GuruNews, Volume 9 Number 26, 7-23-09

Thu Jul 23 18:14:59 PDT 2009

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Vol. 9, No. 26                           

7-23-09

1 Windows XP self-help tools              

2 We let him talk like that?

3 Quake proof, dead format, Deep Alex?, Apple boon

4 Startups

5 Corrupted mailboxes

Even though support for XP will continue into 2014 and it remains the dominant OS for now, many people are starting to worry that they’re going to be cast adrift.  I assure you this isn’t going to happen but this week I’ll cover some hidden onboard tools that will help you do your own support.

One of the easiest to use is the Event Log.  Windows logs every error and you can actually view those to get an idea where to start troubleshooting a problem.  While true these entries are in geek speak they can give you something to start a Google search for to track down the source of the issue.

You can view the Event Logs by opening the Control Panel and double clicking Administrative Tools.  Double click Event Viewer and you’ll see a list of different logs on the left.  Application and System are the important ones; they contain the logs of the programs running on your PC and of the Windows OS itself.

You’ll see mostly Information entries in those logs but you can also find Error and Warning messages.  The Error messages are the ones to look at for problems.  They will tell you which .exe file triggered the error and, if you’re lucky, which related system file actually crashed.  Then entry might also contain an error code, usually nXnnnnnnnn, where the Ns may be numerical or alphabetical.  The X is always X.  

Googling the error code along with the .exe file name and hopefully the system file name will usually give you some ideas for a fix.

Another handy tool, which is totally hidden and applies to MS Office users, is one to repair Outlook .pst files.  Outlook is the email component of Microsoft Office and gives you much more flexibility than Outlook Express.  It will handle your email and address book and adds calendar/scheduling, a task list and a journal for your personal thoughts.

All of that data is contained in a single file, called a Personal Folders file and saved in .pst format.  As you can imagine, storing all that data can result in some rather large files and, as a rule, the larger the file the more likely it will get corrupted.

This rule doesn’t apply to things like video files or large photos that never change.  This applies to files that change frequently like huge databases, which is a good description of .pst files that change frequently.

If you use Outlook and suddenly can’t open the program, can’t get email or save tasks you might panic, but the Scanpst tool might fix the problem.

To use the tool navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\NT and double click on Scanpst.exe.  When it opens you’ll be asked for a .pst to check.  Click the Browse button and navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\profile name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook and click once on Outlook.pst.  Click Start and let it go.  It might take a while but if the file is damaged this will probably repair it.

As usual when I start one of these things I discover that the topic is much too large to cover in one week and also may run a little geeky.  I’ll try to tone down the geekiness but this time there are so many of these tools it may run for several weeks, so I’ll stop this one now.  We’ll pick up next week with more cool and handy stuff you never knew you had ;) 

Kevin Mefford, Editor

pcguru at microdome.net

Terry Wise

www.ratland.com

Tech News of the Week

Researchers have designed a wooden building that can withstand a 7.5 magnitude earthquake.  Great one for when the big one finally hits down here in Western KY:

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/07/20/wooden-house-can-withstand-severe-earthquakes/

The format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD might have been considered dead about a year ago when Toshiba announced end of support for HD-DVD.  Now Toshiba's coming out with a Blu-Ray player and taps are playing for HD-DVD:

http://gizmodo.com/5317683/

IBM readies a computer that will be able to analyze and answer questions on Jeopardy!  Ken Jennings, get ready for the toughest half hour of your life:

http://www.cio.com/article/490807/IBM_Supercomputer_to_Compete_on_Jeopardy

Apple, Inc. reports record non-holiday quarter profits on Tuesday spurred on by iPhone 3GS sales.  Steve Jobs golden house just got another story added to it.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/07/21results.html

Keep us in the loop on your favorite news.

Daniel A. Williams

daniel at thepcgurus.com

Download of the Week

To find out what programs are loading on your PC at startup, you can run Windows MSCONFIG, however Autoruns does the job better. MSCONFIG entries tend to be vague and less than descriptive, for example, but Autoruns includes a line of description for each entry in plain English. Autoruns also lets you Hide Signed Microsoft Entries, which allows you to quickly narrow your focus to third-party programs.  

By the way, Microsoft bought SysInternals (the company that produced Autoruns) last year and touts these utilities from its own website.

Get Autoruns here:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/AutoRuns.shtml 

Carlita Lupino

Cards57 at gmail.com

Email Question of the Week

Q:  Cannot delete any email received in my inbox. Could you help me there. I have XP and IE 8 and on Verizon for dsl.

A:  Odds are the Deleted Items mailbox is damaged.  You'll find the file in C:\Documents and Settings\Your Profile Name\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{buncha characters}\Microsoft\Outlook Express.  In that folder find Deleted Items.dbx and delete it.

If you get into your profile and don't see Local Settings click on Tools and Folder Options.  Click View and tick the circle next to Show hidden files and folders.  Make sure the box below it for Hide file extensions for known file types in unchecked then click Apply and OK.

Close everything and open Outlook Express and try to delete something, that should fix it.

Hope that helps and keep us posted...

Kevin Mefford

pcguru at microdome.net

Contact info and legal stuff

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