A San Diego client of mine was having print issues that I resolved by clearing the print queue. However, afterwards, she could no longer print from Quickbooks, but could print from every other program. Additionally, when she would try to open printer setup in QB, nothing would happen. This is caused by the QBPRINT.QBP file becoming corrupt. The fix is to rename the file so that QB recreates it. It is located in C:\\ProgramData\Quickbooks 20XX.
--
Brett Kline
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Print from Quickbooks fix - rename the .QBP
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Windows 8 shortcuts
This article may be interesting to some (not so much to most), but at
the very end is a nice list of a bunch of Windows 8 keyboard
shortcuts.
http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/windowsexperience/archive/2012/03/08/getting-around-in-windows-8.aspx
Kurt Rein
San Diego Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Tweaking.com's Windows Repair
Computer repair in San Diego throws a variety of problems our way. When we encounter weird Windows issues that are rare we sometimes have to research fixes which can be quite time consuming. Tweaking.com's Windows Repair will fix a wide variety of Windows errors with the click of a button. It's a good replacement for Dial-a-fix, which was very popular among technicians back in the day, but it hasn't been updated in years and will not work for Windows 7 (and only half works for Vista).
Here's a list of common Windows problems that Windows Repair can fix:
- Reset Registry Permissions
- Reset File Permissions
- Register System Files
- Repair WMI
- Repair Windows Firewall
- Repair Internet Explorer
- Repair MDAC & MS Jet
- Repair Hosts File
- Remove Policies Set By Infections
- Missing Start Menu Icons
- Repair Icons
- Repair Winsock & DNS Cache
- Remove Temp Files
- Repair Proxy Settings
- Unhide Non System Files
- Repair Windows Updates
- Repair CD/DVD Missing/Not Working
- Repair Volume Shadow Copy Services
- Repair Windows Sidebar/Gadgets
- Set Windows Services to Default Setup
- Repair MSI (Windows Installer)
I recommend only running sections of it at time. It's hard to say what applications would be affected by running Windows Repair with default settings. Download here.
--
Brett Kline
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
858 876 2278 Mobile
Limit CPU usage to avoid overheat issues with Handbreak
Handbreak is a wonderful conversion utility, but many folks complain that it overheats the CPU then the PC shuts down. I had a client in San Diego experiencing this computer problem too. The repair was to use http://bitsum.com/index.php Process Lasso can limit the CPU usage. In my experience I tried to limit the CPU usage, but the only way I could do that was to use half of my threads. Handbreak runs the CPU at 99% which will end badly. I found that running about 25% of the CPU cores was the answer. Conversion times barely increase but the CPU temps would stay in a manageable range as teh CPU usage would stay at or below 50%.
I hope others find this post about handbreak overheating CPU max usage thermal shutdown. Search for those!
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Use Gmail to filter Spam
Spam on web hosts in San Diego such as roadrunner email can be a nightmare. The built in junk mail is average at best. Use gmail to filter messages then ultimately switch out of RR altogether.
1. Set up a free gmail account.
2. Check your existing POP account with Gmail under 'accounts' in the settings.
3. Tell it to go to a particular label, create one before or use the email address it automatically makes.
4. You can also send and receive your old account thru the gmail website. You can also have your email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird check your email for you via gmail settings. Continue to send with your old account if you like.
This is a great way to switch to gmail.
See attached , the RED is the POP account it's checking, All of these messages were delivered to the person's old regular Roadrunner account. Gmail's Spam caught them!
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Best Computer Repair in San Diego
Ultimate Mac Compatibility Look up
A Rancho Santa Fe client was in the process up updating their computers and we came across an iMac (the big CRT monitor style ones!) that still functioned pretty well. I booted it up and scooted around OS 9.2 looking at its inner workings. I looked to see what web browser it used, how much RAM it had, what applications were included with that OS. I then thought it would be really cool to run some retro software in its native environment. Wait... OS 9.2 doesn't support flash drives or modern web browsers! I decided that I needed to figure out what my options were. A buddy of mine, also a technician, recommended I look up what OS options I had via The Ultimate Mac Lookup.
Using the model number on the underside of the system I saw all sorts of helpful info:
-When that model was introduced.
Using the model number on the underside of the system I saw all sorts of helpful info:
-When that model was introduced.
-How much RAM it typically shipped with.
-How large the Hard Drive was it typically had.
-How fast the CPU was. (350Mhz Power PC was in mine!)
Most importantly, I discovered that the maximum Mac OS it supported was 10.3.9 which means I could toss a little RAM into it and actually install a few modern applications. The CPU speed would hinder its performance, but my curious nature showed me a powerful tool for helping clients make decisions about upgrading their own Apple systems without having to jump through multiple menus to get the system specifications. This amazing tool isn't just for Apple desktops and laptops, it also supports iPads, iPods, and iPhones!
--
-Greg
Office: 619-255-1215
Ableton Live mp3 Licensing Bug - Update Quicktime
If you attempt to drag and drop an mp3 into Live, it should automatically convert into the Live friendly wav or aiff formats. If it throws an error converting that says "Unable to convert (file). The file may be corrupt or unlicensed", just update
QuickTime to resolve the issue.
--
Brett Kline
Mobile Computer Wizard
San Diego Computer Repair
619 255-1215 Office
619 255-1215 Office
Show/Hide hidden administrator account in Vista
Computer repair in the San Diego area has consisted of many virus removals recently. Occasionally, we run across virus infections that have corrupted a profile before we arrive. If it's the only profile on that system, getting Windows to a point where you can begin to remove the infection is the first step. Rather than running live CD antiviruses in an attempt to fix the profile, I've found that enabling the hidden admin account and running the normal battery of scans in that profile yields better results. The command to show the admin account is ' Net user administrator /active:yes '. This can be run in the Windows Startup Repair command prompt if necessary (usually is). To hide the account when you are finished, the command is ' Net user administrator /active:no '.
--
Brett Kline
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
858 876 2278 Mobile
Apple Computers not playing nice over iCloud, iPad and iPhone in San Diego
Computer Repair in San Diego is always a challenge and Apple is making
it interesting. Apple's requirements for iCloud are simple, it your
stuff is older that 2007, throw it away! Windows XP and any Microsoft
Office older than 2007 is not supported. Here's a few bullets:
- icloud for XP IS hackable and will work with new versions of Outlook.
- - Photostream will NOT work on XP
Outlook 2003 or older will not work, period. Please correct me if you
find different.
iTunes 10.5 is required for any iOS 5 device. Outlook 2003 or older,
sorry! If you have older Outlook, and if your iOS device is running
4.x, you can still use iTunes 10.4 and older Outlook.
Keep the money machine going Apple!
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
San Diego Computer Repair
Windows 8 features
It seems that Windows 8 is poised for release in fall of this year or early 2013. Some of it's key features include:
1. A cold boot/hibernation hybrid that results in extremely fast boot times. The boot screen has been removed. Video
2. An install process with 82% fewer clicks than Windows 7.
3. The ability to 'clean install' without the need to back up data first.
4. Simplified Task Manager (I'm skeptical). Screenshots
5. Native USB 3.0 support.
I'm not sure if the new 'clean install' will have the option to keep specified programs intact, but there have been rumors of it. Either way, it will certainly increase the number of computer repairs that can be done in the field.
--
Brett Kline
Mobile Computer Wizard
San Diego
619 225 1215 Office
619 225 1215 Office
iCloud for XP is easy
Apple's iCloud is designed for Vista/7 only. However, a nice lady in San Diego needed it installed on her computer so she could use it to sync her contacts and calendar with her iphone. Doing the XP hack for icloud is very easy and takes about 15 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR6JYM2wae8
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
San Diego Computer Repair
Directory Sync users beware
I recently did a data backup on a laptop that required a reinstall of Windows. The first transfer to my tech machine threw about 80 errors in Directory Sync, but none of them were pointed at user/application data/local/microsoft/windows live mail. After transfering the data back to his laptop (0 Directory Sync errors on this transfer), I attempted to import his Live Mail and noticed that while all the folders were there, they were empty. I immediately checked the data backup on my tech machine and all the mail was there. In short, Directory Sync might not tell you when it fails to copy something. Double check your backups!
Mail PassView
Mail PassView will pull the e-mail and password from your current install of Outlook (all versions), Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail, Incredimail, Eudora, and Thunderbird. However, only Eudora, Incredimail, and Thunderbird data can be pulled externally (with the hard drive connected to a tech machine). Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Live Mail data can only be pulled internally so if the machine won't boot into Windows, you're out of luck.
--
Brett Kline
Mobile Computer Wizard
San Diego Computer Repair
858 876 2278 Mobile
BitCoinMiner (kwrd.dll) Infection
Yesterday, I had a virus removal in the San Diego area and came across an infection that I had never seen. Combofix, Malwarebyte's, Hitman, and TDSS Killer failed to detect this virus, but Microsoft SecEss would pick it up with quick scans or idle time scans. Unfortunately, MSE fails to remove this infection, so I checked the file path (C:/Windows/assembly/temp/kwrd.dll) and navigated to it. Not there. Show hidden folders and files. Not there. After consulting the almighty google, I found this fix.
Open a command prompt and enter these commands:
1. cd c:/windows/assembly
2. attrib -r -h -s desktop.ini
3. ren desktop.ini desktop.bak
Voila! You can now see kwrd.dll and delete it. Reboot system and quick scan with MSE to confirm removal if necessary.
Outlook fails to launch
People in San Diego call us all the time with computer problems resolvable via the internet and our remote support software. I just got off the phone with a guy in Encinitas (North San Diego) who had an Outlook email problem. Outlook wouldn't launch! Turns out it was related to an antivirus issue and the quick fix was to reset his Outlook.xml file. I simple renamed it and Outlook launched. This type of fix hold true for many database driven programs, like Quickbooks also. Go into the App Data folders and rename some of these small auxiliary files by changing their file name. Additionally helpful was that the client knew it happened at 7:30 this morning and I was able to match that time to the Outlook.xml file. If you are wrong, just change it back!
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Best Computer Repair San Diego
Mobile Computer Wizard vs. iCloud, iMap, iPhone and iPad email
iOS5 for iPhone and iPad work pretty well, but it's new and there's a few quirks. People in the San Diego area have been asking for help more and more for help in getting their PC, MAC, Android and iPhone's synced up. A few fun things to note are that yes, PC's support iCloud, but you must have at least Vista or Windows 7. A few google search's reveal that XP can be hacked to run the iCloud control panel. I will say too that iCloud syncs a lot, but maybe not as much as the commercial says, and maybe not as free!
http://xlii.be/2011/10/how-to-get-icloud-windows-xp-and-outlook-to-work-together/
Another quirk is how the iPad and iPhone deal with IMAP folders. Specifically, the sent and deleted items, Trash vs. Deleted Messages and Sent Items vs Sent Messages. It's a bit frustrating, but if you pay attention to the details, you can get them all synced up and happy. If you have any questions, I'm the guy to ask!
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
San Diego Computer Repair
Directory Sync
I recently helped a colleague of mine, who also does computer repair in the San Diego area, diagnose a data transfer issue. When he would attempt to copy a client's user profile from his internal HD (which had been pulled) to an external HD. Near the beginning of the transfer, Windows would throw an error saying that a file was protected with permissions and cancel the rest of the transfer. I determined that the HD had some bad blocks, which Windows was interpreting as a permissions issue when it would fail to grab that file. Luckily, the data located on the failing block was unimportant, we just had wasted some time and gas. To avoid that problem in the future I recommended that he do data transfers with Directory Sync. It...syncs directories, but when it encounters a file that it can't copy, it will skip it and add it to a log file so at the end of the transfer, you can see what failed to copy. It's a great way to avoid a copy+paste process of elimination when something fails to copy.
Produkey
In the computer repair business, we frequently encounter situations where a Microsoft product needs to be reinstalled on a client's computer but they cannot locate their product key or the product key has been worn down to unreadable. Produkey will pull the product keys for Office (XP, 2003, 2007), Windows (all versions), Exchange Server and SQL Server from you current OS. However, if the system is still running the factory OS install, then chances are that the key that it pulls is a volume license from the manufacturer and will not work for activation.
- Brett Kline
Mobile Computer Wizard
San Diego
619 255-1215 Office
Find Tricky Hardware Drivers
We recently had a high end gaming PC in our shop and naturally Windows found no drivers after a clean install. Most of the hardware labels were obscured by other hardware so our only chance to identify the hardware was from Device Manager in Windows. Sounds like a technician's worst nightmare, but thanks to pcidatabase.com , we were able to look up the PCI ID number to find the make, model, and manufacturer of the hardware.
The first step is to know where to find the PCI ID numbers, which are in the properties menu of the hardware in device manager. In this instance, the vendor's ID is "10DE" and the device ID is "06E4". Plug the numbers into their website and it identifies the hardware. In my example, all we really needed was the device ID, but for obscure parts, knowing the manufacturer can save time.
--
-Greg
Office: 619-255-1215
Windows XP Sound Drivers - How to Nuke Them From Orbit
Unfortunately, XP does not offer the "delete driver files" check box option when uninstalling a driver like Vista and 7 do. Occasionally, when the wrong sound driver is installed, it has to be manually removed in order to get the correct driver to install. This is how you do it.
First, make sure explorer is displaying hidden folders and files by opening any folder and then Tools -> Folder Options... -> View tab -> check "Show hidden files and folders" -> Apply -> Ok
Second, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf, then View -> Details and sort by name. Scroll down to where you see oem0.inf followed by oem0.pnf then oem1.inf, oem1.pnf and so on. You will want to open each individual inf to locate which ones are for the sound drivers. Each inf will have some text commented out at the top. The top of the sound driver inf will usually look something like this:
//
// INF file for installing Realtek High Definition Audio Driver
//
When you find what you are looking for, delete the .pnf (you can delete the .inf as well, but it is unnecessary). Be sure to check all of them if more one sound driver installation has occurred. To churn through these quickly, I like to use enter, alt-f4, down, down, repeat.
Lastly, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers, then View -> Details and sort by date. There will be a large chunk of .dll's created on 8/23/2001 as well as a smaller chunk created on 4/13/2008. These can be ignored. The rest of of the dll's can be checked by their mouse hover descriptions. Again, you are looking for something similar to "[Manufacturer] High Definition Audio Driver". When you find it, delete it. Avoid deleting anything that says both "Windows" and "Audio" in it. When you are finished, go to device manager, uninstall the sound driver and then right click the computer name at the top of the tree and click "Scan for hardware changes". You should now see yellow question mark next to your audio device which means you are good to install a new audio driver. If the second driver is also no good...rinse and repeat.
Gmail POP checking email from Multiple clients finally fixed
For years this has been a nuisance for gmail users who rely on POP to get their messages on multiple devices. Google finally repaired this with this fix. I had a few clients in San Diego that loved this repair to their computer problem. I had to apply this fix for a mobile user with an iPhone. Side note: Have fun trying to type a colon on an iPhone. You can't from within the email configuration. You must type a colon in a blank email, and then copy and paste the colon into the email configuration. Thanks Apple!
Using POP on multiple clients or mobile devices
What is 'recent mode?'
If you're accessing Gmail on multiple clients through POP, Gmail's 'recent mode' makes sure that all messages are made available to each client, rather than only to the first client to access new mail.
Recent mode fetches the last 30 days of mail, regardless of whether it's been sent to another POP1 client already.
Setting up 'recent mode'
In your POP client settings, replace ' username@gmail.com' in the 'Username' or 'Email' field with 'recent: username@gmail.com'
Once you enable recent mode, please be sure to configure your POP client to leave messages on the server according to the instructions below:
- Outlook or Outlook Express: on the Advanced tab, check the box next to 'Leave a copy of messages on the server.'
- Apple Mail: on the Advanced tab, remove the check next to 'Remove copy from server after retrieving a message.'
- Thunderbird: on the Server Settings tab, check the box next to 'Leave messages on server.'
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=47948
Kurt Rein
San Diego Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Computer repair in San Diego at it's best!
www.MobileComputerWizard.com
Google Calendar Sync / Outlook "Choose Profile" prompt... MOBILE ME?
Here's a strange one... a La Jolla client of mine called because he was having trouble with his Google Calendar Sync and Outlook. He uses Google Calendar Sync to sync his Outlook Calendar to a Google Web Calendar which he then syncs to his Blackberry. He wasn't sure when it started happening, but at some point Outlook started asking him to "Choose Profile", meaning it wanted to know which Outlook Profile to open to sync. Problem is, he only has ONE Outlook profile and hadn't ever even set up a 2nd one. And that "Choose Profile" prompt pops up every time Google Calendar Sync tries to sync (which could be an awful lot, depending on how you set it up).
After lots of troubleshooting and research (and trust me... I threw the book at this thing), I did find a fix. And so have many others. In the strangest place. It doesn't quite make sense to me but it absolutely DOES work. All you have to do is... wait for it... wait for it... INSTALL MOBILE ME! From Apple. Don't need to sign up for an account, just find an installation of the Mobile Me software, install it and you're all fixed up.
I know, right?!
Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
WebBrowserPassView
This program will display all of your stored user names and passwords for Internet Explorer (Versions 4.0 - 9.0), Firefox (all versions), Chrome, Opera, and Safari. It shows the login URL, the web browser that is storing the credentials, user name, and password. It's a helpful tool to have in the San Diego computer repair business.
Microsoft Security Essentials Screensaver
As far as free antiviruses are concerned, Microsoft Security Essentials is considered one of the better products among IT professionals. This app functions as a normal screensaver and will initialize during idle time, starting a virus scan while the system has the spare resources. It supports all operating systems, including Windows 7 x64, although it is still technically in beta. Mobile Computer Wizard has been recommending Microsoft Security Essentials in the San Diego area to protect against future virus infections.
Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox bookmarks location for backup and recovery.
Lately, more and more computer users in the San Diego area have been asking me to either backup, transfer or restore their Chrome bookmarks. They are buried in this location.
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
Also, something to mention is that when you configure many backup programs such as Mozy, this location is overlooked during backup. Another one item missing is the Firefox bookmarks. They are located in a folder location similar to this.
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\llb7tn62.default\bookmarkbackups.
I have had the best luck with the JSON file in Firefox for moving bookmarks to and from a laptop computer.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Best computer repair in San Diego
Flooding in Thailand Impacts Global Hard Drive Market
Thailand exports nearly 40% of the world's market of hard drives, providing hard drive parts to the largest manufacturers in the game. In the last week, we have seen a 45% increase in price to consumer level hard drives and the prices are still rising. Some fabrication plants are under water and 1,000 facilities have been forced to stop production all together. As we enter the holiday purchasing season, computer and laptop prices will surely increase for PC and Apple consumers.
According to most production facilities, we should not see market recovery until March 2012.
--
-Greg
Office: 619-255-1215
Mobile Computer Wizard in San Diego hires a new wizard!
We just brought on Brett Kline to the team. His skills and knowledge especially in computer hardware will be a great asset to our San Diego mobile computer repair team!
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
San Diego computer experiences strange Excel freeze in ribbon.
An odd quirk with a client in north San Diego in that his PC would hang when trying to access the Microsoft 2007 ribbon in excel. Not sure why exactly other than it is directly related to the Windows 7 preview pane.
Excel freezes - solved, related to preview pane, turned off preview pane and told all windows to remember not to use the preview pane and solved the problem! Computer repair done!
Kurt Rein
www.MobileComputerWizard.com
619 255-1215 Office
Virus deletes all Start Menu icons...
Pretty nasty virus going around... once removed, your icons, folders are hidden. DON'T USE COMBOFIX OR CCLEANER UNTIL YOU COMPLETE THE STEPS BELOW. They clean temp files, and that's what you don't want. Use Hitman Pro and Malwarebytes.
Start in Safe Mode and try to log in as the built-in Administrator for best results.
AFTER you remove the virus w/ Hitman and MBAM, do the following:
Use Grinler's Unhide.exe to fix the hidden folders.
After that, your start menu is still virtually worthless. All the shortcuts are gone. The malware does not delete the shortcuts, instead it moves the icons into a temp folder under the user that got the virus.
The location is:
Windows XP – “C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temp\SMTMP”
Windows Vista/7 – “C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\SMTMP” (I think this is the location. Please double check)
Inside that folder there are 3 folders named 1, 2 and 4.
Folder “1″ has all the Program icons.
Folder “2″ has all the Quick Launch Icons.
Folder “4″ has all the Desktop icons.
TIP:
When restoring Program Icons try and restore them to “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs” so it can repair the start menu for all users
All of your shortcuts should be restored. Please note that ComboFix, Disk Cleanup, CCleaner, or any application that deletes temporary files will delete the SMTMP folder and you will be stuck manually rebuilding the start menu. So please try this method first and it will save you A LOT of time.
Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
kyle@mobilecomputerwizard.com
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
< kyle@mobilecomputerwizard.com>
San Diego Computer Repair for fun Viruses!
That's silly, virus's aren't fun! Bad joke. Today's hot tip to make them go away is to use Malwarebytes Anti-malware. Grab a copy at www.malwarebytes.com and give it a whirl. Even if you don't think you have a virus, run it anyway for piece of mind.
Kurt Rein
San Diego Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Android to Gmail Sync options for Outlook
A San Diego client recently asked about how to sync his computer to
his android phone using Outlook. Google and Android are not really
helping and would rather have you use the cloud.
However, just so you know, HTC makes some third party software to get
it done, just so you know it's possible. Read these two links for the
crash course.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382337,00.asp
http://www.htc.com/us/support/evo-sprint/downloads/
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
San Diego Computer and Laptop Repair
619 255-1215 Office
Get Scroll Bars back and bigger in Mac OSX Lion resize
Certainly a few folks in the San Diego Computer Repair arena won't
take kindly to the disappearing scroll bars in Mac OSX Lion. Either
use 2 fingers to scroll, or make the permanent adjustment here.
Getting them back is simple, just go to System Preferences, General,
and under "Show scroll bars:" you can turn back time and return to the
scroll bar presence you know and love by selecting "Always."
http://www.unplggd.com/unplggd/how-to/lionvanishing-scroll-bars-amp-how-to-get-them-back-151901
I did a mobile computer repair call in north San Diego and my client
was frustrated by this computer nuisance!
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Outlook continually crashes on startup...
A customer in Mira Mesa was having a problem starting Outlook. Each time, a message would come up stating Outlook didn't start correctly last time, and would you like to start in Safe Mode? A repair install did NOT do the trick, and it turns out the crash was related to an item Outlook was loading on startup. In Safe Mode, I disabled all the add ins... still no luck.
There is a file in the Outlook directory that stores all the toolbar info and various other settings, called outcmd.dat. I renamed outcmd.dat to outcmd.old and restarted Outlook, resetting all the toolbars and various addins in Outlook (also creating a NEW outcmd.dat with NO baggage). The default location for this file is: C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
Happy Outlooking!
Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
kyle@mobilecomputerwizard.com
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
< kyle@mobilecomputerwizard.com>
Mac keyboard shortcuts apple hot keys key OSX
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1343
Computer repair made easy! A great list of shortcuts to navigate a Mac
if you are in San Diego.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Mac hard drive
Out in La Jolla I had a MacBook Pro that wouldn't boot. In windows I
would run check disk, so let's play what's the mac way. The start up
in single user mode is control + s. When you get to a prompt type fsck
-y . Before you know it you are repaired and if the hard disk is just
corrupt, you are back in business!
San Diego Computer Virus alert from Google and how to repair it.
San Diego computer repair users should know that Google announced today it is instituting a malware warning system on its search results page to alert users to the possibility that their computer is infected. Mobile Computer Wizard staff is aware of this issue with PC's.
The Internet giant said it took the action after discovering unusual patterns of activity on the Web that it identified as a strain of malware that causes infected computers to send traffic to Google through proxy servers.
"Recently, we found some unusual search traffic while performing routine maintenance on one of our data centers," Damian Menscher, a Google security engineer, said in aGoogle blog post. "After collaborating with security engineers at several companies that were sending this modified traffic, we determined that the computers exhibiting this behavior were infected with a particular strain of malicious software, or 'malware.'"
The malware only affects computers running the Windows operating system, according to a post by Google engineer Matt Cutts. Systems can be tested by running a Web search for any word, he said.
Google said that as a result of its discovery, some users who come to Google through these specific intermediary servers will see a prominent notification at the top of their Google Web search results warning them of a possible infection.
"We hope that by taking steps to notify users whose traffic is coming through these proxies, we can help them update their antivirus software and remove the infections," Menscher said.
Google's Help Center also offers tips for scanning systems for malware and how to remove infections. Malware is often designed to disrupt normal computer operations or gather private information about the user.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Autoplay "Select Which Action To Perform" dialog box doesn't pop up when entering a CD, flash drive, etc.
A customer in Del Mar was having trouble getting his CD/DVD to do anything when popping in a CD on his Windows XP Computer. He could get to it from My Computer and play the CD just fine, but he missed the Autoplay "select which action to perform" dialog that used to pop up with various choices.
There are many tutorials on the web on how to change the autoplay handlers in the registry, how right-clicking the CD/DVD Drive, going to Properties and selecting "which action to perform" will fix the problem, but not in this case. I even checked the Group Policy and made sure autoplay was enabled... no luck.
Apparently, Microsoft has also had issues with this dilemma, so they made a fix.
Why it was so hard to find, I'm not sure. Apply this fix, log off and back on and viola!
Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
Forgot Passwords to K9 and Email Address
Symptom
You (1) forgot your K9 password and (2) also forgot the password to the email address we have on file for your K9 license
Solution
To ensure your security, we can only make account changes if we can verify that the requester is the proper owner of the license. To begin the verification process, please have your K9 license number ready. This can be found under the title "user license" when you click the following link (or enter the address manually in a web browser on the computer that you are trying to recover the K9 password): http://127.0.0.1:2372/about
This 'about' page will help you figure out the username and which email it's tied to.
K9 provides a great level of protection for San Diego computers to prevent a repair that a virus can cause!
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
San Diego Computer Repair virus removal help with TDSS
The TSDD MBR Rootkit virus is a nasty one! Best thing for the job and quickest way to remove it is by using Kaspersky's TDSS removal tool. I had a lady in San Diego with it and it got too infected to allow her PC to boot. Cleaning TDSS is easy if the PC boots, but if not, it makes it nearly impossible!
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
MS Outlook can't open links. Message: "This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions on this computer"
After some sleuthing, turns out that this happens after an upgrade to Internet Explorer 9.
Here's the hotfix: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310049
Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
kyle@mobilecomputerwizard.com
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
< kyle@mobilecomputerwizard.com>
Mac Virus no longer a myth
Recently I was working in University City on a fake rouge antivirus on a MAC! And no this was not just a advertisement or popup, it was a downloaded and installed application and I expect more on the way. Here is a step to take yourself out of harms way, the best offense is a good defense. By preventing safari from automatically opening "safe" files the user is less likely to get tricked into this scam. Here are the simple steps.
We need to change a setting in Safari so that these types of programs are not automatically run on your computer in the future. By default Safari opens and launches programs that it considers safe to run. These programs include movies, pictures, sounds, PDFs, text documents, archives, and disk images. Due to this, these types of infections are able to be downloaded and automatically run on your Mac. To fix this, start the Safari program and then click on the Safari menu option. From the Safari drop down menu, select Preferences. This will open the Preferences screen as shown below. When the screen opens, if you are not on the General settings screen, please click on the General button.
And for the curious people out there it was called Mac Guard and you can learn about it here at bleeping computer
Malwarebytes produces error code when closing or starting...
The code I've received on two separate occasions is this (or similar)
mbam.exe
The instruction at 0x10003d70 referenced memory at 0x0000000 and cannot be "read".
I ran across this again with a client in the La Jolla / UTC area...
If any of you are running Scansoft's OmniPage OCR software then you need to try updating it to the latest version. It's apparently the file ophook32.dll, which is a part of that program, that's causing the problem.
Happy MBAMing!
Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
Second Copy is great!
Recently we were asked what would be a good backup software to backup from a server back to a PC, otherwise the traditional opposite of what you'd normally want to do. A San Diego computer has source files on a network drive and those files can be either reverse backed up to a PC or they can be synced fairly easily with SecondCopy. The free trial works well and if need be, the program is $29.95, very reasonable for a stable, long standing and schedule-able backup program. It can sync too, great program!
http://www.secondcopy.com/order.html
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Quickbooks freezes after logging in...
A company in Point Loma was having a crippling Quickbooks issue. Apparently, when before closing Quickbooks, she had a lot of Quickbooks windows open and just prior to closing, accidentally opened a report. She then closed Quickbooks for the day.
The next day, she tried to open her company file and would continually get a not responding error. Everyone else in the office could open the company file just fine.
Here's the fix:
Press and hold the Alt key while opening the file:
- If the file is password protected, release the Alt key and enter the password.
- Press Alt while clicking OK.
- Continue pressing Alt until the file appears with no windows open.
To prevent this from happening in the future:
- On the QuickBooks Edit menu, select Preferences.
- In the leftmost column, select Desktop View.
- On the My Preferences tab, select Don't save the desktop and click OK.
Boom! Fixbooks!
Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
Auto-login Outlook when using AppRiver's Hosted Exchange 2007
Just a repost of some good stuff when using AppRiver's hosted exchange. Great service, by the way!
Auto-login Outlook when using AppRiver's Hosted Exchange 2007
Getting prompted for your user name and password each time you open Outlook from a computer not in your Exchange domain is a major annoyance. If your using an Exchange Hosting provider it is almost a guarantee that your computer will not be apart of the same domain with Exchange. The good news is that there is a work-a-round for this issue.
Using the default setup of Exchange 2007 w/ SP1 when you enable Outlook Anywhere you get to chose from either Basic Authentication or NTLM Authentication. If you don't support remote non-domain clients you can chose NTLM. Your Outlook users will be logged in based on their domain credentials used to log into their computer. However if you want to support Outlook Anywhere from any computer outside your domain you would chose Basic Authentication. Having the Outlook Anywhere set in Basic Authentication is what causes the annoying login prompt each time Outlook is opened.
Here at AppRiver we have configured our Hosted Exchange 2007 platform to take both forms of authentication. You can use the instructions below to enable NTLM Authentication for your Outlook 2007 clients. Please note that this option will not work with Windows Vista Home or XP Home Editions.
- Ensure Outlook is closed
- Open the Windows Control Panel
- If you are using a 64 bit OS you will have to open the 32 bit Control Panel
- It can be found in the normal Windows Control Panel
- Double-Click the Mail icon
- Click the Show Profiles button
- Select your AppRiver Hosted Exchange profile and click the Properties button
- Click the E-Mail Accounts button
- Double-Click the Microsoft Exchange entry
- Click the Connection tab
- Click the Exchange Proxy Settings button at the bottom
- Use these settings Microsoft Exchange Proxy Settings window opens
- Ensure the following boxes are checked
- Connect using SSL Only
- Only connect to proxy servers that have this principal name in their certificate
- On fast networks...
- On slow networks...
- Use "exg5.exghost.com" for the proxy server
- Use "msstd:exg5.exghost.com" for the principal name
- Change the Proxy authentication to NTLM Authentication
- Click Next > Finish then close all open email settings windows
- Ensure the following boxes are checked
- Open Outlook
- When prompted for your user name and password, enter in both and check the Save Password box then click OK
- Ensure that Outlook opens correctly and that you see the "Connected to Microsoft Exchange" in the lower right hand corner
- Close Outlook
- Click Start > Run and type in "control Keymgr.dll" then click OK
- Following the instructions for your Windows OS
- Windows XP
- You should see an entry ending with exg5.exghost.com
- Select the entry and click Edit
- Change the "Log on to:" text box to say "*.exg5.exghost.com"
- Click OK and Reboot your computer
- You should see an entry ending with exg5.exghost.com
- Windows Vista and Windows 7
- You should see an entry ending with exg5.exghost.com
- i.e. MBX01.exg5.exghost.com
- If you do not then something did not work correctly, please start at the beginning and try again
- Click the Add button
- For the "Log on to:" text box enter in "*.exg5.exghost.com"
- Enter in your AppRiver Hosted Exchange user name and password
- Chose the "A Windows logon credential" option for the Credential Type
- Click OK and Reboot your computer
- You should see an entry ending with exg5.exghost.com
- Windows XP
If your an AppRiver customer please give us a call if you have any problems enabling NTLM Authentication for your Outlook client.
For those Exchange Administrators out there, if you would like to enable both forms of Authentication for Outlook Anywhere users here is the cmdlet to get it done. Allow for 30 minutes of replication time after the cmdlet is ran to insure IIS has taken the change.
Set-OutlookAnywhere -identity <server nameRpc (Default Web Site)> -IISAuthenticationMethods basic,ntlm
*Please note this cmdlet has to be ran for each CAS that takes connections for your Outlook Anywhere users.*
-Good Luck
James Dean
Senior Exchange Engineer - AppRiver, LLC
Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
Formatting a Stubborn Hard Drive
I was recently doing a large data recovery for a client in Kearny Mesa from some very unhappy post-RAID hard drives that had their partitions nuked. Doing a RAW data recovery I was able to pull their data, but once I wanted to transfer it back to the drives, they were labeled "GPT Protected". I then went about trying to reformat them. Windows XP said, "No way!", Windows 7 said, "Let's try" (but failed), and Linux wouldn't format them into NTFS. Fantastic. I then remembered the little used Windows command line "diskpart" that would allow me to simply de-initialize the drive.
Here's how it goes:
1) Open command prompt.
2) Type "diskpart"
3) Use the "select disk[#]" command to move focus to the correct hard drive.
Where [#] is, you put in "1","2","3", etc. This number can be gotten from disk management.
4) Type "clean" and when it finishes, close the command window.
5) Go to disk management and initialize the drive. Format drive appropriately.
Knowing a little command line saved the day on this one!
--
-Greg
Office: 619-255-1215
Windows 7 Firewall Problem Can't Start Due to Permissions Access Denied - SOLVED
A San Diego client couldn't install an HP printer because the Windows 7 firewall was not running. The best error message in the event log was event id 7024. Adding permissions in the registry to the firewall service did the trick and completed the repair on the computer!
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943996/en-us
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
file associations
With windows 7 ive noticed a harder time finding quick fixes for file associations. This website works best with the 64 bit operating system. I was able to open all of my exe and other generic file types that had been comprimised.
MCW April: Improve your Wireless, Registry Cleaners and Onsite Appointment Special!
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Free Cell column fix - SOLVED
A north country San Diego client had a broken FreeCell game. This post on how to repair the computer was found, thanks!
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_other-gaming/freecell-columns-messed-up/bb94dfe0-2cf1-4494-aaa2-416c3a58f0ad
Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
619 255-1215 Office
iTunes Library won't show songs or Music damaged corrupted blank - SOLVED
A recent itunes install would not allow music to show up in the library. After extensive reinstalls on the computer. This BTW was on a Windows 7 PC install running 64 -bit. The only thing that helped to repair it was launching itunes while holding the shift key to have it ask for an old Library ITL file. Luckily I had one, it wasn't the library I wanted, but nonetheless, the computer was working after that.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Autoconfiguring Hosted Exchange and troubleshooting the stuck on "Waiting To Update This Folder..." problem.
Last week, I migrated e-mail services for a Torrey Pines bioscience company... from pop mail to Hosted Exchange.
First and foremost, either export their accounts to a .pst or copy their existing .pst to be reimported later. Set that aside.
With their Hosted Exchange provider, Rackspace, they offer 2 methods of setting up the account: either by creating a domain alias from autodiscover.[customersdomainname.com] to point to autodiscover.mailsvr.com or by simply downloading the provided .prf file and importing it.
We'll cover importing a provided PRF today. Save the .prf (i.e. john.prf) somewhere you can remember, like C:\MCW. Open the run prompt and type the following: outlook.exe /importPRF C:\MCW\john.prf and hit enter.
This will automatically create a new profile that is autoconfigured to the hosted exchange account. You'll be asked to sign in at least twice with the users credentials, usually the e-mail address and password for the users account.
Once you see "Connected to Microsoft Exchange", import the .pst you copied/exported into the main folder. Your Hosted Exchange account will then upload all the imported mail, contacts, etc. into the account to keep everything in the "cloud".
Make sure you inform the customer that this may take an hour or more, depending on the amount of mail they have, and they may experience some delay in sending/receiving mail while this process is being performed.
Common problem to troubleshoot
Occasionally, Outlook will get stuck on "Waiting to Update This Folder". If that happens, open the account (this varies between Outlook '03, '07 and '10... typically Tools/Accounts) and uncheck "Cached Exchange". Close Outlook and navigate to the folder containing your Outlook files, i.e. AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\ and delete the Outlook.ost and extend.dat files.
Reopen Outlook, and once all data has been downloaded, open the account settings again, and recheck "Cached Exchange".
Reverify mail is sending and receiving, and you should be off to the races!
Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
kyle@mobilecomputerwizard.com
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
< kyle@mobilecomputerwizard.com>
Windows Live Essentials 2011 for XP
Official support for Windows XP has ended. Windows Live Essentials 2011 may or may not install on a Windows XP system. Checking out Microsoft's support page for the suite; there is zero mention of Windows XP. If XP customers want to use live mail, they will have to use an older version of the software.
Note: SP3 may be required, and if not I found an old version, but all and all, Live mail has been a bit of a headache anyway!
--
-Greg
Office: 619-255-1215
Infections that Make all Files and Folders Hidden: SOLVED!
Recently there have been some new spyware tricks found in the wild. One particular bogus program "Windows Disk Fix" is easily removed via Malwarebytes Anti-Malware orHitman Pro, but it does a very cheeky maneuver that will set all of your files as "hidden". The good news is that a clever technician out there has created a small program that will "un-hide" all of your files. I used this tool today on a client's system in Kearny Mesa and it worked like a champ!
Unhide.exe
--
-Greg
Mobile Computer Wizard
Office: 619-255-1215
Thunderbird to Gmail contacts
Strangely, a client in North County San Diego needed some help moving her contacts to gmail. The computer was fine and in no need of repair, but she just needed a few loose ends tied up. I stumbled upon a great Thunderbird email add-on to send contacts to gmail!
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-Us/thunderbird/addon/google-contacts/
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
SMB NETWORK SCANNING
I recently configured a Dell 3115 to scan to a wired network using SMB (not FTP) in Point Loma, San Diego. I heard that this was very difficult to do, many hours had been wasted trying to configure it without success, etc. The reported error code was 016-783. It all boiled down to RTFM.
In fact, configuration is easy. When I researched this matter on the Web, it appears that those having trouble are trying to put entries in both Share Name and Server Path when configuring scanning via SMB. Of course it doesn't help when the Dell manual implies an entry is needed in the Server Path field.
When configuring the Dell 3115 to scan to a computer via SMB, simply leave the Server Path field empty, and populate all other fields appropriately. Happy scanning!
Error 0x80070057 Windows Live Mail 2011 WLM 2011 photo pictures Picasa sending problem SOLVED
You will get a sending issue 0x80070057 Windows Live Mail 2011 added a terrible feature that forces users to log into and have a Microsoft Live account and to push you towards uploading images to some photo service called Skydrive. It's a terrible feature and makes sending photo via Picasa and even just using the windows 'send to' feature useless when sending photos.
A couple of notes in addition to the steps below.
- You may need to create a Live Account, I was not able to find a way around this, just create a new one with the same username/password.
- The contacts seemed to be linked to the new account, which is blank, so back them up before doing this. (IMPORTANT)
- You may or may not also have to change this option. Options > Mail > Compose > and unchecked "Convert messages to photo emails when adding photos,"
There are tons of frustrated users, but at the end of the day this adds exactly 3 clicks to the process you used to do to send pictures as regular attachments. If this all makes you too crazy, use Outlook or Thunder bird. This issue is not a Picasa issue, it is a Windows Live Mail 2011 issue.
Via Windows Explorer:
1. Select the photos you want to send
2. Click the ‘email’ button
3. Select the size you want and click ‘attach’
-- Or Picasa will get you to this same point.
4. When the email window opens click on the album to select it
5. Click the ‘format’ button at the top of the screen
6. Click on the paperclip icon on the left and the pictures will be regular attachments.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Redirected Folders in Server 2008
A Windows Server 2008 in Carlsbad had this problem. Redirected Server 2008 will not work if there is permissions issues. The easiest way around this is to manually move the desktop and documents items to the server location in the shared folder. Then be sure to completely flush all files locally and it will work properly.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Make a domain user a local administrator on their machine
Adding an XP user as a local admin is easily done though the control panel and user accounts. It will prompt you for the domain admin login. Windows 7 does not do this. You must log in to the whole profile as the domain admin and then add the domain user to the 'administrators' group.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
San Diego Computer Repair: HP Printer!
We had a client with a printer networking problem. XP users connected to the printer were OK, The Windows 7 users were not able to print on a wide format 7000w Officejet HP Printer. After much trouble, it was found the the paper feed guides had to be perfectly aligned. Something to note and it was a strange problem.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Hitman Pro Rocks!
I thought this would be good to blog about. We had a client in the El Cajon,east San Diego area with a rootkit virus malware infection. It kept coming back on to his computer. The PC had a rootkit that unfortunately NOD32 and Malwarebytes was ignoring it. Hitman Pro was the answer and it quickly repaired this computer. The reboot remotely was a bit scary, but it all worked out.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Adding a Windows shared printer to Mac OSX
I had a client in Encinitas who needed to print to a USB printer connected and shared to a Windows PC... all the other Windows PC's had no trouble connecting (Vista and 7), but the Macbook Pro was having trouble... it's not very straightforward in the "Add Printer" windows... here's how you do it. This goes for OSX 10.5+, by the way, and is similar in older versions.
Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu. Choose Print & Fax from the View menu. Click the + button to add a printer. Press the Control key while clicking the "Default" icon (or any other icon on the toolbar), then choose Customize Toolbar from the contextual menu that appears. Drag the Advanced (gear) icon to the toolbar.Click Done. Click the Advanced icon that was added to the toolbar. Choose Windows from the Type pop-up menu. In the URL field, type the printer's address in one of the following formats:smb://workgroup/server/sharenamesmb://server/sharenameNote: "workgroup" is the name of the Windows workgroup that the computer sharing the printer belongs to. "server" is the name of the computer sharing the printer (or its IP address). "sharename" is the shared Windows printer's share name. If the share name contains spaces, replace each space with "%20" (without quotation marks).Tip: You don't need a "workgroup" when specifying the IP address of the computer (such as when the printer is on a different subnet), or if your Mac belongs to the same Windows (SMB) workgroup.In the Name field, type the name you would like to use for this printer in Mac OS X. Choose the appropriate PPD or printer driver from the "Print Using" pop-up menu. Click Add.Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
Netgear routers with Wireless guest access
I recently installed a Netgear wireless router in North County San Diego for a company that needed computer service and repair. I utilized the Live Parental controls and also shared their internet connection additionally with a 'guest network'. The guest network does not allow file and folder sharing for security purposes. The computers on the business network run great. I would strongly recommend these routers!
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
NK2 Files are different in Outlook 2010, they are Gone!
I client in Encinitas needed her Outlook file moved to a new Dell computer. Outlook 2000-2007 uses a file with the extension NK2 to store the autocomplete. In Outlook 2010, they NO LONGER USE the NK2 format.
The link below points you to a FixIt download that will convert your old NK2 file. If you are not running outlook 2010 the utility will NOT run.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/980542
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
CrashPlan Backup Report as a Mozy replacement?
Customers in San Diego may have a new online backup solution to Mozy. Over the weekend I demo'd out a computer backup service called CrashPlan. They allow you to backup to your own PC's or Friends PC's for free. They also offer very reasonably priced online backup on their servers. Below is a report it produced for my PC's backing up between each other in separate locations. Until the end of February 2011, they are offering 15% off for Mozy conversions clients.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
www.MobileComputerWizard.com
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
www.MobileComputerWizard.com
 Reporting period: February 5, 2011 - February 12, 2011
© 2011 CrashPlan. All rights reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
XP to Windows 7 printer sharing driver issue related to 64 bit
This printer sharing problem was actually very similar to an older blog post.
Today, the issue was a HP printer hosted via USB on a 64 bit Windows 7 machine. The XP computer could easily see all the shares but could not connect to it because of an INF file it requested.
Adding the printer as an LPR with downloaded drivers, THEN switching to use the created 'local' port as \\PCNAME\printersharename is the trick.
reposted...
Both PC's will print just fine via USB. But having the networked Vista 64 laptop print to it wirelessly was a nightmare as XP 32 was NOT hosting a proper driver. It would ask for an unknown INF file during install.
Jeff S. had this problem.
Before doing any of the below. I added the printer as a LRP or parallel printer to the Vista 64 bit machine to get the driver in place with a 64 bit version.
Then did the following procedure to add it.
Here's a workaround:
1. Open the Devices and Printers folder.
2. Click on "Add a Printer".
3. Click "Add a local printer".
4. Select "Create a new port". The type of port should be "Local Port". Click Next.
5. Enter the remote print
share name, e.g. "\\server\printer" and press Enter. — Get this EXACT share name from the Host PC
6. Select the Canon Inkjet MP780 Series driver.
7. Go through and finish adding the printer.
http://mcwsd.com/Wizard-Blog/vista-64bit-connected-to-shared-32bit-xp-printer.html
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
ATT Residential DSL San Diego outage - 1/31/2011...
Just an FYI, there have been two San Diego customers that have reported AT&T DSL outages, both in the 92121 ish areas. May not be everywhere; just a heads up in case anyone else is having connection problems with AT&T, SBCGlobal, etc.
Best Regards,
Kyle Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
4805 Mercury St. Suite K
San Diego, CA 92111
619-255-1215
Mozy and Outlook pst file size
A client in Encinitas called me to fix their Mozy online backup. It failed in an unknown manner, but I ultimately found that the Outlook file had been cleaned and rearranged to an extreme level and the size of the outlook file needed to be corrected by compacting it though Outlook. Outlook does a poor job of this and it needs to be done manually by the user. If Outlook thinks the file is 1.5 Gb but the actual size of the file in Windows Explorer is 2.2 GB, Mozy will fail in backing it up. We did find that even though Mozy was spitting out an error, every other file other than the PST on the rest of the computer was being successfully backed up.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Infection free computer that randomly freezes or will not boot properly
If you have run every legitimate utility to correct a randomly freezing or non-booting computer, and your not making any head way, here are a couple things to check:
1: Hard Drive Temperature
- Just like every other mechanical device, if it gets to hot, most likely it will fail
1: Hard Drive Temperature
- Just like every other mechanical device, if it gets to hot, most likely it will fail
- normal operating temperature should be around 34c
2: Hard Disk Fragmentation
- Think of the hard drive as a Junior High School Library's card file. The more it's used, the messier it gets.
- Defragmentation reduces the amount of time it takes the computer to find the files it needs to run properly. (It cleans up said card file reference)
3: Check to make sure all the actual physical hardware inside of the computer is connected properly.
- Occasionally, but not too often, gravity or dust or accidential bumping of the computer might loosen some of the hardware in the computer. If the hardware is only attached part of the time (due to a loose connection) it will only work part of the time.
Jon Olsen
Mobile Computer Wizard, Inc,
Cell (619) 309 - 5355
Office (619) 255 - 1215
Motorola Droid syncing problems w/ Hosted Exchange...
Apparently there's some general ugliness with syncing hosted exchange emails and calendar to a Motorola Droid (1st generation). The guys at Appriver, a hosted exchange provider, said this: "To make ActiveSync (the service that connects the device to Hosted Exchange) happy, it needed to be the first account set up on the phone. The VERY FIRST. Which means, if you just took the phone out of the box, you would cancel the Google account setup prompt you get when activating the device, set up Exchange, and then go back and set up Google and all of your other accounts."
Here's what you should try first before resetting your phone, however:
1. Delete the Exchange account under "Settings|Accounts and Sync" 2. Delete the calendar data by going into Settings, Applications, and selecting both Calendar and Calendar Storage, then deleting data. Don't worry, your existing Google calendar info will be re-downloaded next sync. 3. Re-add the exchange account. Everything should work fine now.
If anyone else has run across this or has this issue, let us know!
Best Regards,
Kyle Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
Mobile Computer Wizard Reviews challenge
The reviews challenge is on! Which wizard will get the most reviews and testimonials for being the BEST wizard here in San Diego. It's a tight race between Greg, Kyle and Ben. Who will win the jumbo check?
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
Mozy 6 vs. 8 character password requirements
Though not confirmed to be the problem. Some clients who set up their Mozy Online Backup accounts in San Diego have been having problems. It's possible that since Mozy now requires an 8 character password, that their old 6 character password does not authenticate anymore.
We'll post again when it's confirmed, but just into the 'settings' button on the Mozy interface if you get a log in error and then try changing the password on the Mozy site to a 8 character password.
Kurt Rein
Mobile Computer Wizard
619 255-1215 Office
www,MobileComputerWizard.com
- The Best and fastest Computer Repair in San Diego
Wanna Move your TV to The Next Level?
This box does it all... the complete solution to cancelling your cable, and only $99... ask your local Wizard to show you how to bring internet entertainment to your tv in a whole new way!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136593&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Hard+Drives+-+External-_-Western+Digital-_-22136593
Best Regards,
Kyle B. Hanson
Mobile Computer Wizard
619-796-4629 Mobile
858-345-0382 Office
www.mobilecomputerwizard.com
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