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Hassle free upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7

Oct 12

Posted by Admin in Operating System, Windows 7, Windows XP | No Comments


While the Windows XP users were left wandering by Microsoft through their product upgrade path for Windows 7, luckily there are others outside who understand the plight of end users. Microsoft has clearly stated that Windows XP users will not be able to upgrade to Windows 7 and will have to reinstall all their existing applications to work on Windows 7.

Laplink has a multi-purpose data and application movement tool that can make your transition to Windows 7 extremely easy. It’s simple steps do not require technical assistance and an average home pc user can follow the on screen prompts to backup and transition all applications to Windows 7. The tool basically allows you to select the applications that you wish to migrate and creates a small backup for these. After upgrading to Windows 7, you need to run the utility again and boom you are done. This tool supports all major application that a home/office user may have on their machines. This tool can also be used if you are planning to buy a new PC and were wondering how data and applications will be migrated. PC Mover can move data/applications across a network, Laplink USB cable, WET (Windows Easy Transfer) cable or any other removable media that can be used on both the PCs. What’s more, it also maintains user information and access control information. You can find detailed information on this tool on Laplink website.

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Tags: 7, application, backup, data, Microsoft, transfer, Upgrade, windows, XP

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

Windows XP Error: STOP 0×000000024 or NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM

Sep 4

Posted by Admin in Troubleshooting, Windows XP | No Comments


You may encounter a blue screen stop error while starting your Windows Vista Operating System. This usually happens when the computer is unable to access booting files or the File System. If you encounter this message, follow the steps below:

  1. Restart the Computer
  2. Tap the “F8” key while the computer is restarting to get to the Startup Options screen
  3. From this options screen, use the arrow keys on the keyboard to highlight “Safe Mode” and then press “Enter” key
  4. Once you reach the desktop of your Windows XP computer, click on “Start”à “Run” and type “chkdsk c:/f” and press the “enter” key.

This will launch the disk checking wizard which will look at the Hard Drive on your computer for any bad sectors. If there are many bad sectors, you should take back-up of your data and replace the hard drive.

 

If above steps do not work, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to the “Safe Mode” as described above
  2. Double Click on “MY Computer” or click on “Start” and then click on “My Computer”.
  3. On the next screen, right click on the primary hard drive partition and on the pop-up menu, click on “Properties”.
  4. On the next screen, click on the “Tools” tab
  5. Click on “Check Now” button in the “Error Checking” box

Make sure that you check the option for “Scan and attempt recovery of bad sectors” on the Check Disk options screen. You can also select “Automatically Fix” file systems check box.

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Tags: 0x000000024, Error, Microsoft, NTFS_File_System, Stop, windows, XP

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

Microsoft Windows Home Server

Aug 21

Posted by Admin in New Technologies | No Comments


The term Server used to be associated with only corporate Information Technology setup. Microsoft has brought the capabilities of a server to home users now with their Windows Home Server (WHS). Though this was introduced over 2 years ago, not many people have adopted this wonderful technology. Microsoft has now increased its focus on marketing this product.

Some of the key features of WHS are as below:

1.       Backup & Restore

Windows Home Server makes it easy to backup your data and applications and then restore them with some simple steps. It takes image based backups that can be programmed to perform backup action every day. Since the backup is not stored locally, you can recover your computer even if the hard drive is physically damaged. The recovery feature allows users to restore specific files or complete system which provides enough flexibility and confidence to users to carry on their day to day tasks on their machines easily and without any fear of data loss.

 

2.       Networking

WHS ensures that your home network remains healthy by constantly monitoring the defined network. You can even ensure that the anti-virus software is updated on all computers on your home network. It also incorporates a firewall that you can utilize to secure information on your network. You can be rest assured that no one can access your medical files or your banking information from your computers/network.

 

3.       Ease of Storage

WHS provides a central location to users, which is accessible by all the computers on the network like a shared location. This feature allows you to create a central repository for all images, pictures, photographs, movies, etc. This will ensure that you never miss out on the location of any of your files ever again.

4.       Enhanced Storage Capacity

Instead of adding hard drive on every computer on your home network, you can simply add hard drive (internal or external) to your WHS and it can be shared by all the computers on your network. All you need to do is plug in a hard drive and Windows Home Server will take care of the rest.

5.       Supports Home Automation

Home automation relates to devices such as Digital Photo Frames, Security Systems, IP Based refrigerators, IP & Remotely Controllable Air Conditioners, etc. Windows Home Server supports all these platforms and manufacturers of these devices are now extensively working with Microsoft to provide the capability to control your home remotely from any location using WHS. Imagine restricting access to your bedroom from your office (Cool Stuff, Just hope that your kids don’t lock you out J)

6.       Anywhere, Anytime Access

WHS provides the functionality to access your files, data, etc securely, weather you are inside your home/office or outside. You can use a completely customizable website address to download and upload files to and from your computer/network. It will look like you are working on your own computer. You will have access to all applications that you have installed on your machine back home.

 

With these features, WHS is an apt device for users who have set up a small network of up to 5 PCs at their home. It will also be wise for small business owners to invest into this to ensure that their data stays secured while providing roaming access to all the data and applications. What’s more, you can download a trial version which works for 120 days (4 Months) from Microsoft.

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Tags: access, backup, Home, Microsoft, remote, restore, Security, server, WHS, windows

Intel vPro: Technology Overview

Aug 20

Posted by Admin in New Technologies | No Comments


Intel® vPro™ is the latest in technology offering from Intel. vPro based laptops and desktops are now available in the market. The big question is: What is the benefit of this new technology? Does it make a difference to stability, speed or performance of a computer? These questions will be demystified today.intel_vpro_large

vPro technology is built to enhance manageability of computers in any environment. This is a hardware based solution that allows technicians to manage/troubleshoot computers remotely, even if the computer is not booting. Yes, even if the computer is in a no boot state. This allows technicians and IT departments to take a stock of both hardware and software issues, without the need of physical intervention. Currently, remote troubleshooting is possible only if you have network/internet connectivity, which comes only if a computer is booting into the Operating System (Usually Microsoft Windows). This technology will permit technicians to look at your machine remotely, even if the computer is not going to the familiar desktop screen. vPro is Windows 7 ready and support virtualization also. It includes hardware capabilities that allow OS and application streaming also.

This technology allows technicians to access the PC even if the PC power is off, the OS is not responding/ booting, or hardware has failed. It also allows technicians to access critical system information such as Windows event logs, application logs, BIOS information, etc. This technology also equips technicians/users with capability to remotely power on a PC. It ensures that a corporate IT setup remains sanitized by comprehensive patch management, which will be possible now even if some machines are powered off.

This technology also provides programmable defense mechanisms for protection against viruses and hacking attacks. It also provides programmable triggers that can protect data theft, in case a laptop is stolen. This technology is referred as Intel Anti-Theft Technology (Intel AT). This is a optional programmable tool for laptops. It can be configured to disable access to encrypted data by deleting the encryption keys stored locally, based on some definable events/triggers. It can also disable a PC completely so that it would not boot the Operating System, even if the hard drive of the computer is replaced or reformatted.

If you are thinking that these elements are scary and could potentially translate into loss of critical information, Intel has thought through the repercussions of this technology also. Intel AT also provides simple and easy reactivation and system recovery in case the Anti Theft technology was activated considering the events as a theft. This is done in the following 2 ways:

  1. Users could provide a pass phrase and use it as a password during a special Pre-OS stage. If the user enters this password, the system can be recovered.
  2. IT departments can generate special “Recovery Tokens” which can be used as a password on the special Pre-OS stage to recover the system.

Both these methods recover the computer to full functionality with no data loss.

 The chipsets that support vPro technology are energy efficient too. These systems support an enhanced system sleep state that shuts off one of the processors when it is not needed. It supports DDR3 memory which reduces device power consumption without compromising on speed of data flow.

What if I am a Home User?

This technology is not a differentiator for home users. The only advantage that it offers to home users is in form of troubleshooting no boot issues remotely. If your technical service provider supports it, he/she will be able to resolve even your no boot issues remotely, without the need of visiting you.

 All in all, this is a technology meant for corporations. This will dramatically impact the IT infrastructure maintenance costs and uptime, both of which are critical in current economic conditions.

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Tags: BIOS, boot, chipset, Intel, performance, remote, Security, Troubleshooting, vpro, 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

Windows XP: Install NT Backup utility

Aug 13

Posted by Admin in Windows XP | No Comments


The default installation of Windows XP Professional will install NTBackup utility on the computer. However, this utility is not installed by default in Windows XP Home edition. Unlike common belief, this utility is available on the installation disc for Windows XP Home edition as well. Its not installed by default though. In today’s environment, where everyone tends to store critical information on computer, it is essential to have a backup utility.

If you are using Windows XP Home and interested in installing the backup utility, follow the steps below:

  1. Insert the Windows XP installation disk in the CD/DVD drive of your computer
  2. This should launch the Windows XP setup screen automatically. If this window does not appear, go to “My Computer“, right click on the CD/DVD drive and click on “AutoPlay” option on the pop up menu. This will launch the setup screen.
  3. On the setup screen, click on “Perform Additional Tasks“
  4. On the next screen, click on “Browse this CD“
  5. This will take you to a folder list where you will see a list of files and folders. On this window, double click on “VALUEADD” folder.
  6. In this folder, double click on “NTBACKUP”. This will launch the installation of Ntbackup utility
  7. Follow the installation steps and this will add this utility on your computer

Once installed, this utility will be available to you through Start–>All programs–>Accessories–>System Tools–>Backup.

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Tags: backup, install, Microsoft, ntbackup, Recovery, restore, utility, windows, XP

How to keep Windows XP machine healthy?

Aug 13

Posted by Admin in Windows XP | No Comments


Lot of us experience slow performance of our computer as we continue to use our machines every day. A lot of technical support requirement is generated due to slow performance of computers. Other than slow performance, there is that ever increasing security risk that is associated with various applications that we use everyday, such as Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. Microsoft has provided tools with its Operating System to ensure that your computer stays healthy and gives you a long life of optimal performance.

Here is what you can do to keep your computer healthy:

  1. Click on “Start” button”
  2. Click on “Control Panel“
  3. On the Control Panel window, double click on “Scheduled Tasks“
  4. This will launch a Task Scheduler window. On this window, click on “Add Scheduled Task” and then click on “Next“
  5. On the list of applications, click on “Disk Cleanup” and click on “Next“
  6. From the frequency options, select “Weekly” and then click on “Next“. This will ensure that you get rid of unwanted files from your computer every week. Please note that whenever the task scheduler launches Disk Cleanup Wizard, it will give you options for the files to delete. Make sure you go through the entire list carefully to ensure that you don’t loose any information that you may need later.
  7. Select a preferred time and day when you would want your computer to run this wizard. Then click on “Next“
  8. It will prompt you for a username and password. Please enter your windows login details here. After entering the details, click on “Next“
  9. Click on “Finish” to complete the process.

The above process will only run disk cleanup every week. It is also recommended that you run Disk Defragment tool and Disk Checking tool every month. To Add Disk Defragment to the scheduler, follow the steps below:

  1. Follow the first 4 steps as mentioned above
  2. Click on “Browse” on the window where a list of applications is provided
  3. On the browse window, go to Windows –>System32–>defrag.exe
  4. Select the file above and click on “OK“
  5. Follow the steps listed earlier from point 6 onwards. The only difference will be the frequency. The frequency for this should be set up as “Monthly“

Follow the same steps for checking hard disk for errors every month. The only difference is that in Step 3, you will need to highlight the file “CHKDSK.exe“.

Once complete you have created a good maintenance plan fo your computer and your machine will not go into the never ending slow performance loop.

Other than this, you should also keep your Windows Update settings to “Automatic”. This means that whenever you connect your computer to internet, Windows Update will scan the system for latest updates and offer updates for download and installation whenver one is available. To do this, follow the steps below:

  1. Click on “Start“
  2. Click on “Run“
  3. On the Run box, type “sysdm.cpl” and click on “OK“.
  4. On the window that opens, click on “Automatic Updates” tab and select the option (Radio Button) “Automatic (recommended)“
  5. Click on “OK“

This will ensure that all security updates are installed on your computer.

I hope this will help you in keeping your computer healthy and problem free. Happy Computing.

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Tags: defragment, disk, healthy, Microsoft, performance, scheduler, slow, task, windows, XP