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[SOLVED] Unwanted Wake from Sleep on Vista

By Fungi008:

Vista's dumb multimedia sharing option: More complex (and I don't think anyone else has posted it). Do this:
Control Panel -> Power Options -> If "High Performance" is selected, choose something else, like "Balanced" (I don't know why this works) -> Change plan settings (for the chosen power plan) -> Change advanced power settings -> Scroll down to Multimedia settings -> Choose "Allow the computer to sleep"

Thanks, Fungi008!

[SOLVED] Dialog Boxes Stuck Behind Their Parent Windows

I thought this was a common Windows bug, but since the search terms were so common, it was very difficult to find a discussion on the matter online. I had a frequent problem where an application would bring up a modal dialog that would get very easily trapped behind the parent window. That is, a dialog box would have focus that could not be shifted to the window that spawned it, but the dialog box itself would not come to the forefront so it would be obscured. Trying to switch using the taskbar or alt-tab didn't usually help. Regrettably, I thought the problem was due to bad programming of the applications that demonstrated the behavior, like Iolo System Mechanic 8. It turns out the problem was instead due to a software conflict...

Quitting Acer GridVista and stopping it from running at startup fixed the problem. Similar stay-on-top shell enhancements might interfere also.

[SOLVED] Adobe Reader 8.1.2 Freezes Entire Computer

Under Vista, opening some PDF's can crash Adobe Reader 8.1 so badly that the entire computer can freeze up and only a hard reboot is possible. The conflict is threefold: Reader's GPU acceleration, Vista's UAC, and temp folder security.

I fixed it by adjusting the following in Reader's preferences (not all steps may be necessary):

• Automatic Default Page Layout
• Automatic Default Zoom
• Hardware rendering for legacy video cards
• PDF browser plugin, fast web view (irrelevant to this, though)
• Acrobat JavaScript
• Preferred Media Player (.i.e., set to Windows Media Player)
• Multimedia operations
• Verify signatures when opened
• Check spelling when typing
• External content (off by default, I think)

Most importantly, adjust the properties for AcroRd32.exe to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP2.

Cross-posted from http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3302386#post3302386

Improving Wireless Networking on Vista (and XP?)

Some commands for the Command Prompt:

• netsh int ipv4 reset
  
• netsh winsock reset
• netsh int tcp set global rss=enabled chimney=disabled autotuninglevel=normal congestionprovider=ctcp ecncapability=enabled timestamps=disabled
• ipconfig /release
• ipconfig /renew

Registry change from Microsoft KB928233:

• DhcpConnForceBroadcastFlag 0
  

Another Way to Uninstall Intellipoint

I got some kind of error that Intellipoint needed to be reinstalled. Prior to that, I noticed that point64k.sys was coming up as "unsigned" when checking with sigverif. I'm not sure, but it might have to do with a November 2009 update to "Microsoft Hardware wireless mouse driver" or the mysterious "HID Non-User Input Data Filter (KB 911895)", which I can't find any info about. One last (but not least) culprit is the Thinkpad Ultranav pointing device that can have conflicts with Intellipoint & Microsoft mice. At any rate, it looked like the proper thing to do was reinstall Intellipoint and then do an overwrite install of the Ultranav driver and its "Utility".

Intellipoint has to be uninstalled before it can be reinstalled; the installer will refuse to continue if it detects that Intellipoint is already installed. I hope Microsoft changes this someday, because it makes fixing issues of corrupted installed much more difficult... especially when, as in my case, it did not show up in the Program and Features dialog box (previously known as Add/Remove Programs).


At first, I tried using autoruns (from SysInternals) to disable everything Intellipoint, then use Windows Installer Cleanup Utility (where it was listed), and some manual Registry editing to "uninstall" it. It was a disaster, but a System Restore made everything ok again.

Well, Intellipoint and Ultranav were both still messed up, and Intellipoint wasn't listed in the Control Panel as before. It didn't show up in Nirsoft MyUninstaller, either. At this point, though, I got a pretty good idea....

I forwent the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility. It might have worked, but what I did instead was extract the setup app, IPx64_1033_7.00.260.0.exe, using 7-Zip into a folder. Inside the extracted setup executable, I looked for the MSI file. I found ip.msi in the subdirectory ipoint\setup64. I right-clicked it and selected Uninstall. There was a UAC prompt, but there were no errors! I never got a dialog box that uninstallation was complete, but I compared with RegScanner, and Inteillipoint was indeed uninstalled! I rebooted, and I was able to reinstall Intellipoint (as well as the Ultranav stuff, subsequently) without difficulty. Windows Update automatically reapplied the "Microsoft Hardware wireless mouse driver", which is a little worrisome. However, everything seems to be working ok now.

Parallel Port Driver Service Failed to Start

If you don't have a parallel port on your computer, this is easily fixed from the command line:

sc config parport start= disabled

Beware If Taking the AHCI Plunge

With a recent BIOS update, I noticed a new option for AHCI vs. IDE mode. Even though Vista has support for this new supposedly feature-rich disk technology, those drivers are disabled after installation. Vista won't even boot after making the change in BIOS to AHCI unless you first do the following:

To resolve this issue, enable the AHCI driver in the registry before you change the SATA mode of the boot drive. To do this, follow these steps:

1.	Exit all Windows-based programs.
2.	Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
3.	If you receive the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
4.	Locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
5.	In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
6.	In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
7.	On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.

From KB 922976

Possible Fix for DWM.EXE error?

During shutdown on Vista, I would occasionally get the following error:

GDI+ Window: dwm.exe - Application Error : The instruction at 0x748573f6 referenced memory at 0x748573f6. The memory could not be written.

I was also having problems with a blank taskbar and notification area upon resume from sleep mode.

I believe that this could be related to changing the driver for nVidia graphics or changing disk access to AHCI causing the Desktop Window Manager to no longer be seen as genuine.

Here are the commands that (I hope) has fixed the issue:

cd %windir%\system32
wscript slmgr.vbs -rearm

Then, reboot when prompted.

UPDATE (29 July 2008): That wasn't enough. Try the following if you're still having trouble:

1. Reinstall the license files with wscript slmgr.vbs -rilc (wait for confirmation)
   
2. Reboot
3. Go to Genuine Microsoft Software and click Validate Windows
   

Restore Default NTFS, Etc. Permissions for Vista (and XP)

This was difficult to find online, so I thought I'd write a post about it. Here's the bottom line:

secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\inf\defltbase.inf /db defltbase.sdb /verbose


More info and instructions for XP: KB 313222

Error 1310 Can't Write to Config.msi Directory During Repair or Uninstall

Error 1310. Error writing to file: C:\Config.Msi\59cb9b6.rbf. System error 5. Verify that you have access to that directory.

This problem seems to especially crop up under Windows Vista with UAC turned off. There is a lot of advice online about adjusting the permissions of the Config.msi folder, but I don't think they work.

The following workaround seems to do the trick, however:

1. First, try resetting Windows Installer by running the following (this might be all you need to do):
msiexec /unreg
msiexec /regserver

2. When installing a program, like from Adobe or Microsoft Office 2007, that demonstrates this problem, run the installer EXE in XP Compatibility mode.

3. Make sure the setup programs that are copied to your Program Files directory are set to run in XP Compatibility mode. Here are a couple examples:
Adobe Acrobat Pro 9: "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Setup Files\{AC76BA86-1033-0000-7760-000000000004}\Setup.exe"

Microsoft Office 2007: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\OFFICE12\Office Setup Controller\SETUP.EXE"

4. Make sure that no files are in use when doing a change/repair operation. For example, Copernic Desktop Search keeps Outlook files in use unless it is shut down, and changing the Office installation will fail. Other search programs or backup software might make for the same problem.

New Beta of Brightness Display

Download Beta

Hopefully this will improve reliability. Let me know in comments.

Internet Time Sync - Reset to Fix Error on Vista

Internet Time sync using NTP servers causes frustration for a lot of Windows users. The following instructions will reset the NTP run-time and adjust the NTP server setting. Make sure you haven't set conflicting settings in Group Policy.

1. The default server, time.windows.com, is just not as reliable as some other NTP servers publicly available. However, the best practice now is to sync to a NTP pool and/or your local university's or ISP's NTP servers. Get the list of servers for your location at the NTP Pool Directory. Example: 0.us.pool.ntp.org 1.us.pool.ntp.org 2.us.pool.ntp.org 3.us.pool.ntp.org


2. Run the following commands from an Administrator command prompt:

net stop w32time
w32tm /unregister
w32tm /unregister (yes, again)
w32tm /register
net start w32time
w32tm /config "/manualpeerlist:0.us.pool.ntp.org,0x9 1.us.pool.ntp.org,0x9 2.us.pool.ntp.org,0x9 3.us.pool.ntp.org,0x9 time.windows.com,0x9" /syncfromflags:MANUAL
w32tm /config /update

3. Now you can check to see which server you are currenly connected to:

w32tm /query /source
w32tm /query /peers

4. To sync your PC's clock to the time server's manually at this point (it will update according to the default schedule):

w32tm /resync

That should do it!

Determining Song Volume Pain in iTunes 8.1

My music is on a network drive, so when iTunes started "Determining Song Volume" for thousands of tracks across a network connection, it pretty much froze up. Syncing was also pain.

iTunes wants to figure out the song volume stuff for its Sound Check feature, which you can disable in the Playback tab of Preferences. However, the Determining Song Volume madness persists if that is part of the Burn settings, only available when you are burning a playlist to CD (or pretending to):

1) click on any playlist.
2) click on "burn disc" (bottom right) - a pop-up window with burn settings will appear.
3) untick the "sound check" box.
4) click "burn" (just leave the disc drive empty, you dont actually need to burn a cd).
5) up the top, itunes will ask you to "please insert a blank disc" - just click the x and close this message.
6) click "burn disc" again to view the pop-up window - you will notice that the sound check box is now unticked. (click burn or cancel to close it)
7) close itunes, give it a minute, then open it again and you'll notice the problem is fixed!
Source (and thanks!)

Missing Thumbnails for Microsoft Office Files?

Missing thumbnails for certain files in Windows Explorer (Vista, Win7) can be puzzling. If you have this difficulty with some Microsoft Office files, it just may be that the thumbnail was not saved with the file. In Microsoft Word 2007, this should be easy: the Save Thumbnail option should appear in the Save As dialog. In Microsoft Powerpoint 2007, things are more cumbersome: go to the Office Orb - Prepare - Properties, and then click on Document Properties in the main window to select Advanced Properties from the drop-down menu. In the Summary tab of Advanced Properties, check the box for Save Preview Picture. Not exactly straightforward, is it? To make it easier the next time, you can add Advanced Document Properties to the Quick Access Toolbar.

Fix Wireless Network Reconnection

If you're having problems with reconnecting to your wireless network after wake/resume from sleep/standby, or if you are getting errors upon connecting due to cancellation or timeout, or if you are having other problems with your wireless in Windows XP SP2 or Vista, try these solutions:

1. Update wireless adapter drivers if necessary (Vista SP2 Beta might also fix)
   
2. Disable unused network adapter(s) in Device Manager (except hidden devices)
3. Disable power management of wireless adapter: mark Maximum Performance in adapter properties (if available in driver itself) and in advanced settings for power profiles in Windows [More on the latter in Vista]
   
4. Also: in Properties for wireless adapter in Device Manager, on Power Management tab, uncheck 'Allow computer to turn off this device to save power'
   
5. Set DhcpConnForceBroadcastFlag registry key to 0 [More]
6. Reset networking with the following from the command line and reboot:

netsh int ip reset
netsh winsock reset

Fixing Outlook's Data Store

In Microsoft Office, there is an OST Integrity Check Tool (Outlook 2003 & Outlook 2007), but there is no easy shortcut. I recommend making a new shortcut for your Start Menu group like this: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\SCANOST.EXE"

UPDATE: If you're having frequent problems, a couple files in %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook may be corrupted: outcmd.dat & Outlook.nk2. While Outlook isn't running, rename those files.

Also, disable unused add-ons easily with OfficeIns.