Router - LinkSys WRT54GS v5

Modem - Speedstream 5100

In the initial setup that had worked for several years, the modem was doing the PPPOE authentication to ATT DSL.  After this problem occurred, we put the modem into bridge mode and setup the router to do the PPPOE authentication.  VOILA.  This solved the problem and now all computers on the LAN can connect to the VPN.

To Make these changes:

Step 1: Put the modem in Bridge Mode:  Connect to the DSL modem directly and reset the configuration to factory defaults.  To get to the configuration page of the modem goto 192.168.0.1 (or whatever address the modem shows on the bottom) from a web browser and click the advanced button on the left.  Then click on the Reset Modem button below.  You will be asked for your modem access code which is a yellow sticker on the bottom of the modem.  Once the modem has been reset, close the browser window and reinstall the router.

Step 2: Setup PPPOE on router:  With the router connected, open a web browser and goto 192.168.1.1 (or whatever the address of your router is - use IPCONFIG and use the Gateway address if unsure) and enter your password to access the router, (by default, the password is "admin" and the User ID is left blank). Once in the router, on the Setup page, select PPPoE as the login type and enter your DSL UserID and password. Set the Time Zone setting and click Save Changes. 

Step 3: Setup your wireless configuration and security as you normally would.

Try your VPN Connection.

To fix this issue: STEP ONE:
Logon to the Computer

WARNING

You must be logged on to an administrator account from step 1 or 2 below before you can move on to do either the OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO sections.

1. Logon to another Administrator account.
NOTE: If you do not have another Administrator account, then proceed to step 2.

A) Go to OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO.

2. Boot into Safe Mode.
NOTE:You may not need to enable the built-in Administrator account. If this was the only normal administrator account you had, then Safe Mode should automatically boot into the built-in Administrator account.

A) If Safe Mode did not boot into the built-in Administrator account, then enable the Built-in Administrator account. If it did , then go to step 2C.

B) Logoff in Safe Mode, and then logon to the built-in Administrator account to logon with that account in Safe Mode.

C) Go to OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO.

OPTION ONE:
Fix the User Account Profile

1. Open the Start menu.

2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.

3. If prompted, either click on Continue or enter the password for the Administrator account.

4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 5)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

5. In the left pane, look for the S-1-5..... folder (SID key) with the long number that has .bak at the end of the numbers.
(See screenshots below steps 6A and 7B)
NOTE:
A)In the right pane, look at the ProfileImagePath to verify that this is the user account profile that has the error.
B)You may have another S-1-5..... folder (SID key) above it with the exact same number without the .bak at the end of it.

6. For Two S-1-5..... folders (SID key) with the same Number -
NOTE:This is if you have two S-1-5..... folders (SID key) with the exact same numbers, but the second (below) one has the .bak at the end of the numbers.

A) In the left pane, right click on the first (top) S-1-5..... folder (SID key) that does not have .bak at the end of the numbers and click Rename. (See screenshot below)

B) Add .bk to the end of the numbers. (See screenshot below)

C) In the left pane, right click on the second S-1-5..... folder (SID key) with .bak at the end of the numbers and click Rename. (See screenshot above)

D) Remove only .bak from the end of the numbers and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

E) Now go back and Rename the first one with .bk to .bak now at the end of the numbers and press Enter.

F) Go to step 8.

7. For Only One S-1-5..... Folder (SID key) with .bak -
NOTE:This is if you only have one S-1-5..... folder (SID key) for your user account with .bak at the end of the numbers.

A) In the left pane, right click on the S-1-5..... folder (SID key) with .bak at the end of the numbers and click Rename. (See screenshot below)

B) Remove only .bak at the end of the numbers and press Enter. (See screenshot below and below step 10)

8. In the right pane of the one without .bak now, right click on RefCount and click on Modify. (See screenshot below step 10)
NOTE: If you do not have RefCount, then right click on a empty space in the right pane and click New and DWORD (32 bit) Value, then type RefCount and press Enter. This value for this entry will reset and return back to the original value after you have restarted the computer and logged on to the account.

A) Type 0 (number) and click on OK. (See screenshot below)

9. In the right pane of the one without .bak now, right click on State and click on Modify. (See screenshot below step 10)
NOTE:This value for this entry will reset and return back to the original value after you have restarted the computer and logged on to the account.

A) Type 0 (number) and click on OK. (See screenshot below)

10. The registry will now look like this for the one without .bak now. (See screenshot below)

11. Close regedit.

12. Restart the computer.

13. See if you can logon now.
NOTE:If this still does not help, then either try OPTION TWO below or see the yellow TIP box at the top of the tutorial.

OPTION TWO:
Delete the User Account Profle

WARNING

You can do this option if you do not care about losing the user account and the contents in the user folders. Your programs will still be installed, but you will need to create new shortcuts for them afterwards.

1. Delete the User account profile that this error is for.
NOTE:See: How to Delete a User Account in Vista

2. Open the Start menu.

3. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.

4. If prompted by UAC, click on Continue.

5. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 7)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

6. In the left pane, click on one of the S-1-5..... folders (SID key) with the long number in it.
NOTE:It may have .bak at the end of it.

A) In the right pane, look at the ProfileImagePath to see if this is the same user account that you deleted in step 1 above.

B) Repeat step 6 until you find the one that you deleted in step 1 above.
NOTE:If the user account is not here, then it has already been removed when deleted in step 1. Go to step 9.

7. To Backup the Registry SID Key -
WARNING: You should backup this SID key to be safe in case you delete the wrong one in step 8 below.

A) Right click on the SID key, and click on Export.

B) Type in a name and save the REG file to a safe location.
NOTE:This is your backup. To Restore the Backup, right click on the REG backup file and click on Merge.

C) Continue on to step 8.

8. To Delete the Registry SID Key -

A) Right click on the SID key, and click on Delete. (See screenshot above)

B) Click on Yes to confirm deletion. (See screenshot below)

9. Close regedit.

10. Now, just create a new normal Administrator account.
NOTE:See: How to Create a New User Account in Vista

11. Restart the computer, and log on to your new account.
NOTE:If this still does not help, then either try OPTION ONE above or see the yellow TIP box at the top of the tutorial.

(http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/130095-user-profile-service-failed-logon-user-profile-cannot-loaded.html)

I ran across a problem with running updates for Microsoft Silverlight KB974331.  Since the client did not need Silverlight at this point, I wanted to uninstall it.  It would not uninstall from Add/Remove Programs - error said it could not find the package installation information. 

This tool helps with the removal of MS Silverlight:

Windows Installer Cleanup Utility

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

Try resetting windows update components here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

SN Margin (AKA Signal to Noise Margin or Signal to Noise Ratio)
Relative strength of the DSL signal to Noise ratio. 6dB is the lowest dB manufactures specify for modem to be able to synch. In some instances interleaving can help raise the noise margin to an acceptable level. The higher the number the better for this measurement.

6dB or below is bad and will experience no synch or intermittent synch problems
7dB-10dB is fair but does not leave much room for variances in conditions
11dB-20dB is good with no synch problems
20dB-28dB is excellent
29dB or above is outstanding

Line Attenuation
Measure of how much the signal has degraded between the DSLAM and the modem. Maximum signal loss recommendation is usually about 60dB. The lower the dB the better for this measurement.
20dB and below is outstanding
20dB-30dB is excellent
30dB-40dB is very good
40dB-50dB is good
50dB-60dB is poor and may experience connectivity issues
60dB or above is bad and will experience connectivity issues

I recently ran accross a new MalWare variant posing to be an AntiVirus program.  The program was called Total Security.  It actually integrated tight enough to alert Windows Security Center that it was out of date.

So far, Malware bytes and SuperAntiSpyware is not detecting this variant.

To remove - Open Task Manager and find TSC.EXE and Kill the process.

Then, locate the file on the hard drive (usually at c:\program files\ts).  Delete the TS directory. 

Reboot.  Fixed.  Run your favorite scanner to clean up any residual crud.

I was on Facebook today and started seeing a lot of people posting that the Facebook Fan Check application was virus and to remove it.

After doing some research, I found that the application is probably not a virus.  The spin to the apparant hoax is that there are several malware sites that have the keywords "Fix Fan Check virus" in their portfolio.  So, people use the app, see the posting that it was a virus, search google on how to fix it, then end up on an infectuous site that tricks them into installing malware on their computer which claims to fix the problem that never really existed.

Interesting social study for sure.

In my opionion, all of the apps and quizzes, etc, on Facebook are meant to drive advertising dollars by driving up usage and page impression counts.  I will admit I play MobWars and FarmTown occasionally, but I ignore nearly ever other quiz, test, app, etc.  The smaller my footprint on Facebook, the better in terms of possibility of contracting malicious software from the site.  Its called safe FaceBooking maybe.

Additional reading and sources:

http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/09/14/is-facebook-fan-check-a-virus-careful-whom-you-ask/

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fan-Check-Developer-Rebuts-Malware-Claims-121319.shtml

http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/web/facebook-fan-check-virus-rumours-are-driving-users-to-more-danger-633935

http://mashable.com/2009/09/07/facebook-fan-check-virus-hoax/

I recently had problems with Windows Vista locking the local domain user account when it was connected to another domain's VPN for a period of time. 

This is a method to solve this issue:

1. Locate the .pbk file that contains the entry that you dial. To do so, click Start, type *.pbk in the Research Bar, and then press Enter.

             (This file is probably in C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk)

2. Open the file in Notepad.

3. Locate the following entry: UseRasCredentials=1

4. Modify the entry to the following: UseRasCredentials=0

5. On the File menu, click Save, and the click Exit.

Adding and Replacing Parts

Dell™ Inspiron™ 6400/E1505 Owner's Manual

Before You Begin

This chapter provides procedures for removing and installing the components in your computer. Unless otherwise noted, each procedure assumes that the following conditions exist:

• You have performed the steps in "Turning Off Your Computer" and "Before Working Inside Your Computer" (see Before Working Inside Your Computer).
  
  
• You have read the safety information in your Dell™ Product Information Guide.
  
  
• A component can be replaced—or if purchased separately—installed by performing the removal procedure in reverse order.
  
  

Recommended Tools

The procedures in this document may require the following tools:

• Small flat-blade screwdriver
  
  
• Phillips screwdriver
  
  
• Small plastic scribe
  
  
• Flash BIOS update (see the Dell Support website at support.dell.com)
  
  

Turning Off Your Computer

NOTICE: To avoid losing data, save and close any open files and exit any open programs before you turn off your computer.

The computer turns off after the operating system shutdown process finishes.

Before Working Inside Your Computer

Use the following safety guidelines to help protect your computer from potential damage and to help ensure your own personal safety.

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

CAUTION: Handle components and cards with care. Do not touch the components or contacts on a card. Hold a card by its edges or by its metal mounting bracket. Hold a component such as a processor by its edges, not by its pins.

NOTICE: Only a certified service technician should perform repairs on your computer. Damage due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty.

NOTICE: When you disconnect a cable, pull on its connector or on its strain-relief loop, not on the cable itself. Some cables have a connector with locking tabs; if you are disconnecting this type of cable, press in on the locking tabs before you disconnect the cable. As you pull connectors apart, keep them evenly aligned to avoid bending any connector pins. Also, before you connect a cable, ensure that both connectors are correctly oriented and aligned.

NOTICE: To help prevent damage to the computer, perform the following steps before you begin working inside the computer.

NOTICE: To disconnect a network cable, first unplug the cable from your computer and then unplug it from the network wall jack.

NOTICE: To help prevent damage to the system board, you must remove the battery from the battery bay before you service the computer.

NOTE: To avoid damage to the computer, use only the battery designed for this particular Dell computer. Do not use other batteries designed for other Dell computers.

1

battery-bay latch release

2

battery

Optical Drive

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

1

optical drive

2

optical-drive security screw

3

notch

Hard Drive

CAUTION: If you remove the hard drive from the computer when the drive is hot, do not touch the metal housing of the hard drive.

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

NOTICE: To prevent data loss, turn off your computer (see Turning Off Your Computer) before removing the hard drive. Do not remove the hard drive while the computer is on, in standby mode, or in hibernate mode.

NOTICE: Hard drives are extremely fragile; even a slight bump can damage the drive.

NOTE: Dell does not guarantee compatibility or provide support for hard drives from sources other than Dell.

NOTE: If you are installing a hard drive from a source other than Dell, you need to install an operating system, drivers, and utilities on the new hard drive. See Restoring Your Operating System and Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities.

To replace the hard drive in the hard drive bay:

1

screws (2)

2

hard drive

NOTICE: When the hard drive is not in the computer, store it in protective antistatic packaging. See "Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge" in the Product Information Guide.

Save the original packaging for storing or shipping the hard drive.

NOTICE: Use firm and even pressure to slide the drive into place. If you use excessive force, you may damage the connector.

Returning a Hard Drive to Dell

Return your old hard drive to Dell in its original or comparable foam packaging. Otherwise, the hard drive may be damaged in transit.

1

foam packaging

2

hard drive

Memory

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

You can increase your computer memory by installing memory modules on the system board. See Specifications for information on the memory supported by your computer. Install only memory modules that are intended for your computer.

NOTE: Memory modules purchased from Dell are covered under your computer warranty.

NOTICE: To prevent damage to the memory module connector, do not use tools to spread the memory-module securing clips.

NOTICE: To avoid electrostatic discharge, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by periodically touching an unpainted metal surface (such as a connector on the back of the computer).

1

memory module

2

securing clips (2 per connector)

NOTE: If the memory module is not installed properly, the computer may not boot properly. No error message indicates this failure.

1

notch

2

tab

NOTICE: If the cover is difficult to close, remove the module and reinstall it. Forcing the cover to close may damage your computer.

As the computer boots, it detects the additional memory and automatically updates the system configuration information.

To confirm the amount of memory installed in the computer, click the Start button, click Help and Support, and then click Dell System Information.

Modem

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

If you ordered the optional modem at the same time that you ordered your computer, the modem is already installed.

1	modem screw	2	modem pull-tab	3	modem connector on system board
4	modem	5	modem cable

NOTICE: The connector is keyed to ensure correct insertion. If you feel resistance, check the connector and realign the card.

2. Align the modem with the screw holes and press the modem down into the connector on the system board.
   
   
3. Replace the screw that secures the modem to the system board.
   
   

Hinge Cover

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

NOTICE: To avoid electrostatic discharge, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by periodically touching an unpainted metal surface (such as a connector on the back of the computer).

NOTICE: To help prevent damage to the system board, you must remove the battery from the battery bay before you begin working inside the computer.

NOTICE: To avoid damage to the hinge cover, do not lift the cover on both sides simultaneously.

2. Insert a scribe into the indent to lift the hinge cover on the right side.
   
   
3. Ease the hinge cover up, moving from right to left, and remove it.
   
   

NOTE: When replacing the hinge cover, first insert the left edge and then press from left to right until the cover snaps into place.

1

hinge cover

2

scribe

Keyboard

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

NOTICE: To avoid electrostatic discharge, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by periodically touching an unpainted metal surface (such as a connector on the back of the computer).

NOTICE: To help prevent damage to the system board, you must remove the battery from the battery bay before you begin working inside the computer.

NOTICE: The keycaps on the keyboard are fragile, easily dislodged, and time-consuming to replace. Be careful when removing and handling the keyboard.

2. Lift the keyboard only enough to hold it up and slightly forward to allow access to the keyboard connector.
   
   
3. To release the keyboard cable from the keyboard connector on the system board, rotate the plastic bar on the keyboard connector to the front of the computer.
   
   

1	screws (2)	2	keyboard cable	3	plastic bar on keyboard connector
4	tabs	5	keyboard

NOTICE: To avoid scratching the palm rest when replacing the keyboard, hook the tabs along the front edge of the keyboard into the palm rest, and then press on the right edge near the top to snap the keyboard into place before replacing the two screws.

Wireless Mini-Card

If you ordered a Mini-Card with your computer, the card is already installed.

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

NOTICE: To help prevent damage to the system board, you must remove the battery from the battery bay before you begin working inside the computer.

1

Mini-Card

2

antenna cables (2)

3

antenna cable connectors (2)

2. Release the Mini-Card by pushing the metal securing tabs toward the back of the computer until the card pops up slightly.
   
   
3. Lift the Mini-Card out of its system board connector.
   
   

1

system board connector

2

Mini-Card

3

metal securing tabs (2)

NOTICE: The connectors are keyed to ensure correct insertion. If you feel resistance, check the connectors on the card and on the system board, and realign the card.

NOTICE: To avoid damage to the Mini-Card, never place cables under the card.

2. Connect the two antenna cables to the Mini-Card (black cable to the connector labeled "aux" and the white cable to the connector labeled "main").
   
   

1

system board connector

2

antenna cables (2)

3

antenna cable connectors (2)

Coin-Cell Battery

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

NOTICE: To avoid electrostatic discharge, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by periodically touching an unpainted metal surface (such as a connector on the back of the computer).

NOTICE: To help prevent damage to the system board, you must remove the battery from the battery bay before you begin working inside the computer.

When you replace the battery, insert it at a 30-degree angle under the clip with the positive (identified by a plus [+] symbol) side up, and then push it into place.

Display

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

NOTICE: To avoid electrostatic discharge, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by periodically touching an unpainted metal surface (such as a connector on the back of the computer).

NOTICE: To help prevent damage to the system board, you must remove the battery from the battery bay before you begin working inside the computer.

1	screws (6)	2	display cable	3	display cable pull-tab
4	grounding-wire screw	5	antenna cables	6	standby switch
7	display cable connector on system board	8	display cable channel

NOTICE: The standby switch is fragile and easily broken. Avoid knocking the switch when removing and replacing the display.

When you replace the display, ensure that the display cable is lying flat in the display cable channel and securely tucked underneath the tabs.

Also, ensure that the antenna cables are not twisted and that they are lying flat in the antenna cable clip.

Internal Card With Bluetooth® Wireless Technology

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

NOTICE: To avoid electrostatic discharge, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by periodically touching an unpainted metal surface (such as a connector on the back of the computer).

NOTICE: To help prevent damage to the system board, you must remove the battery from the battery bay before you begin working inside the computer.

If you ordered a card with Bluetooth wireless technology with your computer, it is already installed.

Slide and hold the battery-bay latch release on the bottom of the computer, and then remove the battery from the bay.

1

card door

2

cable

3

card

• If you have not closed PaperPort and turned off or unplugged your scanner, you will be prompted to do so at this time.

In my case, the Microsoft Windows Update web server SSL cert was untrusted due to a missing root CA cert.
GTE CyberTrust Global Root cert was not installed. (It needed to be in the Trusted Root Certificates store)
Rather than mess with the individual missing certificates, I decided to directly download the current (July 2008 CAs).
I bypassed windows update and download the current certificates directly based on this KB article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931125

CAUSE

This issue may occur if the date and time on the computer varies too much from t...

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use the following methods in the order in which they are...

Method 1: Verify and adjust the date and time settings

Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type Timedate.cpl, and then click OK.
3. On the Date and Time tab, make sure that the computer's date and time are correct. If the settings are incorrect, adjust them to the correct date and time.
4. Click OK to close the Date and Time Properties dialog box.
5. Try to install updates again.

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008

1. Click the Start
   Collapse this imageExpand this image

   
   , type timedate.cpl in the Start Search box, and then click Timedate.cpl on the programs list.
2. On the Date and Time tab, make sure that the computer's date and time are correct. If the settings are incorrect, click Change date and time.
   
   
   Collapse this imageExpand this image

   
   If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password, or provide confirmation.
3. In the Date and Time dialog box, use the following procedures:
   • To change the date
     
     Under Date, click the left or right arrows to find the current month in the calendar, and then click the current date.
   • To change the time
     
     Under Time, double-click the hour, minutes, or seconds that you want to change, and then click the arrows to increase or decrease the value.
4. When you finish changing the date and time settings, click OK.
5. Try to install updates again.

Method 2: Install the most current Microsoft root certificate update

Method 3: Click to clear the "Check for server certificate revocation" check box

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
   
   Note If you do not see the Internet Explorer menu bar, press the ALT key to display the menu.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then locate the Security section.
4. Click to clear the Check for server certificate revocation check box, and then click OK.
5. Restart the computer.
6. Try to install updates again.

Method 4: Register Windows .dll files that may be causing the issue

Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type the following file names. Click OK after each file name:
   • regsvr32 Softpub.dll /s
   • regsvr32 Wintrust.dll /s
   • regsvr32 Initpki.dll /s
   • regsvr32 Mssip32.dll /s

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008

1. Click Start
   Collapse this imageExpand this image

   
   , type regsvr32 Softpub.dll /s in the Start Search box, and then click OK.
   
   
   Collapse this imageExpand this image

   
   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
2. Repeat step 1 for the following file names:
   • regsvr32 Wintrust.dll /s
   • regsvr32 Mssip32.dll /s

This script will attempt to fix common problems with the Windows XP Background Intelligent Transfer Service.

• It fixes the cause of several Windows Update stop code problems.
• It fixes issues with Windows Update time codes not matching the server.
• It will also fix specific BITS corruption caused by the Symantec SymNRT Removal Tool.
• The latest version also attempts to repair registry damage done by some viruses.

Version History:

• Version 1.6 (General Release)
  • Includes a more comprehensive registry fix.
• Version 1.5 (Initial Release)

Operating systems:

• Windows XP Home Edition
  • Will fix problems as described in this document.
• Windows XP Professional Edition
  • Will fix problems as described in this document.
• Windows 2000
  • Can be run safely and may help with Windows Update problems.

Installation:

Download the WinXP_BITS_Fix_v1.6 Zip file below, unzip all files to the same folder on the problem computer and run the batch file. By downloading you confirm your agreement to the disclaimer below.

Disclaimer:

1. You download and use this batch file at your own risk.
2. The author cannot be held responsible in any way for your use of this batch file.
3. Do not download the file if you do not agree with these terms.

Download and Contents:

• WinXP_BITS_Fix_v1.6.zip (Version 1.6)
  • Readme.txt
  • WinXP_BITS_Fix_v1.6.bat
  • bits.ini
• WinXP_BITS_Fix.zip (Version 1.5)
  • Readme.txt
  • WinXP_BITS_Fix.bat

Instructions for use:

1. Run the WinXP_BITS_Fix_v1.6.bat file.
2. Press a key to start the fix.
3. The script will halt on errors.
4. You may be prompted to over-ride existing registry entries.
5. The program will close automatically 30 seconds after completion.

When the program is complete you can attempt to install Windows Updates from http://update.microsoft.com/

You will need to be logged in as an administrator and using Internet Explorer for this to work.




Original content at http://www.philmorgan.net/techie-tools/windows-update-bits-background-intelligent-transfer-service-fix-batch-file-for-windows-xp

Display Assembly, Display Latch, and Hinge Covers

Dell™ Latitude™ C610/C510 Service Manual

  Display Assembly

  Display Latch

  Hinge Covers

Display Assembly

NOTICE: You must remove the display assembly before you remove the palm rest.

NOTICE: Disconnect the computer and any attached devices from electrical outlets, and remove any installed batteries.

NOTICE: To avoid ESD, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by touching an unpainted metal surface on the computer.

NOTICE: Read "Preparing to Work Inside the Computer" before performing the following procedure.

Display Assembly

1	M2 x 3-mm screws (4)
2	top cover
3	center control cover
4	M2.5 x 5-mm screws (5)
5	bottom case
6	EMI shield bracket

1. Remove the hard drive.
   
   
2. Remove the center control cover.
   
   
3. Remove the keyboard.
   
   
4. Close the display.
   
   
5. From the back of the computer, remove the five M2.5 x 5-mm screws labeled "circle D."
   
   
6. Open the display assembly approximately 180 degrees and support the display assembly so that it does not open past this position.
   
   
7. Remove the two M2 x 3-mm screws on the EMI shield bracket, which is attached to the display-feed flex cable (see "Display Assembly").
   
   
8. Remove the two M2 x 3-mm screws that secure the display-feed flex cable to the system board (see "Display-Feed Flex Cable Connector").
   
   

Display-Feed Flex Cable Connector

NOTICE: When reconnecting the display-feed flex cable connector to the system board, push down on the top left and right ends of the connector. Pressing on the center of the connector may damage resistors and compromise EMI protection in the computer.

1	M2 x 3-mm screws (2)

9. Pull up on the pull tab that is attached to the display-feed flex cable connector to remove it from the interface connector on the system board.
   
   
10. Lift the display assembly up and out of the bottom case.
    
    

14.1-Inch Display Bezel and Panel

1	rubber screw covers (6)	5	M2 x 4-mm screws (5)
2	M2.5 x 5-mm screws (6)	6	display-feed flex cable
3	display bezel	7	flex-cable retention bracket
4	top cover	8	display panel

Removing the 14.1-Inch Display Bezel

NOTICE: Disconnect the computer and any attached devices from electrical outlets, and remove any installed batteries.

NOTICE: To avoid ESD, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by touching an unpainted metal surface on the computer.

NOTICE: Read "Preparing to Work Inside the Computer" before performing the following procedure.

1. Remove the hard drive.
   
   
2. Remove the display assembly.
   
   
3. Use a plastic scribe to pry the six rubber screw covers out of the screw holes located on the front of the bezel.
   
   
4. Remove the six M2.5 x 5-mm screws located on the front of the bezel.
   
   

NOTICE: Carefully separate the bezel from the top cover to avoid damage to the bezel.

5. Starting at the bottom of the display panel (by the Dell™ logo), use your fingers to separate the bezel from the top cover by lifting up the inside of the bezel while pushing in on the outside.
   
   

Removing the 14.1-Inch Display Panel

NOTICE: Disconnect the computer and any attached devices from electrical outlets, and remove any installed batteries.

NOTICE: To avoid ESD, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by touching an unpainted metal surface on the computer.

NOTICE: Read "Preparing to Work Inside the Computer" before performing the following procedure.

1. Remove the hard drive.
   
   
2. Remove the display assembly.
   
   
3. Remove the display bezel.
   
   
4. Remove the hinge covers.
   
   
5. Remove the two M2 x 4-mm screws on the left side of the display panel and the two M2 x 4-mm screws on the right side of the display panel.
   
   

NOTE: If you have a Hitachi display panel, remove the two M2 x 4-mm screws from the center of the left side of the display panel.

6. Remove the M2 x 4-mm screw that secures the display-feed flex cable to the display assembly through the black plastic flex-cable retention bracket (see "14.1-Inch Display Bezel and Panel").
   
   
7. Lift from the top and rotate the display panel out of the top cover.
   
   
8. Disconnect the bottom flex cable connector from the inverter connector by pulling straight up on the attached pull tab (see "Display-Feed Flex Cable Connections").
   
   

Display-Feed Flex Cable Connections

1	display panel connector
2	top flex cable connector
3	pull tab
4	bottom flex cable connector
5	inverter connector

9. Remove the tape that secures the display panel connector and the tape that secures the middle of the display-feed flex cable to the display panel.
   
   
10. Pull the top flex cable connector down and away to remove it from the display panel connector.
    
    

Replacing the 14.1-Inch Display Panel

1. Reconnect the top flex cable connector to the display panel connector.
   
   
2. Reconnect the bottom flex cable connector to the inverter connector.
   
   
3. Replace the tape that secures the display panel connector and the tape that secures the middle of the display-feed flex cable to the display panel.
   
   
4. Place the bottom edge of the display panel in the bottom of the top cover and elevate the top of the panel with your hand.
   
   
5. Lay the display panel in the top cover.
   
   
6. Reinstall the five M2 x 4-mm screws that secure the display panel to the top cover.
   
   

Display Latch

NOTICE: Disconnect the computer and any attached devices from electrical outlets, and remove any installed batteries.

NOTICE: To avoid ESD, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by touching an unpainted metal surface on the computer.

Removing the Display Latch

1. Remove the hard drive.
   
   
2. Remove the display assembly.
   
   
3. Remove the display bezel.
   
   
4. Remove the two M2.5 x 5-mm screws and the two M1.7 x 3.5-mm screws that secure the display latch and bracket to the top cover.
   
   
5. Lift the display latch and bracket up and out of the top cover.
   
   

Display Latch Removal (14.1-Inch XGA Panel Shown)

1	M1.7 x 3.5-mm screws (2)
2	M2.5 x 5-mm screws (2)
3	display latch
4	bracket

Replacing the Display Latch

1. On 14.1-inch XGA panels, place the display latch on top of its screw holes, and then place the bracket on top of the display latch, aligning the bracket and display latch screw holes.
   
   

On 14.1-inch SXGA+ panels, align the screw holes and place the display latch and attached bracket in the top cover.

2. Replace the two M2.5 x 5-mm screws and the two M1.7 x 3.5-mm screws that secure the display latch and bracket to the top cover.
   
   

Hinge Covers

Removing the Hinge Covers

1. Remove the display assembly.
   
   
2. Rotate the hinges forward at an angle of approximately 90 degrees to the front of the display assembly.
   
   
3. To remove the hinge covers, slide them off the hinges.
   
   

Hinge Cover Removal

Replacing the Hinge Covers

1. Attach the display assembly to the bottom case.
   
   
2. Close the display assembly.
   
   
3. Snap the hinge covers in place over the hinges.
   
   

NOTE: The right plastic hinge cover label includes an "R," and the left plastic hinge cover label includes an "L." The hinge cover labels face the back of the computer.

Hinge Cover Replacement

These instructions will help you remove hard drive, memory, wireless card and keyboard from a HP Pavilion dv9000 series laptop. All these components, except the keyboard, can be accessed through the bottom of the laptop.

In the next guide I will explain how to disassemble laptop display panel and remove inverter board with LCD screen.

Do not disassemble your laptop if it’s still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty or you loose the warranty. Are you looking for spare parts for your HP Pavilion dv9000 laptop? Search here.

First of all, remove the battery. Remove screws from the 1st hard drive and memory covers. Remove both covers.

Under the memory cover you will find the wireless card and RTC battery.

In order to remove the hard drive, lift up the right side of the drive assembly (move 1) and then pull it to the right (move2). If you are replacing the hard drive, you’ll have to transfer the caddy and connector to the new drive.

Before you remove the wireless card, you’ll have to disconnect both antenna cables pointed with green arrows. Simply unsnap both antenna cables from the wireless card with your fingers. After that remove two screws securing the wireless card and pull it from the slot by the edges.

Some Pavilion dv9000 laptops have only one hard drive installed. As you see, in my case there is no second hard drive under the cover.

If you would like to install second hard drive into your notebook, you’ll have to purchase a new SATA drive, SATA connector and drive caddy. You’ll find step by step hard drive installation instructions in this guide.

we will refer to all HP Pavilion dv9000, dv9000t, dv9100, dv9200, dv9300, dv9400, dv9500, dv9600 & dv9700 notebooks as the “dv9000″ since adding a hard disk drive (HDD) to all above mentioned notebooks are similar.

In order to remove the CD/DVD drive you’ll have to remove the securing screw (1) and then carefully pull the drive from the laptop.

KEYBOARD REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS

Remove six green screws securing the keyboard bezel and one red screw securing the keyboard.

Carefully start removing the keyboard bezel with a small flathead screwdriver.

Be very carefull, the bezel is attached to the motherboard with a flat ribbon cable. The cable location is pointed by the green arrow. Do not disconnect this cable. Simply place the bezel as it shown on the picture below.

Remove three screws securing the laptop keyboard.

Lift up the keyboard. Be carefull, it’s connected to the motherboard.

In order to release the keyboard cable, you’ll have to unlock the connector as it shown on the picture above.

1. Slide the connector lock to the direction shown by two green arrows with your fingernails.

2. Pull the keyboard cable from the connector.

Set-ReceiveConnector "Connector Name" -ProtocolLoggingLevel verbose

Set-SendConnector "Send Connector Name" -ProtocolLoggingLevel verbose

Set-TransportServer "TRANSPORT SERVER NAME" -IntraOrgConnectorProtocolLoggingLevel verbose

Set-TransportServer "TRANSPORT SERVER NAME" -ReceiveProtocolLogPath "C:\New SmtpReceive Log File Directory"

Set-TransportServer "TRANSPORT SERVER NAME" -SendProtocolLogPath "C:\New SmtpSend Log File Directory"

Open the Exchange Management Shell:

# To check the Content Filter configuration, type in:

Get-ContentFilterConfig

# To set the Bypassed Senders (example):

Set-ContentFilterConfig -BypassedSenders donotspamme@calazan.com, jdoe@abc.com

# To set the Bypassed Sender Domains (example):

Set-ContentFilterConfig -BypassedSenderDomains calazan.com, *.xyz.com

Important Note: BypassedSenders and BypassedSenderDomains are multivalued properties. When you use the Set-ContentFilterConfig cmdlet, it will overwrite the values of those properties. If you just need to add more senders or domains, please follow the example below.

# To add Bypassed Senders:

$x = Get-ContentFilterConfig

$x.BypassedSenders += “jsmith@google.com”, “bhope@yahoo.com”

# To remove Bypassed Senders (can only be done one at a time):

$x = Get-ContentFilterConfig

$x.BypassedSenders -= “jsmith@google.com”

# To empty the list:

Set-ContentFilterConfig -BypassedSenders $null

Configure the outbound Send Connector

• Logon to the server hosting the Hub Transport role


• Open the Exchange Management Console (EMC)


• Expand Microsoft Exchange\Organization Configuration\Hub Transport


• Click the Send Connectors tab


• Double-click your outbound SMTP connector to open its properties. 


• Click the Network tab


• Select "Route email through the following smart hosts" and click the Add button


• Select "Fully qualified domain name (FQDN)" and enter [domain name of your smarthost] as the smart host. Click OK
  
• Select Basic Authentication (do not check Basic Authentication over TLS)


• Enter your  username (i.e., username@mydomain.net) and password. Click OK

Configure the Edge server to use the corrrect port

• On the Hub Transport server, open the Exchange Management Shell (EMS)


• Type Get-SendConnectors and make note of the name of the send connector you just configured. 


• Type Set-SendConnector "name of the send connector" -port xxx to change the port. Obviously, change the name in quotes to the name of your Send Connector.


• Type Start-EdgeSynchronization to force a sync with the Edge server

Force the Send Connetor to Retry

• Open EMC on the Edge server and click Toolbox


• Double-click Queue Viewer


• On the Queues tab, select the outbound SMTP queue and click the Retry action

We were not able to deliver postal package you sent on the 14th of March in time because the recipient’s address is not correct.

Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our office.

Your United Parcel Service of America"

"Hello!

We were not able to deliver postal package you sent on the 14th of May in time

because the recipient's address is not correct.

Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our office.

Your United Parcel Service of America"

Here is example of the effects if the attachment has been opened already:

"I tried to open the so called invoice and the effect was dramatic.  I started to get explore windows opening every 10 seconds or so.  As fast as I deleted them more appeared. Also the screen background change to black with a flashing warning that I had a virus and needed professional software to remove it.  Then a web page opened offering virus software at a price to remove all viruses.  And when I deleted it - I wasn't going to be caught twice!!  Every minute of so if reloaded.  I also found that Windows TaskManage had been switched off so I could not attack the problem there.  I had such little control of my PC that I could only stop things by switching off.  On restart it resumed the same activities.  With all this going on couldn't get my virus software to run!"

Sources: http://msmvps.com/blogs/donna/archive/2009/04/13/malware-spam-united-parcel-service-of-america-ups-nr1-zip.aspx

Here's a decent article on how to create and add Gadgets to Vista or Windows 7:

Creating Your First Gadget

One of the criticisms leveled at Microsoft (and yes, believe it or not some people have criticized Microsoft in the past) is that many of our products were apparently designed to be used by robots or by aliens from the planet Omicron IV; at any rate, they were not designed to be used by human beings. Happily that’s not the case for Microsoft gadgets. (Although if you happen to be either a robot or an alien from the planet Omicron IV rest assured that you can easily create gadgets as well.) To create a gadget you need only two items:

•	A “manifest” file named Gadget.xml. This manifest contains all the settings for your gadget, including the gadget name, author and copyright information, and information about the HTML page that makes up the actual gadget.
•	An HTML file (for example, Test.htm). Although they might not look like it, gadgets are really nothing more than HTML files: you simply create an HTML file, add the appropriate tags and script code, and you’ve got yourself a gadget.

Note. Yes, we know: you have no idea what we mean by “the appropriate tags and script code.” Relax; that’s what the rest of this article is for.

Those are the only items required to create a gadget. Granted, as you create more sophisticated gadgets you will find yourself dealing with icon files, graphics files, settings files, and other elements. But we’ll cross those bridges as we come to them.

See how easy that is? What do you mean, “Sure, so far”? Point well taken: this would seem to be the time when you have to do some sort of horrendously-complicated compilation process, probably using some proprietary compiler that the Scripting Guys will sell you for just $39.95 plus shipping and handling. (Actually, now that you mention that we wish we would have thought of doing something like that.) But instead of using some proprietary compiler here’s how you gather up all your files and then “compile” them into a gadget:

1.	Place all the files in a gadgets folder.

That’s it: put all the files in a folder and you’ve got yourself a gadget. No compiling, no compilers, nothing more tedious or technical than simply copying files to a specified folder.

Incidentally, if you still want to send us $39.95 we’ll be happy to take it.

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The Gadgets Folder

Of course, there is a slight catch here: you can’t just put your files in any old folder. Instead, you have to follow this procedure:

To begin with, bring up the Gadgets folder. A quick way to access your Gadgets folder is to type the following in the Run dialog box:

%userprofile%\appdata\local\microsoft\windows sidebar\gadgets

Note. What do you mean you can’t find the Run command on the Start menu? Oh, that’s right: for some reason this command is hidden by default. But that’s OK; to get the Run command back just right-click the Start button and then click Properties. In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, on the Start Menu tab, click Customize. Still with us? Good. Once you’re in the Customize Start Menu dialog box scroll down and check the Run command check box. Click OK a couple times and the Run command will be back to its rightful place. And, yes, usually the Scripting Guys do charge $39.95 for this kind of inside information. But we’ll let you have this one for free.

Inside the Gadgets folder create a new folder. Give this folder any name you want, provided that the name ends with a .gadget file extension (for example, Test.gadget). Obviously it will make your life easier if the name of the folder bears some resemblance to the gadget contained within. However, the operating system merely uses this folder to identify that the files inside make up a gadget; the gadget name is derived from information found in the manifest, not from the folder name (as the Scripting Guys discovered the hard way).

All you have to do now is place all your files (such as Gadget.xml and Test.htm) in the folder. Does that mean you now have a Microsoft Gadget? You bet it does. In fact, with Windows Sidebar up and running click the + button to bring up the set of gadgets found on your computer. Your gadget will show in the gadget picker dialog box.

Note. What’s that? You can’t find the Windows Sidebar, either? That’s OK; if you can’t find the Windows Sidebar just do this: click the Start menu and then click All Programs. Click Accessories, and you should see a link to the Sidebar.

Installing a Gadget

Assuming your gadget really does show up in the list of available gadgets, you can install the thing simply by dragging the icon onto the Windows Sidebar and then releasing the mouse button. (Or just right-click the gadget icon and then click Add.) The gadget will be displayed, and you’ll be ready to start using it. If you decide to remove the gadget from the Sidebar just hold the mouse over the thing and click the little X that appears in the upper right-hand corner. If you aren’t sure which little X we’re talking about, well, it’s this one:

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The Manifest File

As we noted earlier, to create a gadget you need only two things: a manifest file and an HTML file. And we know what you’re thinking: sure, on Omicron IV you guys probably use manifest files all the time. (Some of us do, some of us don’t.) But what do system administrators know about manifest files?

Well, one thing you know (or at least now you know) is that “manifest file” is simply a high-falutin’ technical term; in essence we’re really just talking about something like an .INI file, a simple text file (in this case, one done in XML) that contains configuration information for the gadget. Admittedly, the idea of having to write things in XML might send a shiver or two up and down your spine. Listen, don’t worry about it; this is about as simple and barebones an XML file as you’ll ever have to deal with.

Here’s what we mean:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<gadget>
    <name>My First Gadget</name>
    <author>The Microsoft Scripting Guys</author>
    <copyright>2006 Microsoft Corporation</copyright>
    <description>Sample gadget that returns the name of the installed operating system.</description>
    <icons>
        <icon>icon.png</icon>
    </icons>
    <version value="1.0.0.0" MinPlatformVersion="0.1"></version>
    <sidebar>
        <type>html</type>
        <permissions>full</permissions>
        <code>test.htm</code>
        <website>www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter</website>
     </sidebar>
</gadget>

Before you ask, yes, you can simply copy this file and use it pretty much as-is, just making changes (as needed) to a few of the tag values. (And don’t forget, you must name the file Gadget.xml.) The tags you might want to/need to modify are specified in the following table:

Tag	Description
<name>	Name of the gadget as it appears in the gadget picker dialog box.
<author>	Name of the person who wrote the gadget. The author, copyright, and description tags all appear in the gadget picker when you click on a particular gadget. For details, see the illustration shown below.
<copyright>	Copyright information, including name of the copyright holder and copyright date.
<description>	Brief description of the gadget and what it does.
<icon>	Name of the icon file (the icon is the graphic displayed in the gadget picker). For more on icons, see Creating an Icon in the following subsection of this document.
<code>	Probably not the most intuitive tag name in the world, but this is the name of the HTML file that makes up your gadget.
<website>	Web site associated with the gadget.

To help make this all a little plainer, here are the manifest file elements mapped to the items displayed in the gadget picker dialog box:

Creating an Icon

It’s up to you whether you want to supply a custom icon with your gadget; if you don’t supply an icon (or if you don’t specify an icon in the manifest file) the gadget picker will provide you with a default icon. (At no charge to you.)

If you do decide to supply a custom icon, keep in mind that “icon” is just a name given to a regular old image file; these are not true Windows icons, graphics that must be created using special software. Instead an icon is just a picture file, be it a .GIF, .JPG, or .PNG graphic. The sample gadgets that ship with Windows Vista all use .PNG graphics; that’s probably because .PNG graphics allow for transparent backgrounds, giving you the ability to make very cool-looking pictures. (Assuming you have the requisite artistic talent.) However, you don’t have to save your icons as .PNG files. Instead, load up Paint, create an icon, and save it as a .JPG file; your icon will show up just fine in the gadget picker.

Good question: what size should you make your icon? The optimal size is 64 pixels by 64 pixels. The gadget picker will resize your image to fit, but creating a 64x64 icon in the first place will help guard against any image distortion created if the gadget picker needs to shrink or stretch the image to fit the allotted space.

In case you’re wondering, here’s the icon we used for this article:

We liked it, too.

Note. You might have noticed that, the in the manifest file, the <ICON> tag is embedded within an <ICONS> tag: <icons> <icon>icon.png</icon> </icons> Does that mean you can add additional icons to the manifest file? Probably, although, to be honest, we aren’t sure what you would use those additional icons for. That’s something we’ll look into.

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The HTML File

The HTML file that makes up the gadget itself is actually no different than any Web page that uses dynamic HTML; in fact, to create the HTML file you simply use any valid HTML tagging (including CSS styles) plus script code. We’ll show you a sample HTML page in just a moment. Before we do that, however, we need to take a brief side trip and talk about how you incorporate WMI code into a gadget.

Working with WMI

As a system administrator you’re used to writing scripts that make heavy use of WMI. That’s understandable; after all, WMI is the technology that helps you manage everything from printers to disk drives to mice and monitors. Best of all, WMI is easy to use. For example, suppose you’d like to know the name of the operating system installed on the local computer. No problem; here’s a WMI script that will return that information for you:

strComputer = "."

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")

For Each objItem in colItems
    Msgbox objItem.Caption
Next

If you plan on creating gadgets for system administration we’ve got some bad news for you: the WMI scripts you’re used to writing won’t work in a gadget. (Wait, don’t do anything drastic: the news will get better in just a moment, promise.) That’s because, at heart, a gadget is nothing more than a Web page, and, for security reasons, Web pages aren’t able to make use of GetObject. If you place the preceding code in a gadget all you’ll end up with is this error message:

ActiveX component can’t create object: 'GetObject'

Uh-oh.

But don’t panic. You can still use WMI scripts within a gadget; you just can’t use GetObject and the winmgmts: moniker. Instead, you need to use CreateObject to create an instance of the WbemScripting.SWbemLocator object, then use the ConnectServer method to connect to the WMI service. In other words, you need to write a script that looks like this:

strComputer = "."

Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(strComputer, "root\cimv2")

Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")

For Each objItem in colItems
    Msgbox objItem.Caption
Next

See? Like we said, no need to panic. (Although, in all fairness, it was probably our fault that you panicked in the first place.) The only difference between a script that uses the WMI moniker and a script that uses ConnectServer comes when you make a connection to the WMI service. You’re used to making that connection using a single line of code:

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

Now you have to use two lines of code to make the connection (yes, doubling your workload!): you create an instance of the WbemScripting.SWbemLocator object, then you use the ConnectServer method to bind to the WMI service. Notice that we pass ConnectServer two parameters, the name of the computer to connect to (represented by the variable strComputer) and the WMI namespace we want to connect to (in this case, root\cimv2):

Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(strComputer, "root\cimv2")

Got all that? Good. Now let’s return to our regularly-scheduled article.

Creating an HTML File

As we’ve already noted, a gadget is just an HTML file. That means that any elements (including dynamic elements) you can use in an HTML page can also be used in a gadget. As you’ve probably already figured out, this includes VBScript code; although most of the early gadgets made available through the Microsoft Gadgets Web site use JScript or JavaScript, VBScript works just fine (as you’ll soon see).

We’ve already shown you a WMI script that returns the name of the operating system installed on the local computer; with that in mind, let’s see if we can turn that script into a gadget. We’ll start off very simple, creating a gadget that consists of a single button that, when clicked, displays the value of the operating system Caption property in a message box. Here’s the HTML code for our gadget:

<html>

<head>
    <title>My First Gadget</title>

    <style>
        body{width:120;height:160}
    </style>

</head>

<script language="VBScript">

    Sub RunSub
        strComputer = "."

        Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SwbemLocator")
        Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(strComputer, "root\cimv2")

        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")

        For Each objItem in colItems
            Msgbox objItem.Caption
        Next
    End Sub

</script>

<body>
    <input type="button" value="Run" name="run_button" onClick="RunSub">
</body>

</html>

As you can see, there’s nothing “gadgety” about the code; this is rudimentary HTML that doesn’t do much more than display a single button on a page. When that button is clicked, a subroutine named RunSub is executed; that subroutine then uses WMI to determine the name of the operating system installed on the computer.

Note. OK, maybe this is rudimentary HTML for some people, but what if you have no background with HTML coding? If that’s the case, then you might want to take a look at our two-part HTA Tutorial. That will help bring you up to speed on things such as <SCRIPT> tags and <INPUT> tags.

About the only thing we need to make special note of here is the <STYLE> tag. As we start creating more sophisticated gadgets we’ll discuss the <STYLE> tag in detail; for now, however, we’ll simply point out that we use this tag to configure the default height and width of our gadget:

<style>
    body{width:120;height:160}
</style>

This tag simply says that we want our gadget to be 120 pixels wide (the Windows Sidebar is approximately 130 pixels wide) by 160 pixels tall. For this particular gadget 160 pixels might be too tall; if that’s the case, then we can simply assign a different value to the height property:

<style>
    body{width:120;height:40}
</style>

When you install this gadget it will look like this in the Windows Sidebar:

And here’s what happens when you click the button:

Go ahead and write home to Mom, telling her all about the cool gadget you just created. Just let us know when you’re done and then we’ll move on to something else.

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Displaying Data in a <SPAN>

So far we’ve created a gadget that, when we click a button, displays the name of the operating system in a message box. There’s nothing wrong with that, and there will likely be times when your gadget returns so much information that you have no choice but to display that information in a message box, an Internet Explorer window, or some other location.

On the other hand, sooner or later you will also create gadgets where it makes no sense to display information in a message box, and where it makes no sense to have to click a button in order to return that information. For example, suppose you decided to create a clock for your Windows Sidebar. That’s great, but do you really want to be forced to click a button each time you want to find out what time it is? And when you do, do you want that time to pop up in a message box? Sure, on Omicron IV we like that sort of thing. But human beings find that a bit tedious, not to mention downright silly.

In other words, we need the ability to create gadgets that can:

•	Display data within the bounds of the gadget itself. Later in this series we’ll show you ways to display this information graphically, but for now we’ll focus on text-based displays.
•	Retrieve data automatically, without requiring user interaction of any kind.
•	Periodically update that information. For example, a gadget that monitors available memory on a computer (a gadget we’ll create shortly) can’t just retrieve available memory at the time it loads and then call it good. Instead, it needs to periodically take a new, up-to-date memory sample.

That sounds like a lot, but we’ll make it easy by learning these skills one-at-a-time. Let’s start by discussing the <SPAN> tag, a simple and easy way to display information within the body of the gadget itself.

Here’s a revised version of our HTML file. In this new gadget you still click a button in order to call the subroutine RunSub; however, this time around the operating system name is not echoed back in a message box but is, instead, written to the gadget itself:

<html>

<head>
    <title>My First Gadget</title>
    <style>
        body{width:120;height:160}
    </style>
</head>

<script language="VBScript">

    Sub RunSub
        strComputer = "."

        Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SwbemLocator")
        Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(strComputer, "root\cimv2")

        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")

        For Each objItem in colItems
            DataArea.InnerHTML = objItem.Caption
        Next
    End Sub

</script>

<body>
    <input type="button" value="Run" name="run_button" onClick="RunSub"><br>
    <span id="DataArea"></span>
</body>

</html>

When we click the button on this gadget the returned information is displayed within the gadget itself:

Cool.

An Extra Bonus: Spiffing Up a Gadget’s Background

We’ll talk more about creating fancy-looking gadgets in future installments of this series. For now, we thought we’d mention a few simple little techniques you can use to spiff up your gadgets. For example, suppose you have a graphic that you think will make a good background for a gadget. In that case, all you have to do is set the background attribute of the <BODY> tag of your HTML file. This line of code causes your gadget to use a file named Background.jpg as the gadget background:

<body background = "background.jpg">

Just make sure that Background.jpg is stored in your gadget folder.

Alternatively, you can create a gadget with a different background color by adding the bgcolor parameter to the <BODY> tag. Dying to have a gadget with a bright red background? Hey, why not?

<body bgcolor = "red">

Finally, you can give your gadget a gradient background by using one of the Microsoft multimedia Web filters. In this gadget, we’ve modified the <BODY> style in two ways:

•	We’ve set the font to be white, 8-point Arial.
•	We’ve added a gradient filter.

Here’s what the code for our modified gadget looks like:

<html>

<head>
    <title>My Gadget</title>
    <style>
        body{width:120;height:160;font:8 pt Arial;color:white;
        filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(GradientType=1, StartColorStr="#000000",
            EndColorStr="#0000FF")}
    </style>
</head>

<script language="VBScript">

    Sub RunSub
        strComputer = "."
        Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SwbemLocator")
        Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(".", "root\cimv2")
        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            DataArea.InnerHTML = objItem.Caption
        Next
    End Sub

</script>

<body>
    <input type="button" value="Run" name="run_button" onClick="RunSub"><P>
    <span id="DataArea"></span>
</body>

</html>

And here’s what the gadget itself looks like:

It’s not a work of art, but it’s better than just having a plain white box plopped down in the Sidebar.

Note. For more information about using the gradient filter see the HTA Developer’s Center.

Top of page

Creating an “Auto-Run” Gadget

Having a gadget display information in the body of the gadget (as opposed to in a message box) is a nice step forward, and more in tune with the spirit of gadgets. However, we still have to click a button in order to get that information. Surely there must be a way to have that information automatically gathered and displayed the moment the gadget is loaded.

You bet there is. And stop calling us Shirley.

Here’s a gadget that automatically retrieves and displays the name of the installed operating system, no button-clicking required:

<html>

<head>
    <title>My First Gadget</title>
    <style>
        body{width:120;height:160}
    </style>
</head>

<script language="VBScript">

    Sub Window_OnLoad
        RunSub
    End Sub

    Sub RunSub
        strComputer = "."

        Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SwbemLocator")
        Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(strComputer, "root\cimv2")

        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")

        For Each objItem in colItems
            DataArea.InnerHTML = objItem.Caption
        Next
    End Sub

</script>

<body>
    <span id="DataArea"></span>
</body>

</html>

As you can see, this looks very similar to our previous gadget. In fact, there are only two differences:

•	We removed the button from the gadget. That means there’s no longer any need to click something (for that matter, there’s no longer anything to click).
•	We added a Window_OnLoad subroutine.

As many of you know, the Window_Onload subroutine – when included in a Web page – is designed to run any time that Web page is loaded or refreshed. This subroutine functions exactly the same way when included in a gadget: it automatically runs any time the gadget is loaded up. That’s how we create an auto-run gadget: we simply create a subroutine named Window_OnLoad and put the code we want run at load time into that subroutine.

For this particular gadget our Window_OnLoad subroutine looks like this:

Sub Window_OnLoad
    RunSub
End Sub

As you can see, all we do in this particular subroutine is call a second subroutine: RunSub. We should point out that we don’t have to put our WMI code in a separate subroutine; we could have put our WMI script in the Window_OnLoad subroutine and directly executed that code upon startup. So why did we create a superfluous second subroutine? That’s easy: it makes for a nice transition to our next gadget.

In case you’re wondering, here’s what our “button-less” gadget looks like:

Top of page

Creating an “Auto-Refresh” Gadget

Undoubtedly gadgets will earn their keep in large part by serving as monitoring devices, dutifully keeping tabs on anything and everything from free disk space to network connectivity to available memory. Gadgets are perfect for tasks like this: they are small and unobtrusive, yet gadgets can still display visual cues that provide information at a glance. Equally important, gadgets can be programmed to take action when specific conditions arise. By combining small size and graphical capabilities with custom script code you can create incredibly useful tools for monitoring the health and well-being of your network.

Of course, the ability to do that hinges on the gadget’s ability to constantly update its information. It’s important that, at startup, a gadget can ping a server and verify that server’s availability. However, as a monitoring tool your gadget is of little use if it can only ping the server at startup. Instead, the gadget needs to periodically refresh itself: at regular intervals it needs to retrieve up-to-date information. In other words, it needs to do something like this:

<html>

<head>
    <title>My Gadget</title>
    <style>
        body{width:120;height:40"}
    </style>
</head>

<script language="VBScript">

    Sub Window_Onload
        GetMemory
        iTimerID = window.SetInterval("GetMemory", 10000)
    End Sub

    Sub GetMemory
        Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SwbemLocator")
        Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(".", "root\cimv2")
        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            DataArea.InnerHTML = objItem.FreePhysicalMemory
        Next
    End Sub

</script>

<body>
    <span id="DataArea"></span>
</body>

</html>

Before we discuss how this script works we should note that this particular script doesn’t display the name of the operating system installed on the computer; instead, it displays the amount if available memory on the computer. Why did we suddenly drop the operating system gadget in favor of an available memory gadget? Well, we’re assuming that you don’t need to constantly monitor the name if the installed operating system; its safe to say that the name of the operating system doesn’t change anywhere near as often as available memory does. We figured that monitoring available memory might be a bit more realistic than monitoring the name of the installed operating system.

Incidentally, the subroutine for actually determining the current amount of available memory (a subroutine named GetMemory) looks like this:

Sub GetMemory
    Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SwbemLocator")
    Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(".", "root\cimv2")
    Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")
    For Each objItem in colItems
        DataArea.InnerHTML = objItem.FreePhysicalMemory
    Next
End Sub

What we’re interested in here, however, isn’t the GetMemory subroutine but the Window_OnLoad subroutine:

Sub Window_Onload
    GetMemory
    iTimerID = window.SetInterval("GetMemory", 10000)
End Sub

As you can see, we do two things in this subroutine. First, we call the GetMemory subroutine; we do that to ensure that, upon loading our gadget, the available memory is immediately displayed in the gadget. The second thing we do is a bit more interesting:

iTimerID = window.SetInterval("GetMemory", 10000)

With this line of code we’re using the SetInterval method to create a timer. What this timer does is cause our gadget to call the GetMemory subroutine every 10 seconds (10,000 milliseconds). This is how we cause the gadget to auto-refresh itself: every 10 seconds the gadget calls the GetMemory subroutine, which means that every 10 seconds the gadget will use WMI to get the current amount of available memory and then display that data in the gadget body. If 10 seconds is too long between measurements, then change the parameter 10000 to a smaller number; for example, setting the parameter to 5000 will cause the gadget to update itself every 5 seconds (5000 milliseconds). Likewise, change the 10000 to a larger number if you’d prefer to have a longer interval between measurements.

Here’s our new gadget in action:

We never said it was a work of art. But now that we understand the basics behind creating gadgets (particularly gadgets of interest to system administrators) we’re about ready to start creating works of art. We’ll talk about incorporating graphics into gadgets soon; in addition, we’ll also explore the Gadget object model and some of the really cool things you can do with that.

Top of page

A Preview of Coming Attractions

In order to give you more of a taste for what gadgets can do, here’s a slightly (with the emphasis on the word slightly) more complicated gadget, one that does two things: it monitors available memory and also displays (in a Web page) more detailed system information when the Information button is clicked. Needless to say, this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what gadgets can do, but it does give you a better sense for the range of capabilities that can be included in a single gadget.

You’re on your own to figure out the whys and wherefores of this particular gadget (we’ve already run out of space for this month) but here’s the code:

<html>

<head>
    <title>My Gadget</title>
    <style>
        body{width:120;height:80}
    </style>
</head>

<script language="VBScript">

    Sub Window_Onload
        GetMemory
        iTimerID = window.SetInterval("GetMemory", 10000)
    End Sub

    Sub GetMemory
        Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SwbemLocator")
        Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(".", "root\cimv2")
        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            DataArea.InnerHTML = objItem.FreePhysicalMemory
        Next
    End Sub

    Sub RunSub

        Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SwbemLocator")
        Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(".", "root\cimv2")

        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_ComputerSystem")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            strHTML = "Computer Name: " & objItem.Name & "<br>"
            strHTML = strHTML & "User Name: " & objItem.UserName & "<br><br>"
        Next

        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            strHTML = strHTML & "Operating System: " & objItem.Caption & "<br>"
            strHTML = strHTML & "Service Pack: " & objItem.ServicePackMajorVersion & "<br><br>"
        Next

        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_Processor")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            strHTML = strHTML & "Processor: " & objItem.Caption & "<br><br>"
        Next

        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
            ("Select * From Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration Where IPEnabled = True")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            strHTML = strHTML & objItem.Caption & "<br>"
            For Each strAddress in objItem.IPAddress
                strHTML = strHTML & "IP Address: " & strAddress & "<br>"
            Next
        Next

        Set objIE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
        objIE.Navigate("about:blank")
        objIE.Toolbar = 0
        objIE.StatusBar = 0
        Set objDoc = objIE.Document.Body
        objDoc.InnerHTML = strHTML
        objIE.Visible = True
    End Sub

</script>

<body>
    <span id="DataArea"></span><p>
    <input type="button" value="Information" name="run_button" onClick="RunSub">
</body>

</html>

From: (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/vista/gadgets-pt1.mspx)

You receive the message "error 1324 the path contains an invalid character" when installing software

Also applies to "error 1324 the path my pictures contains an invalid character"

If you are receiving this message then the default shell folder structure on your computer is probably corrupt. 

Run this file to reset the default shell folders in the current user profile.

2) Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\INTEL\LANDesk\VirusProtect6\CurrentVersion\Administrator Only\Security\

3) Find the key "useVPuninstallpassword" and change its value from 1 to 0
       
4) Close the registry and retry the uninstall

(to Unregister DLLs, goto CMD prompt and type "regsvr32 /u filename.dll" where filename.dll is the dll you want to unregister)

Stop XP Antivirus 2008 Processes:
XPAntivirus.exe
XPAntivirusUpdate.exe
xpa.exe
xpa2008.exe

Find and Delete these XP Antivirus 2008:
xpa.exe
xpa2008.exe
XPAntivirus.exe
XPAntivirusUpdate.exe
shlwapi.dll
wininet.dll
XP antivirus
XPAntivirus.lnk
Uninstall XPAntivirus.lnk
XPAntivirus on the Web.lnk
XPAntivirus.url
XP Antivirus 2008.lnk
Uninstall XP Antivirus 2008.lnk

Remove XP Antivirus 2008 Registry Values:
HKEY_USERS\Software\XP antivirus

Click Here to Download

Unzip it. Then RIGHTCLICK the VArestorepolicies.inf and select to Install from the Context menu.

Then, log off or reboot to apply the changes.

Note: Above will set the display in the Startmenu to Windows default. This in case you have modified this previously and already "disabled" some StartMenu items there.
It will also delete some policies which you *may have set yourself previously.

You might notice the words VIRUS ALERT! beside the System clock after being infected with one of the Zlob-Media Codec infections.



It's also displayed under the ProductID in your System Properties > General:



In the Registry, the following values are affected and replaced with VIRUS ALERT!

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International]
"sTimeFormat"="h:mm: VIRUS ALERT!"

Which explains the VIRUS ALERT! words in the clock.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]
"ProductId"="VIRUS ALERT!"

Which explains the VIRUS ALERT! in the System Properties.

In both cases, on every computer, above default values are different, because for the clock settings, it depends what the Regional Settings are.
To restore the VIRUS ALERT! in the clock settings, Go to start > run and type: intl.cpl
Hit enter
This opens the Regional Settings properties.
Under the tab Regional Options > standards and formats, from the dropdown list, re-select your region again.

In my case it is set to English (United States), but in your case, it may be different ofcourse.
By default the correct region should already be displayed there, but you have to re-select it, or select another Region first and then select your Region again > click apply and OK. This will reset the default data in the Registry for the sTimeFormat, so the VIRUS ALERT! should be gone.
(in some cases, you need to log off in order to make the changes)
(Extra note: In case you're having problems with above instructions, see the latest part of this post how to restore the policies first.)

For the ProductID - this is somewhat more advanced since every ProductID is different.
You need to restore that value in the Registry again with your ProductID. The ProductID will be a 20 long string of numbers and is used when you call Microsoft for support. It may also affect Windows XP Validation, an error in System tray with "Unable to complete genuine Windows validation" and/or you *may receive the error: "0x80080201 Cannot detect product ID (PID)"

The ProductID that was modified here is under the:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]
"ProductId"="XXXX-XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXX"

Note, this is not your Product Key used to install Windows!

To retrieve your Product ID and restore it for above key/value, you can find it under next value in the registry as well:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]
"ProductId"="XXXX-XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXX"

If you're not familiar with the registry, I suggest you use the Microsoft Genuine Advantage Diagnostic (MGADIAG) tool instead to retrieve your Product ID.

Run MGADiag.exe, click Continue and you'll find your Product ID under the Windows Tab.



There you can find your Product ID.
Now you have to restore that value in the registry again.
To do this, go to start > run and type: regedit
This will open your Registry Editor.
(Extra note: In case you're having problems with above instructions, see the latest part of this post how to restore the policies first.)

Now browse to the following key by expanding the folders (keys)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion
On the right, you should find: ProductId
In your case, you'll see VIRUS ALERT! next to it.
Doubleclick the value to open it and edit the string as you see in the screenshot below:



Where you see VIRUS ALERT! in the "edit string Window", delete the VIRUS ALERT! in there and replace it with your Product ID key you retrieved previously: XXXX-XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXX
The X stands for random numbers/letters
Click the OK button after you edited the ProductID value in the Edit string Window to apply the changes.

Note2: Above instructions only remove the VIRUS ALERT! in the clock and System properties and the restrictive policies+registry modifications being set. This doesn't clean the infection itself if still present. As long as the infection is still present and active, it will replace above values (with VIRUS ALERT!)+policies again.
 

Dial-A-Fix - download this program to fix common Windows Update errors and MSI installer errors.

Dial-a-fix-v0.60.0.24.zip (328.12 KB)

I have noticed this patch causing a problem with new user profile setup.  Remove the patch, setup the user and Outlook, then re-apply the patch and it should work fine from there.

I recently had an encounter with Quickbooks PRO 2008 running on Windows Vista Service Pack 1.  My laptop locked up with Quickbooks open and when I restarted, I could no longer access my company data file.  When I opened Quickbooks, it acted like it was opening and then gave a Windows error message that "Quickbooks has stopped working" and gave me the option to send the report to Microsoft and options to either close or close and restart Quickbooks.  I searched and searched for a solution to no avail.  Intuit's site had one article that basically said "we know of this problem but have no solution."  I cleared the last company file from the registry and was able to open Quickbooks and create a new file without problem which isolated the problem to the company data file.  After searching all over for a solution I remembered I had a dual-boot of XP on my laptop with Quickbooks 2008 installed.  I booted to XP, opened Quickbooks and the company file opened without error.  I closed the file and then booted back to Vista, opened Quickbooks, and the file opened fine!  It appears that when the company file was not properly closed, it caused an un-resolved problem with Quickbooks on Vista; once I opened the file on another instance of Quickbooks and closed it properly, the problem in Vista went away.

In my opinion, just another example of the flakiness of the Vista operating system and the lack of industry support to resolve the issues.