Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP

To open the User Accounts tool, open Control Panel from the Start menu, and then double click User Accounts. To create a new user account, follow these steps: 1. Click "Create a new account" in the "Pick a task" list box. 2. Type the name that you want to use for the account, and then click Next. 3. Select the desired account type, and then click Create Account. To make changes to an account, follow these steps: 1. Click "Change an account" in the "Pick a task" list box. 2. Click the account that you want to change. 3. Select the item that you would like to change: - Click "Change the name" to change the name that appears on the Welcome screen for the account. - Click "Change the picture" to change the picture that is used to represent the user account. You can use any image file on the computer for the user's picture. - Click "Change the account type" to change the account type to increase or decrease the user's rights on the computer. - Click "Create/change the password" to create or change the password for the user and create or change the password hint. - Click "Delete the account" to delete the user account from the computer. When you delete the account, you are given the option to save the user's files on the computer. Note: You can not delete the account for a user that is currently logged on to the computer.

Windows restarts without warning

Cause: This issue could be caused by any of the below possibilities. 1.Software issue or error. 2.Hardware issue or error. 3.Heat related issue. 4.Computer virus. 5.Issue with operating system. Answer: Software issue or error Errors generated by software programs can cause a computer to reboot unexpectedly or without warning. If you are running Windows XP see the below section "For Windows XP users" before continuing. If you are not running Windows XP or following the below steps still cause your computer to reboot without warning. Boot your computer into Safe Mode, and let the computer run in Safe Mode. Additional information and help with getting into Safe Mode can be found on document CHSAFE. If the computer is still rebooting in Safe Mode the issue is likely not software related but something else, skip to the next section. If the computer is not rebooting in Safe Mode it is likely you have software related issue. We would recommend you run through the basic troubleshooting section for your operating system. For Windows XP users Windows XP is designed to automatically reboot each time an error occurs such as a BSoD. Although this may be nice for errors that do not occur often, users who have a re-occurring error may wish to identify the error to troubleshoot it. Below are the steps on how this feature can be disabled and enabled in Windows XP. 1.From the desktop right-click on My Computer. 2.Click the Properties option. 3.In the System Properties window click the Advanced tab. 4.In Advanced click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery. 5.In the Startup and Recovery window uncheck the Automatically restart check box. 6.Click Ok. Now if the computer generates and error it should not automatically restart and enable you to display any errors your computer may be experiencing. Hardware issue or error Any failing hardware component in your computer could cause your computer to unexpectedly generate an error and/or reboot without warning. If you have recently attempted to add a new hardware device, remove that device to make sure it is not causing your issues. Make sure you are not encountering any hardware conflicts by viewing Device Manager for errors. Additional information about Device Manager can be found on our Device Manager page. New drivers can also cause this issue, if you have recently performed any hardware driver updates you may wish to try an earlier version of the drivers. Additional information and help with computer drivers can be found on our drivers page. If you have updated drivers and removed any hardware that could be causing this issue and continue to experience random reboots, it's possible that the memory is bad in the computer. Additional information about testing computers memory can be found on document CH000708. Finally, hardware devices that are not installed properly in the computer can also cause random reboots. Make sure all the cables and expansion cards are connected properly to the computer. The best way to determine this is to disconnect and reconnect all cables and expansion cards. Computer virus Computer viruses such as the blaster virus are written to reboot your computer without warning. Usually these viruses will make the computer reboot ever 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes after the computer has booted. If you believe your computer may be infected with a virus or are uncertain if your computer is infected with a virus make sure your virus scanner definitions are up to date. Heat related issue Many computer today are designed to turn off or automatically reboot if the computer, processor, or other device in your computer gets to hot. If you have heard any abnormal noises coming from your computer recently such as a high squealing this could indicate a fan may be failing in your computer. You can first start by verifying the fan on the power supply is working by examining the back of the computer and seeing if the fan is moving and moving smoothly. For all other fans in the computer you will need to either open the computer and make sure the fan are working (processor fan and case fan) and/or if your BIOS monitors the RPM of the fans enter BIOS and make sure the BIOS does not report any errors. Users may also be able to determine how hot their computer is by onboard thermal sensors, if your computer comes equipped with these sensors make sure your CPU is not running to hot. Issue with operating system If after following each of the above recommendations your computer still continues to reboot it is likely that you are experiencing a Microsoft Windows operating system related issue that cannot be explained. To help make sure this is the case please try the below steps. 1.Reboot the computer and enter CMOS setup as the computer is booting. If you are not familiar with how to enter CMOS please read through document CH000192. 2.After you have loaded the computer in CMOS setup let the computer sit. If the computer does not reboot while letting the computer sit in CMOS it is likely that you are in fact experiencing an issue with Microsoft Windows and it is recommend that if you have followed all of the above recommendations that you reinstall your version of Microsoft Windows.

Regaining computer hard disk drive space

Answers: Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP and Vista users Run the Disk Cleanup option 1.Open My Computer. 2.Right-click on the hard disk drive that you wish to regain hard disk drive space. For example, right-click on the C: drive. 3.Click Properties. 4.Within the General tab, click the "Disk Cleanup" button located next to the pie chart. 5.Windows will scan the computer for all files available to clean up. 6.Once in the Disk Cleanup window check each of the boxes (except "compress old files") that are taking disk space and click Ok and then Yes if you wish to proceed. Compress? When performing a Disk Cleanup you'll have an option to compress your hard drive. We strongly recommend users do not compress their hard disk drive and/or compress their old files. Additional suggestion for Windows 2000 and Windows XP users: Window 2000 and Windows XP keeps all the necessary files needed to uninstall any of the updates ever installed on your computer. Often this is several dozen updates that can take up several hundred and sometimes over 1 gig of space on your hard disk drive. See document CH000849 for additional information about these folders, how to locate them, and delete them. Disable System Restore Windows XP users can also decrease the default space utilized by Windows System Restore and often gain several additional gigabytes of hard disk drive space. See the below steps in customizing this feature. 1.Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and open "System Restore". 2.Within the System Restore window, click "System Restore Settings". 3.Within the "System Restore" tab you can either check the "Turn off System Restore on all drives" to completely disable this feature, or click the Settings button and decrease the space usage, which we would recommend. Disable hibernation If you turn your computer off instead of using hibernation mode you can disable this feature to free up a lot of disk space.

Why Windows programs stop responding

Additional information: A computer, operating system, software program or driver may stop responding or cause other programs to stop responding because of several possible reasons, such as a confliction of software or hardware resources between two programs, lack of system resources, or a bug in the software or drivers. Solution: To recover from a program that has stopped responding, a user can generally press the CTRL + ALT + DEL keys on his or her keyboards to open the "Close Program" window or open the "Task Manager" window and click the "End Task" button to terminate the program. If another window opens, click the "End Task" button again to confirm stopping that program. It is important to realize that when a program stops responding any work that has not been saved will more than likely be lost when end tasking a program. Unfortunately, there is no alternative.

Issues related to msgsrv32.

Additional information: Note: It is known that users may confuse msgsrv32 with msgrv32. While msgrv32 is a spelling error, it is related to this document. The file Microsoft msgsrv32.exe or msgsrv32.dll is a file located in the C:\Windows\SYSTEM directory placed on the computer during the Windows installation. The description of this file is "Windows 32-bit VxD Message Server" and is responsible for such Windows tasks as: •Handle Plug and Play messages between various parts of the operating system. •Handle responses to and from setup programs. •Display the initial logon dialog box if a network is present or profiles are enabled. •Play the system startup and shutdown sounds. •Load the Windows drivers at startup and then unload them at shutdown. •Run the shell program. Cause: Errors or issues relating to msgsrv32 can be caused by any of the below possibilities. 1.Resource conflict or issue 2.TSRs or other running programs 3.Sound driver or sound card issues 4.Onboard sound or video issue 5.MIDI device or codec issues 6.Power Management or screensaver issue 7.Microsoft Find Fast related issue 8.Memory manager being used 9.Issue with shell 10.Computer virus or back orifice 11.Bad hardware Solutions: NOTE: If you are unable to boot into Windows because of the MSGSRV32 error, attempt to follow the below steps in Windows Safe Mode. Information about booting into Safe Mode can be found on document CHSAFE. Resource conflict or issue Before attempting any of the below recommendations, ensure that the computer has no conflicts or errors in Windows Device Manager. If conflicts or errors are present, it is highly recommended that they be fixed first, as they could be causing your issue. •Additional information and help with Device Manager can be found here. TSRs or other running programs If you are encountering the MSGSRV32 error when attempting to open a program or perform a particular task on a computer, verify programs or other TSRs are not causing your issues by End Tasking all TSRs and closing all programs before running or performing the task generating your MSGSRV32 error. •Additional information and help with TSRs can be found here. Sound driver or sound card issues First, ensure that you have the correct audio devices in Multimedia by following the below steps: 1.Click Start / Settings / Control Panel double-click the multimedia icon. 2.Verify that the playback device is set to the audio device in the computer. Second, verify that your sound card has the latest drivers and/or updates installed from the computer or motherboard manufacturer (if onboard sound). A listing of computer sound drivers can be found on our sound card drivers page. Onboard sound or video issue •If you need to disable onboard sound, please see document CH000261. •If you need to disable onboard video, please see document CH000193. MIDI device or codec issues Verify that the computer has the proper MIDI codec and that no more than 11 MIDI devices are installed. To check this, follow the below steps: 1.Click Start / Settings / Control Panel 2.Double-click the Multimedia icon 3.Select the Advanced or Devices tab 4.Click the + next to "MIDI Devices and Instruments" 5.Verify that the correct codec is installed according to the sound card installed in the computer. In addition, verify that no more than 11 MIDI devices are listed below this category. If more than 11 MIDI devices are installed or the improper codec appears to be installed, remove the improper codec or one of the MIDI devices. Note: if MIDI Express XT driver is installed, you may also wish to remove this codec to help free up available space for additional MIDI devices. Power Management or screensaver issue If you are experiencing issues with MSGSRV32 after recovering from power management or when the computer has been idle for over 10 minutes, it is possible that your computer may have issues with Power Management. To attempt to resolve these issues, please try the below recommendations. 1.If any screensavers or CPU sharing programs such as SETI are running on the computer, temporally disable these programs to ensure they are not causing your issue. 2.If your issues persist, attempt to disable Power Management by clicking Start / Settings / Control Panel / Power. In the Power menu, disable or set the power settings to Off or Never. Once set, click ok or Apply and reboot the computer. Microsoft Find Fast related issue Ensure that Microsoft Find Fast is not being loaded in the startup group by clicking Start / Programs / Startup. If "Find Fast" or "Microsoft Find Fast" is listed, remove this program from automatically loading each time your computer boots; follow the below steps: 1.Click Start / Settings / Taskbar & Start Menu 2.Click Start Menu Programs tab 3.Click the Advanced button 4.Click the + next to Programs and then the + next to startup 5.Highlight the Find Fast icon and press the delete key on the keyboard. 6.Once removed, close out of all windows and reboot the computer to see if issue has been resolved. Memory manager being used If the computer has a memory manager installed such as QEMM, temporarily uninstall this program from the computer to ensure it is not causing your issue. Issue with shell If your are using a shell other than explorer.exe (standard Windows shell), it is possible that the msgsrv32 error is being encountered because of the third-party shell. Temporarily disable or remove the third-party shell and attempt to use the standard Windows explorer. Computer virus or back orifice Errors relating to msgsrv32 can be caused by computer viruses, and in some cases back orifice, which is a hack utility used to gain access to an individual's computer. Verify that you have the latest updates for your computer virus scanner and that no viruses have been detected on your computer. •Additional information and help with computer viruses can be found on our virus information page. Other Software corruption If you have attempted each of the above recommendations and your issue is not listed in the below specific MSGSRV32.DLL errors, it is possible your computer may have another type of software or data corruption causing the issue. If you have not already attempted the recommendations on our basic troubleshooting page, please try those recommendations now. If you continue to experience issues it is recommended you format and reinstall the computer operating system. Additional help and information about doing this can be found on document CH000186. Bad hardware If after reinstalling the operating system you immediately continue to experience the MSGSRV32 errors, it is possible that the computer may have bad hardware. If your sound card is not an onboard sound card and you are familiar with ESD, you may want to consider temporarily physically removing the sound card or DVD decoder cards and see if the issue persists. Specific MSGSRV32.DLL errors: MSGSRV32.DLL caused a general protection fault in CM8330SB.DRV MSGSRV32.EXE caused a general protection fault in CM8330SB.DRV EXPLORER caused a general protection fault in CM8330SB.DRV Iexplorer caused a general protection fault in CM8330SB.DRV This issue is related to the C-Media 8330 sound card chipsets included in various computer sound cards and some modems. Verify with the sound card manufacturer, modem manufacturer, or, if you have an onboard sound card, the motherboard manufacturer, to see if any updated drivers or patches are available for your sound card / modem. MSGSRV32 caused an invalid page fault in module Kernel32.dll during Microsoft Network (MSN) login or when attempting to open Internet Explorer or Microsoft Outlook This issue may be encountered when the MSN password file is corrupt. To resolve this issue, follow the below instructions. 1.Click Start / Find / Files or Folders 2.In the Named field type: *.pwl 3.Verify that the Look in field is looking in the C: drive 4.Click Find Now 5.If files are found click Edit and click Select All. 6.Once all the files are highlighted, press the delete key. 7.Once the files have been deleted, reboot the computer, when the computer reboots, the pwl files should be recreated and you should then be able to log into MSN. 8.If this resolves your issue and you are running Windows 95, download the file mspwlupd.exe from our Windows 95 download page. MSGSRV32 caused a general protection fault in KRNL386.EXE during windows install This issue may be caused by a problem with the dblbuff.sys file. Microsoft has released a support fix for this issue, but to obtain the file you must contact Microsoft. See Microsoft Q209321 for additional information. When browsing or installing device drivers, one of the following error messages occurs: Msgsrv32 caused a General Protection Fault in module Kernel32 Msgsrv32 caused an invalid page fault in Msgrv32.dll MSGSRV32 caused an invalid page fault in module Kernel32.dll Msgsrv32 caused a General Protection Fault in Msgsrv32.exe

IE closes unexpectedly

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows To resolve this problem immediately, follow these steps:1. Install the hotfix files in the most current cumulative security update for Internet Explorer. For more technical information about the most current cumulative security update for Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/current.aspx (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/current.aspx) For more information about how to install hotfixes that are included in a cumulative security update for Internet Explorer, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 897225 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/897225/) How to install hotfixes that are included in updates and cumulative security updates for Internet Explorer Note This hotfix was first included in security update 928090 (MS07-016). For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 928090 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928090/) MS07-016: Cumulative security update for Internet Explorer 2. After you install the fix, you must add the FEATURE_ADJUST_POPUP_UNLOAD_BEHAVIOR_KB926840 registry key in the registry. To do this, follow these steps:a. Click Start, click Run, type Regedit, and then click OK. b. Locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl c. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key. d. Type FEATURE_ADJUST_POPUP_UNLOAD_BEHAVIOR_KB926840, and then press ENTER. e. Right-click FEATURE_ADJUST_POPUP_UNLOAD_BEHAVIOR_KB926840, point to New, and then click DWORD Value. f. Type iexplore.exe, and then press ENTER. g. Double-click iexplore.exe, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK. h. Exit Registry Editor.

Mouse pointer is going out of the screen

Go to Start Menu > Run > Control Panel > Mouse > Pointer Options>Check Display Pointer Trails>Extend the Trails to Long... open your video properties.(from your desktop.) then settings. there will be a display of 3 boxes. your main one and one or two others. right click on the second one and "attach" should be checked. uncheck it. that should fix your problem.

Computer POST / beep codes

AMI BIOS beep codes Below are the AMI BIOS Beep codes that can occur. However, because of the wide variety of different computer manufacturers with this BIOS, the beep codes may vary. Beep Code Descriptions Document 1 short DRAM refresh failure CH000996 2 short Parity circuit failure CH000607 3 short Base 64K RAM failure CH000996 4 short System timer failure CH000607 5 short Process failure CH000607 6 short Keyboard controller Gate A20 error CH000383 7 short Virtual mode exception error CH000607 8 short Display memory Read/Write test failure CH000607 9 short ROM BIOS checksum failure CH000607 10 short CMOS shutdown Read/Write error CH000239 11 short Cache Memory error CH000607 1 long, 3 short Conventional/Extended memory failure CH000996 1 long, 8 short Display/Retrace test failed CH000607 AWARD BIOS beep codes Below are Award BIOS Beep codes that can occur. However, because of the wide variety of different computer manufacturers with this BIOS, the beep codes may vary. Beep Code Description Document 1 long, 2 short Indicates a video error has occurred and the BIOS cannot initialize the video screen to display any additional information CH000607 Any other beep(s) RAM problem. CH000996 If any other correctable hardware issues, the BIOS will display a message. IBM BIOS beep codes Below are IBM BIOS Beep codes that can occur. However, because of the wide variety of models shipping with this BIOS, the beep codes may vary. Beep Code Description Document No Beeps No Power, Loose Card, or Short. CH000312 1 Short Beep Normal POST, computer is ok. No problem 2 Short Beep POST error, review screen for error code. See screen Continuous Beep No Power, Loose Card, or Short. CH000607 Repeating Short Beep No Power, Loose Card, or Short. CH000607 One Long and one Short Beep Motherboard issue. CH000607 One Long and Two Short Beeps Video (Mono/CGA Display Circuitry) issue. CH000607 One Long and Three Short Beeps. Video (EGA) Display Circuitry. CH000607 Three Long Beeps Keyboard / Keyboard card error. CH000304 One Beep, Blank or Incorrect Display Video Display Circuitry. CH000607 Macintosh startup tones TONES ERROR Error Tone. (two sets of different tones) Problem with logic board or SCSI bus. Startup tone, drive spins, no video Problem with video controller. Powers on, no tone. Logic board problem. High Tone, four higher tones. Problem with SIMM. Phoenix BIOS beep codes Below are the beep codes for PHOENIX BIOS Q3.07 OR 4.X Beep Code Description / What to Check 1-1-1-3 Verify Real Mode. 1-1-2-1 Get CPU type. 1-1-2-3 Initialize system hardware. 1-1-3-1 Initialize chipset registers with initial POST values. 1-1-3-2 Set in POST flag. 1-1-3-3 Initialize CPU registers. 1-1-4-1 Initialize cache to initial POST values. 1-1-4-3 Initialize I/O. 1-2-1-1 Initialize Power Management. 1-2-1-2 Load alternate registers with initial POST values. 1-2-1-3 Jump to UserPatch0. 1-2-2-1 Initialize keyboard controller. 1-2-2-3 BIOS ROM checksum. 1-2-3-1 8254 timer initialization. 1-2-3-3 8237 DMA controller initialization. 1-2-4-1 Reset Programmable Interrupt Controller. 1-3-1-1 Test DRAM refresh. 1-3-1-3 Test 8742 Keyboard Controller. 1-3-2-1 Set ES segment to register to 4 GB. 1-3-3-1 28 Autosize DRAM. 1-3-3-3 Clear 512K base RAM. 1-3-4-1 Test 512 base address lines. 1-3-4-3 Test 512K base memory. 1-4-1-3 Test CPU bus-clock frequency. 1-4-2-4 Reinitialize the chipset. 1-4-3-1 Shadow system BIOS ROM. 1-4-3-2 Reinitialize the cache. 1-4-3-3 Autosize cache. 1-4-4-1 Configure advanced chipset registers. 1-4-4-2 Load alternate registers with CMOS values. 2-1-1-1 Set Initial CPU speed. 2-1-1-3 Initialize interrupt vectors. 2-1-2-1 Initialize BIOS interrupts. 2-1-2-3 Check ROM copyright notice. 2-1-2-4 Initialize manager for PCI Options ROMs. 2-1-3-1 Check video configuration against CMOS. 2-1-3-2 Initialize PCI bus and devices. 2-1-3-3 Initialize all video adapters in system. 2-1-4-1 Shadow video BIOS ROM. 2-1-4-3 Display copyright notice. 2-2-1-1 Display CPU type and speed. 2-2-1-3 Test keyboard. 2-2-2-1 Set key click if enabled. 2-2-2-3 56 Enable keyboard. 2-2-3-1 Test for unexpected interrupts. 2-2-3-3 Display prompt "Press F2 to enter SETUP". 2-2-4-1 Test RAM between 512 and 640k. 2-3-1-1 Test expanded memory. 2-3-1-3 Test extended memory address lines. 2-3-2-1 Jump to UserPatch1. 2-3-2-3 Configure advanced cache registers. 2-3-3-1 Enable external and CPU caches. 2-3-3-3 Display external cache size. 2-3-4-1 Display shadow message. 2-3-4-3 Display non-disposable segments. 2-4-1-1 Display error messages. 2-4-1-3 Check for configuration errors. 2-4-2-1 Test real-time clock. 2-4-2-3 Check for keyboard errors 2-4-4-1 Set up hardware interrupts vectors. 2-4-4-3 Test coprocessor if present. 3-1-1-1 Disable onboard I/O ports. 3-1-1-3 Detect and install external RS232 ports. 3-1-2-1 Detect and install external parallel ports. 3-1-2-3 Re-initialize onboard I/O ports. 3-1-3-1 Initialize BIOS Data Area. 3-1-3-3 Initialize Extended BIOS Data Area. 3-1-4-1 Initialize floppy controller. 3-2-1-1 Initialize hard-disk controller. 3-2-1-2 Initialize local-bus hard-disk controller. 3-2-1-3 Jump to UserPatch2. 3-2-2-1 Disable A20 address line. 3-2-2-3 Clear huge ES segment register. 3-2-3-1 Search for option ROMs. 3-2-3-3 Shadow option ROMs. 3-2-4-1 Set up Power Management. 3-2-4-3 Enable hardware interrupts. 3-3-1-1 Set time of day. 3-3-1-3 Check key lock. 3-3-3-1 Erase F2 prompt. 3-3-3-3 Scan for F2 key stroke. 3-3-4-1 Enter SETUP. 3-3-4-3 Clear in-POST flag. 3-4-1-1 Check for errors 3-4-1-3 POST done--prepare to boot operating system. 3-4-2-1 One beep. 3-4-2-3 Check password (optional). 3-4-3-1 Clear global descriptor table. 3-4-4-1 Clear parity checkers. 3-4-4-3 Clear screen (optional). 3-4-4-4 Check virus and backup reminders. 4-1-1-1 Try to boot with INT 19. 4-2-1-1 Interrupt handler error. 4-2-1-3 Unknown interrupt error. 4-2-2-1 Pending interrupt error. 4-2-2-3 Initialize option ROM error. 4-2-3-1 Shutdown error. 4-2-3-3 Extended Block Move. 4-2-4-1 Shutdown 10 error. 4-3-1-3 Initialize the chipset. 4-3-1-4 Initialize refresh counter. 4-3-2-1 Check for Forced Flash. 4-3-2-2 Check HW status of ROM. 4-3-2-3 BIOS ROM is OK. 4-3-2-4 Do a complete RAM test. 4-3-3-1 Do OEM initialization. 4-3-3-2 Initialize interrupt controller. 4-3-3-3 Read in bootstrap code. 4-3-3-4 Initialize all vectors. 4-3-4-1 Boot the Flash program. 4-3-4-2 Initialize the boot device. 4-3-4-3 Boot code was read OK.

How to fix a fatal exception error

Additional information: Windows and software now commonly use exceptions, which allow Windows or other software to communicate in layers and communicate errors or exceptions. If a program is given an exception that is invalid or unknown, the program or operating system will generate a fatal exception. Fatal exceptions are also commonly referred to as a Fatal OE, as the OE error is one of the more commonly experienced fatal exception error messages. Fatal exception error messages are generated when one of the below situations occur. •Access to an illegal software instruction has occurred. •Invalid data or code has been accessed. •The privilege level of an operation is invalid. When a fatal exception is encountered the error will be in the below format. A fatal exception has occurred at xxxx:xxxxxxxx In the above example of the fatal exception the YZ represents the actual processor exception, this can range from 00 to 0F. Each of theses processor exceptions are explained under Extended information. After the processor exception is the enhanced instruction pointer to the code segment and the 32-bit address. This is exactly where the error exception has occurred. Cause: Fatal exception errors are generally caused by incompatibility issues, errors in the code, heat related issues, and/or other hardware / software issues. Because of the wide range of possibilities, we have created this document to help determine or resolve your issue. Solution: Remove all TSRs Disable or unload any TSRs or programs currently running before running the program or attempting to recreate the error. Delete all temporary files that may still be residing on the hard disk drive from currently or previously running programs. Run Scandisk / Defrag Attempt to run scandisk / defrag on the hard disk drive as it could be possible your hard disk drive may have an issue causing the swap file or data files to become corrupt or invalid Disable External Cache in CMOS If the option is available, attempt to enter your computer's CMOS setup and disable the external cache. If this resolves your issue it is likely that you are encountering a heat related issue. Verify that all fans in and on your computer are properly working. Possibly attempt to add an additional case fan, if there is available space. Overclocked computer If you have overclocked any component within the computer, set the computer to its factory settings to verify that the overclocked component is not causing the issue. Update software or check for software patches If you are experiencing invalid page faults in only one program, verify that the software program is compatible with the operating system you are running the program within. Also verify with the manufacturer or vendor of the software program that there are no available patches or updates for the program that may help or resolve your issue. Verify your computer has more than 200 MB available If your computer is running low on hard disk space, your Windows swap file will be unable to increase in size when needed, causing programs to be swapped between memory and the hard disk drive more frequently. When this occurs it is more likely that a GPF can occur. Recently installed software / hardware If you have recently installed new software or hardware attempt to uninstall or reinstall that software / hardware to verify it is not causing your issue. CPU Core Voltage If available, verify within your CMOS or by jumper that your CPU core voltage is set to factory specification. This may require that you consult your documentation or motherboard manufacturer. Bad Memory, invalid bits or physically bad memory It is possible that bad memory can cause a Fatal Exception. If you have recently added memory to the computer, it is recommended that it first be removed to verify that you are not experiencing conflicts with the recently installed memory. If no memory has been recently added to the computer and you have tried all the above recommendations you can find additional information about testing your memory on document CH000708. Extended Information: Below is a listing of the more commonly experienced processor exceptions ranging from 00 to 0F. If you have not already, please review the Additional Information section of this document explaining the basic information about the Fatal Exception errors and the layout of the Fatal Exception. 00 = Divide Fault Occurs if division by zero is attempted or if the result of the operation does not fit in the destination operand. 02=NMI interrupt Interrupt 2 is reserved for the hardware Non-Maskable-Interrupt condition. No exceptions trap through interrupt 2. 04=Overflow trap Occurs after an INTRO instruction has executed and the OF bit is set to 1. 05=Bounds Check fault The array Index is out of range 06=Invalid Opcode fault This error can be caused by one of the below conditions. 1.Processor attempting to decode a bit pattern that does not correspond to any legal computer instruction. 2.Processor attempts to execute an instruction that contains invalid operands. 3.Processor attempts to execute a protected-mode instruction while running in virtual 8086 mode. 4.Processor attempts to execute a LOCK prefix with an instruction that cannot be locked. 07=Copressor not available fault. This error can occur if no math coprocessor is present. This error can also occur when the math coprocessor is used and a task switch is executed. 08=Double Fault. This error occurs when processing an exception triggers a second exception. 09(OD)=Copressor Segment Overrun. Floating point operand is outside the segment. 10(0Ah/0A)=Invalid Task State Segment Fault Can be caused by a number of possibilities as Task State Segment contains a number of descriptors. 11(0Bh)=Not Present Fault The Not Present interrupt allows the operating system to implement virtual memory through the segmentation mechanism. 0B fault occurs when this segment is not available. 12(0Ch)=Stack Fault Occurs when instruction refers to memory beyond the limit of the stack segment. 13(Odh)=General Protection Fault Caused by any condition that is not covered by any of the other processor exceptions. The exception indicates that this program has been corrupted in memory generally resulting in the immediate termination of the program. Also see document CH000224 for additional information about GPFs. 14(Oeh)=Page Fault Occurs when a paging protection rule is violated (when the retrieve fails, data retrieved is invalid or the code that issued the fault broke the protection rule for the processor). 16(10h)=Coprocessor error fault Occurs when an unmasked floating-point exception has signaled a previous instruction. 17(11h)=Alignment Check Fault Only used on 80486 computers. Caused when code executing at ring privilege 3 attempts to access a word operand that is not divisible by four, or a long real or temp real whose address is not divisible by eight.

How to fix an invalid page fault.

Additional information: An invalid page fault is caused when the operating system or a software program attempts to store or call a segment or block of the computer's memory that does not exist. Because of the invalid call, the program will generate an invalid page fault error message and terminate the program or process to prevent additional issues. Cause: There are several reasons a computer may generate an Invalid Page fault error. Below are few of those possibilities. 1.Incompatibility or issue with the software programs. 2.Issues with the computer memory. Solution: Remove all TSRs Disable or unload any TSRs or programs currently running before running the program causing the GPF. Delete all program temporary files Delete all temporary files that may still be residing on the hard disk drive from currently or previously running programs. Run Scandisk / Defrag Attempt to run scandisk / defrag on the hard disk drive as it could be possible your hard disk drive may have an issue causing the swap file or data files to become corrupt or invalid Update software or check for software patches If you are experiencing invalid page faults in only one program, verify that the software program is compatible with the operating system you are running the program within. Also verify with the manufacturer or vendor of the software program that there are no available patches or updates for the program that may help or resolve your issue. Recently installed software / hardware If you have recently installed new software or hardware, attempt to uninstall or reinstall that software / hardware to verify it is not causing your issue. Bad Memory, invalid bits or physically bad memory It is possible that bad memory can cause Illegal Operations. If you have recently added memory to the computer it is recommended that it first be removed to verify that you are not experiencing conflictions with the recently installed memory. If no memory has been recently added to the computer it is recommended you follow all other steps found on this page before replacing the memory within the computer.

Windows is running very slow

Cause: This issue can be caused by any of the below possibilities. 1.Hard disk drive is short on available disk space. 2.Several software programs have been installed/uninstalled leaving behind bad files and/or confusing the software. 3.Data Corruption. 4.Computer is overheating. 5.Bad Hardware. Additional information: If your Internet is slow this document does not contain information about this issue. See document CH000986 for additional information about why your Internet connection may be slow. PC Solution: Below are steps for Microsoft Windows that should help speed up the computer or determine why the computer is running slow. Not enough hard disk drive space If you have a hard disk drive that is 2GB or smaller, ensure that there is at least 200MB of hard disk drive space free. If you have a hard drive larger than this size, verify that there is at least 500MB of free hard disk space. This available space allows the computer to have room for the swap file to increase in size as well as room for temporary files. Hard drive corrupted or fragmented Run Scandisk or something equivalent to help ensure that there is nothing physically wrong with the computer hard disk drive. Run Defrag to help ensure that data is arranged in the best possible order. Background programs Remove or disable any TSRs or programs that automatically start each time the computer boots. See document CHTSR for additional information. Hardware conflicts Verify that the Device Manager has no conflicts, but if conflicts are present, resolve them. Issues with Windows XP prefetch If you have Windows XP try deleting all files in the prefetch directory. These are prefetch files and can lower system resources if loading programs no longer being used. See our prefetch definition for additional information about prefetch. Issues in Windows 95 / 98 autoexec.bat / config.sys If you are using Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98 and do not plan on running any MS-DOS programs from MS-DOS follow the below steps. 1.Click Start, Run and type command and press enter. 2.In the MS-DOS window type cd\ to get to C:\> and then type ren autoexec.bat autoexec.ch and ren config.sys config.ch This will rename your autoexec.bat and config.sys and help make sure memory is being optimized through Windows. Computer or processor is overheating Make sure your computer and processor is not overheating, excessive heat can cause a significant decrease in computer performance some processors will even lower the speed of the processor automatically to help compensate for the heat related issues. Additional information about your processor temperature and was of determining how hot it is can be found on document CH000687. Specific operating system basic troubleshooting Try running through the basic troubleshooting steps for your operating system. Erase computer and start over Finally, if none of the above solutions resolve your issues, it is recommended that you either reinstall Windows and/or erase everything and then start over. Additional information about how to do this can be found on document CH000186. Hardware issues If your computer continues to be slow after going over each of the above recommendations it's possible that your computer is experiencing a more serious hardware related issue such as a failing component in the computer. This could be a failing or bad CPU, RAM, Motherboard, or other component.

How to fix illegal operations

Cause: Illegal Operations can be caused by several different factors. Below is a listing of the more commonly known reasons for getting an Illegal Operations. 1.TSR's or Third-party programs causing memory conflicts or other types of conflicts with the program or programs attempting to be run. 2.Data not being read properly from source. Running a program or game with a dirty CD can cause the CD to be read improperly causing Illegal Operations. Floppy diskettes, which may contain errors can cause illegal operations. 3.Installing a program or game on a hard disk drive that has errors or is highly fragmented. 4.Corrupt files. 5.Memory managers. 6.Bad, incorrect or not the latest video drivers. 7.Computer Virus. 8.Added hardware 9.Error in program coding 10.Corruption or problem within Windows. 11.Bad Memory, invalid bits or physically bad memory. Solution: TSR's or Third-party programs TSR's or Third-party programs running in the background are one of the more commonly found reasons for Illegal Operations. If you are receiving an Illegal Operation when attempting to run a game or program it is recommend that you temporarily remove or disable programs running and TSR's running in the background, ensuring that these programs are not causing your issues. If, after removing these programs, you run the program or game and no longer receive the Illegal Operations, it is recommend that you reboot the computer and disable or End Task each program or TSR one at a time to attempt to determine which program is causing the Illegal Operation. Data not being read properly from source When running a program or game from a CD you receive an Illegal Operation, verify that the CD is clean. Installing a program or game on a hard disk drive that has errors or is highly fragmented When installing a program or game onto a hard disk drive it is recommended if you receive errors after installing that program or game that you attempt to uninstall that program or game, run a scandisk, then a defrag, and finally attempt to install the program or game again. If errors exist on the hard disk drive, they will cause the program or game to run improperly and can cause Illegal Operations. Corrupt, bad or missing files can cause Illegal Operations. It is recommended that you attempt to uninstall and or reinstall the program causing the Illegal Operation to verify that any corrupt, bad or missing files are replaced or repaired during the reinstallation. Memory managers If you are running a memory manager that is used to obtain more memory or handle the computer memory in replace of Windows, it is recommended you temporarily disable or uninstall this program to verify it is not the memory manager causing the Illegal Operations. Bad, incorrect or not the latest video drivers Bad, incorrect or not the latest video drivers may cause Illegal Operations when performing such tasks as moving the mouse or dragging data from one source to another as high demands are placed onto the video card. Attempt to decrease the video settings to 640 x 480, 256 colors to verify if the program or game being run is having errors because of the current video settings. If, after attempting to adjust the video settings, you still encounter the same issue, verify the computer is utilizing the latest video card drivers by visiting our Video drivers section. Computer Virus Because computer viruses are loaded into memory and can change the data of program files when infecting a computer, ensure that a virus protection utility is installed on the computer and that you have the latest Virus Definition. Added hardware If added hardware has been recently installed onto the computer it is likely that either the hardware is conflicting with other hardware devices on the computer or that the drivers used to install that hardware is causing issues with other hardware or software installed on the computer. If added hardware has recently been added to the computer, it is recommended that you temporarily remove that added hardware and the software associated with it to ensure it is not causing your issues. Error in program coding If you are receiving Illegal Operations only when running a particular program, verify that the program is compatible with the Version of Windows you are running and ensure no available patches or software are available that may fix errors made during the development stages. Corruption or problem within Windows Because Windows controls the memory operations as well as the file structure and association, it is possible for Windows or files associated with Windows to become corrupted, causing Illegal Operations or other errors. It is recommended you reinstall Windows if you are experiencing Illegal Operations in Windows or more than one program trying to be run on the computer. Bad Memory, invalid bits or physically bad memory It is possible that bad memory can cause Illegal Operations. If you have recently added memory to the computer, it is recommended that it first be removed to verify that you are not experiencing conflicts with the recently installed memory.

NTLDR is missing

errors: Below are the full error messages that may be seen when the computer is booting. NTLDR is Missing Press any key to restart NTLDR is missing Press Ctrl Alt Del to Restart Cause: 1.Computer is booting from a non-bootable source. 2.Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS. 3.Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file. 4.Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file. 5.Attempting to upgrade from a Windows 95, 98, or ME computer that is using FAT32. 6.New hard disk drive being added. 7.Corrupt boot sector / master boot record. 8.Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP. 9.Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable. Solutions: Computer is booting from a non-bootable source Many times this error is caused when the computer is attempting to boot from a non-bootable floppy disk or CD-ROM. First verify that no floppy diskette is in the computer, unless you are attempting to boot from a diskette. If you are attempting to boot from a floppy diskette and are receiving this error message it is likely that the diskette does not have all the necessary files and/or is corrupt. If you are attempting to install Windows XP or Windows 2000 and are receiving this error message as the computer is booting verify that your computer BIOS has the proper boot settings. For example, if you are attempting to run the install from the CD-ROM make sure the CD-ROM is the first boot device, and not the hard disk drive. Second, when the computer is booting you should receive the below prompt. Press any key to boot from the CD Important: When you see this message press any key such as the Enter key immediately, otherwise it will try booting from the hard drive and likely get the NTLDR error again. Note: If you are not receiving the above message and your BIOS boot options are set properly it's also possible that your CD-ROM drive may not be booting from the CD-ROM properly. Verify the jumpers are set properly on the CD-ROM drive. Additional information about checking the CD-ROM drive connections can be found on document CH000213. Additional information: This error has also been known to occur when a memory stick is in a card reader and the computer is attempting to boot from it. If you have any type of card reader or flash reader make sure that no memory stick is inside the computer. Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS Verify that your computer hard disk drive is properly setup in the BIOS / CMOS setup. Improper settings can cause this error. Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file Windows 2000 users Windows XP users Windows 2000 users If your computer is using Microsoft Windows 2000 and you are encountering the NTLDR error. Create the below boot.ini file on the floppy diskette drive. [boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect Copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files from another computer using the same operating system. Both of these files are located in the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. For example, C:\NTLDR and C:\NTDETECT.COM should be the locations of these files on many computers. •Please keep in mind that these files are hidden system files, if you need additional help with viewing hidden files in Windows please see document CH000516. Once these files have been copied to a floppy diskette reboot the computer and copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files to the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. Below is an example of what commonly should be performed from the A:\> drive. copy ntldr c: copy ntdetect.com c: After the above two files have been copied, remove the floppy diskette and reboot the computer. Windows XP users 1.Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer. 2.When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key. 3.Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows. 4.Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter. 5.You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password. 6.Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter, which in this case is "e." This letter may be different on your computer. copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\ copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\ 7.Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot. Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file Edit the boot.ini on the root directory of the hard disk drive and verify that it is pointing to the correct location of your Windows operating system and that the partitions are properly defined. Additional information about the boot.ini can be found on document CH000492. Attempting to upgrade from a Windows 95, 98, or ME computer that is using FAT32 If you are getting this error message while you are attempting to upgrade to Windows 2000 or Windows XP from Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows ME running FAT32 please try the below recommendations. 1.Boot the computer with a Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows ME bootable diskette. 2.At the A:\> prompt type: sys c: 3.After pressing enter you should receive the "System Transferred" message. Once this has been completed remove the floppy diskette and reboot the computer. New hard disk drive being added If you are attempting to add a new hard disk drive to the computer make sure that drive is a blank drive. Adding a new hard disk drive to a computer that already has Windows installed on it may cause the NTLDR error to occur. If you are unsure if the new drive is blank or not try booting from a bootable diskette and format the new hard disk drive. Corrupt boot sector / master boot record It's possible your computer's hard disk drive may have a corrupt boot sector and/or master boot record. These can be repaired through the Microsoft Windows Recovery console by running the fixboot and fixmbr commands. Additional information and help in getting into the Microsoft Windows Recovery console can be found on document CH000627. Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP If you have tried each of the above recommendations that apply to your situation and you continue to experience this issue it is possible you may have a seriously corrupted version of Microsoft Windows. Therefore we would recommend you reinstall Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP. If you are encountering this issue during your setup you may wish to completely erase your computer hard disk drive and all of its existing data and then install Microsoft Windows 2000 / Windows XP. Additional information about erasing the computer and starting over can be found on document CH000186. Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable This issue has been known to be caused by a loose or fault IDE/EIDE cable. If the above recommendation does not resolve your issue and your computer hard disk drive is using an IDE or EIDE interface. Verify the computer hard disk drive cable is firmly connected by disconnected and reconnecting the cable. If the issue continues it is also a possibility that the computer has a faulty cable, try replacing the hard disk drive cable with another cable and/or a new cable.

Changing Windows unlocking behavior

Third party application that allows you to change the unlocking behavior of windows allowing you to set which users can unlock a workstation. By default only the current logged in user or an administrator is able to unlock a workstation that has been locked. Workstations can be locked by selecting "Lock Now" from the Ctrl-Alt-Del menu or by password protected screensavers. When the current user unlocks the system their logon session is restored; when an administrator uses his credentials to unlock the system then the current user is logged off before another user can log on. This can be a problem when computers in public areas are locked and put out of commission. Regular users are unable to unlock the computers and an administrator must be called. HIPAA and SOX requires all stations to be locked when not in use so many systems are set to automatically lock when not in use so this is becoming more and more of a problem on nursing stations. A third party product called "Unlock Administrator" ( http://www.e-motional.com/ULAdmin.htm ) solves the problem allowing you to specify exactly which users are able to unlock systems. In situations where many users are sharing the same generic logon session, the program allows selected users to unlock the computer without logging the current user off. Logs are kept to know who unlocked the system and when. Runs under Windows 2000,XP,2003 but not Vista.

Changing the Remote Desktop Port

Changing the listening and connecting port for Windows Remote Desktop Connection. The default port that the Windows Remote Desktop Connection program listens on is 3389. However, you can change to any port you wish; maybe you find public networks block everything except port 80 and 433 (in which you could set it to 433) or you feel changing to a non-default port is better security wise. Whatever your case, you must edit the Windows Registry: Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: \System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\ Name: PortNumber Type: REG_DWORD Value: desired port number in Decimal format Then if you use the Windows Remote Desktop Connection program to connect to the computer, follow the address you want to connect to with a colon and the port number that you changed to; for example 255.255.255.255:433.

How To Delete System Blocked Files

How to delete Files/Folders which are being blocked by the processes running in the background. You will get the following error messages when you try to delete a file/folder which is being blocked by the System or Application Processes running in the Task manager: Access Is Denied Sharing Violation Error File/Folder is being used by applications. Please close the application and then try again. Solution: You need to kill the handle. To kill the handle, use Process Explorer from Sysinternals (at URL: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx) How to delete the handle: Run Process Explorer Go to Find menu > Enter File/Folder name and then click on Search. You will see a list of processes blocking the file/folder. Right click on the process and then click on Close Handle > Click Ok for confirmation. Now you can successfully delete the file.

How To Quickly Check IP Address on Remote Computers?

How to quickly check IP Address information on all the computers using a single command. Windows does not ship with a command which can be used to quickly check the IP Address information on all the remote computers. You need to use third party tools or a utility to do so. I use Psexec.exe to get this information. Steps: Create a Text file named Servers.txt Paste all the computer names in the Text file Run the following command to store IP Information to a Text file: Psexec.exe -@Servers.txt Ipconfig > Result.txt

A Quick Tip To Fix The Blank Windows Screen

This article explains a quick fix you can use to solve the issue with Windows blank screen. Windows is modular in design. The Windows Executive Services pass the control to Winlogon to display the Window Login Dialogue Box. Winlogon calls MSGINA.DLL to process the authentication for the user. MSGINA.DLL then passes the control to default Shell of Windows. There are two types of Shell: Windows Explorer Shell (Explorer.exe) and User Shell (Userinit.exe). Explorer Shell is responsible to display the Start Menu and User Shell is responsible to show the desktop. The user will see a blank screen window if both the shells are not executed by the MSGINA.DLL. The MSGINA.DLL looks at the following registry location to identify the Explorer and User shell: Key Name: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon Entry Name: Shell contains the value Explorer.exe Entry Name: Userinit contains the value %SystemRoot%\System32\Userinit.exe If you see either the entries are missing or they do not contain the value as shown above then use the following steps to rectify this: Steps: Go to a Computer connected to the network. Start Menu > Run > Regedit.exe > Connect Network Registry > Specify the computer name. Navigate to the above location in registry of remote computer and then change the value as shown above. Restart problematic computer.

Tips for Securing Your Wireless LAN

Ways to protect your Wi-Fi network from eavesdroppers and hackers. Though you might be an avid wired networker, wireless networks may be something you’re not so familiar with; especially with the security aspects. If your small business is considering expanding to offer wireless access, you need to make sure you properly secure your network. Without a secure network, Wi-Fi eavesdroppers can sniff the airwaves to view your network communications (emails, web pages, files, etc) and easily connect to gain access to your network. Here are several ways you can implement a bulletproof Wi-Fi network: Use WPA encryption: Using encryption is the only way to prevent Wi-Fi eavesdroppers from seeing the raw data packets of your wireless network. Since WEP encryption can be easily cracked, you should use WPA encryption. The easiest way to use WPA is to enable the personal or home version, called WPA-Pre Shared Key (PSK). For a bullet-proof wireless network and for one that implements account logins (802.1x authentication), you should use the WPA-Enterprise version, which requires a RADIUS server. Use MAC address filtering: This consists of limiting the devices that can connect to the network by maintaining a table or list of approved wireless clients by their MAC address, the unique physical address. Though with the right tools, Wi-Fi hackers can spoof their wireless adapter with another MAC address (one they see being used on your network), this offers more protection. Limit outside coverage: This helps prevent people in the parking lot from even having the chance to hack your wireless signals, as it will be harder for them in receive all the data packets on the wireless network and harder for your APs to pick up their transmissions. Disable SSID Broadcast: Though this doesn’t hinder a serious Wi-Fi hacker, as hidden network names can still be picked up, it does offer another layer to help make their mission a bit harder.

Uninstall applications in Safe Mode

How can you uninstall Windows Installer-based applications in Safe Mode if you need to? When a Windows computer won't boot properly, you may be able to get it to boot in Safe Mode. What if your boot problems are caused by an application you installed and you need to uninstall the app in Safe Mode? Unfortunately Windows Installer usually won't work in Safe Mode, but here's a workaround: 1. Start your computer and press F8 before the splash screen or boot menu to enter Safe Mode. 2. Open a command prompt window. 3. Type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command: 4. REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Minimal\MSIServer" /VE /T REG_SZ /F /D "Service" 5. net start msiserver 6. Double-click on the .msi file for the application and uninstall the application from your system.

Troubleshooting Folder Redirection

How to enable diagnostic debugging for Folder Redirection. The Folder Redirection extension fdeploy.dll logs events in the Application event log, so that's the first place you should check when trying to troubleshoot a Folder Redirection issue on your system. If that isn't enough however, you can also enable diagnostic logging for this extension by setting the following DWORD registry value to 0x0F: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Diagnostics Set\FdeployDebugLevel In pre-Vista versions of Windows, doing this will create the diagnostic log file %windir%\Debug\UserMode\fdeploy.log. For Vista however, doing this simply adds more detailed info to the event log.

Windows cannot find the local profile

What to try if you see "Windows cannot find the local profile and is logging you on with a temporary profile." In my previous tip " Windows cannot load the profile" on this site, we examined the following error message: "Windows cannot load the profile and is logging you on with a temporary profile." There's a similar error message however that can sometimes show up when you log on to Windows: "Windows cannot find the local profile and is logging you on with a temporary profile." There are three things I know of that could cause such a situation to occur: Your local profile has been deleted improperly i.e. by deleting your profile folder C:\Documents and Settings\username (or C:\Users\username) using Windows Explorer. The correct way to delete a user profile is described in my tip "Deleting User Profiles" on this site. Your user account has been added to either the local Guests group or the domain Guest group. This would likely be a simple error on the part of an admin. You're using roaming profiles and the permissions on your profile have been modified so that you no longer have Full Control permission for your profile. This may happen if your admin doesn't know his stuff and thinks that by making your roaming profile read-only you won't be able to modify it. The correct way of course to prevent users from modifying their roaming profiles is to implement mandatory profiles, not mucking about with permissions. Use the above information to try and troubleshoot your problem.

Windows cannot load the profile

What to try if you see "Windows cannot load the profile and is logging you on with a temporary profile." Have you ever tried logging on to your computer and received the following notification? "Windows cannot load the profile and is logging you on with a temporary profile." One thing that can cause this to happen is corruption of your local user profile. Such corruption may be caused if your computer didn't log off or shut down properly during your previous session. If this happens, Windows copies your local profile to a hidden location, creates a temporary profile for you, and logs you on using this temporary profile. This happened to me once on a standalone (not domain-joined) computer I was working on, and when I tried to open my Documents folder all my files were gone! Why? Because the Documents folder is part of my user profile. You can imagine how I began to panic (though I did have a fairly recent backup I could fall back on if needed). I resolved the situation by logging off and restarting my computer, and when I logged on again, this time I was logged on using my local profile. Fortunately the profile corruption was minimal and Windows was able to rebuild my profile. Bottom line however is that this is a good lesson for ensuring you make regular backups of standalone computers you are working on, or on domain-joined computers where you don't have roaming profiles implemented. And of course in a domain-joined environment you should use Folder Redirection to redirect your Documents folder to a network share for added safety and centralized backups.

Keyboard Accelerators in Vista

Like Windows XP, Vista is come up with keyboard accelerators. some of them are listed below. 1.File or folder properties Method 1 – in a new window - Hold the ALT key while double-clicking on a file or folder in the right-hand side pane window to view the Properties window for that object. The new window is identical to what you get when you press ALT+ENTER while the file or folder is selected. Method 2 – as a hovering balloon - Hover your mouse cursor over a file or folder to see basic information about the object, such as size, date modified, and so on. 2. Folder navigation Up the folder tree - Press BACKSPACE in an open folder to go to the parent (containing) folder. This shortcut has always worked in Internet Explorer. Back and forward in folder browsing history - Hold the ALT key while pressing the LEFT cursor key to navigate to the previously viewed folder (i.e. backwards in the history of the opened folders). You can also hold ALT while pressing the RIGHT cursor key to move in the opposite direction (i.e., forward). This is similar to the Back and Next buttons in Windows Explorer. Closing all parent windows – This tip is not something new to Vista, but it’s always worthwhile mentioning. If you use the single-folder view and with the "Open each folder in its own window" option turned on, hold the SHIFT key while clicking on the X (close) button of the Explorer window. This will close all open folders that were used to get to that folder. Select all - Press CTRL-A to quickly select all contents of a folder (both files and folders). Select some files or folders – Like in the previous tip, this is not new to Vista, but it’s nice to remember that you can do it. When you want to select a number of files or folders you can click on the folder in the left pane to display its contents in the right pane, then use the SHIFT+ARROW UP or SHIFT+ARROW DOWN to select a number of successive files or folders from the initial point of selection and up, or from that point and down, respectively. You can also use the SHIFT+HOME or SHIFT+END combo to select files or folder from the initial point of selection to the top or to the bottom of the list, respectively. Create a List of a folder’s content – While there are many methods of doing this, Vista has a nice shell add-on that allows you to copy a file or folder’s path. You can use this when selecting many files or folders, and then pasting the content of the clipboard to a Notepad window. Select the files or folders you want, then while selected, press SHIFT in the RIGHT pane (this won’t work in the left pane), and choose Copy As Path. Next open Notepad (or any other text program) and paste the content to it by pressing CTRL+V. Quickly get to the file or folder you need – In Windows Explorer you can press a letter key to quickly jump to the first file or folder starting with that letter. Continue typing to jump further. You just need to type fast enough in order to let Explorer “know” what you mean. For example, pressing C while you are in the %systemroot%\Windows\System32 folder will jump to the first folder that starts with the letter C, that is catroot If you press C again it’ll go to the next file or folder that starts with C, that is catroot2, then CodeIntegrity and so on. If you press M fast enough it will jump to first object that starts with CM, that is cmcfg32.dll. Then, if you press D without any delay it will go to CMD.exe.

Enable / Disable Task Manager in Windows XP Home / Pro

There is a registry hack to enable or disable Windows NT TaskManager. The same registry hack applies to Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System Name: DisableTaskMgr Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1=Enablethis key, that is DISABLE TaskManager Value: 0=Disablethis key, that is Don't Disable, Enable TaskManager As part of the enhanced management available in Windows 2000 and Windows XP, rather than risking a registry change, as an administrator you can enable or disable Windows 2000 Pro or Windows XP Pro's TaskManager using Group Policy Editor. This can be applied to the local policy. Note: if you are trying to override your organizations group policy, you can't. As soon as you re-authenticate to the domain, the domain or OU Group Policy will rewrite the registry setting. But if the TaskManager was accidently disabled or you need to control this item for a set of standalone boxes this is for you: Click Start Click Run Enter gpedit.msc in the Open box and click OK In the Group Policy settings window Select User Configuration Select Administrative Templates Select System Select Ctrl+Alt+Delete options Select Remove Task Manager Double-click the Remove Task Manager option And as I mentioned above, since the policy is Remove Task Manager, by disabling the policy, you are enabling the Task Manager.

Disable Windows XP's Built In Zip support

Windows XP comes with built in support for uncompressing zip'd files. If you prefer to continue using a dedicated utility like pkzip or winzip which has more functionality, you probably need to disable the limited capability of XP to prevent interactions and problems, run the following command: regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll Want to re-enable the built in zip capability, run the following command: regsvr32 %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll Additionally Windows XP by default, opens EVERY compressed file to search through because it treats them as directories. This can extend the time taken for a drive-level search for up hours and sometimes hangs (the search windows) before it can complete. Another reason to disable the builtin zip server - if you keep lots of zip files on your HD and you use XP search capabilities. Chris comments: found that the way windowsXP treats zips like folders was the stupidest thing ever, so of course I wanted it gone right away. I ran regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll and It worked, but now winzip wasn't associated with zip files, I ran winzip to re-associate and the zip/folder 'bug' was back. The fix is: - Rename zipfldr.dll and say OK when Windows complains. - Don't worry about the scary message that says stability will be affected. - Then double-click on a zip file and reassociate when WinZip asks you to. Then your WinZip functionality will be back and Windows Search won't search within zip files.

Make Outlook minimize to system tray rather than task bar

Outlook minimizes to the TaskBar by default. Want to minimize it to the system tray (the right side of the task bar): Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Preferences Name: MinToTray Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1 = System Tray, 0 = Taskbar

Disable CD autoplay in Windows XP Pro

It is safest to disable CD autoplay in XP using either local group policy or, for an enterprise, an Active Directory group policy. The local group policy editor method: Click Start Click Run Enter GPEDIT.MSC Group Policy mmc will popup. On left panel: Double-click Computer Configuration to open submenu Double-click Administrative Templates to open submenu Double-click System to open submenu Double-click Turn autoplay off option which will be near the bottom of the list in the right panel. The default is the Not configured . Set it to Enabled.

A Quick Tip To Fix The Blank Windows Screen

Windows is modular in design. The Windows Executive Services pass the control to Winlogon to display the Window Login Dialogue Box. Winlogon calls MSGINA.DLL to process the authentication for the user. MSGINA.DLL then passes the control to default Shell of Windows. There are two types of Shell: Windows Explorer Shell (Explorer.exe) and User Shell (Userinit.exe). Explorer Shell is responsible to display the Start Menu and User Shell is responsible to show the desktop. The user will see a blank screen window if both the shells are not executed by the MSGINA.DLL. The MSGINA.DLL looks at the following registry location to identify the Explorer and User shell: Key Name: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon Entry Name: Shell contains the value Explorer.exe Entry Name: Userinit contains the value %SystemRoot%\System32\Userinit.exe If you see either the entries are missing or they do not contain the value as shown above then use the following steps to rectify this: Steps: Go to a Computer connected to the network. Start Menu > Run > Regedit.exe > Connect Network Registry > Specify the computer name. Navigate to the above location in registry of remote computer and then change the value as shown above. Restart problematic computer.

Block Write Access To Run and RunOnce Registry Entries

Your system becomes unstable because of the malware programs running in the background. You identify these programs and kill them in the Task Manager but these programs will re-appear in the Task Manager after you reboot the system. This is because these programs will run again from the below mentioned registry keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce To run only allowed programs, you need to modify the permissions on the Run and RunOnce registry keys. Steps: 1. Remove all the unwanted programs from Run and RunOnce registry keys using Registry Editor. 2. Remove any other account from the Security Tab except SYSTEM Account and grant this accound only the "Read Only" permission. 3. Reboot your system.

How to run your own application when Windows Starts

By default, the Windows default Shell (Explorer.exe) is initiated to show the user desktop. You can change this behavior by replacing the Explorer.exe with your own application name at the registry. Key: HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon Entry Name: Shell Value: Explorer.exe Replace Explorer.exe with your application name. Please make sure you enter the exact path of the application. You need to ask your users to log off and log on for the changes to take affect.

Changing the Remote Desktop Port

The default port that the Windows Remote Desktop Connection program listens on is 3389. However, you can change to any port you wish; maybe you find public networks block everything except port 80 and 433 (in which you could set it to 433) or you feel changing to a non-default port is better security wise. Whatever your case, you must edit the Windows Registry: Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: \System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\ Name: PortNumber Type: REG_DWORD Value: desired port number in Decimal format Then if you use the Windows Remote Desktop Connection program to connect to the computer, follow the address you want to connect to with a colon and the port number that you changed to; for example 255.255.255.255:433.

Tweaking DSL Speed (MTU Size) Setting in Windows XP

The default Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) size for PPPoE (DSL) connections in Windows XP is typically set to 1,480 or 1,490 bytes. However if find you can’t browse some Web sites or send e-mail messages with attachments, your DSL connection may work better with a slightly lower MTU size setting (somewhere between 1,400 to 1,490). You can refer to another tip on this site for information on how to test out what MTU size is best for your Internet connection. To edit the MTU size in Windows XP, you must first add the following keys to the Windows Registry: Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Ndiswan\Parameters\Protocols\ Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Ndiswan\Parameters\Protocols\0 Then add the following entries to the 0 key: Name: ProtocolType Type: REG_DWORD Value: 0x00000800 Name: PPPProtocolType Type: REG_DWORD Value: 0x00000021 Name: ProtocolMTU Type: REG_DWORD Value: desired MTU size

Personalize Internet Explorer's Title

Internet Explorer ( IE ) displays the title of the page you are viewing followed by - Microsoft Internet Explorer if its a standard version of IE. If you have a custom version created with the IEAK (IE admin kit) of IE it will probably have your company name. If you downloaded your IE from an ISP, the IE title will be branded, for example, -Provided by America Online. You want to change the fixed brand of IE, you can use the following registry hack in Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP: Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main Name: Window Title Type: REG_SZ Value: your choice of text, Wayne's IE, or blank You have to restart IE for this to take effect.

Locating an Application's Registry Settings

Applications usually scatter their configuration settings all over the Windows registry when they are installed, but in general there are two places you can find these settings in case you want to modify them or troubleshoot something. Specifically, per-user application settings are usually found in the following key or something like it: HKCU\Software\Company\Program\Version\ and per-computer application settings are generally found at: HKLM\Software\Company\Program\Version\

Hide Desktop Icons

To hide all Desktop Icons from Explorer, use the following Windows NT / Windows 2000 / Windows XP registry hack : Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer Name: NoDesktop Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1 With this key enabled, in addition, you cannot right click on the desktop to get a context menu. This is a lockdown option. Almost all Windows NT registry hacks work for Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Windows NT and Windows XP have the Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer key by default. Windows 2000 does not. But if you create the key with the NoDesktop value set to 1, the hack works for Windows 2000 also. When you create the Explorer key under Policies, you will be prompted for a class. Leave it blank. To hide all Desktop Icons from Explorer but still enable right-clicking on the desktop there is the following registry hack : Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced Name: HideIcons Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1

Get Rid Of Those Balloons

you can kill all balloon tip notifications by tweaking the registry. Just open regedit.exe and find the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced Now under this key create a new DWORD value named EnableBalloonTips and assign it the value of 0. Then log off and on again to make the setting take effect. The result? No more annoying balloon tips getting in the way of what you're trying to work on. Postscript But wait! It turns out that while this setting will disable most balloon tips, it won't disable them all. Here are a few more registry settings you can set to 0 to disable other balloons on Windows XP: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\ShowInfoTip HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\FolderContentsInfoTip HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\StartButtonBalloonTip HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\tips\Show Labels: Windows XP Posted by KP at 9:13 AM 0 comments Hide Desktop Icons To hide all Desktop Icons from Explorer, use the following Windows NT / Windows 2000 / Windows XP registry hack : Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer Name: NoDesktop Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1 With this key enabled, in addition, you cannot right click on the desktop to get a context menu. This is a lockdown option. Almost all Windows NT registry hacks work for Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Windows NT and Windows XP have the Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer key by default. Windows 2000 does not. But if you create the key with the NoDesktop value set to 1, the hack works for Windows 2000 also. When you create the Explorer key under Policies, you will be prompted for a class. Leave it blank. To hide all Desktop Icons from Explorer but still enable right-clicking on the desktop there is the following registry hack : Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced Name: HideIcons Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1 Labels: Windows XP Posted by KP at 9:12 AM 0 comments Newer Posts Older Posts Home Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) Blog Archive ▼ 2009 (27) ▼ May (27) Clear system page file at shutdown Configure XP's Shutdown Event Tracker Disable Windows 2000 / XP command promt and execut... Disable Low Disk Space Notification in Windows XP XP Time Synchronization XP Desktop Theme Control Restrictions Keep deleted files out of the recycle bin Suppress the Windows Tour Prompt in Windows XP How to Disable the Windows Media Player for Window... Hide Security tab in Explorer object properties Add Administrator to Windows XP Welcome logon scre... Disable ALL autostart features in Windows XP (pro ... Get Rid Of Those Balloons Hide Desktop Icons When Windows Won't Shut Down Locating an Application's Registry Settings Personalize Internet Explorer's Title Tweaking DSL Speed (MTU Size) Setting in Windows X... Changing the Remote Desktop Port How to run your own application when Windows Start... Block Write Access To Run and RunOnce Registry Ent... A Quick Tip To Fix The Blank Windows Screen Disable CD autoplay in Windows XP Pro Make Outlook minimize to system tray rather than t... Disable Windows XP's Built In Zip support Enable / Disable Task Manager in Windows XP Home /... Keyboard Accelerators in Vista Labels •Windows Vista (1) •Windows XP (25)

Disable ALL autostart features in Windows XP (pro and home)

This little trick will disable all autoplay features, eg. CDs, USB-memories etc. Open Regedit and configure the following registry value: Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer Value Name: NoDriveTypeAutoRun Type: REG_DWORD Value: 255 (hex: 0x0ff)

Add Administrator to Windows XP Welcome logon screen

Want to easily switch between a user account and the builtin administrator account? Add the Administrator account to the Windows XP Welcome screen. Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList Name: Administrator Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1 display on userlist Reboot and you will see Administrator as one of you logon choices. If you logon to a normal user account and want to switch to the builtin account: Click Start Click Logoff icon Click Switch Users icon Select Administrator , another account, or the the one you are logged onto.

Hide Security tab in Explorer object properties

To lockdown the Security tab so it will not appear when a Windows XP user opens the Properties of a file system object, you can use the following registry hack: Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer Name: NoSecurityTab Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1

How to Disable the Windows Media Player for Windows XP Automatic Update Feature

To control whether you allow the Windows Media Player Automatic Update feature, user the following Windows XP registry hack: Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaPlayer Name: DisableAutoUpdate Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1 The same registry hack works for Windows Media Player 7.0 and 7.1 used in NT and Windows 2000. For older Windows with Windows Media Player 6.4, the key is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\EnableAutoUpgrade, Type=REG_SZ, and value="No".

Suppress the Windows Tour Prompt in Windows XP

XP displays the Windows Tour balloon prompt the first 3 times you logon to XP. If you want to suppress the XP Tour, use the following XP registry hack: Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Tour Name: RunCount Type: REG_DWORD Value: 0 Setting RunCount = 0 will disable the balloon prompt for all users. Although the Tour will be disabled after 3 logons, you could use the following XP registry hack to disable the Tour for a particular user: Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Tour Name: RunCount Type: REG_DWORD Value: 0

Keep deleted files out of the recycle bin

Want to keep files or folders you delete using Explorer from being copied to the Recycle Bin? Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer Name: NoRecycleFiles Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1

XP Desktop Theme Control Restrictions

Want to control access to the desktop theme settings including the Windows styles, buttons, schemes and fonts? You can use one or more of the following registry settings: Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System Name: NoColorChoice Name: NoSizeChoice Name: NoVisualStyleChoice Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1 disabled The above settings let you restrict specific controls. If you want to hide the Themes Settings page: Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer Name: NoThemesTab Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1

XP Time Synchronization

To control the number of seconds to wait between attempts to synchronize the system clock to an time source on the Internet using the following Windows XP registry hack: Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient Name: SpecialPollInterval Type: REG_DWORD Value: #secondsdesired default Don't set it too low. Your PC clock doesn't drift that fast. Once a day is good enough. (default) will control which time server to use. The Servers key will have entries for internet time servers. For example my system has (default)=2, value 1="time.windows.com" and value 2="time.nist.gov". Meaning my time is syncronized from the nist.gov site. To control which time source to synchronize the system clock with, use the following Windows XP registry hack: Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DateTime\Servers Name: (Default) Type: REG_SZ Value: entry of choice, 1-# time servers you have default

Disable Low Disk Space Notification in Windows XP

You can disable these alerts using the following Windows XP registry hack: Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer Name: NoLowDiskSpaceChecks Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1 disables alerts

Disable Windows 2000 / XP command promt and execution of batch files

Locking down Windows 2000 or Windows XP? Need to disable the command shell and/or batch files. You can use the following registry hack: Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Key: Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System Name: DisableCMD Type: REG_DWORD Value: 0 enable command prompt and batch files Value: 1 disable command prompt and batch files Value: 2 disable command prompt but allow batch files

Configure XP's Shutdown Event Tracker

Windows XP has a new feature Shutdown Event Tracker which allows one to record a shutdown or restart reason. You enter it into the Shut Down Windows dialog box which is displayed as part of the shutdown sequence, or when restarting a system after a sudden shutdown. Windows provides predefined reason options. You can also add custom reason options. The information you provide here is recorded in the system log in Event Viewer. To enable the feature: Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Reliability Name: ShutdownReasonUI Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1=enable;0=disable

Clear system page file at shutdown

Virtual memory support in Windows NT uses a system page file to swap pages from memory of different processes onto disk when they are not being actively used. On a running system, the page file is opened exclusively by the operating system and is well-protected. To ensure that any sensitive information from process memory is not left on the hard drive and thus not available to a user booting the PC with another operating system, apply the following Windows NT / Windows 2000 / Windows XP registry hack: Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key: SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management Name: ClearPageFileAtShutdown Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1 Note that this protection only works with a clean shutdown. The ClearPageFileAtShutdown is part of the normal shutdown process when this value is set. Valuable for shared PCs or if you have something very valuable needing protection.