macgyvr
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Posts posted by macgyvr
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Just an update to this. I was on here with a different XP problem and noticed I'd not updated this topic.
Regarding Microsoft being difficult to contact, I finally got them on the phone and they refused to help, saying they don't offer any help at all unless the person calling installed Windows themselves. So seeing that virtually everybody buys a PC with Windows already installed, they were basically refusing help to almost everyone.
This was a couple of years ago now, so they may have changed.
The problem with Media Player went away with one of their updates. Of course it would have been resolved a lot sooner if they'd been listening to people who reported the issue. It was a serius issue for me at the time as I'm a musician and I burn CDs using a PC.
Regarding not being able to print from my word processor, this option disappeared during one of the various so-called `upgrades' of Windows. I use WordPerfect 5.1, which continues to be far better than anything Microsoft can produce, and the printer files for it ceased to be compatible with Windows a long time ago. So yes, the problem is the WordPerfect files, but only because Microsoft removed support for them - which is of course why so many other software companies disappeared in the first place; because they were fool enogh to let Microsoft establish Windows as the standard platform when Microsoft wouldn't release the full code so their own applications would run less problematically than other people's.
Sorry for not coming back with an update for all of this. I was really in the thick of it with problem after problem at the time.
You're responding today to a thread from 3 years ago???? XP shouldn't even be in the mix anymore. We're already past Vista and on to Windows 7.
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Honestly, I don't get it...
I was a huge fan of the "Classic" start menu but I navigate this new menu the exact same way except that the menu's dont cascade.
What am I missing here?
Same here, I know I will not downgrade to Windows 7 if the classic start menu is not there. I hate how microsoft changes everything around just to make it harder for the end user.
Windows 7 is by far the easiest operating system to learn they have ever come out with. I have been showing it to some of my older customers and they just "get it"...when they couldn't with Windows XP. The things people here are calling "eye candy" are far more than that. Sometimes you just have to pull your head outta your a** to see that not everything Microsoft does is bad.
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Honestly, I don't get it...
I was a huge fan of the "Classic" start menu but I navigate this new menu the exact same way except that the menu's dont cascade.
What am I missing here?
Where are you seeing menus that don't cascade? They cascade exactly as they did in XP, except they are contained in a box with scrolling.
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Speaking as an old timer, who literally has been supporting Windows since 2.0, Microsoft's move away from hierarchical menu systems is a huge mistake. You see this philosophy in all new Microsoft products except the ones geared towards professionals (Exchange, SQL, Etc). The way Office 2007 has a "ribbon bar" and Windows 7's UI - these are not productive interfaces, they are fluff, they are bloat and they cripple the product. They deter you from experimenting, from looking around and finding out what you can do - from learning.
For instance, the advantage of the "classic" start menu; Say I installed Nero on my PC a few months ago and now I want to make a audio CD from an tape for the first time. I forgot the name of the program that Nero uses for this (Nero SoundTrax). A simple click in Start/Programs/Nero and I can see all the Nero products that were installed. This takes less than 5 seconds to do, and I don't have to type anything. In addition, the classic start menu is great just to view what products you have installed, and helps with cleaning out clutter later. From an IT perspective, a quick support call from someone wanting to know how to start Outlook, "Click Start/Programs/Microsoft Office/Outlook". In less than 15 seconds I have a user starting Outlook - no remote desktop necessary, no confused users - quick, simple, efficient.
I could go on and on about the classic start menu's value in the Windows OS. But it won't make a difference, Microsoft seldom listens to their support professionals when it comes to the desktop. They don't go outside of their comfort zone and mainly use marketing (who cater to fanboys) to make the decisions. It gets worse every year, and seriously p***es me off. If I wanted a Mac I'd buy a Mac, it's a better OS on the whole than Windows anyhow.
The search feature in Vista/7 is another point of contention. I hate the index service with the passion of a thousand suns. Ever wonder why Mac's don't have a Hard Drive Activity LED? It's because their users would be saying WTF is my hard drive doing? Well, I have a Hard Drive LED, and I LIKE knowing when my servers and workstations are accessing my HDD, it's a good indicator of malware and viruses. If I see my HDD LED going crazy I immediately assume the worst - and for good reason. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft made a deal to eliminate the HDD LED from all desktop OS's in the future.
I keep my data organized in directories, as any computer user should get used to doing. In previous Windows versions; If I want to find an MP3 file, I right-click my MP3 folder and search for a keyword. If I want to find the INF file my monitor is using, I right-click the Windows/INF folder and search all *inf files that contain the string "viewsonic". It's simple, efficient, and does not require the index service.
These are examples of things Microsoft has previously done "right" and removed from the latest Windows versions. For me, these things were vital, they were what separated Windows from the other OS's. Google Desktop and OSX have caused Microsoft to do stupid things - and the way they nerf the advanced power-user tools from the OS is nothing short of inexcusable.
I don't understand what you mean about a move away from a hierarchical menu. The menu is EXACTLY the same as before, except they keep it contained in a box by scrolling it. There is ABSOLUTELY no other difference in the layout of the menu system.
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could someone please rate all microsoft os from best to worse from these please?
xp home
xp professional
xp media centre
server 2003
thanks
Throw Home out of the running...it's just a dumbed down version of Pro.
Media Center is XP with the Media Center add-on, nothing more.
Server 2003 should not be compared to a desktop operating system at all. It's apples and oranges.
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Why is there such a debate over this? If you don't want to upgrade, don't. The web will move on without you. Keep using whatever browser you prefer until it won't work anymore. All this discussion of the details is a waste of time. The sites that have decided not to support ancient browsers anymore aren't going to change their mind because you think they should, so move forward or stay behind.
QFT. This applies to not only browser but OS wars. However, there is still the issue that older code made to work with IE6 and worked perfectly, does not work with newer browsers. For example, IE6 properly renders CSS 1.0 and no browsers since have been able to do so. So, at least, in my mind, IE6 has some development use.
Why develop for an outdated browser using an outdated standard?
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Why is there such a debate over this? If you don't want to upgrade, don't. The web will move on without you. Keep using whatever browser you prefer until it won't work anymore. All this discussion of the details is a waste of time. The sites that have decided not to support ancient browsers anymore aren't going to change their mind because you think they should, so move forward or stay behind.
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I think what the OP is saying is that he took the drive out of the computer and attached it to a different computer to run MBAM. On systems where MBAM will not run, this is a great solution, but it only takes you so far. It will usually take off a chunk of the offending material, but then you MUST put the drive back in the original system and run MBAM again natively. Otherwise, you are not removing everything.
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Malwarebyte's will remove it completely with no other intervention needed. I've done about 40 of them in the last 6 months. I run a computer repair shop.
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If there was no windows.old folder, then you definitely did NOT do an upgrade. You did a clean install or formatted the partition when that screen was presented.
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You either have an incorrect driver,
An incorrect driver does NOT raise the temps over 85 °C (192 °F). This is caused by bad hardware, a broken fan is most likely.
Not true. A driver could put the video into overdrive and easily drive the temperature to those levels. Been there.
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You either have an incorrect driver, a bad fan (there is most likely more than one), or a clog in the cooling channel at some point, or a combination of all.
Also, today's laptops MUST be used on a flat surface...not on carpet or a bed, and even if it is on your lap, you have to be sure that your leg doesn't block the fan on the bottom if there is one. Even the rubber feet on the bottom of a laptop are critical these days because on a flat surface, the feet raise the laptop enough for airflow. If the feet are missing, the laptop drops down and the airflow is dramatically reduced.
It's true that changing the OS doesn't have a DIRECT effect, but unless the manufacturer of the laptop provides exact drivers for the OS you loaded, you may be running a driver that pushes your hardware, especially video, harder than it is designed to run. If you let Windows 7 pick it's own drivers, you are most likely in this boat.
I recommend you reload the laptop back to it's factory OS and settings using the recovery disks and THEN see if the problem is still there. I'm betting it won't be.
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Instead of going back to the now ancient XP, why not move up to the Windows 7 release candidate? You most likely won't encounter the driver problems, and it's stable as a rock.
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I have two questions on services.
1 - If a service is set to Manual and is never running is there any performance increase if the service is Disabled instead of leaving it on Manual?
2 - If a service is set to Manual and is always running is there any performance increase if the service is Automatic instead of leaving it on Manual?
Thank
No, and no.
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This PC had a legit copy of Windows XP (Though the hard drive it resided on pooped out) I dont have the CD for it, but I did have a Windows 98 SE CD lieing around.
As for Vista, this computer is way too slow. The only thing in it the meets the minimum requirements is the CPU. I'm waiting until Vista matures and Microsoft combs out the really bad security holes/stability issues and then when that happens I'll build a PC meeting the recomended requirements. I've helped people out with their Windows Vista computers. Windows Vista does some pretty weird things.
I'm pretty sure the computer has no viruses. I think those third party patches I installed made Windows 2k freak out to be honest. That and the second time I think it caused stability issues with Windows 98 se being on the same drive (Which had nothing to do with the third party patches, just the different things mightve confused things)
And I looked on newegg, but I just saw copies of Windows XP intended for a classroom ($200-300 CDN) Which is just nuts, since I dont need a classroom license. Just for my home PC.
Again, thanks for your help. I think there's no point trying to fix that thing for now.
If your computer had a legit copy of XP on it, then it still has a legit license for XP. You don't need to buy another one. You should have a COA sticker on the case. Call the manufacturer and tell them you need a recovery disk for the machine. They usually cost about $30 to have them sent, maybe less. If that doesn't work, you can install any copy of Windows XP, even if the key isn't valid. When you go to activate, use the "change key" option to enter the key on the COA sticker (you cannot use it to install). You'll have to call Microsoft, but the process is painless and only takes about 10 minutes. They will either give you a new key, or activate the existing one on the COA.
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Can you provide the exact text of the message you are getting? I don't know of any message in Windows that will just pop up and tell you that you have "an unchecked hibernation"...it sounds like you may be misreading it.
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You don't need ANY special tool to copy a 6gb file. Just drag and drop with Windows Explorer. It works just fine. I keep hundreds of DVD rips on my drive and move them around all the time.
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Hi Everyone,
I have a friend with Windows Home Edition SP3 , on his Sony computer. He is infected by MS antispyware 2009 , and a pop up window appeared telling him he had to restart his computer ,because he had just installed new hard- ware and the software with the new hard ware wouldn't work right unless the computer was rebooted. But he never had installed new hard ware , but he went ahead and restarted because he thought a restart my remove the MS antispyware 2009 pop ups.
But after restarting he was unable to log on his user settings. After Windows rebooted , his log on screen appeared and when he clicked on his "Log On Icon" his desktop wall paper would appear but no desktop icons. But then the log on process stopped and Windows starting logging him off. And no matter how many times he restarted, and tried to log on , the result was the same , logging on went immediately to log off.
I tried to go to the boot menu , by holding down F8 during the restart process , but the boot menu screen would appear for just a second and the restart process continued to boot into Windows. He had a Norton Anti-virus CD , which I inserted and restarted and his system read the Norton disc. After booting to the Norton CD , I ran a scan which only scanned the MBR and it said that the MBR was clean. And I couldn't see how to boot to Safe mode on his system . I tried holding down either F11 or F12 , but in neither case did the option to boot to Safe Mode appear.
Or what options do I have since MS antispyware 2009 prevents anyone from logging on the computer?
Feedback will be appreciated !
Thanks.
Actually, I've been dealing with this for customers for several days, and the "Antispyware 2009" isn't the reason for the logging off right after logging in...rather something that tried to FIX the problem has caused it. I can definitely say that AdAware is one tool that will cause this problem (through no fault of its own) by trying to remove another problem. Basically, you have a file ... userinit.exe ... that has been altered or removed entirely from the computer. A repair tool may have removed it because it was infected, and you will need to replace it if so, and at the same time, the entry for this file may have been altered in the registry, and that will need to fixed too.
First, boot on an XP disc and go into the recovery console. There, look in c:\windows\system32 for userinit.exe. If the file is there, copy it to wsaupdater.exe (same location). If the file is NOT there, you will need to get it from the windows cd using the Expand command (you can google how to do this).
Now, restart. At this point, you should be able to log in...but you're not done yet.
Go into regedit, to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. Look for a key called userinit. The value should be c:\windows\system32\userinit.exe (the path might change depending on how you installed windows). If the value is not correct, fix it.
Restart...install Anti-Malware from www.malwarebytes.org and do a "quick scan"....this will remove any other nasties from your system. You should also scan with your current, updated antivirus program (yes, scan with both). Once that is done, you should be fine.
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You will have to create a 'Autounattend.xml' and put it in the root of your disk.
You can set it in your 'Autounattend.xml'
in: <settings pass="oobeSystem">
put:
<FolderLocations>
<ProfilesDirectory>D:\UserData</ProfilesDirectory>
</FolderLocations>
So all userprofiles will be created in D partition in this example.
Hope this helps you, DJPro
Thank you so much for your reply DJPro but i don't wanna download and use WAIK or anyother program like this.
As i said at the begining i really dont wanna struggle with lots of codes etc.. I am just a beginner in this unattended installation stuff and i just want my Vista Installation create "Users" folders in "D:\Users" thats all.
Where should i put this code in my Vista Installation DVD, which files i have to create etc etc....??
Can you tell me what i have to do step by step?
Looks to me like he did!
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I don't know why so many people are having an issue with this. I used Nlite to integrate SP3 and in the "RunOnce" section I have the following in this order:
c:\IE7-WindowsXP-x86-enu.exe /quiet /norestart
c:\wmp11-windowsxp-x86-enu.exe /Q
Place the two files listed above in the $OEM$/$1 folder and you're good to go. I've used it on half a dozen machines, it works perfectly.
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XP Home on an HP laptop has two updates it installs every time the owner shuts it down. It's been fully updated with Microsoft Update and AutoPatcher. Shipped with SP2 and has had SP3 installed. It doesn't say what updates they are, just that there are two.
Where do I apply the hammer, tongs and blowtorch to convince it to stop it with these two updates it wants to do every time it's shut down? (Doesn't do it on Restart, only shut down.)
1. Download and reinstall version 6 of the Windows Update ActiveX control. To do this, follow these steps:
a. Click the following link to download the package: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
b. Save the package to the desktop, and then extract the files to a temp folder.
c. Open the temp folder, right-click Wusetup.inf, and then click Install.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Visit the Windows Update Web site or the Microsoft Update Web site. If the problem is still not resolved, follow these steps:
a. Click Start, click Run, type explorer, and then click OK.
b. Locate and then double-click the %windir%\System32 folder. Note %windir% represents the path of the Windows system folder. Typically, this path is C:\Windows.
c. Delete the following files:
• Cdm.dll
• Iuengine.dll
• Wuapi.dll
• Wuauclt.exe
• Wuauclt1.exe
• Wuaucpl.cpl
• Wuaueng.dll
• Wuaueng1.dll
• Wucltui.dll
• Wups.dll
• Wuweb.dll
d. Repeat steps 1 and 2.
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That is exactly what should have happened. There isn't a specific number of times you can install. It is dependent upon the hardware. Think about it this way. As far as that license key is concerned, you changed ALL the hardware. If only one or two components change, you don't have to call, but if the motherboard or certain other combinations change, you do. In this case, EVERYTHING changed, so you had to call.
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So what happened? That was five days ago!
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Win XP stuck after log in
in Windows XP
Posted
If Windows is hanging AND the antivirus software is hanging, even from a bootable disk, you've got a hardware problem. Most likely faulty RAM.