PCTechNotes :: PC Tips, Tricks and Tweaks » operating system

How Create a System Repair Disk in Windows 7

slavezero — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 11:54:10 +0000

This tutorial will help create a system repair disk in Windows 7. You can use The Windows System Repair Disk is a bootable disk for troubleshooting your operating system, if you don’t have or lost your Windows installation disc or can’t access the recovery options provided by your computer manufacturer. The repair disk will provide you access System Restore, Startup Repair, Windows Complete PC Restore, Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool and a command prompt.

Follow these very simple steps to create a System Repair Disk for your Windows 7.

Click on Windows button or the Start Menu Button, Open Control Panel then select Backup and Restore.

Click on “Create a system repair disk”

Insert blank CD or DVD into your CD/DVD drive and click on the Create disc button.

NOTE: If you are prompted to insert a Windows installation disc, it means that the files needed to create the system repair disc cannot be found on your computer. Insert your Windows 7 installation disc then proced in creating your system repair disk.

Here is another way of opening the Create a system repair disc window.

Click on Start button and on the Search programs and files, type in “system repair disc“

A Great Application To Easily Fix Your Registry

slavezero — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:51:53 +0000

When was the last time you experience using your computer perform at an optimal speed? I guess you miss those times when your computer are still running at light speed. Well, the main reason why your computer is now turtle slow is because you have problems with your registry. The registry is your computer’s Windows system’s heart and soul. It holds all the information that controls how your system appears and performs.

Almost all Windows users gradually experiences the downfall in their PC’s performance. Registry Problems can make your Windows system slower, less reliable and in worst cases it can only be fixed by reformating and reinstalling the operating system. But what if you don’t have the knowledge to do that or don’t have enough budget to pay for a technician to fix your almost dying PC? But what if I tell you that you can bring back the life of your crawling computer back to it’s optimal days without the calling and paying for super geek to fix your computer.

I share to you this great application that I am personally using that can easily fix all your windows registry problems without breaking a sweat. I am talking about RegistryFix.

Registryfix can easily scan and fix invalid registry entries. It will tell you where are the errors and the possible damage it might cause. RegistryFix scans for errors related to ActiveX controls, DLL issues, Windows explorer errors, Windows installer issues, Internet Explorer errors, Iexpore and System32 errors, Runtime errors, Outlook and Outlook Express Errors, EXE errors, Svchost errors and a wide variety of other system issues.

Download this great registry tool to have a faster highly reliable system that runs perfectly all the time.

DOWNLOAD REGISTRYFIX

How To Remove Duplicate or Incorrect Entry on XP Boot Menu

slavezero — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:37:26 +0000

My college friend called me asking for some advice about the computer she inherited from his brother. She said that whenever she boots she is presented with two boot options. She was annoyed that she doesn’t have a choice but to hit the enter key or wait 30 seconds to open Windows.

This issue has two ways to resolved one is editing the boot.ini or disabling it through the startup and recovery screen. The first option is a bit risky especially for non tech savvy users so we will just tackle the second option which is also the easiest way.

Ok, let’s start. First, right click on My Computer then select properties or go to Start –> Run then type sysdm.cpl. Either way will both present you the System Properties dialog. Once there go to Advanced then click the settings under Startup and Recovery.

In the Startup and Recovery dialog, make sure the default operating system is correct. Uncheck the option for “Time to display list of operating systems”, then close the dialog.

The menu should now be gone after you reboot your computer.

How To Change Your Computer Name in Vista

slavezero — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:33:45 +0000

My friend just bought a HP desktop pre-installed with Windows Vista operating system. He ask me if he can change his annoying computer name from “Owner2009″ and change it into a more descriptive and personalize like “slavezero” for example. I named my desktop “sLaVeZeRo” and other units workstations.

Changing names in XP is very easy, but in Vista it is somehow difficult especially for beginners because it is buried behind a few more menus.

Here are the steps on how you can easily rename your Vista computer.

1. On your desktop, right click on Computer then select Properties.

2. Click on the Advanced settings system.

3. Go to Computer name tab.

4. or you can easily type sysdm.cpl into the start menu search box. This will directly bring you to the system properties and computer name tab.

5. Click on the Change… button to bring you to the Computer Name/Domain changes dialog.

6. You can now change the name of your computer. You can also rename your workgroup to a something more descriptive.

7. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Your Computer Is Infected… And You Don’t Know It

slavezero — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:55:55 +0000

Early in the internet days when your computer got infected by some virus it would immediately cause your computer to crash. Scammers today got much more smarter in creating and spreading their viruses and other malicious programs. They now realize that leaving their victim’s computer will be much more better to easily steal any important information from their victims. That is how they get your precious accounts, installing and running their viruses on your computer without you knowing it. In today’s technology, how do you know if your computer is infected and vulnerable to any attacks if your computer doesn’t crash?

Well, here are some signs to watch out for to know if your computer has been hijacked.

If you suddenly notice that your computer is going through periods of prolonged slowdowns then this maybe a case of malicious programs running on your computer. You will not be able to notice this because most of the time they are running in the background.

Your search gives you wrong results or you get forwarded to websites that you don’t have an intention of visiting.

Your computer starts to get annoying pop-ups. This is a usual problems normally caused by adwares on your computer.

Now that you know some signs, the question now is what is the best way to fix or heal an infected computer?. The very best thing to do is to have an updated and reliable antivirus. You can try different protection software if the one you are using is unable to find any infection on your machine.

Most of the users performs disk reformatting and operating system reinstallation if their antivirus can’t fix the problem. That would definitely help but make sure that when you create a backup your files are clean otherwise the infection will still come back to ruin your computing life.

You will never know what will happen to your computer once it gets infected, it’s just a bomb waiting to explode on your face. Some will send you unwanted ads others will take your data. There are some that will alter your search results and record every keystrokes you made this programs are called keyloggers. As technology grows so does the viruses released everyday that can harm your computer. You have to be diligent enough to be able to stay one step ahead of those scammers.

The next time you know that you computer is not performing the way it should be then immediately stop on what you are doing and scan your computer right away. Don’t give those hackers a chance to get what they want on your computer.

How to Fix Slow File Transfer in Windows Vista

slavezero — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:13:32 +0000

Do you notice that when transferring files on Vista were much slower especially when moving from Windows XP to Vista. Well, if you still have your old XP operating system installed you can just boot to XP and transfer your files using XP. But that would not be very convenient, right?

I have here a very simple solution to fix that problem. I found out that the Vista Remote Differential Compression causes this slow file transfer problem. We have to disable this feature to fix the issue, this is how to do it.

Click Start Orb.

Go to Control Panel

Click on Programs and Features

Select “Turn Windows features on or off“

On the Windows features, uncheck Remote Differential Compression

Click on OK. Try your file transfer again.

If disabling Remote Differential Compression does not fix the problem, you can download Microsoft’s pre-service pack update to fix the problem. Download here

Signs that you might have a Windows Registry problem

slavezero — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:54:29 +0000

While intelligent computer users use registry repair softwares from day one of using their computer, still many users today are still not aware on the importance of registry repair products. If you have not taken any steps to clean your windows registry and you experience at least one of the following indications then this is the time to use a registry cleaner. There are lots of free registry cleaner but I prefer using paid registry softwares for the main reason of they are much more reliable.

Here are some of the signs that you might have a Windows Registry problem.

Slow PC performance

Over the period of time your windows registry will acquire lots of entries and its size increases. Incompatible and corrupted files will slow down the performance of your operating system. If you notice that your computer crawls to load any application then you definitely need to repair your registry. It is usually a corrupted registry when some programs takes time to load.

Software Freezing

Sometimes some of your applications may freeze up in that case you usually end the task and restart the application. If this happens a lot it is a sign that there is a registry problem. When the system resources are not provided to the software, the software will stop functioning and repairing windows registry will eliminate this problem.

Corrupted software

When your applications suddenly does not load when you just have used the software just yesterday then it means that there is a possibilities of issues with your windows registry. This is a sign that there is a problem with internal system which can be solved by fixing your registry.

Longer boot time

If you notice that your operating system takes much more longer to boot is a sign that incompatible data are needed to be cleared off. Once you clean your windows registry you will find a great difference with the boot time of your operating system.

System crash

Although system crashes can indicate that there is a problem with your windows registry you might also want to check other possible reasons like hardware failures and incompatible hardwares. but if you experience a system crash while using a certain program then there is a great possibillity that your windows registry is corrupted.

How to disable PC speaker beeping on errors

slavezero — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:33:23 +0000

Do you get annoyed by the beeps and noises that comes from your PC speaker when your PC encounters an error but can’t find a way to turn it off?, then here are the easy steps to disable it.

first step, Open your registry and find the key below.

second step, Create a new string value, or modify the existing value, named “Beep” and set it to either ‘Yes’ for beeping enabled or ‘No’ for beeping disabled.

Registry settings

User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sound]
Value Name: Beep
Data Type: REG_SZ (String Value)
Value Data: Yes or No

third step, You may need to log off or restart Windows for the change to take effect.

Note: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. We cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk. Please backup your registry first.

How to run incompatible programs in Vista

slavezero — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:00:56 +0000

The problem that we always have to face when we upgrade our operating system is the incompatibility of some programs especially old programs running on the new system. Just like in Windows XP when it’s first release, there are lots of applications that are incompatible with the new system. The problem is still the same in Vista, there are still many programs and applications that are incompatible with Windows Vista due to unavailability of drivers and such. When you run a program that is not compatible with Vista you may get a pop-up message stating that you can no longer run this program as some .dll files which are needed to run are not available in system 32. The question is how can you be able to use again your favorite application on Vista?, The answer is you can use Vista’s compatibility feature to address the issue. If you are unable to run a certain application Just Right click the .exe file and select properties. Click compatibility tab (as shown below).

In the drop down menu, choose Windows XP or whichever OS that particular program worked earlier. Make sure you check ‘Run this program as an administrator’. Click Ok and Run the program again. Now you should be able to run the application.

How to Start Windows in Safe Mode

slavezero — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:14:44 +0000

This is a common question of my clients, friends and blog guest to me so I decided to create a guide on how to start windows in safe mode. Many times in order to remove a piece of spyware or for troubleshooting and diagnostic purposes, you’ll have to start Windows in Safe Mode. While in Safe Mode, only specific programs and files needed to run the operating system are loaded. Some functions, such as connecting to the Internet, will not be active in a standard Safe Mode and a standard video driver will be loaded causing a washed out look and a possible change in resolution.

However, because just the essential programs and files are loaded in Safe Mode, this allows us to remove some spyware, adware, viruses and such that cannot be removed in Normal Mode. Follow the instructions below to Start Safe Mode for your specific version of Windows. If you are trying to delete a file that is not allowing you to delete it (even in Safe Mode), you may want to read my article on How to Delete an Undeletable File.

Included at the bottom of the article are instructions for starting Windows Vista in Safe Mode too.

Windows 95

Restart the computer.

Just after the POST diagnostics and memory count, start pressing the F8 key

On the Startup Menu, choose Safe Mode

Windows 98/Me

Restart the computer.

Just after the POST diagnostics and memory count, start pressing the F8 key

On the Startup Menu, choose Safe Mode

or you may use the System Configuration Utility Method.

While in Normal mode, Close all programs.

Click Start, Run and type MSCONFIG in the box and click OK

In the System Configuration Utility, on the General Tab, click the Advanced Button

In the Advanced Troubleshooting Settings dialog box, check Enable Startup Menu. Click OK. Click OK again when the System Configuration Utility reappears.

You will be prompted to restart the computer. Click Yes. The computer will restart in Safe mode.

When you are finished with troubleshooting in Safe mode, open MSCONFIG again and uncheck “Enable Start-up Menu.” under the Advanced Menu, then click OK and restart your computer

Windows 2000

If the computer is running, shut down Windows, and then turn off the power

Wait 30 seconds, and then turn the computer on.

When you see the black-and-white Starting Windows bar at the bottom of the screen, start tapping the F8 key. The Windows 2000 Advanced Options Menu appears.

Ensure that the Safe mode option is selected. In most cases, it is the first item in the list and is selected by default.

Press Enter. The computer then begins to start in Safe mode.

When you are finished with all troubleshooting, close all programs and restart the computer as you normally would.

Windows XP

If Windows XP is the only operating system installed on your computer, booting into Safe Mode with these instructions.

If the computer is running, shut down Windows, and then turn off the power

Wait 30 seconds, and then turn the computer on.

Start tapping the F8 key. The Windows Advanced Options Menu appears. If you begin tapping the F8 key too soon, some computers display a “keyboard error” message. To resolve this, restart the computer and try again.

Ensure that the Safe mode option is selected.

Press Enter. The computer then begins to start in Safe mode.

When you are finished with all troubleshooting, close all programs and restart the computer as you normally would.

To use the System Configuration Utility method

Close all open programs.

Click Start, Run and type MSCONFIG in the box and click OK

The System Configuration Utility appears, On the BOOT.INI tab, Check the “/SAFEBOOT” option, and then click OK and Restart your computer when prompted.

The computer restarts in Safe mode.

Perform the troubleshooting steps for which you are using Safe Mode.

When you are finished with troubleshooting in Safe mode, open MSCONFIG again, on the BOOT.INI tab, uncheck “/SAFEBOOT” and click OK to restart your computer

Windows as part of a multiboot system

Use this method ONLY if you have multiple operating systems installed on your computer.

If the computer is running, shut down Windows, and then turn off the power

Wait 30 seconds, and then turn the computer on.

When the Boot loader menu (list of the available operating systems) appears, use the arrow keys on the keyboard to select the version Windows what you want

Press Enter, and then immediately begin tapping the F8 key. The Windows Advanced Options menu appears.

Scroll to and select the Safe mode menu item, and then press Enter.

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is similar to Windows XP for starting in Safe Mode.

Turn the computer on or Restart the computer

Start tapping the F8 key. The Windows Advanced Boot Options Menu appears. If you begin tapping the F8 key too soon, some computers display a “keyboard error” message. To resolve this, restart the computer and try again.

Ensure that the Safe mode option is selected (the top option)

Press Enter. The computer then begins to start in Safe mode.

When you are finished with troubleshooting, close all programs and restart the computer as you normally would.