I have a problem where 'My Computer' sometimes hangs when I double-click it. The window pops up, but remains blank and hangs there. My mouse is still active at this point. I thought at first that it happened only when I was online or using multimedia apps, but it happens occasionally right after startup. I usually have to restart the computer. Here's my system : P3 533 Mhz, Asus P3V4X Motherboard, 10GB HD (7GB have been used up), 64MB 100 Mhz SDRAM, ATI 32MB Rage Fury, Soundblaster Live Value, A-0pen 56K software Modem, and a Sony 48x CD-Rom. The things I have running on my system are Windows 98 SE, Norton Anti-Virus (I have System Works, but I disabled the Crash Guard when I realized it was doing more harm than good), MSN Messenger, and Disk Detector (I disabled that but the problem still persists). I also run Scandisk and Defrag regularily as well. This 'hang' happened to me a few nights ago, and when I hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete to end the task I received a 'blue screen of death' with this error message : 'Terminating Thread due to a stack overflow problem. A Vxd, possibly recently installed, has consumed too much stack space. Increase the setting of 'MinSPs' in SYSTEM.INI or remove recently installed VxD's. There are currently 5 SPs allocated.' This is the first time that this has appeared. The only things I've installed recently are a few games, and the message doesn't make sense to me. If someone could help me I'd really appreciate it. |
Thursday, 7 October 2010
My Computer Hang while loading
The Wrong With Writing Down Your Password
What's Wrong With Writing Down Your Password?
Recently a reader asked me why she wasn’t supposed to write down her passwords—which is a very good question. Ignoring all the geeky password manager talk, why can’t a home user write down passwords? Let’s examine this topic more closely.
If you’ve never heard anybody say this, you probably haven’t talked to enough network security types—it’s generally looked down on to write your passwords on a physical piece of paper or a sticky note.
So Why Can’t You Write Down Your Password?
We’ve already established that you aren’t “supposed” to write down your passwords, but why not? Are people really going to rifle through your stuff to find your password, and then use it maliciously? What if somebody breaks into your house, are they going to sit down at your PC and use your password? The answer to all of this can be summed up easily:
- Work Users: Do Not Write Down Your Password
- Home Users: Writing Down Passwords Is Fine, Usually
To put these in a little more context, let’s look at each one separately and discuss why you should or shouldn’t write down your password.
If You’re a Work User
When you’re a corporate sloth and stuck at a desk for an arbitrary number of hours each day bored out of your mind, most of the passwords that you will use are probably for work-related applications like your corporate email, databases, and accounting systems.
Here’s why you probably should not write down your password at work, and should instead opt for passwords that you can remember, or use a password manager:
- It’s probably against your company’s policies to write down your password.
- If somebody finds the password and does something bad with your account, you could get fired.
- Even if you write down the password and lock it up, it’s probably not terribly secure.
- What are you going to do, cover the sticky note with your hand when the cleaning staff comes by?
- All the IT people will laugh at you.
You should also figure out what your organization’s policies are concerning passwords, and follow those.
If You’re a Home User
Here’s why it doesn’t really matter if you write down your password at home (usually, at least)
- If somebody has physical access to your PC, you are screwed, and your password can easily be cracked or reset. (see below)
- If somebody breaks into your house, they could just take the whole PC or laptop. They might also steal your beer.
- The biggest problem for home users is having their banking / email passwords stolen online. If writing down a tough password helps keep you from identity theft, go for it.
There are exceptions to these rules of course—if you’re sharing an apartment with other people that you don’t totally trust, you should probably move. Also, you might not want to write down your passwords, and opt for a tough password or a password manager application. Maybe sleep with one eye open.
If you’re a home user with kids around, you might not want to write down the Windows password if there’s adult material on your PC. Or the internet—I hear there’s some adult content there too.
Choosing Strong, Unique Passwords Is All-Important Online
We simply can’t state this enough—your email and banking passwords are extremely important, and you should use different strong passwords for each one. Here’s a couple of quick rules to help you stay safe:
- Use separate passwords for your online accounts—otherwise, if somebody cracks one password, they can access all accounts.
- Use strong passwords for your accounts, using a combination of letters and numbers.
- Do not use the name of your pet, child, significant other, insignificant other, school, mom, or anything that somebody could easily guess.
- Make sure the security question on your email or bank account is set to something unique, and write it down somewhere. Do not blindly answer the question and use your pet’s name or something somebody can easily figure out. This is how most passwords are cracked.
If writing down these passwords and secret questions helps you be able to use strong passwords and prevent identity theft, it’s worth it, right?
Your Windows Password Is Easily Crackable
If somebody has physical access to your PC for a couple of minutes, it doesn’t matter what Windows, OS X, or Linux password you use. It’s as simple as that.
Want proof? Here’s all the ways that your computer password can be cracked or reset, and keep in mind that these are only the ways that we’ve covered here on How-To Geek. And we’re the good guys!
- Change or Reset Windows Password from a Ubuntu Live CD
- How to Crack Your Forgotten Windows Password
- Reset Your Ubuntu Password Easily from the Live CD
- Reset Your Forgotten Password the Easy Way Using the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows
- You Can Reset Your Forgotten Windows Password with the Sticky Keys Trick
- Reset Your Forgotten Ubuntu Password in 2 Minutes or Less
- Change Your Forgotten Windows Password with the Linux System Rescue CD
- How to Reset Your Forgotten Mac OS X Password
Wow, that sure makes me feel secure! So how do you prevent this, you ask? You can use complete drive encryption if you choose to do so:
- Getting Started with TrueCrypt on Windows (to Secure Your Data)
- Getting Started with TrueCrypt Drive Encryption on Mac OS X
- How To Use BitLocker on Drives without TPM
Since your vacation photos of you eating too much probably aren’t worth encrypting, your best bet is actually…
Password Managers Are Your Best Bet
Using a good password manager is the best way to protect your passwords from everybody and easily use secure passwords for every site. All of your passwords will be secured behind nearly unbreakable encryption, and easily accessible for everyday use.
My personal favorite password manager is LastPass, which integrates directly into your browser, and stores the encrypted passwords on their servers, syncing them to every device you can install the extension on. You can even use it to store other data, like notes or credit card numbers.
Note: While the passwords may be stored on their servers, the great thing is that the master encryption key is not—all the passwords are decrypted in your browser, so they cannot see any of your password information.
You can also use KeePass, which is an excellent password manager with loads of plugins and other features. I don’t use it because it’s separate from the browser, which is where all my passwords need to be used, but it’s still a worthy application.
Application Install make your Reboot and Close other Apps
Why Do Application Installs Make You Reboot and Close Other Apps? It’s happened to everybody at some point—you go to install a new application, and Windows tells you to reboot first. Or reboot after. Or it asks you to close out of every other application first. Why does it do that? |
Ask the Readers: Which Version of Chrome Do You Use? [Poll] With multiple versions of Chrome and Chromium derivatives available there are quite a few good choices to select from. This week we would like to know which version(s) you use on your computer. |
Access Your Entire Media Collection from Anywhere on Your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch
Access Your Entire Media Collection from Anywhere on Your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch
If you have too much media in your collection that you want to access remotely, sometimes even the largest size iPods won’t do. Here is how you can use ZumoCast to access your entire digital library from virtually anywhere.
How to Download Your Photos and Videos from Facebook
How to Download Your Photos and Videos from Facebook
If you’re tired of your photos and videos being impossible to retrieve from Facebook, you’ll be happy to know that they are rolling out a new feature that allows you to download all of them in one big zip file. Here’s how it works.
Printer Error Codes
INPUT DEVICE
Any hardware device that sends data to the computer, without any input devices, a computer would only be a display device and not allow users to interact with it, much like a TV. To the right is a Logitech trackball mouse, an example of an input device. Below is a full listing of all the different types of computer input devices found on a computer.
How to Fix USB Device not Recognize in Windows
Are you getting a “USB device not recognized” error whenever you plug in a USB mouse, keyboard, or other USB device? I love USB and have 5 ports on my computer so that I can connect my mouse, keyboard, camera, phone, and printer to it all at once!
However, last weekend, my computer stopped recognizing my USB devices! The strange thing about it was that the USB ports were not bad because all of my devices were still getting power to them. I could still charge my cell phone without a problem!
So I started with the normal fixing methods, including uninstalling the drivers for my devices and reinstalling them. That didn’t work! Next I tried System Restore thinking that maybe I had installed something and it caused a conflict with the USB system drivers. That didn’t work!
I read online that in order to fix this problem I should go to Device Manager and uninstall all of the devices under USB Controllers. Restarted the computer, reinstalled the USB drivers, but the problem STILL did not go away!
You may also see in Device Manager that the device shows up as an “Unknown Device”.
So how did I finally fix the problem? Well, apparently it’s a super simple solution! No need to edit the registry, uninstall drivers, or anything of that sort.
Simply UNPLUG YOUR COMPUTER FROM THE POWER SUPPLY. Yes that’s it! Note that this does not mean just turning off your computer because modern computers don’t really turn off when you press the power button as the motherboard still gets power.
First to explain, the motherboard is where all of hardware of the computer is connected to, including the USB ports. Sometimes the motherboard needs to be “rebooted” also because something can go wrong, i.e. all your USB ports suddenly stop working. The small microprocessor on the motherboard will reload the drivers and your USB ports should be back to recognizing all devices!
So first turn off your computer using Shut Down or pressing the power button and then UNPLUG it from the wall outlet. Let it sit for about a minute and then plug it back in.
Hope this helps someone fix that pesky “USB device not recognized” Windows error!
How RAM Works
RAM is the best known form of computer memory and easy to upgrade. See more computer hardware pictures.
Random access memory (RAM) is the best known form of computer memory. RAM is considered "random access" because you can access any memory cell directly if you know the row and column that intersect at that cell.
The opposite of RAM is serial access memory (SAM). SAM stores data as a series of memory cells that can only be accessed sequentially (like a cassette tape). If the data is not in the current location, each memory cell is checked until the needed data is found. SAM works very well for memory buffers, where the data is normally stored in the order in which it will be used (a good example is the texture buffer memory on a video card). RAM data, on the other hand, can be accessed in any order.
Similar to a microprocessor, a memory chip is an integrated circuit(IC) made of millions of transistors and capacitors. In the most common form of computer memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a transistor and a capacitor are paired to create amemory cell, which represents a single bit of data. The capacitor holds the bit of information -- a 0 or a 1 (see How Bits and Bytes Work for information on bits). The transistor acts as a switch that lets the control circuitry on the memory chip read the capacitor or change its state.
More on RAM |
A capacitor is like a small bucket that is able to store electrons. To store a 1 in the memory cell, the bucket is filled with electrons. To store a 0, it is emptied. The problem with the capacitor's bucket is that it has a leak. In a matter of a few milliseconds a full bucket becomes empty. Therefore, for dynamic memory to work, either the CPU or the memory controller has to come along and recharge all of the capacitors holding a 1 before they discharge. To do this, the mem ory controller reads the memory and then writes it right back. This refresh operation happens automatically thousands of times per second.
This refresh operation is where dynamic RAM gets its name. Dynamic RAM has to be dynamically refreshed all of the time or it forgets what it is holding. The downside of all of this refreshing is that it takes time and slows down the memory.
In this article, you'll learn all about what RAM is, what kind you should buy and how to install it. See the next page to learn more about dynamic RAM and memory cells.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
I get messages from people having problems with Windows Explorer crashes on a regular basis. Mostly they go something like this: "When I right-click a file in Windows Explorer, I get a message that Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close" or "When I try to browse through the folders on my computer, I receive an error message that Windows Explorer needs to close."
In a lot of cases, these errors are caused by 3rd party shell extensions that are not functioning properly.
These shell extensions are responsible for creating the options you'll see on the menu when you right-click a file using Windows Explorer. Some 3rd party applications will add their own "action" to this menu, and this can cause problems.
If you look careful at the picture on the right, you'll see several non-standard additions to the right-click menu: "Send to Fax Recipient", "Scan with Norton Antivirus", "TextPad" and "Winzip".
To try and find if a 3rd party shell extension is causing your Windows Explorer to crash on certain actions, you'll need to download this handy (and free) utility: ShelExView. It will let you view & disable shell extensions.
ShelExView gives you all additional information you need to know such as the product & company name of the shell extension, as well as the version number. If you would like to continue using the software of the 3rd party whose shell extension is causing the Explorer crash, contact the company responsible, and check to see if there is an updated version of the software you are trying to use.
Another cause of Windows Explorer crashes can also be attributed to the existence of viruses or spyware on the machine. To tackle this, start by running one or two on-line virus scans. I'd suggest the on-line scan from eTrust and/or Trend Micro's HouseCall.
To combat any spyware that might lurk on your machine, I'd suggest the following program:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Javacool's SpywareBlaster, or SUPERAntiSpyware. As with Anti-virus scanners, run at least two different ones, they will detect different things!
Task Manager dissable program in Windows XP
Problem: It is due to some kind of virus/ trojan activity which normally disables the task manager.Now due to this problem when ever the user press alt+ctrl+del to launch windows task manager it gives an error saying “Task Manager is being disabled by your administrator”.
Solution:
To Enable the Disabled Task Manager on your system
1. Press window key+r to show run prompt
2. Follow the following steps
- Enter gpedit.msc in the run prompt and click OK
- In the Group Policy settings window
- Select User Configuration
- Select Administrative Templates
- Select System
- Select Ctrl+Alt+Delete options
- Select Remove Task Manager
- Double-click the Remove Task Manager option’.
- Set the property of this item as disabled.
Error Message: Task Manager has been dissabled
Method 1
Click Start, Run and type this command exactly as given below: (better - Copy and paste)
Method 2
Download and run this REG fix and double-click it.
Method 3
- Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe
- Navigate to the following branch:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies\ System
- In the right-pane, delete the value named DisableTaskMgr
- Close Regedit.exe
Method 4: Using Group Policy Editor - for Windows XP Professional
- Click Start, Run, type gpedit.msc and click OK.
- Navigate to this branch:
User Configuration / Administrative Templates / System / Ctrl+Alt+Delete Options / Remove Task Manager
- Double-click the Remove Task Manager option.
- Set the policy to Not Configured.
Startup Applications List
If you're frustrated with the time it takes your Windows PC to boot and then it seems to be running slowly you may have too many programs running at start-up - and have come to the right place to identify them. This is the original startup programs (as opposed to processes/tasks) list - one of the most comprehensive and most accurate!
"Name or Startup Item" in the table below refers to how an entry is displayed in MSConfig, Windows Defender or the registry "Run" keys. "Command or Data" refers to the program the entry runs. For further information on this and how to identify and disable startup programs please visit the Startup Content page.
For further information on random startup entries please visit the Startup Info page. For the next few months and foreseeable future I'll be verifying many of the Y, U, N & ? entries via virtual machines. If you can verify/identify those entries with a "?" status (especially hardware specific - such as laptops and motherboards) then please E-mail me (address at bottom of the page) or use the new Message Board. The updates on this page are kindly supported by this website hosting guide.
"Status" key:
- "Y" - Normally leave to run at start-up
- "N" - Not required or not recommended - typically infrequently used tasks that can be started manually if necessary
- "U" - User's choice - depends whether a user deems it necessary
- "X" - Definitely not required - typically viruses, spyware, adware and "resource hogs"
- "?" - Unknown
Variables:
- %System% - refers to the System folder; by default this is C:\Windows\System (9x/Me), C:\Winnt\System32 (NT/2K), or C:\Windows\System32 (XP/Vista)
- %Windir% - refers to the Windows installation folder; by default this is C:\Windows (9x/Me/XP/Vista) or C:\Winnt (NT/2K)
- %UserProfile% - refers to the current user's profile folder; by default this is C:\Documents and Settings\
(NT/2K/XP) or C:\Users\ (Vista) - %ProgramFiles% - refers to the Program Files folder; typically the path is C:\Program Files
How to Remove Startup Application
This is NOT a list of tasks/processes taken from Task Manager or the Close Program window (CTRL+ALT+DEL) but a list of startup applications, although you will find some of them listed via this method. Pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL identifies programs that are currently running - not necessarily at startup.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?