Have you had either your Windows Vista computer or your SBS (Small Business Server) 2008 box lose their internet connection after you reboot? This recently happened to me after I installed SBS 2008 at a client’s location. It is easy to diagnose and the fix is relatively simple if you understand how to edit the registry on your computer.

Step 1: The Diagnosis:

1. Click on the “START” button and in the small box at the bottom, type “CMD” without the quotes.
2. A black box will appear with a blinking cursor. Type “ipconfig /all” and hit “Enter”.
3. You will see a lot of text that may look completely foreign to you.
4. Look the the row that says “Default Gateway”, if it is blank, then continue on to the “The Fix” section. If the “Default Gateway” is not blank, there is another problem and the fix below will not help you.

Step 2: The Fix:

1. Close out of the black box by typing “Exit” and hitting “Enter”.
2. Click on the “START” button and in the small box at the bottom, type “regedt32″ without the quotes.
3. The registry Editor will appear and you need to navigate to HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Services/Tcpip/Parameters/Interfaces/
4. Here you’ll need to select the CLSID of your networkadapter where you change the settings. You’ll probably recognize it by looking at the value IPAddress that will have the IP of this adapter.
5. Open the value “DefaultGateway” by double-clicking it.
6. You will see a list of all the gateways that disappeared! ( in your case it may only be one) Very likely, the first line will be empty. I’m not sure, how this little flaw can make such a big problem.
7. Manually remove this first empty line, click OK and reboot your system everything should be working fine again.

Thanks to Ilja Herlein at http://www.netsetman.com/support/viewtopic.php?pid=832#p832 for the direction on how to fix this issue. I hope it helps you as much as it helped me!

Tim

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Biden PC is a Computer Networking Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.

If you’re looking to buy a new PC, you might want to wait a little while. Microsoft is going to release its next Operating system, called Windows 7, on October 22nd and it is much better than Vista.

Windows 7 is what Vista was supposed to be. It has all the features that Windows Vista does but in a faster and superior way. Windows 7 is fast and lean where Vista was slow and fat. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes posted some preliminary benchmark scores in this article. These numbers are a bit old but I think they make the point.

If you have to purchase a PC before October 22nd, I would recommend checking out this Microsoft site because details how you can get a free upgrade from the Vista that comes with your PC to the new Windows 7.

In case you’re wondering why I am hyping this new version of Windows, I can tell you that I have had it on my laptop since the Beta first came out and I think it’s great. I even switched a client to it while it was still in Beta and she loved it. That requires confidence because as a rule, I don’t recommend using pre-release products. Using beta or release candidate software, you never know what bugs or problems you’ll run into. Windows 7 has been a dream and I’ve had no major issues with it. Try saying that about Vista…

So, wait to buy your next PC and upgrade your Vista computer to Windows 7. You’ll be glad you did.

Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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Is your Microsoft Windows Vista computer booting up to a black screen with only a cursor? If so, you might want to check out what Mark has to say about it at his blog.  Windows Vista Black Screen with Mouse Cursor Only. He has a fix and believes he has gotten to the bottom of why the black screen is happening!

If the fix for this is beyond where you feel comfortable, call Biden PC at 909-992-2031. We can handle this for you.

Happy Computing,

Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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Are You Waiting for Windows 7? So was I. But then I read the blog of an someone who has seen it and she (The SBS Diva) has his to say…

“Okay Bill sweetie I realize that you need to put a stake in Windows Vista because if you breathe the word Vista around some users they immediately go into a technology meltdown and refuse to acknowledge that they’ve been dealing with change around computers for the last 20 years, but saying that it’s not a service pack is stretching it.  As is pointed out in this post, Windows 2008 R2 is calling it what it is.  An R2 minor refresh.  Okay so it’s a bit like the Home and Garden decorating shows where you bring in the experts to redecorate the place but it’s the same house.”

“Granted the UAC now has a scrolly bar where you can throttle down the alerts.  And the gadget bar is undocked.  But this isn’t like the change from NT to 2000, nor from 2000 to XP.  It’s still Vista but fixed up and with a new name so that the marketing guys can start over and fix what they screwed up from before.”

“Be careful what you set as expectations as already I’ve had questions regarding if Windows 7 is so different if they should wait for this as they need a new computer.  My answer is no, don’t wait.  Vista sp1 is out.  Beta of sp2 is now out.  And Windows 7 is merely rearranging the furniture and throwing down a new area rug.  It’s not a remodel job.”

I don’t usually do beta releases but I think I might when I actually get it. I really am curious about Windows 7 but now I’m not as hopeful. I DO want to see if they placed the networking features in more logical places. I hate computer networking in Vista.

Happy Computing,

Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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This problem is obviously still happening. If you can afford to be without your computer for a week or 2, I would be glad to work on it free of charge. If you are local to Los Angeles, I will pick up the PC and give you a receipt for proof that I have your PC. I will work on this issue until I have fixed it and post the answers here for everyone else. I will then drive back to you to drop off the PC. All of this will be free of charge. If you are not local to Los Angeles, all you will have to do is pay the FedEx shipping 1 way. I will fix your PC free of charge and return it to you via FedEx. Feel free to call me (Tim Biden) at 909-992-2031 or 877-243-3601.

I had previously written that I had a couple Windows Vista systems that stopped the mouse from clicking. Well, I seem to have found the answer. Meryl’s post “How to Make Microsoft Word Stop Ignoring Mouse” seems to have the answer.

1. While your mouse still works, close Word, Outlook and all other MS Office programs (ignore the pop up message by clicking X)
2. Start / Run and type regedit
3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
4. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data
5. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes.
6. Exit Registry Editor.
7. Restart Word.
8. Thank David for the new info.

If you have never used a registry editor before or are uncomfortable wih it, please consult a professional computer technician. We do these edits all the time.

Happy Computing,

Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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This problem is obviously still happening. If you can afford to be without your computer for a week or 2, I would be glad to work on it free of charge. If you are local to Los Angeles, I will pick up the PC and give you a receipt for proof that I have your PC. I will work on this issue until I have fixed it and post the answers here for everyone else. I will then drive back to you to drop off the PC. All of this will be free of charge. If you are not local to Los Angeles, all you will have to do is pay the FedEx shipping 1 way. I will fix your PC free of charge and return it to you via FedEx. Feel free to call me (Tim Biden) at 909-992-2031 or 877-243-3601.

I have posted two different solutions to this problem at Vista Mouse Cant Click – Fixed! Please look there if these symptoms affect you.

I have now seen 2 computers that have very similar problems. Both have Windows Vista Home Premium (It may affect other versions as well) and both have problems where the computers don’t seem to freeze, you can still move the mouse but can’t click on anything. You also can’t click and drag. Also the mouse looks like a standard pointer, not the spinning blue circle.

I have noticed that it does not happen in Safe Mode and it also doesn’t happen if you go into MSConfig and click on “Diagnostic Startup” then reboot.

After much troubleshooting, I have determined that the issue is at least partly with the Plug and play service. When I disabled that service, I noticed the problem went away. I then disabled everything and re-enabled the Plug And Play service and went through the process of finding which services is conflicting with the Plug and play service.

Apparently it is a few services working in conjunction that make the Plug and Play Service go haywire. I can’t seem to put my finger on it but I know for certain that disabling the Plug and Play Service makes the problem go away. So disable it if you need a quick fix but don’t forget that, unfortunately, it also makes USB devices unable to work. =(

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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As I wrote before, Small Business Server 2008 has been released to hardware manufacturers. And I just saw that in October it will be released to computer network consulting companies who subscribe to Microsoft’s Action Pack. Though we have the latest Release Candidate, there will be differences between that and the full release version and I am excited to see it. I have already posted there are some significant changes to Windows Small Business Server 2008 as opposed to Windows Small Business Server 2003.

There is also the Essential Business Server that is for medium sized companies. For the time being, Biden PC is focusing on the Small Business Server and small business market instead of the Essential Business Server and the medium sized business market but in time, that will change.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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HP has just announced a laptop that boasts a battery that will power the laptop for 24 continuous hours on a single charge. The HP EliteBook 6930p Notebook PC sports SSD (solid state digital) drives in place of the standard hard drives that you and I have in our laptops. HP gives you 4 options for Operating Systems. You can get Vista Business 32, Vista Home Basic, Vista Business with downgrade to Windows XP Professional custom installed or FreeDOS.

When the unit is released, you can purchase one from Biden PC as we are an Authorized HP Reseller.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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I recently got a call from a friend who said he was having troubles with the Windows Vista backup program. Not going into too much of that conversation, I decided to try it out myself.

I did a complete windows Vista Backup of my laptop and saved it to my USB Hard drive. No big deal so far. So next I installed Vista again and went to copy some files back. IT COULD NOT FIND THE BACKUP!!! I am not joking, everything I tried to do to get vista to recognize the backup files failed.

I could go to the drive and get into the files but the same backup program that created the backup couldn’t retrieve a single thing. I was amazed.

If you really need to backup your data files or even your complete system, use a more complete backup system such as Acronis True Image. Acronis is what I use and I am quite happy with it.

So, as if I needed another reason, I have to say once again that Windows Vista IS NOT READY to be released to the wild.

Maybe I should have gone to SP1 before attempting to restore the files but with the troubles that I had with SP1, I decided I would rather not restore the files and just copy what I needed from my desktop PC.

Vista Backup… What a joke!

Happy Computing, (said with much sarcasm)
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

Recently I was asked how to make a DOS application print from Windows Vista or XP if there is no Parallel Port. This is actually quite easy and takes only a few simple steps.

1. Install the printer on another printer and make sure it prints.
2. Share the printer and note the computer-name and printer’s share-name.
3. On the printer that has the DOS program, create a batch file that looks like this:

net use lpt1 /delete
net use lpt1 \\pc-name\printer-name
c:\folder\dos-application

Now in Windows XP, all you have to do is run the batch file and it works.

With Windows Vista, there is a slight catch. when you run it, you may not get anything or you may get an error that asks you for a password. If either of these happen to you:

1. close it out and go back to where the batch file is located.
2. Right-click on the batch file and choose “Run As Administrator”.
3. You can now run the program and print to LPT1.

If you need to print to LPT2 instead of LPT1, simply change the commands in the batch file to sat LPT2.

Happy computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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