IT Corner

Registry Backup

2006-04-06T12:19:00.000+01:00

Hi
Quick posting about registry backups.
While updating my registry I accidentally killed off the ability for XP to open folders or follow shortcuts. Playing around in Explorer I managed to get around the problem but I could not fix the error.
I had done a system restore point before editing the registry so I restored. This didn't work :(.
But fortune smiles on the prepared :) because I had also done a full registry backup first thing this morning (Do one every Thursday Morning or when I install or uninstall anything) using a program called ERunt. Never having restored a full registry using ERunt before I waited with baited breath. :o
But I need not of worried it worked perfectly :)

GET A COPY HERE IT IS A GREAT PIECE OF KIT

OR VISIT ERUNT SITE

Thankyou for reading cu later :)

Printer Problems Window 2000 Fix

2005-12-20T16:54:00.000Z

This problem occurred after I had installed a new installation of Windows 2000 and then fully patched it using Microsoft’s Update site. (Good old Microsoft :-)) It took me hours to figure out what was causing the problem and I went down many blind alleys.

List of Symptoms.

1. Right click printer and select Properties no properties dialog is displayed.
2. Right click printer and select Printing Preferences an error is displayed.
3. In internet explorer the tool bar print button works but if you select FILE and choose PRINT from the drop down menu either an error is displayed or nothing happens.

Point 3 also happens in other installed software including Microsoft Office.

The problem is a missing/deleted file as far as I can ascertain the file was removed be Windows Update??????.

The required file is MSIMG32.dll. A copy of this file can be downloaded by [CLICKING HERE] .

Once downloaded unzip and place this DLL file into C:\winnt\system32 and then reboot the computer.

This will fix the above problem.

Good Luck

Thankyou for reading. CU Later ;-)

Print a directory listing in XP

2005-10-07T14:48:00.000+01:00

All the information in this post has been directly lifted off the Microsoft Site HERE. I have edited things out which should make it simpler to follow the instructions. So this is how you print out a directory listing when using Windows XP.

Create the Printdir.bat file

To create the Printdir.bat file, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type the following command, and then click OK:
notepad
2. Paste the following text into Notepad:

@echo off
dir %1 /-p /o:gn > "%temp%\Listing"
start /w notepad /p "%temp%\Listing"
del "%temp%\Listing"
exit

3. On the File menu, click Exit, and then click Yes to save the changes.
4. In the Save As dialog box, type the following text, and then click Save: %windir%\Printdir.bat

Create a new action for file folders

1. Click Start, click Control Panel (or, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel), and then click Folder Options.
2. On the File Types tab, click File Folder.
3. Click Advanced, and then click New.
4. In the Action box, type: Print Directory Listing
5. In the Application used to perform action box, type: printdir.bat
6. Click OK.
7. Click OK, click OK, and then click Close.

Edit the registry

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. :DITTO: :-)

After you follow the steps in the previous sections, Search Companion may start when you double-click a folder instead of the folder being opened. Or, if you have associated other actions with file folders, those actions may be performed instead.

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
1. Start Registry Editor.
2. Locate the Default value under the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell
3. Click Modify on the Edit menu.
4. In the File data box, type: none
5. Click OK.
6. Quit Registry Editor.

That does it all things being well when you right click any folder a new command is available
Print Directory Listing select this and a directory listing will be sent straught to your default printer.

Thankyou for reading. CU Later ;-)

Symantec Antivirus

2005-08-03T09:53:00.000+01:00

About 5 day ago I discovered that I could not longer run a disk scan on Windows XP Pro using Symantec Corparate Antivirus. Realtime scanning and all other services worked fine. The error displayed was.

Could not start scan. Scan engine returned error 0x20000058.

Rebooting the system didnot fix the problem. A little research and a temporary solution has been found Click Here to go to Symantecs support pages on this problem.

In my case a temporary solution was very simple all I had to do was to stop the
Symantec Antivirus Service and then restart it.

And for the current logon scanning of disks now works.

Having tried everything listed on the help pages at Symantec I decided to call there technical support. After an hour or so of going over everthing I had already done once from the web site I was informed that the best way fix the problem was to update the software to version 10.
So now I have downloaded all the required files and will update the software later today. I believe this is a cop out by Symantec but we will see what happens.

I will post to inform you if this works.

Thankyou for reading CU Later ;)

AT NOTES

2005-03-23T09:10:00.000Z

For the last couple of years I have been looking for a program just like this one. Many programs claim to replace Post-It notes but they all come up wanting and believe me I have tried more than a few.
AT Notes is by far the best that I have come across. Listed below are some of the features.

1. Notes can be any colour or mix of colours.

2. Alarms

3. Calendar

4. Easy to use

5. Send notes across network

There are many more features but it would take to long to list them all here and time is pressing right now.

To read more about it and to download go to http://atnotes.fr.st/

The above site is now closed to download a copy CLICK HERE

It really is a very useful piece of kit and to make it more attractive it’s FREE.

While I am here sorry this Blogg (and the others) have not been updated much of late, time has and is short. Hopefully I will be adding more useful information to this page (other than shortcuts to programs) soon.

Thanks for reading. CYA Later :-)

Windows 98SE Shutdown Fix

2005-02-09T16:00:00.000Z

I am sure like me you have tried to cure the windows 98 shut down problem. The computer hangs on the WINDOWS IS CLOSING DOWN SCREEN. The only way then to shut the computer down is to use the power off button. Next time you switch on scandisk is run. Microsoft has produced a patch :) but after a few weeks the problem returns. :-(

Well worry not :-) follow these instructions and the problem is history. I have tested this fully on 4 computers with this recurring problem and all 4 have been shutting down perfectly ever since. (Almost 3 Months now :-)).

Stage 1

DownLoad patch from MicroSoft and install. GET IT HERE :)

Stage 2

1. Open note pad and copy code below into a new document and save as SHUTDOWN.BAT

______________________________________________

f:/delete

g:/delete

h:/delete

i:/delete

j:/delete

k:/delete

l:/delete

m:/delete

n:/delete

o:/delete

p:/delete

q:/delete

r:/delete

s:/delete

t:/delete

u:/delete

v:/delete

w:/delete

x:/delete

y:/delete

z:/delete

C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE User,ExitWindows

_____________________________________________________

Alternatively download a copy of the Batch file HERE

2. Create a new folder in c:\windows and call it shutdown and place the batch file you have just created into it.

3. Right click the batch file and create a shortcut.

4. Move this shortcut to c:\windows\start menu

5. Close explorer window press START button on the menu bar. You should have a new entry Icon called SHUTDOWN.

6. Click this new entry and as if by magic the computer will close down cleanly. :-)

Always use this new icon to close down and the problem will be a thing of the passed. :-)

Hope this helps..... :-)

Thankyou for Reading CYA Later. :-)

What is the IP address of all the equipment connected to your network?

2004-12-06T11:09:00.000Z

This is question that a surprising number of network administrator’s donot know the answer to.

In all fairness if you are running a medium to large network keeping track can be a time consuming job and if DHCP is enabled and automatically allocating IP Addresses why bother. Well DHCP should be switch off and IP Address should be allocated manually. I am positive that lots of highly qualified and better informed people than myself would argue with this statement. But I will support my reasoning behind this statement.

Story time.

Long Long ago in the magical land of Ethernet, actually, a few years ago on my network. I was patting myself on the back for locking down the network. A few things I had done where the following.

1. I had gone through every share on the server updating where necessary removing old redundant shares ect.

2. I had audited every client machine on my network updating software configurations, licence details ect.

3. I locked down all the client machines stopping access to network neighbourhood stopping mapping of drives and half a dozen of tweaks which effectively blocked use of the control panels.

Effectively no one could change the configuration of there desktop without my direct intervention. All was well and I was a happy chappie. Then someone popped my little bubble. One of my clients went and purchased himself a laptop, and with out my knowledge bought it into work. Then during his lunch break plugged it into the network. The server then automatically issued it an IP Address, putting in his username and password he could surf the network using network neighbourhood. Because of security setting on the network he only had the same overall access he had on his company computer, but it does not take a great deal of imagination to see what could happen. I found out because my MD walked in on him and I was left in a very embarrassing position.

Hiding the IP Addresses used on your network is nothing but a paper shield and does not constitute a significant security measure but it would have stop the casual logon of this client. And it should be noted that anything which will slow down unauthorised access no matter how small is a good thing.

That said how do you find out the IP Address on your network well the simplest way is to use an IP Scanner. The scanner I use is Angry IP Scanner which can be downloaded free from http://ipscan.sourceforge.net/ . I have used others but they have all sorts of features that I never use. This scanner is simple and does exactly what I need it to do which is list the IP Address on my network.

Try it and see what you think.

Thankyou for Reading CYA Later. :-)

Useful Forum.

2004-12-03T16:47:00.000Z

Active Server Pages (ASP) is my web programming language of choice.

The link below is a very useful forum, I have used others but this is the flavour of the month.

Link:::: http://forums.aspfree.com/

Thankyou for Reading CYA Later :-)

VirtuaWin Desktop Utility.

2004-11-24T13:25:00.000Z

This is a great little utility that allows you to have more than one desktop on the same computer.
For example desktop 1 can have a word processor open, desktop 2 might have the internet open and desktop 3 might have your mail client open. Each of the application can only be seen when you are on the appropriate desktop.
You can have up to 9 different desktops and by downloading and installing the separate Modules some great functionality is available.
For example.
1. Switch desk
2. SmartCoolName

These 2 Modules allow you to allocate different background images on the desktops and to name the desktops, this name is then displayed when you switch.

The only thing missing that I would like to see is to have different icons / programs for each desktop.

Thankyou for reading CYA Later :-)

Outlook Mail Attachment Dialog Box.

2004-11-22T16:58:00.000Z

If you or someone else as in my case de-selects the always ask before opening this type of file then this is how you turn it on again.

1. Open Explorer

2. Open Tools , Folder options….

3. Select File type tab.

4. Click Advanced button

5. Select the file type you wish to turn the dialog back on for ie. ZIP

6. Select Confirm open after download

Then OK all the way out.

The next time you open an attachment with that extension you will again be asked whether to open it or save it to disk.

Thankyou for reading. CYA Later :-)

Firefox Browser

2004-11-19T11:29:00.000Z

This is an excellent web browser which can be downloaded from the above site.

It is more secure than Microsoft's IE browser and includes Tab Browsing. After installing browse the extensions section of the site there are some really useful add ins. I really like the Mouse gesture extentions.
This program should be used by everyone and gets top marks.

Thankyou for Reading CYA Later. :-)

2004-11-17T11:13:00.000Z

Useful site to translate any web page or any word for that matter from one langage to another.

Welcome to IT Corner

2004-11-17T10:06:00.000Z

This blogg will I hope over time contain useful information about computers and there use. I make no claim to any information produced here as most will be taken from other sources like the internet. I will attempt to pass on knowledge that I have gain setting up and running my company network.

Any advice or tips that are published here you use at your own risk.

Thankyou for reading CYA Later :-)