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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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 possible fix and is trying to get to the bottom of why it 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 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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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.

I’m noticing a new pattern, Windows XP Service Pack 3 seems to be as messed up as Windows Vista is, just in a smaller package.

Microsoft originally released XP SP3 to manufacturing on April 21, 2008 and to end users to download on May 6, 2008. It was then recalled due to issues with “office program incompatibilities”. Once re-released, it is having troubles with Norton/Symantec Antivirus, AMD hardware (which I use almost exclusively), as well as connection problems with Windows Home Server. I think I’ll stay away from it for a few weeks. I really don’t need to send my computer into a never-ending reboot loop.

A Toshiba laptop computer that I saw today (I should have paid more attention to the hardware configuration) has been freezing at the loading screed in Windows since loading SP3. After removing Service Pack 3, it seems to be running perfectly.

Here’s an interesting take on it from Chad Weirick at Hot Hardware, “With the campaign to keep Windows XP alive, one has to wonder if glitches like this were a product of a less than complete testing cycle. If customers began viewing XP as less than rock-solid, they might be willing to take another look at Vista.” Thanks, Chad!

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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Irony as defined by webster.com: incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result

As ironic as it may seem, IBM, the creator of the personal computer, has started giving Apple laptops to its employees.

What? You think I’m joking? Ok, so they started with a roll-out of only 24 laptops… Still, check this link. 22 of the 24 people responded to a questionnaire and 19 wanted to keep the Apple laptops. Only 3 out of 22 wanted to go back to Windows. They’ll soon start a new roll-out of 50 laptops and in the second half of 2008 add another 50 laptops to the test.

Comments on the questionnaire include: “I have been a true PC stalwart for 2+ decades, but after trying Vista, I’m ready for a change,” and “It has been easier learning the Mac than learning Vista.” What a smack in the face to Microsoft!

Even though the numbers aren’t large, this must be exciting for Apple. I wish I had some Apple stock. =)

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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E85 Ethanol and Windows Vista, you’re probably thinking “what’s the connection?”

Well, a few weeks ago I pulled up to one of my vendors to pick up networking supplies and I saw another customer. He was there in his work van that had the “FlexFuel” sticker on it so I asked him about it. “Do you know where to get the E85 fuel for this thing?” His reply was essentially “no, I just use it for work.” That got me thinking about how often I see the “FlexFuel” stickers on vehicles and how many stations there are that sell it. So I did what any computer geek would do… I googled it. Apparently there is only 1 station in the greater Los Angeles area that sells E85 fuel. And it really isn’t worth the drive from where he was to where you can get the gas.

Also, E85 also doesn’t have the same amount of power per gallon as gasoline does. You lose approximately 20-30% when using Ethanol. Therefore you use more E85 than gasoline. However, we can create Ethanol here so we may not be quite so dependent on the Middle East for our oil. And this would be good for all of us.

Now on to Windows Vista… Vista came out over a year ago and there weren’t many programs that worked for it. Software manufacturers just weren’t ready for it. It was also put out before the IT industry was ready to support it. And the product wasn’t ready for the mass public. Windows Vista is about to hit its first Service Pack and hopefully when it does, it’ll remove some of the bugs that prevent Vista from being the first-class OS that Microsoft wants it to be.

And back to the E85… Please, for those of us who want to use E85, make it more readily available. Once it is, I want to buy a FlexFuel vehicle too.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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Windows Vista has a “Safety Mechanism” called the User Account Control or the UAC for short. The UAC pops up tons of unnecessary windows asking you if you want to do this or that. Of course you do. That’s why you clicked on it!

In computer networking it is often necessary to perform an “ipconfig /release” or “ipconfig /renew” but Windows Vista won’t allow you to perform the necessary “ipconfig /release” if you have the UAC turned on. You’ll get a message that says “The requested operation requires elevation.” What do you mean it requires elevation? I’m already logged in as an administrator. Yes, you guessed it, the UAC overrides the Admin rights. So let’s turn the UAC off.

1. Go to the “Control Panel” and choose “User Accounts”.
2. Click on “Turn user Account Control on or off.”
3. Get the stupid pop-up and choose “Continue”.
4. Uncheck the box next to the sentence “Use User Account Control (UAC) to manage your computer.”
5. Click OK then choose to reboot now or later.

After you have rebooted you can once again use the “ipconfig /release” command.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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