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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Java Webpage Blank White Screen - Trouble viewing Java websites

Java, Smava, Lava it can be a struggle to get Java working sometimes and hopefully this list of helpful hints will help you figure it out.

Basic Steps

1. Download Java for 32bit and 64 bit. , Try Installing, reinstalling or go back and get a previous release of java that may be more friendly with your browser.

2. Download the Shockwave player and make sure the shockwave object is enabled in the internet explorer addons.

Now for a specific solution for those seeing a blank webpage if the above did not work , this is what worked for me.

Scenario: I was trying to access an old webpage using Internet Explorer 9 that used java for charts and graphs.

First step is to run the webpage in compatibility mode, The only problem is that the option under
Tools -> Compatibility View Settings does not always work and even though you've indicated compatibility mode it sometimes just ignores you completely

Go into Compatibility view settings and ensure that all checkboxes are unticked
This will reload the compatibility view button in the address bar,
Remove your site from the list above in compatibility view settings and instead click on the button above when it appears when you next visit the site.

This is what worked for me , hopefully it will help you out too. If your still having trouble remember to add sites to Trusted Sites, and check activex control settings to ensure you can view the webpage correctly.


Internet Explorer 9 - Compatability View Button missing from Address Bar FIX

Here is an issue I picked up in internet explorer 9 , What a frustrating one.

Even when entering sites manually into compatibility view from Tools ->   Compatibility View Settings. The site you entered would not always be run in compatibility mode or it would tell you it was but it would lying straight to your face.

Normally there would be a little compatibility icon in the address bar which you can click and choose to run a webpage in that mode. This button actually works here is how to get it back

goto Tools -> Compatibility View Settings

Now make sure that all the three checkboxes are UNTICKED


There you have it , the button shall return and you can run all the ancient websites you desire without error. Hope it helps someone as without this option you can have a heap of errors especially for sites running old versions of java , I shall do another post concerning that issue just so people can find the answer quicker.


Thursday, June 7, 2012

Remove Google Redirection Malware - Random Adsense Ad Popups

A very frustrating Malware/Virus floating around lately that basically gives you strange random Adsense ads popups on basically any page and weird redirection when clicking on links.

Symptoms

- Redirected to Random sites when clicking on Links , Any link on any site ( I did notice that I was redirected to sites that contained commonly used search terms that I remember using in the past)

- Random little adsense popups on pretty much every site except for on my online banking webpage, Ads appeared on the bottom right of my screen usually those little iPhone shaped ads.


Why?

This malware is designed to make money for the creator through adsense revenue , so it doesn't seem particularly harmful but its very frustrating and as far as key logging or anything else goes I'm not sure how much info it can collect about you.


What didn't Work?

I tried quite a few virus / malware removal tools that failed to remove the issue

these are

- Kapersky Labs freeware Scan and Remove tools
-Adaware
- Spybot Search and Destroy
- Microsoft Security Essentials
- Malwarebytes

What worked?

The only tool that worked for me to remove the malware was ComboFix which can be downloaded from http://www.combofix.org/download.php

Every single virus removal forum I visited told me not to run this tool unless directed by a professional but in the end everyone seems to run it, Make sure that you disable any antivirus / malware software you have running, close all running programs and run at your own risk of course.

hooray that is the end, Yes I could've just told you the solution straight off

Recover Latest Word Document after Crash - Recover Microsoft Word Document

A very quick post today, you may notice when word crashes and then you reopen Word it will give you a list of recently used document or documents it managed to recover after the crash.

You won't always get the latest recovered files and sometimes they can be an hour or two old which means you can lose quite a lot of work. To double check that you have the latest recovered file.

Open up Microsoft Word

1. File -> Open
 
2. Navigate to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word   (where username will be your login name , if you don't use one its most likely administrator or something similar)  The Application Data folder AppData is a hidden folder so you will need to type it into the address bar manually or enable hidden folders. Enable hidden files/folders through tools -> folder options -> view -> show hidden files

3. Make sure to Select "All Files" under File type

4. Look for ASD Files , if you have enabled file extensions they will be files that end in .asd


 Take note of the File name and Date modified fields.

5. Open your file with the asd extension

NOTE:

For Windows XP users your path for finding .asd recovered file may differ

C:\Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\Roaming\Microsoft\Word

 You can also check the unsaved files folder under

  • Windows 7/Windows Vista. C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles 
  • Windows XP, C:\Documents and Settings\User_Name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles

 That is all folks


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Max Payne 3 PC - AppCrash Maxpayne.exe

With the recent release of Max Payne 3 on PC people have been going mad trying to solve the appcrash and black screen with mouse issues, here are the steps to solve them. (Worked for me :) )

Possible Solutions

  1. Disable Tablet PC Input Service - If you have every installed a tablet or connected a tablet pc to your computer this service may be running and will cause Max Payne 3 to appcrash.
to disable goto Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools\Services and look for

Tablet PC Input Service

Right click on the service and select Properties, Change startup type to Disabled or Manual and Hit Stop



2. Always Run in Administrator Mode

Right click on the Max Payne 3 shortcut and select properties , Tick the check box "Run As Administrator"  (picture at below)


3. Downloaded the Latest video card drivers

Visit your graphic card manufacturer website (ATI, Nvidia etc..)

Nvidia are in partnership with the makers of Max Payne 3 and drivers can be download from http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us


4. Run in Compatibility Mode

 For whatever reason this may work for you , right click the Max Payne 3 shortcut and select Properties, select the Compatibility tab and run as Windows XP service Pack 3 mode.


5. Check your Directx Version ( Generally not an issue as it is installed at the same time the game is installed but if it fails for any reason it is found on Disc 1 or 4. Also note that you will need the latest service packs from Windows

hope that helps , for me number 1 worked, disabling the tablet pc input service. Who would have known.

good luck

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Printing Letterhead with Microsoft Office Programs - Can't Print to Letterhead or Tray 2

This issue can you drive you bonkers, it can even drive you mad , basically the issue is when you can't print to letterhead paper from within word you select the tray where the paper is located and set the paper type to letterhead.   Try as you might it still fails to print.   "Why have you forsaken me Printer!!!"

In my case it was an easy solution , I was using Microsoft Office 2007

Possible Solution

The reason this issue occurred for me is that the margins in word (page setup) were setup in such a way that the page would not be able to fit onto a regular a4 letterhead so it automatically diverted to a different tray according to print auto select.

To fix this I went into Printer Preferences and went to the Paper option and told it to Print on an A4 Size paper , once I did that I was able to print without any trouble. (even if you know your page setup is correct it may be worth testing this option ,

Note: Menu's will look different depending on what type of print you have you will just need to have a browse around)

That's it I hope that helped, and for people using Microsoft Office 2010 I believe there was a hot fix for a similar issue so you may need to scrummage around the Microsoft site to download it.

Fin

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Setting Windows Network Adapter Preference - Connected to Multiple networks set priority

A very frustrating issue this one, Especially for people connected to multiple networks be it wired or wireless networks.  Windows will automatically judge which is the best line by determining an automatic metric value for each network adapter  (e.g 1 being high and 100 being low ) with the higher values being preferred.

From my experience this will not effect local traffic though so , if you want all your local traffic and internet access to work try the following steps.

In my case I was connected to 2 wireless networks one being a home network which was used to connect to the internet and another wireless network used for wireless projector ( "yes I know brilliant thinking" :) ) was also connected to a wired private network 

Step 1 : Setting Adapter Preferences ( Local Traffic )

Go to

Control Panel -> All Control Panel Items -> Network and Sharing Center - > Change Adapter Settings

or Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections , or similar depending on your operating system.

Press ALT to bring up the menu bar

Click on Advanced -> Advanced Settings

 Here we can change our adapter preference from the list by hitting the up and down arrows, top for first preference.

that is only step 1 of solution , the next step is to setup your manual metric values


Step 2: Setup Manual Metric Values for each Network Interface

Metric values are normally setup by windows automatically but more often then not they don't work out how you wanted them to because the automatic metric score is based on  link speed, hop count, or time delay (so if you have a weak wifi signal you may get a lower metric value for that NIC)

If we go to the same directory as we did in step 1, network connections or adapter settings

Here we will need to right click on each network interface and setup the metric values manually to tell windows which links we prefer traffic to go down.


Right click on a network interface , and click on properties

Highlight Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPV4) and click on Properties

In the next window click on advanced

now you will be able to enter the metric value manually

( Remember 1 is a high metric and 100 is a low one) these are the recommended metrics by windows generally its good to keep a good distance between the values e.g don't go for 1 and 2 instead try 5 and 50.

that's it your all done, remember to do this for all your network interface cards/adapters so the windows automatic value doesn't take hold of you.

So in my case windows was assigning my preferred network for internet connections lower because i was further away from it.  That will teach my to buy a 2nd hand router off ebay.

Hope it helped



Paypal Pre-Approved Payments issue - Unable to Bill Order

Issue I stumbled on this weekend when I tried to sign up to a magazine subscription that used the paypal pre-approved payment option it pretty much got me nowhere and I kept seeing billing for $0.00 or getting the error Unable to Bill Order

There is a quick fix for this , and the issue is usually caused by some debit credit cards or what preapproved payment options you have setup in paypal.

visit your paypal account

click on Profile -> My Money -> click on Update next to "My Pre-approved payments"

Once your in you can view your current approved payments , and often you will see a whole lot of zero's this is indication that you have not selected enough payment sources or a certain payment source is not acceptable

Click on set available funding sources


now you can select which payment options you prefer to use for pre-approved payments , it best to put a tick next atleast two options. That's it hope that has helped someone who has been frustrated by this issue

note : friends kid had this issue when trying to buy gold on tribes ascend , Unable to Bill Order with paypal approved payments.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Common Lenovo T420S Issues - Unexpected Shutdowns, Freezing and Lag and others


I recently  had the riveting role of setting up a ton of Lenovo T420s laptops and Dell Vostro's and have prepared this post to solve a lot of issues you may face with your Lenovo T420S laptop.

1. Unexpected Shutdowns, Random shutdowns when away from computer

The first one is an unexpected shutdown issue with the lenovo t420s , whenever you are away from the machine for an hour or more it will shutdown unexpectedly and start a start up repair when you next boot up the machine.

Cause

The cause of this issue usually relates the  Lenovo Rapid Boot software installed on most of there newer laptops, uninstalling this software will usually resolve the issue. If not you can try a bios update through system update. (quick update , had one with random shutdown's turned out to be a faulty motherboard , just in case your trying to fix it in vain.)

2. Laggy Screen or Delay when using keyboard and mouse

This is another common one, if you find that when you drag the mouse across the screen you notice a lag every 5-6 seconds or that when you type it doesn't appear instantly you can try the following

Cause

The most common cause for this issue I have seen are dodgy Bluetooth drivers, for some reason an older version of lenovo's Bluetooth drivers caused a lot of hanging and lagging issues almost like it was paired to a Bluetooth device that was slightly out of range.

 There could be a more straight forward reason for this but turning off the bluetooth Fn + F5 , or just switching off the wireless with hardware switch usually works.  You can also update your bluetooth drivers but they often hang during installation. (update : Turns out the most common cause of this issue is a dodgy motherboard,I've had about 5 replaced so far )


Hardware Related Issues

I've also had a few hardware related issues which may help you diagnose your issue

Noisy Fan - Very common with the t420s or any slimline lenovo laptop, Replace FAN call lenovo

Wifi won't work - Switch broken or not connected properly , call lenovo fix motherboard connection

Laggy Mouse and Keyboard - motherboard , keyboard and palm rest was replaced in my case

Computer Super slow - Run a hard drive diagnostic test from the bios, possible dying dead hdd

I shall add more as appear, feel free to ask a question about any issues you've had most likely I've run into them as well.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Installing GCC Compiler for Windows - For C , C++ , Objective C, Fortran

So I was talking to my friend the other day who wanted to start C Programming , I said "hooray" only problem was when he wanted to get his compiler up and running he was having a lot of trouble.

If you goto the official GCC compiler site you will be given source codes and a whole lot of different packages and unless your very competent with using command line and building packages and installing from scripts you may get a little stuck.

The easiest way to install GCC compiler for C Programming and a few others (C++, Obj C, Fortran and a couple more) is to download the MinGW compiler for windows. It will basically download all the latest packages for you and give you the options of which compilers you need. It then downloads everything unpacks it all and installs it.

You can download MinGW from http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files/

From there the steps are quite straight forward.


1. Run your setup and choose to download the latest repository catalogues

 

2. Choose your compiler
3. Watch as it downloads all your packages and finishes installing

That's it your all done, you can now use the compiler from the command line,
gcc filename.c

make sure to run the command line from the correct directory ( the directory that contains the gcc.exe or similar files usually C:\MinGW\bin.

There you have it , how to install GCC compiler for windows, hope it helped if not google away

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Outlook Folders Empty - Items missing from Shared Mailbox and Local Mailbox

Common issue found in any version of Microsoft Outlook, you know there are items in the inbox or sent items folder etc, but you just can't see them there they are either missing or the total folder is empty. This will also apply to a mailbox you have shared or delegate access to.

The fix is simple run outlook from Start -> Run , and use the switch

Outlook.exe /cleanviews

hallelujah, and there you have it. hopefully...

if not most likely the item has been deleted and you can try and retrieve them by using the recover deleted items option from the folder tab


Thursday, February 16, 2012

Webpage login page not loading - Blank White page - Steps to Fix Blank Internet explorer page

Common frustrating problem , when a webpage with a login screen won't load many different webpages use all sorts of plugins these days that can prevent a page from displaying correctly for you, otherwise its usually a security issue such as being unable to login when your web browser cache still has data from the last time you logged on.

Some steps to get past those white login pages or pages that are totally blank, for these examples I will use internet explorer but the similar steps will apply for other web browsers.

1. Deleting Temporary internet files and cache

In internet explorer go to Tools -> Internet Options, if you don't see the tools menu press the ALT key or click on the cog on the right hand side of the browser.
  - 1 open internet options
  - 2 check delete browsing history on exit
  - 3 click on delete
  - 4 select temporary internet files form the options, test other options if still having trouble
 -  5 hit delete
 - 6 hit ok


2. Update your JAVA


a simple one, visit http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp to make sure you have the most up to date version of java. if the most up to date is not working for you , check with the website as they may be on an old release of java

3. Microsoft Silverlight Settings

Many webpages use microsoft silverlight for login pages, if your having trouble accessing a login page that uses microsoft silverlight try these steps.


1)     Go to Start  > All Programs > Microsoft Silverlight and open Microsoft Silverlight

2)     Click on the Application Storage tab

3)     Ensure application storage is on then click Delete all… and click Yes to the warning



4)     Click ok and retry webpage

4. Reset Internet Explorer

this one in my experience solves 80% of internet explorer issues, 

goto tools -> Internet Options ->  Advanced Tab -> Reset -> Reset

Close and reopen IE and retry.

hope that helped someone, that is all ^>^

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Shortcuts all opening in same program - Remove Open With from .Ink Shortcuts

stumbled on this one today was messing around with a computer that had all .Ink or shortcuts set to open in Microsoft word, so everything would open in word,  Internet explorer, game shortcuts anything really. Here are the steps to fix it.

1. Simple Solution

The first solution involves using CreativeElement power tool which can be download from
http://www.creativelement.com/powertools/#download

this is just a simple tool that lets us fix the problem with a few clicks, it is free for 45 days and I am in no way associated with the software company, it worked for me and these are the steps I took

1. Install the Software and run Creative Element Power Tools
2. Under the file tools submenu click the checkbox next to "Edit file type associations" and then hit Accept
3. Under the heading "Edit file type associations" click on Start File Type Doctor Now


  4. Once the file type doctor is open, goto your desktop or wherever you keep your shortcuts right click a shortcut and click on Edit File Type
5. Now in the Actions in right click menu , highlight User choice override ( will be in red italic font) remove and click yes
Image of action menu after user choice override already removed. highlight user choice override , click on remove and yes. All your shortcuts should return to normal

hope that helps someone :)

Monday, January 23, 2012

Dynamics AX - Unable to create ActiveX control - CmxPhone Control solution

Common active x popup message when trying to run Microsoft dynamics ax, can be occur after new installations or after uninstalling previous versions of AX.

The error occurs because smmPhone.ocx needs to be registered on the system. SmmPhone.ocx can be located in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics Ax\Common ( other dll's and .ocx files for AX can also be found here.)

to register the dll file from command line or run

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX\Common\smmPhone.ocx"