Tag Archives: Hardware

Report this problem to Microsoft.
If you are experiencing freezing in Final Fantasy XIII, report it to Xbox support.

Toll free: (800) 4MY-XBOX or (800) 469-9269
9:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M. Eastern Time
Have your console serial number ready.
Be in front of your console for troubleshooting.

My Xbox 360 started freezing up last night after a few hours playing Final Fantasy XIII. Either the screen would suddenly go snowy/blank with a bluish-gray tinge, or it would freeze/lock up but keep displaying the last ‘frame’ of whatever was happening. This happened maybe three times, and each time I had to power off at the console, because while the first segment of the ring on the console and the controller stayed lit, the console stopped responding to the controller. There was no discernible difference in the CD ROM activity at the point of lock-up, or before or after it.

I figured that maybe the unit was overheating, and I was falling asleep anyway, so I called it a night.

Today, I turned it on, loaded my last saved game, and no more than turned my character around to face the other direction when it froze and gave me a blank screen.

Because the unit had been on for less than 4 minutes, it seemed that overheating was pretty unlikely. I started to Google around to see if this was affecting other Final Fantasy owners, but didn’t find much. My game is freezing during Chapter 3: Branded, at Lake Bresha – The Waters Stilled. Each time I turn toward a group of Cie’th, it freezes. If I just sit at the spawn point and watch the fireflies for awhile, I don’t seem to have any problems.

Microsoft’s support page for Screen freezes when you use your Xbox 360 console has 7 steps for troubleshooting this sort of issue. I’ve gone through each one.

I checked the DVD and it’s pristine – it has been handled exactly once, when I removed it from the case and carefully put it into the drive.

I tried another game (Lego Star Wars) and played it for about half an hour with no problems. I’ve messed around in the Dashboard menus for about 5 minutes with no issues.

I haven’t been connected to Xbox Live since I bought the game. It’s not even connected to my router.

I set the console upright instead of on its side, well away from anything that might be blocking airflow and still crashed.

I cleared the system cache, tried again and locked up.

I made it back to the save point, saved the game to a memory card, and then crashed.

I loaded the game from the new save on the memory card and crashed.

I removed the hard drive, loaded the game from the memory card save, and played for about 2 minutes before crashing again.

I loaded the game from an earlier save point and it crashed within a minute at a point that I played through fine the night before.

At this point, I’m out of ideas. It’s gotta be the game making the Xbox do something that it can’t handle, or a defect with the disk that is not due to mistreatment. My Xbox was actually one I got in exchange from Microsoft when I shipped back a unit suffering from the RRoD. Its date of manufacture is 2006-12-16, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Update: 13 March 2010

I called Xbox support last night and asked if anyone had reported freezing in Final Fantasy, and the guy said I was the first. He suspected the disc, and suggested I return the game or try the disc in a different Xbox. He was pretty surprised to hear that the freezing occurred while the hard drive was disconnected. I asked if they still did replacements like in the RRoD days, and he avoided answering, pointing out that the problem seems to be isolated to the one game.

In a last ditch effort, I decided to install the game to the hard drive and run it from there. It didn’t make any difference – the lockups continued to happen within a minute or two of loading a saved game.

I also figured I’d get on Live and see if there were any patches or updates to download, but none are available so far.

I air dusted the Xbox and the power supply brick, too.

My feeling is that it’s a GPU issue. The last time it froze, instead of blank/snow or a frozen frame, I got a series of blue vertical lines.

If the problems continue today, I’m going to:
a) exchange the game and try different discs,
b) put my hard drive on another unit and test, and
c) bug Xbox support again.

Update: 13 March 2010 (Part 2)

I exchanged the game, popped in the new disc, removed the hard drive, loaded from the save on the memory unit, and it froze. So, to rule out a corrupt save somewhere, I started a brand new game from the DVD with the hard drive still disconnected and it froze in the middle of the second battle. It is not a media issue, a hard drive issue, or a corrupted save issue.

The only thing potentially odd about my setup is that I’m running at 1280 x 720 widescreen resolution output to VGA via a Microsoft Xbox 360 HD AV Cable instead of the usual component output. I’m running Dashboard: 2.0.8955.0.

Update: 14 March 2010

I tried changing the resolution to 1024×768 and it still froze.

I called Microsoft for the second time.

The tech support girl on this call also was unaware of any other reports of Final Fantasy XIII freezing, and sent me through the same basic troubleshooting script, with the addition of disconnecting and reconnecting the cables (something I’d already really done) and verifying that I had enough free space on my hard drive to install any updates (check, 5.9 GBs free). She asked me to turn the console on and off, which I did. While I didn’t realize it until after the call was over, Final Fantasy had started up and then froze at the title screen. I pointed out that I had logged 4 hours of game time without any problems, and haven’t been able to play for more than 3 or 4 minutes at a time since the first freeze, that I was freezing in brand new, unsaved games, with and without the hard drive attached, while online and offline. At every opportunity, she countered with “If it plays other games, then it’s not broken.”

All she could offer was a recommendation to first verify that the game disc was fine by playing it in another console, then send mine in for a $99.99 out-of-warranty repair.

She asked me when I bought the Xbox, so I got to tell her that I didn’t buy it – Microsoft sent it as a replacement to my RRoD’d unit. This makes me think they should offer a life-time replacement guarantee on their replacements, rather than a 1-year warranty.

After I got off the phone, I played two hours of BioShock without any problems.

Basically, the situation is this: I need to get my hands on another Xbox, prove to myself that the disc is fine, then decide whether to have my unit repaired or buy a new one.

Option 1 – Repair: I give them my 2006 Xenon Xbox and $99.99, wait for them to troubleshoot it and then ship me a replacement. This will most likely be a refurbished unit of unknown age (probably an Opus).

Option 2 – Replace: I keep my otherwise perfectly fine Xbox, go to Target and buy a brand new Jasper Arcade for $199.99, or roll the dice with a refurb from Gamestop for $159.99.

Ideally, Microsoft will come around and replace the unit for free, but if it won’t, I’d rather pay the extra $100 and get a second unit, a new power supply, and another controller.

Update: 15 March 2010

I submitted a support ticket to Square Enix at https://support.na.square-enix.com/ after 10 unsuccessful minutes trying to find a phone number.

I began to wonder if the problem was with my 64 MB memory unit, so I moved my profile from the memory unit to the hard drive, removed the memory unit, and put the second disk in. (It’s bad troubleshooting procedure to change two variables, I know.) I started up Disc 2 and tried to open the Settings menu and it froze with the blue vertical stripes. I guess this rules out the disc and the memory unit.

I air dusted the CD ROM drive again for good measure.

I did notice a good deal of heat buildup at the bottom of the console toward the back, right underneath the fans. I checked to make sure both were spinning, and they were. I see only a very little bit of dust on the fan blades and heat sink fins. But this puppy does pump out hot air like nobody’s business.

I played another 2 hours of BioShock tonight, and about 1.5 hours in, the game hiccupped a few times – freezing momentarily, for maybe half-a second or so, but then resuming. Eyebrow-raising, but not enough to convince me that the system was bad. But at the 2 hour mark, it completely froze. This wasn’t entirely unexpected, but I’m bummed none-the-less, because it was working fine for 2-hour (or longer) sessions of Modern Warfare 2 just a few weeks ago. Still, why would I be able to play one game for hours before having problems, but another game freezes before I even have a chance to load a save? And was FFXIII the straw that broke the camel’s back?

Update: 16 March 2010

Now I’m worried that the unit is really damaged, that even if a software patch comes out, it will be too late. What’s more, I don’t want to test the game in my nephew’s Xbox for fear of causing similar damage to his system.

I spent some time Googling today. There are lots people reporting this issue, and many of them have exchanged their discs. None of the posts that mention exchanging the game report that it resolved the issue. Of all the dozens of reports of problems, there are no known resolutions and no acknowledgement by Microsoft, Sony, or Square Enix that a problem exists. Hilariously, a number of people have posted that their calls to various tech support numbers have all been ‘the first they’ve heard of this’. Another surprisingly common observation is that while the problems were first noticed in FFXIII, both Xbox and PS3 consoles quickly began exhibiting problems in other games. Most of the problems occur on older, out-of-warranty consoles, but some newer machines are affected.

On the other hand, I’ve found a few threads wherein people claim that mass breakdowns of consoles occur with each large release. There’s some substance to that, I suppose. Consoles probably wear out at a pretty consistent rate, but around the time of a release, you get lots of people playing a single game and if a console happens to fail at that point, the game is blamed. But I don’t think that this is what’s happening here. Too many people are noting that they’re not playing FFXIII more than say BioShock 2 or Modern Warfare 2, which were other recent big releases. Their systems were operating normally until they started playing FFXIII, and in many cases continued to play other games normally. Less often, but still not uncommonly, once the problems begin, they happen in other games. I was in the former group (and may still be, with luck), and still feel that the game itself is problematic.

The game is also freezing on PS3s, maybe moreso than on the Xbox, and that community seems much more vocal about it. There’s a 7-page thread at http://boardsus.playstation.com/t5/Final-Fantasy-Series/Final-Fantasy-XIII-Freezing/m-p/45391106 and a 5-page thread at http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/Technical-Help/Final-Fantasy-XIII-problems/td-p/10379629 of people having problems, mostly with older systems. Here’s a video of it freezing, but more exist.

In an attempt to document the scope of the problem, I’ve put together a list of links:

Final Fantasy XIII freezes/locks up
http://forums.xbox.com/31685195/ShowPost.aspx

Final Fantasy XIII | Final Fantasy XIII Freezing Up
http://forums.xbox.com/31660983/ShowPost.aspx

Issues with GPU begin after playing FFXIII
http://forums.xbox.com/31681685/ShowPost.aspx

Final Fantasy XIII Crashing Consistently
http://forums.xbox.com/31660975/ShowPost.aspx

Final Fantasy XIII | Game Freezing
http://forums.xbox.com/31627724/ShowPost.aspx

Final Fantasy XIII | Annoying Freeze Issue?
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?p=2890734

Xbox 360 | Final Fantasy XIII | freezing issues
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=950899&topic=53897064

PS3 | Final Fantasy XIII | Warning !! PS3 old fat 40g version , Game freeze!
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=928790&topic=53841505

Update: 17 March 2010

I played another 2.5 hours of Bioshock without any issues at all. My fear that FFXIII’s freezing did some lasting harm to the Xbox may be unfounded.

It’s heartening to see that the problem is getting some attention from sites like Kotaku and GamesRadar. Many of the comments to those stories are from people who aren’t experiencing the crashing. While only a small percentage of FFXIII owners are getting the freezing, it’s still quite a real and annoying problem.

Update: 17 March 2010 (Part 2)

Square Enix emailed me this:

Dear Customer,

Regarding your request for technical support. Please find your answer below.

We hope this letter answers your questions.

We apologize for the problems you are having with your SQUARE ENIX Xbox 360 game stalling. Here are some things I would recommend to clear up the problem:

*Be sure to check if there are any scratches or damage to the disc which could cause the laser to have a problem reading it.

* If you’re experiencing problems in some other area of the game, or it is inconsistent to WHERE the game is freezing, it might be something within the system. You may want to try using a cleaner for your system, which can generally be purchased at any video game retailer.

* If you are playing with your Xbox 360 laying flat, you may want to try placing it on its side and playing with it vertically.

* If none of those tips work, try the game in another Xbox 360 at that point to see if it does the same thing. Video game retailers usually have systems for demonstration purposes, and they are usually cooperative when this type of request is made.

*We do highly recommend to install this game on your HDD (which the new Xbox Dashboard update will allow). Doing so here in the office did assist in a smooth gameplay with no problems of frame-rate or graphic/loading problems.

*If you have already installed the game, please now try to uninstall the game and try playing. Another suggestion to correct this may even be to change the resolution of your display. This can be done within the Xbox 360’s display settings under “My Xbox”.

If the problem persists after that, then you may have a defective or damaged disc. Contact our customer support at http://support.na.square-enix.com and if your game is still within the 90-day warranty period you can obtain a replacement.

We hope this information has been of assistance.

Thank you for contacting the SQUARE ENIX Support Center.

I may pursue the replacement discs, but I really doubt that it will make a difference. I’ll confirm that the discs are fine on another machine this weekend. With the exception of cleaning my DVD drive with a lens cleaner, I’ve exhausted their suggestions.

This state of being not-quite-broken is pretty frustrating, and it reminds me of Yossarian’s jaundice in Catch-22.

Yossarian was in the hospital with a pain in his liver that fell just short of being jaundice. If it became jaundice they could treat it. If it didn’t become jaundice and went away they could discharge him. But this just being short of jaundice all the time confused them.

If my Xbox would just completely fail, I would replace it and be happy. But because the problem is with just one game, I keep waiting for a logical explanation and a fix.

If a representative from Microsoft or Square Enix would like my system and discs for troubleshooting, just ask.

Update: 20 March 2010

Here are a few more threads:

Loading/Freezing issue
http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11664

This game and freezing up!
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?p=2900889

Final Fantasy XIII Freeze issues
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=27230003

Per the email from Square Enix, I uninstalled the game from the hard drive. When I tried to launch it from the disc, I got an unreadable disc error. I removed the DVD and cleaned it, but no joy.

My DVD drive is shot. When the tray closes, it makes two thumping noises and then a little whir. The disc never spins up. This affects all discs.

I rather doubt that FFXIII is to blame for this hardware failure. I acknowledge that systems wear out with use and it could be simply coincidence that my system failed after I bought FFXIII. I’m still looking for an explanation as to why the game played normally for a few hours before freezing the first time, then failed dozens of times within a few minutes of starting up, while other games continued to play for hours.

Certainly, some of the PS3 owners believe that the game is burning out their lasers, but the PS3 game is on dual-layer Blu-ray while the Xbox game is on standard DVD, so it doesn’t seem likely to me that the Xbox DVD drive is working harder to play this game than any other.

I tested the Disc 1 and my most recent save on a different console and everything played perfectly.

I’m left to wonder how much longer my system would have kept going if I hadn’t bought FFXIII. Would it have still failed on the next game purchase?

In the next few weeks, I’m going to buy an Arcade, but my lasting impression of this is that FFXIII is going to end up costing me over $260.

Update: 1 April 2010

I bought an Arcade back on March 21st, and it’s been playing FFXIII from the hard drive without any problems since. It seems that the brief flurry of attention given to the problems associated with FFXIII has died down, too.

The choice of an Arcade instead of something with a HD seems pretty savvy in light of the news that USB memory support for the Xbox 360 is coming on April 6th. So I’ve gone ahead and ordered a 16 GB stick that should look pretty slick.

I was handed what appeared to be a truly bricked iPod touch 2G the other day. The screen remained blank and the device would not power on with any combination of buttons. Most of the troubleshooting steps I could find online assumed that the device was able to display something – a low battery or an Apple logo. The general consensus was that most iPods displaying some sort of boot problem could be fixed by holding down the Sleep/Wake key and the Home button, as described on the iPod touch: Basic Troubleshooting page. I tried all of the recommended steps, but still the device did nothing – it showed zero signs of life. I couldn’t be sure it was charging while connected to my computer, or that the battery was still good. The one positive thing was that the headphone-jack Liquid Contact Indicator was not activated, although I couldn’t rule out some sort of physical damage.

Connecting it to a Windows computer caused a “USB Device Not Recognized” balloon to pop up. A look in Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) showed an “Unknown Device” in the Universal Serial Bus controllers.

While it was connected to the computer, I was able to invoke the “USB Device Not Recognized” balloon by holding the Sleep and Home buttons down for a few seconds, which didn’t give me much cause for hope, other than those buttons seemed to be working. This is as much life as the device exhibited.

Holding down the Sleep/Wake and/or Home buttons and then connecting the USB cable did nothing new.

I read somewhere that the “Apple Mobile Device Service” needs to be running for the connection to be established, so I opened the Services snap-in (services.msc) and started the “Apple Mobile Device Service”. I reconnected the device, but no joy.

More reading turned up that the iPod should show up in Device Manager as “Apple Mobile Device USB Driver” in the Universal Serial Bus controllers, so I also manually updated the Unknown Device to use the Apple Mobile Device USB driver, following the instructions at iPhone or iPod is not recognized properly by computer when USB drivers are not installed properly or are out of date.

This was only partially successful, as the Unknown Device was now labeled Apple Mobile Device USB Driver, but with an exclamation point next to it, indicating that the device was not functioning. The driver wasn’t able to fully install because “the device failed to start”. As a side note, there are a few other interesting possible drivers that can be selected, and I tried them all, but none of them installed successfully.

Things were looking pretty bleak. But I had fixed a USB drive that was unusable, unformattable, and reporting 0 bytes capacity a few months ago by running a reformat/reimage application, so I felt I had one last resort.

Turning the corner

I finally found a thread describing a situation like mine that didn’t (a) peter out unresolved, (b) conclude with a fix using steps I’d already tried, or (c) end in a product return/visit to the Apple Store. One poster claimed that the jailbreak software redsn0w was able to restore the iPod even when Windows wouldn’t recognize it. I was already headed down the jailbreak route, and was considering Pwnage.

While I was downloading the 3.1.2 firmware, I started scanning the instructions at http://www.iphonedownloadblog.com/2009/06/20/tutorial-iphone-30-unlock-redsn0w/

One of the steps was to connect the iPod while it was turned off (which I couldn’t be sure of). Then hold down the Sleep/Wake button for 2 seconds. Without releasing the Sleep/Wake button, also hold down the Home button for 10 seconds. Then, without releasing the Home button, release the Sleep/Wake button but keep holding the Home button for 30 seconds.

Without much hope, I just jumped ahead and followed those instructions. For some reason, by the time I had counted to 10, Windows had detected a USB device, but this time it successfully installed the Apple Mobile Device USB Driver. I held down the Home button for about 40 seconds and then released it, but nothing else happened.

Another look in Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) showed an “Apple Mobile Device USB Driver” in the Universal Serial Bus controllers, but this time without an exclamation point. This was progress.

As the firmware was still downloading, I walked away for about 30 minutes, and when I came back, an iTunes window had popped up (though I can’t remember if iTunes was already running at the time):

iTunes
iTunes has detected an iPod in recovery mode. You must restore this iPod before it can be used with iTunes.
[OK]

Bingo! iTunes was now displaying ‘iPod’ under Devices on the left side. In the Summary tab, it showed an iPod touch with Capacity: n/a, Software Version: n/a, and Serial Number: n/a. Under Version, it read:

Your iPod software is up to date. iTunes will automatically check for an update again on 2/19/2010.
If you are experiencing problems with your iPod, you can restore its original settings by clicking Restore.

So I did.

I agreed to all of the legalese and the software update began. About 20 minutes later, the iPod’s screen lit up and an iPod window opened on the computer, which read “Preparing iPod for restore…”. The iPod then displayed the Apple logo. A few more device driver balloons appeared.

A few minutes later, and I was left with a fully functional and factory-default iPod touch 2G.

Epilogue

With new-found confidence in my ability to resurrect an apparently hopelessly broken iPod, I checked eBay for other likely candidates, but found that most of the broken iPods for sale have had their liquid submersion indicators tripped. Even these have a number of bids, and the ones that seem to be in better condition aren’t that much cheaper than working ones.

A repository of troubleshooting responses, answers and explanations for over 75 common Windows XP and Office 2007 Help Desk calls.

Windows XP

How to turn off the balloon notifications when jobs are sent to an AD printer

Open the Printers and Faxes control panel (Start button | Printers and Faxes).

Choose File | Server Properties, Advanced tab. Clear the checkmark next to “Show informational notifications for network printers”. OK.

How to change the screen resolution

To change the screen resolution, right click anywhere on the desktop and select Properties.
In the Display Properties window, click on the Settings tab.
Move the Screen Resolution slider to the desired resolution (1024 by 768 pixels is common).
Click Apply to test the changes.

If the new resolution is acceptable, click Yes in the new Monitor Settings window to save the settings.
Click OK to exit.

How to increase the font size within a specific application

The font size can be controlled in three different places, and different applications react differently to changes to these settings.

Font size: Display Properties -> Appearance tab. In the “Font size” menu, choose “Large Fonts”. Click OK.
Message box: Display Properties -> Appearance tab -> Advanced button. Select Message Box from the Item menu, increase the font size from 8 (default) to 11 or higher. Click OK, then click Apply.
DPI: Display Properties -> Settings tab -> Advanced button. Under the General tab, choose an option from the DPI setting menu. Click Yes when asked to skip file copying; click No when asked to restart. Display Properties -> Appearance tab -> Effects button. Check the box next to Use large icons, click OK, OK. Right-click the desktop and deselect Align to Grid. Right-click the desktop and select Align to Grid. Display Properties -> Appearance tab -> Effects button. Remove the check next to Use large icons, click OK, OK.

GroupWise folder list and message list fonts are controlled by Message box and/or DPI. These settings also appear to affect the size of the message body, but to an as yet unknown degree.

DM Explorer folders list and document list font are controlled by Font size and DPI. These settings do not affect the size of fonts in the Document Profile window. Message box has no effect on any DM window.

How to add an IP printer

Open a command prompt and perform an nslookup on the printer name using hypens, not underscores. Ex.: nslookup 22-southeast-a
If the nslookup returns an IP address, the printer can be installed.

Click on Start | Printers and Faxes, then click Add Printer.

The Add Printer Wizard will open. Click Next.
Select the radio button next to “Local printer attached to this computer”.
Uncheck the box next to “Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play printer”. Click Next.
Select the radio button next to “Create a new port” and choose “Standard TCP/IP Port”. Click Next and then Next again.

The Add Standard TCP/IP Printer Port Wizard will open.
Enter the IP address from the nslookup into the “Printer Name or IP Address” field. The Port Name will autofill. Click Next.
Click Finish.

The Add Printer Wizard will open.
Locate the printer driver and install it.

To add a second printer driver to the same physical printer, repeat the process, but make a change to the Port Name.

To set that printer to print a separator page at the beginning of each print job, open the printer’s properties, click the Advanced tab, click the Separator Page button, click the Browse button, click on pcl.sep and then click Open. (The pcl.sep file is located at C:\WINDOWS\system32\pcl.sep) Click OK, click OK.

More info on the escape codes/control characters available for use in a separator page: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/102712

User logs in with a TEMP profile

There are a few reasons that roaming profile users log in to a TEMP profile. The most common reason is that a path to a file is too long to be copied from the Windows NT 5.1 Workstation Profile folder to the workstation.

Review the events in the Event Viewer’s Application log for something that looks like:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Userenv
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1509
Date:  2/23/2011
Time:  9:29:50 AM
User:  XP2UA0211G0Z2K7\username
Computer: XP2UA0211G0Z2K7
Description:
Windows cannot copy file \\NETWORK\PATH\USERS\username\Windows NT 5.1 Workstation Profile\Application Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\cache\6.0\45\3b01eb2d-38a6579e to location C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\cache\6.0\45\3b01eb2d-38a6579e. Possible causes of this error include network problems or insufficient security rights. If this problem persists, contact your network administrator. 
 
 DETAIL - The system cannot find the file specified. 
 
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

To fix this problem, delete the file from the workstation and the network profile folder (if it exists), then reboot. Sometimes, the file will only exist on the workstation, which makes the description a bit confusing or misleading.

Worth noting is that the event log only shows the path to the first file that prevents the profile from copying. If another file exists, you won’t know about it until you reboot.

How to identify file types that Windows doesn’t recognize

OpenWith.org and FileInfo.com provide information about many file extensions and links to free programs that can open and create each type of file.

How to stop Windows from grouping similar taskbar buttons

All open windows are represented by taskbar buttons. If you have several windows open (for example, if you open more than one file in a single program or if you open several instances of a program such as a web browser), Windows automatically groups open windows from the same program into a single taskbar button.

If you want to stop Windows from automatically grouping similar buttons when no more room exists on the taskbar to display them individually, you can either turn off the grouping feature, increase the height of the taskbar, or do both.

To stop Windows XP from grouping the buttons, right click the Start button, choose Properties, and under the Taskbar tab, remove the checkmark next to “Group similar taskbar buttons”.

To increase the height of the taskbar, unlock it by right-clicking any empty space and clearing the checkmark next to “Lock the Taskbar”. Move the cursor to the top of the taskbar so that it changes to a double-headed arrow, then click and drag upward. Relock the taskbar to prevent it from being moved inadvertently.

Windows XP desktop icons have a thick border

Certain Windows XP desktop icons will have a thick dark border, like a badly rendered drop shadow.

This can usually be fixed by turning off the “Lock Web Items on Desktop” option. Right-click on an empty space on the desktop and hover over Arrange Icons By, then click the “Lock Web Items on Desktop” option to remove the checkmark.

If this doesn’t remove the border, check for a ForceActiveDesktopOn value under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. Remove this key, if it exists (or change the data to 0). To force Windows to never use the Active Desktop, you can create a NoActiveDesktop Dword value with a data of 0.

Word 2007

How to re-enable a ‘hard-disabled’ add-in

Click the Office Button, then click Word Options (Alt+F, I).
Click the Add-Ins tab and scroll to the bottom of the Add-ins list. Note the name of the disabled add-in.
Select Disabled Items from the Manage menu and click Go.
Click the item you wish to re-enable, and click Enable. Click Close.

How to reload a ‘soft-disabled’ add-in

Click the Office Button, then click Word Options (Alt+F, I).
Select COM Add-ins from the Manage menu and click Go.
Place a check in the box next to each add-in you wish to reload and then click OK.

In most cases, the functionality should be available immediately, but closing and reopening Word is recommended.

How to accept Track Changes

Click the Review tab, and in the Changes group, click Accept | Accept All Changes in Document.

How to turn off Track Changes notification

Click on the Office Button, then click Word Options (Alt+F, I)
Click on the Trust Center along the left pane
Click on the Trust Center Settings button
Click on Privacy Options along the left pane
Under the “Document specific settings” area, uncheck the first option, “Warn before printing, saving or sending a file that contains tracked changes or comments”.

Error message: Open Text eDOCS DM | A COM conversation could not be established.

Opening a Word document from DM Explorer causes the following error to appear in Word 2007:

Open Text eDOCS DM
Unable to open the document. A COM conversation could not be established.
[OK]

The DM Integration add-in is disabled. Re-enable it, then reload it, then close and reopen Word.

The document will remain checked out in DM. Proceed through the steps to check it back in.

Error message: Microsoft Office Word | Word experienced a serious problem with the ‘XXXX’ add-in.

Word 2007 will ask to disable add-ins that have prevented Word from opening normally in the past. The error message will contain the add-in name. For example, if Word attributes the problem to the DM COM add-in, the error message will be:

Microsoft Office Word
Word experienced a serious problem with the ‘dmintegration_net.connect’ add-in. If you have seen this message multiple times, you should disable this add-in and check to see if an update is available. Do you want to disable this add-in?
[Yes] [No]

Always choose No at this prompt, otherwise the functionality provided by the add-in will be missing.

How to start Word with no add-ins or templates loaded

To create a desktop shortcut that will start Word with no add-ins loaded and without the Normal template, right-click the desktop and choose New -> Shortcut.
Paste the following line into the location field:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\WINWORD.EXE" /a

Click Next and give the shortcut a name. Click Finish.
Open Word from that shortcut to bypass all add-ins and templates. This is for troubleshooting add-ins and templates, and should not be used to give a user access to ‘native’ Word. Word opened in this way is not native Word.

Note that opening Word with winword /a will remove from the QAT any buttons that come from COM add-ins.

Error message: Word cannot start the converter mswrd632.wpc.

Attempting to open a Word document (usually a .DOC) causes a pop up message:

Microsoft Office Word
Word cannot start the converter mswrd632.wpc.
[OK]

This is usually due to the file not being a true .DOC file, but instead being a .PDF or .DOCX with an incorrect extension.

The window may be supressed by removing a registry key:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Text Converters\Import\MSWord6.wpc]

Resource: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973904

Error message: Microsoft Visual Basic error 5941

Choosing a macro that applies a style to a paragraph causes the following error message:

Microsoft Visual Basic
Run-time error ‘5941’:
The requested member of the collection does not exist.
[Continue] [End] [Debug][Help]

This error occurs when the style called by the macro doesn’t exist in the document.

VP Fix: The Update Styles button will add the Vedder Price styles to the document so that the Indent styles can be applied.

Error message: HRESULT

Copying from a Word document, or saving from Word to DM, generates an HRESULT error.

The error message may be similar to:

Exception from HRESULT: 0x800A0C68

Confirm that the MacPac COM add-in is loaded. The LoadBehavior and Resiliency keys may both need to be changed.

Delete the DM keys:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Hummingbird\PowerDOCS\AppIntegration\Word\Options]
"EventReplaceDMSaveAs"=-
"EventReplaceDMSave"=-

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Hummingbird\PowerDOCS\AppIntegration\DM17341]

How to repeat a table row on each page

Put the cursor in a cell in the row to become a header row and under the VP Table Tools tab, Data group, click Repeat Header Rows. You can also right-click in the table cell and choose Table Properties -> Row tab, and place a checkmark next to “Repeat as header row at the top of each page”.

How to toggle table gridlines

Click in the table, and under the VP Table Tools context tab, Table group, click View Gridlines.

(In native Word, this is Table Tools | Layout | View Gridlines.)

How to sort tables in Word

Put the cursor anywhere in the table, then click the Table Tools context tab. Click the Sort button in the Data group to open the Sort dialog box. Pick which column to sort on and the desired order.

How to make Word display more information about your document

Word can display useful information about your document in the status bar at the bottom of the application window. Right-click an empty area of the status bar and choose what information you wish to display.

You can choose to display such things as Word Count, current Section, current Page, and Track Changes.

How to sum a column in a Word table

Place the cursor in the table cell that will hold the sum, then click the Table Tools context tab. Click the Formula button in the Data group to open the Formula dialog box.

In the Formula field, type: =SUM(ABOVE)

Click OK.

How to get the style area pane back

Click the Office Button, then click Word Options (Alt+F, I).
Click on Advanced, then scroll down to the Display area.
Enter a value in inches next to “Style area pane width in Draft and Outline views:” (1″ is a good starting place.)

Once the style area pane is visible, it can be dragged to resize.

How to convert straight quotes to curly quotes

Confirm that your Word options are set to use smart (curly) quotes:

Word Options -> Proofing -> AutoCorrect Options -> AutoFormat As You Type. Check the box next to “Straight quotes” with “smart quotes”.

Do a Find and Replace (Alt+H) on both single quotes and double quotes.

How to print a document and include the markup (comments and track changes)

Click the Office Button -> Print.
In the Print options window, under the “Print what” menu, select “Document showing markup”.
Click OK.

Buttons added to the QAT disappear when Word is closed and reopened

Quick Access Toolbar buttons created from custom controls disappear when Word is closed and reopened.

Custom controls are non-native Word commands that exist in startup templates other than Normal.dot, in COM add-ins, etc.

To find out whether a command is a custom control, click on the Office Button -> Word Options -> Customize. Locate the command you wish to add to the QAT and hover over it. A tooltip will pop up and display the location of the command. If the tooltip contains the text CustomControl, the button will disappear when Word is closed and reopened.

A command that will not stick:
Save As… [tooltip: Office Menu | Save As… (CustomControl)]

A command that will stick:
Save As [tooltip: Office Menu | Save As (FileSaveAs)]

The problem is due to a bug in a template (PwdMonikerConverter.dot in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\STARTUP) that is necessary for certain DM functionality.

The vendor (Open Text) is aware and is working on a fix.

As a workaround, you can set the read-only attribute of Word.qat to prevent the template from removing buttons. A description of two Word macros that switch the attribute can be found at //ardamis.com/2010/11/02/a-macro-for-toggling-the-read-only-attribute-of-word-qat/.

How to create a Paste Special as Unformatted Text button on the QAT

The following macro can be added to a template and a button added to the QAT.

Sub PasteSpecialAsUnformattedText()
'
' PasteSpecialAsUnformattedText Macro
'
'
     Selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseStart
     Selection.PasteSpecial DataType:=wdPasteText
End Sub

Source: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb241758(office.12).aspx

The keystroke to bring up the Paste Special menu is Alt+Ctrl+V.

How to apply Word’s ‘password to open’ protection to a document already in DM

Open the document you wish to password-protect.
Click the Office Button -> Save As.
Cancel out of the DM version Save As window.
In the native Word Save As window, click the Tools button in the lower left and choose General Options.
Enter a “Password to open”, click OK, and confirm the password.
Save the document to your hard drive.

Click the Office Button -> Save As -> Save As DM Version.
Choose the document and then the version you wish to replace. Click OK.
Choose to Replace Original. Click OK.

Close the document and reopen it from DM to confirm that you are prompted for a password. Enter the password and open the document to confirm the password is correct.

How to edit or remove the footnote separator

Open the Footnotes pane by clicking the Show Notes button under the References tab. Select Footnote Separator from the menu in the Footnotes pane. Highlight the separator and edit or delete it.

Word is displaying the native QAT

The location of the QAT has been moved from \Local Settings\ to \Application Data\Microsoft\Office\ so it will be included in the roaming profile. A registry change must be made to point Office to the correct location of the QAT.

VP Fix: The Local Settings Profix Fix zen will change this setting in the registry.

Background: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958062/

Documents print with a 3-inch top margin and the text extends off the bottom of the paper

The issue is that the print will start 3″ down the page on documents that are printed AFTER you print a document that contains Track Changes or Comments.

The fix is to enable Background Printing as follows:

1. Go to your Office Button in the upper left corner in Word
2. Select “Word Options” from the lower right corner
3. Select “Advanced”
4. Scroll to the Print section
5. Check the box that reads “Print in Background”
6. Click OK

Update: This problem has been addressed by Microsoft and a fix now exists.

How to insert an image of a handwritten signature into a Word document

I recommend creating a transparent .png file to use as a handwritten signature. Sign a blank piece of paper, scan it to PDF using a digital sender, and open the PDF in Adobe Photoshop. It should be possible to export the image as a .png with a transparent background.

Being transparent, the .png file can overlay elements in the document, such as signature lines, so it looks more like a real handwritten signature.

To insert the image into a Word document, click on the Insert tab, then click the Picture button. Cancel out of the DM Quick Retrieve window and choose Yes when asked if Word should open a document.

Browse to the image file and double-click it. The image will be inserted into the document.

In the document, click once on the image, then click on the Format context tab. Click on Text Wrapping and choose In Front of Text.

The image now exists outside of the flow of the paragraphs and can be dragged around in the document, even on top of signature lines.

How to update the fields in a form

The F9 key updates the fields in a form.

To add an Update button to the QAT: Click the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” button on the QAT and choose More Commands. Select All Commands from the “Choose commands from” menu, and add the “Update” button.

How to prevent fields in a Word document from updating automatically

**Testing required**

To lock a field, hit Ctrl+F11. To unlock it, hit Ctrl+Shift+F11.

Background: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211629

Locations of Word 2007 template startup folders and their typical contents

C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates
This location is empty

C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP (not used by Word?)
This location contains:
pdfDocs.dot * a copy (same timestamp and size, but different capitalization in the filename) of pdfDocs.dot that exists in C:\Program Files\The Sackett Group\Personal (this file is not loaded by Word)

C:\Program Files\The Sackett Group\Startup
This location contains:
MacPac Numbering.dotm
mp10.dotm * different timestamp and filesize than the mp10.dotm file in C:\Program Files\The Sackett Group\Personal (this file is loaded by Word?)
pdfDOCS.DOT * a copy (same timestamp and size, but different capitalization in the filename) of pdfDocs.dot that exists in %appdata%\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP (this file is loaded by Word)
VP.dotm

C:\Program Files\The Sackett Group\Personal
This location contains:
mp10.dotm * different timestamp and filesize than the mp10.dotm file in C:\Program Files\The Sackett Group\Startup (this file is not loaded by Word?)
Normal.dot
Normal.dotm

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\STARTUP
This location contains:
dmintegration.dotm
PwdMonikerConverter.dot

Excel 2007

How to copy just the data (not the formulas) to a new sheet while retaining the formatting

This is a two step process.
If you copy everything, then do a Paste Special and choose Data, you lose the formatting.
If you copy everything, then do a Paste Special and choose Formulas, you keep the formatting, but also get the formulas.
The solution is to first to copy the formulas and formating, then convert the formulas to data.
Select all, then copy and paste into the new sheet. Then select everything again and Paste Special -> Values.

How to sum or average a column of numbers

Click in the cell that you want to hold the result.
Click on the ‘fx’ button to the left of the formula field, then select the desired function from the menu. Click OK.
Either enter the cells to be calculated in the Function Arguments window, or just click and drag to select them from the sheet. Click OK.
The result will appear in the cell. Clicking on the cell shows the function used in the function bar.

How to add leading zeros to a column of zip codes

Select all of the cells in the column, right-click any cell and select Format Cells. Under the Number tab, choose Special, and a Type area will appear. Choose Zip Code as the number type and click OK.

How to print a spreadsheet on a single page wide

Formatting an Excel spreadsheet to print on one page in landscape is a multi-step process. It may be easier to remember the process if the necessary steps are added as buttons to the QAT.

The buttons we’ll want are:

Normal View
Page Break Preview
Clear Print Area
Set Print Area
Scale to Fit
Page Orientation
Print Preview

To modify the page breaks, first click on Page Break Preview. The existing page breaks will show up as blue lines. Solid lines indicate the perimeter of the document’s printable area. Dashed lines indicate where each page in the document will break.

If the solid blue line does not surround all of the data you wish to print, you can either drag the line into position or click Clear Print Area. You can also click and drag to select the cells you wish to print and then click Set Print Area.

To scale the spreadsheet to print on a single page wide (unlimited pages long), click on Scale to Fit, click in the Width field and choose 1 page. The percentage scale will adjust automatically.

Click on Page Orientation and choose Landscape.

Click on Print Preview to review the document before printing.

Print the document or close Print Preview.

Click on Normal View to return to your document.

How to freeze panes

Click on View, and in the Window group, click on the Freeze Panes menu button.

The top option acts like the Freeze Panes button in previous versions of Excel, whereby all the rows above the active cell and all the columns to the left of the active cell become frozen.

The other two options freeze just the top row or just the top column.

How to make the height of a row autofit to the contents of the cell

Move the cursor to the bottom of the box that contains the row’s number. It should change to a line with an up-ward and down-ward facing arrow. Double-click.

409.50 is the maximum height for Excel rows and cannot be changed. Increase the width of the column if you need to display more text.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HP051992911033.aspx

PowerPoint 2007

Access 2007

How to construct a search query when the phrase contains operators

Searching for a phrase that contains operators like IS, OR, or IN will cause an error. As an example, to search for the phrase object is currently in use elsewhere, use the following query:

Like "*" & "object is currently in use elsewhere" & "*"

MacPac 10

Opening Word or clicking on the MacPac10 tab produces an error

MacPac
Error: SessionException
Description: Could not initialize the session.

The details of the error message contain text referencing errors connecting to databases.

The fix is to close Word, delete the file:
C:\Program Files\The Sackett Group\MacPac\Data\mp10Sync.mdb

Open Regedit and navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\The Sackett Group\Deca\Sync\
and change the Executing value to 0

Reopen Word.

Copying text in Word causes an “Object variable or With block variable not set” error

Legal MacPac 10
The following unexpected error occurred:

Description: Object variable or With block variable not set
Source: MP10

[OK]

Closing and reopening Word seems to get around this problem, but it’s not a bad idea to check that the MacPac COM add-in is loaded. When pdfDOCS OCRs a PDF as a Word document and opens the output document in Word, it opens a second instance of Winword.exe. Although this second instance of Word alone isn’t enough to cause the problem, if Word is launched without MacPac COM integration, selecting text and hitting Ctrl+C will generate the error.

Inserting a trailer produces a “Could not assign saved data” error

The following error message is displayed when inserting a trailer into the footer:

MacPac
Could not assign saved data to the variable Include Draft. It is possible that the specific value is no longer valid (see the detailed error message below). The default value will be used.
Could not execute the action with the following Execution Index: 1.
[OK]

This error appears after the document is first saved to DM, after the user chooses to insert a trailer into the document’s footer at the automatic Insert/Remove Trailer/Doc ID prompt.

Choosing None at the Insert/Remove Trailer/Doc ID prompt avoids the cause of the error.

The issue may be with the document if MacPac is trying to insert a trailer into a protected form and cannot. Try closing and reopening the document, manually inserting/updating the trailer from the MacPac 10 tab, then resaving.

Inserting a trailer produces a “COMEventException” error

The following error message is displayed when inserting a trailer into the footer:

MacPac
Error: COMEventException
Description: Could not refresh the document’s Word tags collection
Would you like to view more detailed information about this error?
[Yes] [No]

The trailer then appears as, literally: Doc ID Include Date Include time

It is inserted outside of the normal trailer area.

The fix appears to be to delete the document’s MacPac schema and then transform.

To remove the schema:

Developer tab | Schema, remove the checkmark next to MacPac10 Document Schema, then accept the change. Transform the document, then address any problems with the document as a result of the transform (duplicated text, missing data, etc.).

Inserting a trailer produces an “Unhandled exception” error

The following error message is displayed when inserting a trailer into the footer:

Insert/Remove Trailer/Doc ID
Unhandled exception has occurred in a component in your application. If you click Continue, the application will ignore this error and attempt to continue.
Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
[Details] [Continue]

Clicking the Continue button cycles back to the error message. Hold the Esc key for a moment to clear the error message. The document should have been saved successfully, but it will not have a trailer. Insert the trailer manually and resave.

How up insert or update the MacPac trailer

Click on the MacPac 10 tab, then click on the Trailer/Doc ID button in the Document group. Choose a location for the trailer any any other options and click OK.

How to add users as Authors in MacPac

Click on the MacPac 10 tab, then click the People button.
In the Manage People window, click on Import People.
Highlight any user and then click the right-arrow to add them to the My People List.
Close the windows. The author will appear in the Authors list on newly created documents.

How to toggle MacPac field codes

The MacPac field codes’ visibility can be toggled with Ctrl+Shift+X.

In the case of a letter, you’ll notice that the last 4 ’empty’ paragraphs actually contain field codes. Deleting these paragraphs will cause problems later, when MacPac tries to read or write information from those codes and cannot.

If you attempt to delete the empty paragraph mark, MacPac may display a warning:

MacPac
You are deleting the paragraph mark between MacPac fields. This may cause unexpected results. Do you want to continue with this deletion?
[Yes] [No]

Choose No.

How to print envelopes with or without Word-generated addressee information.

The naming convention is a little counter-intuitive.

If you’re using an engraved envelope, you want to select the Plain Envelope segment from the MacPac task pane. (It’s the segment that’s ‘plain’ – not the envelope.)

If you’re using a plain (non-engraved) envelope, you want to select the Firm Envelope segment from the MacPac task pane.

DM

How to check-in documents in DM

Close Word, DM Explorer, and any other applications with DM integration.

Hit Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager and end the DM.exe process.

Reopen DM Explorer from the desktop shortcut, locate the document, then view the history of the document and confirm that no one else is working in it and that the last Edit entry is timestamped as of your last save. If the last Edit timestamp does not correspond to your most recent attempt to save the document, retrieve the local copy from C:\Shadow\temp.

If there is no doubt that you were the last editor of the document and that the network copy is current, right-click the document and choose Check-in.

Choosing Check-in merely tells the server to no longer consider the document to be checked-out. It does not perform a save or transfer your local copy to the server or sync the local and remote copies.

Microsoft .NET Framework error when saving to DM

Saving to DM (from Word or Adobe Reader) throws a Microsoft .NET Framework error:

Unhandled exception has occurred in a component in your application. If you click Continue, the application will ignore this error and attempt to continue.
Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
[Details] [Continue]

The normal Document Profile window fails to be built, and Word is not responsive.

It is possible to end the DM.exe process in Task Manager to close the error window and the Document Profile window. Dismiss the RPC Server warning window and save the document locally.

This seems to happen on our HP Core i5 workstations that use the Intel reference graphics driver [Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator HD], and to-date there have been no reoccurances of this problem after updating to the latest graphics driver [Intel(R) HD Graphics] from the HP support site.

Error message: System.IO.IOException

Opening Word 2007 causes the following error to appear:

Hummingbird DM
System.IO.IOException: The process cannot access the file ‘C:\logs\DM_DEBUG_APPINT_WORD_LOG.txt’ because it is being used by another process.
[OK]

Each time Word opens and the DM COM add-in is loaded, DM attempts to open and write to this log file. If a second instance of Word is opened, the message appears because that instance of Word cannot gain access to the log file.

The message window can be safely closed, but open Task Manager and end the multiple Winword.exe processes. Relaunch Word and, if necessary, choose not to disable any add-ins.

The error can also occur if the current user does not have local administrator rights (although I consider this to be a defect).

How to email just a redline attached to a DM document, without the clean or modified version

Open DM, locate the document, right-click it and select Mail.
In the “Document Mailing Options” window, choose “Select” in the “Versions” drop down menu. The window will expand.
(Note that the Versions tab is active and one of the document’s versions has a grey highlight.)
Click the Attachments tab and click the attachment you wish to mail.
Click on the Versions tab. You should see one of the versions is now highlighted with a blue background.
Ctrl+click the highlighted version to deselect it.
Click OK to create the email with just the attachment.

How to stop DM from intercepting the “Browse for file” functionality in some web sites (IE only)

When using Internet Explorer, DM may launch when you try to browse for a file, preventing you from browsing your local files. Firefox is not affected.

Open DM Explorer, then right-click the Hummingbird DM Interceptor icon (the DM icon with a lightning bolt) in the system tray and clear the check next to Internet Explorer to remove the integration. The integration will be re-enabled after a reboot or if the Interceptor.exe process is stopped and restarted.

How to save a document as a new version of an existing document

Click the Office button | Save As | Save As DM Version.
Locate the document to which a version should be added and click OK.
Select the latest version and click OK.
In the Save As window, choose New Version. Click OK.

How to set the default launch method (default application)

Click DM Explorer | Options | Defaults | [Application]. Check or uncheck the boxes, as needed. Clearing all boxes causes a ‘choose an application’ prompt to appear each time that filetype is opened.

GroupWise 7

GroupWise opens and displays a message that a newer version exists

There is new GroupWise software available, however, you cannot currently access the new software to update. Please contact your administrator.
Do you want to continue to receive this update message?

Click No to stop seeing this message.

If the message continues to occur each time GW is opened, increment the value of:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Novell\GroupWise\Client\5.0]
“NewSoftwareBump”=”1”

How to use the “Save to Hummingbird DM” button in GroupWise

Open the mail message and click the “Save to Hummingbird DM” button.
Uncheck the box next to the envelope.
Check the box next to “Save attachments separately”.
In the Attachments drop down menu, choose “Save using specific options”.
Click OK.

Check the box next to the attachments that you want to save and uncheck the “Mime” or “TEXT.htm” item, which is the mail message itself.
Click OK and complete the profile for each document.
Click Save.

You may need to hit F5 to refresh DM if the documents do not appear.

How do I edit the HTML signature using an external editor?

There is no way to directly edit the HTML code of the signature in GroupWise 7 or to paste source code into the WYSIWYG editor window, but you can still use an external editor (Dreamweaver, Notepad, etc.) to create the signature.

First, create the signature in the external editor and save it as an .html file. Open the file in a browser, so that the HTML is rendered and displays as it should in the email. Then select and copy the rendered HTML and paste it into the signature window in GroupWise.

(The Vedder Price blue is Pantone 8203 C, close to RGB 57,115,145.)

How to disable the splash screen in GroupWise Notify

Opening Notify sometimes causes the splash screen to stick. Ending the notify.exe process removes the splash screen. A more permanent fix is to not display the splash screen at all when Notify starts.

Edit the GroupWise Notify shortcut in the Startup folder to add a /bl switch to the Target path, e.g.: C:\Novell\GroupWise\notify.exe /bl

How to change the default font size for received HTML messages

In GroupWise 7.x, the default font for printed HTML emails (incoming) is controlled by the “Message Box” font in Windows. The Message Box font can by changed by going to Display Properties -> Appearance -> Advanced -> Item: Message Box. (Tahoma 8 is the default for XP, but Tahoma 10 is a better choice here.)

How to print an HTML email without the [User] – [Subject] header

There are many methods for printing emails. Below are some methods and the results.

Right-click an HTML email in a folder and select View, then right-click in the message body area and select Print.
Email prints without the [User] – [Subject] header.

Highlight an HTML email in a folder and click File -> Print.
Email prints with the [User] – [Subject] header.

Highlight an HTML email in a folder and click the Print toolbar button.
Email prints with the [User] – [Subject] header.

Open an HTML email and click File -> Print.
Email prints with the [User] – [Subject] header.

Open an HTML email and click the Print toolbar button.
Email prints with the [User] – [Subject] header.

Right-click an HTML email in a folder and select Print.
Email prints with the [User] – [Subject] header.

Open an HTML email, right-click in the message body and select Print.
Email prints without the [User] – [Subject] header (but also prints without the From, To, Date, Subject, and Attachments lines).

Right-click an HTML email in a folder and select View, then click File -> Print.
Email prints with the [User] – [Subject] header (but also prints the From, To, Date, Subject, and Attachments lines twice).

Right-click an HTML email in a folder and select View, then click the Print toolbar button.
Email prints with the [User] – [Subject] header (but also prints the From, To, Date, Subject, and Attachments lines twice).

How to print an HTML email received as an attachment without the [User] – [Subject] header

Open the containing email.
Right-click any attachment and select Print.
Highlight the Embedded Msg(s) that correspond to the attached email(s) you wish to print. (Use Ctrl+Click to select multiple, non-contiguous items.)
Click Print.

Where are file attachments saved?

C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Temp\XPgrpwise

Em-dashes and other non-ASCII characters are converted to asterisks

The fix is to prevent the GroupWise spell check feature from replacing typed text with special characters.

Open GroupWise and click New Mail.
Type anything in the body of the email, then click Spell Check.
(If prompted, click No at the Close Spell Checker prompt.)
Click Customize in the Writing Tools window, and select User Word Lists.
Select the “–” item in the “Word list contents” box and click Delete Entry.
Delete any other entries that may be causing issues (copyright mark, registered mark, etc).
Click Close twice.

How to monitor two GroupWise accounts at once

If you have proxy access to another user’s GroupWise account, you can have both accounts open simultaneously in different instances of GroupWise.

To do this, open GroupWise, then drag the Mailbox icon from your folder list to your desktop. This will create a shortcut named ‘Mailbox.GWF’. Run the shortcut and a second instance of GroupWise will open. Change the proxy in either instance to view both accounts simultaneously. (This works best if you have two monitors – one for each instance.)

Confusingly, your default mail account (the ‘From’ account used when another application creates a mail message) will be whichever GroupWise window last had focus.

How to stop the Select an Entry… window from opening

The Select an Entry… window appears when entering recipients into the To field on a new mail message for two reasons.

If the contact exists in multiple address books, the window will open. This is the desired behavior, in most cases.

If the contact does not exist in multiple address books, or does not exist in any address books, the Select an Entry window may appear and display the contents of the system address book. This is not desired behavior, and can be fixed by right-clicking the To field and clearing the checkmark next to Search Mode.

The setting is controlled by the following registry key:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Novell\Groupwise\Address Book - User Interface]
"Name Search Mode"="No"

This has also been resolved by reinstalling GroupWise (or updating to the latest version).

Emails composed in HTML are converted to plain text after being sent or saved to Work in Progress

If the default compose view is HTML and a new email is created and then either sent or saved as a draft (to Work in Progress or any other folder) before any text is entered in the message body, the email is converted to plain text.

Adding an HTML signature changes this behavior in the case of sent, but not saved, emails. If the email is composed and immediately sent, it is sent as HTML with the HTML signature. If the email is saved as a draft, opened and sent, it is still sent as plain text, and the HTML signature is converted to plain text.

The work around is to enter any text (even just an empty space) into the message body before the email is sent or saved as a draft. Entering text and deleting it also works.

How to resize the attachment pane in GroupWise 7

The bar above the attachment pane could be dragged in GroupWise 6.5, and appears to be an issue introduced in GroupWise 7.

If the default View is “Mail” under Environment | Views, the bar separating the body pane from the attachment pane cannot be dragged up or down to resize the attachment pane. Changing the message View to HTML allows the attachment bar to be dragged and the pane resized. However, using Mail (Simple) or HTML has undesired consequences, namely that the recipient of the email will a different message window.

The workaround is to leave the default View as “Mail” and temporarily change this setting on a per-message basis. Open a new mail window, right-click in the border around the message body and select “Change to…”. Choose HTML in the Views menu and click OK. Click and drag the bar as desired. Before sending the message, right-click the border and set the view back to Mail.

A ‘Find’ is not returning the expected results

A Find for sent mail items on either all or part of the friendly name or email address returns a partial result set, but does not return all of the expected results.

The work around is to search for a string that is common to both the friendly name and email address, wrapping the string in asterisks.

For example, to find all messages to “Joe Smith “, the common string is “smith”, so the search criteria entered into the TO/CC field would be: *smith*

HTML emails open with a blank message body

Certain HTML emails received from external sources display a blank message body when opened. Replying to or forwarding the message displays the body contents in the new mail window. Other mail clients are able to properly display the message body.

This seems to happen when the email is sent with a “Content-Type: multipart/related;” subtype.

More information: http://forums.novell.com/novell/novell-product-discussion-forums/groupwise/groupwise-7x/gw7-clients/98000-body-area-html-email-completely-blank.html

Received emails with attachments do not show the attachment window when opened

Certain emails received from external sources that contain attachments do not display the attachment window when opened. The email does not display the paperclip icon in the Mailbox; there is no indication that the email contains an attachment. Other mail clients are able to display the attachments.

The attachments are viewable in GroupWise by clicking File | Attachments | View, which opens the email in a new window with the attachments displayed at the top.

This seems to happen when the email is sent with a “Content-Type: multipart/related;” subtype.

Novell Support TID #10100263 seems to indicate that the problem is resolved in GroupWise 7 SP1, but there may have been a regression in a later update, as it continues to be a reported issue in GroupWise 7.0.3. The Support TID contains instructions on testing whether the subtype is at fault.

More information: http://www.novell.com/support/php/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=10100263&sliceId=&docTypeID=DT_TID_1_1&dialogID=1943723&stateId=0%200%201941569

CA RM (Filesurf)

Users are unable to access FileSurf through the Full Client and GroupWise Client.

Start -> Programs -> FileSurf -> FileSurf Client Configuration
In the top left of the dialog box, click the ‘Actions’ menu.
Make sure there is no check mark by the line ‘DCOM Security’. If there is, deselect it and click ‘Apply’ on the dialog box.

To test/confirm settings, press the ‘Test Connection’ button on the dialog box. You should get a message saying ‘Test Connection Succeeded’.

Error message when filing emails

Folder must be mailbox or personal folder to file messages.

The folder that contains the message is likely inside another folder, such as Work in Progress or Documents, that CA RM is not allowed to access. Move the folder into its proper location, then close and reopen GroupWise.

Firefox

Firefox fails to open with an error message

Close Firefox
Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system.

A look at the processes shows no firefox.exe process running. Restarting the system does not resolve the issue.

There is a profiles.ini file in
C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox

That file contains a line that points to a subfolder in
C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

The subfolder will be named something like fi1dzouf.default. If this *.default subfolder is missing or if the path is incorrect, the error is generated.

To resolve, delete the *.default subfolder (if it exists) and profiles.ini file from
C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox

This will reset Firefox to factory default.

(If the user has a roaming profile, it may be possible to retrieve a backup of the *.default folder and profiles.ini from the H: drive. Restoring these backed-up files will preserve any customizations and add-ins.)

Firefox displays a blank screen instead of a PDF file

Launch Adobe Reader/Acrobat, click Edit | Preferences, then choose Internet. Remove the check next to “Display PDF in browser”, click OK, close Reader. Reopen Reader and put the checkmark back.

If this does not resolve the problem, trying copying the nppdf32.dll file from “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins” to “%appdata%\Mozilla\Plugins”. The Plugins folder under %appdata%\Mozilla may need to be created manually.

Internet Explorer 7

How to clear the remembered form data in IE

Delete saved form data by clicking Tools | Internet Options | Delete | Delete forms… Choose Yes, then Close, then OK.

How to configure what IE autocompletes

What form data IE remembers and attempts to autocomplete can be configured by clicking Tools | Internet Options | Content tab. In the Autocomplete area, click Settings. Choose what to remember and then click OK.

How to delete your temporary internet files (Windows XP/IE7)

Open IE and click Tools, Internet Options. Under the General tab, in the Browsing history area, click on the Delete button. The Delete Browsing History window opens. From here, choose what to delete.

Users with roaming profiles will also need to clear the cookies that are backed up to the network when they log off. Navigate to the H: drive, open the folder named “Windows NT 5.1 Workstation Profile”, then open the Cookies folder. Hit Ctrl+A to select everything. Then hold the Ctrl key and click on the file named ‘index.dat’ to deslect it. Hit the Delete key. A moment will pass while the PC checks the cookies, then you will be prompted to confirm the deletion. Click OK.

A special case…

For some reason, the expected behavior of the Delete Browsing History function on my PC does not delete cookies. I’ve checked other PCs and found that the function works correctly to delete files, including cookies, from all locations. Below are the steps that I take to delete my cookies.

To delete the Temporary Internet Files saved to:
C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\

This location is used by IE7 to store temp files but not cookies.

Open IE and click Tools, Internet Options. Under the General tab, in the Browsing history area, click on the Delete button. The Delete Browsing History window opens. From here, choose what to delete.

Warning: The “Delete cookies” button does not actually delete the cookies.

To delete the Temporary Internet Files and Cookies saved to:
C:\Downloads\Temporary Internet Files

This location is used by IE7 to store temp files and cookies.

The steps above will delete temporary files from this location, but not cookies.

To clear the cookies (and any other temporary files), right-click the Start button and choose Explore. Navigate to C:\Downloads\Temporary Internet Files. Hit Ctrl+A to select everything. Hit the Delete key. This will delete the temp files but not the cookies. Click Yes when asked if you’re sure you want to delete the selected Cookies. Confirm that all of the files have been deleted.

Files deleted from this folder are also removed from C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\.

To delete the Cookies saved to:
C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Cookies

This location sometimes contains cookies, but on my PC, IE doesn’t seem to always use this location.

To clear the cookies, right-click the Start button and choose Explore. Turn on ‘Show hidden files and folders’ and turn off ‘Hide protected operating system files’ under Folder Options, View tab. Navigate to C:\Documents and settings\[username]\ and open the hidden Cookies folder. Hit Ctrl+A to select everything. Then hold the Ctrl key and click on the file named ‘index.dat’ to deslect it. Hit the Delete key. A moment will pass while the PC checks the cookies, then you will be prompted to confirm the deletion. Click OK.

What are the default Header and Footer codes and margins for IE7

Header:
&w&bPage &p of &P

Footer:
&u&b&d

Margins:
0.75 for all margins

Novell

Novell ZENworks

Solutions to common ZEN problems.

Problem: The ZEN icon in the system tray is missing.
Solution: Start the ZEN Notify Icon process by running ZenNotifyIcon.exe from C:\Program Files\Novell\ZENworks\bin\

Problem: Right-clicking the ZEN icon in the system tray throws an error: “The ZENworks Service does not appear to be running. Please restart the service and try your request again.”
Solution: Open the Task Manager and end the ZenNotifyIcon.exe process. Restart the process by running ZenNotifyIcon.exe from C:\Program Files\Novell\ZENworks\bin\

Problem: ZENworks Properties displays “Unavailable” for Management Zone, Server DNS, and Server Address, and Logged In As: Not Logged In.
Solution: Start the Novell ZENworks Agent Service, then right-click the blue Z icon and log in as the user. (ZENworks is not running, and the user is not logged in.)

Problem: ZENworks Properties displays the expected values for Management Zone, Server DNS, and Server Address, but Logged In As: Not Logged In.
Solution: Right-click the blue Z icon and log in as the user. (ZENworks is running, but the user is not logged in.)

Problem: The ZENworks Window (that normally displays the list of available ZENs) is empty.
Solution: Start the Novell ZENworks Agent Service, then right-click the blue Z icon and log in as the user. (ZENworks is not running, and the user is not logged in.)

Problem: The ZENworks Window (that normally displays the list of available ZENs) is missing most of the ZENs, but displays a partial list.
Solution: Right-click the blue Z icon and log in as the user. (ZENworks is running, but the user is not logged in.)

It is uncommon that the machine needs to be unregistered and then re-registered with ZEN in order to fix problems. Even more rare is the problem that requires the ZEN cache to be cleared. If the problem is not resolved by the above steps, it’s a good idea to check with the ZENworks administrator before clearing the cache.

It’s also a good idea to check the workstation object in the Novell ZENworks Control Center before and after unregistering the workstation, to make sure that the object has been removed, and that there aren’t multiple objects for a single workstation.

Adobe Reader 9

How to print comments in Adobe Reader

Click File | Print, and choose “Document and Markups” from the Comments and Forms menu in the Print dialog box.

How to print Sticky Notes in Reader

Sticky Notes do not print in Reader 9 by default. Reader’s default settings allow printing of some comments, but not Sticky Notes, by clicking File | Print, and choosing “Document and Markups” from the Comments and Forms menu in the Print dialog box.

Printing of Sticky Notes can be turned on in Acrobat Pro by clicking Edit | Preferences | Commenting and choosing to “Print Notes and Popups”, but there is no Commenting area in Reader’s preferences.

Sticky Notes printing in Reader can be turned on with a registry setting. Create the following key if it does not already exist, and be sure to use the appropriate Reader version. The example below is for Reader 9.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\9.0\Annots\cPrefs]
"bprintCommentPopups"=dword:00000001

How to print only the top 8.5 x 11 inches (letter size) of a 8.5 x 14 inch (legal size) PDF in Adobe Reader

Click File | Print, and under the Page Handling area, select Page Scaling: None, and uncheck Auto-Rotate and Center.

The preview should have the top portion of the document highlighted.

How to email PDFs from the Reader IE plugin

Right-click the Print or Save button in the Reader menu bar and place a check next to Email.

A new button (an envelope) will be added to the toolbar. Clicking the button will open a prompt asking you to choose how to email the document – as a link or as a file. Choose one and the new mail message will be created.

In Reader 9, this setting is saved to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\9.0\AVGeneral\cToolbars\cFile\cExternalButtons

Error message: “invalid plugin detected. Adobe Reader will quit”

The fix is to remove the problem plugin from C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\plug_ins. The “FulHigh.api” plugin seems to be a common culprit.

The “FulHigh.api” plugin is installed when a PDF is previewed in DM Explorer Extensions using the Viewer tab, when the PDF is located as a result of a full text search. (The exact specifics are still unclear.)

Winzip

Workshare

How to set the default save and email attachment file types

To set the default save file type:
Hit the F4 key to enter Workshare Professional Configuration. Choose Document Management and select Document Format. Change the value in the menu and click OK.

To set the default email attachment file type:
Hit the F4 key to enter Workshare Professional Configuration. Choose Administration, expand Email and select Default Email attachment format. Change the value in the menu and click OK.

Error: Workshare Professional was unable to perform the full comparison using the current settings.

Workshare Professional
Workshare Professional was unable to perform the full comparison using the current settings. Workshare Professional therefore performed the comparison using reduced settings.
Please refer to the Redline Options Summary (displayed at the beginning or end of the comparison) for details of which settings were disabled.

Check the last page of the redline for a table containing the redline options. The last row typically contains the message:

Nested tables that could not be compared are shown as whole original and modified

This is usually due to a problem in the footer tables in one or, more commonly, both documents. Open both documents and delete and remake the footer tables on the first page that displays the problem according to the redline. Save and recompare.

DTE

How to change the default settings for new time entries

Create a new default entry by clicking Insert New Entry, clearing all fields, checking the Default box, and clicking OK.

Cannot print from DTE

DTE prints only to the default printer. If DTE is open when the default printer is changed, it must be closed and reopened.

Pages print with incorrect margins

Replace the .INI files in C:\DTE with those in the DTE folder on the S: drive.

Hardware

How to update the firmware on an HP printer or digital sender

FTP the correct firmware update (an .RFU file) for that model printer or digital sender into the PORT folder.

After the file has been transfered, the machine will automatically update itself and then reboot. A message will be displayed on the printer that a software update is in progress. If the printer has an embedded Jetdirect card, its firmware will be updated as well. If it has an external Jetdirect card, the firmware for the card will have to be updated separately. The HP Download Manager can be used to update just the Jetdirect card.

The printer firmware can be located at:

http://www.hp.com/go/LJ4250_firmware

http://www.hp.com/go/LJ4350_firmware

http://www.hp.com/go/LJ4300_firmware

http://www.hp.com/go/LJP4015_firmware

The digital sender firmware can be located at:

http://www.hp.com/go/9250c_firmware

Configuring the manual feed tray

To configure an HP printer so that the manual feed tray (Tray 1) will pull any loaded paper without prompting the user to confirm the paper size, push the Checkmark button on the printer to enter the menus, then set the following options:

Paper Handling | Tray 1 Size = Any Size
Paper Handling | Tray 1 Type = Any Type
Configure Device | System Setup | Tray Behavior | Manually Feed Prompt = Unless Loaded
Configure Device | Printing | Manual Feed = Off

The same options are accessible via the web-based printer administration panel.

Click on the Settings tab | Configure Device.
Click on Paper Handling. Set Tray 1 Size to Any Size. Set Tray 1 Type to Any Type. Apply the changes.
Click on Configure Device | System Setup | Tray Behavior, set Manually Feed Prompt to Unless Loaded. Apply the changes.
Click on Configure Device | Printing, set Manual Feed to Off. Apply the changes.

Error messages displayed on the control panel of an HP printer

10.00.00 SUPPLIES MEMORY ERROR
or
10.10.00 SUPPLIES MEMORY ERROR

The printer is unable to read the electronic information (e-label) on the print cartridge so that the printer can keep track of the page count for the print cartridge.

Remove and reseat the toner cartridge. If the problem is not resolved, replace the toner cartridge.

How to toggle the hardware on the HP Elitebook notebook

The wireless and trackpad hardware can be toggled on and off by touching the corresponding lighted button above the keyboard.

The button for the wireless card looks like an antenna and the button for the trackpad looks like a rectangle.

BlackBerry not receiving messages

  1. Confirm that the wireless is turned on by verifying that the device can browse web sites.
  2. Remove and then replace the battery.
  3. Remove any filters: Options | Email Filters.

Sending an email message to the affected user with the string <confirm> in the subject line forces the BlackBerry to send a reply email.
Ex: “<confirm> This is just a test message”.

A PIN message can be sent to the device from the BES. The receipt of the PIN message confirms that the BES and the device are communicating.

Miscellaneous

Various BlackBerry/GroupWise FAQs

Tips for BlackBerry/GroupWise users, like “How to change the way messages are deleted in your GroupWise mailbox when you delete a message from your BlackBerry” and “How to use the Novell GroupWise Address Book with the BlackBerry Address Book” can be found at: http://www.lkdsb.net/InformationTech/E-mail/BlackBerry/blackberry_tips.htm

How to print large scanned images on a single sheet of paper (with MS Paint)

Save the image to the desktop, right-click it and choose Open With | Paint.
Click File | Page Setup, and in the Scaling area choose Fit to 1 by 1 pages.
Change the Orientation if it makes sense to do so.
Click OK, then File | Print.

How to print screenshots to PDF or a physical printer

Here are two ways of getting pretty good printouts of screen captures.

After pasting into Paint, you can adjust the Page Setup before sending the image to the printer. The problem here is that, if you choose to print to PDF, the image will be scaled before it gets to the PDF, so there’s no going back to the original, high-res screenshot from the PDF.

In Paint, Click File | Page Setup, and in the Scaling area choose Fit to 1 by 1 pages.
Change the Orientation if it makes sense to do so.
Click OK, then File | Print.

Optionally, you can zero out your margins and let Paint figure out how to retain the aspect ratio while maximizing the image size. This increases the size of the image on the page.

As an alternative, you can use the Photo Printing Wizard to bypass the Page Setup steps in Paint.

After pasting into Paint, you can save the image as a PNG or other image file to your hard drive, locate the file, right-click and choose Print. This will start the Photo Printing Wizard. (You can batch print images, if you’ve saved them all ahead of time.) Click Next through the Wizard, and choose a printer. The image will be rotated and resized to fit on a single page.

This produces a printed image of nearly the same size as the first method if the margins had been minimized.

What is the difference between PCL and PS printer drivers?

PCL and PS printer drivers use different technologies to scale fonts. The PCL driver may be faster for printing Word documents, and the PostScript driver may produce better looking PDFs.

PCL is HP’s Printer Control Language and is widely used with Windows/DOS/Intel PCs.

PostScript is a language that originated with Adobe and is most popular with Macs/UNIX. PostScript can be used as a general purpose programming language and not just to drive a printer.

Cannot open a .snp file

Open the Snapshot Viewer once, then double-click the .snp file. The Snapshot Viewer can be found at: C:\Program Files\Snapshot Viewer\SNAPVIEW.EXE

Certain laptop models will need Snapshot Viewer installed via ZEN.

How to sync the MacPac database in Citrix

Run the exe at L:\Program Files\The Sackett Group\MacPac\Bin\MPDesktopSyncProcess.exe

If the sync process does not run, try forcing it to run by opening a command prompt and entering L:\Program Files\The Sackett Group\MacPac\Bin\MPDesktopSyncProcess.exe /f.

The mp10 database is located in located in L:\user\macpac10\%username%.

pdfDOCS

A user gets the following error message when trying to open PDFDocs:

PDFDocs – There was an unexpected error in PDFDocs.
Summary: Error: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

A USERNAME folder must exist in c:\Program Files\pdfDocs\Users. The fix is to copy any other user’s folder, or the SYSTEM folder, and rename it to the current user’s USERNAME.

VZAccess Manager

Connecting to Verizon using the Pantech UML290 cell modem throws the following error:

VZAccess Manager

Device could not establish a connection.
Error WMC604

One reason for this is because the modem had previously been activated, then deactivated, then reactivated. Verizon will have to issue a new SIM card.

I completely hosed a few SanDisk Cruzer Micro USB 2.0 2 GB Flash Drives at work when I deleted the original contents of the drives, installed the CruzerPro software that had shipped with some older Cruzer Professional drives, and then used the CruzerPro application to password protect the drives. This process rendered the drives completely unusable and unable to be formatted.

The problems

Clicking the drive letter in Windows Explorer returns the following error message:

Please insert a disk into drive X:.

Attempting to format the drive returns the warning:

There is no disk in drive X.
Insert a disk, and then try again.

This is what the drives looked like once I’d thoroughly broken them.

SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro USB Device Properties

SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro USB Device Properties

The drive properties show:
Type: Removable Disk
File system: Unknown
Used space 0 bytes
Free space 0 bytes
Capacity 0 bytes

The Volumes tab shows:
Type: Removable
Status: No Media
Partition style: Not Applicable
Capacity: 0 MB
Unallocated space: 0 MB
Reserved space: 0 MB

Opening the Disk Management component of the Computer Management console shows that the drive is connected, but there is no unallocated space to partition or format.

Other things about the disk look normal. It shows up in the Device Manager as working correctly, without any warnings, for example.

I Googled around and found that many, many people were running into this problem where the drive starts reporting 0 bytes capacity and can not be formatted. Of the dozens of pages that I read, no one found a fix for the problem. The most common solution offered was to return the drive to the manufacturer for replacement. Well, I wasn’t going to publicize my mistake and return the drives, I was going to repair them.

Software that didn’t help

Feel free to skip this part if you’re not interested in reading about the many dead-ends I explored.

I knew of one nifty program that had helped me out a few times before, so I tried running the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool v2.1.8, but attempting to format the drive with this utility returned the following error message:

There is no media in the specified device.

Someone suggested using this thing called “Apacer Repair v2.9.1.1” to reformat the drive, so I tried that, but the software only reported “USB Flash Disk not found!” when I ran it.

Someone else recommended FreeCommander, but that failed to open the drive, too.

I tried the free trial of the utility from http://www.flashmemorytoolkit.com/, but it reported the same information as Windows XP – that the device contained a disk with 0 bytes capacity. Maybe the full version could have done more, but I put that on the back burner.

A number of people suggested attacking it with partitioning software, which I wasn’t looking forward to doing, but was willing to try.

Another last resort was going to be using the Windows XP Recovery Console’s fixboot and fixmbr commands, which got me out of a pinch when I screwed up a partition.

What I should have tried to begin with

Then I had an idea. I had a clean drive that had escaped my earlier bungling. I plugged it in, copied the contents to my desktop and tried to run the U3 LaunchPad software. Nothing happened, so I started looking more closely at the files. One of the files was called SanDiskFormatExtension.dll, which sounded promising. Now I just needed to figure out how to run the SanDisk installer to reformat the drive. I tried all of the .exe’s and .msi’s that shipped with the drive, but nothing wanted to run from the folder on my desktop.

Just as I was running out of options, I opened the autorun.inf file and found a very interesting entry:

[Update]
URL=http://u3.sandisk.com/download/lp_installer.asp?custom=1.6.1.2&brand=PelicanBFG

The fix

So, with nothing to lose, I pasted http://u3.sandisk.com/download/lp_installer.asp?custom=1.6.1.2&brand=PelicanBFG into Internet Explorer, thinking that it would at least get me some new files that might allow me to reformat the drive. I followed a few prompts and lo, the U3 Launchpad Installer software launched and restored the drive to its factory settings of 2 GB capacity formatted as FAT. It even replaced the original U3 files, making it truly good-as-new.

I’m astonished that this information isn’t more widely available, particularly on the SanDisk support site and forums, as this 0 capacity problem seems to affect a good number of drives and there are many threads where this issue remains unresolved.

Note that the page at http://u3.sandisk.com/download/lp_installer.asp?custom=1.6.1.2&brand=PelicanBFG requires you to install an ActiveX component, so you must use Internet Explorer.

Otherwise, you can download the latest version of the U3 Launchpad Installer executable from the Sandisk KB.

Of course, if you’re not using a SanDisk drive, it’s rather unlikely that this software will fix your drive, but maybe your device’s manufacturer has something similar. There are also a number of good ideas in the comments below, so definitely read through them for more options.

If you’re trying to restore the drive’s contents or recover files, the all of the methods described on this page will format (erase) the drive and are not for you. Good luck.

I recently bought a new laptop, and was finally ready to wrap up the long-delayed transition from my aging desktop PC. I wanted to connect my 19″ Samsung monitor as an external display, so I plugged it in, set up the resolution and refresh, etc., and immediately noticed some serious horizontal flickering. I suspected the video card, so I began to fiddle with the display settings in Windows 7’s control panel (which is rather nice, and very reminiscent of Ubuntu, actually). But nothing I did made any difference, so I started Googling.

As it turns out, this problem affects laptops generally, and is due to something called a “ground loop”. Basically, the flickering is a visual symptom of signal noise traveling along the ground circuit. The solution? Well, reducing the signal noise in the ground circuit isn’t easy, but removing the monitor from the circuit is – the fastest fix is to unplug your monitor and tear off the ground prong from the plug with a pair of pliers. I did this, and it almost completely stopped the flickering – to the point that it isn’t discernible under normal conditions.

The post I have to thank for this advice: Ground loop causing flickering in external LCD.

Update 9.8.12: It has been three years since I wrote this article, and most of the wireless networks that I can see today are protected with WPA2, probably because modern routers are now secured using WPA2 by default. I’ve update the post a little, but good advice in 2009 remains solid in 2012.

Of the seven wireless networks that I can see from my living room, five are secured, or at least appear as such in the available networks list. That’s a good start, but most of my neighbors could be doing a better job of protecting their networks from intrusion.

In addition to slowing down your network connection, someone who connects to your WLAN may be able to:

  • Send spam or perform illegal activities with your Internet connection
  • Monitor the Web sites you visit, read your e-mail and instant messages as they travel across the network, and copy your usernames and passwords
  • View files on your computers and spread dangerous software

IT security needs to use a layered approach. While no single layer of security is enough to withstand every attack, each additional layer serves to further harden your system and discourage would-be attackers and free-loaders. When it comes to your home wireless network, one aim is to make it obviously more difficult to hack than your neighbor’s network. Consider the old joke about the two explorers on the plain in Africa when they hear the roar of a nearby lion. One explorer quickly starts putting on running shoes, to the amazement of the other. “You must be crazy if you think you can outrun a Lion” says the second explorer. “I don’t need to outrun the lion” responds the first explorer, “I just have to run faster than you!”

To some extent, your wireless security works the same way. Unless your network is selected at random, or someone is just looking for a challenge, the amateurs and free-loaders are probably going to pick the weakest visible network to intrude upon. (And the availability of wireless hacking software makes it easy to poke around at neighboring networks.)

Here are five settings on your router which, if properly configured, will better protect your network, your computers, and your data.

  1. Change the default password for the administrator account on your wireless router or access point. This is absolutely essential and should have been the very first thing you did after you unboxed it. Don’t use a word in the dictionary or anything easily guessed.
  2. Change your SSID (network name). A router’s default SSID (Service Set Identifier) can be used to identify your hardware, which could help a hacker determine the default administrator password (see step 1). A default SSID also suggests that the network was poorly configured, making it appear to be an easier target. Change it to something you and your family would recognize (your pet’s name, for example), but that’s not publicly identifiable (don’t use your name, your address, etc.).
  3. Disable WiFi Protected Setup (WPS). WPS has become one of the easier ways to hack a wireless network, due to a vulnerability with the PIN function.
    Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2398435,00.asp
  4. Use the strongest encryption form supported by your router and all of your other devices. The best choice is WPA2 with the “TKIP+AES” algorithm, which is the newest type of wireless encryption and provides the highest level of encryption available. WPA2 has been available on most devices manufactured in the past few years. WPA-PSK, also called WPA-Personal, encryption is the next best, and 128-bit WEP is the weakest level of encryption and is barely better than no security at all. Use a strong password, ideally a string of at 20+ random alpha-numeric characters. You can find such random strings at https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm.
  5. Disable remote administration. The ability to remotely administer your WLAN router via the Internet should be turned off unless you absolutely need this. It is usually turned off by default, but it’s a good idea to check. The only downside to this is that you will have to physically connect a computer to the router in order to configure it, which isn’t necessarily a downside at all.

There are also some myths and incorrect assumptions around security your router. Two of the most common are MAC address filtering and not broadcasting the SSID.

  1. Myth: Limit access to your wireless LAN by using MAC address filtering. A MAC address (also called the physical address) is an identifier unique to each network adapter. MAC address filtering involves looking up the MAC address of each device that will connect to the WLAN and adding them to a list in the router’s control panel. MAC addresses can be spoofed, so filtering offers a false sense of security.
  2. Myth: Disable SSID broadcasting Disabling SSID broadcasting will prevent casual browsers from finding your network, but your devices will periodically ping your SSID, making it discoverable. Not broadcasting your SSID does nothing to secure your network, it just makes it less obvious to your neighbors.
    Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/28653/debunking-myths-is-hiding-your-wireless-ssid-really-more-secure/

With the router and WLAN now well-configured, hacking your home network will be much more difficult. Below are a few more suggestions to further increase your protection.

The farther the Wi-Fi signal reaches, the easier it is for others to detect and exploit it. If possible, place the router where it will have the most difficulty broadcasting the signal outside your home, such as in the basement, in a closet, or toward the center of your home. While not a feature of all wireless routers and access points, some allow you to change the transmitter power. If possible, adjust it so that you still get a decent signal inside, but it doesn’t leak too far outside your home.

If you can afford a second NAT router, you can dramatically improve your LAN’s security. Basically, you create a second LAN by connecting the wireless router to the modem, connecting a second, wired router to the wireless router and then putting one or more of your PCs behind the second, wired router. This means that anyone who accesses your WLAN still can’t get to the PCs behind the second, wired router.

Read more about using a second NAT router to create an even more secure LAN at GRC.com.

McAfee Wi-FiScan surveys your current Wi-Fi connection, your wireless equipment, and local environment to assess security risks introduced by your wireless network. Wi-FiScan uses an ActiveX control to gather information. If security or performance issues are found, McAfee will suggest ways to reduce your risk.
http://us.mcafee.com/root/wsc/default.asp

Netstumbler, by Marius Milner, will determine your network’s vulnerabilities and unauthorized access points, and also reveal the sources of network interference and weak signal strength.
http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads/

Protect your machine from attacks from within your LAN. Use a software firewall on every device and make sure that port 113 is stealthed. If you are using Windows, run Windows Updates every month or keep Automatic Updates on. Install some anti-virus software (Microsoft Security Essentials seems quite nice) and keep that up to date, too. Turn off services like File Sharing unless you need them and understand the consequences.

For the borderline-paranoids, you can turn off DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) entirely and configure each device to connect using a specific IP, or at least assign all of your devices static IP addresses well away from the first address dynamically assigned by your router. For example, if your router starts assigning IP addresses at 192.168.0.100, give your devices static addresses above 192.168.0.150. This will make it slightly more of a nuisance for someone who does access your network to find the machines connected to it, as they won’t exist near the address assigned dynamically to the intruder. You can change the default IP address of the router itself, too, but that will be immediately obvious to anyone who gets in.

Test your connection for vulnerabilities with third-party software. Use the ShieldsUP! port probe from GRC.com to check whether your router (wired or not) is detectable by port scanners via the WAN.
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Verify that your computer’s Wake on Wireless LAN (WoWLAN) function is disabled (check your BIOS).

A Wi-Fi network is only vulnerable when it is on, so turn off your router when you aren’t using it. Turn off your computers, or at least hibernate/sleep them, when not in use. (Don’t forget to turn off the monitors, too.) Better yet, turn off your computer and then kill the power at the surge protector, as some components can still draw power when the computer is turned off. There is some cost in electrical draw to be saved here.

Don’t connect to unprotected wireless networks yourself, as it’s possible for someone on that network to monitor your traffic. If you must connect to an unprotected network, enter passwords only on sites that use encryption (those that display the padlock icon in the lower-right corner of your browser and with a URL in the address bar that begins with https). Never select the ‘connect to available wifi networks automatically’ setup option under your Network Connections window.

Ensure that your router’s firewall is enabled, along with related built-in security features that block anonymous requests or pings from the WAN side.

The DMZ feature of your router allows you to put a machine ‘outside’ of the protection of the NAT router. In practice, this isn’t necessary for normal use. Only use this if you understand the consequences.

For a good Ars Technica article that includes a chart of common devices (Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, etc.) and their support for the various levels of encryption, read The ABCs of securing your wireless network.

While we’re on the subject of wireless channels, you might want to consider downloading inSSIDer for help choosing the right channel to obtain the best wireless signal. For best performance, you should choose the least-used channel that is at least 5 channels from your neighbors’ networks, which will most likely be 1, 6, or 11. You want your router to be the strongest signal on its channel.

I needed to convert a physical Windows XP Professional machine running ZENworks into a VMware virtual machine, but only after removing the unique identifiers like the Windows’ SID and ZENworks’ GUID, so that I could later make multiple copies of the VM without them all writing to the same ZENworks object. After weighing my options, I decided that it wouldn’t be practical to hot clone the physical machine. The best method would be to unregister the ZENworks object, uninstall the Adaptive Agent, pull it off the network, reinstall the Adaptive Agent, and then sysprep -reseal -shutdown the machine. This would leave me with a hard drive with a XP installation ready to generate new IDs the next time it was powered on. But as you well know, the VMware vCenter Converter Standalone app can only perform P2V hot cloning. Cold cloning requires the VMware Cold Clone Boot ISO, which is only available to VMware Converter Enterprise license-holders.

After some Googling around, I came across this thing called MOA, Multi-Operating system Administration. Basically, it creates a LiveCD that runs the free VMware Converter on top of a Windows Server 2003 kernel. It’s very, very nice and developed by an obvious super-genius. Just how cool is it? How about the ability to boot a physical box and start the originally installed system as a virtual machine?

Here are the steps I took to build my free cold clone boot CD.

Creating the cold clone boot CD

This builds a LiveCD using Windows Server 2003 that can then run VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 3.0.3 (previously known as VMware Converter Starter Edition) in order to cold clone a hard drive.

Caveats

The version of Windows running in the LiveCD should be the same as, or later than, the version of the Windows machine you want to convert to a VM.

VMware recommends, when cold cloning using their boot CD, that the source physical machine have 364MB of memory, with a minimum of 264MB. MOA recommends, for the Bandit version ISO, that the physical machine have at least 512MB and preferably 1GB or more.

Required files

Download moa241-setup.exe (2.7MB) from
http://sanbarrow.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1544
You will need to sign up at the forums to gain access to the download.

Download X13-05665.img (596MB) (Windows Server 2003) from
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/5/C/E5C2CA69-28C9-492A-8F57-BDA0010616E5/X13-05665.img

Download VMware-converter-3.0.3-89816.exe (30.1MB) from
http://download3.vmware.com/software/converter/VMware-converter-3.0.3-89816.exe

Put all three files in the same folder (with no spaces in the folder name) on a NTFS-formatted disk. MOA will refer to this as the ‘building directory’.

Assemble the ISO

Run moa241-setup.exe.
In the application menu, click moa -> create MOA core.

If you have put the X13-05665.img file into the root of the building directory, MOA will extract the files automatically. If the X13-05665.img file is in a different location or if you are using a different OS to build the LiveCD, MOA setup asks for the location of your Windows-sources. This must be a 32-bit OS, like XP or Server 2003. If you have the files on a CD or mounted using Daemon-tools, just select the drive letter; if you have them extracted somewhere on your hard disk, point to the directory one level higher than the I386 directory.

The MOA setup app asks a few questions about the environment you want to build. Answer these very quickly, as they appear to have a default answer which will be selected automatically after a very short timeout (maybe like 10 seconds).

The MOA setup runs a nifty little DOS app that downloads another 20.34MB of core files. It will ask if you want to download drivers, which is another 17MB download. After another few questions, it runs PE Builder v3.1.10a.

The MOA setup then asks if you want to install VMware Converter 3.0.3 (the default is no, so quickly click yes). After which, it asks you if you want the converter to autostart (default is no, which is fine).

A standard image ISO is created automatically. You can also create a Bandit image ISO, which seems to be what most people use. In my case, the standard image is 374,622KB, while the Bandit image is 296,810KB. The Bandit version should also be faster than the standard version.

The ISO files are saved to iso-out. Burn to CD or DVD using whatever method you prefer.

Booting from the LiveCD

When booting from the Bandit image, you will get the following message, “can’t find vmware – starting plan B”, which makes it seem like something is wrong.

An Open File dialogue box then opens in the ramdisk vm folder and displays “can’t find vmware files in default location – please select a different path”. It’s looking for a Workstation or VMware Player installation here, not the Converter. Just click Cancel.

Another Open File dialogue box will open, stating “still can’t find VMware – you may want to mount a wim”. Click Cancel again.

After a few more seconds, MOA will be finished booting up and the GUI will minimize. Click the taskbar button to open it back up, then right-click the button with the image of the desktop PC with the VMware logo on the screen and select “start converter” from the menu. A Browse for Folder dialogue box will open. Browse to X:/moahome/vm/converter/ and click OK. VMware Converter will launch.

If things are not going as expected, the developer has made a video tutorial showing a boot into MOA followed by a cold cloning operation, located at http://sanbarrow.com/moa23/coldclone-howto/coldclone-howto.html

I saved my new virtual machine to a second physical disk, then put that drive into another machine with VMware Server 1.0.9 already installed and copied over the three vm files.

I started VMware Server and clicked Open Existing Virtual Machine, but when I tried to add the new vm to the inventory, VMware Server Console popped up an error: Unable to add virtual machine “D:Virtual Machinescoldclonetestcoldclonetest.vmx” to the inventory. Configuration file was created by a VMware product with more features than this version.

Some quick Googling led to the fix:

Open the virtual machine’s two ~1 KB configuration files in a text editor.

In the *.vmx file, change

virtualHW.version = "6"
to
virtualHW.version = "4"

In the *.vmdk file, change

ddb.virtualHWVersion = "6"
to
ddb.virtualHWVersion = "4"

After I made those changes, the virtual machine powered on and booted into XP, running all the expected install scripts and generating unique Windows and ZENworks identifiers. I’ve also successfully cold cloned a Windows 2000 machine using the same boot CD.

MOA on a bootable USB drive

If you would prefer to use a bootable USB drive instead of a LiveCD, here are some tips for getting MOA onto a USB drive: http://sanbarrow.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1250

I was trying to set up a friend’s Xbox 360 on my home network that uses a D-Link DI-624 router (Rev. C) with version 2.76 firmware and a brand new Motorola Netopia 2210-02 ADSL modem, but I wasn’t able to connect to Xbox Live.

My Xbox, which had been connected for months with an Open NAT while using a old Siemens Speedstream 4100 modem, never had any problems connecting.

I double checked all the connections, powercycled the Xbox, then ran the network tests from the System blade. It would pass all of the tests up until the Xbox Live test, at which point it would fail spectacularly and restart the tests – but this time displaying a “Disconnected” message at the Network Adapter test.

I bypassed the router and plugged the Xbox straight into the DSL modem and was able to connect, but with a Strict NAT. (I should have realized the significance of this right away, but I didn’t.)

So I reconnected the router and kept experimenting. After a while, I noticed that my computers connected to the router also lost their connections when I tried to sign in to Xbox Live.

As it turns out, the suspicious-looking disconnection message was accurate – something the Xbox was doing was causing the router to reboot.

I Googled around and found a few good posts about this problem.

First, I disabled UPnP on the D-Link router thanks to the advice in this Ars Technica forum post. Then I configured it to assign the Xbox a static IP address and then put that IP address in the DMZ. Now the Xbox was able to connect to Xbox Live, but the NAT status was Strict.

I wasn’t going to settle for that, though. I wanted to get an Open NAT.

So I took it out of the DMZ and port forwarded UDP 88 and both UDP & TCP 3074 ports to the static IP address, but the NAT status was still Strict.

Giving the Xbox a static IP address and forwarding the ports had fixed similar connection issues and permitted an Open NAT for almost everyone else, why wasn’t it working for this setup?

More Googling finally turned up the explanation. The Motorola Netopia 2210 contains a NAT router, so no matter what I did with the D-Link’s settings, I was going to keep getting the Strict NAT from the modem as long as it was handling the PPPoE. (This is what I should have realized earlier, when I was connecting the Xbox directly to the modem.)

The Motorola/Netopia 2210 is also a router with full DHCP functions and may not function correctly when connected directly to another router. Not changing the modem to Bridged Ethernet may result in double NAT’ing, increased latency, possible IP conflicts, or possibly a network that doesn’t work at all.
– http://www.dslreports.com/faq/15855

The solution was to configure the modem to use “Bridged Ethernet” mode and set up PPPoE on the router.

As long as you’re setting up PPPoE on the router, you may want to select “Keep Alive” or “Always On”, if those options are available, or set the Maximum Idle Time to “0”. You should also confirm that the MTU value is “1492” and that value is used on all the devices on the network.

Also note that the Motorola Netopia 2210 has an “Internet” light that lights up green whenever there is an active PPPoE session initiated by it. The light will stay off when the PPPoE session is initiated by a router or other device.

A repository for troubleshooting responses to some common Windows 2000 and Office 2000 Help Desk calls.

GroupWise

GroupWise proxy access

To give another person proxy access to your email account, click Tools -> Options -> Security, then click the Proxy Access tab.

Click the address book icon and Look for the person to whom proxy access will be given. Click OK to return to the Security Options window. Highlight the person’s name and then assign the desired access rights. Click OK to finish.

No email notification will be sent.

To access another person’s email account for the first time, click the Online button and select Proxy.

Click the address book icon and Look for the person who has given you access. Click OK to go to that person’s email account. The account will now be an option under the Online button.

GroupWise address book sharing

To share your address book with another person, click the Address Book button, right click the book to be shared and select “Sharing…”.

Under the Sharing tab, put a dot in the “Shared with” option. Click on the address book icon, change the “Look in” book to Novell GroupWise Address Book and Look for the person with whom the address book will be shared. Double click the person’s name to add it to the Selected pane. Click OK to be taken back to the address book’s Properties window.

Highlight the person’s name in the Share list and then assign the desired access rights. Click OK to finish.

An email notification will be sent informing the person with whom the address book is shared that they now have access to it. That person must click on a link in this email notification to finish the process.

Name Completion Position

To change which address books are searched when a recipient’s name is typed into the To field, open the Address Book and click on Name Completion Position.

Highlight a book in the “Available books” area and click “>> Add >>” to move it to the “Selected books” area.

Move the Novell GroupWise Address Book to the top of the Selected books list. Move your personal address book below that. If you don’t keep contacts in the Frequent Contacts book, move it into the Available books area.

Click OK to save.

Close the address book and close and reopen GroupWise. The To field in a new message will autocomplete Contacts and Groups from the address book.

How to share a folder in GroupWise

Locate the folder you wish to share, right-click and choose Sharing.

Select the radio button next to “Shared with” and enter the sharee’s name in the Name field. Click “Add User.”

Highlight the name under the “Share list” and give or revoke access by checking the boxes under “Additional access”.

How to export a Contact

Locate the Contact in the Address Book. Right-click and select Export. Save the contact as a .VCF file to a location on your hard drive (like your desktop).

Create a new email message and attach the .VCF file you just saved as you would any other file.

The recipient of the email can then double click the .VCF attachment to add the Contact’s information to his/her address book.

Display Name Format

To change the name autocompletion order in GroupWise, first click on Address Book then click View and select Name Format. Select the desired option in “Display Name Format” and make sure that all of the books are highlighted (you can Ctrl+click to select multiple books), then click “Apply to selected books” This choice will be picked up by the Novell GroupWise Address Book automatically. You will see a little progress bar in the bottom of the window as the address books are reorganized. When that is done, click OK to close the window.

Adding existing Contacts to an Organization

To add an Address Book Contact to an Organization, right-click the Contact you wish to add to the Organization and select Details. Select the Office tab and start typing the name of the organization into the Organization field. The field will auto-complete with the organization’s name. Click OK to save the changes.

Trash automatic cleanup (auto-delete)

To set your GroupWise Trash folder to auto-delete, right click the Trash folder and select Properties. The Trash Properties window will open. Click on the Cleanup tab. In the Empty trash area, click on “Automatic after:” and change the number to 15 days. Click OK to save the changes and exit.

Items will be emptied from the Trash folder 15 days after they have been deleted.

Columns

Columns can be added to the GroupWise inbox by right clicking anywhere in the column header area and selecting the appropriate headings from the menu.

A column can be resized by clicking on the edge and dragging. Columns can be reordered by clicking and holding, then dragging them into position.

Sort the column contents in ascending or descending order by clicking the heading.

Moving folders in GroupWise

Folders can be dragged and dropped, but that can be pretty tricky.

They can also be moved via the Edit -> Folders window. A folder can be moved higher and lower in the hierarchy by using the Move Left and Move Right buttons and up and down in the list by using the Move Up and Move Down buttons. A folder can be moved out of another folder by using Move Left, and it can be moved into a folder by first positioning it below the target folder, then selecting Move Right.

Missing the list of folders (Folder List)

In Groupwise, click View and select Folder List (the top-most Folder List – there are two).

If the list doesn’t appear to be complete, click View -> Folder List (the bottom-most one this time) and select Full Folder List.

Never show the “GroupWise has prevented images on this page from displaying. Click here to display images” yellow warning bar

The yellow bar warning that an email contains images can be turned off by clicking Tools -> Options -> Environment, and selecting the Default Actions tab. In the HTML external images area, select “Never show warning”. Click OK, then click Close.

Out of Office rule

An out of office rule needs a start and end date set in the Define Conditions window. Also, internal email will only get 1 out of office reply per day.

In order to edit an existing out of office rule, click Tools -> Rules, highlight the Out of Office rule and click Edit.

Click on Define Conditions and select Delivered from the drop down. Select On or After Date from the second button, and choose the start date. Click And from the End button.

Select Delivered from the newly created drop down and On or Before Date from the second button, and choose the end date.

Click Ok.

Click Edit Action and edit the text of the autoreply message. Click OK.

Click Save to save the rule.

Be sure to Enable the rule from the Rules list by putting a check mark in the box next to the rule name.

Default behavior of Forward button

An email can be forwarded either as an attachment or inline. The default behavior of the Forward button is a sticky setting – the button will remember the way you last forwarded a message and use that as the behavior each time you click it.

To change this behavior, click on the down arrow to the right of the button and select the desired forwarding method. A mail window will pop up. Cancel the mail. The button will now use that method.

Creating an All Sent Items folder in GroupWise

This is a workaround for the problem where GroupWise does not delete or move emails from your Sent Items folder.

Right click on “Cabinet” in the GroupWise folder list and select “New Folder”.

Select “Find Results Folder” > “Predefined find results folder” > “All Sent Items” and check “Modify predefined find results folder”.

Click Next.

Click Next again.

Expand the Home menu and uncheck Cabinet and Trash.

Click Next.

Click Finish.

Printing emails without the ‘header’ or ‘footer’

To print a plain text email without the ‘header’ or ‘footer’, open the folder that contains the email you wish to print (Mailbox, etc.), right-click the email and select View. The email will open in a “Viewing Mail:” window. Right-click in the body of the email message and select “Print (Preview) Options”. Uncheck the box next to “Print header”. Clear the “Job Name” text box if you don’t want to print the footer. Click OK to save the print settings and close the window.

You will be back in the “Viewing Mail:” window. Click on File -> Print. Click on Print.

You should now be able to print emails without the header by right-clicking and selecting Print.

Note that this method does not work for HTML-format email.

For an HTML formatted message, the message displays and prints according to your current Internet Explorer browser page setup settings (File > Page Setup > Headers and Footers).

To stop printing the “<username> – <subject>” text that appears above the email’s header information (From, To, etc.), right-click the message in the Mailbox window and select View. Right-click and select Print…

Mailbox size limits in GroupWise

You can check your mailbox size in GroupWise by clicking Tools -> Check Mailbox Size. The “Mailbox Storage Size Information” window will open. All of the emails in your account are organized into four ‘types’, and you can view the items belonging to each type by choosing the type in the View area. The list can be sorted by size, and emails can be deleted from this window.

You can also add a “size” column to a GroupWise folder (eg: Mailbox or Sent Items) by right-clicking any column heading and selecting the “size” option from the available columns list. You can then sort the contents of that folder by size and quickly identify the largest emails.

In both cases, ‘size’ also takes attachments into consideration.

Sometimes, just deleting a few emails with large attachments will greatly reduce your mailbox size.

Printing a .jpg email attachment (with Word)

To print a .jpg email attachment, right-click the attachment and select Save As, then save it to your hard drive (you may want to make a new folder on the desktop for this purpose). Open Word and click Insert -> Picture -> From File. When Docs Open opens, click Native Application, then locate the saved .jpg.

Sending Word documents to GroupWise causes the attachments to appear as *.01, *.02, etc. file types, rather than *.doc.

The fix is to hide file extensions for known file types.

In Windows Explorer, click on Tools -> Folder Options. Click on the View tab, then place a checkmark next to “Hide file extensions for known file types”.

HTML emails open with a blank message body

This is a known issue with GroupWise. The workaround is to open the email and then click on the Message Source tab, the Personalize tab, the Properties tab, then back to the Email tab.

Performing a Busy Search in GroupWise

In GroupWise, click on Tools -> Busy Search.

Enter the names of the invitees in the various fields. Select a date range within which to search for available times. Click OK.

Click the Available Times tab to view the dates and times that all of the invitees are free. Click inside the Available Times Grid to schedule a meeting time, and click and drag to extend the duration of the meeting.

Click Request Meeting to create a new appointment with this information.

Filesurfed emails are not opening in GroupWise

Locate the email in the Filesurf web application, click it and select Open Document. Save the file to your desktop, then double-click it. It should open in GroupWise. Close that email and try to open another email from Filesurf, selecting Open instead of Save. This email, and subsequent emails, should open correctly.

Copying and pasting from a Word document into an email message causes the recipient to see asterisks in place of certain characters

Word uses special characters to represent curly quotes (smart quotes), appostrophes, elispes, etc. and these characters need to be converted down to their ASCII equivalents before they can be pasted into an email.

Saving the document as Text Only will perform this conversion. In Word, click File -> Save As and choose Text Only in the “Save as Type” drop down menu. Open the newly saved .txt file in Notepad and copy and paste the contents into an email. You will notice that the curly quotes are now straight quotes, and elipses are represented by three periods.

GroupWise/Filesurf error messages

ERROR

RemoveDirectory(C:Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp\fsgwtemp\) failed: GetLastError
returned The system cannot find the file specified.
[OK]

– OR –

ERROR

DeleteFile(C:Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp\fsgwtemp\…) failed: GetLastError
returned Access is denied.
[OK]

Closing and reopening GroupWise should delete the contents of the \fsgwtemp\ folder and fix the cause of the error message. If not, close GroupWise and run the DelTemp batch file found in the Program Files -> Start Up folder.

The “Check spelling as you type” feature sees all words as misspelled

When composing emails, each word (including the correctly spelled words) has a red squiggly underline indicating that it is misspelled.

For whatever reason, this seems to be resolved by opening a new mail message, typing a few words into the message body, then opening and closing the spell checker (Ctrl+F1) or Tools -> Spell Check.

To disable the check spelling as you type feature:

Click Tools -> Options -> Environment, General tab, uncheck “Check spelling as you type”.

View the MIME header information for an email

Right-click the message and choose View, or open the email and click File -> Attachments -> View.

Click on the MIME icon in the attachment pane. The MIME information is displayed in the content pane.

Internet Explorer

Printing web pages in Internet Explorer – native

In IE, click File -> Page Setup and select Landscape. Click OK. Then click File -> Print and click OK to print.

Most web pages will look much better when printed in landscape orientation. Sometimes you can get better results by clicking Print Preview, clicking the Page Setup icon, and selecting the landscape orientation, and then clicking Print from the Print Preview window.

Printing web pages in Internet Explorer – Adobe Acrobat toolbar

There is an Adobe PDF toolbar in Internet Explorer that converts a web page into a PDF – which, when printed, often produces better results than simply printing the web page from within IE.

To convert a web page to PDF, click on the “Convert to PDF” toolbar button (it looks like an Acrobat icon on top of a globe). Choose a location on your hard drive where the PDF will be saved, then click Save. The PDF will be created and then opened in Acrobat.

Click File -> Print to print the PDF.

You can now close Acrobat and delete the PDF from your hard drive.

Errors when connecting to an FTP site in Internet Explorer

Click on Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced tab. Put a check mark next to “Use Passive FTP (for firewall and DSL modem compatibility)”.

Excel

To make an existing row a header row in Excel

To make an existing row a header row in Excel, click File -> Page Setup.

Click the Sheet tab. Click the little calendar-like button to the right of the “Rows to repeat at top:” field.

On the actual document, click on the row that you want to make a header row and then click the button with the red arrow at the right of the field in the pop up window.

You should be back in the Page Setup window, and the Rows to repeat at top field should contain something like “$1:$1”.

Click OK to exit.

Printing

First, you need to confirm that the document is set up to print all of the cells. Quite often, the creator of the spreadsheet hasn’t done this for you.

Click View -> Page Break Preview. Drag the blue lines to create the desired page breaks. Expand any columns that show #### pound signs instead of data. Unhide any hidden columns by clicking and dragging the visible column headings to either side, right-clicking and selecting Unhide.

Once the page breaks are set, click on File -> Page Setup. In the orientation area, click Landscape. In the Scaling area, select “Fit to”, and use 1 page wide and delete the number in ‘tall’. Click OK and then File -> Print Preview -> Print.

Clear all page breaks

To clear all of the page breaks in an Excel document, click on View -> Page Break Preview. Right-click anywhere in the spreadsheet and select Reset All Page Breaks from the pop up menu.

Resizing columns, word-wrapping and merging cells

To resize all of the columns so that they display all of the data in the widest cell in each column, click in the empty gray box at the top-right of the spread sheet. The entire sheet will be highlighted. Double click on any of the column separator lines to resize all of the columns.

To word-wrap text in a cell, right-click in the cell and select Format Cells. Under the Alignment tab, place a checkmark next to “Wrap text”. Click OK.

To merge cells, highlight the cells to be merged and click on the “Merge and Center” button in the toolbar (it looks like a lowercase ‘a’ with arrows to the right and left). The cells will be merged and the contents centered. Click on the left-align button if you want the contents left-aligned.

PowerPoint

Advancing slides

The F5 button at the top of the keyboard switches PowerPoint into full-screen slide show mode. The Esc key switches back to the design mode. While in the slide show mode, slides can be advanced with the Enter key or the arrow keys.

Opening a PowerPoint presentation in slide show mode

Powerpoint files are normally saved with a .PPT extension and double-clicking a .PPT file will open it in design mode. If you want your presentation to open into full-screen slide show mode automatically, you can either just change the file extension to .PPS or save a copy as a Powerpoint Show.

To save a PowerPoint presentation as a Powerpoint Show, open the presentation in PowerPoint and click File -> Save As. In the “Save as type:” drop down menu, choose “PowerPoint Show (*.pps)”. This will create a new file.

Note that the icon for a .PPS file looks different from that of a .PPT file.

Acrobat

Adding a doc number to the footer of a pdf

To add the doc number to the footer of a pdf.

In Acrobat, click Document -> Add headers & footers. Click on the Footers tab, then type the doc number into the “Insert custom text” field.

Merge multiple PDFs

In Acrobat, click on File -> Create PDF -> From Multiple Files…

Click on the Browse button in the Add Files area, and select the files you want to combine. (You can Ctrl+click to choose multiple files.) Click Add.

Arrange the files into the order you want them to appear in the new PDF by moving them up or down with the buttons in the Arrange Files area.

Click OK to combine the files into a “binder” file. Save (and rename) the new PDF.

Password protecting a PDF

Open the PDF in Acrobat. Click File -> Document Properties -> Document Summary. Click on the Security option in the list on the left-hand side. The window will display the document’s security settings. In the “Security Method” drop down menu, select “Password Security”.

Place a checkmark next to “Require a password to open the document”, then type a password. Click OK.

A window will pop up and you will be prompted to confirm the password by typing it again. Do that and then click OK to close that window.

Click Ok to close the Document Properties window.

Save the document, close it, and reopen to test the password protection.

Printing large or small .jpg (or other image) files

Depending on the scanner’s settings, a document can be scanned as a .jpg (image) file that is larger or smaller than a printed page. The easiest way to resize the file is to convert it to a PDF, which will automatically resize it to 8.5 x 11 inches.

Right-click on the image and select Convert to Adobe PDF.

Acrobat will open. Click on File -> Print.

If you wish to print to other than letter-size paper, click the Properties button next to the printer name. Under the Paper tab, select the desired paper size. Click OK.

The document dimensions in the Preview area should match the desired paper size.

Click OK to print the image.

Combining .jpg files into a PDF

If the .jpg files are attachments to an email, first create a new folder on the desktop, then drag the files to the folder. Open the folder and select all of the .jpg files.

Right-click one of the selected .jpg files and select “Combine in Adobe Acrobat”. Acrobat will open and the files will be listed in a pane on the right. They can be reordered, if necessary, by highlighting one of the files and clicking the Move Up or Move Down buttons under Arrange Files.

Click OK to combine the .jpg files into a PDF.

The files can now be printed like any other PDF.

Bad Encrypt Dictionary error message

Attempting to open a PDF in Acrobat 6 causes a message: “Bad Encrypt Dictionary” and the PDF fails to open.

The PDF is compatible with Acrobat 7.x or later.

Word

Printing page ranges

In Word, you can create a multiple-section document with different page numbering in each section. To specify a page or a range of pages to print, you must supply both the page and section number of the range you want to print. In a multiple-section document that contains more than a single page 1, Word cannot determine which ‘page 1’ to print unless you also supply a section number.

To print a range of pages across sections, use the following syntax in the Pages box:

p<page number>s<section number>-p<page number>s<section number>
For example, to print page 5 of section 3 through page 2 of section 4, type ‘p5s3-p2s4’ (without the quotation marks).

To print nonadjacent pages or nonadjacent sections, type the page and section numbers, separated by a comma (,). For example, to print sections 3 and 5 (not section 4), type ‘s3,s5’ (without the quotation marks). To print pages 2 through 5 of section 3 and pages 1 through 4 of section 5, type ‘p2s3-p5s3,p1s5-p4s5’ (without the quotation marks).

Forcing Word to quit

To force Word to quit, type Ctrl+Alt+Del, click on Task List, click on the Processes tab, highlight WINWORD.EXE and click End Process.

Open Word with the desktop icon, and Word will attempt to recover the document, but there is no guarantee that this will happen.

Repeating a table heading on subsequent pages

To repeat a table header row on subsequent pages, select the row or rows that you want to use as a table heading. The selection must include the first row of the table.

Right click the selected row and select Table Properties. The Table Properties should open in the Row tab. Place a check mark next to “Repeat as header row at the top of each page”. Click OK to apply changes and exit.

NOTE: Repeated header rows are visible only in Print Layout View, Print Preview or when you print the document.

Preventing a table row from breaking across pages

To prevent a table row from breaking across pages, right click the table and select Table Properties. Select the Row tab. Clear the checkbox next to “Allow row to break across pages”. Click OK to apply changes and exit.

Converting text to a table

To convert text to a table, select the text, click on Table in the menu bar, hover over Convert, and then click Text to Table.

A “Convert Text to Table” window will open. Select the desired number of columns to create and the character that will indicate where the columns should be created (typically, tabs or commas). Click OK to create the table.

Converting a table to text

To convert a table to text, select the rows or table that you want to convert to paragraphs.

Click on Table in the menu bar, hover over Convert, and then click Table to Text.

A “Convert Table to Text” window will open. Select the desired the separator character you want to use in place of the column boundaries. Rows will be separated with paragraph marks. Click OK to apply the changes.

Sum a column in a Word table

Place the cursor in the cell that will hold the sum, then click Insert -> Field. In the Categories area, highlight “Equations and Formulas”, in the “Field names” area, highlight “= (Formula)”, and in the text box, type: = Sum(Above)

Highlight all occurrences of a word

In Word, click Edit -> Replace. Enter the word you wish to highlight in both the “Find what” and “Replace with” fields. Make sure the cursor is in the “Replace with” field.

Click the More button to display more options. Click the Format button and select Highlight from the menu to highlight the text with a background color.

Click the Format button and select Font, then chose Bold from the “Font style” list to change the font weight to bold, etc., then click OK.

Password-protecting a Word document

The Word document will need to be saved locally and the password will be applied during the saving process. A Word document can be password-protected against opening, modifying, or both.

Open the document in Word, then click File -> Save As. The Save As dialogue box will open and you’ll be prompted for a location and file name. Click on the Tools button in the top-right of the window and choose General Options.

To prompt for a password when the document is opened, enter a password in the “Password to open:” field and click OK. You’ll be asked to confirm the password, after which you’ll be able to save the password-protected Word document.

Enter a password in the “Password to modify:” field if you wish to protect the document against changes.

Turning off the automatic creation of hyperlinks in Word 2000

To stop Word from automatically converting URLs into hyperlinks, click on Tools -> AutoCorrect Options. Under both the “AutoFormat as you type” and “AutoFormat” tabs, clear the checkmark next to “Internet and network paths with hyperlinks”.

“Ambiguous name detected, TmpDDE” error message

Deleting the tmpDDE macro saved in Normal.dot resolves this issue.

Close all instances of Word. You may need to Ctrl+Alt+Del, click on Task List and then select the Processes tab, highlight WINWORD.EXE and click End Process.

Open Word and click Tools -> Macro -> Macros. Start typing TMP in the search box. Highlight the tmpDDE macro and click Delete. Confirm the deletion and then close this window and then close Word.

Word will save the fixed Normal.dot template without the tmpDDE macro.

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/165860)

Strange characters or formatting above the footnotes

While viewing your document in Normal view, click on View -> Footnotes. The footnotes pane will open at the bottom of the screen. In the Footnotes drop-down menu, select “Footnote Separator”. This should be formatted in Normal style. Click on Reset to set the footnote separator back to being the black line. click Close to close the footnotes pane.

Word Addin errors

Opening Word causes the following error:

MS Visual C ++ Runtime Library
Runtime Error!
Program: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE

This application has requested the Runtime to terminate in an unusual way.
Please contact the application’s support team for more information.

To fix this problem, open the Run box (Windows key + R) and type “winword /a” to force Word to start without loading any add-ins. Word should successfully load, but with minimal toolbars – indicating that the issue is with an Addin.

Open regedit, navigate to and then back up the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins

Open the Addins key and drill down into the add-in-specific key. Change the LoadBehavior value to 2, which causes Word to not load that add-in at startup.

For example, an issue with the Addin created by installing Acrobat Standard 8 would be resolved by changing the LoadBehavior of the PDFMaker.OfficeAddin to 2.

In Word 2003 or 2003, the error message is slightly different:

MS Visual C ++ Runtime Library
Runtime Error!
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Winword.EXE

Windows 2000

Changing the screen resolution

To change the screen resolution, right click anywhere on the desktop and select Properties. Click on the Settings tab and move the Screen Area slider to the desired resolution. Click Apply to test the changes. If the new resolution is acceptable, click OK to save the settings and exit.

Setting a default printer

To set an installed printer to be your default printer, click the Start button -> Settings -> Printers. Right-click the printer you wish to make the default printer and choose “Set as Default Printer” from the menu.

Error message: “Activation Error – Printer not activated, error code -20” when printing

This error occurs when attempting to print to the default printer while Workshare PDF Publisher (a virtual printer installed with Workshare) is set as the default printer. Logging out of your PC, then logging into a different PC that does not have your default printer installed, then logging back into your PC will cause the last alphabetical printer in the list of installed printers to become your default printer.

Missing desktop icons

Sometimes, a desktop icon will load behind another icon and not be visible. To rearrange the icons so that all of them are visible, right click anywhere on the desktop and select Arrange Icons -> Auto Arrange.

Your icons will snap to a grid layout. To free your icons from the grid and arrange them by hand, right-click anywhere on the desktop and select Arrange Icons -> Auto Arrange again, removing the check mark.

If the icon is still missing, you may not be fully connected to the network. Please contact the Help Desk (who will most likely recommend you reboot in order to reconnect to the network drives).

Missing Quick Launch toolbar

To restore a missing Quick Launch toolbar:

First open Windows Explorer (right click on My Computer and select Explore) and go to Tools -> Folder Options, View tab. Select “Show hidden files and folders”. This will allow you to see the Default User profile folder in C:\Documents and Settings\

The Quick Launch toolbar is actually just a folder located deep in each user’s profile folder. You can get a clean folder with the default shortcuts from:

C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

Copy the Quick Launch folder from the Default User profile into the corresponding path in the User’s profile, creating any necessary parent folders (but if those folders don’t exist, something might not be set up correctly).

Right click on the task bar, select Toolbars -> Quick Launch (or verify that it is checked). If the toolbar appears to the right of the application buttons, drag the application buttons to the right and they will switch places.

Filename sorting with numbers in Windows 2000

Under Windows 2000, Windows Explorer will use literal sorting, in which case “File 10” will come before “File 5” when the contents of a folder are sorted by the Name column, because 1 comes before 5. Since Windows XP SP1, Explorer has used logical or intuitive filename sorting, which would put “File 5” before “File 10”.

Therefore, the only way to be sure that the files will be displayed in numerical order for all users on all operating systems is to use leading zeros in all numbers. For example, if you have two-digit numbers in your file names, zero-fill so that “File 5” changes to “File 05”. File 05 will always appear before File 10, regardless of the Windows OS version.

It may be possible to change this behavior through a registry edit or by installing the TweakUI Powertoy from Microsoft, but this would only change the behavior on the local machine, and if the folder was opened on another machine, there is no guarantee the contents would be displayed the same way.

Deleting a file when the path is too long

If possible, just rename the containing folders to 1 letter and thereby shorten the path until the file becomes deleteable. If this is not possible, delete the file using the DOS 8.3 filename.

Open a DOS prompt (create a shortcut to CMD and click that).
Navigate to the containing folder.
Type: dir /x
This will display the contents of the folder and include the 8.3 shortnames.
Type “del” followed by the shortname.

For example, if the filename is something like “Order protecting blah blah blah.p”, the 8.3 shortname will be “ORDERP~1.P”

What is this thumbs.db file?

Windows creates a thumbs.db file each time the contents of the folder is displayed in thumbnails view. It’s a file used by Windows, and it doesn’t need to be printed or opened if received as part of a collection of documents.

Novell

Changing the login server to VPCHI05

To change the login server to VPCHI05:

At the Novell login screen, click the “Advanced »” button in the lower right to expand the window. Click on the “Servers” button. Click on VPCHI05 and then click OK. Click the “Advanced «” button to collapse the window.

Enter your username and password and click OK to log in.

Winzip

Creating a zip file

To create a zip file, put all of the files you want to zip into a single folder on the desktop. Name the folder as you wish the zip file to be named.

Right click the folder on the desktop and hover over the Winzip menu item – a submenu will pop up. Select the second option from the expanded submenu to create a zip file on the desktop using the folder name.

To send the zip file as an email attachment, right click on it and hover over the “Send to” menu item. Select “GroupWise Recipient” from the expanded menu. This will create a new email with the zip file already attached.

Extracting a Winzip file (.zip) received as an email attachment

A Winzip file contains one or more other files, which can be Word documents, PDFs, images or other files. To access these documents, you will first need to ‘extract’ them from the Zip file.

Drag the Winzip file from the email attachment window to the desktop. Right-click it and select Winzip -> “Extract to folder C:\Documents and Settings\…” A folder will be created on the desktop with the same name as the Winzip file and that contains the documents.

It’s now safe to delete the Zip file from the desktop. Once the documents are in the system or you are finished viewing or printing them, you can delete the folder from the desktop.

Palm

Palm Desktop opens then immediately closes with a palm.exe error

Make a backup of the C:\Program Files\Palm folder.

Open C:\Program Files\Palm
Open the user’s named folder
Rename address.dat to address.dat.backup

Open Palm Desktop
Tools -> Options -> General tab
Change “Startup application” to Media
Click OK and then close Palm Desktop

Open C:\Program Files\Palm
Open the user’s named folder
Rename address.dat.backup back to address.dat

Reopen Palm Desktop
Tools -> Options -> Tools tab
Click “Check Now” next to “Check and repair any corrupted records”.

Palm Desktop will attempt to repair corrupt records.

Resync the device to update the device with the repaired records.

Novell & Windows 2000

Profiles

To delete a user’s Windows profile (roaming profile), right click on My Computer and select Properties. The System Properties window will open. Select the “User Profiles” tab, highlight the user’s profile and click Delete. Verify that the corresponding user folder has been deleted from “C:\Documents and Settings\”.

To delete the Novell profile, right click on My Computer and select Manage. The Computer Management window will open. Highlight or expand “Local Users and Groups”, open or select the Users folder. Right click on the user account and select Delete. Click through the warning.

The Novell profile is an “Account created by Novell’s Workstation Manager”. Deleting the Windows roaming profile will not delete the Novell profile.

Microsoft Paint

Resizing images in Microsoft Paint

Save the image to your desktop or a folder.

Open the image in Microsoft Paint (right-click the image and select Open With -> Choose Program… -> Microsoft Paint or with Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Paint, File -> Open) and click Image -> Stretch/Skew. Type ’50’ in the Horizontal and Vertical percent boxes. Click OK.

Click File -> Save to save the image (use Save As to change the file name if desired).

Hardware

Reset a TrendNET KVM switch

Occasionally, the TrendNET KVM switch will stop detecting your keyboard and mouse, leaving them unresponsive. Flipping between PCs on the switchbox will not resolve the issue and the lights on the switchbox will flash, rather than stay on.

To reset the switch, disconnect both of the big VGA cables at the back of the switch (these are attached with thumbscrews), then reconnect them. You do not need to disconnect the VGA cable attached to the side of the switch.

Sometimes the TrendNET KVM switch will not properly detect your PC, indicated by a flashing light on the KVM switch.

If the keyboard on one PC will work and that PC’s corresponding light on the switch will stay on, you can try resetting the KVM switch by hitting the following key strokes while the switch is controlling the working PC:

Scroll lock, scroll lock, S
-or-
Scroll lock, scroll lock, up-arrow

How to cold reset an HP printer

To wipe out the configuration of an HP printer and return it to factory settings:

Model 4050, 4100:
Turn off the power, hold down the Go button, and turn the power back on. You’ll see a “Cold Reset” message on the printer’s display panel. Let go of the Go button.

Model 4250, 4300, 4350:
Turn the printer off, then back on. When the printer begins the memory count, hold down the Checkmark button until all the LED status lights illuminate and stay lit. Release the Checkmark button and use the Up/Down arrow keys to navigate to the Cold Reset option. Press the Checkmark button.

HP printer manual feed tray

To print envelopes from the manual feed tray without being prompted at the printer to confirm the paper size, push the Checkmark button on the printer to enter the menus, then verify the following settings:

Paper Handling -> Tray 1 Size = Any Size
Paper Handling -> Tray 1 Type = Any Type
Configure Device -> System Setup -> Tray Behavior -> Manually Feed Prompt = Unless Loaded
Configure Device -> Printing -> Manual Feed = Off

BlackBerry

The BlackBerry trackball stops moving in one or more directions

This is most often due to dirt, lint, moisture, etc. that gets into the roller mechanism beneath the ball, which is why carrying the device in your pocket is not recommended.

First, power off the device, then run the corner of a sheet of paper around the trackball, between the ball and the socket, to clear out some of the gunk. Then run a lens cleaner sheet or lint-free cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol over the ball in a circular motion.

If movement isn’t restored, you’ll probably have to call your service provider and ask how to get the trackball assembly replaced, but that isn’t cheap.

If you feel up to dismantling the track ball mechanism and delicately moving tiny parts around with tweezers, this might help:
Trackball Cleaning and Disassembly w/ PICTURES

Changing the alerts on the BlackBerry

If the audible alerts are annoying, particularly when using the device as an mp3 player, you might first try out the Quiet profile, which should display alerts with a flash only, or the Vibrate profile, which should vibrate and flash, rather than editing one of the profile settings.

To edit a profile, look for the speaker icon on the desktop. There may be some sound waves or other graphic overlaying the speaker. Click that to view a list of all the available profiles. Scroll down to advanced, and click that. Click the profile that you want to modify (likely the Active profile). To edit the SMS (or text message) alerts, for example, scroll down to ‘SMS text’ and click that.

Settings are split into two ‘environments’: out of holster and in holster. Highlight the setting next to Out of Holster and click it. Select None to totally disable SMS Text notifications (no flashing light, no vibrate, no tone), or choose an alert type (tone or vibrate+tone) and then highlight Volume, click, and turn that down to low.

Repeat these settings in the In Holster area.

Citrix

Cannot read connection file “<PATH>/launch.ica”. Error number 10.

After entering the user credentials and then launching the Citrix desktop, the launch.ica file is saved to a location on the hard drive. The Citrix client then tries to open launch.ica, but fails. An error pops up in a Citrix window:

Cannot read connection file “<PATH>/launch.ica”. Error number 10.

The problem is caused by the length of the hard drive’s name. Renaming the hard drive to something short, like “HardDrive”, resolves the issue.

The solution was found at: http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/Server_Software/Application_Servers/Q_23811390.html