http://www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/troubleshootingandmaintainingyourpcaiohttp://www.Dummies.comhttp://www.Dummies.comhttp://www.Dummies.com

by Dan Gookin

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC

A L L - I N - O N E

FOR

DUMmIES‰

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030-5774

www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permit-ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permission Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affi liates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITH-OUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZA-TION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.

For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009920551

ISBN: 978-0-470-39665-0

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

http://www.wiley.comhttp://www.wiley.com/go/permissionshttp://www.wiley.com/go/permissionshttp://www.wiley.com/techsupport

About the AuthorDan Gookin has been writing about technology for way, way too long. He has contributed articles to numerous high-tech magazines and written over 110 books on personal computers, many of them accurate.

Dan combines his love of writing with his gizmo fascination to create books that are informative, entertaining, and not boring. Having sold more than 14 million titles translated into over 30 languages, Dan can attest that his method of crafting computer tomes seems to work.

Perhaps his most famous title is the original DOS For Dummies, published in 1991. It became the world’s fastest-selling computer book, at one time moving more copies per week than the New York Times #1 bestseller (though, as a reference, it could not be listed on the NYT bestseller list). That book spawned the entire line of For Dummies books, which remains a publishing phenomenon to this day.

Dan’s most popular titles include Word 2007 For Dummies, Laptops For Dummies, and PCs For Dummies (all published by Wiley). He also maintains the vast and helpful Web page www.wambooli.com.

Dan holds a degree in communications/visual arts from the University of California, San Diego. Presently, he lives in the Pacifi c Northwest, where he enjoys spending time with his sons playing video games inside while they watch the gentle woods of Idaho.

DedicationTo Cosette. Thanks for the love and attention. You will be missed.

Publisher’s AcknowledgmentsWe’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Senior Project Editor: Mark Enochs

Acquisitions Editor: Katie Mohr

Executive Editor: Greg Croy

Copy Editor: Rebecca Whitney

Technical Editor: James F. Kelly

Editorial Manager: Leah Cameron

Media Development Project Manager: Laura Moss-Hollister

Media Development Assistant Project Manager: Jenny Swisher

Media Development Assistant Producer: Josh Frank

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond

Layout and Graphics: Samantha K. Allen, Ana Carrillo, Reuben W. Davis, Nikki Gately, Christin Swinford, Christine Williams

Proofreaders: Evelyn W. Gibson, Jessica Kramer

Indexer: Broccoli Information Management

Special Help: Susan Christophersen, Elizabeth Kuball

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

http://dummies.custhelp.comhttp://www.the5thwave.com

Contents at a GlanceIntroduction ................................................................ 1

Book I: Hardware ........................................................ 9Chapter 1: Let There Be PC ............................................................................................ 11Chapter 2: Birth Pangs .................................................................................................... 21Chapter 3: Death Throes ................................................................................................. 39Chapter 4: Mass Storage Issues ..................................................................................... 57Chapter 5: Pain in the Printer ......................................................................................... 75Chapter 6: Seeing Trouble .............................................................................................. 91Chapter 7: Peripheralitis ............................................................................................... 117Chapter 8: Deep Inside the Computer Case................................................................ 137

Book II: Software ..................................................... 169Chapter 1: Windows Gone AWOL ................................................................................ 171Chapter 2: Programs, Processes, and Services .......................................................... 201Chapter 3: The Safe Mode Chapter .............................................................................. 221Chapter 4: Putting the Pep Back into the PC .............................................................. 229Chapter 5: User Accounts ............................................................................................. 243Chapter 6: Unexpected Application Situations .......................................................... 259Chapter 7: Reporting for Duty ...................................................................................... 281Chapter 8: Recovery Options ....................................................................................... 301Chapter 9: Registry Fixes .............................................................................................. 325

Book III: Laptops ..................................................... 335Chapter 1: Laptop Asleep, Laptop Awake, Laptop Dead .......................................... 337Chapter 2: A More Usable Laptop ................................................................................ 357Chapter 3: Out on the Road .......................................................................................... 365Chapter 4: Laptop Maintenance ................................................................................... 373

Book IV: Internet ..................................................... 379Chapter 1: Internet Malaise .......................................................................................... 381Chapter 2: Woes on the Web ........................................................................................ 405Chapter 3: E-Mail Postage Due ..................................................................................... 425Chapter 4: Wicked Software ......................................................................................... 451Chapter 5: The File Transfer Chapter .......................................................................... 475

Book V: Networking ................................................. 499Chapter 1: Network Hardware Help ............................................................................ 501Chapter 2: The Soft Side of Networking ...................................................................... 525Chapter 3: Peer-to-Peer Networking ............................................................................ 547Chapter 4: Networking Unplugged ............................................................................... 571

Book VI: Maintenance .............................................. 589Chapter 1: Backup, Backup, Backup............................................................................ 591Chapter 2: Pampering the Hard Drive ......................................................................... 621Chapter 3: On Schedule................................................................................................. 663Chapter 4: A Time to Clean ........................................................................................... 689

Appendix A: About the DVD ...................................... 699

Index ...................................................................... 703

Table of ContentsIntroduction ................................................................. 1

Woe Is Computer ............................................................................................. 1About the For Dummies approach ................................................................ 2Who Are You? .................................................................................................. 2How This Book Works ..................................................................................... 3How the DVD Works ........................................................................................ 4Terms and Stuff to Know ................................................................................ 5Icons Used in This Book ................................................................................. 5Where to Go Now? ........................................................................................... 6Final Thots ........................................................................................................ 6

Book I: Hardware ......................................................... 9

Chapter 1: Let There Be PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11In the Beginning, There Was Power ............................................................ 11

What happens ...................................................................................... 11What could go wrong .......................................................................... 12

The First Test: Hardware Self-Diagnostics ................................................. 12What happens ...................................................................................... 12What could go wrong .......................................................................... 13Your PC’s Setup program ................................................................... 14

The Search for an Operating System .......................................................... 14What happens ...................................................................................... 15What could go wrong .......................................................................... 15The boot loader.................................................................................... 16

Operating System Initialization .................................................................... 16What happens ...................................................................................... 17What could go wrong .......................................................................... 17

Log On to Windows ....................................................................................... 17What happens ...................................................................................... 17What could go wrong .......................................................................... 18

Personalized Start-Up .................................................................................... 18What happens ...................................................................................... 18What could go wrong .......................................................................... 18

Use Your PC .................................................................................................... 19What happens ...................................................................................... 19What could go wrong .......................................................................... 19

The Last Thing You Do ................................................................................. 19

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummiesx

Chapter 2: Birth Pangs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21The Onset of PC Heartbreak ......................................................................... 21

Nothing — I see nothing...................................................................... 22POST errors .......................................................................................... 23CMOS errors ......................................................................................... 24There’s a BIOS password! ................................................................... 25“Did my PC secretly restart?” ............................................................. 26

Operating System Trouble ........................................................................... 26The horrifying, blinking cursor .......................................................... 26Changing the boot order ..................................................................... 27The No Operating System sisters ...................................................... 29“Press any key to boot from the optical disc” ................................. 29Removing a boot loader ...................................................................... 30

Start-Up Menus .............................................................................................. 30The boot menu ..................................................................................... 31The F8 menu ......................................................................................... 32The F5 menu ......................................................................................... 34Start-up and recovery options ........................................................... 35Windows Error Recovery menu ......................................................... 36

Chapter 3: Death Throes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39To Quit or Not to Quit? ................................................................................. 39

Shutting down a PC .............................................................................. 39Ending your Windows day .................................................................. 41Finding the shutdown options ........................................................... 42Setting the power button function..................................................... 44

Shutdown Malaise ......................................................................................... 45General shutdown advice ................................................................... 45Turning off a stubborn PC .................................................................. 45Slow shutdown ..................................................................................... 46Someone else is logged in! .................................................................. 46End now? ............................................................................................... 47“The computer was improperly shut down!” ................................... 48Windows Error Recovery menu ......................................................... 48

Power Management Issues ........................................................................... 49Activating power management in Windows XP ............................... 50Enabling power management for specifi c devices .......................... 50Activating hibernation ........................................................................ 51Finding hibernation ............................................................................. 52What is hybrid sleep? .......................................................................... 53Recovering from a PC coma ............................................................... 54

Problems with Restarting ............................................................................. 54Random restarts .................................................................................. 55Automatic restarts ............................................................................... 55

Table of Contents xi

Chapter 4: Mass Storage Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57Mass Storage Overview ................................................................................. 57

Understanding mass storage .............................................................. 57Finding mass storage in Windows ..................................................... 58Using the Disk Management console ................................................. 59Understanding Medea ......................................................................... 60Adding drives and media .................................................................... 60Removing media ................................................................................... 61Removing drives .................................................................................. 62

Hard Drive Stuff ............................................................................................. 63Hard drive technical trivia .................................................................. 64Partitions............................................................................................... 65The Master Boot Record ..................................................................... 67

Optical Drive Death and Misery ................................................................... 68Is the drive dead? ................................................................................. 68“A disk is stuck in the drive!” ............................................................. 69The program won’t install .................................................................. 69AutoPlay issues .................................................................................... 70The drive doesn’t record .................................................................... 71The disc doesn’t record ...................................................................... 73On cleaning an optical drive ............................................................... 73

Professional Data Recovery ......................................................................... 74

Chapter 5: Pain in the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75Marginal Printer Stuff .................................................................................... 75

Amazing printers .................................................................................. 75Printing in Windows ............................................................................ 76Using the Page Setup dialog box ........................................................ 78Dealing with printers ........................................................................... 80Checking the printer driver ................................................................ 81Working with print jobs ...................................................................... 82Cancelling a print job .......................................................................... 83Using the Printing Troubleshooter .................................................... 84Visiting the Print Management window ............................................ 84

General Printer Problems ............................................................................. 85Print Preview lies ................................................................................. 85Wrong colors, streaks, madness ........................................................ 86Weird characters on the page ............................................................ 86Page after page of gobbledygook ....................................................... 87Printer jams .......................................................................................... 87Page orientation ................................................................................... 88Envelopes must eat, too ...................................................................... 88

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummiesxii

Chapter 6: Seeing Trouble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91The PC Graphics System .............................................................................. 91

Know the terms .................................................................................... 91Graphical system overview ................................................................ 92The display adapter ............................................................................. 93Display adapter info ............................................................................ 94The monitor .......................................................................................... 96That second-monitor thing ................................................................. 99

Captain Video the Troubleshooter ............................................................ 100Seeing nothing .................................................................................... 101Swapping solutions ............................................................................ 101Adjusting the monitor ....................................................................... 102Dealing with dead or stuck pixels .................................................... 104Saving the screen ............................................................................... 104Saving power ...................................................................................... 105Adjusting the resolution ................................................................... 106Changing the icon size ...................................................................... 108Setting the dpi .................................................................................... 109Setting color depth ............................................................................ 111Confi guring color management ........................................................ 111Updating drivers ................................................................................ 113Using the troubleshooting helpers .................................................. 115

Chapter 7: Peripheralitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117General Hardware Troubleshooting ......................................................... 117Keyboard and Mouse .................................................................................. 118

Troubleshooting basic input dilemmas .......................................... 118Taming the wild mouse ..................................................................... 119Making the mouse faster or slower ................................................. 120Making the mouse pointer more visible ......................................... 121Looking southward ............................................................................ 122Honing the keyboard ......................................................................... 123Undoing the Sticky Keys warning .................................................... 124

Speaking of Trouble .................................................................................... 125Testing the speakers ......................................................................... 126Connecting the speakers................................................................... 127Fixing silence ...................................................................................... 129Testing the microphone .................................................................... 131

Your Pal, the Device Manager .................................................................... 132Starting the Device Manager ............................................................ 133Finding errant hardware ................................................................... 134Troubleshooting a gizmo in Windows XP ....................................... 134Updating driver software .................................................................. 135

Table of Contents xiii

Chapter 8: Deep Inside the Computer Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137Into the Case ................................................................................................ 137

Opening the case ............................................................................... 137Grounding yourself ............................................................................ 139Closing the case ................................................................................. 139

The PC Console Adventure Map ................................................................ 140Common Problems and Solutions ............................................................. 144

Checking for loose cables ................................................................. 145Dissipating heat.................................................................................. 146

Upgrade, Replace, Maintain ....................................................................... 146Buying replacement parts................................................................. 147Replacing the power supply ............................................................. 148Replacing the clock battery .............................................................. 150

The Miracle of Expansion Cards ................................................................ 150Exploring expansion slots ................................................................. 150Inserting an expansion card ............................................................. 152Updating a display adapter .............................................................. 155Removing an expansion card ........................................................... 155Reseating expansion cards ............................................................... 156

Your PC Wants More Memory ................................................................... 157Understanding memory banks ......................................................... 157Getting the right DIMM ...................................................................... 158Adding memory .................................................................................. 159

More Storage for You! ................................................................................. 162Knowing the terms ............................................................................. 163Choosing a new hard drive ............................................................... 164Choosing a new optical drive ........................................................... 165Installing the drive ............................................................................. 166

Book II: Software ..................................................... 169

Chapter 1: Windows Gone AWOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171The General Windows Fix ........................................................................... 171

Restarting Windows........................................................................... 171Deciphering error codes ................................................................... 172Peeking at that debug information .................................................. 172

Windows Updates, Doesn’t It? ................................................................... 173Understanding Windows Update ..................................................... 173Confi guring updates .......................................................................... 174Permitting an update ......................................................................... 176Reviewing the updates ...................................................................... 177Undoing an update............................................................................. 177

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummiesxiv

Files Missing and Found ............................................................................. 178Searching for fi les .............................................................................. 178Really searching for fi les ................................................................... 179Searching the Recycle Bin ................................................................ 180Really, really searching for fi les ....................................................... 181Adding items to the search index .................................................... 183Rebuilding the search index ............................................................. 185A fi le is missing ................................................................................... 185

A Smattering of Annoying Things in Windows ........................................ 187Blue screen of death .......................................................................... 187Silence the sounds ............................................................................. 188Anchor the taskbar ............................................................................ 190Move the taskbar ............................................................................... 190Resize the taskbar .............................................................................. 190Hide the taskbar ................................................................................. 191See all the icons on the Quick Launch bar ..................................... 191Show the date and time in the notifi cation area ............................ 192Show the volume control in the notifi cation area ......................... 193Restore the Show Desktop shortcut on the Quick Launch bar ... 193Retrieve a window that slid off the screen ..................................... 194Windows appear at odd sizes and positions .................................. 194Change the image viewer .................................................................. 195Folders and icons change position .................................................. 195Line up icons on the desktop ........................................................... 195Clear the desktop ............................................................................... 196Get rid of the Desktop Cleanup Wizard........................................... 196Turn off the Documents/Recent Items menu

on the Start menu ........................................................................... 196See the Windows Explorer menus in Windows Vista .................... 197Update a window ............................................................................... 197Read-only fi les and folders ............................................................... 197The message “Your activation period has expired” appears....... 198Icons go missing ................................................................................. 198What fi le is this? ................................................................................. 199

Chapter 2: Programs, Processes, and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201What’s an Application? What’s a Process? What’s a Service? ............... 201

Understanding the weird terms ....................................................... 201Visiting the Task Manager ................................................................ 202Understanding the Application/Process relationship................... 203Viewing the whole mess o’ processes ............................................. 204Enjoying the services ........................................................................ 205Ending a stuck program .................................................................... 206Halting a process ............................................................................... 207Stopping or disabling a service ........................................................ 208Understanding svchost.exe .............................................................. 210Peeking at that rundll32.exe thing ................................................... 211

Table of Contents xv

Start-Up Programs ....................................................................................... 212Disabling start-up programs ............................................................. 213Using MSCONFIG to set start-up stuff.............................................. 214Finding start-up programs for your account .................................. 216Dealing with blocked start-up programs ........................................ 218

Chapter 3: The Safe Mode Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221Safe Mode to the Rescue ............................................................................. 221

Using Safe mode ................................................................................. 221Entering Safe mode unexpectedly ................................................... 223Getting into Safe mode at boot time ................................................ 224Restarting in Diagnostic Mode with MSCONFIG ............................ 224Ending Safe mode ............................................................................... 226Ending Diagnostic Mode ................................................................... 226

Safe Mode Troubleshooting ....................................................................... 226Understanding Safe mode ................................................................. 226Knowing the three problem sisters ................................................. 227Disabling start-up fi les ....................................................................... 228

Chapter 4: Putting the Pep Back into the PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229Man, Your PC Is Slow! ................................................................................. 229

Understanding slow ........................................................................... 229Testing multiple tasks ....................................................................... 230Checking virtual memory .................................................................. 231

Problems That Slow Down Your Computer ............................................. 233Unclogging the spyware .................................................................... 233Finding a memory leak ...................................................................... 233

Speed Up Your PC ....................................................................................... 235Performing regular maintenance ..................................................... 235Using ReadyBoost .............................................................................. 235Setting the number of CPUs in Windows Vista .............................. 237Disabling unnecessary services ....................................................... 238

Chapter 5: User Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243The User Account ........................................................................................ 243

Understanding the user profi le ........................................................ 245Confi guring your account ................................................................. 245Changing to an administrator-level account .................................. 246Deleting a user account..................................................................... 247Disabling the Guest account ............................................................. 248Finding the secret Administrator account...................................... 248Changing the Windows XP logon ..................................................... 248Avoiding the Windows XP Logon ..................................................... 249

Ode to the Password ................................................................................... 250Creating a strong password.............................................................. 250Changing your account password ................................................... 251

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummiesxvi

Recovering your password ............................................................... 251Protecting folders with a password ................................................ 253

The Windows Vista User Account Control ............................................... 254Disabling the UAC .............................................................................. 255Disabling UAC Secure Desktop mode .............................................. 256Changing the UAC beep .................................................................... 257

Chapter 6: Unexpected Application Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259Installation Issues ........................................................................................ 259

Adding new software ......................................................................... 259Dealing with installation problems .................................................. 260Resolving Windows Vista compatibility issues

with your program ......................................................................... 260Banish the Unwanted .................................................................................. 261

Uninstalling software ......................................................................... 261Pruning Windows programs ............................................................. 262Removing bloatware .......................................................................... 264Dealing with phantom removed programs ..................................... 265Cleaning up the crud ......................................................................... 267

The Good and Evil of File Association ...................................................... 267Understanding fi le association ......................................................... 267Hiding or showing fi le extensions .................................................... 268Reviewing associations in Windows Vista ...................................... 269Opening a fi le with a different program .......................................... 270Changing fi le association (the easy way)........................................ 272Dealing with unknown fi le types ...................................................... 272Creating an association for unassociated fi les............................... 273

Common Problems and Solutions ............................................................. 274Running older software ..................................................................... 274Repairing a program .......................................................................... 276Opening a Word document in an oddball format .......................... 276Eliminating personalized menus ...................................................... 276Getting rid of recently opened fi le lists ........................................... 277Running a program with elevated permissions

in Windows Vista ............................................................................ 279

Chapter 7: Reporting for Duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281The Joys of System Resources ................................................................... 281

Understanding resources ................................................................. 281Getting system information .............................................................. 282Monitoring system resources .......................................................... 283

What Has Gone On Here? ........................................................................... 286Reviewing events ............................................................................... 286Using the Windows Vista Event Viewer .......................................... 288Filtering and searching events ......................................................... 290Finding logs ......................................................................................... 292

Table of Contents xvii

Problems and Solutions for Windows Vista ............................................. 294Reviewing problems and solutions ................................................. 294Checking on new solutions ............................................................... 295Perusing recent issues ...................................................................... 295

Diagnostics ................................................................................................... 296Understanding diagnostics ............................................................... 296Diagnosing DirectX ............................................................................ 296Using the Memory Diagnostic Tool ................................................. 298Doing a hardware diagnostic ............................................................ 299

Chapter 8: Recovery Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301Restore the System, Restore Your Sanity ................................................. 301

Using System Restore ........................................................................ 302Restoring to a specifi c date and time .............................................. 304Setting a restore point ....................................................................... 305Undoing a System Restore ................................................................ 307Disabling System Restore ................................................................. 307

Windows Vista Time Travel ....................................................................... 308The System File Checker ............................................................................ 310

Running SFC in Windows Vista ........................................................ 311Reviewing the cbs.log fi le in Windows Vista .................................. 312Running SFC in Windows XP............................................................. 314

Windows Recovery ...................................................................................... 315Understanding the recovery console .............................................. 315Starting the recovery console in Windows XP ............................... 317Getting to the recovery console in Windows Vista ....................... 318Fixing the master boot record.......................................................... 321Booting into a recovery partition .................................................... 321Using a recovery disc ........................................................................ 322Reinstalling Windows ........................................................................ 323

Chapter 9: Registry Fixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325Behold the Registry ..................................................................................... 325

Understanding the Registry .............................................................. 326Using the Registry Editor .................................................................. 328Backing up the Registry .................................................................... 329Modifying the Registry ...................................................................... 330Finding stuff in the Registry.............................................................. 332

Registry Cleaning ......................................................................................... 334

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummiesxviii

Book III: Laptops ...................................................... 335

Chapter 1: Laptop Asleep, Laptop Awake, Laptop Dead . . . . . . . . . . .337Laptop Start-Up Issues ................................................................................ 337

Laptop just won’t start ...................................................................... 338Laptop is slow to start ...................................................................... 339Laptop won’t wake up ....................................................................... 340Check the display............................................................................... 340Laptop starts and then turns off ...................................................... 341Laptop turns off and then immediately starts ............................... 341Laptop won’t stay asleep .................................................................. 341Before sending the laptop into the shop ........................................ 342

What Happens When You Close the Lid ................................................... 342Power Management Issues ......................................................................... 344

Explaining Windows Vista hybrid sleep.......................................... 345Finding hibernation in Windows Vista ............................................ 346Speeding up hibernation ................................................................... 347Testing the power management hardware ..................................... 348Updating power drivers .................................................................... 349

A Battery of Issues ....................................................................................... 350Monitoring battery life ...................................................................... 351Setting low battery warnings ............................................................ 352Swapping batteries ............................................................................ 354Prolonging battery life ....................................................................... 355Maintaining the battery ..................................................................... 356

Chapter 2: A More Usable Laptop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .357A Home for the Laptop ................................................................................ 357

Making the laptop feel at home ........................................................ 357Selecting devices for the laptop ....................................................... 358Using a port replicator or docking station ..................................... 360Cooling Mr. Laptop ............................................................................ 360

Handy Laptop Utilities ................................................................................ 361Magnifying the screen ....................................................................... 362Using the On-Screen Keyboard ........................................................ 363

Chapter 3: Out on the Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .365The Elsewhere Laptop ................................................................................ 365

Choosing a proper laptop bag .......................................................... 365Packing the laptop bag ...................................................................... 366Checking stuff before you leave ....................................................... 367Resuming life after you travel .......................................................... 368

Life in the Air ................................................................................................ 369Getting through security ................................................................... 369Storing the laptop .............................................................................. 370Using your laptop in the air .............................................................. 371

Table of Contents xix

Chapter 4: Laptop Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .373A Sparkling Laptop ...................................................................................... 373

Making the case beautiful again ....................................................... 373Washing the screen ........................................................................... 375Kleaning the keyboard ...................................................................... 376

Hardware Upgrades ..................................................................................... 376

Book IV: Internet ...................................................... 379

Chapter 1: Internet Malaise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .381Problems Getting (and Staying) Online .................................................... 381

Testing broadband Internet ............................................................. 382Checking dialup connections ........................................................... 384Remembering your dialup Internet password ............................... 386Dialing in manually ............................................................................ 386Dialing randomly ................................................................................ 387Dealing with dialup timeouts............................................................ 388Disabling call waiting ......................................................................... 390

Internet Troubleshooting Tools ................................................................ 392Checking to see whether the Internet is really out there ............. 392Confi rming that an Internet location exists .................................... 394

Choose Your Internet Programs ................................................................ 395Binary Breadcrumbs ................................................................................... 397

Revising history ................................................................................. 397Removing cookies .............................................................................. 399Purging temporary fi les ..................................................................... 401Dealing with AutoComplete .............................................................. 402Contending with e-mail AutoComplete ........................................... 403

Chapter 2: Woes on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .405Internet Explorer Hates Your Guts ............................................................ 405

Showing the menu bar....................................................................... 406Managing toolbars ............................................................................. 406Dealing with add-ons ......................................................................... 407Resetting Internet Explorer .............................................................. 409Upgrading Internet Explorer............................................................. 410Understanding the “work offl ine” thing .......................................... 410

Secret Ingredient: ActiveX .......................................................................... 411Understanding ActiveX ..................................................................... 411Restricting ActiveX controls ............................................................ 412Removing ActiveX controls .............................................................. 413

What’s Up, Pop? ........................................................................................... 414Understanding pop-ups ..................................................................... 414Dealing with pop-ups ......................................................................... 415

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummiesxx

Web Page Hell .............................................................................................. 417Adding a Web site to your trusted zone ......................................... 417Fixing weirdly sized windows ........................................................... 419Looking bigger (smaller) ................................................................... 419Printing a Web page ........................................................................... 420Disabling JavaScript error messages .............................................. 422Dealing with missing pictures .......................................................... 423

Chapter 3: E-Mail Postage Due . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .425Message for You, Sir! ................................................................................... 426

Understanding e-mail ........................................................................ 426Leaving mail on the server ............................................................... 428

General E-Mail Melancholy ......................................................................... 430Dealing with drafts ............................................................................. 430Trashing a message ........................................................................... 431Multiple message mayhem ............................................................... 433Repairing hyperlinks in Outlook Express ....................................... 435Fixing that e-mail disconnection urge ............................................. 437“Why doesn’t the address book work?” .......................................... 438“I can’t read your message!” ............................................................. 438Unable to send e-mail ........................................................................ 439

E-Mail You Don’t Want ................................................................................ 440Blocking senders ................................................................................ 440Unblocking senders ........................................................................... 441Junking e-mail ..................................................................................... 442Creating a junk mail fi lter .................................................................. 443Editing a junk mail rule ..................................................................... 445Deleting a mail rule ............................................................................ 447Skipping e-mail over a certain size .................................................. 447

Chapter 4: Wicked Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .451Malicious + Software = Malware ................................................................ 451

Understanding malware .................................................................... 451Finding malware ................................................................................. 452Protecting your PC............................................................................. 454

When Mr. Virus Comes Calling .................................................................. 456Inoculating your computer ............................................................... 456Disabling antivirus software ............................................................. 457

Hook, Line, and Stinker ............................................................................... 458Understanding the phishing scam ................................................... 458Fighting phishing in Internet Explorer ............................................ 459Avoiding evil e-mail ........................................................................... 461

I Spy, with My Little Eye ............................................................................. 462Understanding spyware .................................................................... 462Getting Windows Defender ............................................................... 463Using Windows Defender .................................................................. 464Scanning for spyware in Windows Defender .................................. 466

Table of Contents xxi

Scheduling Windows Defender ........................................................ 466Exploring software ............................................................................. 467

Life Behind the Firewall .............................................................................. 468Understanding fi rewalls .................................................................... 468Setting up a router with a fi rewall ................................................... 470Using the Windows Firewall ............................................................. 471Disabling the Windows Firewall ....................................................... 472Disabling Windows Remote Assistance .......................................... 472

Chapter 5: The File Transfer Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .475What Is a File? .............................................................................................. 475The Art of Downloading .............................................................................. 478

Downloading the right term ............................................................. 478Grabbing an image from a Web page .............................................. 480Downloading a program from a Web site ....................................... 480

E-Mail Attachment Irritants ........................................................................ 483E-mailing a fi le .................................................................................... 484E-mailing a photo ............................................................................... 485Choosing the right graphics fi le format .......................................... 487Receiving an attachment................................................................... 488

FTP Trouble .................................................................................................. 489Understanding FTP ............................................................................ 489Accessing an FTP server in Windows Explorer ............................. 491Accessing a password-protected FTP site ...................................... 493Remembering an FTP site for future access ................................... 494Setting fi le permissions ..................................................................... 496

Book V: Networking .................................................. 499

Chapter 1: Network Hardware Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .501The Network Big Picture ............................................................................. 501

Understanding networking ............................................................... 502Discovering network hardware ........................................................ 503Putting a printer on the network ..................................................... 506Adding a network hard drive............................................................ 509

You Say Rooter, I Say Router ..................................................................... 510Understanding the router ................................................................. 510Connecting the router ....................................................................... 511Confi guring the router ....................................................................... 512Resetting the router........................................................................... 514Pinging the router .............................................................................. 514Adding more Ethernet ports to the router ..................................... 516

General Network Troubleshooting ............................................................ 518Inspecting the NIC .............................................................................. 518Upgrading the NIC’s driver ............................................................... 520

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummiesxxii

Disconnecting from the network ..................................................... 521Resetting the broadband modem .................................................... 522Restarting the entire network .......................................................... 523

Chapter 2: The Soft Side of Networking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .525Where Is the Network? ................................................................................ 525

Finding network locations in Windows Vista ................................. 525Finding network locations in Windows XP ..................................... 533

IP Gone Wrong ............................................................................................. 537Understanding the IP address .......................................................... 537Checking your PC’s IP address......................................................... 538Understanding DHCP ......................................................................... 539Resolving an IP confl ict ..................................................................... 540Renewing the DHCP lease ................................................................. 540Manually assigning an IP address .................................................... 541

Network Troubleshooting .......................................................................... 543Repairing the network ....................................................................... 544Using the Windows XP Network Troubleshooter .......................... 544Disconnecting from the network ..................................................... 545

Chapter 3: Peer-to-Peer Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .547Once Upon a Time, There Was This Workgroup ..................................... 547

Understanding the workgroup ......................................................... 547Creating a workgroup ........................................................................ 550Browsing the workgroup in Windows Vista ................................... 551Browsing the workgroup in Windows XP ....................................... 552

Everybody Share .......................................................................................... 553Making sharing possible in Windows Vista .................................... 553Making sharing possible in Windows XP ........................................ 554Sharing your PC’s printer ................................................................. 555Sharing a folder .................................................................................. 556Setting shared folder permissions ................................................... 558Managing multiple shares in Windows Vista ................................. 560Accessing shared folders .................................................................. 562Discovering which folders you’re sharing ...................................... 563Unsharing a folder ............................................................................. 563

Workgroup Woes ......................................................................................... 564Checking the network privacy in Windows Vista .......................... 564Reaching unreachable PCs ............................................................... 566Allowing local traffi c through the Windows fi rewall ..................... 567Getting at multiple networks ............................................................ 567Finding out who else is using your computer ................................ 568

Chapter 4: Networking Unplugged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .571Unwired Networking Basics ....................................................................... 571

Setting up a wireless network .......................................................... 571Using the proper wireless network standard ................................. 573

Table of Contents xxiii

Confi guring the wireless base station ............................................. 576Connecting base stations .................................................................. 577Restricting access to your wireless network ................................. 579Resetting a base station .................................................................... 581

When the Hook-Up Gets Hung Up .............................................................. 581Enabling the wireless NIC ................................................................. 581Finding a wireless network ............................................................... 582“But I can’t fi nd the network!” .......................................................... 585Managing wireless connections ....................................................... 587

Book VI: Maintenance ............................................... 589

Chapter 1: Backup, Backup, Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .591That Emergency Copy ................................................................................. 591

Understanding backup ...................................................................... 591Making that backup copy.................................................................. 593Using a backup program ................................................................... 596

The Computer Backs Up for You ............................................................... 597Getting an external hard drive ......................................................... 598Finding the backup program in Windows Vista ............................. 598Confi guring (and making your fi rst) backup .................................. 600Confi rming that the backup worked ................................................ 603Making an immediate backup........................................................... 604Modifying the backup routine .......................................................... 605Stopping a backup in progress......................................................... 606Disabling the backup program ......................................................... 606

Files from Days of Yore ............................................................................... 607Restoring something from the last backup .................................... 607Restoring from an older backup ...................................................... 611Restoring all your personal fi les ...................................................... 612Using the Advanced Restore option ................................................ 613

The Complete PC Backup ........................................................................... 614Understanding Complete PC Backup .............................................. 614Setting up an external hard drive for Complete PC Backup ......... 615Backing up your entire computer .................................................... 617Restoring your entire computer ...................................................... 619

Chapter 2: Pampering the Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .621Free Up Some Disk Space ........................................................................... 621

Looking at the storage situation ...................................................... 622Removing large fi les........................................................................... 625Using Disk Cleanup ............................................................................ 628Moving your program fi les ............................................................... 630Using fi le compression ...................................................................... 632Compressing every dang doodle fi le on a hard drive ................... 634

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummiesxxiv

Disk Drive Tools ........................................................................................... 635Understanding fragmentation .......................................................... 635Finding the disk tools ........................................................................ 640Defragmenting a hard drive .............................................................. 641Checking the disk ............................................................................... 644

Media Manipulation Mania ......................................................................... 647Opening the Disk Management Console ......................................... 647Changing drive letters ....................................................................... 648Joining a disk drive to a folder ......................................................... 650Formatting a volume.......................................................................... 651

Messing with Volumes in Windows Vista ................................................. 655Repartitioning a drive........................................................................ 655Shrinking a volume ............................................................................ 656Making use of unallocated drive space ........................................... 658Unallocating a volume ....................................................................... 660Extending a volume ........................................................................... 661

Chapter 3: On Schedule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .663Windows Vista Task Scheduler .................................................................. 663

Opening the Task Scheduler ............................................................ 664Making your own task folder ............................................................ 667Creating a new task............................................................................ 668Creating a task to run a program ..................................................... 670Creating a task to send e-mail .......................................................... 674Creating a task to display a pop-up message ................................. 675Test-running a task ............................................................................ 676Halting a task ...................................................................................... 677Confi rming that a task has run ......................................................... 678Editing a task ...................................................................................... 679Disabling a task .................................................................................. 679Deleting a task .................................................................................... 680

Windows XP Scheduled Tasks ................................................................... 680Opening the Scheduled Tasks window ........................................... 680Creating a task .................................................................................... 681Running a task .................................................................................... 684Confi rming that a task has run ......................................................... 684Editing a task ...................................................................................... 686Disabling a task .................................................................................. 687Deleting a task .................................................................................... 687

Chapter 4: A Time to Clean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .689Your Cleanliness Arsenal ............................................................................ 689Outside the Box ........................................................................................... 691

Cleaning surfaces and stuff ............................................................... 692Cleaning the console vents ............................................................... 692

Table of Contents xxv

Cleaning the keyboard ...................................................................... 693Dealing with liquid spilled in a keyboard ....................................... 693Cleaning a mouse ............................................................................... 694Cleaning the screen ........................................................................... 695Buffi ng an optical disc ....................................................................... 696

Inside the Box .............................................................................................. 696

Appendix A: About the DVD ....................................... 699System Requirements ................................................................................. 699DVD Setup ..................................................................................................... 699What You’ll Find on the DVD ..................................................................... 700

Author-created material .................................................................... 700AVG Anti-Virus Free ........................................................................... 701PerfectDisk 2008 ................................................................................. 701Vopt9 ................................................................................................... 701

Customer Care ............................................................................................. 701

Index ....................................................................... 703

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummiesxxvi

Introduction

If trouble were predictable, it wouldn’t be a problem. The problem with trouble, however, is that it’s unpredictable.You hold in your hands a big ol’ book that could potentially be the largest volume ever written on the topic of personal computers. The subject is trou-bleshooting. It’s vast. That’s mostly because there hasn’t been a computer yet invented that didn’t have trouble following it like a shadow on a sunny day.

The computing experience should be a pleasant one. And it can be — if you’re informed and able to deal with the troubles you encounter. This book helps you along that journey in an informative and entertaining way. Welcome to Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-In-One For Dummies.

Woe Is ComputerA byte of prevention is worth a megabyte of cure.

My philosophy on troubleshooting is that it’s easier to do when you under-stand how the computer works. This philosophy is opposite of what most people expect, which is to look up a specific condition and find a specific cure for it. Although many people like that approach, it has two problems.

The first downfall with the look-it-up approach is that you don’t learn anything. Because there’s a method behind PC madness, often, the same solution exists for multiple problems. After you understand why things go wrong, it’s not only easier to fix them — it’s also possible to prevent them in the first place.

The second difficulty with the specific-solution approach is that it would make this book even larger. With millions upon millions of potential hard-ware and software configurations available in all the PCs in the world, it would take one huge book to document every problem and its solution. This book is big enough already!

This book takes a simple approach: Look up the problem, learn a bit about what might have caused it, and then arrive at a solution. The notion is that when trouble arises again later, you will have the experience to deal with it in a practical manner. Because most PC troubles have a common origin, this solution works.

2 About the For Dummies Approach

Married to troubleshooting is the topic of maintenance. The two topics go hand in hand; with proper maintenance and care, your computer runs better and more reliably, often negating the need for much troubleshooting in the first place!

Before moving on, please be aware that there’s a difference between trouble and an event that’s merely annoying. For example, if the text you print from an e-mail message is tiny, it’s annoying, but it isn’t a bug. Though specific annoy-ing problems such as that one might not be covered in this book, you’ll still find a solution here. That’s the beauty behind my philosophical approach to troubleshooting. After all, using Windows shouldn’t be a frustrating experience.

About the For Dummies ApproachAs a For Dummies title, this book doesn’t delve into the technical. It doesn’t start out easy and then become immediately technical and cryptic. And this book never disrespects you as a reader.

It’s entirely possible to be a smart and clever (and, I might add, attractive) computer owner and not know a darn thing about what a computer is or how it works. That’s fine with me. This book doesn’t assume that you’re a computer expert or that you want to become one. The subject is trouble-shooting and maintaining your computer. Anyone who owns a PC can read and understand this book well enough to fix their computer woes.

This book may appear to be overburdened with humor. I admit that writing about things in an entertaining manner is a weakness of mine. Troubleshooting can be a serious topic, and this book treats serious issues with respect. But there are times when I feel that the amusement value is necessary to keep the mood light. Computer repair and maintenance need not be a grim topic.

Who Are You?Allow me to make some assumptions about who you are and why you’re reading this introduction.

First, I assume that you’re human, or at least posing in human form while visiting Earth from whatever planet or dimension you hail. If so, welcome. Please wait until I’ve completed my death ray plans before you proceed with your mission to annihilate humanity. Thank you.

Second, you have a PC. That’s the generic term for any computer running Microsoft Windows. So, if it runs Windows — whether the computer is a Dell, a computer made by Joe the Nerd, or an iMac — it’s a PC as far as this book is concerned.