Advance Troubleshooting if your CD/DVD drive is not recognized. Upper and Lower Filters

DELETE UPPER AND LOWER FILTER

In order to delete upper and lower filters you're going to have to edit the registry. The usual cautions apply. If the registry is not edited properly your whole system can crash.

1) Close all open programs
2) Click on Start, Run, and type REGEDIT and press Enter
3) Click on the plus signs (+) next to the following folders

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
* SYSTEM
* CurrentControlSet
* Control
* Class
* {4D36E965-E325-11CE-
BFC1-08002BE10318}

4) This folder is the DVD/CD-ROM Drive Class Description in the registry. Look for any of the following names in the right hand column.

* UpperFilters
* LowerFilters
* UpperFilters.bak
* LowerFilters.bak

5) If any of the above keys shown in step 4 are listed, right-click on them and choose Delete
6) After deleting the keys, close the Registry Editor
7) Reboot your computer
8) Open My Computer and check to see if your CD or DVD drives have returned. You may also want to open Device Manager and verify that the yellow exclamation and error code on the CD or DVD drive is gone

Thanks Tech Paul

Removing hyperlinks in Microsoft Applications.

There are times when I am having a project and it requires me to look for resources from the internet. Most of the time, I will look up on Wikipedia, and it troubles me so much when I copy and paste an article that is full of links to Microsoft Word.

Instead of removing those links one by one, you can try this method, which only consist of two steps, but will remove all links in one go.

1. Press Ctrl+A, which will highlight the entire text
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+F9 (OR Ctrl+6), and you will see all links disappearing within seconds

This method is working on my Microsoft Word 2003 (and MS Word 2007) I havent tried on different versions. Thanks Tech Paul

Windows Automatic Updates Problem (Grayed out Configuration Window)

Symptom

When you open the Automatic Updates tab in My Computer Property sheet, or from Control Panel, all of the Automatic Updates configuration options may be grayed out. This happens due to any of the following reasons:

1. You're not logged on as Administrator (or equivalent)

2. Automatic Updates Policy is enabled

3. Automatic Updates (and Windows Update) access is blocked via Group Policy

Resolution

To make the Automatic Updates options configurable by the user (only for stand-alone systems), remove the restrictions 2 & 3 above.

• Click Start, Run and type REGEDIT.EXE

• Navigate to this location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Windows \ WindowsUpdate \ AU

• In the right-pane, delete the two values AUOptions and NoAutoUpdate

• Navigate to this location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ WindowsUpdate

• In the right-pane, delete the value DisableWindowsUpdateAccess

Using the Group Policy Editor - for Windows XP Professional

• Click Start, Run and type gpedit.msc

• Navigate to the following location:

=> Computer Configuration
==> Administrative Templates
===> Windows Components
====> Windows Update

• In the right-pane, double-click Configure Automatic Updates and set it to Not Configured

• Then, navigate to this location:

=> User Configuration
==> Administrative Templates
===> Windows Components
====> Windows Update

• In the right-pane, set Remove access to all Windows Update features to Not Configured

Difference between 32bit to 64bit processors?

A bit is short for “binary digit.” It is basically how a computer stores and makes references to data, memory, etc. A bit can have a value of 1 or 0, that’s it. So binary code is streams of 1’s and 0’s, such as this random sequence 100100100111. These bits are also how your processor does calculations. By using 32 bits your processor can represent numbers from 0 to 4,294,967,295 while a 64-bit machine can represent numbers from 0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615. Obviously this means your computer can do math with larger numbers, and be more efficient with smaller numbers.

The largest benefit on using 64bit will go to academic institutions and private companies, where large calculations are being performed, huge databases are being accessed, and complex problems are being solved.

The true benefits of this set up don’t come from the amount of bits, but by the improved structure of the 64 bit vs 32 bit processor's older structure. A 64-bit processor is made with more advanced silicon processes, have more transistors, and faster speeds. This is currently where the true benefit of switching to a 64-bit processor lays.

As for 64-bit operating systems and software, many are in the works, but nothing is in final version. Microsoft has released a beta version of Windows XP that takes advantage of the 64 bit technology, but there are still issues. The problem is when you run 32-bit software programs in the environment of a 64-bit operating system. Many programs won’t work properly, such as Adobe Acrobat and Windows Media Player, for example. Another issue is RAM. You really need about 4 GB of RAM to take full advantage of the capabilities offered by a 64-bit processor, while most PC owners have less than 1 GB under their computer’s hood.

COMPUTERS Q&A - How to turn off Automatic Updates in Vista?

HOW TO TURN OFF AUTOMATIC UPDATES IN WINDOWS VISTA

Step 1: Turn on your computer and click the "Start" button in the lower left corner.

Step 2: Place your cursor on "All Programs" until the programs menu displays all available programs. Once open, click on "Windows Update."

Step 3: When the Windows Update window opens click on "Change Settings" on the left side of the screen.

Step 4 : Once the Change Settings screen is displayed click on the "Never check for updates" circle to select this option.

Step 5: After selecting to turn off automatic updates click "OK" to save and exit.

RESTART YOUR SYSTEM!

COMPUTERS Q&A - How to do System Restore?

SYSTEM RESTORE

How to use System Restore to restore Windows XP to a previous state
Note To perform System Restore, you must be logged on to Windows as an administrator. If this is your personal computer, you are likely already logged on with an administrator account. If this is a computer that is part of a network at work, you might have to ask the system administrator for help. To verify that you are logged on to Windows with a user account that is a computer administrator, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/admin (http://support.microsoft.com/gp/admin)
To use System Restore to restore Windows XP to a previous state, follow these steps:

1. Log on to Windows as Administrator.
2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. System Restore starts.
3. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.
4. On the Select a Restore Point page, click the most recent system restore point in the On this list, click a restore point list, and then click Next.

Note A System Restore message may appear that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make. Click OK.
5. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.
6. Log on to the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Restoration Complete page is displayed.
7. Click OK.

Computers Q&A - How to turn off Narrator in Windows Vista?

HOW TO TURN OFF THE NARRATOR IN WINDOWS VISTA

Click on Start or the Pearl on the Lower Left Hand Side , Click on All Programs and then
You have to go to Accessories/Ease of Access/Ease of Access Center, then, under Explore all Settings, click Use the Computer without a Display. There is a checkbox in there to turn off the Narrator. Restart Computer.

Computers Q&A - How to Do Safe Mode XP

SAFEMODE

Windows XP:

1. If the computer is running, shut down Windows, and then turn off the power.
2. Wait 30 seconds, and then turn the computer on.
3. Start tapping the F8 key. The Windows Advanced Options Menu appears. If
you begin tapping the F8 key too soon, some computers display a
"keyboard error 4." message. To resolve this, restart the
computer and try again.
5. Ensure that the Safe mode option is selected.
6. Press Enter. The computer then begins to start in Safe mode.
7. When you are finished with all troubleshooting, close all programs and
restart the computer as you normally would.

Or, to use the System Configuration Utility method:
1. Close all open programs.
2. Click Start, Run and type MSCONFIG in the box and click OK
3. The System Configuration Utility appears, On the BOOT.INI tab, Check the
"/SAFEBOOT" option, and then click OK and Restart your computer
when prompted.
4. The computer restarts in Safe mode.
5. Perform the troubleshooting steps for which you are using Safe Mode.
6. When you are finished with troubleshooting in Safe mode, open MSCONFIG
again, on the BOOT.INI tab, uncheck "/SAFEBOOT" and click OK to
restart your computer

Computers Q&A - Fn Key is Stocked or Locked

Q: As i type right now, i have to hold down the "Fn" key just to get normal letters. I don't know how it happened, but I'm on a laptop and the only way for me to get the "u,i,o,l,;,k,j,m,7,9,0,/,p" keys are to hold down the "Fn" key. It is purple on the lower left of my internal keyboard.

A: Just Press

Shift and Numlock Key