CurlingSteve
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Posts posted by CurlingSteve
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Honda Boy's method might work, but I'd try this first.
WAY back when I had an IBM PC with a hard drive that had a stuck spindle.
I had to open the case and bang on the drive to get it spinning on each cold (as in overnight) boot.
Once it loosened up, it would work all day.
Fortunately the PC had a "flip-top" case so it was easy to open and get to the cards and drives.
Who knows, a bit of thumping might get your drive spinning again, at least long enough to pull the data off.
If that doesn't work, try the freeze trick (as a last resort in my opinion).
In either case, if you get access copy off fast.
You might only get one shot at this.
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You say they will open in Ubuntu, can you view the contents?
Or do you just see a directory listing?
I don't know Linux/Ubuntu but why not copy the files to a USB flash stick?
Perhaps posting this question in the Linux forum will help.
I'm very very new to Linux (Knoppix) and I'm having issues with mounting/reading/writing to drives, getting wireless to work, and so on.
It's a bit tricky (to me) but I'm sure once one "learns the ropes" it's simple.
Asking on the Linux forum might help.
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Has this been a one time issue or does it happen often/repeatably?
If it repeats, what are you running when it happens?
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I saw the same message ONCE (soon after a Vista update) but not again.
But my system has been stable since then.
If this is like you've seen, I'd relax (for the moment).
Otherwise, TheTerrorist_75's link that suggests removing the update would be worth trying.
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Does anyone think cleaning the dust from the case (and perhaps reseating the cards) might help?
(Or was this tried a long ways back).
If that's not it, I'm thinking a bad memory card.
BAD POOL errors sometimes occur from mismatched cards or upgrades placed in the wrong slot.
(But these usually result in repeatable and unbootable failures, not the random fails you seem to see).
Was a memory upgrade involved before this all started?
Would a Repair Install of XP help?
Personally, I'd try booting a Knoppix (Linux) CD just to check if the hardware was OK.
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OOPS - I see reseating was suggested before (I didn't read through the entire thread, Sorry).
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Has anyone backed up the system recently?
If it will boot (even for a little while) I'd suggest copying off any and every file you can.
Start with any personal files (like the "My Documents" folder) and move on from there.
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No one, myself included, has asked what Themes or Extensions you use with Firefox.
If you post that, someone might recognize a known problem.
Sometimes there are conflicts among them (T's and E's) that will lead to a problem.
I'd have to look back in my backups to give you an example, but I've seen it before.
A fresh profile, linked to recent Theme(s) and Extension(s) usually will solve any issues.
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Get ......
Whatever you want.
Rock On!!
Happy Birthday
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Burning ethanol is clean, producing it is not.
As said before, when you factor in the cost (both carbon and dollars) of growing, plowing/harvesting, and fertilizing the benefit is marginal.
In my opinion, ethanol based fuels only move the pollution from the consumption (cars) area to the production (ethanol) plant.
Now I'd agree that if the production plant properly handle its carbon/pollution output then there is a benefit having it localized.
And I guess moving the "smoke" from the cities to somewhere else might be a good thing.
But there's a lot of energy (and pollutants) created to power (the machinery) and feed the growth of the feed crops for a fuel with less "bang for the buck (gallon)" than oil.
Me? I bought a hybrid, a Ford Escape SUV.
I need the space an SUV affords.
Compared to my Chevy Blazer, I get over twice the mileage (32+ vs 14 MPG).
At least Hybrids try to recover energy when braking.
I get better mileage in "stop and go" traffic than on the highway, but both are over 30 MPG.
And it's fun going through traffic in "golf cart mode".
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As you seem to have experienced,
I've seen Firefox "suddenly" break or act strangely, even when I'm not personally playing around with it.
But for the most part, it's one of the better browsers (my favorite) around.
I like that I can change almost any setting (at my own risk) to make it look and behave the way I prefer.
"Out of the Box" it's quite stable and reliable.
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Is there any chance you moved windows around to look at something else then closed out?
(That might explain the repositioning).
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Or was there a crash/reboot?
(Grasping at straws a bit here).
I get a similar situation with IE when it crashes, it forgets where windows were.
(Just curious).
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I've edited the above post a bit.
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Did anything update in between?
A Theme or Extension?
That might have changed a setting (or reset it to a default) that changed the positioning.
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Just in case, you might try copying the folder...
C:\Users\<Your Account Name>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
... to a secondary folder for quick backup/restore.
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I do this at least daily, since I tend to play around with settings a lot.
If I screw things up, I use Firefox's Profile Manager to switch to a working profile.
You can open the PM this way...
Start, Run, Firefox -p
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If you open the ...\Profiles folder you will see that profiles are named XYZ.Name, where XYZ is random and Name appears in the Profile Manager.
Copying those to a backup lets you keep various working setups available if (when in my case) a profile crashes.
Or keeping "...\XYZ.NameA", "...\XYZ.NameB" versions can help.
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Oh, by the way, the list you can select from in the Profile Manager is in...
C:\Users\Steve\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\profiles.ini
which is a text file you can edit in Notepad if you want to.
The layout is fairly straightforward.
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I agree.
Sleep mode is fine for day to day use.
But when I have the time, I like to do a full reboot. (And I only mean once or twice a week).
This lets programs fully integrate their updates, purges some temporary files, and (usually) will improve performance (no guarantee).
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Thank You Everyone!
Steve
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I assume you've looked in Personalize under Themes to make sure "Windows Vista" is the active theme.
And that "Windows Aero" is the color scheme.
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Google "BartPE" and see if this is what you are looking for.
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Does this help any?
If that gets you to the folder you need you should be able to move or copy the file from there.
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A bit more...
Is your hard drive close to full?
Have you tried emptying buffers and temporary files?
Have you defragged the drive lately?
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I watched an in home repair person replace the LCD on my Dell XPS laptop.
She did almost take the entire thing apart, but it didn't look too difficult.
It just takes a bit of confidence to dig that deep into the guts of a machine.
It only took her 20 minutes to take apart, replace the screen, and reassemble the unit.
Just keep track of all the little screws.
And keep things lined up in order.
(An assembly manual, often downloadable, helps too).
As far as I know, there are no "liquid" problems associated with a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD).
The "liquid" part of the term refers to its switching properties, not a noxious chemical.
But (like broken glass) be careful about getting cut on the edges of the broken screen.
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Is defragging really that big an issue anymore?
Newer hard drives have caches and controllers that seem (to me anyway) handle fragmented files as fast as contiguous ones.
It's been a while since I've perceived performance improvement from a defrag session.
That said, I let Vista/XP handle my defragging.
My theory is that the OS is trying to maximize its performance even if it leaves some files fragmented.
Another trick that sometimes helps is to offload a bunch of files to another drive (as in backup), delete the originals, defrag, then reload the files to the primary.
That's kind of a manual defrag, but it did work fairly well back when I worried about fragmentation.
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Hi Marty,
As you can see...
I'm no fan of Vista either, but I maybe can help you a little.
"Add/Remove Programs" in Vista is "Programs and Features".
You can still get specs by right-clicking "My Computer" and selecting "Properties", or through "Control Panel/System".
I still prefer Everest for a full system inventory.
Everest Home 2.20 (free) is still around for download from several places and seems to work properly with Vista.
Google will show you where to find it.
Lavalys has updated (but not free) versions.
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I've only been working with Vista (Home) a short while (well 2 months) so I'm still getting up to speed.
PRO:
(1) So far it seems to reboot much faster than my XP Pro machines do (but that may be due to a newer processor and more memory on this new laptop than Vista itself).
(2) No BSOD's (or GBOD - Green Bar of Death(?)) so far. XP (SP3) still has crashes from time to time.
But that may be my fault, since the XP machines have lots of tweaks incorporated.
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CON:
(1) Where did the "File Types" tab in "Folder Options" go?
Along the same line, in XP I can change the icon at the file level, so I can have various TXT files with different icons that represent the contents of the text.
(2) Like everyone else, I turned off User Access Control (UAC) immediately.
But on every reboot I get nagged about that and frequently see the "X" shield in the Notification Area, although it does hide after a while.
I'd like to see the "X" when there's a true problem, but just for UAC OFF is crying wolf to me.
I don't want to turn off Balloon Tips since other programs give meaningful alerts.
(3) In XP I can run a program or batch file when the Low Battery Alert triggers.
There doesn't seem to be an option for that in Vista.
I'm sure after a little looking I'll find a way to do this with a RegEdit ,if nothing else by seeing (comparing registry dumps) what XP does when I add a program to run when the alert triggers.
(4) I'm having problems with several (some very) old programs that run in XP but won't in Vista.
And yes, I've tried Compatibility Modes, looked for Vista patches and so on.
I've had to abandon old favorites before, so this isn't a "deal breaker" issue.
I'll probably go to my old standby solution and setup a multi-boot system once I'm comfortable.
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Bottom line, I'd rate Vista slightly better than XP Pro.
Now that I've played with it a bit I've changed from telling people to avoid it (Vista) to try it.
More to come (I'd bet)...
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But if you're REALLY interested in locking down the machine...
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Many BIOS SETUP routines (Phoenix in particular, very common) have a hard drive password option that prevents access at an early level in the boot sequence.
I THINK that just prevents access without altering (as in encrypting) the hard drive.
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And quite often a password can be set (thereafter required) to enter BIOS SETUP as well.
I DON'T recommend this either since finding the RESET pin/jumper or pulling the CMOS battery can be a problem on some systems if the password is lost.
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I've never used nor do I recommend either of these unless you ABSOLUTELY need this level of security.
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Has anyone tried/use these?
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In XP (Pro anyway) there was a place to choose a program to run when the Low Battery Alarm tripped.
(Control Panel/ Power Options, Alarms tab)
I'm running Vista Home Premium and have tried looking through Power Options, Change Plan Settings, Change Advanced Power Settings but I don't see anywhere to have a program run (say Notepad with a custom message) when the alarm fires.
Is this available in more advanced versions of Vista (e.g. Ultimate)?
Can a RegEdit be used? (As in has anyone found the appropriate key already?)
I haven't poked through XP Pro's registry yet to see where option might be (yet).
That may be my next/best step.
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I had a Gateway laptop I sent back several times for a bulb failure before I (not them) noticed the "lid closed" switch was the problem.
And thanks to Murphy's law, that was just after the warranty was up, but I did manage to get them to pay for that switch replacement based on the repair history.
As mentioned earlier, check the BIOS as well.
Many BIOSs have an "On Battery" setting that will dim the display (sometimes to very dark).
Wireless Connection Won't Work Unless Repair
in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP
Posted
Just out of curiosity, what happens if you ...
(1) Disable the Wireless Connection.
(2) Reboot.
(3) Wait a little bit.
(4) Enable the Wireless Connection.
Does it work or hang at "Acquire..." until you repair?