My Dell desktop computer would not boot up. After I powered it on, I would receive six long beeps and nothing would happen.

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

To fix, open up the pc and reseat the RAM.

I Hope you too have Found A Fix!

The broadband in our business network would randomly disconnect throughout the day. We also experienced fluctuating Internet speeds throughout the day sometimes bringing web access to an absolute crawl. 

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

After reviewing the logs from the broadband router, we found that uTorrent was the cause. An employee had installed the software on their laptop and even though the software was not in use, the Internet Service Provider was disconnecting the broadband connection due to “too many open connections”.

The best solution for this is to remove any peer-to-peer software (uTorrent, BitComet, Limewire, Bearshare, etc) from any desktop or laptop within your network.

1. Click on Start and go to the Control Panel.
2. Add/Remove Programs.
3. Look for Peer-to-Peer software (uTorrent, BitComet, Limewire, Bearshare, etc)
4. Click on Remove/Uninstall and reboot the pc once the uninstall is complete.

I Hope you too have Found A Fix!

Outlook was stuck in a continuous loop in Send/Receive at around 50%. It seemed to be downloading mails byte by byte but could not complete the task.  Also, the application itself was constantly hanging and bringing the pc to a standstill

The solution and description to this error is set out below;I tried everything; removing the extend.dat file, recreating the mail profle, etc. The solution that worked in the end was a repair install of Microsoft Office.

To do this;

1. Click on Start and go to the Control Panel.
2. Add/Remove Programs.
3. Look for Microsoft Office 200x.
4. Click on Change and follows the prompts to run a repair install of the application.

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!

I was trying to access a network share in a small peer-to-peer network and it would take between 30-60 seconds just to show the contents of the folder. The folder did contain a few thousand files but it still should not have taken this long to populate the folder.

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

If you are experiencing the same issue, there is a vast amount of possible reasons why you might be  experiencing the same problem. In my case, the reason was because someone had set the network card speed duplex to 100mb Full.

Changing this value to ‘Auto’ repaired the problem for me. For windows XP, click on START, CONTROL PANEL, ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS, COMPUTER MANAGEMENT and select DEVICE MANAGER.

On the right-hand side, open network adapters, right-click on the appropriate network card and choose properties. You’ll find the speed duplex settings here.

I hope you too have Found a Fix!

While using my laptop my screen suddenly turned upside down for no apparent reason.

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

The reason why this happened was because the display drivers had Hotkeys enabled.  See image below (Where I disabled).

You most likely (depending on your software) hit CONTROL, ALT and the DOWN ARROW which caused your screen to rotate.

To fix, you can try CONTROL, ALT and UP ARROW to return the screen to normal. Alternatively, stand on your head and navigate to your control panel and find the graphics icon such as NVIDIA, ATI or INTEL, etc where you can make the necessary changes.

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!

To remove and replace the keyboard on some laptops can involve some work. Here is the procedure to remove the keyboard on a HP Pavillion DV6000.

To remove the keyboard there are a number of screws on the underside of the laptop that need to be released first.

Open the compartment for the RAM. This lid is secured with two screws.

Inside the battery compartment is a single screw that needs to be released. There is a keyboard logo beside this screw that identifies this.

Next remove the battery and inside the battery compartment are five screws that need to be undone.

There are three main ones in a row. These are are located as shown here. Unlike the other screws, they do not have the keyboard logo. This is because they secure a section of the bezel above the keyboard which needs to be released.

One on the left

One in the centre

One on the right

The remaining two have a keyboard logo beside them.

One is near the lower middle of the compartment, near the battery contacts

The other is to the lower right

Next turn over the laptop and the keyboard can be taken out.

Remove the section of the bezel above the top of the keyboard. Use a flathead screwdriver to lever this off. This must be done firmly, but not with too much force.

When this section is released, the keyboard can be lifted out.

This section of the bezel can be released, but it can not be lifted far s there are interface leads attached for the power switch and function keys. However this is enough to allow the keyboard to be lifted out

First lift the keyboard from the top side first like this:

Then it will pop out. Be careful as there is a ribbon interface to the main board, which should not be pulled or stressed

This ribbon interface is secured with a black wedge into a white socket

With the following step it is very important not to use too much force.

Either with your finger or a fine screw driver, slide the wedge out.  From the side carefully push this slightly one side…

….and then from the other side

It may be necessary to push alternately on each side, gradually pushing on each side in turn.

The ribbon will be released

When fitting a replacement keyboard, slide the ribbon over the wedge into the socket. Then the ribbon is secured by pushing the wedge back.

The ribbon needs to be precisely in place. If it goes in crooked or at an angle, the interface will not make proper contact and the the keyboard will not work.

Follow the procedure in reverse order to secure the keyboard and replace each of the screws on the reverse of the laptop.

If the keyboard does not work then the most likely cause is that the interface ribbon cable is not making contact or it is not secured properly. For this reason, you should boot up the laptop before re-assembling it fully. Put the battery back in and power it on. This may save a bit of work if the keyboard does not work for you at the first attempt.

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!