JCXP has introduced a new version of their famous Vista Transformation pack, releasing version 9 recently. The pack works well and completely converts Windows XP to look like Windows Vista. It’s a great way to breathe new life into your desktop without having to invest in an actual copy of Vista.
I don’t have a CD-drive on one of my Windows XP computers, but I need the ability to view the contents of a new CD each month. I have ISO images available as a replacement. Luckily Microsoft makes a tool available so that I can open and view the files in an ISO file. It emulates a CD-ROM drive on my computer.
1. Download the Microsoft Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel package here
2. Extract the files to your desktop, then copy the VCdRom.sys file to your %systemroot%\system32\drivers folder. For most people, this is under C:\Windows\system32\drivers.
3. Open the VCdControlTool.exe file.
4. Click Driver Control…
5. Click Install Driver then navigate to the %systemroot%\system32\drivers folder and double-click VCdRom.sys.
6. Click Start.
7. Click OK.
8. Click Add Drive. A drive letter will be added under My Computer.
9. Select an unused drive letter from the drive list and click Mount.
10. Navigate and select to the ISO image file you wish to mount, then click OK. UNC naming conventions should not be used, however mapped network drives should be OK.
What if you need to mount and use a DVD ISO image or have a different version of Windows such as Vista? I have had good luck with MagicISO for working with both DVD’s and CD-ROM images files. It’s Freeware, so no worries about having to pay a license fee.
When you try to access the Previous Versions tab that is used with Shadow Copy, it is missing.
To bring it back, follow these steps:
1. XP: Click Start > Run
Vista:
2. Type regsvr32 twext.dll and press Enter.
Now give it a try and see if the Previous Versions tab has returned.
When you try to open any of the drives on your PC, instead of opening it so that you can see the files, it opens an Open With box instead.
Try the following to fix this issue:
1. Right-click on the problematic drive and select Explore. This should open the drive.
2. Look for anything related to AUTORUN on it. Like an autorun.inf file. (You may need to Show All Hidden and System Files on the drive in order to see everything.)
3. Delete any autorun.inf or autorun related files on the drive.
Alternately you may download and run Flash Disinfector. This application will remove the autorun junk that a virus usually leaves behind.
I had a strange problem with my computer, and I’m not sure how it got this way. Before I logged into Windows, I couldn’t right-click on any dialog buttons. Everything was switched around and I had to use the left mouse button instead on prompts to reset my password or when the login failed and I had to try again. I could right-click just fine though once I logged into the system.
I checked my Control Panel, and everything was setup normally. It turns out there is a setting in the registry that controls the swapping of the mouse buttons prior to login.
1. XP: Click Start > Run and type regedit.
Vista: Click Start, type regedit and open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Mouse and set SwapMouseButtons
Alternately, you can download and run the swapmouse.reg file to import these settings.
Also note, there is a separate registry entry for swapping the mouse buttons per user. That setting would be triggered after the login process.
If you are missing the option to Pin to Start menu in Windows XP or Windows Vista, try the following steps:
1. XP: Click Start > Run and type regsvr32 /i shell32.dll then press Enter.
Vista:
Now see if Pin to Start menu is back. If not, proceed to #2.
2. Download and run pinmenu.reg to import the settings into the Registry. Restart the computer and check if the option is in your menu now. If not, proceed to #3.
3.
Close out of the Registry Editor, restart and give it a try. Hopefully these steps brought back the option .
When you try to use the Add/Remove Programs feature in the Windows XP control panel, you may have a problem because the list of programs or Currently installed programs comes up blank and never appears.
To try to fix this issue, follow these steps:
1. Click Start > Run.
2. Type regsvr32 appwiz.cpl and click OK.
3. Click OK on the dialog box that appears.
Now give Add/Remove Programs a try.
How to find how long a Windows XP system has been running since the last restart or shut down.
Note: This works for Windows XP Professional.
1. Click Start > Run.
2. Type cmd and click OK.
3. Type systeminfo and press the Enter key.
4. Scroll back toward the top of the screen and look on the line that says System Up Time.
When you boot up your computer, you get the following error:
The instruction at 0×745f2780 referenced memory at 0×00000000. The memory could not be read.
To try to solve this issue, try the following steps:
1. Hold down the Windows Key on your keyboard and press R.
2. Type regsvr32 wuapi.dll /s and click OK.
3. Repeat step 2, but substitute wuapi.dll with the following filenames instead:
atl.dll
wuaueng.dll
wuaueng1.dll
wucltui.dll
wups.dll
wups2.dll
wuweb.dll
4. Hold down the Windows Key on your keyboard and press R.
5. Type net stop WuAuServ and click OK.
6. Hold down the Windows Key on your keyboard and press R.
7. Type %windir% and click OK.
8. Right-click the folder SoftwareDistribution and select Rename. Rename it to SDold.
9. Hold down the Windows Key on your keyboard and press R.
10. Type net start WuAuServ and click OK.
You’re done! Hopefully this error doesn’t bother you anymore when you start your computer.
In Windows XP or Windows Vista, the My Documents folder is missing from the My Computer view.
To fix this problem try the following steps:
1. Hold down the Windows key and press R.
2. Type regedit and click OK.
3. Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
then Software
then Microsoft
then Windows
then CurrentVersion
then Explorer
4. Right click on the DocFolderPaths entry and click New > String Value.
5. Give the string value the username you use to login to Windows.
6. Set the Value data to the path to where the My Documents folder belongs. It would be C:\Documents and Settings\Windows username. Click OK.
When you try to disable a Local Area Connection in Windows XP, you get an error:
It is not possible to disable the connection at this time. This connection maybe using one or more protocols that do not support Plug and play, or it may have been initiated by another user or the system account.
1. Click Start > Run, type cmd and click OK.
2. Type netsh winsock reset catalog and press the Enter key.
3. Type netsh int ip reset reset.log and press the Enter key.
4. Restart the computer.
Check to see if you can disable the Local Area Connection now. If not, try the following steps:
1. Click Start > Run, type cmd and click OK.
2. Type net stop cryptsvc and press the Enter key.
3. Type ren %systemroot%\System32\Catroot2 oldcatroot2 and press the Enter key.
4. Restart the computer.
When you open a file in Windows XP that has a corrupted video, image files, HTML pages, or MP3 file, Windows Explorer crashes.
You will need to somehow access this folder so that you can delete the offensive file. You will need to unregister 2 DLL’s to prevent the Windows from previewing the file, which is what is actually causing Windows Explorer to crash.
1. Click Start > Run and type regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll and click OK.
2. Click Start > Run and type regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll and click OK.
3. Delete the file that is corrupted.
4. Click Start > Run and type regsvr32 shimgvw.dll and click OK.
5. Click Start > Run and type regsvr32 shmedia.dll and click OK.
There can be a problem with the Remote tab missing from System Properties screen when you right-click on My Computer and go to Properties.
To solve this problem try the following:
1. Click Start > Run.
2. Type regsvr32 remotepg.dll
3. Click OK, then OK when the dialog appears.
Now give it a try. The Remote tab should now appear.
When viewing Folder Options in Windows XP, the General and View tabs are missing. To try to fix this problem, try the following steps:
1. Click Start > Run, type regsvr32 browseui.dll and click OK
2. Click Start > Run, type regsvr32 shell32.dll and click OK.
Check to see if that worked. If not, continue with the following steps:
3. Go to Start > Run, type msconfig and click OK.
4. Click the Expand File button.
5. Type browseui.dll in the File to Restore field.
6. In the Restore From filed, enter the path to your XP CD or the I386 folder on the C drive (if present).
7. In the Restore To field, type C:\Windows\System32
8. Repeat steps 5 through 7 but restore the shell32.dll file instead.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 and hopefully you will be able to see the General and View tabs now.
I recently hit a problem where CHKDSK was running at startup and it would finish, then the computer would restart and it would try to run CHKDSK again. It would do this in an endless loop and never get to the point where you could boot into Windows XP. Luckily I was able to find a workaround.
1. When the computer is first turning on, press and hold the F8 key.
2. Select the option for Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
3. At the prompt, type chkntfs /x c: and press Enter.
Now restart the computer and see if the problem is resolved. The C drive should be excluded from the scan and should boot right into Windows if the disk drive is still readable.
When you try to perform file searches in Windows XP, only the dog appears and the options, fields or buttons are missing. Follow these steps to try to solve this problem.
1. Click Start > Run and type regsvr32 wshom.ocx
2. Click Start > Run and type regsvr32 jscript.dll
3. Click Start > Run and type regsvr32 urlmon.dll
Restart the computer and try to search. It should work with no problems.
Do you delete the My Music, My Documents or My Pictures folders only to find they have returned to Windows later? Delete them forever with these steps.
1. Hold down the Windows Key and press R.
2. Type regsvr32 /u mydocs.dll and click OK.
3. Now try deleting the folders. They should stay gone as long as that DLL isn’t registered again.
Please be aware that many applications may use these folders. Removing them may cause problems.
To undo this change, use the command regsvr32 mydocs.dll.
When installing Windows XP or Windows Vista. You get a blue screen of death error:
STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The most likely cause of this is the hard drive is damaged and must be repaired. CHKDSK /R will need to be run to try to repair it. To do so, try the following steps:
1. Boot the computer with your Windows installation disc.
2. When you are prompted to select Repair or Recover, press R.
3. Type the Administrator password when prompted.
4. At the command prompt, type CHKDSK /R, and then press Enter.
5. Read the results, and then take any steps that you must take to complete the process. You may need to run CHKDSK /F instead to fix the problem.
6. Restart the computer, and see if Windows works now.
If this didn’t fix the problem, you may have to replace the hard drive.
How to turn off the annoying printer notification messages that appears when an event occurs on your printer in Windows XP.
1. Click the Start > Settings > Printers and Faxes.
2. Click the File > Server Properties.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Uncheck the following boxes:
5. Click OK.
Now those annoying printer notification warnings should be turned off.
How to prevent Windows Update from downloading and installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 automatically.
1. Click Start > Run.
2. Type regedit and click OK.
3. Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
then Software
then Policies
then Microsoft
then Windows
then click WindowsUpdate
4. Look for an entry on the right side for DoNotAllowSP. If it doesn’t exist, you will need to create it. To do so, right-click on WindowsUpdate and select New > DWORD Value. Give the value a name of DoNotAllowSP. Press the Enter key when you are done.
5. Right-click the DoNotAllowSP entry and click Modify.
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