To disconnect all mapped drives in windows, open a command prompt or from Start button -> Run type:
net use * /d
Press Y then Enter to confirm.
Archive for the ‘Desktop Support’ Category
I ran into a problem this morning where I couldn’t turn off an Out of office notification for one of my users. Here’s the error message received when trying to access OOO from the Tools Menu in Outlook :
The command is not available. See the program documentation about how to use this extension.
MS KB823472 solved the problem for me. Here is the cause and resolution from this article :
Cause
This behaviour may occur if the following key is present in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Resiliency
Resolution
Quit Outlook, rename the Resiliency registry key, and then restart Outlook. To do this, follow these steps.
1. Quit Outlook if it is running.
2. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and then click Task Manager.
3. On the Processes tab, verify that Outlook.exe does not appear in the list of processes. If it does, click Outlook.exe and then click End Process.
4. On the File menu, click Exit Task Manager.
5. Click Start, and then click Run.
6. In the Open box, type regedit and then click OK.
7. Locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook
8. Right-click the Resiliency subkey (if it exists), and then click Rename.
9. Type Resiliency.old, and then press ENTER.
10. Quit Registry Editor.
11. Start Outlook, and then click Out of Office Assistant on the Tools menu.
View the full MS KB for further information and ensure you backup the registry before attempting any modifications.
The basic configuration of the autorun.inf states the program to run when the CD is inserted in the drive and the icon to display when the disk is viewed by Windows Explorer or other directory listing software. The text-only file, which resides in the root directory of the CD, should follow this pattern:
[autorun]
open=myprogram.exe
icon=myicon.ico
The icon file should also reside in the root directory of the CD.
Variations
Often the program you want to run will not be located in the root directory of the CD. If that is the case you must include the path:
[autorun]
open=folder1\folder1A\myfile.exe
icon=myicon.ico
Sometimes you may need to pass an argument to the program to be auto played:
[autorun]
open=myprogram.exe /argument
icon=myicon.ico
Not a program
Sending customers, salespeople, investors, and employees presentations, PDF files, and HTML documents requires a slight variation to the basic autorun.inf file and the addition of a DOS batch file to the CD root directory. The autorun.inf file opens a batch file, which then opens the file using the default program designated for that file type. For example:
[autorun]
open=autorun.bat index.htm
icon=myicon.ico
And the autorun.bat file reads:
echo off
@start %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
@exit
There is a variation on this idea that takes advantage of the ShellExecute command:
[autorun]
ShellExecute=index.htm
icon=training.ico
A FTP URL syntax is in the form of :
ftp://user:password@host:port/path
so that some or all of the parts user:password@, :password, :port and /path may be excluded. The components obey the following rules:
user
a user name (user id) on the host
password
the password corresponding to the user name; note: if the user and password field in a URL contains character : or @ or /, the character must be encoded
host
the fully qualified domain name of a network host, or its IP address
port
the port number to connect to; it omitted, defaults to 21
path
path specification of the form
cwd1/cwd2/…/cwdN/name
(where any occurrence of / or ; within a cwdi or the name must be encoded) optionally followed by
;type=typecode
where typecode is one of the characters a, i
Effectively, ;type=a means “Ascii mode” (plain text mode) of transfer
whereas ;type=i means image (binary) mode.
If the ;type=typecode part of an FTP URL is omitted, the client program interpreting the URL must guess the appropriate mode to use. In general, the data content type of a file can only be guessed from the name, e.g., from the suffix of the name; the appropriate type code to be used for transfer of the file can then be deduced from the data content of the file.
User id and password
If an FTP URL contains user and password fields, they are used in the FTP USER and PASS commands after making the connection to the FTP server. Otherwise the conventions for “anonymous” FTP are used:
· the user name anonymous is supplied
· the Internet e-mail address of the end user is supplied as the password.
However, browsers often fail to conform to these requirements. Generally, they cannot have access to the user’s correct E-mail address. In practice, browsers may send addresses with invented user name parts like mozilla or IE30user. Such “addresses” are syntactically legal in the sense of passing some tests made by an FTP server (such as checking that there is an @ somewhere) but, being fancy nonexistent addresses, fail to serve the purpose for which FTP servers like to get E-mail addresses. (Such purposes may include statistics collection or informing users about errors detected in files which they have fetched.) In some cases, the address passed is a valid address but the address of a proxy or gateway, not the address of the user.
If the URL supplies user but no password and the FTP server requests a password, the program interpreting the FTP URL (usually, a Web browser) should request a password from the user. Typically this takes place in a dialog box in which the password will not be visible as you type it (i.e., no echoing). However, some browsers (e.g., old versions of IE) do not request password from the user; instead, the connection fails.
However, IE 7 (where processing of FTP URLs is rather peculiar in many ways), ignores the user and password parts if present. It initiates a dialogue where the user is prompted for them. Any user:password data seems to trigger this; the data is otherwise discarded but taken as a request to use non-anonymous FTP. This can be treated as added security, since passing passwords in URLs is risky, as URL specifications have always said.
- From Explorers folder options ensure that hidden files and folders are displayed, file extensions are not hidden and simple file sharing is disabled.
- Open up the properties for %systemroot%\Inf\Usbtror.inf (%systemroot% would normally be ‘C:\Windows’).
- Select the security tab and make sure that all options for all users are set to deny. This must include administrators and SYSTEM.
- Repeat the above for %systemroot%\Inf\Usbstor.pnf
- If USB storage devices have been used on this machine previously then open up the registry editor otherwise ignore steps 6 and 7.
- Browse to the registry location ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor’.
- Open up the registry key ‘Start’ and change the data value to ‘4′. Close the registry editor.
That’s it! If simple file sharing was enabled previously then don’t forget to re-enable it.
When your computer hardware appears to power up okay, but the Windows XP operating system won’t boot properly, you have to begin a troubleshooting expedition that includes getting into the operating system, determining the problem, and then fixing it. To help you get started on this expedition, here are some things you can do when Windows XP won’t boot.
Use a Windows startup disk
One of the first things you should reach for when troubleshooting a Windows XP boot problem is a Windows startup disk. This floppy disk can come in handy if the problem is being caused when either the startup record for the active partition or the files that the operating system uses to start Windows have become corrupted.
To create a Windows startup disk, insert a floppy disk into the drive of a similarly configured, working Windows XP system, launch My Computer, right-click the floppy disk icon, and select the Format command from the context menu. When you see the Format dialog box, leave all the default settings as they are and click the Start button. Once the format operation is complete, close the Format dialog box to return to My Computer, double-click the drive C icon to access the root directory, and copy the following three files to the floppy disk:
• Boot.ini
• NTLDR
• Ntdetect.com
After you create the Windows startup disk, insert it into the floppy drive on the afflicted system and press [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] to reboot the computer. When you boot from the Windows startup disk, the computer will bypass the active partition and boot files on the hard disk and attempt to start Windows XP normally.
Use Last Known Good Configuration
You can also try to boot the operating system with the Last Known Good Configuration feature. This feature will allow you to undo any changes that caused problems in the CurrentControlSet registry key, which defines hardware and driver settings. The Last Known Good Configuration feature replaces the contents of the CurrentControlSet registry key with a backup copy that was last used to successfully start up the operating system.
To use the Last Known Good Configuration feature, first restart the computer by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][Delete]. When you see the message Please select the operating system to start or hear the single beep, press [F8] to display the Windows Advanced Options menu. Select the Last Known Good Configuration item from the menu and press [Enter].
Keep in mind that you get only one shot with the Last Known Good Configuration feature. In other words, if it fails to revive your Windows XP on the first attempt, the backup copy is also corrupt.
Use System Restore
Another tool that might be helpful when Windows XP won’t boot is System Restore. System Restore runs in the background as a service and continually monitors system-critical components for changes. When it detects an impending change, System Restore immediately makes backup copies, called restore points, of these critical components before the change occurs. In addition, System Restore is configured by default to create restore points every 24 hours.
Use Recovery Console
When a Windows XP boot problem is severe, you’ll need to use a more drastic approach. The Windows XP CD is bootable and will provide you with access to a tool called Recovery Console.
To boot from the Windows XP CD, insert it into the CD-ROM drive on the problem system and press [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] to reboot the computer. Once the system begins booting from the CD, simply follow the prompts that will allow the loading of the basic files needed to run Setup. When you see the Welcome To Setup screen, press R to start the Recovery Console.
You’ll then see a Recovery Console menu. It displays the folder containing the operating system’s files and prompts you to choose the operating system you want to log on to. Just press the menu number on the keyboard, and you’ll be prompted to enter the Administrator’s password. You’ll then find yourself at the main Recovery Console prompt.
Fix a corrupt boot.ini
As the Windows XP operating system begins to load, the Ntldr program refers to the Boot.ini file to determine where the operating system files reside and which options to enable as the operating system continues to load. So if there’s a problem rooted in the Boot.ini file, it can render Windows XP incapable of booting correctly.
If you suspect that Windows XP won’t boot because Boot.ini has been corrupted, you can use the special Recovery Console version of the Bootcfg tool to fix it. Of course, you must first boot the system with the Windows XP CD and access the Recovery Console.
To use the Bootcfg tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type
Bootcfg /parameter
Where /parameter is one of the required parameters listed in the table below.
Parameter
Description
/Add
Scans the disk for all Windows installations and allows you to add any new ones to the Boot.ini file.
/Scan
Scans the disk for all Windows installations.
/List
Lists each entry in the Boot.ini file.
/Default
Sets the default operating system as the main boot entry.
/Rebuild
Completely re-creates the Boot.ini file. The user must confirm each step.
/Redirect
Allows the boot operation to be redirected to a specific port when using the Headless Administration feature. The Redirect parameter takes two parameters of its own:
[Port Baudrate ] | [UseBiosSettings].
/Disableredirect
Disables the redirection.
Fix a corrupt partition boot sector
The partition boot sector is a small section of the hard disk partition that contains information about the operating system’s file system (NTFS or FAT32), as well as a very small machine language program that is crucial in assisting the operating system as it loads.
If you suspect that Windows XP won’t boot because the partition boot sector has been corrupted, you can use a special Recovery Console tool called Fixboot to fix it. Start by booting the system with the Windows XP CD and accessing the Recovery Console.
To use the Fixboot tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type
Fixboot [drive]:
Where [drive] is the letter of the drive to which you want to write a new partition boot sector.
Fix a corrupt master boot record
The master boot record occupies the first sector on the hard disk and is responsible for initiating the Windows boot procedure. The master boot record contains the partition table for the disk as well as a small program called the master boot code, which is responsible for locating the active, or bootable, partition, in the partition table. Once this occurs, the partition boot sector takes over and begins loading Windows. If the master boot record is corrupt, the partition boot sector can’t do its job and Windows won’t boot.
If you suspect Windows XP won’t boot because the master boot record has been corrupted, you can use the Recovery Console tool Fixmbr to fix it. First, boot the system with the Windows XP CD and access the Recovery Console.
To use the Fixmbr tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type
Fixmbr [device_name]
Where [device_name] is the device pathname of the drive to which you want to write a new master boot record. For example, the device pathname format for a standard bootable drive C configuration would look like this:
\Device\HardDisk0
Disable automatic restart
When Windows XP encounters a fatal error, the default setting for handling such an error is to automatically reboot the system. If the error occurs while Windows XP is booting, the operating system will become stuck in a reboot cycle—rebooting over and over instead of starting up normally. In that case, you’ll need to disable the option for automatically restarting on system failure.
When Windows XP begins to boot up and you see the message Please select the operating system to start or hear the single beep, press [F8] to display the Windows Advanced Options Menu. Then, select the Disable The Automatic Restart On System Failure item and press [Enter]. Now, Windows XP will hang up when it encounters the error and with any luck, it will display a stop message you can use to diagnose the problem.
Restore from a backup
If you can’t seem to repair a Windows XP system that won’t boot and you have a recent backup, you can restore the system from the backup media. The method you use to restore the system will depend on what backup utility you used, so you’ll need to follow the utility’s instructions on how to perform a restore operation.
Perform an in-place upgrade
If you can’t repair a Windows XP system that won’t boot and you don’t have a recent backup, you can perform an in-place upgrade. Doing so reinstalls the operating system into the same folder, just as if you were upgrading from one version of Windows to another. An in-place upgrade will usually solve most, if not all, Windows boot problems.
Performing a Windows XP in-place upgrade is pretty straightforward. To begin, insert the Windows XP CD into the drive, restart your system, and boot from the CD. Once the initial preparation is complete, you’ll see the Windows XP Setup screen (shown earlier in Figure A). Press [Enter] to launch the Windows XP Setup procedure. In a moment, you’ll see the License Agreement page and will need to press [F8] to acknowledge that you agree. Setup will then search the hard disk looking for a previous installation of Windows XP. When it finds the previous installation, you’ll see a second Windows XP Setup screen.
This screen will prompt you to press R to repair the selected installation or to press [Esc] to install a fresh copy of Windows XP. In this case, initiating a repair operation is synonymous with performing an in-place upgrade, so you’ll need to press R. When you do so, Setup will examine the disk drives in the system. It will then begin performing the in-place upgrade.
Keep in mind that after you perform an in-place upgrade or repair installation, you must reinstall all updates to Windows.
Found this useful article from Jim Aspinwall.
To perform this hack you will need:
• A #1 or #2 Phillips-head screwdriver, or (less likely) a T-15 TORX driver or a 1/4″ hex nutdriver, to open the case
• Needle-nosed pliers if you are working with jumpers
• A small flashlight or headlamp
With tools at hand, perform the following steps:
1. Turn the PC off (this means a total shutdown, not merely standby or hibernate mode) and disconnect the AC power cord.
2. Remove the cover from your system (this step may require tools, undoing a thumbscrew, or flipping a latch or two).
3. Refer to the user manual for the motherboard to find out how to “reset CMOS” memory. You may also find a label for specific jumper or switch settings marked on the system board.
4. Change the switch setting or jumper position to a specific position or remove the jumper entirely as prescribed in the manual to clear or reset the CMOS memory.
5. Wait 20–30 seconds for the memory to clear out from lack of power.
6. After 20–30 seconds put the switch or jumper the way it was before for normal use.
7. Reconnect the power cord and start up the system to see if the settings have changed to defaults.
8. Shut the PC down, disconnect the power cord, replace the cover, reconnect the power, and power up the PC.
9. Enter the BIOS setup program to configure the system as needed. This may include setting the date and time, selecting disk drive parameters and selecting which devices the system uses to boot up with first.
If your system does not have a “reset CMOS” jumper or switch , the only option is to locate and remove the coin-style battery cell (or on some very old PCs, the battery pack), that provides the power to the CMOS memory.
Follow Steps 1 and 2 above, locate the battery, and remove it.
Leave the battery out of the system for 20–30 seconds, replace it, and start up the system.
The CMOS memory in some systems may retain settings longer than others.
If the CMOS memory does not clear and you’re still stuck, you may need to leave the battery out for several hours before reinstalling it. Once the system is able to perform P.O.S.T. and to start booting up the system, you will need to get into the Setup program for the BIOS and make a few basic adjustments, such as:
• Setting the date and time
• Selecting auto-detect or manually setting specific parameters for IDE hard drives
/A open file as ansi
/W open file as unicode
/P print filename
/PT
1. Open the protected document in word.
2. From the File Menu choose Save - XML Document.
3. Open XML document in a text editor eg Notepad.exe.
4. Search for the string “unprotectPassword” - If protected you will find : “w:unprotectPassword=”xxxxxxxx” - XXXXXXXX = a hex string - eg F2 2F C1 52
5. Change hex string to all zeros.
6. Close XML document and save.
7. Re-open the file & from Tools Menu select Unprotect - no p/w will be needed.
8. Save and close and rename to *.doc.
/A open file as ansi
/W open file as unicode
/P print filename