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Possibly one of the most annoying and confusing issues on windows is dealing with and understanding which codecs you need to do what.

There are a number of solutions to ensure all of your music, videos and other media will play on your version of windows.

I’ve recently experienced a problem where Windows Media Center returns a decoder error.

This was stopping me from setting up the audio within the wizard, so the plan of action was to locate an all in one codec pack which then meant I didn’t have to worry about which codecs I need to do what, it just includes them all, or so I thought.

Okay, so the codec pack got the sound working, great. However when I come to play DVD’s there’s a decoder error yet again, which means I require DVD decoder software.

There are a few options with this…

• Purchase the software Microsoft recommend
  
• Purchase or download and try for 30 days the nVidia PureVideo Decoder - it would match the chipset
• Purchase InterVideo DVD XPack for $14.95
• Purchase or download and try for 30 days CyberLink PowerDVD SE or v7.0 - i’ve used this in the past
• Purchase the Roxio solution which is CinePlayer for $14.95 - never used it, don’t like roxio
• Download a free or open source DVD decoder - near impossible or does not exist

Not to worry though I can use the Microsoft Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility to make sure any I do choose is compatible.

To be fair although it should be a crime to have to pay to watch DVDs on your computer considering you have purchased a piece of hardware that is essentially a DVD reader, you do still need a DVD player, and $14.95 (just over £8) is not a bad price for a legit piece of DVD playing software, and its a damn sight cheaper than purchasing a separate DVD player unit to do the same job.

However, more often than not, if you purchase your PC from a large retailer, or you purchase a retail optical drive, you will receive a copy of one of the Microsoft approved DVD decoders listed above, so it might be worth considering that before you make your next purchase.

Yet with all that in mind, I’m still looking for that free or open source DVD decoder that will work with Windows Media Center or approved by Microsoft. We can all dream can’t we?

You may ALSO require DivX, QuickTime and Real Player (or their alternatives) to name a few to play certain types of videos, and I would also suggest taking a look at Winamp if you haven’t got it already as its a brilliant piece of software for playing music and video clips.

Additional Notes: Recently I have been looking at both VideoLan’s VLC and Media Player Classic which are either free or open source alternatives. I’ve yet to test their ability to play DVDs, how compatible they are with different video types or how other software (such as browsers and other media players) utilise their codecs.

What should I do? Reinstall? NO!

So how do you recover it? You can’t, BUT you can reset it…

There’s a nifty utility called Offline NT Password & Registry Editor (aka ntpasswd) that will reset Windows NT/2K/XP passwords. It runs from self-booting diskette or CD. Please note that it will not recover AD passwords, and may render EFS encrypted files permanently unreadable.

To save wasting CD’s with small applications you can actually find this utility and a whole range of other useful recovery tools together on the Ultimate Boot CD (aka UBCD).

As if that isn’t enough Winternals (the same people who make Sysinternals Freeware) offer a peice of software called Administrator’s Pak which you can purchase from them. This software creates a bootable CD called ERD Commander which contains a utility called Locksmith which allows you to reset lost passwords.

Today I had the joy of fixing an Epson Stylus C46 UX printer.

It had the following error: “Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life. See your printer documentation.”

After a little searching I discovered that most people were saying that “It is simply not worth repairing”, however, I took that as a challange, and decided that if I was going to throw it away anyway I might as well try to fix it first.

Before long I located a page on fixyourownprinter.com’s forum, which had plenty of details about similar issues.

This is the process I used after reading details on that page:

1. Unplug the power and USB cables from the printer.
2. Prepare your work area by putting scrap paper down. Have some spare, just incase. You may also require tissue paper. It is also recommended you use protective gloves as the ink will stain your skin for quite some time.
3. Unscrew the screw at the back of the printer.
4. There are two or three tabs at the back and two at the front. Gently push them in, and then using a bit of force pry apart the cover.
5. At the back of the unit you need to locate some white pads, or sponge type things, initially they will seem fine, but they will infact be full of ink. You need to grab a pair of pliers and pull them out one by one, there should be four, put them on your scrap paper.
6. Take the scrap paper with the pads on to your sink, turn on the hot tap and hold each one under the tap using the pliers until the water runs clear. If you have protective gloves on it may be worth squeezing the water out also.
7. It is recommended that once you have done this, you let them dry.
8. Now return the pads back into the printer.
9. Put the printer back together, (mind out for the paper alignment, and give it some force), not forgetting the screw at the back.
10. Plug in the USB and power cable and turned it ON. (Yes the lights will still flash)
11. Download and install the SSC Service Utility for Epson Stylus Printers.
12. Select your printer and model number (There is no Stylus C42 UX, so select Stylus C4x), then close the window.
13. If it asks if you replaced with the pads; say “YES”. Then close the window.
14. You will see a SSC Service Utilitiy icon (it looks like a printer) in the system tray (next to your click), and LEFT click.
15. A menu will appear, from here you can click on “Protection counter” (its a red cross), then “reset protection counter”.
16. Turn the printer power OFF, wait 10 seconds and then turn it back ON.

Done!

Additional troubleshooting…

If you have problems with paper feed, take it apart again, check everything is in place correctly, push things together tightly, and put it together again.

If you have trouble with print quality, open the lid, clean any ink residue, use the SSC Service Utilitiy to clean the heads.

Here’s a quick guide on what to do if your “Safely remove hardware” icon has disappeared from your system tray.

This is a troublesome issue as it means that you cannot stop your USB devices therefore meaning you could cause corruption on your USB device.

How to always bring up the dialog (without the icon)

1. Go to Start -> Run,
2. Enter: %windir%\system32\RUNDLL32 shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll
3. The “Safely remove hardware” dialog windows should appear.

How to control the “Safley remove hardware” icon behavior

1. Right-Click on the Task Bar
2. Select Properties
3. Under the taskbar tab, click the Customize button
4. Select the program you wish to hide
5. Under the drop down box, select Always Hide, Always Show, or Hide when inactive.
6. Click OK

How to restore the icon to your system tray

1. Open “My Computer”
2. Right click on a drive and click Properties
3. Click on the Hardware tab
4. Select the removable drive from the list
5. Click the “Properties” button
6. Click on the Policies tab
7. Change it from “Optimize for quick removal” to “Optimize for performance”

Note: If you don’t plan on hot-swapping your USB device very often, and you will ALWAYS make sure you use the “Safely remove hardware” dialog to remove your hardware, then use “Optimize for performance”, otherwise in most cases it is best to use “Optimize for quick removal”, this will allow you to unplug your USB device without worrying about corruption.

Further details are mentioned here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828012

You’d be surprised the amount of times I get people asking me this question, therefore this is a guide on what to do to try and work out what the problem might be or completly solve the problem all together.

Check for resource intensive applications

Go to Start -> Run -> type: taskmgr -> Press OK

Windows Task Manager will appear, from here you will have tabs at the top, you are looking specifically at the “Processes” tab, click that.

From there, you need to first sort the list by “Mem Usage”, you can do this by clicking on the writing twice, which will sort this list with the most at the top, you will then notice to the left “CPU” which is how much of the CPU it is using, and then further left “Image Name” which is the raw name of the application.

If there is a particular application that appears to be using a lot of memory and using a lot of CPU you need to select it and click “End Process” at the bottom. It is particularly noted that if you have no idea what this application relates to you inspect it further by searching for the Image Name on google, this should bring up a site that will tell you want the application is, what it does and most importantly if it is a threat or not.

If you restart your computer and the application still runs anyway you will need to look at your System Configuration.

Go to Start -> Run -> type: msconfig

From there you can select exactly which applications you wish to run (or not run) at start up.

If you suspect an application may be a threat to your computer I recommend you take steps to remove malware.

Recently installed software

Have you recently installed some new software?

Try uninstalling it by going into safe mode.

You can get into safe mode by hitting F8 BEFORE the windows logo appears at boot up, and select SAFE MODE from the menu.

Once in safe mode, simply go to the Control Panel, open Add/Remove Programs, from there uninstall the recently installed software.

Restart your system.

Contact the author of the software for a fix.

Check your hard drive(s) for errors

Go to Start -> Run -> type: cmd -> Press OK

Command prompt will appear, type: chkdsk /f

It will most likely tell you that it will run next time you boot up, at this point you will need to restart your computer.

If bad sectors appear on your hard disk you need to purchase a new hard disk as soon as possible.

Always contact your manufacturer and check warranties.

Defragment your hard drive(s)

What it does: If you imagine the hard drive in a physical sense there are usually between 2 and 4 circular discs inside, at the top of the hard disk there is a motor and reader head. What happens is as you store data onto the hard disk it gets distributed across the hard drive as it is used. The idea of defragmentation is to move your most used files (such as programs) to the edge of the discs, so as the head physically moves across them, it does not have as far to travel.

How to run: Go to Start -> Run -> type: dfrg.msc -> Press OK

Remove Spyware or other Malware

• Make sure have a firewall and it is running.
• Update your anti-virus software and run a full system scan.
• Make sure your copy of windows is up-to-date.
• Ensure you are running anti spyware software and it is up-to-date.

Faulty memory

If the RAM in the computer is faulty any data read or written from the memory is potentially going to error.

There are a number of applications that can test if your RAM is faulty or not.

• MemTest for windows
• MemTest86 boot disc
• UBCD (with MemTest86)

If the RAM turns out to be faulty you need to work out what kind of RAM you have in your computer, there are three methods of discovery:

• CPU-Z is a freeware that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system.
• Use SiSoftware Sandra, hardware testing and reporting software.
• Physically open your computer’s case (when its turned off) take out the memory sticks and make a note of any significant information that is labelled on the sticks.

Once you know which memory you have, you will need to purchase a replacement. With any luck you can purchase older ram from eBay or cex, alternativly newer ram can be purchased from eBuyer or your favorite retailer.

Bad Capacitors

Although it’s not very common, it is possible that your motherboard can have bad capacitors. To identify bad capacitors, badcaps.net exists to help you.

If in fact you do discover that you have bad capacitors you need to either manually replace the capacitors (which takes much skill), or get a replacement motherboard (under warranty or purchase from a retailer or website).

Other Hardware

Have you tried swapping the hardware out with an alternative?

Unplug all non-vital devices externally and internally. Try that, otherwise…

Locate an alternative graphics card, PSU or other suspicious hardware. You could try asking a friend to borrow theirs, ask your local computer store, an IT expert or a supplier.

Last Resort - Format
I don’t like to recommend it, as it can get very complicated, and data can be lost. However it may be worth doing a clean install of your operating system using the original disc.

Make sure you backup all your important data, then insert your operating system disc, reboot and make sure the CD-ROM driver has priority in the boot sequence in BIOS.

From there simply follow the on-screen instructions, making sure you do a new install (not repair), and do format the hard drive.

None of the above

If none of the above works, contact your local IT expert or supplier.

After many years of using Nero, I’m finally fed up with it.

I have been using Nero 6 for some time now, and refuse to upgrade to Nero 7 because when I did use it, I did not like it and I felt it used up far too much hard disk space for such a simple task.

Over 200mb of space is used by a standard installation of Nero 7, there must be another option.

I looked back, and remembered changing from Easy CD Creator to Nero because of this very issue, Easy CD Creator was simply excessive for what I required, Nero was very simple and straight forward.

I had a think and realised that there is very few functions I actually require from a piece of “Optical Disc Authoring Software”, which are as follows:

• Burn off files and folders (data) onto a CD/DVD
• Burn images/ISOs to a CD/DVD
• Copy one CD/DVD to another
• Create audio CDs from mp3s or wavs
• Ability to create ISO images is handy, but optional

I began a search to locate a piece of software that would provide me with these functions. Due to the simplicity of these functions I hoped to find free software that could offer them.

I looked in the following places:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_optical_disc_authoring_software
• http://www.download.com/sort/3150-2646_4-0-1-4.html
• http://www.google.com/search?q=free+burning+software

In terms of free software these are my findings:

Click ‘N Burn Free/Amazing CD & DVD Burning/Flash CD & DVD Burner

This software looked very good, however the problem I found with all of them was that it wanted to install WhenU Adware upon install, I refused and never completed the install.

DeepBurner (Free)

This is a very simple application offering a few very simple functions: Create data CD/DVD, Create audio CD, Burn ISO image, but no direct Disc to Disc copy.

Burn4Free

This software to be honest did not appeal to me, their whole premise was that they offered the software for free, it often strikes me as unusual when the name of the software has the word free in it. Upon trying to install it, it asked me to install a toolbar, I declined and did not complete the install.

Burn At Once

burnatonce is free for non-commercial use only, which in most cases is fantastic. burnatonce is a VERY basic program, not to be confused with simple, its lack of help can be confusing to regular users, but may appeal to advanced users.

CDBurnerXP Pro

From the outset this piece of software seems very good, for what it is, and that is of course free software. I successfully completed the install, and launched the software, where I was met by 3 options: Create a new (data) Disc, from files or an ISO image - also erase or convert an ISO; Create a new audio Disc; Rip Audio CDs.

ImgBurn

This looks pretty good, a nice all round application that can read, build and write images.  You could compare this to burnatonce, but its far nicer.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for something that does the job, is small, but basic and straight forward enough, ImgBurn is the answer, if not, you could try CDBurnerXP Pro, however this software does NOT do Disc to Disc copying at the moment. Its worth noting that burnatonce does do CD disc to disc copy.

No doubt at some point you will have experienced this error at one point or another:

“Cannot delete Folder: It is being used by another person or program”

AKA:
“Cannot delete file: Access is denied”
“There has been a sharing violation.”
“The source or destination file may be in use.”
“The file is in use by another program or user.”
“Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.”

Before today I was aware of a number of solutions to this, both involve killing explorer.exe in one way or another.
1, Reboot the machine, upone restart it should delete no problem.
2, Kill explorer.exe in task manager, then run it again, deleting the folder along the way.

I have been looking for a solution that doesn’t involve rebooting or killing explorer.exe, but maybe just stopping access to that file some how…

At long last a solution to this god for saken problem!

• Download Unlocker

Virus free and it works!

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From a very early age I have been taught to write the English language correctly, I try and carry this trend over when I’m on the internet.

However, over the years a new language has developed based on English, which I’m sure everyone is familiar with these days, it’s commonly known as SMS language.

It appears that it originally came from bulletin boards and chatrooms particularly the ones that are popular on the AOL network and is, therefore, sometimes called AOL speak.

The main reason why this language came about over the years is that kids began sending text messages to each other via their mobile phones, however the problem lies when they wish to send a message longer than 160 characters, this would span over two or more messages, meaning more costs. As you can probably imagine, kids soon got the idea that you could type a message quicker by using this language and keep costs down by keeping your message within the 160 character limit.

Although this is probably information you already know, recently, questions of whether using this type of language should be acceptable or not have come up.

To begin with I agreed with the majority of people who said English is English, we should use it correctly. However I began to think about where English actually came from, and how evolution has turned English into the language it is today.

I do agree that when people write articles, reports and such it would be probably be best if true English was used, however who are we to say that this new language is not acceptable in today’s modern world, after all it is us who created the need for it, and it is us who encouraged it.

I think over the next few years we will be forced to accept and embrace this new language as part of every day life, as an extension of the English language, that is of course, unless it has already happened.

The thing that has been bothering me recently most of all, even more than online spam and junk mail, are telemarketing calls. I recently had an increase of unwanted telemarketing/telesales calls.

So I went stright onto the BT website, and went to their contact phone numbers list, I then called the “Malicious Calls” number on 0800 661 441.

They advised me to call two numbers, the first was BT Privacy at Home Service on 0800 121 8000. They told me to first signup to the Caller Display service (which is completly free, and takes about 24 hours to become active), and to register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), you can also choose if you want BT to call or not (I chose no).

You can also register with the Silent Call Guard on 0870 4443969 registration is free, lasts for one year and takes no more than 28 days to become effective.

Although I HAVE signed up to all these services, I have to wait 28 days for anything to happen so I am STILL getting calls.

Did you know?

• Most telemarketing companies use a tactic called “predictive-dialing”. Basically what this means is that their computer auto-dials your number, assuming it will take you about 2 rings to pick up, before switching you over to the next available telemarketer when you do pickup, so as not to waste the telemarketers’ time while waiting for you to pick up, after all, time is money to them.
• Due to “predictive-dialing” if there are no availible telemarketers, the computer will hang up.
• Also due to predictive-dialing, you get a delay before someone says anything, apparently often they wait until you say “hello” twice before they pickup, therefore DO NOT say “hello” twice, as dialers register a single hello as an invalid number.
• Finally, when you suspect you are getting one of these calls (usually calling from an unknown or withheld number) simply pickup, and do not say anything, if you hold on the line, you may eventually hear a message that is designed for answering machines explaining that you have received a call from whoever is calling.

So I have decided to take matters into my own hands, the following list is simply a collection of things you can do while you wait for these services to come into action.

• Ask the caller to remove you from their database and put you on their “DO NOT CALL” list.
• You can report the caller to UK Data IT who will research it for you.
• Read the Ofcom Silent Calls FAQ - useful if your not sure what to do.
• Enigma Anti-Telemarketing Software v1.2 - An american based peice of software to make logs of callers.
• How to stop telemarketing calls - A useful website with information about telemarketing calls.
• Anti-Telemarketing EGBG counter-script - A counter script to use on telemarketers.
• Dealing with Telemarketing Slime - Counter-Telemarketing Tactics - Telemarketing Scum Page.
• Telemarketing Blocker - A free Caller ID screen software that retrieves caller’s telephone number using your voice modem.
• JUNKBUSTERS Anti-Telemarketing Script - Another counter script, american based.
• Telemarketing - A wikipedia definition.

Note: This document is aimed at UK anti-telemarketing only, I have no idea about outside of the UK apart from what I have read.

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