Anyway, the office have some Windows 7 corporate license, so it’s not an issue replacing the operating system. Our IT support personnel were not around at that time and the user is very eager to use the computer. Thus, we’ve installed Windows 7 right away without much trouble, until prompted for a product key. Since, we don’t know the parameter to enter the prompt was skipped right on.

Windows 7 was I believed installed successfully, but it’s somehow running on some trial mode which would not last more than 30 days. I later get hold of the official license key for Windows 7 from our corporate IT support and was stuck on how it’s going to be entered into the system.

Steps in changing Windows 7 product key after installation:

• Click the Start button
• Right-click Computer
• Select Properties
• Scroll down window and click ‘Change Product Key’

Windows 7 Ultimate Product Key

If you seem not able to find the ‘Change Product Key’ option, kindly scroll down the window and you’ll find the ‘Change Product Key’ link at the bottom. Well, it’s not after all that difficult to change the Windows 7 product key after installation.

This seem to look like a handy work of a computer virus after messing up with the executable file. Antivirus software scan did not yield any culprits that have caused error. Moreover, the application was running fine before office relocation. The splash screen and login prompt work fine as usual. The Visual Basic software error comes after the user has entered the credentials on the login prompt.

DBNETLIB MSSQL Connection Error

The full error message alert reads as follows:
Invalid connection string attribute
[DBNETLIB][ConnectionOpen(Connect()).]SQL Server does not exist or access denied.
Data provider could not be initialized.

The reason is right in the alert message. The application could not connect to the MSSQL database for retrieving the data needed to run the application. The database connection string could not be initialized due to network security or the database name could not be recognized which causes missing data provider.

Evaluation result confirms that it’s not due to network security, but due to the database string not found by the VB application. The cause is the database server hostname not found by the system. Office relocation as a consequence has caused the working computer to have new IP Address. Being part of a new local area network of computers with different DHCP server and WINS server that made the application fail to connect to the MSSQL server using hostname.

The solution was to add the IP address of the MSSQL database server on the client computer’s hosts file located in %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\drivers\etc folder. The IP address of the MSSQL server was entered and it’s corresponding hostname into the hosts file.

Windows Hostname Entry

Once this was added, the VB application software was able to call the MSSQL database server without any problem. The DBNETLIB invalid connection string attribute error was resolved.

WordPress requires PHP and MySQL for installation to work. I have chosen for Windows 7 Home Basic operating system computer to install WAMPSERVER 2.2 as the working environment for editing WordPress Theme. Everything seems to be smooth during installation. Opening localhost from the internet browser shows a Not Found HTTP Error 404 pages. It seems the Apache Server is working, but it throws this Not Found error page.

Checking on Windows services for the Apache Server shows wampapache was not started. Manually starting the Apache service throws some error.

WAMPSERVER Apache Service could not start

Checking on the WAMPSERVER panel have shown that Apache service was not started. Testing on port 80 had shown that it is being used by Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0. Stopping the Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0 service allowed Apache to use port 80. After which, I could run WAMPSERVER Apache Service and install WordPress without a problem. I was in no time editing some WordPress Theme on Windows 7 Home Basic operating system desktop computer.

There is much power under the hood of Dell OptiPlex 745 to cope up the day to day office needs. However, due to the numerous application programs installed and uninstalled in the system the computer performance was affected. Registry cleaner software clean up coupled with an antivirus scanner scanning is really required. Another way to improve performance is to remove the McAfee Internet Security subscription from the system and install Microsoft Security Essential software as a replacement.

A couple of Trojan / Virus software were detected and removed by Microsoft Security Essential scanner in the process. Running the free CCleaner registry cleaner software also fixed a lot of error, but after the computer was restarted the Rundll popup error was still there.

The succeeding option was to use TrendMicro’s HighjackThis free utility software to clean the computer registry. Unlike other registry scanner or reporting tool, HighjackThis doesn’t tell whether the setting is good or bad, safe or unsafe. It needs manual discretion to determine which entries need to be fixed or removed.

Analysis from the HighjackThis log report shows the following line related to tapi.nfo error.
F2 – REG:system.ini:Shell=Explorer.exe rundll32.exe tapi.nfo beforeglav
The solution done was to select the above line and have HighjackThis software fix the registry entry.

Restarting the Dell Optiplex 745 desktop computer after the above process have eliminated the Rundll popup “Error loading tapi.nfo. The specified module could not be found” during Windows XP startup. It was noted that the computer speed performance has improved dramatically.

Gauging the computer useability state, it is still functional to keep daily work needs of running MS Office Suite 2007, Quicken accounting software, and some photo editor software such as Adobe Photoshop CS Suite.

Games like Call of Duty 4, Command & Conquer Red Alert 3, Warcraft III, Need For Speed Underground 2 are great to play on this computer. Everything works fine in playing those games, but working on this computer to print documents is a problem.

An HP Deskjet D2360 printer is not working. The power button just keeps on blinking. I have tried checking on the cover, closing it well, but it won’t work. Another is to put a paper on the tray, but still the problem persist. A closer look on the printer shows more than 1 printer driver installed.

Thus, I’ve removed the device and try to reinstall the printer driver. The problem is the HP Deskjet D2360 printer driver on the CD is not compatible with Windows 7. Finally, I need to download a software from HP website which will automatically get the recommended drivers and updates for the hardware.

The HP Printer Install Wizard for Windows 7 is a software which was created to help users download the latest and most appropriate HP software solution for their HP Printers. The file hppiw.exe of 1.0 Mb supports Windows 7, 32/64 bit operating system.

The HP Printer Install Wizard for Windows 7 installer could be downloaded from the following link:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=oj-90246-5&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&os=4063&product=1100995&sw_lang=&key=null&site=null

After installation the printer driver was installed successfully without any conflict shown on the system. The printer HP Deskjet D2360 Power Blinking problem was resolved after wards. I enjoyed gaming and working without any trouble with the desktop computer at home.

Those running Windows 7 could not upgrade Internet Explorer to version 9 Release Candidate. Better security, privacy, ease of use, reliability, compatibility, manageability, and performance are some things to expect. The list could go on, but here’s what Microsoft is talking about Windows Internet Explorer 9 software.

Windows Internet Explorer 9 delivers web sites and applications that look and perform like native PC applications through the power of Windows.

Four Reasons to Download Windows IE9:

• Fast: IE9 is all-around fast. It is designed to take full advantage of the PC’s hardware comparable to native PC application software installed.
• Clean: IE9 puts focus on a clean look and increased viewing area.
• Trusted: IE9 has robust built-in security and privacy t for safe browsing experience.
• Interoperable: IE9 conforms with modern web standards such as HTML5 that utilizes GPU hardware.

Well, the above claim could not be verified if one does not try the IE9 internet browser. I’ve installed the IE9 beta and have experienced seemingly fast and uncluttered browsing. Now is the time to upgrade to the Windows IE9 Browser for Windows 7 for me to see the real deal.

The download size of Windows Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate for Windows 7 is 19.9 MB. After installation the computer needs to be restarted for the update to take effect.

More information on Windows Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate for Windows 7 :
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=71727

I normally use VMware, but I would like to try other virtual solutions like Windows Virtual PCs or KVM. New computers like AMD-V, Intel VT or VIA VT certified is hardware assisted virtualization capable. I have a Compaq Evo D510 SFF Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.40 GHz running Windows 7 Professional; I doubt if hardware virtualization is supported.

Microsoft has a Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool software which works with Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. I downloaded the 180 KB size havdetectiontool.exe installer application from Microsoft’s website. The VT hardware detection software upon running will say so if the computer support hardware assisted virtualization or not. Mine throws a pop up window saying “This computer does not have hardware-assisted virtualization”.

Microsoft Hardware Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool Software

I guess, I’ll have to play around with VMware or VirtualBox and forget about hardware-assisted virtualization technology. Everything then has to wait until I get hold of an AMD-V, Intel VT or VIA VT certified computer.

Windows System Preparation tool (Sysprep.exe) software for Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 the right tool for the job. Sysprep helps initialize computer system running on Windows prior to moving it into another environment.

I used sysprep tool as a preparation for initializing the old Acer Travelmate laptop before creation of a disk image. The sysprep tool GUI allowed initialization into factory setting, which is suitable for me.

Upon creation of a clone disk image, every time the Windows XP starts up, I get this sysprep tool GUI popping up, which is kind of annoying. I can close the pop up window by clicking on the “x” in the upper right hand corner. The msconfig, startup, and start menu don’t show any way of preventing it during startup. It would be better if the sysprep tool will not popup during Windows XP startup.

The solution I’ve found to work well is through changing the registry setting of Windows XP. It worked for me, but don’t blame me if something goes wrong. It’s important to create a registry back up as sometime editing the Windows registry setting could prevent a system from booting up.

WARNING: Proceed at your own risk!!!

Steps to disable Sysprep Tool on Windows XP SP3:

1. Open the Registry Editor program:
   Go to start -> Run
   type REGEDIT at the run box
   Click OK button
2. Navigate to the following location
   My ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMSetup
3. Remove entries created by sysprep tool
   Note: clean up registry entries and leave only the entries as shown below.


Registry Editor Remove Sysprep Tool Entries

4. Restart the computer

The sysprep tool did not popup already after restarting the computer. There might be other ways, but this one worked fine in my case.

Misleading online advertisements popping up offering a free download to scan for malware is one of the common ways of propagating fake antivirus software. Pop-up scams scare users into thinking that their computer is infected with a malware or worm and offers a fake cheap antivirus software solution.

It’s a important to spot the real antivirus software from the fake antivirus product.

Three indicators that would help tell social engineering exploits of fake antivirus:

• the browser pop-up window looks and feels like Windows XP
• the installed free fake antivirus software warns of user of infection, but urges to buy a paid version of their product
• the payment site of fake antivirus usually shares same payment site with other fake antivirus

I usually rely on the established names on antivirus software and internet security software like AVG, Kaspersky, Mc Afee, for computer protection from attacks. There are many cheap antivirus software options from these reliable software company. You’ll find antivirus software cheap compared to suffering a data loss due to computer virus. Trend Micro antivirus software is what we use at work. If you are cash strapped then a free antivirus download and internet security software like AVG is a good alternative.

Antivirus software is essential for home or business computer. Vigilance over social engineering methods used in propagating fake antivirus software is also needed.

Windows operating system has a built-in file manager called Windows Explorer. Newbies mix up or get confused between Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer. They are a bit related, but are entirely two different software.

Whenever someone needs to work on files then Windows Explorer is needed. The problem though is the seemingly concealed location of Windows Explorer. I find it difficult at first to locate Windows Explorer in Windows 7.

There are three (3) easy ways to locate Windows Explorer in Windows 7:

• Assuming you have a Windows designed keyboard or keyboard with Windows logo. Using keyboard shortcut “Windows key” + “Control key“. Hold down “Windows key” then press “Control key” on the keyboard.
• Right click on the Start button (left most icon with Windows logo on task bar) and click “Open Windows Explorer“.
• The old fashion way is to navigate to the Start button -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Windows Explorer.

Doing the above will pop up a new Windows Explorer window to allow work on the various files on the computer. That’s how the built-in file management software Windows Explorer could be located in Windows 7 operating system. The information is based on Windows 7 Home Basic edition, but it would be similar to other versions of Windows 7.