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Keyboard problems

Strange behaviour of the keyboard


Problem description
All kinds of strange phenomena occur when you type certain keys. For example, there may
appear 2 characters on the screen, like with the single quote ('), accent grave (`), tilde (~) or
accent circonflex (^).
At someone else's PC typing a 'l' (not one, but the letter) produced a '3'. I have not yet been able
to determine if the cause of this problem is the same.
I also encountered a similar problem myself. A Windows 7 PC had just restarted after
hibernation, and suddenly the characters that appeared on the screen were completely different
from the ones I typed in. In fact, most of them were complete rubbish. I will start describing this
problem below, because the solution was most simple (although the cause unknown).
Cause 1: ???
I checked all places I could think of, keyboard settings, regional settings, etc., but I couldn't find
anything unusual.
Solution 1: Stop and start the PC

Take note: I do not mean restarting the PC, although I suspect that would have been sufficient. A
friend of mine advised me to stop the PC, pull out the power cord for about 5 seconds, and then
restart it. By removing the power from the PC, you're sure there are no remnants of whatever
corruption left in memory. Although personally I have never encountered a situation where it was
clear that something remaining in memory prevented a solution of a problem. Anyhow, after this
action the problem was solved.
Cause 2: You are infected by a virus
Although you may be very careful in your actions on the Internet, and you are protected by an
OK virusscanner, you can still be infected by a virus (as this case shows).
The virusscanner BitDefender was used to protect the PC. It didn't see that the PC had been
infected, Panda Cloud AntiVirus did.
Solution 1: Just to be sure, try another scanner (or two)

You can also use online scanners, so you don't have to install several of them on your PC.
Solution 2: Restore a restore point

You can also try to restore a restore point. The person with the double keys wasn't able to restore
any restore point, but he didn't try to do it in Safe mode.

Screen problems
Screen is not, or just partially refreshed
Problem description
You do something in a program, and nothing changes on the screen. Or parts of the screen get
corrupted (some parts are refreshed, others aren't). In short, a lot is wrong in the graphical
department.
Cause 1: There is no more space available for GDI objects
Every graphical object (Graphical Device Interface object) in Windows needs some space. And
there are a lot more graphical objects than you would expect. If your PC keeps running for a few
days, just Explorer alone often uses more than 1000. The same holds for a browser like
Firefox.
The space available for GDI objects is limited. If you run out of space, you can expect all kinds
of weird graphical behaviour.
Solution 1: Restart the PC

This will definitely cure the problem. You start with a clean slate.
Solution 2: Terminate the "guilty" programs, and restart them if necessary

Use Task Manager to investigate the number of GDI objects that programs use. Kill some of the
programs that use the most, like Firefox.
Take note: take care when applying End Process to Explorer. This program is essential for
your PC to be able to function, and if you don't take precautions you won't be able to start it
again. Open a command line window before you terminate Explorer, and when it has gone,
switch to the command line (by using Alt+Tab) and type explorer, followed by Enter.

A program has a window, but you can't bring it to the foreground (it's invisible)
Problem description
I had installed and started a program. I could manage the program via it's window, as usual.

While the program was running, I switched to other activities, and it's window was covered by
other windows. No problems so far, but usually I can use the key combination Alt+Tab to
alternate through all the open windows, and switch to the one I want. However, this particular
window wasn't there, and it wasn't visible on the taskbar (at the bottom of the screen) too.
So in fact I couldn't do anything with the program anymore (except kill it), because I wasn't able
to reach it's interface.
Cause 1: ????
Solution 1: Use Process Explorer
Process Explorer

can be downloaded for free at Microsoft.

After you start it, right click on the line with the problematic program.
Then click on Window and subsequently on Bring to Front
This almost always works.

Impossible to display a video in Internet Explorer because of Silverlight


problems
Problem description
On a new PC (Windows 7 Ultimate) I used Internet Explorer to visit the site RTLNieuws.nl
(a Dutch news site). At the top left on the screen the message "Install Silverlight" appeared. The
installation of Silverlight seemed to finish without problems. Nevertheless the message didn't
go away.
I tried to restart the browser, and restart the PC, but the situation didn't change. I could see
Silverlight in the list of installed programs. But you should also see Silverlight in the list
of Add-ons of the browser, and that wasn't the case.
Cause 1: Silverlight is 32-bit, and can't work in IE 64-bit
There is just a 32-bit version of Silverlight available, and I worked with a 64-bit version of
Internet Explorer. That's an impossible combination.
Solution 1: Use the 32-bit version of IE

Apparently there is no advantage to using the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer, so you can
just as well use the 32-bit version. By default, both are installed in Windows 7.
64-bit is especially beneficial to the operating system, because it's memory space will become a
lot larger (as compared to 32-bit). So it is useful to run 64-bit Windows instead of 32-bit.

The window of a program (e.g. Firefox) is invisible (Windows 7)


Problem description
In this case the problem was related to Firefox, but I think other programs could end up in the
same situation.
The user started Firefox. In the taskbar you could see a Firefox rectangle, and it even
contained some text to show that the default start page had been loaded. Task Manager also
indicated that Firefox was active. Nevertheless there was no Firefox window on the desktop,
so you couldn't do anything with the program.
Cause 1: Settings in the display (desk) control panel applet are not OK
You can extend the desktop to multiple displays, but I have never tried this myself. Probably this
is useful in a situation where there are a lot of open windows on the desktop, and you want to
view a number of them at the same time.
In this case a setting related to multiple displays was messed up, although the user wasn't even
aware of the existence of the applet (let alone that she had changed something). Perhaps some
programs make changes in this applet. Anyway, I haven't been able to discover the cause for the
wrong setting.
Solution 1: Reset the wrong setting to a correct value

Open the desk control panel applet. If you have the same problem as described here, you should
now see 2 (or more) display icons, one of which has a '1' in a white circle. In this case there was
a large display icon with a '1', and a small display icon with a '2'.
Click on the list behind Multiple displays.
If you, like most mortals, have just attached 1 monitor to your PC, the obvious choice will be
Show desktop only on 1.
By making this choice Firefox suddenly behaved normal again. The option that had mistakenly
been selected before was Extend these displays. So the Firefox window may have been
visible on the 2nd monitor that wasn't there.
On a Microsoft page you can read about all the options.

DVD/CD-problems
Reading, copying from or playing a DVD/CD is terribly slow

Problem description
In copying a number of files from a DVD (using XCOPY, but that's probably not significant for
this story) the delays went sky high.
Cause 1: Something is wrong with the DVD/CD-player
You can easily rule out this option, by trying the same kind of action using another CD/DVD.
Cause 2: Something is wrong with the DVD/CD
You can easily check that with the free tool DiscSpeed (of Nero).
With this program you can check the DVD/CD for bad spots, and it has several other useful
functions. In my case there were a number of bad spots on the DVD, and their location was in
the files where XCOPY experience the delays.

Slow PC
PC (sometimes) needs a lot of time to start
Problem description
Starting the PC takes minutes longer than usual, but not necessarily all the time.
Cause 1: Some of the USB-devices has a problem
In the case I encountered there was a faulty USB stick involved. When Windows starts, it tries to
recognize all the USB devices that are connected to the PC. It needed a lot more time for the
faulty stick, which wasn't always plugged in.

USB problems
USB drive cannot be read or written to, although it is visible in Explorer
Problem description
If I use Explorer to look at the contents of a USB stick, I get the message:
L:\ is not accessible. The request could not be performed because of an I/O
device error.

This problem occurred after a kind of hang of my PC (but because it happened during the night,
and my KVM-switch was connected to another PC, I wasn't able to see what was on the screen).
In the Event Log there were a lot of the following messages:
An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk8\D during a paging operation.

Cause 1: USB hub isn't functioning correctly


When I examined the USB stick with chkdsk I got the following disturbing results:
D:\Documents and Settings\Henk>chkdsk l: /f The type of the file system is
NTFS. Volume label is Emtec zwart. CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Index verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage
3 of 3)... Security descriptor verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn
Journal... Usn Journal verification completed. Correcting errors in the master
file table's (MFT) BITMAP attribute. Insufficient disk space to fix master
file table (MFT). CHKDSK aborted.

Then I put the same stick in a different PC, and chkdsk found no problems. On the XP PC with
the problem, I originally had put the stick in a USB hub. When I put it in a port on the PC itself,
the problems were gone too. And when I put it back in the hub again, the problems re-appeared.
In the dump that was taken during the hang/crash of Windows I can see that the hub seems to be
the cause of the problem. But a USB-Bluetooth headset that was plugged in the same hub was
functioning OK.
Solution 1: Reinstall the hub

A newly attached USB device doesn't show up in Explorer


Problem description
You put a USB stick in your PC, but when you look in Explorer you don't see it.
Cause 1: Multiple devices are competing for the same drive letter
Windows retains information about all devices that have once been attached to the PC. You can
have a look at that information.
Windows tries to give the same USB device the same drive letter every time it is connected to the
PC. However, in the meantime an other device may have confiscated that letter. The result may
be that the USB device will not become visible in Explorer.
Solution 1: Change the drive letter of the USB device

The new device often *is* visible in the Disk Management console. Open the diskmgmt
console.

If you see the device, then change the drive letter to one that is not being used yet.

Disk problems
PC is extremely slow, especially during heavy disk action (e.g. playing video)
Problem description
PC almost grinds to a halt. You hear a lot of hard disk activity. Playing video's and music is slow
and halts every now and then.
Cause 1: Disk transfer mode is set to a wrong value
Hard disks can run in several different modes. If there is a disk problem, even a one time tiny
one, Windows makes safety of the disk the highest priority and switches the mode back to a
lower speed. After a couple of these incidentes the disk is running in the slowest possible mode
(PIO mode).
Solution 1

Check the transfer mode of the disk , and if it is PIO, restore Ultra DMA mode.

Network problems
You have a valid IP address, but you can't reach other devices and/or computers
in your wireless network
Problem description
You have a quite regular looking IP address, but you can't connect to a network disk or other PC
in your home. Your IP address for example is 192.168.1.106.
Cause 1: You have connected to the network of your neighbours :-)
Most home PC's get IP addresss like 192.168.1.3 or 192.168.1.5. The large number (106) at the
end is strange. De device that produces the addresses (router/modem) usually had a 1 at the end,
and it starts with 2 to give addresses to other devices (although you can choose to let it start with
a different number, e.g. 100). So depending on your own settings, the 106 might indicate that
you're not on your own network.

Apparently, in the settings for wireless networks, you specified that the PC should automatically
connect to the network with the strongest signal, and apparently you somewhat closer to the
access point of your neighbours than your own.
Solution

Manually connect to your own wireless network (more explanation later).

No sound from headsets and/or speakers


The slider that indicates the sound volume can be dragged upwards, but
immediately slides back to the lowest posision
Problem description
I have 2 headsets connected to my XP PC: a wireless one via Bluetooth and USB, and a wired
one using 2 of those small thin plugs. Sometimes I switch from one to the other. The problems
caused by that are worth a story in itself, but what happened now is very bizar.
In my situation 1 of the headsets always produces sound (at least if you're playing music, a DVD,
or whatever), depending amongst other upon the settings you choose in the Control Panel applet.
However, now they were both utterly silent.
It was easy to see why, because I clicked the Volume Control icon in the system tray (resembles a
speaker), and I saw that the slider was all the way down. So I tried to drag it upwards, but it went
back to the bottom so fast that I couldn't even drag it to the top of the volume range. I also
checked other places where you can manage the volume, but the problem was the same.
Cause 1: ???
I suspect the problem is somehow related to my configuration with 2 headsets. But I have no clue
as to what exactly was the matter.
Solution 1: Restarting the PC

As I expected, a restart solved the problem.

Problems installing programs


Internal error 2738

Probleem description
You try to install a program, and get the above message. This problem is not related to a specific
program, but to a class of programs that use a particular component of Windows. I was running a
64-bit version of Windows 7.
Cause 1
In Windows a lot of .DLL-files are used. They contain small programs that are being shared by
other programs. Windows has to know about the existence of these so-called library files (they
have to be registered).
The problem is apparently caused by 2 library files that have not been registered correctly, the
.DLL-files of JavaScript and VBScript (Visual Basic Script).
Solution 1

This solution requires that you are going to mess with the registry, which always is dangerous
thing to do. So know very well what you are doing and/or take necessary precautions in case you
screw up!!!!
Open a command prompt in elevated mode.
Execute the following 4 commands:
reg delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{B54F3741-5B07-11CF-A4B000AA004A55E8}" /f reg delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\
{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}" /f regsvr32 vbscript.dll regsvr32
jscript.dll

The first 2 commands remove the old references (if present) from the registry (officially the first
one is just for 32-bit systems, the 2nd one is for 64-bit systems, but just to be sure I executed
both). The last 2 commands reregisters both .DLL-files with Windows.
Then rerun the installation. In my case the error was gone.

Problems with (starting) programs


At the moment the following problems:

Skype starts with an error message, but seems to function normally (XP)

Skype starts with an error message, but seems to function normally (XP)

Problem description
When Skype starts, I get the following message:
Skype.exe - Entry Point Not Found
The procedure entry point NtAlpcSendWaitReceivePort could not be located in
the dynamic link library ntdll.dll.

Cause 1
This seems to be something serious, because ntdll.dll is a crucial Windows file containing
code that is shared with a lot of other programs. Apparently Skype tries to call a piece of code
with a name that is not defined in the file. The consequences can be virtually anything.
The problem is connected to Samsung smartphones. In order to control the smartphone from the
computer, you need a program (called Kies (Choose)) in Dutch. This program puts the file
avrt.dll in the folder Windows\System32
Solution 1

Rename the file avrt.dll to something else. You have to be Administrator to be able to do
this, and I don't know what it will do to the Samsung program. But in forums on the Internet this
is the most advised solution.
I tried it and it works.
See here (close to the bottom) for more information.
Solution 2

Try to upgrade Kies.


I just (15-12-2012) did, but the problem still exists.

Programs that crash


At the moment the following problems:

Program crashes with message about Just-in-Time debugging

Program crashes with message about Just-in-Time debugging


Problem description

I could reproduce a crash of the file manager Everything with the following error message:
Visual Studio Just-In-Time Debugger : An unhandled win32 exception occurred in
Everything-1.2.1.371.exe [272]. Just-In-Time debugging this exception failed
with the following error: No installed debugger has Just- In-Time debugging
enabled. In Visual Studio, Just-In-Time debugging can be enabled from
Tools/Options/Debugging/Just-In-Time.

Troubleshooting
Because I get this kind of message quite often (also in other programs) I wanted to know how I
could turn on this Just-in-Time debugging, but Visual Studio is not installed on my PC.
I did install the Debugging Tools for Windows, and the program WinDbg is part of that
package.
So I searched the help information of that program, and found out that you can make the
debugger start automatically if a program crashes with this message.
Open a command line, go to the folder that contains WinDbg, and then type: windbg -I (capital
letter not important), followed by Enter
And indeed the debugger started after the next crash, and the following interesting information
was displayed on my screen:
Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.6.0007.5 Copyright (c) Microsoft
Corporation. All rights reserved. *** wait with pending attach Symbol search
path is: srv*n:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols Executable
search path is: ModLoad: 00400000 00499000 N:\Portable tools\Everything
Ikbenstil\Everything-1.2.1.371.exe ModLoad: 7c900000 7c9b2000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\ntdll.dll ModLoad: 7c800000 7c8f6000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\kernel32.dll ModLoad: 773d0000 774d3000
D:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\X86_Microsoft.Windows.CommonControls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.2600.6028_x-ww_61e65202\COMCTL32.dll ModLoad:
77c10000 77c68000 D:\WINDOWS\system32\msvcrt.dll ModLoad: 77dd0000 77e6b000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\ADVAPI32.dll ModLoad: 77e70000 77f03000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\RPCRT4.dll ModLoad: 77fe0000 77ff1000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\Secur32.dll ModLoad: 77f10000 77f59000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\GDI32.dll ModLoad: 7e410000 7e4a1000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\USER32.dll ModLoad: 77f60000 77fd6000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\SHLWAPI.dll ModLoad: 71ab0000 71ac7000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\WS2_32.dll ModLoad: 71aa0000 71aa8000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\WS2HELP.dll ModLoad: 763b0000 763f9000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\comdlg32.dll ModLoad: 7c9c0000 7d1d7000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\SHELL32.dll ModLoad: 774e0000 7761e000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\ole32.dll ModLoad: 76390000 763ad000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\IMM32.DLL ModLoad: 629c0000 629c9000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\LPK.DLL ModLoad: 74d90000 74dfb000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\USP10.dll ModLoad: 74720000 7476c000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\MSCTF.dll ModLoad: 10000000 1000c000 D:\Program
Files\LetMeType\lmthook.dll ModLoad: 76b40000 76b6d000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\WINMM.dll ModLoad: 77b40000 77b62000

D:\WINDOWS\system32\apphelp.dll ModLoad: 755c0000 755ee000


D:\WINDOWS\system32\msctfime.ime ModLoad: 5ad70000 5ada8000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\UxTheme.dll ModLoad: 76fd0000 7704f000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\CLBCATQ.DLL ModLoad: 77050000 77115000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\COMRes.dll ModLoad: 77120000 771ab000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\OLEAUT32.dll ModLoad: 77c00000 77c08000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\VERSION.dll ModLoad: 00ee0000 00ef7000 D:\Documents and
Settings\Henk\Application Data\Dropbox\bin\DropboxExt.14.dll ModLoad: 59a60000
59b01000 D:\WINDOWS\system32\dbghelp.dll ModLoad: 7c3a0000 7c41b000
D:\Documents and Settings\Henk\Application Data\Dropbox\bin\MSVCP71.dll
ModLoad: 7c340000 7c396000 D:\Documents and Settings\Henk\Application
Data\Dropbox\bin\MSVCR71.dll ModLoad: 77a20000 77a74000
D:\WINDOWS\System32\cscui.dll ModLoad: 76600000 7661d000
D:\WINDOWS\System32\CSCDLL.dll ModLoad: 77920000 77a13000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\SETUPAPI.dll ModLoad: 00bc0000 00bd8000 D:\Program
Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamext.dll ModLoad: 76b20000 76b31000
D:\WINDOWS\system32\ATL.DLL ModLoad: 00c00000 00c40000 D:\Program
Files\JetAudio\JetFlExt.dll ModLoad: 00c80000 00c8f000 D:\Program
Files\SUPERAntiSpyware\SASCTXMN.DLL ModLoad: 01e10000 01e21000 D:\Program
Files\WinMerge\ShellExtensionU.dll ModLoad: 01e30000 01eaa000 D:\Program
Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\ShellExt.dll ModLoad: 78480000 7850e000
D:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.VC90.CRT_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.6161_xww_31a54e43\MSVCP90.dll ModLoad: 78520000 785c3000
D:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.VC90.CRT_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.6161_xww_31a54e43\MSVCR90.dll ModLoad: 78e20000 78e4b000
D:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.VC90.ATL_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.6161_xww_92453bb7\ATL90.DLL ModLoad: 76bf0000 76bfb000 D:\WINDOWS\system32\PSAPI.DLL
ModLoad: 01ee0000 02072000 D:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\Resources.dll
ModLoad: 023c0000 0245d000 D:\PROGRA~1\IZArc\IZArcCM.dll ModLoad: 5edd0000
5ede7000 D:\WINDOWS\system32\olepro32.dll eax=000000c0 ebx=7ca2b0a3
ecx=000001fa edx=000001fa esi=000001f0 edi=00000000 eip=7c90e514 esp=01d1fc68
ebp=01d1fccc iopl=0 nv up ei pl zr na pe nc cs=001b ss=0023 ds=0023 es=0023
fs=003b gs=0000 efl=00000246 ntdll!KiFastSystemCallRet: 7c90e514 c3 ret 0:005>
!analyze -v Last event: 17fc.17a0: Exit process 0:17fc, code c0000417 debugger
time: Fri Feb 8 23:45:37.750 2013 (GMT+1)

From that point onwards you can give commands to the debugger (see my page about dump
analysis), but I'm not very good at that.
In the beginning (executable search path) you see the program I started (bold face). Subsequently
a number of modules (library files) are loaded (the ModLoad lines. The last one is
olepro32.dll), and then we have the crash.
You also see a number of registers (the eax, ebx etc.), and a call of a piece of Windows code
(ntdll!KiFastSystemCallRet) to end the program.
At (almost) the bottom you see the only command I always use first, (!analyze -v), and an
error code. (c0000417). But the error code seems to be quite general.
The 2 bold faced lines near the bottom of the list were interesting to me.
Visual C Runtime 2008

The first one is about msvcr90, and that is the package Microsoft Visual C Runtime 2008.
Programs that have been written in Visual C sometimes uses pieces of code from this package.
My version should be up-to-date, but just to be sure I deinstalled and reinstalled it. It didn't help,
the program still crashed.
Ad-Aware

The 2nd line is about a module of Ad-Aware, an anti-spyware program. I used a version that was
still supported, but it wasn't the newest version. Since I almost don't use the package anymore, I
decided to deinstall it.
And behold, problem solved. Perhaps more luck than wisdom, but also a tiny bit of intuition and
experience. On a Windows 7 PC I had some very bad experiences with Ad-Aware, so my
confidence in the program wasn't very high anymore.
Bonus: stack

Before I started to investigate the 2 suspicious programS, I did something which didn't help.
When I looked at the stack, I saw:
0:005> k ChildEBP RetAddr 01d1fc64 7c90df5a ntdll!KiFastSystemCallRet 01d1fc68
7c8025db ntdll!NtWaitForSingleObject+0xc 01d1fccc 7c802542 kernel32!
WaitForSingleObjectEx+0xa8 *** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could
not be loaded for N:\Portable tools\Everything Ikbenstil\Everything1.2.1.371.exe 01d1fce0 0042e68d kernel32!WaitForSingleObject+0x12 WARNING:
Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be wrong.
01d1fd18 7c919902 Everything_1_2_1_371+0x2e68d 01d1fd7c 00000000 ntdll!
_LdrpInitialize+0x246

You have to read the stack from the bottom to the top, so the last code that has been executed is
at the top. This didn't provide me with any clues.

Explorer
At the moment the following problems:

You create a new folder, and can't open it

You create a new folder, and can't open it


Description

I don't think it would have made any difference, but just to be clear: I performed all actions just
by using the keyboard (didn't use the mouse at all).
I wanted to use Explorer to create a new folder on a USB flash drive (drive letter G) and then
open the folder. I used menu choices File - New - Folder
You then have to type the name of the new folder (in my case Rapid Environment Editor),
confirm by typing Enter and open the folder by typing Enter another time (at least so I
thought).
But instead a dialog window appeared with the title Item not found, and the following
message:
Could not find this item This is no longer located in G:\. Verify the item's
location and try again. Rapid Environment Editor Type: File Folder Date
Modified: 30-8-2012 16:16

The options in the dialog window were Cancel or Try Again


The name of the folder was New folder, which is what you get if you don't enter a folder name,
and immediately type Enter.
Cause 1
Apparently the folder *did* have the new name (which I had entered), but Explorer hadn't
become aware of it.
So Explorer tried to open the folder New folder which wasn't there. This explains the error
message.
I assume this is caused by some kind of timing problem in Explorer. I have now (for different
reasons) reinstalled Windows on my PC, and I can't reproduce the problem anymore.
Solution 1

I could solve the problem by doing a refresh (with F5, or with View - Refresh).

Terminology
Half of all computer problems are related to cabling and connections. Ensure all cables
are connected and connected firmly. Ribbon cables and power cables can often go
loose. Ensure microprocessor, memory modules, and adapters such as video card are
inserted correctly and didn't "pop-up" due to vibration.

System has no power at all. Power light does not illuminate, fan inside the power
supply does not turn on, and indicator light on keyboard does not turn on.
PROBABLE CAUSE
Power cable is unplugged.
Defective power cable.
Power supply failure.

DIAGNOSIS
Visually inspect power cable.
Visual inspection, try another
cable.
Power cable and wall socket are
OK, but system is still dead.

Faulty wall outlet;circuit breaker or Plug device into socket know to


fuse blown.
work and test.

SOLUTION
Make sure power cable is securely
plugged in.
Replace cable.
Contact technical support
Use different socket, repair outlet,
reset circuit breaker or replace
fuse.

System inoperative. Keyboard lights are on, power indicator lights are lit, and
hard drive is spinning.
PROBABLE CAUSE

DIAGNOSIS
Turn off computer. Take cover off
Expansion card is partially
system unit.
dislodged from expansion slot on Check all expansion cards to
the motherboard.
ensure they are securely seated
in slots.
Turn system off.
Disconnect the cables from one of
the floppy drives. Turn on the
Defective floppy disk drive or tape
system, check to see if the
drive.
keyboard operates normally.
Repeat until you have located
defective unit.
Turn computer off.
Defective expansion card.
Remove an expansion card.

SOLUTION
Using even pressure on both ends
of the expansion card, press down
firmly on expansion card.

Contact Technical Support.

Make sure expansion card is


secure in expansion socket.

System does not boot from hard disk drive, can be booted from floppy disk drive.
PROBABLE CAUSE
Connector between hard drive
and system board unplugged.

Damaged Hard Disk or Disk


Controller.
Hard Disk directory or FAT is
scrambled.

DIAGNOSIS
When attempting to run the
FDISK utility described in the
HARD DISK section of this
manual you get a message,
INVALID DRIVE
SPECIFICATION.
Format hard disk; if unable to do
so, the hard disk may be
defective.
Run the FDISK program, format
the hard drive(See HARD DRIVE
section of manual). Copy your
backup data back onto hard drive.

SOLUTION
Check cable running form disk to
disk controller on the board. Make
sure both ends are securely
plugged in; check the drive type in
the Standard CMOS Setup (in your
motherboard manual).
Contact Technical Support.
Backing up the hard drive is
extremely important. All Hard Disks
are capable of breaking down at
any time.

System only boots from Floppy Disk. Hard Disk can be read and applications can
be used, but booting from Hard Disk is impossible.
PROBABLE CAUSE

DIAGNOSIS

Hard Disk boot program has been A number of causes could be


destroyed.
behind this.

SOLUTION
Back up data and applications files.
Reformat the Hard Drive as
described in the Hard Drive section
of this manual. Re-install
applications and data using backup
disks.

Error message reading "SECTOR NOT FOUND" or other error messages


indication certain data is not allowed to be retrieved.
PROBABLE CAUSE

A number of causes could be


behind this.

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION
Back up any salvageable data.
Then do a low level format,
Use a file by file backup instead of partition, and high level format of
an image backup to backup the
the hard drive( see Hard Disk
Hard Disk.
section of your manual for
instructions). Re-install all saved
data when completed.

Disk formatted on IBM PS/2 will not operate with this system.
PROBABLE CAUSE
The IBM PS/2 uses a different
format than other computers.

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION
Format disk in the AT type
IBM PS/2 disk format will not work
computer insert disk into the IBM
in an AT type computer.
PS/2 and copy the files you wish.

After install an expansion card (network card, tape drive card, etc.) the system no
longer works properly.
PROBABLE CAUSE

No power to monitor.

DIAGNOSIS
All or part of the system may be
inoperable. The new card may
work but a mouse or COM port
may not work.

SOLUTION
Change the interrupt or RAM
address on the new expansion
card. See the documentation that
came with the new card in order to
change pin settings. many
expansion devices come with
proprietary software that will assist
you in doing this.

Screen message says "Invalid Configuration" or "CMOS Failure."


PROBABLE CAUSE
DIAGNOSIS
SOLUTION
Incorrect information entered into Check the configuration program. Review system's equipment. Make

the configuration (setup) program. Replace any incorrect information. sure correct information is in setup.

Screen is blank.
PROBABLE CAUSE

DIAGNOSIS

No power to monitor.
Monitor not connected to
computer.
Network card I/O address conflict.

SOLUTION
Check the power connectors to
monitor and to system. Make sure
monitor is connected to display
card, change I/O address on
network card if applicable.
See instructions above.
See instructions above.

System does not boot from hard disk drive, can be booted from floppy disk drive.
PROBABLE CAUSE
Connector between hard drive
and system board unplugged.

DIAGNOSIS
When attempting to run the
FDISK utility described in the
HARD DISK section of this
manual you get a message,
INVALID DRIVE
SPECIFICATION.

SOLUTION
Check cable running form disk to
disk controller on the board. Make
sure both ends are securely
plugged in; check the drive type in
the Standard CMOS Setup (in your

Problem
PROBABLE CAUSE

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION
Reboot computer. Re-install
memory, make sure that all
memory modules are installed in
correct sockets. Check jumper and
switch settings on display card.
See display card section for
information of settings.
Use anti-virus programs
(McAfee/PC-cillin, E-port, etc) to
detect and clean viruses.

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION
Disable screen saver.

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION

Memory problem, display card


jumpers not set correctly.

Computer virus.

Screen goes blank periodically.


PROBABLE CAUSE
Screen saver is enabled.

Keyboard failure.
PROBABLE CAUSE

Reconnect keyboard. Check keys


again, if no improvement, replace
keyboard.

Keyboard is disconnected.

No color on screen.
PROBABLE CAUSE

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION
If possible, connect monitor to
another system. If no color, replace
monitor.
Call technical support.

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION
Reconnect floppy cable making
sure PIN1 on the Floppy Drive
corresponds with PIN1 on floppy
cable connector.

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION
Try new floppy disk.

Faulty Monitor.
CMOS incorrectly set up.

Floppy drive lights stays on.


PROBABLE CAUSE
Floppy Drive cable not connected
correctly.

Error reading drive A:


PROBABLE CAUSE
Bad floppy disk.
Floppy disk not formatted

Format floppy disk(type ENTER)

C: drive failure.
PROBABLE CAUSE

DIAGNOSIS

SETUP program does not have


correct information.
Hard Drive cable not connected
properly.

SOLUTION
Boot from drive A: using DOS
system disk. Input correct
information to SETUP program.
Check Hard drive cable.

Cannot boot system after installing second hard drive.


PROBABLE CAUSE
Master/Slave jumpers not set
correctly.
Hard Drives not compatible /
different manufacturers.

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION
Set master /Slave jumpers
correctly.
Run SETUP program and select
correct drive types. Call drive
manufactures for compatibility with
other drives.

Missing operating system on hard drive.


PROBABLE CAUSE

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION
Run setup and select correct drive
type.

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION
Replace keyboard.

CMOS setup has been changed.

Certain keys do not function.


PROBABLE CAUSE
Keys jammed or defective.

Keyboard is locked, no keys function.


PROBABLE CAUSE
Keyboard is locked.

DIAGNOSIS

SOLUTION
Unlock keyboard

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