• XP-won't wake up
  
• Mouse doesn't work
  
• File backups vs. Disk
  Image clones
  
• Control Panel removed
  
• windows XP - desktop
  
• Deleting bookmarks?
  
• Windows XP Help File
  
• How to transfer files
  from an old computer
  
• Saving files after install
  
• Update sent me to
  twilight zone
  
• Registering a program
  in the Registry
  
• How do I shut down
  startup items?
  
• Websites of Interest
  
• Questions on our
  Discussion Board
  

XP-won't wake up

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1187236079/

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• billrobb - When I put the computer to sleep it won't turn on either by moving the mouse or touching one or more keys. This is a new phenomena.I have to shut it down and revive it by booting up.
• dlwolff0 - Wake up options for hardware are normally set in the BIOS. Check there and see if they are set correctly. If they are, some program running in the background may be trying to prevent sleep mode and causing this problem.on is different on different computers. I have also seen the location in a similar place but in the Windows directory.
• billrobb - thanks...where are the bios choices?
• dlwolff0 - Normally under Power Management Setup.
  

Mouse doesn't work

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1187289597/

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• scain828 - My computer boots great - no problem. However, I can't get the mouse to work. Its a PS 2 and it won't do anything. I took the computer apart, dusted, connection, pins, everything seems fine. What could be wrong? When I had it apart - I was checking if it was plugged in entire way and it did reboot my computer. HELP???
• dlwolff0 - I would highly suspect a short in the mouse wiring or a problem with the PS2 port on the motherboard. If someone has a PS2 mouse they would loan you [or buy a cheap generic mouse], plug it in and see if it works, if not it's the port.
• scain828 - Maybe a silly question - but can I change just the port or am I looking at a new board?
• dlwolff0 - You could get a USB mouse, a very common setup now.
• Ray - If the problem were in the port connection itself, you would be able to replace the port depending on how mechanical you are. But the problem (if it is not the mouse itself) is most likely in the motherboard which would require the replacement of the motherboard.
  

File backups vs. Disk Image clones

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1186500144/

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• Stuart - I have two hard drives on my PC and use the second one to backup all the files on the first one. I use both WinResq and Second Copy to backup files and they work well for general Windows crashes, file corruptions, and other selective backups. However, when my hard drive failed and I had to reinstall Windows XP on a new one, I still had to reinstall many applications. Just transferring all the files from the second hard drive didn't work completely.
          Recently, I tried a different approach and made an exact image of my hard drive to my backup drive using a nice freeware program called Drive Image XML. I was also surprised at how quickly it made an image of the whole drive. So if my HD crashes again, I can just switch drives and be ready to go in 5 minutes. It will boot and load everything just like the original drive.
          I'm interested in anyone's opinions about the pro's and con's of backup of individual files VS. backup by cloning a HD sector by sector.
• dlwolff0 - Disk Imaging is a good technique, that's why nearly all computer manufacturers use it. The down side is that it returns your computer to the date when the image was made. Anything after that is gone, unless you have current file backups.
          Many people use the method of formatting the hard drive, getting a perfect operating system and major programs install, then doing a disk image. Make file backups on your daily work and must saves, then when the crash comes, you simply reload the perfect disk image, put your file backups on it and you are ready to go.
          As in most areas, the best system is a combination of both methods, but few have the time and patience to implement it.
• Ray - I agree with dlwolff0.
          Adding to his comments, I have tried some free disk imaging programs and have been very disappointed. They backed up fine but then when I wanted to restore the image it could not be restored because it was the image with the system on it. The software did not warn of this limitation ahead of time. If the system was installed and running, I could restore ndividual files from the image but that makes the program equivalent to backing up individual files.
          There is good disk imaging software out there but there is also the fake software that I came across. Beware.
• golferjack - I use a program from PARAGON to make a disk image of my C drive. The image is written to one of my other hard drives. In the event that my C drive becomes damaged or Windows has a bad problem, I just restore the image to either a new drive or the C drive if it was a software issue, which required the restore. Paragon rums off a floppy, so I do not need a hard drive to boot from, in order to get Windows restored. Paragon accesses the hard drive with the image of my C drive. I have 3 hard drives. My C drive, where Windows resides, has no user files on it except for system files related to EMAIL and EXPLORER. All my other files, including MY DOCUMENTS, are on other drives. All my user files are backed up via Winrescue and written to one of my other hard drives. I have all my files organized such that if a loose a drive I can quickly restore a file or a drive.
• bjb007 - I use Paragon Disk Manager (free from a magazine cover DVD) to back up regularly.
          The most important thing is to have a separate partition for the OS (C:/) and keep programmes on other partitions.
          Win XP Pro only needs 20Gb so it's not too hard to back it up daily (if you're tired of re-installing the OS). Takes about five minutes to back up and same to restore.
  

Control Panel removed

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1187452323/

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• dinkyd - I had a Virus that disabled my McAfee and removed my Control Panel. I uninstalled McAfee and downloaded AVG, ran the scan and removed 2 virus'. I wasn't able to reinstall McAfee. After I removed the 2 virus and 89 malware, I uninstalled AVG, reinstalled my McAfee. I was Virus Free. But then I couldn't get on the internet because of some problem with an update from McAfee and was not able to get it fixed. I uninstalled again, reinstalled AVG Free...no virus. I also installed AVG Anti-Spyware and have no spyware. However, I cannot access properties on My Computer or Internet Explorer. It says I need to contact my System Administrator. When I did have my Control Psnel, it wouldn't let me access Add Remove Programs. I have Windows 2000. Is there any help here?
• dlwolff0 - It would seem you have a damaged Windows installation. If you have a Win2000 install disk, I would boot from the disk. When the installation dialog comes up, choose to repair the existing Windows installation. That should restore the Control Panel. The access problems may be security related. If you are running an account without administrator priviliges, that would explain the access problems and the message about contacting the system administrator. Microsoft recommends having two accounts. A basic user account for everyday use and an administrative account for fixing problems.
• dinkyd - Duh to me, but how do you set up the accounts. And, thank you for your response
• dlwolff0 - This article should explain the process. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305709/en-us
• dinkyd - Thanks for the Link. I'll go there. BTW, I did reboot from my Win2000 Disc, clicked repair - still no control panel. So then, I did it again as new installation - still no control panel
• dlwolff0 - Found a way to restore the Control Panel, according to Microsoft. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/221153/ Hope this one works.
  

windows XP - desktop

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1187240442/

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• dlpalese - Why does XP have to regenerate the desktop after closing an application. Essentially, what happens ... say IE bombs out ... and I get the message asking if I want to send a report to MS.... I click on Don't Send. The ICONS on the desktop change to a blank/generic then the whole screen regenetates with the correct application icons.
• dlwolff0 - I can see this happening if IE crashes, because Windows Explorer and IE are essentially the same program.
  

Deleting bookmarks?

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1186950145/

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• victorlvlb - I'm using msn as a isp. I can't delete one of my book marks in favorites. It reinstalls after I turn my pc off and reboot.I've deleted the book mark at least twenty times, only to have it show up a day later.???
• Ray - The book marks in Favorites are kept on your drive in different places. I would suggest that you do a Search on your computer (go to Start and then to Search) for Favorites and look in the folders that it finds for that link. When you find it, try deleting it. If it still comes back, something is adding it back in.
• victorlvlb - I've done three searches, and found nothing.
• Ray - I assume that you are using Internet Explorer as your browser. Other browsers may be different.
          I did a search for Favorites and found Favorites folders in the following places:
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users
  • C:\Documents and Settings\Default Users (star)
  • C:\Documents and Settings\{your user account}
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents
  • C:\Documents and Settings\{your user account}\Application Data (star)
          The second and last location above have the folder icon shown as a star while the others are shown as a folder. The star icons indicate that these are the actual contents of the Favorites items while the others are copies.
          Having said all of that, you should be able to delete the bookmarks from those locations (find them by right clicking on Start, selecting Explore from the popup menu, and finding the locations in Windows Explorer).
• victorlvlb - Well I found why I can't delete any of my favorite. Like I said my isp is msn and Qwest is my dsl provider. It seems that msn has all my favorites on their machine, and their machine has a bug.
  

Windows XP Help File

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1187622602/

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• wngardner - Somehow I no longer have the Windows Help file and/or can not access it. How can I fix that ?
• Ray - Try this:
  • Go to Control Panel on the Start menu.
  • Select Taskbar and Start Menu.
  • Click on the Start Menu tab in the Taskbar and Start Menu window.
  • Click on the Customize button to the right of Start menu (the Start menu item must be selected)
  • Click on the Advanced tab in the Customize Start Menu window.
  • Find Help and Support in the Start menu items list and check it.
  • Click on the OK button.
• wngardner - I looked where you directed me and Help is already checked. Do you know what the file name is and in what directory it is suppose to be in ?
• dlwolff0 - See this Microsoft knowledge base article,
          http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811630/EN-US/
          This has a link to a patch to enable you to access HTML help files after one of their security patches blocked access to them.
• wngardner - Thank you for the input. I tried the link and it will not install the download if there is a Service Pack already installed.
          The file it says it cannot find is 'helpctr.exe'.
• wngardner - Just went to MS Support and they say to do the following.
  
  • Open Regedit
  • Go to hkey_local_machine/software/microsoft/windows/currentversion/app paths
  • Double click HELPCTR.EXE
  • right-click in the right window pane, and click Modify
  • Type the following: c:\windows\pchealth\helpctr\binaries\helpctr.exe
    Restart
          The problem is there is no HELPCTR.EXE in the /app paths. Can I just add it into the apps path without messing up the registry ?
• dlwolff0 - Yes
  

How to transfer files from an old computer

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1188768948/

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• w9nvc - How can I transfer files and/or directories from an old computer running WIN98(SE), FS32, to a new computer using FSNT, WINXP Pro.? I don't have USB ports on the old computer. I do on the new one. I don't have the ccomputers on a network, and I don't want to go that route.
• Ray - I would suggest one of two routes.
          One is to copy the files to removeable media, like CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, etc.
          The other is to remove the drive with the files on it from the old computer and hook it up to the new computer. This requires opening up the computer cases on each computer. The drive will show up as an additional drive on the new computer (if the new computer boots up into Win98 after adding the old drive, turn it off and connect the drive to a different cable or connector) and then transferring files will be easy.
  

Saving files after install

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1188836800/

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• Darte - After downloading and installing new software, is it a good idea to save the file(s) in your hard drive? When purchasing or updating programs, I generally move the exe file from my desktop to my C drive, but then began to wonder if it was really necessary, or if I was just taking up space on my HD.
• Ray - Yes, and yes.
          Yes, it is a good idea to save the file to your harddrive and, yes, it probably is just taking up space on your HD.
          I always save the file to my harddrive, but with the easy access that we have to the internet, it usually is not neccesary (because you can always just go on the internet and get it again if you need it).
          The times that it comes in handy to have saved the file to your computer are when you do not have access to the internet, when your access to the internet is slow (like with dialup), when you forget where you got the file from on the internet, and when the website where you got the file from is no longer available.
          The situations when you should not save them to your harddrive are if you do not have much extra space on your harddrive or if it bothers you that you have all of those files just sitting there taking up space.
• alanturk - If it helps, I usually save the downloaded files to a folder on my hard drive that I call "Downloads" - imaginative, isn't it? Under that, I make a further folder for each new thing, as sometimes more than one file is available for download, or maybe I might occasionally want to go back to a previous version after getting the latest. I found this invaluable when buying a new computer, as I installed the old hard drive as a slave to the new one, and there were all my installation files ready for use without the bother of finding them on the internet.
  

Update sent me to twilight zone

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1189280737/

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• Mooncusser - How strange. Twice I tried to update reg vac and I was sent to this website: http://www.computersimplicityu4.com/. It is a site about sewing. It sales sewing supplies. It sent me there when I tried either option,,,to update or to go to members site. Bought needles LOL.
• Ray - You can get to the Registered Users section from our website.
          The server that the Registered Users section is on, changed its IP address. Your version of RegVac called up the Registered Users section using the IP address. The old IP address that the Registered Users section had is now the IP address of the above website. That is why you were taken there.
          The latest version of RegVac and A1Click has this fixed in it. I am sorry for this inconvenience.
  

Registering a program in the Registry

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1189338929/

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• wngardner - I have some old programs that I'd like to install in may XP pro computer. How do you register a program in the Registry or is there a utility that will do it?
• Ray - Every program registers itself differently in the registry. The only way to register a program in the registry is to install it (you do this by running that program's installation program).
          Some programs do not have to be registered in the registry to run. Some programs do not even use the registry. In these cases, the registry is not needed for them. Other programs that use the registry will write their information in the registry automatically without you doing anything.
          So if the program works without registering it in the registry, don't mess with it. Let it be.
  

How do I shut down startup items?

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1185048095/

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• zippy101 - How do i go in and choose what I want to be starting when my computer starts?
• dlwolff0 - Assuming you are not running Win2K, you can use msconfig to remove startup programs that you do not want running at startup. Go to the start\run box and type msconfig. This brings up a utility that lets you set system configuration. Go to the startup tab and uncheck any programs that you do not want running at startup.
• fnlvn2 - There are numerous free registry cleaner programs that also include startup managers. Most of these allow you to simply remove a check mark from a box and the program won't startup. The beauty of course is if you later decide you want that program to start you simply put a check mark back in the box. There are also several startup managers that do the same thing. Simply Google startup managers and select and test the ones you want
• Ray - The things fnlvn2 mentions (checking and unchecking items) can be done in msconfig. Just go to Run and type, msconfig, and follow dlwolff0's instructions.
  

Websites of Interest

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If you know of a good website, share it with us at http://www.regvac.com/forum/b-websites/

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• Speed Traps - Ray - Here are two websites that list known speed trap locations: http://www.copspy.com - http://www.njection.com/speedtrap
• CHOKTI.com - Self-guided Tours for Global Nomads - Ray - Audio & Video tours, photos & maps to all those places, near and far, that you love to visit or have always wanted to travel to.
          Use the map and the links under it to navigate to anywhere in the world and watch YouTube videos that people have posted from those areas. http://www.chokti.com/
• Get Better MPG - Ray - Increase the miles you get from a gallon of gas just by changing your driving habits. http://www.cleanmpg.com has articles telling how to get more miles to a gallon (it is called hypermiling) and forums for people to share their experiences.
  

Questions on our Discussion Board

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• Attachments
  
• A1 Click Ultra Cleaner stuck
  
• Start toobar
  
• cleaned hard drive
  
• RegPack
  
• Deleting TAR.BZ2 Files
  
• start bar icons
  
• Sony D22A will not read CDs (will read DVD)
  
• word doc
  
• SpeedStart not scanning
  
• Classes Cleaner
  
• ARPCache Viewer
  
• waking up from hibernate
  
• Ethernet\telephone line problems
  
• Registry cleaners
  
• System Restore in DOS mode w/ XP
  
• Missing Address Bar
  
• reinstall of SpeedStartup
  
• "Centinel Vxd" not responding upon shutdown
  
• Activating Windows after re-install
  
• I'm switching from XP to 98SE
  
• Difference between RegVac and RegPack
  
• Speed Startup
  
• I have dual monitors
  
• old files
  
• security alerts in windows xp
  
• System posts but no video
  
• mac OSX
  
• Registry concern
  
• dual boot reformat
  
• WinRescue XP Interrupted backup
  
• old files
  
• removing a program
  
• on and off USB ports
  
• print spooler service is unavailable
  
• Passwords appear in dots and in clear text
  
• Free AntiVirus Programs
  
• dual function keys
  
• What is the index.dat file?
  
• Need Roxio Backup MyPC (really bad)
  
• How do I stop wm11 automatically ripping cds ?
  
• video cards
  
• Hardware problems?
  
• MS Office 2000
  
• prevent right clicks and/or properties
  
• installing xp pro
  
• New computer ??
  
• Cannot open Microsoft word Doc's
  
• A1Click Ultra PC Cleaner
  
• Jigsaw puzzles
  
• What is EZ Transplanter
  
• Replacing XP with 98SE
  
• SD card reader
  
• hard drive compatability
  
• Flash Drive
  
• Application Error
  
• Anti-Spyware
  
• pdf doc. could not install
  
• Missing DVD drive
  
• outlook
  
• No Sound
  
• digital camera will not open certain program
  
• Security TOO tight - or WHAT?
  
• MS Access report writer
  
• uh oh
  
• Office Express E-mails
  
• Accounts missing from Tools menu in Outlook Express
  
• Win XP Service pack 3
  

Thanks for reading,
Ray Geide