bug.gd
Unfortunately, computers don’t always work perfectly, and I’m sure that you’ve seen your fair share of error
messages before. There are occasions when they actually make sense, but it seems like the messages are cryptic
most of the time, and while they indicate that something is wrong, they don’t always tell you what you need
to do to resolve the issue.
This resource provides a way for you to get some help with the errors that you’re experiencing. All you have
to do is paste in an error message to see if anyone else has experienced a similar problem, and if they have,
then you could find a solution.
DLL Unloader
When you close a door, the door is closed. Makes sense. But when you close a program in Windows some of its
DLLs love to stick around. Some components just never know when to leave, eh? Kick 'em out of memory
immediately if you have better things to do with the space. This tweak should benefit those of you who run
different programs on a daily basis. Fire up REGEDIT.EXE and navigate to
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer" - create a new String
Value in the right pane and name it: "AlwaysUnloadDll" (sans quotes). Give this new string a value
of 1, close the Registry Editor, and reboot Windows. This will eliminate DLL caching; programs won't re-launch
as quickly as before, but it'll bring closure to every close. Perfect for low memory systems or programming
environments.
Fix MBR on hard drive
So how can you repair your damaged MBR? Here are the steps to follow:
1. First, restart your computer with the Windows XP setup disk in the CD drive. If you don’t have your
original disk, borrow one or download a ISO image from a torrent site.
2. When prompted, boot from the CD drive by pressing any key. If Windows loads automatically, you will
first have to enter the BIOS setup and change the order of the boot devices to start with the CD drive.
3. Once the setup loads, you will see the option to press R to repair a Windows installation.
4. Once the Recovery Console loads up, you will have to type in a number that corresponds to your
Windows installation. This is normally just 1. Press Enter and then type in the Administrator password.
5. Now at the prompt, type in fixmbr. Your damaged MBR will now be replaced with a new master boot record
and your computer should now be able to boot properly. Note that you may also want to run the fixboot
command to repair the boot sector with a new one.
Also, make sure you only use these commands on a system with one operating system installed. If you have
more than one operating system installed, fixmbr and fixboot could mess up everything.
Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications (WGA)
Simply remove and delete the crack or patch that has been applied in \Windows\System32 (LegitCheckControl.dll,
WgaLogon.dll, WgaTray.exe) or \Documents and Settings\All users\Application Data (sub-folders “Windows Genuine
Advantage” and “Office Genuine Advantage”)
Go to Windows (Microsoft) Updates or Microsoft Download Center to access Windows updates or download
applications that require validation. Install WGA Validation Tool ActiveX when prompted.
Add in the following to the Hosts file located in \Windows\System32\drivers\etc\ folder:
127.0.0.1 genuine.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 mpa.one.microsoft.com #for XP/2003
127.0.0.1 sls.microsoft.com #for Vista
Workaround to Disable and Remove OGA Office Not Genuine Notifications
Password remover
Windows XP offers users the ability to retain passwords so that the
authentication information required to login is automatically remembered
when the different sites or resources are accessed rather than the user having
to enter them each time.
Windows XP does not offer a very easy way to review or remove the saved
passwords though. If you follow the steps below though you can access a
graphical interface to add, remove or edit the saved passwords on a given
system.
1. Click Start and select Run
2. In the Open field type "rundll32.exe keymgr.dll, KRShowKeyMgr"
3. Once the Stored Usernames and Passwords interface opens you can select
any of the entries and select
Properties to view the existing information
4. To remove a saved password you can select one of the entries and select
Remove. A confirmation
screen will appear. Click on OK and the account will
be removed
5. You can add additional saved passwords as well by clicking on the Add
button and entering the
appropriate information
6. Repeat the steps above as needed to add, remove or edit saved passwords
7. When you are done using the interface click the Close button
Dr. Watson
A program error debugger that detects and diagnoses program errors and creates User.dmp and DrWtsn32.log files
to contain the diagnostic data. In Windows NT these files are stored in the %systemroot% folder. In Windows
2000, these files are stored in the %systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\DrWatson folder.
For Windows XP, these files are stored in the %systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\ All Users\ Application Data\
Microsoft\ Dr Watson folder. The DrWtsn32.log file is appended each time a program error occurs; the User.dmp
file is overwritten each time. To turn off the Dr Watson debugger, apply the following Windows NT / Windows
2000 / Windows XP registry hack:
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug
Name: Auto
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0 disable
Value: 1 enable
To re-enable Dr Watson, you can change Auto back to 1 or from the command line type drwtsn -i
Password Saving
When you change or reinstall protocols windows will sometimes default to disabling it's password saving.
Press Start-->Run-->and type in regedit then find the following key: HKEY_LOCAL-MACHINE\ Software\
Microsoft\ Windows\ Current Version\ Policies\ Network - Set the DisablePwdCashing value to 0x0000000 (0)
and then the system will remember your password. Then go back and enter your password, connect to your ISP,
(you must get a completed connection) and then disconnect from your ISP. The next time you connect your
password will be remembered.
Disabling the Windows startup password utility
There are a few ways to get around this; first, you'll need to open the Passwords icon sitting inside your
Control Panel. You'll see the "User Profiles" tab; flip to it and select the "All users of
this computer use the same preferences and desktop settings" option. Did that do the trick? Okay, if you
still have an active account, change its password. On the "Change Passwords" tab, click the
"Change Windows Password" button. Enter your old password and leave the fields for your new password
completely blank. If that STILL didn't do the trick (and you'll find out when you reboot), consider taking it
up a notch by removing the "PWL" file in your default Windows folder to start fresh; make a backup
copy for permanently erasing it. The PWL stores more than the Login account; if you can't remember your screen
saver password, this is the culprit. There's yet another way to rid yourself of that Login dialog. Right-click
on the Network Neighborhood icon and pull up its properties. For "Primary Network Logon," select
"Windows Logon." Reboot... and hope you don't see that sucker again.
An outstanding registry hack to avoid homepage hijacking in IE:
The bad news is that windows has a built in bit that allows outsiders (any site) to read, write, and edit
(in other words, to "hack") your Windows registry. This can cause many problems for you, such as
making your browser behave strangely, causing programs to hang up or not function, and launching programs you
don't want to run. The Windows program that allows the hacking is called REGWIZC.DLL (registry wizard control
module).
The good news is that you can disable it so that it does not allow scripts on web sites you visit to hack your
registry. Here is how to disable it:
1. Click on - taskbar/start menu/run
2. Copy and paste the following line into the run field:
regsvr32.exe -u c:\windows\system32\regwizc.dll
3. Click OK. You should get a popup message confirming the successful disabling of regwizc.dll.
It is also possible to re-enable regwizc.dll, if you should later decide to allow outsiders to get into your
registry. I can't think of any reason why you should, but this is how to do it:
1. Click on - taskbar/start menu/run
2. Copy and paste the following line into the run field:
regsvr32.exe -c c:\windows\system32\regwizc.dll
3. Click OK. You should get a popup message confirming the successful enabling of regwizc.dll. |
