Enjoy.
Archive for July, 2009
A customer was concerned with an error they were seeing when booting their XP Home PC. Windows would continue to load correctly but the error still had them worried. I suggested they bring it in for me to take a look.
Invalid Boot.ini, loading from C:\Windows
The problem was caused due to a corrupted boot.ini file which is usually located in the C drive. Since I had a copy of XP Home I tried to rebuild the boot.ini as per the instructions below.
- Insert the Microsoft Windows XP CD into the computer. Note: If you have a system recovery CD or restore CD (not a Microsoft CD) these steps will likely not work for your computer.
- Reboot the computer with the CD and press any key when prompted to press any key to boot from the CD. If you do not receive this prompt and/or are not able to boot from the CD see document CH000217.
- Once in the Microsoft Setup menu press R to open the recovery console.
- Select the operating system you wish to use; if you only have Windows XP on the computer you will only have one prompt.
- Once prompted for the password enter the Admin password and press enter.
- Once at the command prompt type bootcfg /rebuild to start the rebuild process.
- The rebuild process will step you through a number of steps depending upon how many operating systems you have on the computer and how the computer is setup. Below is a listing of the common steps you are likely going to encounter.
- Prompt for the identified versions of Windows installed. When you receive this prompt press Y if the bootcfg command properly identified each of the Windows operating systems installed on the computer. It is important to realize this command will only detect Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows NT installations.
- Prompt to enter the load identifier. This is the name of the operating system for the boot.ini. For example, Microsoft Windows XP Home users would enter Microsoft Windows XP Home edition.
- Prompt to Enter OS load options. When this prompt is received type /fastdetect to automatically detect the available options.
- Once you have completed all the available options in the rebuild and are back at the prompt type exit to reboot the computer.
See Microsoft KB289022 for more info on boot.ini.
A bit of a controversy over a recent Microsoft IE 8 advertisement. While it has caused many a Maude Flanders “think of the children” diatribe, I think it is actually quite funny.
Take a look for yourself.
Last year I posted a video that would make any IT pro laugh hysterically. I said the creators should win an award for their work, and they did just that. The folks over at thewebsiteisdown.com have not rested on their laurels and have produced two more gems. I feel for the IT pro who has to deal with Chip the sales guy as he uses “Excel” in inventive ways and as Chip calls for tech support for his failed hard drive.
Remember to all ways remain calm. 
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It has been quite some time since I’ve had a new theme here at the blog. I’ve decided it is time to get up to date on HTML 5 and what you see is a minimalist HTML 5 based theme. I will be styling to my liking as time permits.
Top 5 Features to look forward to
Warning: Highly technical one and a half hour video on HTML 5 goodness.
WEP is the redheaded stepchild of WPA & WPA2. For quite some time it has been very easy for someone with limited Google searching skills to crack. In the video below the presenter shows you how easy it is to crack WEP.
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