Microsoft Windows Questions Answered
Microsoft Windows Questions Answered
Here are some questions that got asked about the Microsoft Windows Operating System.
People just like yourself needed help and I hopefully I found the answers you was looking for.
In the pages that follows and that are linked to this page may provide or give you some guidance.
This is only navigational to the resources and perhaps some tips and tricks I may provide you.
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Warning: Editing the registry is very tricky make sure you back it up before making any changes.
I Have a Question
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Question |
Hey Tom
How can I fix the registry on my computer it won't boot into Windows.
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Answer |
Sometimes a registry problem causes a computer not to boot or to prevent logon. If you can't boot the computer, or you don't have any other means to restore the problem registry file, you might be able to open the registry on another computer, fix it, and restore it to the problem PC.
In order to fix the registry this way, you must be able to boot the system through a diskette or dual-boot configuration and gain access to the file system. You also need to be able to copy the registry file to a removable media with sufficient space to accommodate it or be able to copy the file across the network.
Here's how to modify a remote registry locally on your computer if you can't connect to it across the network:
Boot the other computer with a boot diskette or dual-boot OS and then copy the problem hive file to a removable media or directly across the network to your system.
Log in as administrator on your system and run REGEDIT.EXE.
In the Registry Editor, select either the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_USERS window, and then choose Registry | Load Hive.
Locate the file copied to the system in step 1, select the file, and click Open. This loads the hive into the local registry as a subkey of the selected key.
Make the necessary changes to the damaged hive and then choose Registry | Unload Hive.
Copy the hive file back to its original location on the problem computer. Restart to test the system.
Note: Editing the registry is risky, so make sure you have a verified backup before making any changes
You can also reload Windows but you will probably have to reload some programs as well but remember making the wrong choice when reloading Windows could erase the drive and load a fresh copy of Windows.
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Question |
Is there a way to have Windows give a boot option for safe mode?
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Answer |
Sure follow these steps:
/safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog
The next time you restart your system, you'll have two boot selections, one for Windows XP and one for Safe Mode
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Question: |
How to Reformat
Your Hard Drive
I'm currently running Windows XP Pro. Can
you please give me step-by-step instructions on how to reformat my hard drive
and start fresh? I have many peripherals attached: a printer,
a Webcam, a 64MB video card, a video capture card with TV and FM, and an
external modem. Thank you.
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Answer 1 |
Let me start
by saying that a complete reformat and reinstallation of your operating system
is something that is often required when a computer system has just become too
damaged to continue attempting repair. Over time, viruses, spyware, installing
and uninstalling programs, and errors that compound themselves can eventually
bring even the fastest computer to a grinding halt. Many avid computer users
plan a complete restore once every year or two just to keep things running
smoothly. Having said this, there are a number of steps you should take before
reformatting, as well as things you can do to help speed up the process the next
time.
First, keep in mind that reformatting and reinstalling Windows brings
your computer back to the first day that you used it. You will lose everything
that you installed and saved to your hard drive since that first day. This
includes any online updates. It is extremely important that you have backed up
all the data that you want to bring back to your computer. Word documents,
photographs, music, address books, and e-mail are just a few examples of the
things you might want to save. Don’t assume your backups are good. Double-check
backups by reading the files or restoring a few of them back to your computer
and viewing them. Don’t forget to run a complete virus scan on your saved data
to prevent bringing back viruses that you may have had.
A few notes on backup: There are a number of methods and programs
available for backing up data. Check each of the programs that you use for a
built-in backup routine. Programs such as Quicken and Act! have their own backup
routines (usually under the file menu). If you use outlook for email you can
down load a backup routine from Microsoft to save your emails and address books.
Windows XP Pro also has its own backup program under Programs-Accessories-System
Tools. XP Home does not come with a backup program by default, but is available
on the original installation CD.
Second: Check to make sure that you have all the installation disks for
the hardware that you mentioned as well as any software that you originally
installed. Download and save to CD all updated drivers and software for your
Video Card, printers, scanners and any other hardware that you plan to use. If
you have downloaded any programs, you will need all your Key codes for them as
well.
Ok, let’s get started on the reformat and restore process. You did not mention
the make or model of your computer, so there is one of four possible methods
available to you.
A. Built in Restore – Many newer computers come with a built-in restore
process saved to a second partition on the hard drive. This can usually be
accesses by pressing a key during the boot process. For Example: Pressing F10
during boot on HP computers will bring you to a restore menu. Check your
computers manual or online to see if you have this option.
B. Restore CD’s – Some computers come packaged with a set of Restore or
Recovery disks. The first disk is a bootable CD and is inserted into the CD
drive during boot-up.
C. Original Windows XP Disk – If you don’t have either of the above, then
you will have to use your original Windows XP disk (you will need your
Installation Key Code). If your XP CD is an upgrade version, then you will need
an old Windows 95, 98, ME disk as well.
D. No CD’s and No Restore Partition – If you have lost your Restore CD’s
or never received any and your computer does not have a restore partition, you
can usually order a set of Restore CD’s from the manufacturer of your computer
for a minimal charge of about $20.
STEP-BY-STEP
A. You Have Built in Restore
1. Backup All Data.
2. Unplug all USB devices like printers, scanners and palm pilots. If you have
several internal cards that you added after you purchased the computer, you may
need to remove these.
3. Check Manual for proper key to press for restore or it may show up on the
opening screen.
4. Enter restore mode.
5. Follow onscreen instructions. (takes about 30 min)
6. Install Drivers for special hardware (hardware that did not come with
computer)
7. Check Device Manager for any Yellow Exclamation Points indicating missing
drivers or errors. Click START-CONTROL PANEL-SYSTEM-HARDWARE-DEVICE MANAGER.
(Select Classic View) If you have any Yellow Exclamation Points, you will
probably need to install drivers for these devices from your CD for that piece
of hardware.
8. At this point you have a fairly clean installation and it is time to Update
windows. Download and install all Windows updates, especially Service Pack 2 (if
not already at SP2).
9. Install and setup any additional external hardware like printers, scanners,
Palm pilots, etc. Install each one at a time and reboot and test before
installing the next item.
10. Install additional software that you have on CD like Office, Quicken and
Photoshop, except Antivirus software. Again install one at a time, reboot and
test before going on to the next.
11. Once you have all the hardware and software installed and running, it is now
time to install any security products that you may have like antivirus software,
Software Firewalls and Spyware/popup blockers. (you don’t want to have too many
redundant programs running)
12. With Antivirus software up and running and updated online with the latest
virus definitions installed, you can now go online and look for updates for
other software or download programs that you want to reinstall.
13. Using whatever method you used to backup your data, you can now restore your
data back to your computer. Don’t do this until you have antivirus software
running. You don’t want to bring back viruses that may have caused your original
problems.
14. You can now go in and tweak your settings to what ever you like, add screen
savers and set things up the way you want.
15. Now that everything is up and running just the way you like it, it is time
to backup your settings. I prefer to use something like Norton Ghost to make a
disk image of this state. If you want to reformat and restore your computer
again in the future, you can restore it back to this point instead of all the
way back to the beginning, saving a huge amount of time. You could also use
Windows XP Pro Backup to make a recovery set. I also recommend using Windows
Restore to save a Restore Point at this point. Some people like to set a restore
point after each of the steps above in the event that something goes wrong along
the way.
B. You have Restore/Recovery CD’s
1. Backup All Data.
2. Unplug all USB devices like printers, scanners and palm pilots. If you have
several internal cards that you added after you purchased the computer, you may
need to remove these as well.
3. With computer running, insert Recovery CD in drive and restart computer.
Note: Make sure your CD’s are clean of any finger prints and smudges by wiping
them from the center out. If recovery window does not come up you may have to go
into your bios and change your boot order to boot from CD first. (Check your
manual for exact key sequence to enter the bios settings)
4. Enter restore mode.
5. Follow onscreen instructions. (takes about 30 min)
Follow Steps 5 thru 15 above
C. Using Windows XP Disk
1. Backup all data.
2. Unplug all USB devices like printers, scanners and palm pilots. If you have
several internal cards that you added after you purchased the computer, you may
need to remove these as well.
3. With computer running, insert Windows XP Installation CD in drive, ignore the
installation screen and restart computer with the CD in the drive. Note: Make
sure your CD’s are clean of any finger prints and smudges by wiping them from
the center out. A short message will display “Press Any Key to boot from CD”
Press key quickly. .If your computer will not boot from the CD, you may have to
go into your bios and change your boot order to boot from CD first. (Check your
manual for exact key sequence to enter the bios settings)
4. Windows will now load some setup files and if you need some 3rd party disk
drivers such as those required for some SATA drives you will have only a moment
to press F6 to do this. Otherwise wait until you see the Welcome to Setup
screen. This screen will display your current disk partitions. I would suggest
using the ”D” key to delete the current windows partition and then use the “C”
key to recreate the partition. NOTE: If you have a fairly large hard drive I
would suggest creating 2 partitions. One for the windows operating system and
another for your data. This way if you want to reinstall windows again in the
future, you data will be safe on the 2nd partition.
4a. Once you have created the partition or decided to keep the original
partitions, Windows will format and start to install windows as well as prompt
you for your Code Key for the CD case. This should take about 30 to 60 minutes.
Follow Steps 5 thru 15 above
Sorry about the length of this, but you asked for step-by-step and did not
supply enough information to narrow down the response.
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Answer 2 |
Well, there are many steps in reformatting your hard drive properly. Many things
you will want to consider before you do:
1) Do you have all of your original program/driver discs that came with my
computer?
2) How are you going to back-up your data? DVD-RW, CD-R, Tape Drive, Second hard
drive? Remember, although Windows has many drivers built-in for compatibility
reasons, some methods are better than others for backing up. I prefer to send
all of my data across the network at my house to another computer.
3) Have you written down all the things that you will need to remember?
Passwords for programs, phone numbers (for dial-up users), internet favorites.
Also, many programs, such as Musicmatch, require you to type a “key” to activate
the full version of the software. If you bought the key off of the internet,
make sure you have it written down somewhere. Many companies offer a “lost key
retriever” service, but it’s a pain and takes more time than to just write it
down.
4) Back up all of your regularly used files. Documents, pictures, videos, music,
whatever you want to keep. Remember, you can always just not use some of the
things you backed-up, but once you re-format, you can never get it back. If you
are a game player, you need to find out how each game saves it’s files. Usually,
you can find the game save files in the folder that the game is located. Look
for the name of your game, and write down the location of the file, i.e.
C:\Program Files\LucasArts\X-Wing Alliance\. When you reinstall everything onto
your computer, just move the file back into the same location. If you use
outlook or equivalent for your e-mail, remember to export your all of your used
folders. i.e. Your inbox, sent items, contacts, calendar and such.
5) Is it an opportune time to reformat? Do you have a big project coming up for
work/school that you need to finish? Taking the time to
backup/reformat/reinstall/re-customize a system can take a long time. Do you
have the time to do it, or should you wait until later?
Alright, now for what you asked for:
1) Make sure you have everything that you need off of your computer and onto a
reliable medium. (See above step 2)
2) Insert your Windows XP Pro CD and reboot your machine.
3) Hit any key to boot off the CD. This may take a while depending on your
machine. Be patient.
4) The next screen will have a few options for you. It will say something to the
effect of “Install Windows XP”.
5) If a screen comes up and gives you the option to repair your drive, use that
option, if not, proceed to step 6.
6) The next screen should come up quickly and allow you to view the different
partitions that were created on your drive.
7) Go to the primary partition and follow the instructions on how to delete it.
It is usually ‘d’ to delete, then ‘L’ or ‘F8’ To confirm.
8) All your information is now gone. Now you need to make space, or get the hard
drive ready, to receive the new Operating System.
9) You should see the partition screen again, now, instead of “Partitioned
Space” there should be something that says “Unpartioned space”. Go to that and
follow the directions for creating a new partition. Usually ‘C’, ‘Enter’ – to
set at maximum size, or you can use the keypad to change the value, and
sometimes you can name the partition. I always use the default name.
10) You should once again see the screen that you saw in step 6, now, go to the
partition that you just created, and follow the directions there for installing
Windows onto it. Usually ‘Enter’.
11) After this, it’s pretty much smooth sailing. Windows will take over, and
there should be no more DOS-like commands.
12) Once you reinstall, re-customize everything, you’re set to go.
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Question: |
Can I Change Computer Ownership?
When I click My Computer >
System, a page comes up with some information, including the name of whom the
computer is registered to. How can I change this name? I am giving my computer
to my daughter and want to put her name there instead. I appreciate any help you
can offer. Thank you.
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Answer |
(First, a word of warning: This may require you to edit the Registry. Doing this
incorrectly can cause permanent damage to your operating system and should
therefore be done with extreme caution.)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current
Version and "RegisteredOwner" (Windows NT/2000/XP users). HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion and "RegisteredOwner" (Windows 9x/Me users).
The name to whom the computer is registered is stored in the Windows Registry.
If you are not familiar with the system Registry, use EXTREME caution when
making any changes here. However if you are familiar with the Registry, you can
go straight to the Registry key:or Double-click RegisteredOwner in the
right-hand pane and under Value data, change the name to whoever you'd like.
Click OK and exit the Registry editor and you're done.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Windows Registry,
here's how to perform this task:
When making changes to the Registry, ALWAYS back it up first; in case you make a
mistake somewhere, you can restore the original Registry. Altering the Registry
can be potentially dangerous and may cause serious problems to the Windows
operating system. Even though this procedure is pretty simple and the risks are
minimal, it's always best to play it safe. (Note: Steps 1 through 3 explain how
to back up your Registry.)
1) Go to Start > Run, type regedit, and press ENTER or click OK.
2) A window opens up (this is the Registry); on the left are a series of file
folders, and on the right are the values.
3) On the left side, right-click My Computer and choose Export. Type a name for
your file and save it to a location you will remember in case you need to
restore the backup. In a event that something does go wrong, to restore your
Registry to the previous setting. Go to the location of the file you exported,
double click the file and a message will appear and ask if you would like to add
this information to the registry, click Yes and this will reload the previous
Registry settings. Now, on to changing the registered name.
4) If the + (plus sign) next to My Computer is not already expanded, click it so
that it shows a hyphen or minus sign. That will expand five folders with the +
in front of them. **NOTE** From here on, clicking the plus sign will be denoted
by an arrow or by hyphens, expanding the folders further.
5) Click the + in front of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows
NT (for Windows 95/98/Me users, it is Windows without NT).
6) Then click the folder icon (not the +) for CurrentVersion.
***NOTE***
The entire path to the KEY for Windows NT, 2000, and XP is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
For Windows 95/98, and Me, the path to the KEY is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
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Question: |
How Do I Disable Error Reporting
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Answer |
Disabling Error Reporting
Get the inside details of a crash report
When a program crashes, Windows XP gathers information about the program, its
code, and the actual crash. This data is then compiled into a special report. A
dialog window appears, which prompts you to send the crash report to Microsoft.
While its delivery is optional, remember that Microsoft collects this
information and creates fixes based on the data.
Details of the report can be viewed by clicking on the link that specifies: "To see what data this error report contains, click here." However, if you're skeptical about privacy, it's possible to disable Error Reporting.
Here's how:
Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
Go to the Advanced tab and click Error Reporting.
Click Disable Error Reporting.
If you want Error Reporting only on certain applications, click Enable Reporting and then select Choose Programs.
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Question: |
How Do Change The Level 2 Cache?
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Answer |
Adjust the Level 2 cache setting
During
Windows XP installation, Setup queries the system processor to determine the
size of the Level 2 cache. However, it doesn't always succeed. When this
happens, Setup configures a default setting of 256 KB in the registry.
If your computer has a larger Level 2 cache than Setup configured in the registry, your system won't perform optimally. To significantly increase the performance of your system, change the value in the registry to match your Level 2 cache.
Here's how:
1. Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management.
3. Double-click SecondLevelDataCache DWORD value.
4.
Using the options below, change the value in the Value Data text
box to a number that matches the size of your Level 2 cache. Then click OK.
Level 2 cache Value Data setting
256 KB 0
512 KB 200
1024 KB 400
5. Click OK and close the Registry Editor.
You may need to restart the system or log out of Windows XP for the change to take effect.
If you're not sure of the actual size of your system's Level 2 cache, copy this script (paste it into notepad) and save it (to your desktop so it is easy to find) as L2Cache.vbs:
Set ProSet = GetObject("winmgmts:").InstancesOf("Win32_Processor")
For each Pro in ProSet
WScript.Echo "Level 2 Cache:" & " " & Pro.L2CacheSize & " KB"
Next
Double-click the script to run it, and you'll see a dialog box that displays the size of your system's Level 2 cache.
Note: Editing the registry is risky, so be sure you have a verified backup before making any changes
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