Wednesday, November 28, 2007

WINDOWS TIPS 3

Identify Faulty Device Drivers
3/2/05






Google

















If you are having problems with lockups, blue screens, or can only get to safe mode,
often the problem is due to a faulty device driver.

One way to help identify them is through the use of the Verfier program

Start / Run / Verifier
Keep the default of Create Standard Settings
Select the type of drivers you want to confirm
A list of drivers to be verified on the next boot will be shown.
Reboot
If your computer stops with a blue screen, you should get an error message with the problem driver
To turn off the Verifier, run verifier /reset

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Viewing Installed Drivers
Added 3/2/05

If you want to see a list of installed drivers, you can run the driverquery program
There are a lot of available switches to view different types of information.
On use can be to export to a CSV file for viewing in Excel
An example would then be:

Driverquery /v /fo csv > drivers.csv


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Operation Was Attempted on Something That Is Not a Socket Error
Added 11/19/04

If you get this error when you try and renew your IP address,
Likely the winsock2 registry entries are corrupted.

The basic steps to fix this are:

Remove the old registry entries - Download Reg file
Import the correct registry entries - Download Reg file
Reboot the computer

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Opening Ports or Adding Allowed Programs with SP2's Firewall
Added 9/30/04

Click on Start / Run
Enter in firewall.cpl
Click on the Exceptions tab
Adding a Port for Internet Access:

Click on the Add Port button
Name it whatever you want
Enter in the ports you want to open
Adding a Program for Internet Access

Click on Add Program... button
A list of all installed programs will be displayed
Highlight the one you want to include for Internet access
Click on the OK button

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Autoexec.nt or Config.nt Errors
Added 9/17/04

If you are getting errors similar to:
The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

Try copying the file from \windows\repair directory to the one that is in the \windows\system32 directory.


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Common Control Panel Applets
Added 9/17/04

The follow are some common Control Panel Applets that are located in the \windows\system32 directory.
If you find yourself using any of these frequently, then you can simply make shortcuts to them on your desktop.

appwiz.cpl Add/Remove Programs
desk.cpl Display Properties
firewall.cpl Firewall Settings
inetcpl.cpl Internet Options
mmsys.cpl Sound and Audio
ncpa.cpl Network Connections
nusrmgr.cpl User Accounts
powercfg.cpl Power Options
sysdm.cpl System Properties
wscui.cpl Security Center
wuaucpl.cpl Automatic Updates Configuration


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Windows Explorer Opens Search Companion Rather than the Folder
If the Windows Explorer opens up the Search Companion rather than opening up the actual folder, the default setting for opening a folder is changed.

To correct this:

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Directory \ shell and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Drive \ shell]
Edit the default value to be explorer or none
Download reg file


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Running SFC without a CD ROM
Added 6/9/04

If you run sfc /scannow and get prompted to insert a CD,
there are a couple of changes you might need to make.

Slipstream your copy of WindowsXP with the latest service pack you have applied.
For detailed unstructions on how to do this see:
SlipStreaming a Service Pack into Windows XP

Once these files are on your hard drive, you can simply make a few registry changes to point to those locations.

Start Regedit

Go to the follow locations and change the path to wherever you copied the source files.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\ServicePackSourcePath
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath
the last one might not be necessary
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SourcePath


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Guest Only Network Access
Added 4/11/04

If you try and connect to an XP computer and are shown a logins screen with only the computername/Guest,
You may need to change one of the Local Security Policies:

Got to Control Panel - Administrative Tools
Go to Local Policies - Security Options
Check teh Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts
Set it to Classic - local users authenticate as themselves

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Not Displaying Previous Network Share Shortcuts
Added 3/26/04

By default, when you go to Network Places, it will scan and show shortcuts to previous network shares.
To turn this off and remove any current shortcuts

Open up the Windows Explorer
Go to Tools / Folder Options / View
The top section should be Files and Folders
Uncheck Automatically search for network folders and printers
Then go into Network Neighborhood Select all the previous netowork connections Delete them
Next time you look at the Network Neighborhood, they should not repopulate

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Hiding a XP Computer from Network Neighborhood
Added 3/26/04

If you want to share files from a XP computer,
yet want to remove it from showing up in the Network Neighborhood,

Run net config server /hidden:yes


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Easy Way to Share Multiple Folders
Added 3/26/04

If you need to share multiple folders, running the program SHRPUBW.EXE will bring up a simple dialog box to let you:

Browse to the folder you want to share
Enter in a Share name
Ender in a Share description
Set permissions. Several choices are available
Restart the process from within the same program

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System32 Folder Opens When Logging On
Added 3/26/04

If the System32 folder shows on the desktop, there may be an invalid entry in the Registry

Start Regedit
Go to both:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Double check that the values do not have incorrect, incomplete, or blank entries

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Not Viewing Zip Files as Folders
Added 3/4/04

If you want to turn of WindowsXP showing Zip files as folders,
just run:

regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll


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Setting Capslock, Numlock, Scroll Lock
Added 3/4/04

If you want to set the startup state for any or all of these keys,
you just need to edit the registry.

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Keyboard
Open InitialKeyboardIndicators
Change the value to one of the following numbers
0 - All Keys off
1 - Caps Lock on
2 - Num Lock on
4 - Scroll Lock on
For multiple keys, add their values:
3 - Caps Lock and Num Lock on
5 - Caps Lock and Scroll Lock on
6 - Num Lock and Scroll Lock on
7 - Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock on
Log off and back on again

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