Heat Freezes

I seem to have a constant problem at the moment where my pc keeps freezing and only solution is to diconnect the pc from the mains. Although it happens often there seems to be no consistency as to when it will happen, sometimes the pc can be on all day and it will then freeze for no reason and other times it will freeze up on windows start up. I have tried to investigate the problem but there seems to be no application that stands out that could be causing the problem. The pc also seems to be running at the correct temperature and does not seem to be over heating so that has ruled out any problems with the cooling fans. As a last resort i have also run a disk check and there are no bad sectors on the disk, so i am at a total loss as to what the problems could be.

I did some research and i have found that the most likely causes of intermittent freezes are most likely to be over heating problems, but as my pc seems to be running at a low temp and not showing any signs of overheating that might not be the cause of my problem. To be on the safe side i looked in the BIOS to see what temperature the pc was running at and found that everything was fine. (Not all Pc’s will display this BIOS information).

The next step was to try and find out if it was a hardware issue, most possibly a motherboard or memory fault. Further tests including a full mem test should help to determine further what the problem could be. Once the problem has been found then a replacement part should not be too hard to source and install and the problem should then be solved and problem free computing should resume.

wireless coverage

Just recently i have been receiving really bad range for my wireless router and i am puzzling as to why. I have tried all kinds of things to sort the problem.

First of all i looked at where the router was positioned as i was told that this could reduce the coverage it receives if it is positioned on the floor or behind furniture. So as mine was on the floor i decided that i needed to move the router to a higher position, this did help a little in increasing the coverage.

If repositioning the router does not solve your problem then next you should take a look at other devices that are surrounding the router as these could be causing interference. For example baby monitors, wireless video senders, microwave ovens, dect cordless phones and the obvious, other wireless networks. If any of these are on the sam efrequency then any of them could be guilty of causing interference. Most wireless routers are now able to have there channels changed so by changing to a different frequency it could increase the coverage and minimise any interference that is received.

The other factor that could be causing interference with your router could be down to the property you are living in. If your property has thick internal walls, this could be having a drastic effect on the wireless coverage. This will not be an easy problem to fix but there are a few solutions that are available in the way of mimo-based routers. These have been known as being better at getting good coverage in problem areas. There are several different models available but you will need to make sure that you bought one with a built in ADSL modem.

Hopefully some of the suggestions above will help you in improving your wireless coverage.

common raid varieties

Available today there are several types of Raid. The most common are listed below:

Raid O uses a process that is called ‘striping’. This is where data is interleaved across two or more disks. These disks can be written and read simultaneously so therefore the performance can be increased. Raid O also allows the user to benefit from full capacity of all the disks in the array. The only problem that could arise through using Raid O is that it has no fault tolerance so therefore if one disk fails then you could end up losing everything. This could then be seen as being unreliable and only really suitable for non-critical data storage.

Raid 1 uses a process called mirroring. This is where an identical copy of the data is stored on a seperate disk, this could prove to be most useful because if one disk fails then you will still have full asses to the data on the other disk. This would allow you to rebuild the array, the only downside to this is that you would lose 50% of the total disk space.

There are many Raid levels after O and 1, that use a combination of striping and mirroring or other fault techniques that will provide a better overall capability of the disk. Probably the most commonly used is Raid 5.

Raid 5 uses multiple disks possibly 3 or more and it then stripes data across the disks and increases performance. There is a clever part to this and that is that parity data is also stored on each disk, this then provides fault tolerance. This will become really useful if one disk should fail then all the data will still be available and like with Raid 1 you will be able to fit a replacement disk and rebuild the array.

When using raid there will always be a capacity price, but by using Raid 5 you will only lose 1 disk worth of space throughout the whole array. So the more disks you choose to fit the less space you will lose. As shown in the example:

If you have 3 disks in a Raid 5 array you will lose 33%. If they were all 300Gb this would leave you with 600Gb of staorage space that you can use.

If you have 4 disks with Raid 5 then you will only lose 25% giving you 900Gb of spave if they were all 300Gb hard drives.

Data Retrieval from my old dead laptop

I had a laptop that has recently died on me, i have now got used to the idea that i am going to have to buy a new one. Before i rush into buying one i really needed to find out if it was possible to get all my data of my old hard drive and if so which would be the best and easiest way.

I managed to contact a few companies and they were really helpful in giving me some advice and i was able to get all my data off my old hard drive all by myself. As my data was intact all i had to do was remove my old hard drive from my old laptop and connect it to a computer. The laptop hard drive was quite easy to get out as all i had to do was unscrew the screws and it just slid out of the hard drive bay, the hardest part was finding the location of the hard drive which i did by refering back to the laptop manual, but really it was easy as if i turned over the laptop i could see a rectangular panel that was held in with screws. I undid the screws and underneath there was my hard drive. I took out the hard drive and removed it from the cage it was in and i was ready to go.

Once i had removed the hard drive from my old laptop i then had to connect it to the computer that i had ready to get the data. As laptop hard drives are smaller at 2.5in than desktop hard drives which are 3.5in, and the fact that they both have different connectors makes them electrically compatible, so all that i needed was an adapter.
The adapter that i used was 2.5in-to-3.5in IDE adapter, this then allowed me to connect my laptop hard drive to my computer and copy across all my data. I have now bought my new laptop and i still have all my data off my old laptop. Success!

Office 2003 Windows Installer Service Cannot be Accessed

Whilst trying to install Microsoft Office 2003 onto my pc that is running windows xp pro I encounted a problem. Every time I tried to load the office cd the installation started but then failed and displayed an error message stating that the Windows Installer service cannot be accessed. Then it displays another message telling me that I am running in safe mode when I am not or the message says that the installer service isn’t installed properly. Since I have experienced this problem I have discovered that this problem tends to occur with a broken Windows Installer Service that is either damaged or unregistered.

If you are also having this problem then I did manage to find a solution to the problem. Here’s what I did:

Firstly click start, select Run and type in ‘cmd’ then enter. This should then open the command prompt window. Next you will need to type in the following lines followed by enter:

msiexec/unregister

msiexec/regserver

This should have now solved and problems that have occurred from unregistered issues.

As an extra precaution it might also be wise to check that the system has full control of HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. It is quite unlikely not to have but only takes a quick check to make sure. To start you will need to make a backup of the registry then start the Registry Editor by clicking on start, run and then typing in ‘Regedit’. When it then opens the Registry Editor select HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, then look for the edit menu and select the permissions option. Next you will need to make sure that the SYSTEM is in the list ‘group or user name’. If SYSTEM is not showing then this will need to be added by clicking Add, then check that ‘from this location’ is showing the name of the system and then type ‘system’ into the ‘Enter the object names to select’ edit box. Now click on check names followed by ok, then you will need to highlight SYSTEM in the ‘group or user name’ list and then click on the checkbox labeled ‘full control’ this should be placed under ‘Allow’. When this has been done you need to click on Apply then ok and this will then close the Registry Editor.

To see if the test has worked you will now need to restart you pc or laptop. All being well it should all be sorted now but if you are still experiencing problems then you may be looking at having to carry out a reinstallation of the operating system.

Where is my hard drive its not visible in windows xp

If you have recently had to replace your laptop due to it being in an accident then you might now have a spare hard drive that you would like to use as extra storage. you will be able to use your spare hard drive by fitting it into a usb enclosure and then plug the usb enclosure into your new laptop and the laptop should be able to find the drive and you should be then ready to use it as extra storage for your files.

If once you have plugged the new hard drive into the laptop it has not seen it then there are a few things you can try in order for it to be seen. First of all you might need to reformat the disk in windows xp. This can be done by going to the start menu and clicking on run then entering compmgmt.msc. Click on Disk Management which is under the storage section on the left. This should then show which disks are installed on your laptop. You should also be able to see the details of the c partition on your new hard drive along with additional partitions and other physical disks.

If your old hard drive is still not being recognised then your hard drive may need to be repartitioned and reformatted, this is quite an easy process to carry out and should not take too long but you must bare in mind that thios process will erase any data that is currently stored on the hard drive. To carry out the reformatting you will need to right click on the graphical picture of your old disk. This should be the one without a drive letter and should be labelled ‘unallocated’. In some cases there may be several partitions, if this is the case then right click and delete each one untillthe entire disk is unallocated. Right click in the area, choose new partition then follow the on screen instuctions and this will create a new Primary partition.

This should then allow your old hard drive to been seen when plugged into your new laptop allowing you extra storage space.

Hard Disk Failure – backup advice and suggestions

Have you ever had to face the problems caused by your hard disk failing? If you ever have then you will know the nightmare that this can cause if all your important documents are stored on your pc or laptop and they have suddenly all been lost, let alone the time you will lose having to deal with sorting it out. It is really important that on a regular basis all your data is backed up and stored seperately so in cases of hard disk failure you would just be able to replace the failed hard disk and then restore the back up with the documents you need. This would also be the case if your laptop was stolen or lost, if you had the data backed up you would be able to just restore your backup and away you go.

Available to buy are programs such as Norton Ghost and Norton save and Restore. These will allow you to create bootable cd’s that you will be able to use when you need to restore all your documents on your new hard drive. You would be able to select to reinstal the whole back up or just the files that are important.

Most created bootable cd’s should work with most operating systems, but you may experience some problems from time to time. These problems might be caused if there is a difference in the HALs (Hardware Abstraction Layers). The HAL is the layer in the software that hides any differences in underlying hardware from the operating system, this then creates a common software interface for the drivers, allowing the back up to be restored. As long as the HALs match then you should have no problems in restoring your data onto your new hard drive, but a call might be needed to reactivate the operating system, this can be carried out over the internet or by phone.

Solved Repair Perle JetStream JS4000 Power Light Orange Serial Terminal

In this article you will discover how to

Troubleshoot a Perle JetStream JS4000 showing an orange power LED
( normally green after boot up).
Check the JS4000 Terminal Server for potential problems at the same time.

Introduction

Helping out someone in distress we were asked to investigate reports of a printing problem which had stopped business in its tracks.

The printers were serial, driven from a Serial Terminal Server JetStream JS4000 manufacturered by Perle.

This was an old bit of kit, circa 2002 and the initial feeling was not good. If the hardware had failed it would be quite a long shot to get a replacement at short notice and a quick check on a leading auction site did not result in any matches.

Diagnosing the failure of the JS4000

The Printers did not product any output when an attempt to print was made. Attempting communications with the JS4000 using its configuration web ip address resulted in a page timeout. The power light was illuminated orange from power on which was odd as during bootup the led should change colour and finally finish showing a steady green. In fact close inspection showed the orange was infact flickering in time with a couple of status leds showing on the front RJ45 connectors.

This would leave us to believe there could be a board fault, boot problem or power problem. The power supply unit is built in to the enclosure with an iec socket and a mains switch the only external components visible.

The perle JS4000 was unplugged, making sure all the cabling to be disconnected was numbered to ease refitting ( make sure you do this too as when the JS4000 is up and running the last thing you need is then to troubleshoot connectivity problems). The securing screws were removed from the front and top in order to remove the top cover. Once the top cover was removed the problem was clear. A capacitor on the main power supply had failed leaving traces of spent electrolyte on the underside of the top cover. The capacitor, an electrolytic 22uF 400V ( arrowed – note the buldge ), could of course be replaced in order to make the existing power supply unit operational again.

Picture of the failed cincon power supply capacitor in the perle jetstream js4000 serial terminal server

js4000 failed capacitor

After running the power supply part number, cfm1001s, through a popular internet search engine it was a surprise to find it available from a well known supplier, mouser electronics but the stock was to be shipped from outside the country which would give us an unacceptable delay in this case of dire need to bring systems back online. On this basis we decided to fit a replacement supply which would be located externally in order to get systems up and running as soon as possible. The stock internal power supply is a Cincon Electronics Co. CFM1001S 100-240 input 5V at 2A output. We removed the power supply from the mainboard and made a modification to an off the shelf switch mode power supply and soldered that to the mainboard where the old power supply was terminated. Note that the mainboard has been designed to accept two different power supplies and from our test these look to have the output polarities swapped – be careful which footprint you solder onto and ensure you double check the connections before applying external power.

The power supply was then powered and the Perle JetStream JS4000 completed its boot sequence and sprang back into life.

It would seem that failure was due to the capacitors aging and eventually failing, the rest of the hardware was ok and on this basis we hope this insight helps others.

Further hardware inspection

From visual inspection the other item likely to give rise to problems may be the Ni-MH backup battery, our was starting to show signs of leakage. To our knoweledge the backup battry only stores log information ( please correct us if you know different ) and not the actual configuration of the JS4000 itself as with the board out the terminal voltage of the battery was almost 0V but on applying power the JS4000 booted and operated correctly. Even so if your battery is showing signs of leakage it may be a good idea to replace it at the same as further leakage could cause corrosion on the mainboard which would be a lot harder to cure than a simple battery swapout. The battery fitted to our unit 3/V150H manufactured by Varta looks to have been replaced by a newer battery, manufacturer part number 55615603940 or if you use Farnell their stock code is 279353 ( feel free to source from your preferred electronic component distributor ).

leaking varta memory backup battery

Also one of the serial port outputs was showing both leds continuously. The opportunity to inspect the mainboard revealed a failed driver chip, SIPEX SP211ECA which no doubt if the port was needed could be replaced. The part is available from Farnell stock code 9386432 but again fell free to buy from the electronics distrubutor of your choice. The SP211ECA is a 5V 4 channel RS232 Transceiver driver chip on a 28 pin ssop package.

this shows a damaged sipex sp211 rs232 transceiver driver.

sipex sp211 transceiver failure in perle jetstream js4000

Security center could not be started and not shown in services in windows vista

A warning is shown in the tray in vista ( red shield with a cross ) and when clicked on you are notified that security center is not running with a button to start it. When the button is clicked to start the security center a message states that the security center cannot be started.

Other suggestions on researching this problem suggest that the security center service in services.msc needs to started and the startup set to automatic.

This is a great suggestion but what if security center is not shown in the services list?

If you are faced with this problem then it is likely some kind of registry corruption has occurred usually as a result of some kind of malware infection and or removal attempt.

First check that the security center dll is in the correct place. You should see a file wscsvc.dll in c:\windows\system32. Of course whether this is the correct dll or a virus infected imposter is the topic of another post and another matter but lets for the sake of this post assume it is. If the dll file is not there then you need to get hold of the dll from another pc / laptop with the same sp revision and build ( 32 bit or 64 bit ) as you own vista operating system.

With the dll file in place then you need to import the registry key found below by downloading it and once downloaded double click on it and import it into the registry. This will create the correct entry in the following location;
hklm/system/currentcontrolset/services

Creating the key wscsvc and its associated sub keys.

Once imported restart your windows vista pc or laptop and when restarted you should be able to find security center in the services list.

Here is the Reg File that you need to import for the security center service to start properly. First I would recommend that you rename the old key:

hklm/system/currentcontrolset/service/wscsvc

hklm/system/currentcontrolset/service/wscsvc-old

just as a belt and braces measure.

Feel free to scan the contents and you can even open the .reg file in notepad and see the key settings for yourself.

The .reg file has been rar zipped ( you can download winrar from www.rarlabs.com ) and I have set a password on it which is SecurityCenter which you will need to enter in order to unzip the contents.

dg834g

The DG834G is a wireless ADSL router from Netgear and it was also offered by many isp’s with their own modified firmware.

DG834G Hardware

The netgear dg834g had a built in 4 port switch, adsl modem and 54mbps wireless g access point all in one convenient little white box!

Configuration

The control panel is accessed in the same way and any netgear router, read our full article netgear router login or if you are computer savvy then just point your browser to 192.168.0.1 and enter admin as your username and password as the password.

From the control panel you can configure your adsl settings so that you can get online with your isp and also set your wireless settings. The dg834g can run at wireless g or wireless b speeds ( 54mbps and 11mbps respectively ) and use either no encryption, wep or wpa. Of course with the flaws in wep you would want to set your wireless security settings to wpa for maximum security.

Port Forwarding

If you are running a specific service on one of your network computers or perhaps an xbox user then you may wish to configure port forwarding. Again this can all be setup from the router control panel. Port forwarding simply makes the router forward specific network traffic automatically get sent to a specific device on your network.

Heat Freezes

Related Links:

wireless coverage

Related Links:

common raid varieties

Related Links:

Data Retrieval from my old dead laptop

Related Links:

Office 2003 Windows Installer Service Cannot be Accessed

Related Links:

Where is my hard drive its not visible in windows xp

Related Links:

Hard Disk Failure – backup advice and suggestions

Related Links:

Solved Repair Perle JetStream JS4000 Power Light Orange Serial Terminal

Introduction

Diagnosing the failure of the JS4000

Further hardware inspection

Related Links:

Security center could not be started and not shown in services in windows vista

Related Links:

dg834g

Related Links:

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