Topic: Family Tech Support: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!

[DreadlordGW]

Download the patches to YOUR machine, and burn them to CD.

MSBlaster et al are notoriously able to hit you before you can complete windows update.

At work we're banned from reinstalling Win2k and XP while plugged into the network jacks.  We're to patch using CD Rom, then go on the network, and get the rest

[Sirgod]

that's a pretty good idea actually Dread Lord, and thanks for the compliment there Antman, Alot of others could have answered It probably better than I, I just got to the thread first is all.

Later,
Stephen

[Sethan]

Antman -

1) Get a copy of Ghost or DriveImage.
2) Buy a 2nd hard drive, and install it as a slave drive (can also do this by partitioning a single drive)
3) Reload the machine, and get everything configured to use the 2nd drive as the data drive.
4) Make an image of the system drive (or partition).  You will need to update this when he makes major changes to the system.
5) Set up a boot disk to automatically reload the system drive from that image CD.

End of problem.

If he has anything like this again, have him stick in the boot disk and the image CD, and restart the machine.  20 minutes later, the problem is fixed.

[NJAntman]

Quote:
Download the patches to YOUR machine, and burn them to CD.

MSBlaster et al are notoriously able to hit you before you can complete windows update.

At work we're banned from reinstalling Win2k and XP while plugged into the network jacks.  We're to patch using CD Rom, then go on the network, and get the rest  

Damn good point. I've downloaded every patch since SP1 on my machine here at home, would the orginal executable security patch files still be on my machine?  

[Reverend]

nah, Sirgod, its feedback.... I have messed with my in-law's computer for them, an ancient Gateway with a whopping 128 MB of RAM... they use gAOL too, and due to many errors it had, I had to just format it for them and I had to install gAOL for them, for fear of them not doing it right...
.... I felt.... so unclean, like I was 12 again and furiously pounding at the naughty parts in the bathroom to have uncle unexpectedly come barging in... it felt blasphemous to have to poison my hands and eyes with that decadent and prostrating gAOL.....
but, it sort of cured it... until they installed some Gateway-made 'Repair Disk', which had unnessecary drivers that self-installed.... now they get more little red error windows, and have the audacity to ask me what I did wrong, even though I told them do not install tha wretched little Repair Disk...
ah well, sometime I am going to find a good 1 GB processor motherboard and put on some good RAM, and get them my old copy of XP.... that way they can fiddle with gAOL all they like, and XP will generally be albe to take it.  

[DreadlordGW]

Quote:

Quote:
Download the patches to YOUR machine, and burn them to CD.

MSBlaster et al are notoriously able to hit you before you can complete windows update.

At work we're banned from reinstalling Win2k and XP while plugged into the network jacks.  We're to patch using CD Rom, then go on the network, and get the rest  

Damn good point. I've downloaded every patch since SP1 on my machine here at home, would the orginal executable security patch files still be on my machine?    

If you got them via WIndows Update probably not, or it's hidden in some godaweful .tmp file without a name

go microsoft.com, downloads, windows (security n updates) search for Windows XP from the pulldown - grab all that are applicable

bare miniumum grab the follwing KBxxxxxx;s
323255
329048
821557
823980
824146

[NJAntman]

And the saga continues......

Finished getting over the last bug, reloading and getting the most recent updates. Aside from an annoying 4 minute shutdown time, everything was OK till yesterday. The Dell All-In-One A940 printer stopped working. Father-in-law disconnected, re-connected USB line, threw in install CD, ran it. No go.

I do the same, WinXP immediattely picks up on newly installed device, correctly IDs it as Dell All-In-One A940, then displays message "Hardware Error, check USB connected properly". Now if I plug in a USB device and the WinXP OS can ID it as a specific model then how can the USB not be Connection?
Several disconnects and reconnects did lead to one instance of the Setup Wizard kickin in, and after placing the Dell All-In-One A940 install CD in and running through for a few minutes I'm derailed by the following message, "An error has occured during the installation of the device. The handle is invalid." Huh?  

Any thoughts? (other than cramming this beast through a chipper and catapaulting it to Dell HQ)    

[JMM]

Dell Hell is right! I'm using Vicky's Dell Dimension L933r and I HATE IT WITH A PASSION! I guess it wasn't enough for Michael to totally ruin Round Rock, TX. He has to create crap computers as well. Why do people buy this crap? I guess it is true, there IS a sucker born every minute!

I'll be glad to get back to Austin and have use of the Sony VAIO! I know we all have favorite P/Cs, but I can definitely vouch for the Sony VAIO P4s!  

[Kortez]

Quote:
Antman -

1) Get a copy of Ghost or DriveImage.
2) Buy a 2nd hard drive, and install it as a slave drive (can also do this by partitioning a single drive)
3) Reload the machine, and get everything configured to use the 2nd drive as the data drive.
4) Make an image of the system drive (or partition).  You will need to update this when he makes major changes to the system.
5) Set up a boot disk to automatically reload the system drive from that image CD.

End of problem.

If he has anything like this again, have him stick in the boot disk and the image CD, and restart the machine.  20 minutes later, the problem is fixed.  

This process is a good one, though I might make the CD bootable, a minor difference, though.  Then you can even make more Ghost CDs at important points of software installation and even use the XP System Restore feature, which has worked for me very well.   You can run System Restore this way: C:\WINDOWS\system32\Restore\rstrui.exe

Good luck.  I doubt your Dell printer died.
 

[JMM]

What would we do without Kortez and Sethan? I know the two of you have helped me a lot. I really do miss yáll. To be honest, I'll be glad to come home in Jan and see the green hills of Austin and be able to chat all I want.

BTW, you guys need to learn espanol, can you believe lil ole me was the one that got the cable modem running? I noticed it on the Sony VAIO, whenever you have multiple USB connected, it sometimes confuses the P/C to detect new hardware, so after mi sobrino and the cable guy tried everything, I disconnected all USB devices and connected the modem to a different port, and presto! Cable modem accepted! That is a simple thing that Seth and Kortez would have recognized in a heartbeat.

BTW, T1 lines run 200 a month here, BUT, I'm signed up for 256 Kbs line, and sometimes is not that fast, I miss my roadrunner, beep beep!  

[Warden]

Quote:
And the saga continues......

Finished getting over the last bug, reloading and getting the most recent updates. Aside from an annoying 4 minute shutdown time, everything was OK till yesterday. The Dell All-In-One A940 printer stopped working. Father-in-law disconnected, re-connected USB line, threw in install CD, ran it. No go.

I do the same, WinXP immediattely picks up on newly installed device, correctly IDs it as Dell All-In-One A940, then displays message "Hardware Error, check USB connected properly". Now if I plug in a USB device and the WinXP OS can ID it as a specific model then how can the USB not be Connection?
Several disconnects and reconnects did lead to one instance of the Setup Wizard kickin in, and after placing the Dell All-In-One A940 install CD in and running through for a few minutes I'm derailed by the following message, "An error has occured during the installation of the device. The handle is invalid." Huh?  

Any thoughts? (other than cramming this beast through a chipper and catapaulting it to Dell HQ)      

I have found with a lot of new USB devices that you need to install the software and reboot first, then connect the device.  Also some devices hate USB hubs.  My usb1.0 camera refuses to operate through a hub (keep getting device install failures)

But if it has worked before, then it might be a genuine hardware problem.  Check through the systems event logs(control panel-admin tools), see if anything stands out.