Friday, June 27, 2008

Make windows XP shut down quickly.

start->run->type regedit, click OK-
click on the + sign beside HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SYSTEM>ControlSet001>
highlight Control

~On the right windows, locate this entry "WaitToKillServiceTimeout" and
put a value "200"

start->run->type msconfig, click OK-
goto startup tab -> click disable all, chk any necessary options, (like
ccapp for NORTON, mcagent for Mcaffe) etc

restart system
if even this doesnt work
Create a shortcut on your desktop and put this command line in it...

"shutdown.exe -t 00 -s"

use this icon to shutdown system

System Restore tool in Safe mode by using Command Prompt.

Windows XP includes the System Restore tool, but you cannot start the
System Restore tool from a Recovery Console prompt. Therefore, you may
want to start the System Restore tool when you cannot start your
Windows XP-based computer normally or in Safe mode.

How to start the System Restore tool in Safe
mode by using Command Prompt.

>>Start the System Restore tool at a command prompt
>>Restart your computer, and then press F8 during the initial startup to start your computer in Safe Mode with a command prompt.
>>Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.
>>Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

VC++ runtime error while using IE

Solution:

1. Internet options --> Advanced Tab --> Uncheck - 3rd Party browser
extensions. -- Check Internet explorer
2. Delete Browser Helper Objects under "
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\windows\Current version\Explorer\Browser Helper
objects\ "- Check Internet Explorer
3. Delete Internet Explorer Under " HKCU\Software\Microsoft\ "


These are the steps resolved the issues in several occations..
**Note: Apllied these steps only for new models(Windows SP2)

Plz. Let us all be updated if there are any more workarounds.

Steps to Remove Sasser.Worm.

Steps to remove the Sasser.worm.

1.Disconnect your computer from the local area network or Internet.
2.Click Start > Run, type:
shutdown -i and press Enter. In the Remote Shutdown Dialog that opens,
change 20 seconds to: 9999 and click OK.
3.Reconnect the network/Internet connection, click Start > Windows
Update to install all necessary patches automatically.
4.Terminate the running process.

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to open Windows Task Manager, then select the
Processes tab. Scroll down the list and search for the following
processes:
o avserve.exe
o avserve2.exe
o skynetave.exe
o any process with a name consisting of four or five digits, followed
by _up.exe (eg 64354_up.exe). If you find any such process, click it,
and then click End Process. Exit the Task Manager

5.Disable System Restore (Windows XP)

6.Remove the registry entires.

Click Start > Run, type 'regedit' and click Ok.

Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

In the right pane, delete the following entries:
"avserve.exe"="%Windir%\avserve.exe"
"avserve2.exe"="%Windir%\avserve2.exe"
"skynetave.exe"= "%Windows%\skynetave.exe"
Close the Registry Editor.

7.Search for and delete the following files:

avserve.exe
avserve2.exe
skynetave.exe

8.Update your antivirus tools virus definition and run a thorough scan
on your system.

MSBLAST.A worm

The MSBLAST.A worm infects machines via network connections. The worm
targets only Windows 2000 and Windows XP machines.It exploits the DCOM
RPC vulnerability that is described in Microsoft Security Bulletin
MS03-026. This worm attempts to download the msblast.exe file to the
%WinDir%\system32 directory and then execute it. The worm also attempts
to perform a Denial of Service (DoS) on the Microsoft Windows Update
Web server (windowsupdate.com). This is an attempt to prevent you from
applying a patch on your computer against the DCOM RPC vulnerability.

Remove this worm virus using McAfee Virus Scan 2004!

Some customers whose computers have been infected may not notice the
presence of the worm at all, while others who are not infected may
experience problems because the worm is attempting to attack their
computer. Typical symptoms may include Windows XP and Windows Server
2003 systems rebooting every few minutes without user input, or Windows
NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 systems becoming unresponsive.


How to Remove MsBlast.A?

Follow these steps to remove the MsBlast.A worm.

1. You must first download and install the patch. In many cases, you
will need to do this before continuing with the removal instructions,
download and install the patch using the links below:

Windows XP: DCOM/RPC Exploit patch
Windows 2000: DCOM/RPC Exploit patch

2. Disconnect your computer from the local area network or Internet
3. End the running program
- Open the Windows Task Manager by either pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL,
selecting the Processes tab or selecting Task Manager and then the
process tab on WinNT/2000/XP machines.
- Locate one of the following programs (depending on variation), click
on it and End Task or End Process

MSBLAST.EXE
PENIS32.EXE
TEEKIDS.EXE
MSPATCH.EXE
MSLAUGH.EXE
ENBIEI.EXE

4. Block access to TCP port 4444 at the firewall level, and then block
the following ports, if they do not use the applications listed:
- TCP Port 135, "DCOM RPC"
- UDP Port 69, "TFTP"

5. Remove the Registry entries
- Click Start| Run, type "Regedit" and click OK. The Regedit dialog
opens.
- In the left panel go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>Software>Microsoft>Windows>Current Version>Run
- In the right panel, right-click and delete the following entry
"windows auto update" = MSBLAST.EXE (variant A)
"windows auto update" = PENIS32.EXE (variant B)
"Microsoft Inet xp.." = TEEKIDS.EXE (variant C)
"Nonton Antivirus"=MSPATCH.EXE (variant E)
"Windows Automation" = "mslaugh.exe" (variant F)
"www.hidro.4t.com"="enbiei.exe" (variant G)
- Exit the Registry Editor

6) Delete the infected files (for Windows ME and XP remember to turn
off System Restore before searching for and deleting these files to
remove infected backed up files as well)
- Click Start, point to Find or Search, and then click Files or
Folders.
- Search files msblast*.* in C:\WINDOWS directory.
- Delete the displayed files in search results.
- Empty the Recycle bin, the worm can reinfect even if the files are in
the recycle bin.

7) Reboot the computer, reconnect the network, and update your
antivirus software, and run a thorough virus scan using your favorite
antivirus program.

Internet Explorer Shortcuts

CTRL+A - Select all items on the current page
CTRL+D - Add the current page to your Favorites
CTRL+E - Open the Search bar
CTRL+F - Find on this page
CTRL+H - Open the History bar
CTRL+I - Open the Favorites bar
CTRL+N - Open a new window
CTRL+O - Go to a new location
CTRL+P - Print the current page or active frame
CTRL+S - Save the current page
CTRL+W - Close current browser window

CTRL+ENTER - Adds the http://www. (url) .com
SHIFT+CLICK - Open link in new window
BACKSPACE - Go to the previous page
ALT+HOME - Go to your Home page
SHIFT+F10 - Display a shortcut menu for a link
SHIFT+TAB - Move back through the items on a page
CTRL+TAB - Move forward between frames
CTRL+C - Copy selected items to the clipboard
CTRL+V - Insert contents of the clipboard
HOME - Move to the beginning of a document
TAB - Move forward through items on a page
END - Move to the end of a document
ESC - Stop downloading a page
ENTER - Activate a selected link
F1 - Display Internet Explorer Help
F11 - Toggle full-screen view
F5 - Refresh the current page
F4 - Display list of typed addresses
F6 - Change Address bar and page focus


ALT+RIGHT ARROW - Go to the next page
SHIFT+CTRL+TAB - Move back between frames

Clear Temporary Internet Files when Exiting Internet Explorer

Clear Temporary Internet Files when Exiting Internet Explorer

1. Start>Run>Regedit
2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet
Settings\Cache\Persistent
This REG_DWORD key when set to 0x00000000 (0) will clear your Temporary
Internet
Files folder when you exit Internet Explorer. This value set to
0x00000001 (1) will not clear it.

An Error Has Occurred in the Script on this Page.

Error Message When You Browse the Web: An Error Has Occurred in the
Script on This Page

SYMPTOMS

When you are browsing a Web page, you may receive an error message
similar to one of the following:
An error has occurred in the script on this page.
Line: line
Char: character
Error: Class not registered
-or-
On the Status Bar, you may receive the following message:
Done, but with error on page
If you double-click the Status Bar message, and then click Show
Details, you receive the following error message:
An error has occurred in the script on this page.
Line: line
Char: character
Error: Class not registered

CAUSE

This issue may occur if the Urlmon.dll file is not registered.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, and then
click Run.
2. In the Open box, type Regsvr32 urlmon.dll, and then click OK.
3. When prompted with the DllRegisterServer in urlmon.dll succeeded
message, click OK.

If the issue persists, follow these steps: 1. Open the Java Virtual
Machine. To do so, visit the following Java Web site:
http://www.java.com/en (http://www.java.com/en)
2. Close all instances of Internet Explorer.
3. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Internet
Options.
4. Click the Advanced tab.
5. Under Browsing, click to clear the Enable third-party browser
extensions (requires restart) check box.
6. Restart Internet Explorer.
If the issue persists, follow these steps:
1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click Tools, and click Internet Options.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Under Browsing, click to select the Disable Script Debugging check
box.
5. Click OK to close all windows, and then restart the computer.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to troubleshoot this issue, click
the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
308260 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308260/) How to troubleshoot
script errors in Internet Explorer
If the issue persists, follow these steps:
1. Download and install Java Virtual Machine. To do this, visit the
following Java Web site:
http://www.java.com/en (http://www.java.com/en)
2. Close all instances of Internet Explorer, click Start, and then
click Control Panel.
3. Click Network and Internet Connections, and then click Internet
Options.
4. Click the Advanced tab.
5. Clear the Enable third-party browser extensions (requires restart)
check box under Browsing.
6. Restart Internet Explorer. If the problem is not resolved, go to
step 7.
7. Open Internet Explorer, click Tools, and then click Internet
Options.
8. Click the Advanced tab, and then select the Disable Script Debugging
check box under Browsing.
9. Click OK to close all the windows.
10. Restart the computer.

Differences between "regedit.exe" and "regedt32.exe"

SUMMARY
Windows NT-based operating systems include two utilities for editing
the registry, Regedit.exeand Regedt32.exe. This article describes the
differences between the two utilities for each Windows NT-based
operating system.

MORE INFORMATION
Windows NT 3.x
Regedit.exe
Regedit.exe is the registration editor for 16-bit Windows. It is used
tomodify the Windows registration database. The database is located in
theWindows directory as Reg.dat. The database contains information
about 16-bit applications, and is used by File Manager for opening and
printingfiles. It is also used by applications that support Object
Linking andEmbedding (OLE). Reg.dat is used and maintained by Windows
on Windows (WOW)and 16-bit Windows applications. The WOW layer resides
on top of theVirtual DOS Machine (VDM).
Regedit.exe is a 16-bit application that is included in Windows NT
forcompatibility with previous 16-bit applications. Regedit provides a
methodfor examining Reg.dat under Windows NT. You can migrate the
Reg.datdatabase file to the Windows NT registry during the first logon
to aninitial installation of Windows NT.

Regedt32.exe

Regedt32.exe is the configuration editor for Windows NT. It is used
tomodify the Windows NT configuration database, or the Windows
NTregistry. This editor allows you to view or modify the Windows NT
registry.The editor provides views of windows that represent sections
of theregistry, named hives. Each window displays two sections. On the
leftside, there are folders that represent registry keys. On the right
side,there are the values associated with the selected registry key.
Regedt32 isa powerful tool. You must use extreme caution when you use
it to changeregistry values. Missing or incorrect values in the
registry can make theWindows NT installation unusable.
Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000

Regedit.exe

Regedit.exe is included with Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 primarily
for its search capability. You can use Regedit.exe to make changes in
the Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 registry, but you cannot use it to
view or edit all functions or data types on Windows NT 4.0 and Windows
2000.
The following limitations exist in the Regedit.exe version that is
included with Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000:
- You cannot set the security for registry keys.
- You cannot view, edit, or search the value data types REG_EXPAND_SZ
and REG_MULTI_SZ. If you try to view a REG_EXPAND_SZ value, Regedit.exe
displays it as a binary data type. If you try to edit either of these
data types, Regedit.exe saves it as REG_SZ, and the data type no longer
performs its intended function.
- You cannot save or restore keys as hive files.
Microsoft recommends that you use Regedit.exe only for its search
capabilities on a Windows NT 4.0-based or Windows 2000-based computer.

Regedt32.exe

Regedt32.exe is the configuration editor for Windows NT 4.0 and Windows
2000. Regedt32.exe is used tomodify the Windows NT configuration
database, or the Windows NTregistry. This editor allows you to view or
modify the Windows NT registry.The editor provides views of windows
that represent sections of theregistry, named hives. Each window
displays two sections. On the leftside, there are folders that
represent registry keys. On the right side,there are the values
associated with the selected registry key. Regedt32 isa powerful tool,
and you must use it with extreme caution when you changeregistry
values. Missing or incorrect values in the registry can make theWindows
installation unusable.

Note Unlike Regedit.exe, Regedt32.exe does not support importing and
exporting registration entries (.reg) files.
Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
Regedit.exe
Regedit.exe is the configuration editor for Windows XP and Windows
Server 2003. Regedit.exe is used tomodify the Windows NT configuration
database, or the Windows NTregistry. This editor allows you to view or
modify the Windows NT registry. It supports setting security on
registry keys, viewing and editing REG_EXPAND_SZ and REG_MULTI_SZ, and
saving and restoring hive files.On the leftside, there are folders that
represent registry keys. On the right side,there are the values
associated with the selected registry key. Regedit isa powerful tool.
You must use extreme caution when you use it to changeregistry values.
Missing or incorrect values in the registry can make theWindows
installation unusable.
Regedt32.exe
In Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, Regedt32.exe is a small program
that just runs Regedit.exe.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

By Pass Windows Genuine Validation Process.

1 : Include All Updates
2 : You Will Get A message You May Be Victim Of Software Counterfetting
or Piracy .
3 : Go to Task Manager and ENd the Process WgaTray.exe
3 : go to System32 folder there locate.

WgaLogon.dll
WgaTray.exe
LegitCheckControl.dll

5 : Delete all the above files ; If you are unable to delete them just
rename and delete .
6 : Now go to x:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Windows Genuine Advantage\data folder
7 : delete the file data.dat
8 : Open Note Pad Write Anything You Want To Write Just Write Now Save
it as data.dat in the x:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Windows Genuine Advantage\data folder
9 : Set The Arrtibute Of File As Read Only and Hidden .
10: Restart the PC.

Your Probelm Is Solved just download any thing from MS.

Permanent alternative for Shift+Delete.

You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the
Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type
'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates,
Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted
files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will
reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some
may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition
only).

An alternative keyboard in Windows

In case your keyboard or some keys stop working, Microsoft provides you
with an alternative way to type in using the mouse

To work this tool go to:

Start menu - > Select Run - > Type in OSK

Press OK

A keyboard will appear that you can use both in Arabic and English

And to switch between Arabic and English just press the Shift key and
choose the letter.

Lock Down Display Settings

If you administer several office PCs, or you're just a draconian keeper
of the family PC, you may want to prevent users from changing their
screen resolutions or digging into the details of your monitor and
video card settings. This Registry tweak hides the Settings tab in the
Display Properties window to make all resolution and monitor settings
inaccessible.

1. Start > Run > Regedit

2. Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\POLICIES.

3. Right-click the key and choose New and Key to create a new key, and
name it System. With the new System key highlighted, right-click and
choose New and DWORD Value. Name the valueNoDispSettingsPage.

4. Double-click this new value and set the Value data to 1 to remove
the Settings tab from the Display Properties window. The effect will be
immediate.

***You can restore the Settings tab either by deleting this
NoDispSettingsPage value or setting the value data to 0.

About DNS.

DNS name structure
In the early days of the Internet, all host names and their associated
IP addresses were recorded in a single file called hosts.txt,
maintained by the Network Information Centre in the USA.

Not surprisingly, as the Internet grew so did this file, and by the
mid-80's it had become impractically large to distribute to all systems
over the network, and impossible to keep up to date. The Internet
Domain Name System (DNS) was developed as a distributed database to
solve this problem. It's primary goal is to allow the allocation of
host names to be distributed amongst multiple naming authorities,
rather than centralised at a single point.

DNS names are constructed hierarchichally. The highest level of the
hierarchy being the last component or label of the DNS address. Labels
can be up to 63 characters long and are case insensitive. A maximum
length of 255 characters is allowed. Labels must start with a letter
and can only consist of letters, digits and hyphens. [Unfortunately
some administrators construct names that start with digits. This is
wrong and can easily cause problems with software that simply inspects
the first character of a host address to determine whether a DNS name
or an IP address has been quoted.]

Note In the early days of the Internet users in at least one country
(the United Kingdom) adopted a similar scheme with the highest
hierarchical level appearing first rather than last. I.e.
uk.ac.wlv.scit.sun rather than sunc.scit.wlv.ac.uk. This practice is,
fortunately, obsolete.

DNS addresses can be relative or fully qualified. A fully qualified
address includes all the labels and is globally unique. A relative
address can be converted by appending the local domain information. For
example sunc.scit.wlv.ac.uk is a fully qualified name for the host sunc
in the domain scit.wlv.ac.uk. Strictly there should be a stop at the
end of a fully qualified name but this is often overlooked.

The final most significant label of a fully qualified name can fall
into one of three classes

arpa

This is a special facility used for reverse translation, i.e. going
from IP address to fully qualified domain address. If everything is
properly configured a suitably framed query for
1.4.220.134.in-addr.arpa will return sunc.scit.wlv.ac.uk. Details of
this will be described later.

3 letter codes

The DNS was orginally introduced in the United States of America and
the final component of an address was intended to indicate the type of
organisation hosting the computer. Some of the three letter final
labels (edu, gov, mil) are still only used by organisations based in
the USA, others can be used anywhere in the world.

The three letter codes are

code
meaning

com
Commercial. Now international.

edu
Educational.

gov
Government.

int
International Organisiation.

mil
Military.

net
Network related.

org
Miscellaneous Organisation.

Two letter codes

The final two letter codes indicate the country of origin and are
defined in ISO 3166 with the minor exception that uk is used for the
United Kingdom rather than gb although there are some .gb sites. [This
apparently happened because the ISO committee was unaware that Northern
Ireland was part of the United Kingdom but not part of Great Britain.]

The two letter code us is used by some sites in the United States of
America.

In some countries there are sub-domains indicating the type of
organisation such as ac.uk, co.uk, sch.uk in the United Kingdom and
edu.au and com.au in Australia. Most European countries have not
adopted this useful practice. A fuller discussion of the United Kingdom
DNS domains is provided by To obtain a domain address it is necessary
to identify the administrator of the required domain and then all that
is basically necessary is to send the administrator the required code
and the associated IP address and they will, if they accept the
request, include the details in their databases. Conditions for
acceptance vary widely between administrators, the administrators for
the com and org being, apparently, quite happy to accept anything from
anywhere.

A DNS server is just a computer that's running DNS software. Since most
servers are Unix machines, the most popular program is BIND (Berkeley
Internet Name Domain), but you can find software for the Mac and the PC
as well.

DNS software is generally made up of two elements: the actual name
server, and something called a resolver. The name server responds to
browser requests by supplying name-to-address conversions. When it
doesn't know the answer, the resolver will ask another name server for
the information.

To see how it works, let's go back to the domain-name-space inverted
tree.

When you type in a URL, your browser sends a request to the closest
name server. If that server has ever fielded a request for the same
host name (within a time period set by the administrator to prevent
passing old information), it will locate the information in its cache
and reply.

If the name server is unfamiliar with the domain name, the resolver
will attempt to "solve" the problem by asking a server farther up the
tree. If that doesn't work, the second server will ask yet another -
until it finds one that knows. (When a server can supply an answer
without asking another, it's known as an authoritative server.)

Once the information is located, it's passed back to your browser, and
you're sent on your merry way. Usually this process occurs quickly, but
occasionally it can take an excruciatingly long time (like 15 seconds).
In the worst cases, you'll get a dialog box that says the domain name
doesn't exist - even though you know damn well it does.

This happens because the authoritative server is slow replying to the
first, and your computer gets tired of waiting so it times-out (drops
the connection). But if you try again, there's a good chance it will
work, because the authoritative server has had enough time to reply,
and your name server has stored the information in its cache.

DNS Structure

The DNS is arranged as a hierarchy, both from the perspective of the
structure of the names maintained within the DNS, and in terms of the
delegation of naming authorities. At the top of the hierarchy is the
root domain "." which is administered by the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA). Administration of the root domain gives the IANA the
authority to allocate domains beneath the root.

The process of assigning a domain to an organisational entity is called
delegating, and involves the administrator of a domain creating a
sub-domain and assigning the authority for allocating sub-domains of
the new domain the subdomain's administrative entity.

This is a hierarchical delegation, which commences at the "root" of the
Domain Name Space ("."). A fully qualified domain name, is obtained by
writing the simple names obtained by tracing the DNS hierarchy from the
leaf nodes to the root, from left to right, separating each name with a
stop ".", eg. fred.xxxx.edu.au. is the name of a host system (huxley)
within the XXXX University (xxx), an educational (edu) institution
within Australia (au).

The sub-domains of the root are known as the top-level domains, and
include the edu (educational), gov (government), and com (commercial)
domains. Although an organisation anywhere in the world can register
beneath these three-character top level domains, the vast majority that
have are located within, or have parent companies based in, the United
States.

The top-level domains represented by the ISO two-character country
codes are used in most other countries, thus organisations in Australia
are registered beneath au.

The majority of country domains are sub-divided into
organisational-type sub-domains. In some countries two character
sub-domains are created (eg. ac.nz for New Zealand academic
organisations), and in others three character sub-domains are used (eg.
com.au for Australian commercial organisations). Regardless of the
standard adopted each domain may be delegated to a separate authority.

Organisations that wish to register a domain name, even if they do not
plan to establish an Internet connection in the immediate short term,
should contact the administrator of the domain which most closely
describes their activities.

Even though the DNS supports many levels of sub-domains, delegations
should only be made where there is a requirement for an organisation or
organisational sub-division to manage their own name space.

Any sub-domain administrator must also demonstrate they have the
technical competence to operate a domain name server (described below),
or arrange for another organisation to do so on their behalf.

Domain Name Servers

The DNS is implemented as collection of inter-communicating
nameservers. At any given level of the DNS hierarchy, a nameserver for
a domain has knowledge of all the immediate sub-domains of that domain.


For each domain there is a primary nameserver, which contains
authoritative information regarding Internet entities within that
domain. In addition Secondary nameservers can be configured, which
periodically download authoritative data from the primary server.

Secondary nameservers provide backup to the primary nameserver when it
is not operational, and further improve the overall performance of the
DNS, since the nameservers of a domain that respond to queries most
quickly are used in preference to any others. Thus, in addition to
having a primary nameserver on site, each organisation should have at
least one secondary on site, and another elsewhere on the Internet,
preferably well connected. This is particularly important for entities
with slow speed or dial-up Internet connections to reduce use of their
link to support the DNS.

About DHCP

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, and is used to
centrally allocate and manage TCP/ IP configurations of client nodes.

If you've got more than a handful of computers to manage, then DHCP
can help to save a great deal of time and trouble in setting up and
administering a TCP/ IP network. DHCP offers the following features:

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) provides configuration
parameters to Internet hosts. DHCP consists of two components: a
protocol for delivering host-specific configuration parameters from a
DHCP server to a host and a mechanism for allocation of network
addresses to hosts.

DHCP is built on a client-server model, where designated DHCP server
hosts allocate network addresses and deliver configuration parameters
to dynamically configured hosts. Throughout the remainder of this
document, the term "server" refers to a host providing initialization
parameters through DHCP, and the term "client" refers to a host
requesting initialization parameters from a DHCP server.

A host should not act as a DHCP server unless explicitly configured to
do so by a system administrator. The diversity of hardware and protocol
implementations in the Internet would preclude reliable operation if
random hosts were allowed to respond to DHCP requests. For example, IP
requires the setting of many parameters within the protocol
implementation software. Because IP can be used on many dissimilar
kinds of network hardware, values for those parameters cannot be
guessed or assumed to have correct defaults.

Also, distributed address allocation schemes depend on a
polling/defense mechanism for discovery of addresses that are already
in use. IP hosts may not always be able to defend their network
addresses, so that such a distributed address allocation scheme cannot
be guaranteed to avoid allocation of duplicate network addresses.

DHCP supports three mechanisms for IP address allocation. In "automatic
allocation", DHCP assigns a permanent IP address to a host. In "dynamic
allocation", DHCP assigns an IP address to a host for a limited period
of time (or until the host explicitly relinquishes the address). In
"manual allocation", a host's IP address is assigned by the network
administrator, and DHCP is used simply to convey the assigned address
to the host.

A particular network will use one or more of these mechanisms,
depending on the policies of the network administrator.

Dynamic allocation is the only one of the three mechanisms that allows
automatic reuse of an address that is no longer needed by the host to
which it was assigned. Thus, dynamic allocation is particularly useful
for assigning an address to a host that will be connected to the
network only temporarily or for sharing a limited pool of IP addresses
among a group of hosts that do not need permanent IP addresses. Dynamic
allocation may also be a good choice for assigning an IP address to a
new host being permanently connected to a network where IP addresses
are sufficiently scarce that it is important to reclaim them when old
hosts are retired.

Manual allocation allows DHCP to be used to eliminate the error-prone
process of manually configuring hosts with IP addresses in environments
where (for whatever reasons) it is desirable to manage IP address
assignment outside of the DHCP mechanisms.


The format of DHCP messages is based on the format of BOOTP messages,
to capture the BOOTP relay agent behavior described as part of the
BOOTP specification [7, 23] and to allow interoperability of existing
BOOTP clients with DHCP servers. Using BOOTP relaying agents eliminates
the necessity of having a DHCP server on each physical network segment.


DHCP can quickly become an essential piece of an organization's data
network. Once set up, DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is
usually hardly noticed, silently and faithfully performing its duties
day in and day out. Unfortunately, the hardest thing about DHCP is
getting it to that point.

This article discusses some of the reasons why an organization would
want to use DHCP, along with the many different issues that need to be
considered when designing a DHCP infrastructure. Some of these
considerations include planning for IP address use. An organization
needs to determine how its existing environment is used and what types
of users and workstations are being utilized (such as mobile users and
network devices).

In large-scale DHCP implementations, the topology of the network
becomes a very important factor. The network topology dictates where
DHCP servers and/or relay agents must be placed. The needs of the DHCP
client must be considered, including which DHCP options are supported
by the client's operating system and which options and their
correspomding values need to be assigned. Finally, all of these
elements are brought together to implement the DHCP scopes.

How DHCP Works

For a detailed description of DHCP, we suggest that you download RFC
1541 from any of the Internet draft repository sites. A good place to
start is ds.internic.net, available via FTP, Gopher and HTTP. For a
less detailed description, read on.

DHCP is an extension of BOOTP, the previous IP allocation
specification. So, existing BOOTP devices can communicate with DHCP
servers and allow DHCP requests to cross routers running BOOTP
forwarders. This level of backward compatibility makes it easy for
administrators to upgrade their network devices from BOOTP to DHCP as
needed, without having to replace all of the clients at once or having
to upgrade all of the routers.

Several major advancements beyond the BOOTP specifications provide
significant advantages. For example, DHCP supports the concept of a
"lease" whereby a server can allocate an address to a client for a
specific amount of time. If you have more devices than IP addresses,
using shorter leases can help to keep you from running out of
addresses. If you have more addresses than devices, you can utilize
permanent leases or you can assign fixed addresses to specific devices
similar to BOOTP's mechanism.

Also, DHCP incorporates a much more robust dialogue during lease
negotiation. Since the addresses can be assigned to the devices on an
ad-hoc basis, mechanisms need to be incorporated into the assignment
procedure that allow for a broader range of options, as well as for a
broader range of error handling conditions. BOOTP protocol only allowed
for two types of messages (request and reply), while DHCP has seven
possible message types that can be used during the address assignment
sequence.

When a DHCP device attaches itself to the network for the first time,
it broadcasts a DHCPDISCOVER packet. A DHCP servers on the local
segment will see the broadcast and return a DHCPOFFER packet that
contains an IP address and other information. The servers may or may
not conduct some sort of preliminary testing prior to offering the
address, such as generating an ARP or an ICMP echo to see if the
address is already in use by another node somewhere. If your network
does not have a DHCP server on every segment, you will need to
configure your routers to provide BOOTP relay agents that forward the
broadcasts to a predefined server on a remote segment.

The client may receive multiple DHCPOFFER packets from any number of
servers, so it must choose between them, and broadcast a DHCPREQUEST
packet that identifies the explicit server and lease offer that it
likes the best. This decision may be based on which offer has the
longest lease or which offer provides the most information that the
specific client needs for optimal operation (more on this later). The
non-chosen servers would notice the explicit DHCPREQUEST packet and go
on about their business.

Assuming that the offer is still valid, the chosen server would return
a DHCPACK that tells the client the lease is finalized. If the offer is
no longer valid for some reason-perhaps due to a time-out or another
client allocating the lease-then the selected server must respond with
a DHCPNAK message. This would cause the client to send another
DHCPDISCOVER packet, starting the process over again.

Once the client receives a DHCPACK, then all ownership and maintenance
of the lease is the responsibility of the client. For example, a client
may refuse an offer that is detailed in the DHCPACK message, and it is
the client's responsibility to do so. Clients are supposed to test the
addresses that have been offered to them by conducting ARP broadcasts.
So if another node responds to the ARP, the client would assume that
the offered address is in use. At this point, the client would reject
the offer by sending a DHCPDECLINE message to the offering server, and
would also send another DHCPDISCOVER packet, thereby starting the
process yet again.

Once the client has the lease, it must be renewed prior to the lease
expiration through another DHCPREQUEST message. If a client finishes
using a lease prior to its expiration date, the client is supposed to
send a DHCPRELEASE message to the server so that the lease can be made
available to other nodes. If the server doesn't hear from the client by
the end of the lease, it marks the lease as non-renewed, and makes it
available for other clients to use.

This sequence of events is pretty straightforward and leaves a lot of
room to correct any miscommunication between the clients and the
servers. This is a good thing, because most of the implementations that
we studied at in our labs didn't follow the letter of the law very
well. Only because of the negotiation.

How to remove Norton From your computer.

SymNRT is a program that can remove some Norton software from your
computer. SymNRT runs on Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, and
Windows XP.

SymNRT should be used only if you have tried to uninstall the Norton
program using Windows Add/Remove Programs and that did not work.

Will SymNRT work for you?
SymNRT will remove these--and only these--Norton programs:

* Norton AntiVirus 2004/2005
* Norton AntiVirus Professional 2004
* Norton AntiVirus 3, 5 and 10 User Pack 2004/2005
* Norton SystemWorks 2004/2004 Professional Edition
* Norton SystemWorks 2005/2005 Premier edition
* Norton Password Manager 2004
* Norton Internet Security 2004/2005
* Norton Internet Security 5 and 10 User Pack 2004/2005
* Norton Personal Firewall 2004/2005
* Norton AntiSpam 2004/2005
* Ghost 2003 or Ghost Version 9.0

Download SymNRT :

http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Norton-Removal-Tool-Download-26173.html

If your program is not in this list, do not use SymNRT. It will not
remove your program. If you need help with removing programs not in
this list, go to the Technical Information section near the bottom of
this page.

BIOS Beep Codes/Error Codes

General Description

Beeps are emitted from a computer during the boot process when some
problem is encountered and can be used to troubleshoot a dead computer.
They indicate problems such as bad memory, bad keyboard or bad
motherboard. Usually if you hear beeps there is something real wrong
and you should immediately turn off the computer and perform some
troubleshooting. See the section below for your BIOS type (AMI, Award,
Phoenix)

POST Beeping Error General Codes

* Bad Motherboard - 1 long and 1 short beep
* Disk drive related problem / Video card problem - 1 short beep then
nothing happens
* Bad video card - 1 long and 2 short beeps
* Bad power supply - 1) continuous beeps, 2) non-stop short beeps
* Bad memory - 3 short beeps

These codes DO vary from one manufacturer to another. In time this
section will break them down by manufacturer.

Also almost all computers list the appropriate codes in the User's
manual under technical information or the troubleshooting section, so
be sure to check the manual and verify what the codes mean.


AMI

AMI Beep Codes - ...Listing of Codes @ AMI Link,

Except for beep code #8, these codes are always fatal.

1 beep Refresh failure
- try reseating the memory, if the error still occurs, replace the
memory
2 beeps Parity error
- try reseating the memory, if the error still occurs, replace the
memory
3 beeps Base 64K memory failure
- try reseating the memory, if the error still occurs, replace the
memory
4 beeps Timer not operational, system board bad
5 beeps Processor error, system board bad
6 beeps 8042 - gate A20 failure, try reseating the keyboard controller
chip
7 beeps Processor exception interrupt error, system board bad
8 beeps Display memory video card read/write failure error, replace
video memory or video card
9 beeps ROM checksum error, faulty BIOS chip(s), must replace them
10 beeps CMOS shutdown register read/write error, system board bad
11 beeps Cache memory bad

If no beeps are heard and no display is on the screen, its most likely
the power supply. Check for Keyboard lights or for hard drive/floppy
drive lights. If lights come on then power supply is good.

Next, inspect the motherboard for loose components. A loose or missing
CPU, BIOS chip, Crystal Oscillator, or Chipset chip will cause the
motherboard not to function. If you get lights then it could be one of
the I/O cards. Try removing each card one at a time and restarting the
computer.

(these codes are from the AMI web site)

Award

Award BIOS Versions 2.xx and up, beeping codes - ...Listing of beep
codes @ Award Link

The BIOS has only one standard beep code - one short, two long -
indicating a video problem has occurred.
If you are receiving any other beeps, it's probably a RAM problem.

Phoenix

Phoenix BIOS Beep codes - ...More Info @ Phoenix Link

These codes are presented in sets of beeps, for instance 1-2-2-3 means
one beep followed by 2 beeps then 2 more beeps then 3 beeps

* 1-2-2-3 BIOS ROM checksum
* 1-3-1-1 Test DRAM refresh
* 1-3-1-3 Test 8742 Keyboard Controller
* 1-3-4-1 RAM failure on address line xxxx
* 1-3-4-3 RAM failure on data bits xxx of low byte of memory
* 1-4-1-1 RAM failure on data bits xxxx of high byte of memory bus
* 2-1-2-3 Check ROM copyright notice
* 2-1-3-1 Test for unexpected interrupts
* 1-2 .......Search for option ROMs
* 1 ...........One short beep before boot, normal

(these codes are from the Phoenix web site)

Win could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt.

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt:

\system32\hal.dll. Please re-install a copy of
the above file."


Use the following steps to resolve this error:

Step 1: Opening a command prompt
This error prevents Windows XP from opening. This problem has to be
addressed from a command prompt environment.

Use the following steps to open a command prompt environment:

Turn on the PC and press the F8 key repeatedly when the first screen
appears.

The Windows advanced options menu appears.

Use the Up and Down Arrow and Enter keys to select Return to OS
choices.

Select Microsoft Windows Recovery Console.

NOTE: If "Microsoft Windows XP Recovery Console" is not listed, restart
the PC with a Windows XP CD, Recovery Console CD, or Recovery Tools CD
in the top CD or DVD drive and open Microsoft Windows Recovery Console.
If a Windows XP Setup screen appears when using Recovery Console CDs,
press the R key to open the Recovery Console.

NOTE: If "Microsoft Windows XP Recovery Console" does not list and you
do not have a CD with recovery console, try the following:

Turn on the PC, and press the F10 key repeatedly at the first screen.

At the Recovery screen, click Advanced Options.

Press the Alt + D keys at the same time to open a command prompt window
and skip to step 5.

When the login prompt appears, press the number next to the windows
version (minint or Windows) and type the logon password. Try pressing
Enter if you do not know the password.

At the command prompt, type the following: diskpart

Press Enter, do one the following:

If a table of volume names appears, remember the drive letter next to
the main drive volume name and press the Esc key.

If a diskpart prompt appears, type list volume, press Enter, remember
the drive letter next to the main drive volume name, type exit when
done, and then press Enter.

NOTE: If the main drive volume name does not appear in the list, the PC
needs to be recovered. For more information, refer to Performing a Full
System Recovery in XP .

Step 2: Restoring boot.ini
Use the following steps to replace the boot.ini file with the backup
boot.ini file:

Type the following at the command prompt: X: (where X is the drive
letter).
At the prompt, type the following: ren boot.ini boot.in2

Press Enter

At the prompt, type the following: ren boot.bak boot.ini

Press Enter

At the prompt, type the following: exit
Press Enter

The system automatically restarts. If Windows XP does not open,
continue to the next Step.

Step 3: Editing boot.ini
If the steps above fail to resolve the error, use the following steps:

NOTE: The following steps use the recovery partition on the hard drive.
If the recovery partition has been removed, these steps will not work
and you should recover the PC using recovery discs.


Turn on the PC. When the initial logo screen appears, press the F10 key
repeatedly until a message about starting recovery appears.

At the Recovery screen, click Advanced Options and then press the Alt
and D keys at the same time to go to a command prompt.

At the command Prompt, type the following: diskpart

Press Enter and type the following at the diskpart prompt: list volume

A table of drive volumes and names appears.

Note the drive letter next to the main drive volume name.

Type the following at the diskpart prompt: Exit

Press Enter and type the drive letter followed by a colon (:) at the
command prompt. For example, D:.

Press Enter and type the following at the command prompt: attrib -h -s
-r boot.ini

Press Enter and type the following at the command prompt: boot.ini

The file opens for editing in Notepad. Edit the boot.ini file to read
exactly as follows:

[boot loader]

timeout=0

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect

C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons

NOTE: If your PC came with Windows XP Professional, edit the line
referring to Home Edition under [operating systems] to read as follows:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

Save and Exit from the menu.

Type the following at the command prompt: attrib +h +s +r boot.ini

Press Enter and type the following at the command prompt: Exit

Click Quit on the recovery screen to restart the computer.

Restoring the registry for Win2k Pro when a previous backup was not made through REGEDIT.

An alternate method is available to restore the registry in Windows
2000 when a previous backup was not made through REGEDIT.


Click Start, then Shut Down.

Click Restart, then OK.

At the message on the screen about starting Windows, press F8 to get
into Advanced Options.

Use the arrow keys to highlight Last Known Good Configuration, then
press ENTER.

Use the arrow keys to highlight the desired configuration or operating
system, then press ENTER. (I.E., the screen may say "original
configuration" or "profile1.")

The registry has been restored.


Permanent alternative for Shift+Delete


You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the
Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type
'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates,
Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted
files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will
reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some
may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition
only)

Creating a backup copy of the registry for Microsoft(R) Windows 95,98,Me, NT 4.0, 2000 Pro,and XP

Click Start, then Run. The Run window will appear.

In the Open box, type: REGEDIT

Click OK. The Registry Editor window will appear.

Click Registry or File, then click Export... or Export Registry File.
The Export Registry File window will appear.

In the Savein drop down box, select Desktop.

In the Filename box, type: Backup

In the Saveastype drop down box, select Registration Files.

In the Exportrange area, select All.

Click Save. The Export Registry File window will close and a copy of
the registry will be located on the desktop.

Close the Registry Editor window.

The registry has been copied.

About Windows Task Manager.

Info to pep up ur knowledge on task manager. You use
Ctrl+Alt+Del to see what's running on your PC, to close crashed
programs and processes, and to check performance. You probably avoid a
few processes whose names mean nothing to you, but they're essential
to Windows. svchost.exe sure likes to appear all the time and multiple
times at that. What's taskmgr.exe? Oh yeah, it's the window
you're looking at right now. ctfmon? Is he related to Pokemon?
navapsvc.exe? Navy? Napa Valley? Navel? NOTA (none of the above).

This is not a comprehensive list as that would take days. It has the
standard processes as well as process names from popular applications.
If you want to know about a process, the best place to go is...
ProcessLibrary.com. Just like adware and spyware, there are bad
processes that come to life thanks to the bad guys like Trojans and
viruses. The site has a list of the top five security threats, so watch
out for those processes. Also, beware the bad guys like to use
legitimate names of processes. For example, rundll.exe is a system
process that should not be terminated. However, recent reports have
stated, "It can also be the LOXOSCAM virus depending on Operating
System and file path; this is always a virus on Windows XP and 2000
operating systems however. "You can download software that provide more
information about the process. Task Manager, as you know, says nothing
except the name of the process and how much CPU it's using. One example
is Process Explorer, a standalone application that also has the option
of replacing the built in Task Manager for windows. It shows you
information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or
loaded. http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/procexp.shtml

acrotray.exe : Acrobat Assistant that is used when printing documents
to a PDF. The process should not be removed while converting documents
to PDF.

ADService.exe : Active Disk Service is a component of the Iomega zip
drive.

AppServices.exe : Also for the Iomega zip drive.

ccEvtMrg.exe : Associated with Symantec's Internet Security Suite.
Keep it and protect your PC.

ccSetMgr.exe : Also associated with Symantec's Internet Security
Suite. Keep it and protect your PC.

csrss.exe
System process that is the main executable for the Microsoft Client /
Server Runtim Server Subsystem. It should not be shut down.

ctfmon.exe
Non-essential system process. If you're using only English as the
language, then it is not needed. However, it's recommended to leave
it alone.

explorer.exe
This must always be running in the background. It's a user interface
process that runs the windows graphical shell for the desktop, task
bar, and Start menu.

iexplore.exe
Internet Explorer browser. But why are you using it unless it's for a
site that doesn't work in any other browser? Use Firefox instead.

lsass.exe
Local Security Authority Service is a Windows security-related system
process for handling local security and login policies.

Navapsvc.exe, nvsrvc32.exe, and navapw32.exe
These are Symantec's North AnvtiVirus processes. They or whatever
virus program you use should run all the time.

realsched.exe
RealNetworks Scheduler is not an essential process. It checks for
updates for RealNetworks products. It can be safely disabled.

rundll32.exe
A system process that executes DLLs and loads their libraries.

savscan.exe
Nortons AntiVirus process. Keep it.

services.exe
An essential process that manages the starting and stopping of services
including the those in boot up and shut down. Do not terminate it.

smss.exe
Session Manager SubSystem is a system process that is a central part of
the Windows operating system. If you try to kill it, it will be
difficult... hence, the importance of leaving it be.

spoolsv.exe
Microsoft printer spooler service handles local printer processes.
It's a system file.

svchost.exe x 6
You may have more than six appearances of this process or less. It's
there multiple times to handle processes executed from DLLs. Leave it
there.

System
This is a file that stores information related to local hardware
settings in the registry under 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE'. Kill it and
kiss your PC's stability bye bye.

System Idele Process
Calculates the amount of CPU currently in use by applications. This
won't go away no matter how hard you try. Don't try it, OK?

taskmgr.exe
Appears when you press Ctrl+Alt+Del.

wdfmgr.exe
Windows Driver Foundation Manager is part of Windows media player 10
and newer. Better not to stop the process.

winlogon.exe
Handles the login and logout processes. It's essential.

winword.exe
The great Carnac says, "You're running Microsoft Word."

Don't panic if you see something you have on the "bad guy" list.
svchost.exe is important, but some are good guys and some are bad guys.
Do your research before deleting anything. For instance, I have
admin.exe, which has been reported as a bad guy. However, it is the
admin process for one of my programs. When I closed the program,
admin.exe also went away.

Basic network troubleshooting.

Cause:
If a computer is unable to connect to a network or see other computers
on a network, it may be necessary to troubleshoot the network. A
network may not work because of any of the below reasons.

Network card not connected properly.
Bad network card drivers or software settings.
Firewall preventing computers from seeing each other.
Connection related issues.
Bad network hardware.
Solution:

Because of the large variety of network configurations, operating
systems, setup, etc... not all of the below information may apply to
your network or operating system. If your computer is connected to a
company or large network, or you are not the administrator of the
network, it is recommended that if you are unable to resolve your
issues after following the below recommendations that you contact the
network administrator or company representative.

Note: If you are being prompted for a Network password and do not know
the password, Computer Hope is unable to assist users with obtaining a
new or finding out the old password.

VERIFY CONNECTIONS / LEDs

Verify that the network cable is properly connected to the back of the
computer. In addition, when checking the connection of the network
cable, ensure that the LEDs on the network are properly illuminated.
For example, a network card with a solid green LED or light usually
indicates that the card is either connected or receiving a signal.
Note: generally, when the green light is flashing, this is an
indication of data being sent or received.

If, however, the card does not have any lights or has orange or red
lights, it is possible that either the card is bad, the card is not
connected properly, or that the card is not receiving a signal from the
network.

If you are on a small or local network and have the capability of
checking a hub or switch, verify that the cables are properly connected
and that the hub or switch has power.

ADAPTER RESOURCES

Ensure that if this is a new network card being installed into the
computer that the card's resources are properly set and/or are not
conflicting with any hardware in the computer.

Users who are using Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000 or XP, verify that device
manager has no conflicts or errors. Additional help and information
about device manager and resources can be found on our device manager
page.

ADAPTER FUNCTIONALITY

Verify that the network card is capable of pinging or seeing itself by
using the ping command. Windows / MS-DOS users ping the computer from a
MS-DOS prompt. UNIX / Linux variant users ping the computer from the
shell.

To ping the card or the localhost, type either

ping 127.0.0.1

or

ping localhost

This should show a listing of replies from the network card. If you
receive an error or if the transmission failed, it is likely that
either the network card is not physically installed into the computer
correctly, or that the card is bad.

PROTOCOL

Verify that the correct protocols are installed on the computer. Most
networks today will utilize TCP/IP, but may also utilize or require
IPX/SPX and NetBEUI.

Additional information and help with installing and reinstalling a
network protocol can be found on document CH000470.

When the TCP/IP protocol is installed, unless a DNS server or other
computer assigns the IPX address, the user must specify an IP address
as well as a Subnet Mask. To do this, follow the below instructions.

Click Start / Settings / Control Panel

Double-click the Network icon

Within the configuration tab double-click the TCP/IP protocol icon.
Note: Do not click on the PPP or Dial-Up adapter, click on the network
card adapter.

In the TCP/IP properties click the IP address tab

Select the option to specify an IP address

Enter the IP address and Subnet Mask address, an example of such an
address could be:

IP Address: 102.55.92.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.192

When specifying these values, the computers on the network must all
have the same Subnet Mask and have a different IP Address. For example,
when using the above values on one computer you would want to use an IP
address of 102.55.92.2 on another computer and then specify the same
Subnet Mask.

FIREWALL

If your computer network utilizes a firewall, ensure that all ports
required are open. If possible, close the firewall software program or
disconnect the computer from the firewall to ensure it is not causing
the problem.

ADDITIONAL TIME

In some cases it may take a computer some additional time to detect or
see the network. If after booting the computer you are unable to see
the network, give the computer 2-3 minutes to detect the network.
Windows users may also want to try pressing the F5 (refresh) key when
in Network Neighborhood to refresh the network connections and possibly
detect the network.

ADDITIONAL TROUBLESHOOTING

If after following or verifying the above recommendations you are still
unable to connect or see the network, attempt one or more of the below
recommendations.

If you have installed or are using TCP/IP as your protocol you can
attempt to ping another computer's IP address to verify if the computer
is able to send and receive data. To do this, Windows or MS-DOS users
must be at a prompt and Linux / UNIX variant users must open or be at a
shell.

Once at the prompt assuming, that the address of the computer you wish
to attempt to ping is 102.55.92.2, you would type:

ping 102.55.92.2

If you receive a response back from this address (and it is a different
computer), this demonstrates that the computer is communicating over
the network. If you are still unable to connect or see the network, it
is possible that other issues may be present.

Another method of determining network issues is to use the tracert
command if you are a MS-DOS or Windows user or the traceroute command
if you are a Linux / UNIX variant user. To use this command you must be
at the command prompt or shell.

Once at the prompt, assuming that the address is again 102.55.92.2,
type:

tracert 102.55.92.2

or

traceroute 102.55.92.2

This should begin listing the hops between the computer and network
devices. When the connection fails, determine which device is causing
the issue by reviewing the traceroute listing.

2464 configuration error at boot.

Cause:

This issue could be caused by any of the below possibilities.

Connections not correctly connected
CMOS setup needs to be updated
Potential conflict or hardware related issue
Solution:

Connections not correctly connected

Verify that the monitor or other device is properly connected to the
computer. If the connection appears to be properly connected, verify
that the cable itself as well as the connection on the back of the
computer do not appear to be damaged or bad.

CMOS setup needs to be updated

Attempt to enter CMOS setup and verify that the settings relating to
your video card are properly set. If settings appear to be correct or
once video card has been properly changed within CMOS, save the values
and exit CMOS.

Potential conflict or hardware related issue

If any hardware has been recently added to the computer it is
recommended that it be removed.

Keyboard error at boot.

Cause:

An error with the keyboard can be caused by any of the below
possibilities.

Keyboard is not connected properly.
Stuck key
Bad keyboard
Bad PS/2 or AT port
Solution:

Keyboard is not connected properly

Verify that the keyboard is connected properly to the computer by
disconnecting and reconnecting the keyboard to the computer.

Stuck key

Ensure that there are no stuck keys on the keyboard. If all keys appear
to be ok and you have a standard desktop computer with keyboard,
attempt to turn keyboard over and gently hit the back of the keyboard
to loosen any dirt or hair that may be stuck in the keyboard.

Bad keyboard

Try another keyboard on the computer to verify that the keyboard has
not gone bad.

Bad PS/2 or AT port

If all of the above solutions are not able to resolve your issue it is
likely that the port on the back of the computer may be bad and the
motherboard or I/O board may need to be replaced.

Send button is disabled or missing in Microsoft Outlook

CAUSE
This behavior can occur because the following files are corrupted:
· The Outcmd.dat file.
· The Extend.dat file.
· The Frmcache.dat file.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, rename the corrupted files and then run the
Detect and Repair utility to replace them. To do this, follow these
steps:

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the
following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see
your product documentation to complete these steps.

1. On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Search.
2. In the Search Results dialog box, click All files and folders under
Search Companion.
3. In the All or part of the file name box, type outcmd.dat, and then
click Search.
4. In the right-hand pane, right-click the Outcmd.dat file, and then
click Rename.
5. Type outcmd.old, and then press ENTER.
6. Repeat steps 2 to 4 to rename "Extend.dat" to "Extend.old" and
"Frmcache.dat" to "Frmcache.old."

extend.dat
frmcache.dat
outcmd.dat
views.dat (you may not have this file.)

7. Start Microsoft Outlook.
8. On the Help menu, click Detect and Repair.
9. In the Detect and Repair dialog box, click to select the Restore my
shortcuts while repairing check box, and then click Start. Follow the
instructions on your screen to complete the repair process. The Detect
and Repair utility recreates the files you renamed.

Disk Cleanup Hangs or Freezes Up

To access Disk Cleanup Click Start> Run & type "cleanmgr"


Solution:
1) Click Start> Run & type "%temp%" > Select All & Delete
2) Click Start> Run & type "temp" > Select All & Delete
3) Open up Internet Options > Delete Cookies, Delete Files (Don't
forget to put the check mark next to "delete all offline content") &
Clear history.

Now try running Disk Cleanup.


b.Disk Cleanup Tool Stops Responding While Compressing Old Files

To work around this problem, follow these steps:

1) Click Start> Run > Type "regedit"
2) Locate the following registry key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches
3) Click File > Export, click Desktop, type "VolumeCaches" in the File
name box, and then click Save.

Note: This step creates a backup of the VolumeCaches registry key. If
you experience any problems after you complete the steps that are
listed in this procedure, you can use this backup to restore the
VolumeCaches key to its original state. To restore the key,
double-click the VolumeCaches.reg file on your desktop, and then click
Yes.

4) Expand the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches

5) Delete the Compress old files registry key.

Useful RUN Commads

Accessibility Controls access.cpl
Add Hardware Wizard hdwwiz.cpl
Add/Remove Programs appwiz.cpl
Administrative Tools control admintools
Automatic Updates wuaucpl.cpl
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard fsquirt
Calculator calc
Certificate Manager certmgr.msc
Character Map charmap
Check Disk Utility chkdsk
Clipboard Viewer clipbrd
Command Prompt cmd
Component Services dcomcnfg
Computer Management compmgmt.msc
Date and Time Properties timedate.cpl
DDE Shares ddeshare
Device Manager devmgmt.msc
Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* directx.cpl
Direct X Troubleshooter dxdiag
Disk Cleanup Utility cleanmgr
Disk Defragment dfrg.msc
Disk Management diskmgmt.msc
Disk Partition Manager diskpart
Display Properties control desktop
Display Properties desk.cpl
Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected) control color
Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility drwtsn32
Driver Verifier Utility verifier
Event Viewer eventvwr.msc
File Signature Verification Tool sigverif
Findfast findfast.cpl
Folders Properties control folders
Fonts control fonts
Fonts Folder fonts
Free Cell Card Game freecell
Game Controllers joy.cpl
Group Policy Editor (XP Prof) gpedit.msc
Hearts Card Game mshearts
Iexpress Wizard iexpress
Indexing Service ciadv.msc
Internet Properties inetcpl.cpl
IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) ipconfig /all
IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) ipconfig /displaydns
IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) ipconfig /flushdns
IP Configuration (Release All Connections) ipconfig /release
IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) ipconfig /renew
IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS) ipconfig/registerdns
IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /showclassid
IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /setclassid
Java Control Panel (If Installed) jpicpl32.cpl
Java Control Panel (If Installed) javaws
Keyboard Properties control keyboard
Local Security Settings secpol.msc
Local Users and Groups lusrmgr.msc
Logs You Out Of Windows logoff
Microsoft Chat winchat
Minesweeper Game winmine
Mouse Properties control mouse
Mouse Properties main.cpl
Network Connections control netconnections
Network Connections ncpa.cpl
Network Setup Wizard netsetup.cpl
Notepad notepad
Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed) nvtuicpl.cpl
Object Packager packager
ODBC Data Source Administrator odbccp32.cpl
On Screen Keyboard osk
Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed) ac3filter.cpl
Password Properties password.cpl
Performance Monitor perfmon.msc
Performance Monitor perfmon
Phone and Modem Options telephon.cpl
Power Configuration powercfg.cpl
Printers and Faxes control printers
Printers Folder printers
Private Character Editor eudcedit
Quicktime (If Installed) QuickTime.cpl
Regional Settings intl.cpl
Registry Editor regedit
Registry Editor regedit32
Remote Desktop mstsc
Removable Storage ntmsmgr.msc
Removable Storage Operator Requests ntmsoprq.msc
Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) rsop.msc
Scanners and Cameras sticpl.cpl
Scheduled Tasks control schedtasks
Security Center wscui.cpl
Services services.msc
Shared Folders fsmgmt.msc
Shuts Down Windows shutdown
Sounds and Audio mmsys.cpl
Spider Solitare Card Game spider
SQL Client Configuration cliconfg
System Configuration Editor sysedit
System Configuration Utility msconfig
System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) sfc /scannow
System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) sfc /scanonce
System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) sfc /scanboot
System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) sfc /revert
System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) sfc /purgecache
System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x) sfc/cachesize=x
System Properties sysdm.cpl
Task Manager taskmgr
Telnet Client telnet
User Account Management nusrmgr.cpl
Utility Manager utilman
Windows Firewall firewall.cpl
Windows Magnifier magnify
Windows Management Infrastructure wmimgmt.msc
Windows System Security Tool syskey
Windows Update Launches wupdmgr
Windows XP Tour Wizard tourstart
Wordpad write

Configure your firewall for AOL usage

If you use firewall software, you should make sure it is configured to
allow access to the AOL software, in order to avoid any interference
with your AOL connection to do this, choose your type of firewall from
the selection below.

Windows Firewall:
1. Click on Start and select Control Panel.
2. Click Switch to Classic View if this option is visible.
3. Double-click Windows Firewall.
4. Click the Exceptions tab and click Add Program.
5. Select AOL and click OK.
6. Click Add Program again and select AOL System Information, click OK.

Note: If you are using Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Firewall is
activated by default.
You should ensure that only one firewall is running at any one time.


McAfee® Firewall:
1. Right-click on the McAfee® Firewall icon, located in the "system
tray" at the
bottom right-hand corner of your screen (near your PC's clock).
2. Select Options and select Internet Applications.
3. Select the AOL programs in the list, and click Allow Full Access.


Norton Firewall:
1. From the Start menu, open Norton Internet Security / Personal
Firewall.
2. Click on Personal Firewall, click Configure and click on the
Programs tab.
3. Select the AOL program files, set them to Permit All and click OK.


Zone Alarm:
1. From the Start menu, open Zone Alarm Control Centre.
2. Click Program Control and then Programs.
3. Locate the AOL program files and allow access by clicking the
corresponding X and
then clicking Allow.

Other Firewalls:
The AOL programs you must permit (or allow) are as follows:
· waol.exe
· aoltpspd.exe
· AOLacsd.exe
· AOLDial.exe

For more detailed instructions on how to do this, please consult the
documentation for your
firewall software.

The Computer's modem is being blocked from connecting (Error: 77-RFJT)

**Instructions based on WINDOWS XP SP2**

What you need to do is
1. Uninstall/Reinstall the Modem Driver
2. Delete Your Dial-up Location(s)
3. Create New Dial-up Locations

Step-by-Step
1. Uninstall/Reinstall the Modem Driver
a. From device manager, expand "Modems".
b. Right click on your modem (mine is a Motorola SM56 Speakerphone
Modem---for those that are wondering) and click Properties.
c. Open the Driver tab.
d. Click uninstall. follow prompts.
e. Reinstall the driver via disc/internet download/etc...
f. From your modem's Properties, select the Advanced tab.
g. Click Advanced Port Settings.
h. In the bottom left, select a port that is not in use (a port is set
by default upon installation, but I prefer to select the lowest number
that is not in use...mine is at COM2) and remember that COM port.

2. Delete Your Dial-up Locations
a. Go to start > All Programs > America Online > AOL System
Information.
b. Open the Connectivity tab.
c. Click Reset Locations. Follow Prompts.

3. Create New Dial-up Locations
a. From the Connectivity tab of AOL System Information, click Create
New Dial-up Locations.
b. Click Advanced Settings in the bottom left, and select the Modems
tab.
c. Click Find Modem to automatically detect your modem. If it doesn't
detect your modem, click Add to select your modem manually. Make sure
you set the COM port to the one designated for your modem.
d. Click OK. Click Close.
e. To the left, Click Add under Dial-up Locations.
f. Follow the prompts and insert your information.

That should take care of it. Connect as you normally would and enjoy.

Error Message: "Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator"

Symptom

When you try to open Task Manager, the following error may occur:

"Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator"

This error is caused by restrictions placed in Registry. DisableTaskMgr
value is set to 1. To enable Task Manager, try any of these methods:

Resolution

Method 1
Click Start, Run and type this command exactly as given below: (better
- Copy and paste)

Method 2
Download and run this REG fix and double-click it.

Method 3
Open Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) and navigate to:
HKCU \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies\
System

In the right-pane, double-click DisableTaskMgr and set it's data to 0

Method 4: Using Group Policy Editor - for Windows XP Professional
Click Start, Run, type gpedit.msc and click OK.

Navigate to this path
User Configuration
=> Administrative Templates
==> System
===> Ctrl+Alt+Delete Options
====> Remove Task Manager

Double-click the Remove Task Manager option. Set the policy to Not
Configured.

Steps to reinstall the Help and Support

Please use the following steps to reinstall the Help and Support
Center:

Step I - End the Help and Support services

Click Start, click Run and type Taskmgr and click OK. This opens Task
Manager. Click the Process tab. Stop all of the following processing if
running:

helpsvc.exe
helphost.exe
helpctr.exe

Step II - Reinstall Help and Support

Click Start, click Run and type CMD, and click OK.

In Command Prompt, type the following commands and press Enter after
each line: (Alternately, create a Batch file and run.)
>>net stop helpsvc
>>cd /d %windir%\pchealth\helpctr
>>rd packagestore /s /q
>>rd installedskus /s /q
>>cd binaries
>>start /w helpsvc /svchost netsvcs /regserver /install
>>start /w helpsvc /register

Note: The "start /w helpsvc /svchost netsvcs /regserver /install"
command line reinstalls Help and Support, which may take several
minutes.

How to reinstall System Restore in Windows XP?

IntroductionSystem Restore is one of the most useful tools available in Windows XP,
which can help you restore the computer to an earlier state, when a
problem occurs in your computer. There are situations where you are
required to reinstall System Restore in order to restore its
functionality. This article explains how to reinstall System Restore
using the INF file.

Caution: The following procedure will remove all the existing System
Restore points, and resets the System Restore drive monitoring options
to defaults (monitors all drives by default.)

Reinstalling System Restore

Click Start, Run and type %Windir%\INF

Locate the SR.INF file. If you have configured Windows Explorer to hide
known file extensions, the file may show up as SR. To see the file
extensions for all file types, then try this:

On the Tools menu in My Computer, click Folder Options.

Click the View tab.

Clear the Hide extensions for known file types check box.

Right-click the SR.INF file, and then click Install

Windows will now attempt to reinstall System Restore, and may prompt
you for the Windows installation source path. Point to
%Windir%\ServicePackFiles folder, or insert your slipstreamed Windows
XP (matching the Service Pack level of your system.)
System Restore core files will be reinstalled. Restart Windows when
prompted.

Notes

Alternately, you can reinstall System Restore using the following
command line:

rundll32.exe advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %Windir%\Inf\sr.inf

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Error Message: "Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator"

Symptom
``````````````
When you try to open Task Manager, the following error may occur:

"Task Manager has been disabled by your
administrator"

This error is caused by restrictions placed in Registry. DisableTaskMgr
value is set to 1. To enable Task Manager, try any of these methods:

Resolution
~~~~~~~~
Method 1
Click Start, Run and type this command exactly as given below: (better
- Copy and paste)

Method 2
Download and run this REG fix and double-click it.

Method 3
Open Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) and navigate to:
HKCU \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies\
System

In the right-pane, double-click DisableTaskMgr and set it's data to 0

Method 4: Using Group Policy Editor - for Windows XP Professional
Click Start, Run, type gpedit.msc and click OK.

Navigate to this path
User Configuration
=> Administrative Templates
==> System
===> Ctrl+Alt+Delete Options
====> Remove Task Manager

Double-click the Remove Task Manager option. Set the policy to Not
Configured.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

System Restore opens to a blank window?

Symptoms

When you run the System Restore tool on a Windows XP system, the one of
the following problems may occur: The System Restore dialog is
completely blank. The calendar on the left side of the "Choose a
Restore Point" window is not displayed.

Resolution

Login as Administrator or equivalent. Click Start, Run and type these
commands one by one:

regsvr32 jscript.dll
regsvr32 vbscript.dll
regsvr32 /i mshtml.dll