Fix it: Device Manager Empty or Blank

Fix it: Device Manager Empty or Blank

What to do if you open up your device manager & its empty ! Blank !
Here's how you do it:



Click on Start, then Run, and type in REGEDT32.
Click on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE window or expand that hive and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum

Now right-click on Enum and choose Permissions.
If the Group or user names list box is empty, then you know this is the problem!
It should have two names in there, System and Everyone.

Click the Add button and type in Everyone and click OK. Check the Allow box next to Read for Everyone. Now click Add again and type in System. Check the Allow box next to Read and Full Control for System. It should look like this:

Both the check boxes under Allow should be selected when you highlight System.
Also be sure to click on the Advanced button after adding both users and selecting Reset permission entries on all child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects.

Click OK and if a warning message comes up, just click OK.
Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer.
You should now be able to see everything in the Device Manager.

Fix it: Windows Firewall Greyed Out

Fix it: Windows Firewall Greyed Out

If you're using windows Xp and your windows Firewall happened to be greyed out,as shown below.

Here's an easy trick to enable it back again.

-Start > Run> regedit.exe

-Go to HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall key

-Backup/Export that key first, then remove/delete WindowsFirewall branch

-Restart computer

-Windows Firewall should come back again as default

 

Fix it: Spell check does not work in Office 2007

Fix it: Spell check does not work in Office 2007

If your spell check does not work, either in your Office outlook or Office Word, this is what you should do

Step 1 

Go to Office Button > Word options > Proofing > Custome dictionary > Make
sure CUSTOM.DIC is checked.

Step 2 

Click on Office Button | Word Options | Proofing | check the
"Check spelling as you type" and "Check grammar with spelling" boxes |
uncheck the "Hide spelling errors in this document only" and "Hide
grammar errors in this document only" boxes | OK.

Step 3 

Open a document that has this problem, press Ctrl+A to select all
of the text
Click on Review tab | Proofing: Set Language |
language> | uncheck the "Detect language automatically" and "Do not
check spelling or grammar" boxes | Default | OK.
Click on Office Button | Word Options | Proofing | check the
"Check spelling as you type" and "Check grammar with spelling" boxes |
uncheck the "Hide spelling errors in this document only" and "Hide
grammar errors in this document only" boxes | OK.

Step 4

In your Windows registry, if the key
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Proofing
Tools\1.0\Override" exists, delete it.

Fix it: Recent Office Documents not showing on the list

Fix it: Recent Office Documents not showing on the list 

If you have an issue with your recent documents list in any office program and it goes missing or doesn’t work, or it does not appear as per normal. Please try the following : 

This is what I'm talking about :

Click start

Click run

Type in "Regedit"

Navigate to  HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Create / Delete the DWORD entry called: NoRecentDocsHistory
A value of 1 will disable the Recent Documents list and 0 is to enable the list

It applies to Office 2002,Office 2003,Office 2007

Fix it: Send Via Email option is greyed out

"Send Via Email" option is greyed out

If you have an issue sending email from office word or office excel via the 'send via email option', here's what you can do :

Resolution

1. Close all programs.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Messaging Subsystem
4. Locate the following registry values. Typically, these values are listed in the Windows Messaging Subsystem key.

Name Type Data
MAPI REG_SZ 1
CMC REG_SZ 1
CMCDLLNAME REG_SZ Mapi.dll
CMCDLLNAME32 REG_SZ Mapi32.dll
MAPIX REG_SZ 1
MAPIXVER REG_SZ 1.0.0.1
OLEMessaging REG_SZ 1

5. If any of these registry values are missing, follow these steps to add the values:

a. Click the Windows Messaging Subsystem subkey, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click String Value.
b. Type the name of the missing value, and then press ENTER.
c. Click the new value, and then click Modify on the Edit menu.
d. In the Edit String dialog box, type the correct value for the missing string value in the Value data box.
e. Repeat steps 6a - 6d for each value that is missing from the table that is in step 4.

6. On the File menu, click Exit.

Typically, Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, and Word 2007 display the correct e-mail options automatically when the required registry keys are present. If these programs do not display the e-mail options after you use the methods described here, add the e-mail options to these programs. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the File menu, click Program Name Options.
2. Click Customization, and then click All commands in the Commands list.
3. Click the command that you want, and then click Add to add the command to the Quick Access toolbar. For example, click Send for Review, and then click Add to add the Send for Review command to the toolbar.
4. Click OK.

Fix it: Customize program using a keyboard shortcut

Fix it:
The start menu in windows is great, but if you have like many software installed, it could be a headache & time consuming to find and locate.Well you could create a desktop shortcut, but I prefer having a keyboard shortcut.
If you're like me this is how you do it :

Customize program using a keyboard shortcut

1.Click on the Start menu, click All Programs.
Right-click the program that you want to start with a keyboard shortcut, and click Properties.



2.Click in the Shortcut key tab.Click the letter on your keyboard that you want to use to start the program.


3.Simply click on ok

Fix it: Windows XP Activations Troubleshooting

If you have problems with windows xp activations, try the following steps.
It might help:

Windows XP Activations Troubleshooting

Step 1
1. Get into Command Prompt.
2. Type cd\windows\system32
3. Type ren wpa.dbl wpa.old
4. Type copy wpa.bak wpa.dbl
5. Restart

Check if you're able to activate, or else follow step 2

Step 2
1. Start > run >regedit>
2. Go to > HKLM\Software\Microsoft\windows NT\Current Version\Winlogon
3. Add a DWORD value to this key that is named “Activation Required”, and then set the value of this DWORD to 1.

Restart and check if you're able to activate, if still no go, keep on following

Step 3
1. Start > run >regedit>
2. HKLM\Software\Microsoft\windows NT\Current Version\WPAEvents\OOBETimer
3. Make some random changes to the value, do not restart, then try to

Activate again by running the command c:\windows\system32\oobe\msoobe /a

Step 4
1. Get into Command Prompt
2. Type cd\windows\system32
3. Type ren wpa.dbl wpa.old
4. expand d:\i386\wpa.db_ wpa.dbl
5. Restart

Fix it: Windows Vista Activations Troubleshooting

Got yourself Windows vista ?? haha...nah its not that bad...its so..so.. :p
well if you're having activations issues, you can follow steps below to resolve it

Firstly you will need to know about slmgr commands, have a look below

1. slmgr -dli (this will display the current activation/licensing info of the pc your on)

2. slmgr -ipk xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx (allows you to replace the current product key with the specified)

3. slmgr -xpr (shows expiration date of current license)

4. slmgr -upk (uninstalls current product key)

5. slmgr -ato (activates current pc’s license)

6. slmgr -skms activationservername/slmgr -skms port/slmgr –skms activationservername:port (sets KMS server used for activation and/or port, ie slmgr -skms 192.168.10.1:8090 or slmgr -skms KMSServer:8090)

7. slmgr -rearm (resets the licensing status of the machine)

8. slmgr -ckms (clears the name of KMS server used to default and port to default)
___________________________________________________
If you have trouble activating WinVista or Win Svr 2008, This is what you can do :

1. Access command prompt in elevated mode

2. Slmgr –upk (this will uninstall the current product key)

3. Slmgr –rearm (reset the activation files

4. Perform reactivation of the system

Restart pc & reactivate windows or to ensure that system does not prompt for reactivation
To bring up the activation screen simply type in slui4.exe in the run command

For a complete list of activations troubleshooting which comprimises win xp, windows vista & windows 7 please visit my second blog here

Fix it: Troubleshooting Windows 7 Activations Issues

If you're having Issues activating windows ? Here are a list of errors & troubleshooting steps you can do to resolve WINDOWS 7 activation issues:

Activation Error 0xC004C003
This error is displayed as follows:

The activation server determined that the specific product key is in use: 0xC004C003

This error is typically related to re-using a key that has already been used to activate Windows. Check the key to be sure you are using the correct key. If you are, it would be best to start with Windows Activation support for assistance

Activation Error 0xC004E003
This error is displayed as follows:

The following failure occurred while trying to use the product key:

The Software Licensing Service reported that the license evaluation failed: 0xC004E003

Troubleshooting for this issue is provided in the following Knowledge Base article: 950755 Error message when you try to activate a copy of Windows Vista: “The Software Licensing Service reported that the license evaluation failed: 0xC004E003″

Activation Error 0xC004F050
This error is displayed as follows:

The following failure occurred while trying to use the product key:

0xC004F050

The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is invalid

Troubleshooting for this issue is provided in the following Knowledge Base article: 950756 Error message when you try to activate a copy of Windows Vista by using the Windows Activation wizard: “The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is invalid: 0xC004F050″

This issue may also be resolved using the standard troubleshooting steps provided above, as the cause for the key error could be damaged software licensing files.

Activation Error 0xC004F061
This error is displayed as follows:

The following failure occurred while trying to use the product key:

0xC004F061

The Software Licensing Service determined that this specified product key can only be used for upgrading, not for clean installations.

This error is encountered when you perform a clean installation of Windows without entering a product key, and then provide a Retail Upgrade key during the Activation wizard.

If everything else fails and you stuck, Its about time to call Microsoft.
Check out your Microsoft support numbers here
*ps - All windows updates Issues are free of charge, so call them !! lol

Fix it: Issues with movies ??

Not able to watch movies? Broken Links ? NO subtitles ? No audio ?


There are times when you’ve waited to watch that paticular movie, but dissapointed cause either the file is broken, no audio or no subtitles. Well, you can sort that out yourself, here’s how.


Unable to play a movie ?
Try downloading VLC Player V1.0.2 it plays almost any formats out there !


Fix My Movie ?
Still the same, than your movie is most probably broken, try downloading freewares to fix it from here


No Audio?
If there is no audio available but the video is fine, most probably you don’t have the updated codec
Try downloading K Lite Codec V5.1.0 from here


Subtitles?
Everything is fine, but you don’t understand what the heck the dude in the movie is talking about !
Subtitles might help. Try downloading subtitles from here & enjoy your movie !


How to embed the subtitles in the movie ?
Simple, Once you’ve downloaded,just open the zip file and you would have a file by the extension of .srt
If you’re using VLan player.Drag & drop the file onto the movie while is playing & Voila !!