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ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER(0×80070057) on upgrading Vista to Service Pack 2

Sep 9

Posted by Admin in Troubleshooting, Windows Vista | No Comments


Security is a key concern in today’s computing environment. With multiple vulnerabilities identified in Microsoft Vista and XP Operating Systems in past few months, it is impreative for users to ensure that all updates and Service Packs are installed on their machines.

The Error_Invalid_Parameter (0×80070057),  primarily happens due to a conflict with old Application Compatibility Update for Windows Vista & Windows 2008. You can resolve this by following either of the 2 steps mentioned below. Please note that you may also get another error “One or more drivers may be incompatible. The driver listed below might be incompatible with Vista Service Pack 2. Check to see if a solution is available, and then restart the installation after the problem is resolved”

STEP 1: Install the latest update for Application Compatibility for Windows Vista and Windows 2008 and then install Service Pack 2.

STEP 2: Uninstall the Application Compatibility Update for Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 2008, install Service Pack 2 and then install the latest update for Application Compatibility. To uninstall the update, follow the steps below:

  1. Click on “Start” and then click on “Control Panel”
  2. Under “Programs” section, click “Uninstall a Program”
  3. In the Task List in the navigation pane, click on “View installed Updates”
  4. Now click on “Update for Microsoft Windows (KB 972036)” and then click on “Uninstall”
  5. Click on “Yes” when prompted for confirmation
  6. Restart the computer when you are prompted for it.
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Tags: 0x80070057, 2, Driver, Error_Invalid_Parameter, incompatible, Microsoft, Pack, Service, Vista, windows

Vista Error after installing Service Pack 1: 0×800410003

Aug 31

Posted by Admin in Troubleshooting, Windows Vista | No Comments


Microsoft Windows Vista may throw an error right after installing Vista Service Pack 1. This is usually a blue screen error with error code 0×800410003. If you encounter this error after installing SP1 on Vista, follow the steps below:

  1. Restart the computer
  2. While the computer is booting, tap the “F8” key to get the startup options screen
  3. On this screen, select “Safe Mode with Command Prompt“. Please note that your mouse would not function on this option screen. To select this option, use the arrow keys on the keyboard to select the option and press “Enter” once the option is highlighted.
  4. You will have to provide an “Administrator” password to login now.
  5. This will take you to a command prompt window with a blinking cursor. On this screen, type “net stop winmgmt” and press the “Enter” key
  6. Now type “DEL c:\Windows\System32\wbem\Repository\*.*” and hit “Enter“
  7. Restart the computer again

This should resolve the Blue Screen issue on your computer.

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Tags: 0x800410003, Blue Screen, Error, Microsoft, Service Pack 1, SP1, Vista, windows

Windows XP does not start after installing Windows Vista as a dual boot option

Aug 17

Posted by Admin in Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments


You may be unable to log into Windows XP after installing Windows Vista and making your computer a dual OS / dual boot machine. This primarliy happens when Windows Vista is installed in unallocated space on the hard drive that existed in front of the Windows XP partition. To resolve this issue, follow the steps below:

(Please note that you will need administrative rights on your login to perform these steps.)

  1. Boot the computer into Windows Vista
  2. Right click on the “Start” button and on the pop up menu, click on “Explore“
  3. Click on ”Organize” option and then on the drop down menu, click on “Folder and Search Options“
  4. Click on the “View” tab
  5. In the advanced settings area, click “Show hidden files and folders“. Click on the checkbox next to “Hide extension for known file types” to uncheck it and then click on “Hide protected sytem files (Recommended)” to uncheck it. Click “yes” to confirm that you want to display operating system protected files and then click on “OK”
  6. Locate the Windows XP drive by using the “Computer” panel browsing (Start–>Computer)
  7. Now locate “boot.ini” file. Right click on it and click on “properties” on the pop up menu
  8. On the boot.ini properties window, click on Security tab and then click on “Advanced“
  9. Click on the “Owner” tab and then click on “edit“. If you get a prompt to enter administrator password, type your password to continue to the next step.
  10. In the change owner list, Click your alias or leave the default option selected. Now click on “OK” 4 times.
  11. Now right click on boot.ini file again and click on “Edit” on the pop up menu
  12. On this window, modify the Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) path to the correct Windows XP partition

These steps will solve your issues with Windows XP booting and allow you to enjoy both the operating systems compleltely.

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Tags: boot, dual, Error, issue, Microsoft, Vista, windows, XP

Windows Update Error 0×80073712

Aug 13

Posted by Admin in Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments


Microsoft has released 2 major security loophole fixes in past 2 months. This leads us to believe that the security risk in our daily computing life is increasing every day. To ensure that our computer remains safe from these unwanted threats, all of us want to keep our computer updated with latest updates from Microsoft. Unfortunately, windows updates are not 100% successful everytime on all the machines in the world. This is one of the most common error that is thrown to users who attempt to run Windows update manually or get this message after they restart the computer post automatic updates has finished installing the updates. To resolve this issue, follow the steps below:

  1. Browse to Windows Folder. This is usually c:\Windows
  2. Double click on the winsxs folder
  3. Locate the file pending.xml and rename it to pending.old
  4. Restart the computer and try installing the updates again

In most cases, during the rename process, you may get “Access Denied” message. If this happens, follow the steps below:

  1. Right Click on pending.xml
  2. On the pop up menu, click on Properties
  3. On the Properties window, click on Security tab
  4. On the Security tab, click on Advanced and then click on Owner tab
  5. In the Name list, click on “Administrator” or click on the “Administrators Group” and then click on OK.
  6. Click on “Add”
  7. On the “Enter the object names to select (examples) list”, type Everyone
  8. Click on OK
  9. In the “Group or Username list”, click on “Full Control”
  10. Click on OK

After the above steps, you will be able to rename the file “pending.xml”

I hope this will allow you to resolve this issue, if it ever occurs on your computer. Keep your computer updated & safe.

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Tags: Error, install, Microsoft, update, windows

Remove Content Advisor password from Internet Explorer

Aug 13

Posted by Admin in Troubleshooting, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments


Content Advisor option in Internet Explorer can be a boon and a big problem at the same time. In my last post, I mentioned how to set this up. This post is about getting rid of it. Though it can be misused, but this is purely for the purpose of administrators.

If you remember the password and want to remove the content advisor password, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the internet explorer window
  2. Click on “Tools” and from the drop down menu, click on “Internet Options“
  3. On the Internet Options window, click on “Content” tab
  4. Click on “Disable” button. It will prompt you for the password. Please enter the existing password and click on “OK“

If you intend to change the password, on the “Content Advisor” window, click on “General” tab and then click on “Change password“. You will be prompted to enter existing password and new password.

 

If you have forgotten the password, you can either use the “Hint” that Content Advisor would have prompted you to enter. If this doesn’t work or if you did not set up a hint, the process is a little more complex. You will have to play with Windows Registry to fix this. Follow the steps below to get rid of the Content Advisor password if you don’t remember the password:

  1. Click on “Start” button and on the start menu, click on “Run”. If you are using Windows Vista, type “Run” in the Search box and click on the RUN option after the search is complete.
  2. On the run box, please type “Regedit” and click on “ok”
  3. This will launch the registry editor window of Windows
  4. On the left pane of this window, you will see some entries with a “+” sign before them
  5. On this left pane, locate & click on the + sign next to “HKEY_LOCAL_Machine”
  6. On the expanded list, locate & click on the + sign next to “Software”
  7. On the next expanded list, locate & click on the + sign next to “Microsoft”
  8. On the next expanded list, locate & click on the + sign next to “Windows”
  9. On the next expanded list, locate & click on the + sign next to “Current Version”
  10. On the next expanded list, locate & click on the + sign next to “Policies”
  11. Under Policies tree, you will see a folder “Ratings”. Click on it.
  12. On the right pane of this window, you will see a key. Right click on the key and on the pop up menu, click on “Delete”
  13. Exit the registry editor window.

You have successfully deleted the password for Content Advisor. Now restart the comptuer and launch Internet Explorer again. Go back to “Tools”–>”Internet Options”–> “Content”–> “Disable”. It will prompt you to enter the password. Do not enter anything and click on “OK”.

This will resolve all your issues with Content Advisor feature in Internet Explorer.

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Tags: advisor, content, explorer, IE, internet, Microsoft, password, remove

Restrict web access for kids: Internet Explorer

Aug 13

Posted by Admin in Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments


With internet becoming the backbone for education, a new problem has emerged in every home with Kids. How to restrict access to explicit content for kids? Microsoft has addressed this concern through a tool in Internet Explorer called “Content Advisor”. As the name suggests, it filters sites that contain content that you have specified and does not allow user to access such sites unless they have a password to allow access.

You can set this up very easily. Just follow the simple steps listed below to activate this on your computer:

  1. On the Internet Explorer window, Click on “Tools” and on the drop down menu, click on “Internet Options“
  2. On the Internet Options window, click on “Content” tab and then click on the “Enable” button
  3. On the “Ratings” tab on the next window, you will see a host of details that content advisor can work on to block any webpage access. There is a bar on this page, which is set to “None” which means no exception. You can move the bar to the right to decrease the level of restriction.

There is another tab “Approved Sites” on the Content Advisor window, that allows you to enter a list of websites that will be viewable irrespective of the type of content or rating of the website.

There is another tab called “General”. On this tab, you can see the following options:

a. Users can see websites that have no rating: This essentially means that if a website that is being accessed has no rating, it should be made visible. For details of rating system, click on the buttons–”Find Rating systems” or “rating systems”.
b. Supervisor can type a password to allow users to view restricted content: This allows users to gain unrestricted access for a specific session of Internet Explorer. If you close IE and reopen it again, the security will prompt for a password again. In case you select this option (Selected by default since administrators may want to retain access to restricted sites.)If a restricted site is accessed, user will get a prompt to enter a password. If incorrect password is provided, it will restrict the page view.
To create a password, click on the “create password” button and enter the password on both the boxes.

 Please ensure that the password is kept safe. Else you will not be able to get access to restricted sites yourselves.

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Tags: access, advisor, content, IE, internet, Microsoft, password, restrict

Windows Vista: Unable to Rename Network Connection

Aug 13

Posted by Admin in Windows Vista | No Comments

Windows vista has a peculiar issue which surfaces only after you change hardware. It retains information about older hardware even when it does not exist. This could result in a problem in giving a name to your network connection, since it detects an old connection with the same name, but you won’t see anything on the network connections window. To fix this, follow the steps below:

  1. Launch “Command Prompt” with Administrator rights. To launch this, click on “Start” –> “All Programs“–> ”Accessories” and right click on “Command Prompt”. On the pop up menu, click on “Run as Administrator”
  2. On the command prompt window, type “SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1“, without the quotes
  3. It will take you back to the prompt
  4. Now type “START DEVMGMT.MSC“. This will launch a familiar “Device Manager” screen.
  5. On Device Manager window, click on “View” and select “View hidden devices“

Now look for network adaptors that you don’t have on your computer and remove them from the list.

Once you delete the required entries and close out of all the windows, you should be able to rename the network connections in Microsoft Windows Vista.

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