IT’S NE V ER DONE GET THE UPPER HAND ON WINDOWS XP! • Survival strategies for wrangling device drivers, the BIOS, and the Windows Registry If you know enough about computers to use one but not always enough to fix those unexpected Windows problems, It’s Never Done That Before! is the book for you It gives you: Got Windows problems? You’re not alone Reach for It’s Never Done That Before! —the lifeline you’ll grab when your computer does something you didn’t expect it to • Troubleshooting techniques and tips for solving common XP problems • Strategies for finding and fixing obscure It’s Never Done That Before! problems • Hints for troubleshooting BIOS beep codes and Blue Screen errors • Help with XP’s troubleshooting tools (such as Safe Mode and the Recovery Console) ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Ross has been using and writing about Windows since the first version was introduced more than 20 years ago He is author of books about Windows for Microsoft Press and Sybex, and other books about networks and the Internet for several major publishers His most recent book for No Starch Press was The Book of Wi-Fi He has also been a consultant for major technology manufacturers, including Motorola and AT&T G U I D E T O T R O U B L E S H O O T I N G JOHN ROSS $29.95 ($38.95 CDN) “ I L AY F L AT ” This book uses RepKover — a durable binding that won’t snap shut WINDOWS XP SHELVE IN: WINDOWS XP w w w.nostarch.com đ Advice for getting the most out of the Microsoft Knowledge Base and other online resources, plus tips for dealing with technical support A ROSS T H E F I N E ST I N G E E K E N T E RTA I N M E N T ™ • Techniques for dealing with viruses, spyware, and Internet problems I T’S NE V E R DONE TH AT B E F O R E ! Do some Windows XP problems make you scratch your head in wonder? Has an application suddenly chosen not to start or a piece of hardware simply stopped working? Ever had the Internet “disappear” or been faced with a Blue or Black Screen of Death? Do the neighbors call you to fix their machines when you’d really prefer to hand them a book so they can solve their own problems? TH AT BE F O R E ! ® ® www.it-ebooks.info indtb_TITLE_COPY.fm Page ii Friday, April 14, 2006 2:07 PM www.it-ebooks.info indtb_TITLE_COPY.fm Page iii Friday, April 14, 2006 2:07 PM IT’S NE VER DONE THAT BEFORE! A Guide to Troubleshooting Wi n d o w s X P by J oh n R os s ® San Francisco www.it-ebooks.info indtb_TITLE_COPY.fm Page iv Friday, April 14, 2006 2:07 PM IT’S NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE! Copyright © 2006 by John Ross All rights reserved No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher Printed on recycled paper in the United States of America 10 – 09 08 07 06 No Starch Press and the No Starch Press logo are registered trademarks of No Starch Press, Inc Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we are using the names only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark Publisher: William Pollock Managing Editor: Elizabeth Campbell Cover and Interior Design: Octopod Studios Developmental Editor: Peter Spear Copyeditors: Judy Flynn and Publication Services, Inc Compositor: Riley Hoffman Proofreader: Stephanie Provines Indexer: Publication Services, Inc For information on book distributors or translations, please contact No Starch Press, Inc directly: No Starch Press, Inc 555 De Haro Street, Suite 250, San Francisco, CA 94107 phone: 415.863.9900; fax: 415.863.9950; info@nostarch.com; www.nostarch.com The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor No Starch Press, Inc shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in it Librar y of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ross, John, 1947It's never done that before! : a guide to troubleshooting Windows XP / John Ross p cm Includes index ISBN 1-59327-076-3 Microsoft Windows (Computer file) Operating systems (Computers) I Title QA76.76.O63R682 2006 005.4'46 dc22 2005028821 www.it-ebooks.info INDTB_02.book Page v Friday, April 14, 2006 12:19 PM BRIEF CONTENTS Acknowledgments xv Introduction xvii Chapter 1: Troubleshooting Methods and Tools Chapter 2: Types of Windows Problems and Failures 25 Chapter 3: What to Do When Windows Won’t Start 39 Chapter 4: Black Screens and Blue Screens 55 Chapter 5: Solving Device Driver Problems 65 Chapter 6: Using the Microsoft Knowledge Base and Other Online Resources 75 Chapter 7: Using System Restore and Other Rollback Techniques 89 Chapter 8: Underneath It All: The BIOS 97 Chapter 9: The Windows Registry: Here Be Demons .107 Chapter 10: Dealing with Individual Programs and Files 117 Chapter 11: Service Packs, Patches, and Other Updates 127 Chapter 12: Viruses, Spyware, and Other Nasties 133 Chapter 13: Internet Connection Problems .143 Chapter 14: Local Network Problems 157 Chapter 15: Dealing with Hardware Problems 165 Chapter 16: Troubleshooting and Replacing Hard Drives 175 Chapter 17: Troubleshooting and Replacing Other Hardware 193 Chapter 18: If All Else Fails Call Tech Support 209 Chapter 19: Cutting Your Losses: What to Do When Nothing Else Works 221 www.it-ebooks.info INDTB_02.book Page vi Friday, April 14, 2006 12:19 PM Chapter 20: Things to Do Now, Before Your Computer Crashes .231 Appendix A: Device Manager Error Codes and BIOS POST Beep Codes 245 Appendix B: Free and Inexpensive Security Programs for Windows XP 257 Index 259 vi Br ief C on t en ts www.it-ebooks.info INDTB_02.book Page vii Friday, April 14, 2006 12:19 PM CONTENTS IN DETAIL A CK N O W LE D G M E N T S xv I NT R O D UC T I O N xvii T R O UB L E SH O O T IN G M E T H O D S AN D T O O L S Troubleshooting Basics What May Have Gone Wrong? What Has Changed? Record Your Steps Is This a New Problem? Has It Ever Done This Before? Start with a Plan Identify the Symptoms Try Restarting the Computer Look for an Explanation Places to Look for Help 14 Try a Fix 22 Check the Result 22 Keep a Record of the Fix 22 Prevent a Repeat 23 T Y P E S O F W I N D O W S P R O B L E M S A N D FA I LU R E S 25 No Power 26 Checking Power on a Desktop Computer 26 Checking a Laptop Computer 27 Errors During Startup 27 Troubleshooting Windows Failures 29 Black Screens 29 Blue Screens 30 Everything Is Frozen in Place 30 Nonfatal Error Messages 31 Responding to Nonfatal Error Messages 31 Error Messages: Finding Translations from the Cryptic 32 What to Do When Windows Is Acting Oddly 33 Pop-up Ads and Redirected Web Pages: Your Desktop Under Attack 34 Hardware Problems 36 Memory Problems 37 Internet Connection Problems 37 Local Network Problems 38 Where Do We Go from Here? 38 www.it-ebooks.info INDTB_02.book Page viii Friday, April 14, 2006 12:19 PM W HA T T O D O W H E N W I ND O W S W O N ’T S T A R T 39 The Windows Startup Sequence 40 Power-on Self Test (POST) 40 Beep Codes 40 Initial Startup: What Happens When You Push the Button 41 Run the Boot Loader 41 Detect and Configure Hardware 41 Load the Windows Kernel 42 Logon 42 So What Can Go Wrong? 42 Making Sense of Startup Error Messages 43 Returning to the Last Known Good Configuration 45 Bypassing Windows with the Recovery Console 46 Solving Startup Problems with the Recovery Console 47 Safe Mode 48 The System Configuration Utility 48 Using the Configuration Utility to Streamline Startup 51 The Boot Log: A History of Startup Programs 52 Solving Those “Did Not Load” Errors 53 B L A CK SC R E E NS AN D B LU E S C R E E NS 55 Black Screens 56 Open Windows in Safe Mode 56 Look for a Hardware Problem 56 Blue Screens 57 How to Read a Stop Message 57 Look for More Details 58 Replace the Driver File 58 Wait, Wait! Don’t Let the Message Disappear! 59 Finding a Fix 60 The Microsoft Knowledge Base 61 Try Other Internet Resources 64 S O L VI N G D E V I CE D R IV E R P R O B L E M S 65 Device Drivers 66 DLL Files 68 Diagnosing a Driver Problem 68 Where to Find New Drivers 70 Installing New Drivers 71 Returning to an Earlier Version 72 Storing and Organizing Your Drivers 73 Use Device Driver Rollback to Solve a Conflict 73 viii C on t en t s in D et l www.it-ebooks.info INDTB_02.book Page ix Friday, April 14, 2006 12:19 PM U S I N G T HE M I CR O S O F T K N O W L E D G E B A S E A N D O T H E R O N L IN E R E S O U R C E S 75 Try the Help Screens First 76 README Files 78 The Microsoft Knowledge Base 78 Opening the Knowledge Base 79 Reading a Knowledge Base Article 80 Buried Treasure in the Knowledge Base 82 Hardware and Software Manufacturers’ Websites 83 Newsgroups and Independent Support Services 84 Search Online for the Symptoms 87 Don’t Panic (Yet) 87 U S I N G S Y S T E M R E ST O R E A ND O T H E R R O LL B A C K T E C H N IQ U E S 89 Before You Try System Restore 90 Creating Restore Points 92 Returning to a Restore Point 94 Starting System Restore in Safe Mode 95 U N D E R N E A T H I T A LL : T H E B I O S 97 The Power-on Self Test 98 Changing the BIOS Settings 99 Opening the BIOS Setup Tool 100 Changing BIOS Settings 100 Date and Time 101 Configuring Hard Drives and Other IDE Devices 101 Diskette Settings 103 Boot Sequence 103 Turn Num Lock On or Off 104 Other BIOS Settings 104 If All Else Fails, Return to the Default 104 Updating the BIOS 105 T H E W I N D O W S R E G I ST R Y : H E R E B E D E M O N S 107 Opening, Reading, and Editing the Registry 109 How the Registry Is Organized 110 Using the Registry to Repair or Modify Windows 111 Deleting a Registry Item 112 Adding a New Registry Item 113 Editing an Existing Registry Item 114 Getting the Junk Out: Registry Cleanup Tools 114 C on t en ts in D et ail www.it-ebooks.info ix INDTB_02.book Page x Friday, April 14, 2006 12:19 PM 10 D E A L I NG W IT H I ND I VI D UA L P R O G R A M S A N D FI L E S 117 The Program Won’t Start 118 Have You Used This Program Before? 118 Have You Just Upgraded? 118 What Else Has Happened Lately? 119 Is There Another Way to Open the Program? 119 Reinstall the Program 120 Delete and Reinstall Again 120 A File Opens in the Wrong Program 121 The Program Freezes 122 I Can’t Read a File 124 Try a Different Program 124 Check the File Extension 124 The File Won’t Print 125 11 S E RV I CE P AC K S , P A T C HE S, A N D O T H E R UP D AT E S 127 When to Update 128 Finding and Installing the Latest Updates 128 Installing Microsoft Windows Updates 128 Updating Security Software 130 What If an Update Creates Problems? 130 Updating the BIOS 130 Use the Right BIOS 131 Follow the Instructions 132 12 V IR US E S , S P YW A R E , A N D O T H E R N AS T IE S 133 Protecting Your System 134 Viruses, Worms, and Trojan Horses 134 Antivirus Programs 135 Take Precautions 136 Spyware 136 Where Did That Come From? 136 Protecting Against Spyware 137 Finding and Removing Spyware 137 Identifying Malware 138 Stopping Break-ins: Firewalls 140 Firewall Software 140 Firewall Hardware 142 13 I NT E R N E T C O N N E CT IO N PR O B L E M S 143 Isolate the Problem 144 Follow the Signal 144 The Local Network Hub or Router 146 x C on t en ts in D et l www.it-ebooks.info ... his head It’s obvious that the computer exploded about five seconds earlier He’s thinking, “It’s never done that before. ” Most computer problems aren’t that violent or that dramatic, but the... VER DONE THAT BEFORE! A Guide to Troubleshooting Wi n d o w s X P by J oh n R os s ® San Francisco www.it-ebooks.info indtb_TITLE_COPY.fm Page iv Friday, April 14, 2006 2:07 PM IT’S NEVER DONE THAT. .. fix didn’t work, return the setting to its original state before you move on to something else Obviously, that doesn’t mean that you should replace the dust that you removed from inside the computer