Thread: Beginner PC Tech Sheet

PC Info

To make files visible or invisible:
Control panel/folder options/view (tab)/check show hidden files/uncheck the 2 below it
You can also get to folder options by having an open folder and clicking tools/folder options.

Deleting Temp files: (Note: All files need to be visible from now own. See how to above.)
C:/windows/temp; C:/documents and settings/(choose user)/Local settings/temp (and) Temporary Internet files
C:/documents and settings/(choose user)/cookies
In Vista:
C:/Users/(choose User)/App Data/Temp; C:/Users/(choose User)/App Data/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/cookies
Delete all files that can be deleted in each folder. When doing a cleanup you want to go through Add and Remove Programs first, because some of the bad programs uninstaller will be in the temp folders. To get to Add and remove Programs go to: Start/Control Panel/Add and Remove Programs.

Reload:
After formatting and reloading a PC the first thing to do is get drivers. You can usually find those on the PCs website. If it’s a dell go to Dell Support Home Page if it’s an HP go to Hewlett Packard Technical Support - select a country or region and so on. By no means do you need to update the BIOS unless you know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. The way you can tell if the PC needs drivers, is you right click on my computer and click properties choose the Hardware tab and device manager. If there are red “X”s that means they are turned off if there are yellow “?” that means the driver is not installed. You might also want to install some Programs like: Nero, WinZip, Adobe, and Flash, some kind of protection like Spybot, or Windows Defender, and an Antivirus like AVG, and you need to do the Windows Updates. You can find the link under Start/All Programs and towards the very top there should be Windows Updates or Microsoft Updates. They are the same thing.

Registry:
Start/run/ (type) regedit. This will open up the registry. Unless you know what you’re doing don’t mess with this. And before you do anything with it back it up. File/export, make sure to click the very top of the tree (My computer)
On a pulled drive:
Highlight Hkey/Local Machine after that click File/Load Hive from there go to the pulled drive and go to Pulled Drive/Windows/System32/Config/ there are five files in this folder that you can load. Make sure you know what you’re doing before messing with this.

Looking at a Pulled Drive:
There are IDE, which is the wide flat usually grey cables with the female end for several pins, and SATA, which is the thin cable with the “L” shaped socket, to USB converters with a power adapter. Plug these into the pulled drive then plug it to the USB port and the PC should detect it as a secondary drive. You can also turn off your drive and plug it to the inside of your PC as a slave. Make sure the Jumper is set to slave or cable select and don’t forget to change it back before putting it back into its PC. The reason you pull the drive is if it is loaded with spyware and viruses while the PC is on some of the viruses may not be able to be detected or deleted while they are running, but by pulling it the program is not running and you are able to delete it.

Checking Integrity:
Files: Start/Run (type) SFC /scannow (There is a space between the SFC and the /Scannow.
Hard Drive: Start/Run (type) chkdsk /r (There is a space between the chkdsk and the /r) Now there is better software out there to test HDD (Hard Drives) If it is a Samsung drive look for a Samsung Hard Drive Tester on the internet. It usually comes as an ISO. That is a CD or DVD image and you need Nero Express which comes with the Nero package. Choose burn image to disc, choose iso file and it’ll burn you a bootable CD for the Samsung HDD. Just stick it in the drive and boot to the disk. Same with other brands of HDDs. Another way to check and see if a HDD may be bad is to look in the event viewer. Control Panel/Administrative tools/event viewer. You can also get there by right clicking the my computer icon on the desktop or in the start menu, then choose manage and you should see event viewer under system tools. Once you highlight the even viewer on the right side you need to select system. You should get a long list of errors, warnings, and information. Arrange by type by simply clicking type right above the list. Look for the errors and if you see any “disk” errors or warranings the there is a good chance you have a bad HDD find the HDD testing software and test it.

Turn off everything that starts up when PC starts:
Start/run/ (type) msconfig Go to start up tab and click disable all then go to services make sure to check the hide all Microsoft services first then click disable all. This will speed up a PC. It will also stop spyware and viruses from loading. It will also stop services that will make the printer and other things stop working. Don’t leave it all disabled when finished with PC. Only disable what you know you don’t want to start.

Taking Ownership of a Pulled drive:
Sometimes you won’t be able to get into a profile on a pulled drive because they have it set to private. First of all you need windows XP pro which is the operating system. Then you will need to go to Folder options in control panel go to the view tab and scroll to the bottom and the last thing should say use simple file sharing, uncheck that. Next right click on the folder that tells you access is denied, select sharing and security it’ll bring up the properties (you can also select properties) Go to the security tab click the ADD button and type in your user name. Once you have done that highlight your user name and make sure you have all permissions by checking full control. If that fails click advanced then click the owner tab the check the replace owner on sub containers box and click apply. Once you’ve done that make sure to go back to the first part and check permissions. Also make sure everyone else has the same permissions (full control) or you won’t be able to log back into their profile once you put the HDD back into it PC.

Backing up a HDD:
This can be done on a pulled drive easiest, but it can also be done on a CD or DVD or even a thumb drive. The things you want to remember to back up are:
C:/Documents and Setting/(Choose User)/My Documents, Desktop, Favorites
C:/Program Files/Intuit (and) Microsoft Money
The last two may not be on the PC, but if they are they’re files are store in there. Create a folder on the root of C: called Backup (with the date) and put all in there. Move the first three to their spot, but the bottom two leave in there unless you install the programs again and make sure they work. If you can open up these programs and they should have a back up option and that would be the best place to save their work. Make sure to put those in the folder as well. Also back up Outlook or Outlook Express.
For the different things you back up you might want to make different folders. And if you are reloading a PC don’t put this folder on the HDD you’re reloading until it is reloaded. Usually if the PC is a Dell and sometimes other PC will do it as well, on the root of the drive there will be a drivers folder back it up as well it might save you some time looking for drivers. Also back up anything you’re not sure of, any folder that looks important, better safe than sorry.

Backing up Outlook and Outlook Express:
First thing you want to do is open up Outlook or OE. Click tools at the top and click Account settings. Choose the account and click change. Don’t change anything just write down everything that is typed in and where it goes. A good Password viewer for this is a program call Asterisk Key 8.3 you can get it at MajorGeeks.com - Download Freeware and Shareware Computer Utilities.. Also there is a button that says more settings click it and make sure you write down everything that is checked and unchecked. OE you will go to tools/account and select the mail tab/select the account/click properties. Do the same as what I described up top. Now to back it up you want to click file/import and export (or just export in OE)/ choose Export to a file and click next. You want to chose Personal Folder File (.pst). Click next and make sure you choose the top of the tree, the entire mail box. By default it will only back up the inbox which is bad, it will not get all the saved file if you do not select mailbox at the top. Back it up and put it in your backup folder. If the PC is not functional because of a bad HDD but you can still get into it by pulling it and hooking it up to your PC you would need to get these files:
OE
C:/Documents and settings/(choose user)/Local settings/Application Data/Identities/(the folder inside)/Microsoft/Outlook Express. Back up that whole folder.
And C:\Documents and Settings\(Choose User)\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book Back up the address book.
Outlook
C:/ Documents and settings/(choose user)/Local settings/Application Data/Microsoft/outlook you can back up the whole folder or just the outlook.pst file. This should get everything.

To be Continued.....

Manual system restore:
Usually you only do this if you get a black screen that says something about a windows/system32/config error, but if the PC has a good HDD and is not booting into Windows, before trying a repair try this. A restore does not bring files back, but changes setting back to that date.
Pull the drive and go to C:/System Volume Information you will need to take ownership of that folder and then you will need to go inside and open the restore folder. On the inside there will usually be a whole bunch of RP### folders. Find one that’s about a week before the problem started and open it. Then open the snapshots folder. At the top there is a folder and the first five files below it (If adjusted by the name) you need to copy to a folder on your desktop. Example file: _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM the other four are security, software, system, default. Once you have copied all five file to the folder on the desktop you want to change the names of all the file, you want to erase the first part of the name the where each one only reads (sam, security, software, system, default.) After you have done that go to C:/Windows/System32/Config. Move all the files from the folder on the desktop to the config folder. Pull the drive off your machine and plug it up to its PC. If that does not work you want to boot the PCs Operating System Disc (OS) and run a repair. Put the disc in and restart the PC and have the PC boot to the CD. The first screen will ask you to do a repair DO NOT CHOOSE THIS ONE. There will be another option go with it. Continue to go through until you see the repair option again choose repair this time. If it ask you to format you have gone too far, restart your PC and boot to the CD again. Go through the process and complete everything it ask you. If it ask for certain files try to click cancel and fix them once you get into the OS it’s usually driver related.

Viruses in System Restore:
Sometime while doing a scan you’ll see that some of the viruses are coming from the C:/System volume Information folder. That means that some of the viruses are in the system restore and if you restore you will restore the viruses as well. To prevent this from happening go to system properties and click the System Restore tab and check turn off system restore. That will delete all the file in the restore folder. Once it is done it is safe to turn it back on. If you forget to do this the owner of the PC may need to restore his PC for some unknown reason and all of the viruses will be back. When you restart after it has been turned back on the system restore will record another restore point. Turning the System restore will also speed up the Virus scan process.

Changing Boot Order:
When you first start you PC, before it boots into the OS, On the first screen you see there is normally an option to hit a key to enter setup or BIOS. Hold it down. Once you inside don’t change anything unless you know what you’re doing. Look around and find an option that say boot order or boot priorities. Once inside that there is usually four choices make sure the first one is the CD or DVD rom the second is the HDD. Make sure you save and then exit. That will restart your PC and ask you to boot to the CD. Make sure you watch some CDs ask you to hit a button to boot to the CD.

Nic wiring:
Just to throw this in there. If you ever have to make a Ethernet wire and have the right tools and know what you’re doing the color code is:
Orange stripe; Orange; Green Stripe; Blue; Blue Stripe; Green; Brown Stripe; Brown

Fixes:
Window’s Updates fix:
If you are trying to do Window Updates and it keeps telling you the updates are failing even after you tried to reboot you’ll need to try this fix. You’ll need to go to services. Right click on My Computer and choose manage. In there at the bottom of the list there will be a services and applications option choose that and under that will be services. Once that is chosen you’ll see on the right side a list of services will appear. Don’t mess with this unless you know what you’re doing. Towards the top there will be a Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) Right click and choose properties. Make sure it is on manual, not automatic, and not disabled. Then stop it if it is running. Click ok and go back to the services. Right above it there will be Automatic updates. Right click and choose properties, make sure it’s on automatic and then stop it. Once that is done you will be able to delete a certain folder. Got to : C:/Windows in there is a folder named Software Distribution, delete it. There is also a file called 0.txt in the windows directory delete it as well. (0=zero) Restart your PC and try the updates again.
Vista over its 30 activation:
At the start up screen where it doesn’t let you into Windows Vista, it normally gives you two options and one is to purchase a valid copy. By clicking on this it will take you into windows and open up a web site that’s trying to sell you a copy of Windows Vista. If you will CTRL+ALT+DEL and choose new task (type) explorer and your desktop should appear. Go to start/run (type) cmd. This should open the command prompt or DOS it the black window type: SLMGR –rearm (there is a space between SLMGR and –rearm). This is supposed to give an extra 30 day for activation.
CD/DVD Drive not detected:
First make sure everything is connected correctly. You need to delete the upper and lower filters then reboot to make the PC detect the drive again. To do that go to: Start/run (type) regedit; in there go to: Hkey Local Machine/system/current controlset/control/class/4D36E965~ (The number is longer, but this will get you where you need to go) Highlight the number and on the right side there will be an entry that says upper filter and/or lower filter delete both.
There are other fixes I have, but they all require utilities contact me and I’ll try to help as much as I can.

Domain:
Adding a PC to a domain or work group:
First you need to know if the PC is hooked up to the network. That mean make sure the PC has an Ethernet cord hooked up to it and make sure the other end of the cord is hooked into the wall. The make sure the wire hooked up to the wall out let is hooked up to the switch that is hooked up to the server. Usually all that is hooked up unless told otherwise. Go to the PC that needs to be hooked up to the Domain and Right click on My Computer and choose properties you can also go to Control Panel and choose the system icon (make sure that Control Panel is on classic view with all the icons to change it’s in the top left hand corner) . Choose the Computer Name tab and click Change Name to change the name to something you will be able to identify from the server or from other PCs. To add to the Domain, you’ll see a choice to choose between domain and work group choose which one you need and type in the name of the work group or domain you want to join and click ok.
If you have a domain user on a PC and you want to change the password to the domain user press CTRL+ALT+DEL and select change password.

Advanced Clean up:
An advance clean up is very dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. Only do this if the scanners are not working. Go to C:/Windows/System32 change the view to detailed view there is an icon at the top of the window that will allow you to change that. Arrange by date last modified then right click where it says NAME and it will give you choices of what to add to the different columns. First uncheck size then choose more, scroll all the way down and check company. Once you’ve done that and they’re arranged by date modified if there are folders at the top of the click date modified again then at the top will be the last file that had been modified. Viruses are always modifying their files so before deleting it check to the right to see if its company belongs to Microsoft Corporation. If it does not Google the file, right click the file choose rename and copy the file name and put it in the Google search bar. Usually if it’s a virus it will come up with searches that say this file is dangerous etc… or it will come up with nothing. If that is the case make a folder on the desktop and hold down your right click over the file and drag it to the new folder. Release the mouse button and choose move. This will make the file unusable by the application (virus) that is trying to use it. Once you’ve done this all the way down until most of the files say the company is Microsoft or the date says it’s a year old you can stop. After you’re finished looking at the files and moving them to your new folder reboot and see if the PC boots if it doesn’t you might have moved a wrong file that’s why I didn’t tell you to delete them. If the PC boots fine keep them there until it is completely finished and delete off the PC. If some files do not delete for System32 you might need to pull the drive and do it again. After you rebooted check there again and see if they came back. If so there are some things you have to learn on your own, every case if different. It may be easier to reload.

To be Continued......