20010530 Lockergnome Windows Daily Troubleshooting Video Problems in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q127/1/39.asp
"Video problems that occur when Windows is started normally, but do not occur when Windows is started in Safe mode are usually related to the display driver that Windows is attempting to use. To determine whether you are using a Windows 3.1, or Windows 95/98/Me video driver, follow these steps: Use any text editor (such as Notepad) to open the System.ini file in the Windows folder. In the [Boot] section, search for the "Display=" line. If this line reads anything other than the following line, the driver you are using is designed for Windows 3.1 (or an earlier version of Windows): Display.drv=Pnpdrvr.drv"
Interested in Windows, Networking, Cisco, HTML, Powershell, Perl, Outlook, Exchange, Troubleshooting
5/31/2001
Browse Windows 2000 and 98 faster. Reader John Kehoe reports on an easy way to speed up your browsing of Windows 98 and Windows Me from Windows 2000 machines.
It turns out that you can experience a delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared files across a local network from Windows 2000. For example, this delay would effect your search if you:
1. Right-click the My Network Places icon on your Windows 2000 desktop, click Search For Computers, and search for a Windows 98 or Windows Me computer name; or
2. Click Start, Run, and then type \\computername in reference to a Windows 98 or Windows Me machine.
Microsoft confirms this is a problem in Windows 2000. See support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q245/8/00.asp. The problem doesn't occur when browsing directly to a named computer share, just when using the computer name as shown above.
Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote computer for Scheduled Tasks, a slow and unnecessary process. Kehoe provides a work-around that dramatically speeds things up.
Step 1. In Windows 2000, click Start, Run, type regedt32, and click OK.
Step 2. In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following branch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace.
Step 3. Under that branch, select the key {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}. This key instructs Windows Explorer to search for Scheduled Tasks. If you wish, pull down the R
It turns out that you can experience a delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared files across a local network from Windows 2000. For example, this delay would effect your search if you:
1. Right-click the My Network Places icon on your Windows 2000 desktop, click Search For Computers, and search for a Windows 98 or Windows Me computer name; or
2. Click Start, Run, and then type \\computername in reference to a Windows 98 or Windows Me machine.
Microsoft confirms this is a problem in Windows 2000. See support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q245/8/00.asp. The problem doesn't occur when browsing directly to a named computer share, just when using the computer name as shown above.
Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote computer for Scheduled Tasks, a slow and unnecessary process. Kehoe provides a work-around that dramatically speeds things up.
Step 1. In Windows 2000, click Start, Run, type regedt32, and click OK.
Step 2. In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following branch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace.
Step 3. Under that branch, select the key {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}. This key instructs Windows Explorer to search for Scheduled Tasks. If you wish, pull down the R
5/22/2001
W3C - World Wide Web Consortium
You've probably at least heard of this organization, but may not know the scope of their responsibility, therefore I thought I'd briefly touch on it, then point out some extremely useful links for you web developer types.
The W3C is the group responsible for defining guidelines used on the Internet, including HTML, CSS, XML, etc. The recognized inventor of the Web, Tim Berners-Lee originally founded the organization in 1994 while working at MIT. Once they planted their roots, they began to work on many different specifications for how content should be developed in order to be as compatible as possible with all of the various resources tied to the Internet. If you want to know the "book answer" on a web standard, this is the place to go.
Aside from just defining the specifications, they've developed some extremely useful tools for developers to use in order to be sure their code is as compatible as possible. Here are just a few of the many valuable links you'll find on their site:
Introduction to HTML 4
XML In 10 Points
HTML Validator
CSS Validator
Open Source Software
You've probably at least heard of this organization, but may not know the scope of their responsibility, therefore I thought I'd briefly touch on it, then point out some extremely useful links for you web developer types.
The W3C is the group responsible for defining guidelines used on the Internet, including HTML, CSS, XML, etc. The recognized inventor of the Web, Tim Berners-Lee originally founded the organization in 1994 while working at MIT. Once they planted their roots, they began to work on many different specifications for how content should be developed in order to be as compatible as possible with all of the various resources tied to the Internet. If you want to know the "book answer" on a web standard, this is the place to go.
Aside from just defining the specifications, they've developed some extremely useful tools for developers to use in order to be sure their code is as compatible as possible. Here are just a few of the many valuable links you'll find on their site:
Introduction to HTML 4
XML In 10 Points
HTML Validator
CSS Validator
Open Source Software
SSH Secure Shell v2.4 [4.9M] W9x/NT/2K FREE
http://www.ssh.com/products/ssh/
Secure Shell (SSH) is in common use to perform remote system administration these days, and for good reason. When you're logging into a system as an administrator, protecting your security information is absolutely critical. Since I needed an SSH2-capable client today in order to work with a friend's Linux system from remote, featuring my choice here was a natural. SSH Secure Shell supports RSA SecurID, Kerberos 5, PAM, SSH2, SFTP2, SCP2 and SSH-KEYGEN2, which amounts to a whole ton of security. This thing is loaded with functionality, much of it I haven't even gotten around to using yet, so it promises to keep you busy for a while. The client is free for non-commercial use, but support is only provided for users that have purchased a license.
http://www.ssh.com/products/ssh/
Secure Shell (SSH) is in common use to perform remote system administration these days, and for good reason. When you're logging into a system as an administrator, protecting your security information is absolutely critical. Since I needed an SSH2-capable client today in order to work with a friend's Linux system from remote, featuring my choice here was a natural. SSH Secure Shell supports RSA SecurID, Kerberos 5, PAM, SSH2, SFTP2, SCP2 and SSH-KEYGEN2, which amounts to a whole ton of security. This thing is loaded with functionality, much of it I haven't even gotten around to using yet, so it promises to keep you busy for a while. The client is free for non-commercial use, but support is only provided for users that have purchased a license.
Doeskey Registry Query Utility v1.3 [39k] W9x/NT/2K FREE
http://members.aol.com/stevesfreeware2/doeskey.zip
http://wettberg.home.texas.net/doeskey.htm
You know me, I love to swim around in the Windows Registry to see what floats to the surface, and once I find a gem, I fancy using my new found wealth in an automated fashion. Doeskey not only queries a registry value, but it can make a direct comparison to a specified value, then return the results to an ERRORLEVEL, which is extremely helpful to those of you that are hooked on batch files, particularly with login scripts. I can think of a hundred ways that a registry value comparison could help an administrator. A couple of quick ideas might be to verify a user or system setting to see if it has been changed, or maybe to detect the value the operating system identifier in order to apply a fix to certain versions of Windows.
http://members.aol.com/stevesfreeware2/doeskey.zip
http://wettberg.home.texas.net/doeskey.htm
You know me, I love to swim around in the Windows Registry to see what floats to the surface, and once I find a gem, I fancy using my new found wealth in an automated fashion. Doeskey not only queries a registry value, but it can make a direct comparison to a specified value, then return the results to an ERRORLEVEL, which is extremely helpful to those of you that are hooked on batch files, particularly with login scripts. I can think of a hundred ways that a registry value comparison could help an administrator. A couple of quick ideas might be to verify a user or system setting to see if it has been changed, or maybe to detect the value the operating system identifier in order to apply a fix to certain versions of Windows.
Exchange 2000 Static Port Mapping
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q270/8/36.asp
If you're using Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, you might be wondering why you cannot connect to the server over the Internet with an Exchange-capable mail client such as Outlook. When an initial connection is made from Outlook to the Exchange server, port 135 is used to establish the session. After that, further communications occur over two randomly selected ports - one for the Information Store and one for the Directory. The problem is that firewalls will block activity on these other ports unless you specifically allow traffic to pass on them. Being that the ports are randomly selected, this obviously makes it fairly difficult. A couple of registry hacks later, and you can force Exchange to use static ports for these sessions, which can then easily be allowed to pass through a firewall.
Exchange Server 5.5 Static Port Mapping
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q155/8/31.asp
Exchange 5.5 basically works the same way, but it is slightly different, so I decided to toss this one in as well to be sure you have the right set of instructions for your particular server version.
TCP/UDP Ports Used By Exchange 2000 Server
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q278/3/39.asp
So, we've learned that Exchange can be setup to perform certain communications over specifically assigned ports, but you might be left wondering what other TCP/UDP ports that Exchange is chattering with on the network. This is particularly useful information for those of you that need to make allowances for additional Exchange capabilities in your firewall configuration.
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q270/8/36.asp
If you're using Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, you might be wondering why you cannot connect to the server over the Internet with an Exchange-capable mail client such as Outlook. When an initial connection is made from Outlook to the Exchange server, port 135 is used to establish the session. After that, further communications occur over two randomly selected ports - one for the Information Store and one for the Directory. The problem is that firewalls will block activity on these other ports unless you specifically allow traffic to pass on them. Being that the ports are randomly selected, this obviously makes it fairly difficult. A couple of registry hacks later, and you can force Exchange to use static ports for these sessions, which can then easily be allowed to pass through a firewall.
Exchange Server 5.5 Static Port Mapping
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q155/8/31.asp
Exchange 5.5 basically works the same way, but it is slightly different, so I decided to toss this one in as well to be sure you have the right set of instructions for your particular server version.
TCP/UDP Ports Used By Exchange 2000 Server
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q278/3/39.asp
So, we've learned that Exchange can be setup to perform certain communications over specifically assigned ports, but you might be left wondering what other TCP/UDP ports that Exchange is chattering with on the network. This is particularly useful information for those of you that need to make allowances for additional Exchange capabilities in your firewall configuration.
SOAP Toolkit 2.0 Gold Release [1.5M] W9x/NT FREE
http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp?URL=/code/sample.asp?url=/msdn-files/027/001/580/msdncompositedoc.xml
I guess SOAP is Microsoft's way of helping to clean up application integration, but they're taking their time about getting a good lather going. The newly ushered SOAP Toolkit 2.0 Gold Release provides a legitimate platform for developing XML applications using the lightweight protocol designed to enable developers to create robust distributed applications with as little data transfer overhead as possible.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp?URL=/code/sample.asp?url=/msdn-files/027/001/580/msdncompositedoc.xml
I guess SOAP is Microsoft's way of helping to clean up application integration, but they're taking their time about getting a good lather going. The newly ushered SOAP Toolkit 2.0 Gold Release provides a legitimate platform for developing XML applications using the lightweight protocol designed to enable developers to create robust distributed applications with as little data transfer overhead as possible.
IE Connection Limit
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q183/1/10.ASP
The HTTP 1.0 specification allows for 4 concurrent connections from a browser to a web server. HTTP 1.1 decreases this to 2 concurrent connections, which basically means that up to 2 files can be downloaded at the same time. The more images on a site, the longer it can take to download all of them because of the limit in how many connections can be established. You can tweak the maximum number of connections for Microsoft Internet Explorer by modifying a registry entry, though you are breaking the rules a bit. Some web servers are configured to throttle the number of connections, so it may not work entirely, but it could speed up your general surfing ability. The downside is that on slower Internet connections, you'll have more files downloading at the same time, possibly resulting in slower overall surfing, so it may be not for everyone.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Internet Settings
HTTP 1.1 Servers:
Value Name: MaxConnectionsPerServer
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 2
Notes: 2 is the default, suggested max of 8
HTTP 1.0 Servers:
Value Name: MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 4
Notes: 4 is the default, suggested max of 8
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q183/1/10.ASP
The HTTP 1.0 specification allows for 4 concurrent connections from a browser to a web server. HTTP 1.1 decreases this to 2 concurrent connections, which basically means that up to 2 files can be downloaded at the same time. The more images on a site, the longer it can take to download all of them because of the limit in how many connections can be established. You can tweak the maximum number of connections for Microsoft Internet Explorer by modifying a registry entry, though you are breaking the rules a bit. Some web servers are configured to throttle the number of connections, so it may not work entirely, but it could speed up your general surfing ability. The downside is that on slower Internet connections, you'll have more files downloading at the same time, possibly resulting in slower overall surfing, so it may be not for everyone.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Internet Settings
HTTP 1.1 Servers:
Value Name: MaxConnectionsPerServer
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 2
Notes: 2 is the default, suggested max of 8
HTTP 1.0 Servers:
Value Name: MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 4
Notes: 4 is the default, suggested max of 8
Stack Page Overflow
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q149/0/83.asp
Windows 9x has one gaping flaw that has caused problems with the OS since it's inception - tThe ability for individual applications or drivers to make a mess of the entire operating environment. This usually results in hangs, bizarre application behavior or error messages. One of the common dialogs you may experience relates to spare stack pages being unavailable. This is the result of a driver allocating more than the 4KB it has been allocated for a stack page. In that case, Windows dutifully provides 2 additional 4KB stack pages for temporary use to accommodate the sloppily written driver. Unfortunately, 2 spare pages may not be enough. Increasing the MinSPs value in the System.ini file may be the cure in this case. In the [386Enh], add the following line. If you still experience problems, increase the value in increments of 4 (i.e. 8, 12, 16, etc.).
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q149/0/83.asp
Windows 9x has one gaping flaw that has caused problems with the OS since it's inception - tThe ability for individual applications or drivers to make a mess of the entire operating environment. This usually results in hangs, bizarre application behavior or error messages. One of the common dialogs you may experience relates to spare stack pages being unavailable. This is the result of a driver allocating more than the 4KB it has been allocated for a stack page. In that case, Windows dutifully provides 2 additional 4KB stack pages for temporary use to accommodate the sloppily written driver. Unfortunately, 2 spare pages may not be enough. Increasing the MinSPs value in the System.ini file may be the cure in this case. In the [386Enh], add the following line. If you still experience problems, increase the value in increments of 4 (i.e. 8, 12, 16, etc.).
5/07/2001
WinGuides Article : Windows Registry FAQ : Importing and Exporting Registry Settings Tricks, tweaks & hacks for optimizing, enhancing and securing Windows systems.
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