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Run time Error nightmares - Tips before calling help

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:57:55 -0700

Getting an error while you are working on your computer can be a shock, you may not have any idea what caused it, and the information the error gives you may be incomprehensible. But troubleshooting basic runtime errors isn’t very difficult, and can save you both time and money.

Simple Troubleshooting Steps
While the first rule of troubleshooting in the world of electronics is to turn the device off and on again, there is a little you’ll want to do before taking that obvious step. The first thing to do when you get an error is to write down or otherwise record the error message you got and to remember what you did to get the error. This is so you can duplicate the error to find out if you’ve fixed it.

When you run a program, it is loaded into the memory of your computer where it resides as long as it is running. Some runtime errors happen only in that copy of your program that is in memory. When you shut down the program and restart it, the memory is usually cleared. If the problem is only in the memory, restarting your program will fix it. To test that, just restart your program and do whatever it was that you did to get the error in the first place.

Always Restart the Computer before Calling for Help
Sometimes closing just the program isn’t enough. Sometime an error will affect something else in memory, and you need to restart the entire computer to completely clear out the memory cache. This is an essential step to troubleshooting, and one that you should always do before calling anyone for help. After restarting your computer, try to repeat your problem to test if it was fixed.

Software Conflicts and Bad Installations Can Cause Runtime Errors
If you are still getting the error, it may be caused by a more serious issue. The next step is to check for conflicts with other software by shutting down any other program running. This may include your security software, so if possible disconnect from the Internet first. If the problem is fixed by shutting down a different program, you may need to contact the developers of the software to get a fix.

The problem is still happening? Time to reinstall the problem software. First uninstall the program, and then do a clean reinstallation. Do not add any patches or updates yet. Test to see if your problem happens. If not, install patches and updates one at a time and test between each effort. Sometimes a software update can cause unexpected errors. If it does, you should contact the software developers to let them know.

Pulling Out the Big Guns

If that doesn’t fix it, your problem is more serious. You should clean your registry with a registry cleaner and run any security software to check for viruses or spyware. A good registry cleaner will solve many problems that aren’t immediately obvious to a regular user. Some subtle problems can be caused by well-hidden spyware. When all else fails, it’s time to take your computer to an expert. Be sure to let the people at the computer shop know what steps you took to troubleshoot.

Article Source : Fix Runtime Errors Without Calling For Help

StarForce Protection won't remove from Vista

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:31:28 -0700

Hi, I run Windows Vista home basic that came with my HP notebook. I have this peculiar issue where StarForce protection driver incompatibility message keeps popping on start up with the error message...

This driver is blocked due to compatibility issues
Driver: StarForce Protection
Publisher: StarForce

The installed StarForce protection driver is not compatible with this version of Windows and will be disabled.

How could I remove this error and also Is there a way to uninstall Star force driver completely from my Vista.

how to redirect

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:16:27 -0700

dear all,

i've got server with one network interface (le0), one public IP address (A.B.C.D) and there is remote proxy (W.X.Y.Z) port 3128. How to redirecting www traffict to use remote proxy using pf ? I use this pf rule but still not work.

rdr on le0 proto tcp from $my_if to any port www -> W.X.Y.Z port 3128

thanks

Zone Alarm firewall alerts

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:15:23 -0700

Zone Alarm firewall alerts

Postby musicmessenger » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:34 pm
Hi, Does anybody know how I can retaliate against the following access attempts my Zone Alarm firewall is alerting me of daily: "...the firewall has blocked internet access to your computer (NetBIOS Session) from...: 1. host155-79.unused.cyberus.ca (209.195.79.155)(TCP Port 1762) 2. host92-92.dsl.otton1.isp.cyberus.ca 3. 209.195.79.155 (TCP Port 3308)(TCP Flags) Thanks,

Excellent MS Security Resource

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:08:53 -0700

OK, for those who have a bunch of MS junk in their shops, here is a *great* resource for you. Attached is a word doc which has many links to MS sites which detail lockdowns of MS products, webcast info, white paper links, countermeasure and tools links, etc..

I have handed this out to my legions of uneducated admins but I thought that many security folks here may get some use out of it too.

ENJOY!

Basics of Wireless Security...

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:04:33 -0700

Due to the high volume of recent request I decided to post this little checklist that I made for some of my customers and friends. I hope you all find it useful.
Basic Wireless Security:

Should be done:

- DO NOT use the default SSID
- DO NOT broadcast SSID
- Change the administrator Username/Password for your router
- Use WEP or WPA (if available on your router)
- Use MAC filtering if possible
- Limit the number of DHCP assigned IP address (or use static IP)
- Block ALL unassigned IP addresses
- Turn off default shares on the computer, set permissions for files that need to be shared.
- Turn off Printer sharing if it is not needed.

Optional: (not so basic)

- Limit broadcast range
- Use rotating WEPS
- When assigning IP addresses use class A or B IP’s and a class C subnet (sort of a Security through Obscurity technique against people scanning for active IP’s)
- Use a form of data encryption during transfers
- Rotate assigned IP addresses

In addition to these wireless security percussions that must be taken you must also remember to:

- Keep your operating system fully updated.
- Be sure to update your antivirus program
- Use Strong passwords (a good password should be at least 8 characters long, contain both upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters)
- Change your password every few months
- DO NOT use standard passwords (i.e. the same password for everything)
- Be careful what you download
- Use a program such as Ad-aware, or Spybot search & destroy to help control adware/spyware
- Use a firewall, there are many free software firewalls available.

Hello everybody Im setting up a tournament for NFS but still haven´t decided which o

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:03:51 -0700

Hello everybody

Im setting up a tournament for NFS but still haven´t decided which one to play in order to fullfil this 2 aspects

1. Highly competitive and action charged for players
2. Easy LAN setup for up to 6 players

Hope you guys can recomend me one

Thank you in advance

Best NFS

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:01:59 -0700

Which is your favourite NFS and which was the one you hated most?
In my opinion, the best is NFS Most Wanted, and the worst is NFS Carbon.

Girls in NFS Series

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:59:17 -0700

Hello,

I'm working in an article for school about all the girls that have appeared in Need for Speed. The only 3 famous ones I can remember are Brooke Burke, Maggie Q and Christina Milian as the main page says. Are there any other important ones? Or how about pictures of them. Any help with this will be appreciated.

Thanks for your time and help.

What's the best soundtrack from each nfs game?

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:54:34 -0700

Hi y'all,

What are the best soundtracks from each nfs game?

I like fired up from mw and the joker from carbon.

What is an Add-On Domain?

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:50:54 -0700

Hello Friends

An Add-On domain will allow you to host an additional domain name under the same web hosting account. It is accomplished by pointing the nameservers of the new domain name to the server and simply adding the Add-On domain in your Control Panel. You will then have a folder on your main domain that will contain all of the files and folders for the Add-On domain. We have recenlty added Add-On domain capability to most of our web hosting plans. For example, our Virtual Professional 200mb account is like having 2 web hosting accounts because it comes with Add-On domain.

Favorite horror movies.

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:49:47 -0700

Hi!
Post your top 5 horror movies. Mine are listed below.
1. Night Of The Living Dead
2. Dawn of the Dead
3. Psycho
4. The Exorcist
5. Frankenstein.

What You Need to Know About Using an Antivirus.

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:48:34 -0700

Probably the most important piece of software you'll need on your computer is that of an antivirus program. Windows systems are highly susceptible to viruses and all types of spyware and Trojans are being made that can destroy your system and make your computer lag and run extremely slow. Here we'll review some of the benefits of using an antiviral program.

Viruses can get into a computer system simply by visiting a certain webpage where the virus is hidden and lurking in the pages. They can also infect computers if the user downloads media from a peer to peer file sharing site. The virus can either be caught from another user's files that unknowingly contain a virus, or through a file where a user has purposely added a virus to the file.

Most viruses are given a threat meter, from least damaging to highest alert. There are websites dedicated to compiling all the latest threat data with information on the threat and removal instructions as well. Check them often to be sure you're running the latest updates.

Purchasing or downloading free antivirus software is the best way to protect your computer against viruses.

Your favorite childhood movies.

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:14:33 -0700

What were some of your favorite childhood movies?

My favorites:

Ferris Bueller's Day off
Weird Science
Short Circuit
Weekend at Bernie's
Who framed Roger Rabbit?
Terminator
Superman
Scarface
Revenge of the Nerds
Lucas.

Linux installation problem. please help!

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:12:56 -0700

Hi!
I am trying to install linux(ive tryed Fedora 12, ubuntu 9.10 and 9.04) on my desktop computer that my friend gave me. it had been sitting in his gorage for a while. when linux gets about half way installed an error message comes up and says: "The installer has encountered an error coping files to your hard disk, this error is often due to a faulty CD/DVD disk or drive, or a faulty hard disk. it may help to burn the cd/dvd at a lower speed, to clean the cd/dvd drive lens to check weather the HDD is old and in need of replacement, or move the system to a cooler environment".

How can I protect my HDD??

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:10:36 -0700

I need to know: a system with two HDD, one with operating system and the other with my documents.
Suppose that while connected to the internet a virus is downloaded to the second hdd (i.e. the one with my docs) would it infect the other hard drive(i.e. the one with OS)
I know that the anti virus should prevent this from happening but one never knows.
Thanks guys..

Suggesstions on Wi-Fi security!!!

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:18:50 -0700

One of my friend has a Wi-Fi connection from Verizon, but he is not much into computers and related stuff. He is now having problems with the security. Can you guys help me by suggesting some ways to secure the wi-fi access. I would appreciate any help help in this matter. Thanking you in advance.

New One

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:03:38 -0700

Hi Everyone!!
I am New person who is just join this community.I am very happy to be here and have all other members.I hope that we will have frankly discussion and current information sharing regarding to related topics.I hope for a nice time in future.
I hope somebody would welcome me and Just say HI !!
Thanks,

List of Linux Shortcuts

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:22:42 -0700

Linux Shortcuts and Commands

Switch to the first text terminals. Under Linux you can have several (6 in standard setup) terminals opened at the same time. This is a keyboard shortcut, which means: "press the control key and the alt key, hold them. Now press . Release all keys."

(n=1..6)
Switch to the nth text terminal. (The same could be accomplished with the rarely used command chvt n. "chvt" stands for "change virtual terminal"). In text terminal (outside X), you can also use (the key is not needed).

tty
Print the name of the terminal in which you are typing this command. If you prefer the number of the active terminal (instead of its name), it can be printed using the command fgconsole (="foreground console").

Switch to the first GUI terminal (if X-windows is running on the 7th terminal, where it typcially is).

(n=7..12)
Switch to the nth GUI terminal (if a GUI terminal is running on screen n-1). On default, the first X server is running on terminal 7. On default, nothing is running on terminals 8 to 12--you can start subsequent X server there.

(In a text or X terminal) Autocomplete the command if there is only one option, or else show all the available options. On newer systems you may need to press . THIS SHORTCUT IS GREAT, it can truely save you lots of time.

(In a text or X terminal) Scroll and edit the command history. Press to execute a historical command (to save on typing). scrolls back.

Scroll terminal output up. This works also at the login prompt, so you can scroll through your bootup messages. The amount/usage of your video memory determines how far back you can scroll the display. scrolls the terminal output down.

<+>
(in X-windows) Change to the next X-server resolution (if you set up the X-server to more than one resolution). For multiple resolutions on my standard SVGA card/monitor, I have the following line in the file /etc/X11/XF86Config (the first resolution starts on default, the largest resolution determines the size of the "virtual screen"):
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" "512x384" "480x300" "400x300" "1152x864"Z
Of course, first I had to configure the X server, either by using Xconfigurator, xf86config, or manually by edition the file /etc/X11/XF86Config, so that it supports the above resolutions (mostly the matter of uncommenting the line that defines my video chipset, and specifying the synchronization frequencies my monitor supports). XFdrake (Mandrake configuration utility) can do it from GUI. See also the commands xvidtune and xvidgen.

<->
(in X-windows) Change to the previous X-server resolution.

(in X-windows, KDE) Kill the window I am going to click with my mouse pointer (the pointer changes to something like a death symbol). Similar result can be obtained with the command xkill (typed in X-terminal). Useful when an X-window program does not want to close (hangs?).

(in X-windows) Kill the current X-windows server. Use if the X-windows server cannot be exited normally.

(in text terminal) Shut down the system and reboot. This is the normal shutdown command for a user at the text-mode console. Don't just press the "reset" button for shutdown!

c
Kill the current process (works mostly with small text-mode applications).

d
(pressed at the beginning of an empty line) Log out from the current terminal. See also the next command.

d
Send [End-of-File] to the current process. Don't press it twice else you also log out (see the previous command).

s
Stop the transfer to the terminal.

q
Resume the transfer to the terminal. Try if your terminal mysteriously stops responding. See the previous command.

z
Send the current process to the background.

exit
Logout. I can also use logout for the same effect. (If you have started a second shell, e.g., using bash, this command will make you exit the second shell, and you will be back in the first shell, not logged out. Then use another exit to logout.)

reset
Restore a screwed-up terminal (a terminal showing funny characters) to default setting. Use if you tried to "cat" a binary file. You may not be able to see the command as you type it, but it still will work.

Paste the text which is currently highlighted somewhere else. This is the normal "copy-paste" operation in Linux. It a fast and powerful supplement to the widely-known GUI "copy-paste" menu-based operation. (It doesn't work inside older versions of Netscape which use the Mac/MS Windows-style "copy-paste" exclusively. It does work in the text terminal if you enabled "gpm" service using "setup". It also works inside any dialog boxes, etc.--really convenient!) It is best used with a Linux-ready 3-button mouse (Logitech or similar) or else set "3-mouse button emulation". The is normally emulated on a 2-button mouse by pressing both mouse buttons simultanously.

~
(tilde character) My home directory (normally the directory /home/my_login_name). For example, the command cd ~/my_dir will change my working directory to the subdirectory "my_dir" under my home directory. Typing just "cd" alone is an equivalent of the command "cd ~". I keep all my files in my home directory.

.
(dot) Current directory. For example, ./my_program will attempt to execute the file "my_program" located in your current working directory.

..
(two dots) Directory parent to the current one. For example, the command cd .. will change my current working directory one one level up.

Some additional KDE keyboard shortcuts (useful, but non-essential)
Walk through windows. To walk backwards:
Walk through desktops. To walks backwards:
Show the table of processes running on my system. Allow me to kill any of the processes I started (or send other signals to them).
Access the K-menu ("Equivalent to MS Windows "Start" menu).
Emulate the mouse using the arrow keys on the keyboard.
Drag a window to move it. Normally, I move a window by dragging its top title bar, but occassionally I manage to get it off the screen. With this shortcut, I can drag by any part of the window.
Take a snapshot of the current window into the clipboard.
Take a snapshot of the entire desktop into the clipboard.
Lock the desktop.
Toggle hide/show the desktop (great to hide the Solitaire game when your boss walks in).

(Non-essential.) This is a group of key combinations implemented at the Linux kernel level (a low level). It means, chances are these key combinations will work most of the time. The combinations are meant for debugging purposes and in an emergency (mostly developers); you should try other, safer solutions first. The key is also knows on PC as . The combinations can be enabled/disabled by setting the relevant kernel variable to "1" or "0", e.g. : echo "1" > /proc/sys/kernel/sysrq
Kill all processes (including X) which are running on the currently active virtual console. This key combination is know as "secure access key" (SAK).
Send the TERM signal to all running processes except init, asking them to exit.
Send the KILL signal to all running processes except init. This may be more successful in killing runaway processes than the previous key combination, but it may cause some of them to exit abnormally.
Send the KILL signal to all processes, including init. The system will not be functional.
Run an emergency sync (cache write) on all mounted filesystems. This can prevent data loss.
Remount all mounted filesystems as read-only. This has the same effect as the sync combination above, but with one important benefit: if the operation is successful, fsck won't have to check all filesystems after a computer hardware reset.
Turn off keyboard raw mode. This can be useful when your X session hangs. After issueing this command you may be able to use .
Reboot immediately without syncing or unmounting your disks. Your will likely end up with filesystem errors.
Shut the system off (if configured and supported).

Dump the current registers and flags to your console.
Dump a list of current tasks and their information to your console.
Dump memory info to your console.
SysRq> The digit is '0' to '9'. Set the console log level, controlling which kernel messages will be printed to your console. For example, '0' will cause only emergency messages like PANICs or OOPSes displayed on your console.
Display help. Also, any other unsupported combination will display the same help.

Gald to be a part of this site

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:21:08 -0700
Hello Everyone,

I am Hampton Edwards..I am a new member her..Well I like the topics and related information at this community..I think that it is a very nice learning curve for the new members of the forum.Please have trust on me.I hope that you will give be true support and suggestions..