Category Archives: Troubleshooting
Geek Friday: iFixit Troubleshooting and Repair Resource
There are various, and useful I should say, web resources for repair manuals and items out there. However, rarely do you see one site where you can both order tools and download videos/manuals. Well, when I heard of iFixit, I assumed it would just be another site with tear down videos, and I did specifically want to see one on there. However, I noticed that they also have parts and tools, manuals and forums to ask about troubleshooting.
They don’t just have computers, either. In fact, I wanted to see an iPad teardown. They also have guides for cameras, phones and game consoles. They even have a vehicle repair section! Now, how cool is that?
Two Home Menu Items After Setting Static Front Page in WordPress
Yesterday, I wrote about “Using WordPress as a Regular Website with a Static Front Page”, in which I wrote:
As long as your WordPress theme already supports it, that’s really all there is to it! You will now have a static landing page called “Home” and a blog attached to it (if you chose to set it).
Well, as it so happens, I was working on a site when I wrote this article. Up until that point, I have created WordPress sites with a static front page without any incident, but I forgot to put up an article about it. Well, I’ve been trying out a brand new cool WordPress theme, TechGo. I did what I normally do, and there they are: two Home menu items. This is the first theme that I’ve had this issue with.
Capturing the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)
The default on many PCs, particularly those that come from the big manufacturers, is to reboot after a blue screen of death (BSOD), the wonderful blue screen with white letters that greets you with STOP error codes and a lot of geek-talk. I’ve seen some computers that crash and restart so fast that sometimes the user isn’t even aware of the blue screen in between! This can end up in an endless cycle of reboot, crash and reboot. Frustrating!
There are various ways to break this cycle. Many BSODs occur pretty shortly after startup or after login fairly consistently. Pressing [F8] and choosing “Disable automatic restart…” is perhaps the easiest way for consistent BSODs.
However, it can be hit or miss as to when some events cause the blue screen, so you might get it up and running without a blue screen and still not know what is going on. There are utilities that read the dump files, but frankly they are usually cumbersome to use.
Well, NirSoft has an easy to use utility BlueScreenView, which will read the minidump files created during BSODs, and you can view the details of the crash. Hopefully, if it is a faulty driver, it will be listed as the possible cause, thus helping you to narrow down on the issue.
NirSoft makes some other handy utilities, some of which are used by BleepingComputer.com volunteers to assist people who post in their forums for assistance. If you use one and find it useful, I encourage you to donate so that they will keep them updated.
Getting Around Windows Automatic Restart With UBCD4Win
Finally, I have found a good use for the Ultimate Boot CD For Windows (UBCD4Win). My previous attempts at using and making it resulted in less than stellar results. I suppose it was my ignorance of how to create and use it properly. One of the things I did not realize is that you can put both UBCD and UBCD4Win utilities on the same CD and boot either way, which really comes in handy when you need both sets of utilities.
This investigation all started with the infamous blue screen of death (BSOD) on a machine running Microsoft Windows. I don’t recall whether it was XP or Vista, and I’m inclined to believe it was the latter. At any rate, the stupid machine was set to automatically restart after a crash. So, the error would flash on the screen and then disappear before you could even focus on the fact that the machine crashed.
Fixing Windows Vista Update Issues With System Update Readiness Tool
Sometimes it will surprise you what will fix a Windows Update issue. Microsoft has the System Update Readiness Tool available to check your system to see if it is compatible with Windows 7. It checks for hardware and software compatibility, to include drivers. It is a handy tool prior to upgrading to Windows 7 in order to make sure there are as few surprises as possible.
However, as documented in the Windows Reference article “Tool To Repair Windows Updates errors in Vista”, a side benefit of this is that Windows registry and update store inconsistencies can be fixed as well. If CheckSUR finds errors, it will attempt to fix them by replacing certain elements with known good versions.
I assume that this same procedure could fix some XP errors as well, but I did not see that documented anywhere. In any event, it takes less time than doing a repair update and the subsequent updates that result from that action.
Obtaining Latest Windows Update Agent
Yeah, Windows updates can be a pain. Most of the time, when they work, they work well. However, when they don’t, it can be a real pain to figure out why.
In “Windows XP Automatic Updates, Installer Issues and Insanity”, I go into detail about troubleshooting Windows Update issues for XP, but some of those steps also work for Vista (and I assume Windows 7). However, the web page for downloading the actual update agent on that page references only Windows XP.
Well, it turns out they are the same. However, there is also a page at KB949104 that specifically mentions Vista, all three versions (32-bit, 64-bit and Itanium).
Good luck! If it doesn’t work but other updates do work, try downloading and manually running that specific update, as that often will work on Vista.
Resetting Registry Permissions to Defaults
Twice now, I have once again seen the same problem as I posted about in “File and Registry Changes not Saved, but Rolled Back?”. I have not found an answer, unfortunately, but while looking I did find an interesting post at Windows Reference about “Reset the entire registry permissions to defaults”. Not a solution for this particular problem, but I did run into one situation a year ago where this info would have come in handy.
So, anyone else see the original situation where registry settings would not be saved, programs would reappear and the Computer Name tab of the System Properties dialog come up at startup?
Geek Friday: New Look at “Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt” (System or Software)
Previously, I had dealt with an issue for a client where at startup they got the infamous black screen that said, “Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: WINDOWSSYSTEM32CONFIGSYSTEM”. There were concerns about reloading Windows on the system (although a reformat and reload would have been my preference).
Well, I learned something this week, and I’m going to share it with you.
Geek Friday: Computer Won’t Boot Might Be a Bad CMOS Battery
Lenovo T500 powers up but will not boot
I was looking at a couple of Lenovo T500 ThinkPads yesterday, and both of them had the same symptoms as one I was looking at last week. The laptop status lights come on, but they do not POST. In fact, there is no splash screen at all. One of them would flicker the hard drive light a couple of times, but the other two wouldn’t even do that.
File and Registry Changes not Saved, but Rolled Back?
OK, I’ve been struggling with cleaning Windows Vista Repair malware, but this is out of the ordinary. It must be a rootkit. There is no other explanation. However, it is definitely a new twist. The main program is gone and not asking for money any longer, but there definitely is still something there.
Here are the symptoms:
