I needed to be able to access more than one pc in the office network remotely using Remote Desktop Connection. Since RDP is set to use port 3389 I had to make several changes.

1. Change the default port number on the second (listening) computer. To do this;

- Start Registry Editor. [Start, Run, Regedit]
- Locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\PortNumber
- On the Edit menu, click on Modify, and then click Decimal.
- Type the new port number, exampleand then click OK.
- Quit Registry Editor and restart the computer.

2. Modify the router to port forward this new port number to the specified IP address of the specific machine you are trying to connect to.

Note: You should ensure that both router firewall and software firewall allow access via this port.

 3. Make sure you specifiy the new address:port when connecting over RDP.

I hope you too have Found A Fix!

Connecting to a VPN fails, giving error code 1717

Solution:

1.  In Windows Vista: Click Start , type regedit in the Search box, and then press ENTER.

(If User Account Control is enabled it will prompt for confirmation.)

In Windows XP: Click Start, then click ‘Run…’ and type regedit, and then click OK

2.    Browse to the registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RasMan

3.    In the right panel, open the DependOnService key and delete SstpSvc entry.

4.    Reboot the and check if you can dial theVPN connection now.

I Hope you too have Found A Fix!

The problem was when logging into windows, it immediately logged off automatically. This was the same for each user account and even attempting to log in using Safe Mode.

This turned out to be due to userinit.exe not running correctly. A virus had hijacked the log in process, running its own executable instead of userinit.exe. A registry key referencing userinit.exe had been altered.

The solution is as follows:

The obvious difficulty is that I could not log on to the PC to access and edit the registry. To get around this a bootable CD such as Hiren Boot CD or BartPE is required.

To edit the registry of the PC  Boot int Windows PE or Minid XP on the device.
Once in Windows go to the command prompt and  type regedit.
Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
On the File menu, choose Load Hive.

A series of message boxes might appear that stating that the folder cannot be found and that the location is unavailable. Ignore any such messages and click OK when they appear.

The Load Hive dialog box will appear.
In the Files of type box, select All Files.
Navigate to the registry location on the local PC. Typically this is C:\WINDOWS\system32\config.

In this config folder, select the hive SOFTWARE and then click OK.
Back in the Load Hive dialog box type a Key Name, e.g., TEST_ITEM.

Choose HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and then choose the new reg key .

Browse to:
“HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\TEST_ITEM\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon”

Look for a a key named “OldUserinit”, delete the “Userinit” key and rename the “OldUserinit” key to “Userinit”.

The “Userinit” key should be “C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe”.

Usually the problem is that this key is referencing an alternative exe which is causing this automatic log off.

Now clicke HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, go to the File menu, and then choose Unload Hive.

Reboot the PC. The log on process should work correctly. However a virus scan needs be run immediately. This is because the problem may reoccur at the next logon (This happened to me)

A scanner such as Combofix, Smitfruadfix and/or Malwarebytes should be used. Each of these can be found from a Google search.

After rebooting it is recommended to run an additional scan, perhaps with the installed Anti-Virus program.

I hope you too have Found a Fix!

After running automatic updates on a Windows 2000 computer, I received the following failure message after trying to install the latest updates; “Some updates could not be installed”

The solution and description to this error is set out below;

1. Click Start, click Run, type ‘cmd’ , and then click OK.
2. From the black command prompt, type ‘net stop wuauserv’, and then press ENTER.
3. At the command prompt, type ‘regsvr32 %windir%\system32\wups2.dll’ , and then press ENTER. Click OK to proceed.
4. You need to then restart the Automatic Updates service. To do this, type the following at the command prompt ‘net start wuauserv’.
5. Exit the command prompt. To do this type exit, and then press ENTER.

I hope you too have Found a Fix!

1. Try Combofix. Disable whatever anti-virus you are currently running first and download here.
2. Visit http://safety.live.com and click on “Full Service Scan”. Follow the steps for a complete scan.
3. After this has completed, go to http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ and Click on “Scan Now. It’s Free”. Again, follow the steps for complete scan and removal of threats.
4. From the control panel, Go to Add/Remove programs and remove any unnecessary programs. Look out for browser add-ins, search programs, free or demo software, shopping , advertising, toolbar extra’s, and so on. At the very least, this is good pc maintenance. If you have more than 1 ant-virus software, then remove at least one of them.
5. Download and run RogueRemover.
6. Download and Run SmitfraudFix
7. Download, Install and run CCleaner – This is a free tool for removing temporary files, cookies, history, and cleaning up registry problems. Run the Cleaner and then the registry fix.
8. Download, install and run Spybot – Search & Destroy –  Homepage is http://www.spybot.info
9. To analyse and remove items from your startup list,  download HijackThis to a temporary directory. This tool is a great way to see what programs are starting up when you pc logs in to windows. My advice here is to remove obvious entries but consult Google for a second opinion. Be careful with this tool as you can adversely affect genuine programs such as your ant-virus software. Alternatively, you can use the startup manager in CCleaner to simply disable the startup items.
10. If you do not have any anti-virus software, download AVG Free .

I hope you have Found A Fix!

I was trying to transfer all my VPN and dial-up settings from my old computer to a new one without having to recreate each one separately.

The solution and description to this error is set out below; 

1. Find the Rasphone.pbk file in the %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk folder on your old computer. Note: The Application Data folder is a hidden folder. To view this folder, follow these steps:
2. Open the All Users folder, and then click Folder Options on the Tools menu.
3. Click View, click Show hidden files and folders, and then click OK.
4. After you have created all your connections, copy the Rasphone.pbk to a safe location, and then copy the Rasphone.pbk file to the %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk folder on the new computer. Note When you replace the Rasphone.pbk file, you are prompted to confirm the file replacement. Click Yes to replace the file.
5. Restart the computer to view the connections

Note: This will not transfer usernames and passwords. Just Settings..

I would like to acknowledge the assistance and thank Microsoft for their solution.

I hope you too have Found A Fix!!

After installing Kaspersky Anti-Virus, my windows vista computer would blue screen. I was getting the stop error 0×00000024 and I could only manage to access windows via safe mode.

The solution and description to this error is set out below; 

After several hours trawling the Internet, I found that there were several suggestions offered. Some included modifying the registry (see below) but I Found that using the Kaspersky Removal Tool was the only option for me. This removed all registry entries to Kaspersky and my pc boot up with no problems whatsoever.

Download

You can download the removal tool from here

I would like to acknowledge the assistance and thank Kaspersky for their solution.

I hope you too have Found A Fix!!

Everytime i restart and login to my pc i receive the message “Generic Host Process for Win32 Services has encountered a problem and needs to close..” several times, over and over..

The solution and description to this error is set out below;

To fix this annoying message you need to download the appropriate Hotfix from the Microsoft website here.

I would like to acknowledge the assistance and thank Microsoft for their solution.

I hope you too have Found A Fix!!

Internet Explorer 8 (beta) had become unstable and i needed to uninstall & revert to IE7.

The solution and description to this error is set out below; 

For Windows XP Users

Click the Start Button and then Control Panel. Choose Add or Remove Programs.

Find and select Windows Internet Explorer 8 from the list of available applications and click on remove.

Restart your system.

For Windows Vista Users

Click the Start Button and select Control Panel. Select Uninstall a Program.

IE8 is an update in Windows Vista.

Select View installed updates

Find and select Windows Internet Explorer 8 from the list of available updates and click the uninstall button at the top of the list.

Restart your system.

I hope you too have Found A Fix!

The computer would not boot up. I received the message “Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\”

This will also repair most boot up problems such as the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)…The solution and description to this error is set out below;

Firstly. Run a CHKDSK.

Start by booting from your Windows XP or Vista CD. Press R for Recovery Console. From here you meed to run ‘Chkdsk /p’ . Type exit and the computer should reboot into normal mode. I always recommend after this you then run the chkdsk again from the Windows side (only slightly different). If the computer reboots normally;

Click on start, run and type ‘chkdsk /f /r’ and type ‘y’ when prompted to do so. You should then reboot the pc and allow the chkdsk to run again.

If not, continue reading.

Secondly. Perform the System Restore

1. Start your PC and boot from your Windows XP or Vista CD. Press R for the Recovery Console.

2. Once Inside the Recovery Console type the following commands to change the directory to the system restore directory:

cd \  

cd system~1
or cd “system volume information”

If you receive an Access denied error, read below, otherwise move to step 3.

a) Type the following commands to change the directory to c:\windows\system32\config :

cd windows
cd system32
cd config

b) Rename the system branch of the registry. That will allow us to access the system restore folder from inside the Recovery Console. In case the process fails and you want to perform a Windows Repair you will need to rename system.bak to system again.

ren system system.bak

c) Type exit to leave the recovery console and to restart the computer.

d) Go back into the Recovery Console.

e) Re-enter the commands:

cd \  
cd system~1
or cd “system volume information”

3. Type: cd _resto~1 and hit enter

Alternatively, type DIR and hit enter to ascertain the proper name of the folder.

If there is no _resto~1 folder or if there are no restore points inside it: Try this on I Found A Fix

If the _resto~1 folder exists, inside it there are several folders named RP100, RP200. These are restore points. RP100 is the oldest restore point. You should take the highest number being the most recent restore point.

Type DIR and hit enter to view what Restore Point folders are available. If no restore points are available you may have to consider reinstalling Windows. Otherwise choose the most convenient Restore Point folder. Supposing we have RP300 available let’s type in:

Cd RP300

Change the directory to snapshot:

cd snapshot na hit enter.

Restore the main registry branches manually. If you are being asked if you want to overwrite type in y to agree.

Type exit to reboot the system. The computer should start the computer normally. If not, you can repeat the steps and try the different restore points.

I would like to acknowledge the assistance and thank Myfixes.com for their solution which can also be found here

I hope you too have Found A Fix!