Troubleshooting Windows Geek Tip:

When you start Windows Media Player, you get the following error message. "To finish installing windows media player, restart your computer and sign on as administrator or member of administrator group."

When you start Windows Media Player, you get the following error message. "To finish installing windows media player, restart your computer and sign on as administrator or member of administrator group."

1)Go to the Start button and select RUN.

2)Type regedit and click OK.

3)Browse to the following Registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>Software>Microsoft>MediaPlayer>Setup

4)In the right-hand pane, locate and double-click on the value "InstallResult" If the current value of InstallResult is 0xd2af9 or 0xC00D2AFB, change it to 0x0

5)Exit the registry editor and restart Windows Media Player.

Troubleshooting Windows Geek Tip:

Windows XP freezes on "Setup is starting Windows" text screen

Windows XP freezes on "Setup is starting Windows" text screen Fixed!

1. put in the cd and turn on computer
2. windows will load and say something about "press F6" to install raid controller drivers"
3. Start hitting F5 instead of F6!! ....
4. Choose the option that reads something like. .."standard PC i486"
5. Windows will install now.

Troubleshooting Windows Geek Tip:

TouchED Error Retrieval of "THotkey" failed.

TouchED Error Retrieval of "THotkey" failed. Solved!

This is a touchpad utility issue.

Navigate to C:\Windows\system32

DELETE 000StTHK.exe and 00THotkey.exe.manifest (if it exists)

COPY 00THotkey.exe

Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
PASTE 00THotkey.exe into the Startup directory.

Troubleshooting Windows Geek Tip:

Blank or black screen after installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 SP3

Blank or black screen after installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 SP3.

This is for those unlucky souls who try to install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) on a computer with an AMD processor and get a blank screen.

1. Boot into Safe Mode by slowly tapping F8 as your computer is first booting.
2. Go to RUN on your Start Menu and type regedit and hit ENTER.
3. browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\intelppm and change the "Start" value from 1 to 4.
4. Reboot

Troubleshooting Windows Article:

"usage error 11030" when attempting to use recovery disks from Acer.

"usage error 11030" when attempting to use recovery disks from Acer.

This means the hard drive needs to have a partition created before attempting to use the recovery disks.

1) Go to http://www.acerpanam.com/ 2) Choice your country 3) Go to Drivers & Downloads 4) Select your product 5) Find "Post Acer Disk Formatter CD ISO Image" 6) Download this file, burn a CD-ROM with it. 7) Put in CD-ROM drive on Acer PC and boot 8) This program will create the PQSERVICE partition and main partition(s) 9) Follow instructions to continue restore.

Troubleshooting Windows Geek Tip:

Fix icon spacing in Windows XP

In Windows XP, are your icons all squashed together on your desktop and in open windows? Here is how to fix it.

Go to RUN on your Start Menu.

Type "regedit" without the quotation marks. Click OK to open the Registry Editor

In the left Panel double click HKEY_CURRENT_USER to expand.

Under that, double click Control Panel to expand.

Under that, double click Desktop to expand.

Under that you will see WindowMetrics. Click this one time and then hit your DELETE key on your keyboard.

If you are asked to confirm the delete, answer yes.

Restart your computer.

Troubleshooting Windows Geek Tip:

"This operation has been canceled due to restrictions on this computer. Please contact your system administrator." Error when opening Internet Options. Also Control Panel is missing.

"This operation has been canceled due to restrictions on this computer. Please contact your system administrator." Error when opening Internet Options. Also Control Panel is missing.

To fix this issue go to RUN on the Start Menu.

Type "regedit" without the quotes and hit the ENTER key.

On the left side of the window, scroll to the top and click MY COMPUTER one time.

Click the EDIT menu at the top of the window and choose FIND.

In the FIND WHAT box type "NoControlPanel" without the quotations and click FIND NEXT.

After the first entry is found, delete the entry.

Go to the EDIT menu and this time choose FIND NEXT. Keep doing this and deleting the entries until no more entries are found.

Note: This is usually caused by a virus or spyware. You need to make sure your system is clean or the virus will simply add these entries again.

If you cannot open "regedit" due to the "Registry Editing has Been disabled by your administrator" error, do this:

Tool to reset shellopencommand registry keys

Troubleshooting Windows Article:

Cannot Start Windows XP if the System or Software Hive Is Missing or Damaged

SYMPTOMS:

When you try to start or restart your Windows XP-based computer, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: WINDOWSSYSTEM32CONFIGSYSTEM
Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: WINDOWSSYSTEM32CONFIGSOFTWARE

Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): SystemRootSystem32ConfigSOFTWARE or its log or alternate

CAUSE
This issue can occur if the System or Software hive for the Windows XP installation is missing or damaged.

RESOLUTION:

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods.

Use the Recovery Console Tool:

To restore a damaged registry hive, use the Recovery Console to restore the backup copy of the hive from the Repair folder. The Repair folder contains a copy of the system's registry hives that were created after the first successful startup of Windows XP.

WARNING : Although data should not be affected by the following procedure, you may need to restore changes you previously made to programs or system settings since the first time you successfully started Windows XP.

To replace the damaged registry hive and restore the backup copy of the hive from the Repair folder: Start your computer to the Recovery Console.

Determine if the file that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section of this article is present, and if it is, rename it:

In Recovery Console, change to the c:Windows folder.

Type cd system32config , and then press ENTER.

Type dir system , and then press ENTER.

If you cannot run the preceding command successfully (because the file is missing), skip to step 3. If you can run the preceding command successfully, type ren system system.bak , and then press ENTER.

NOTE : If the message that you received referred to the software file, replace "system" with "software" in the preceding command. For example, you would type ren software software.bak (instead of ren system system.bak ), and then press ENTER.

Type copy c:windows epairsystem , and then press ENTER.

NOTE : If the message that you received referred to the software file, replace "system" with "software" in the preceding command. For example, you would type copy c:windows epairsoftware (instead of copy c:windows epairsystem ), and then press ENTER.

You should receive a "One file copied" informational message. For additional information about how to use Recovery Console during startup, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q307654 HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP

IMPORTANT : If you encounter problems when you run the preceding commands, you may need to use the Change Directory command ( cd ) one folder at a time before you run the preceding commands. For example, type cd system32 , press ENTER, type cd config , and then press ENTER.

Type exit , and then press ENTER to quit Recovery Console and restart the computer.

You Cannot Start from the Windows XP CD-ROM or Use Recovery Console
If you cannot start from the Windows XP CD-ROM or use Recovery Console and you are using the FAT file system (not the NTFS file system):
Use a startup disk from one of the following operating systems to start your computer to a command prompt:

Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me)

Microsoft Windows 98

Microsoft Windows 95

At the command prompt, type c:windows .

Follow the steps in the "Use the Recovery Console Tool" section of this article, beginning with step 2b (type cd sytem32config , and then press ENTER).

IMPORTANT : After you complete the steps in the "Use the Recovery Console Tool" section of this article, remove the startup disk, and then restart the computer.

Use System Restore to Revert to the Most-Recent Restore Point
You may want to use System Restore to revert to the most-recent restore point if you have replaced the specific registry hive, but the issue has not been resolved.

For additional information about how to use System Restore to revert to the most-recent restore point, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q307545 How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry
Run a Repair Installation of Windows XP

You may need to run a repair installation. For additional information about how to do so, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q312369 You May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP

MORE INFORMATION
By default, the administrative password for Windows XP Home Edition is blank.

For additional information about how to use Recovery Console, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q307654 HOW TO: Access the Recovery Console During Startup
Q240831 How to Copy Files from Recovery Console to Removable Media
Q229716 Description of the Windows Recovery Console