end it is riskier and is more trouble than it's worth. You need to do a clean install as already noted. Get your data off the disk and then reformat it, partition it so you have one partition where you keep you OS and installed programs - make that say 15-25GB max. I try to make it just about double what the total installation is with a squidge more room. The rest is for your data. This is where you'll put your favorites, My Documents, and your email files, and anything else which you want to safeguard. This is also where your gooing to put your paging file. Now, do a quick format (takes just a few seconds) and install XP Pro clean. Defrag, do your updates, clean out all the temp files and consider doing a registry cleaning with jv16PowerTools, defrag again. Move pagefile.sys to D: and reboot. Now install your programs. Now make a backup image and save it in a folder called Backup on D:. You can use True Image, Ghost, Drive Image, or somethin like BootIt NG ( my preferred one). Never again will you be in this predicament! :^)