Are you getting an error that says rundll32.exe can’t open? Are you completely unable to run any programs, even after rebooting your Windows XP PC?

You can download a registry edit file from http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm that will fix this problem. I have used this registry fix a few times and it has never failed me. Though I don’t want you to have this problem, I hope this fixes it for you if you do.

Tim

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

I’m certain that we have all seen them, software programs that promise to have your PC “Running just Like New”. I’ve seen many people use them and most have to admit that the programs did little or nothing to speed up their computer. In some cases these programs have even crashed their computers.

What these programs typically do is remove orphaned or invalid registry entries. This will usually shrink the registry by 150-800 entries. Sounds good right? Well when you consider that the registry is made up of many thousands of entries, removing a few hundred really isn’t that impressive. After they remove the orphaned entries, they may compress or compact the registry, moving entries to make the file size smaller.

Will these processes speed up your computer? Yes, a little. What these programs all fail to take into consideration is how many programs are running on startup. The more programs you have running at once, the less processing power and memory your computer can give to the more important programs and processes.

Lets look at a computer as if it were a person… If you are trying to write a research paper, you need to put all of your attention into writing the paper, right? Well, lets add into the mix a stereo playing distracting music, a dog barking, a cluttered desk and your neighbor’s baby screaming. None of them are really requiring your attention but your mind has to bounce around a bit more than it should to work on your research paper. Just think about how much more you could accomplish if you removed the screaming baby, barking dog, cleaned up your desk and put on more soothing music. This is what you really need to do in order to speed up your computer. “So how do I speed up my slow Computer?” I’m glad you asked, here are a few simple steps!

• Make sure your computer has enough RAM (memory)
• For Windows 2000 and XP, you should have a minimum of 512MB.
• For Windows Vista and Windows 7 I recommend having a minimum of 2 GB.
• Remember, more is always better!

** Warning: Editing the registry can be dangerous and Biden PC does not warrant any changes that you make.**

**If you  do not feel comfortable doing this, Biden PC can do it for you for the small fee of $15.00**

• Download Autoruns from Microsoft. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
• Unzip the file and run autoruns.exe.
• Look at the bottom left corner of the window. Don’t do anything until is says “Ready”.
• Once it says “Ready”, click on the “Logon” tab. That is all we are going to concern ourselves with.
• Find the line below “Explorer.exe” and start unchecking boxes. DO NOT UNCHECK “Explorer.exe” OR ANYTHING ABOVE IT.
• Most things here can be disabled. Things like iTunes, QuickTime, Adobe, Google Update… These can all be disabled.
• Do not disable your Antivirus (Norton/Symantec, McAfee, Avira, AVG, CA…)
• Do not disable “cftmon.exe”

Once you have disabled what you feel comfortable disabling from the system startup, reboot your computer and enjoy how much faster it is. Feel free to share this information or like with your friends.

Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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As everyone is having a difficult time in this recession, Biden PC has lowered its prices on all computer networking and repair. Going from $100 per hour, our new lower prices are as follows:

Businesses: $85.00 per hour
Residences: $75.00 per hour
Remote Support: $15.00 per 1/4 hour

Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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I recently had my first experience with Windows Live OneCare and I have to say that I was less than impressed. Here is what happened. Microsoft, take note!

My clients are an elderly couple who are nervous about using their PC but they’ve gotten by for a while now. So they had Windows XP Home edition with Service Pack 3 (I think) and a few run of the mill software programs installed. They kept having freezing and rebooting problems. I did a repair of Windows XP. That didn’t fix it. I ran all the diagnostics I could think of but no hardware problem would show up.

I finally ran out of options and formatted their computer. It was running perfectly. I reinstalled most of the programs but not Windows Live OneCare. I don’t like Microsoft’s AntiVirus products so I skipped the program entirely. Unfortunately there were functions in OneCare that the clients wanted so without really thinking that it was the problem, I installed it. BAM!!! The same problems were back exactly the way they were before. I attempted a system restore but OneCare was still there. I tried uninstalling it but that didn’t fix the problem either.

My clients needed their computer so they opted to put up with the problems rather than be without their computer for another day. I said “Okay” and left. About a week later, they called me again and asked if I would help them set up their new Apple laptop. Well, they now have a nice new fully functioning Apple MacBook Pro and they love that it works the way it is supposed to. They’re still getting used to the software but since Windows Live OneCare caused such havoc on their PC, they’re glad to have something that works.

So, as you can tell, Windows Live OneCare won’t get my vote for software application of the year.

Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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Are you unable to access your Windows XP Control Panel after removing viruses and/or malware? I recently had this happen on a client’s PC and it presented a message that said “This operation has been canceled due to restrictions in effect on the computer. Please contact your System Administrator.”

I was logged in as the computer administrator and I still got that message so I knew that there was another problem. After much searching and reading tons of “solutions” I found that many of them were simply impossible because the necessary registry entries were not there. I finally found the answer and I want to share it with you.

1. Download Trojan Remover.
2. Install Trojan Remover and when prompted, put check-marks in the boxes marked “Check for Updates? (You must be connected to the Internet)” and “Run Trojan Remover after setup is completed”.
3. The Update program will run and alert you to any updates that are available. Choose “Update”.
4. That program will close and the full program will open.
5. You haven’t purchased the full version yet so just click “Continue” then click “Scan”.
6. The program will now remove any Trojans that it finds as well as check registry entries. One of the registry entries will be the one that has been blocking your access to the control panel.
7. When it finds a problem, choose the default option and continue.

After the scan has completed, reboot your computer and you should have access to your control panel again.

Thanks for reading! If this has helped you, send me a comment saying so.
Tim Biden

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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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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Since you’re reading this blog post about computer repair, its pretty safe to say that you are looking for help with a computer that needs to be repaired. Whether you are looking for computer repair tools or a PC repair consultant, we can help you with the task at hand.

• If you are a home user and your computer has pop-ups, we can help.
• If you have a small business computer network and it has become slow, contact us.
• If you attempted to fix a friend’s computer and it still isn’t working right, we will get the PC working again.

We use many different computer diagnostics tools to get to the root of the problem, no matter what it is. If the problem is because of computer hardware such as a power supply, RAM or hard drive we will diagnose it and fix it. If it is a software problem like a virus, registry error, or Windows error, we will use our extensive knowledge to rid you of your computer problems.

Happy computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

Regular computer maintenance will keep your computer running faster longer and over time that will save you both stress and the price of a new computer. Here are a couple easy computer maintenance procedures that you can quickly do on your own in less than 10 minutes.

Remove all the dust from the inside of your computer.

1. All you need is a can of compressed air. Take your computer outside and remove the side cover.
2. Using your can of compressed air, blow all the dust out of the inside of your computer. Point it at the CPU Fan, Power Supply, air vents and anywhere else there is a build-up of dust and/or animal fur.

Run CCleaner.

1. CCleaner is a free program that cleans up many parts of your version of Windows. You can download CCleaner here. You have many options when running CCleaner. Here are my favorites… I will assume that you start with the defaults then modify them. When you start CCleaner you have a number of check-boxes and some of those are checked and some are not.
2. To start with, under “Internet Explorer” uncheck cookies, history recently typed URLs, and AutoComplete Form History.
3. Under “Windows Explorer” uncheck Recent Documents.
4. Under “System” uncheck Startmenu Shortcuts and desktop Shortcuts.
5. Now, check the box that says “Advanced”. Click “OK” to the boxes that pop up. We will turn off problematic ones.
6. Under “Advanced” uncheck Menu Order Cache and Custom Files and Folders.
7. Now click on “Run Cleaner” and then click on “OK”.
8. Off to the left side, you will see a bunch of blue building blocks that say “Registry” under them. Click on that then click on “Scan for Issues”. This will take a minute. When the process is completed, click on “Fix Selected Issues”.
9. Now reboot your computer and know that your computer is cleaner both physically and in the software.

See, performing your own computer maintenance really isn’t that hard. Of course, if you feel uncomfortable doing this, Biden PC is available for this and many other computer support services. These can be performed onsite at your office or home or they can be performed remotely over the Internet.

Happy computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

This weekend, my wife had just plugged in the iron in order to iron some clothes when there was a small click that came from the iron and the indicator light went off. She thought that it was odd but left it plugged in for an extra few second. Not only did the indicator light go off, but the entire iron started to cool.

Even under moderate to high usage an iron should last more than 4 years. This one was used approximately once a month and in less than 4 years it gave up the ghost.

Admittedly I know nothing about irons, not even how to correctly use one. But, being a computer repair professional, I know a bit about using high quality computer parts. There are hardware companies whose parts I refuse to use because I don’t want to have to replace the part twice. Once I repair a PC, I want it to stay in good working order. From motherboards and hard drives to fans and power supplies, I use only high quality parts because you, the customer, want to have a computer that works for years, not a computer that works for months.

According to C-Net’s senior editor Matt Elliott (and I agree with him), the expected life of a computer is 3-5 years. The high quality part will be far more likely through last the expected years of your computer.

Happy computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.