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| Examining Errors |
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Tech Support April 2005 • Vol.16 Issue 4 Page(s) 98-99 in print issue |
Examining Errors | ||
 Problem : A reader occasionally receives an error message indicating that his computer doesn't have enough memory to handle a program he has attempted to open. At other times, the computer shuts down unexpectedly for no apparent reason. The reader is perplexed because his PC, which runs Windows Me, has 192MB of RAM and a 20GB hard drive. Error Message: "There is not enough free memory to run this program. Quit one or more programs, and then try again." Solution: The first thing the reader should do is reboot his PC, especially if he has fallen into the habit of leaving his computer on for days or weeks at a time. Rebooting flushes out the memory and ensures that plenty is available for impending tasks. He also should check the amount of available storage space on his hard drive. 20GB may seem like an endless supply of space, but it can hold only so many digital audio and graphics files. The reader can check space availability by opening My Computer, right-clicking the Windows drive (the drive where the OS [operating system] is installed), and selecting Properties from the pop-up menu. The computer should have at least 500MB of free space and preferably much more. If storage space is running short, the reader should delete outdated files, uninstall unneeded software, and empty the various temporary folders scattered across the drive. Next, the reader should determine whether the computer's virtual memory area is configured for optimal performance. All he has to do is right-click My Computer, select Properties, choose the Performance tab, and click the Virtual Memory button to open a dialog box of the same name. In this dialog box, the reader should select the Let Windows Manage My Virtual Memory Settings (Recommended) option and click OK. After a reboot, the reader's computer should be able to handle most of the programs he uses. If it doesn't, he may want to consider a memory upgrade. After all, 192MB of RAM doesn't stretch as far as it used to; while 192MB fulfill's WinMe's requirements, he's better off with 256MB or more.  Problem: While trying to reinstall Microsoft Office 2000 on a computer running Windows 98, a reader receives an error message that prevents him from completing the installation. Error Message: "Error 1918: Error installing ODBC driver: Microsoft Text Driver (*.txt;*.csv), ODBC Error 13: Could not load the setup or translator library. Verify that the file Microsoft Text Driver (*.txt;*.csv) exists and that Text Driver (*.txt;*.csv) exists and that you can access it." Solution: The best chance at fixing this problem, which involves a corrupted or missing ODBC (Open Database Connectivity; a standarized database access protocol) driver, is to install MDAC 2.8 (Microsoft Data Access Components, version 2.8) from Microsoft and repair the Office installation. The reader can download MDAC directly from Microsoft by accessing the company's download site (www.microsoft.com/downloads) and searching for MDAC 2.8. He should follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the update. Next, the reader should perform a clean boot. He can do so by opening the Start menu, selecting Run, typing msconfig in the field, and clicking OK. When the System Configuration Utility appears on-screen, the reader should select Selective Startup and then deselect all of the options listed under it, including Process Config.sys file, Process Autoexec.bat file, and the rest. He then should click OK and restart his computer. When the computer restarts, the reader should open the Control Panel and double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon. The Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box will display, at which point he should choose the Install/Uninstall tab, highlight the entry for Office 2000, and click Add/Remove. In the subsequent dialog box, the reader should opt to repair the installation and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the repair. The reader should have access to Microsoft Office after rebooting the computer. If the repair fails, another option is to completely uninstall—and then reinstall—Office.  Problem: A reader reports that he cannot start his computer due to an error message. He experienced the same problem before and reinstalled Windows XP to resolve the issue that time. He wonders if there's a better solution. Error Message: "Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \Windows\System32\Config\system." Solution: This problem is most likely caused by a corrupted Registry. Reinstalling the OS is a viable solution, provided the reader has a recent backup of his important data. An alternative that lets him rectify the problem without completely overwriting the hard drive is to replace the existing Registry with an original uncorrupted copy. Keep in mind that this solution carries plenty of risk, so the reader should proceed only if he is aware that he may lose all data stored on the hard drive and have to reinstall WinXP from scratch again anyway. (NOTE: If the reader's PC contains any files that he cannot afford to lose, he should first boot the computer with a DOS startup disk and employ the DOS COPY command to back up each file to a floppy diskette, second hard drive, or any other backup drive he can access.) The reader can start the process by inserting the WinXP installation CD-ROM in his computer and rebooting the computer. If prompted, he should press any key to boot from the CD-ROM. The Welcome To Setup page will appear onscreen. The reader should press R to access the Recovery Console and then type the administrator password at the prompt. (He should leave the password blank if he doesn't have an administrator password.) The next step is to back up key system files, delete the originals of these files, and then overwrite the originals with fresh copies. He should be sure to back up and replace the following files: System, Software, Sam, Security, and Default. These files are normally located in the WINDOWS/SYSTEM32 folder. When the computer restarts, the reader should let it boot into Windows (not the CD-ROM). As soon as the PC begins to start, press the F8 key repeatedly to access the Windows Advanced Options menu; highlight Safe Mode on the menu and press ENTER. Now the reader must move and rename some archived Registry files. To start, he must open My Computer, select Folder Options from the Tools menu, choose the View tab, select the Show Hidden Files And Folders option, and then deselect both the Hide Protected Operating System Files (Recommended) option and the Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended) option, if available. The reader should navigate through My Computer to locate and open the System Volume Information folder (normally located on drive C). The contents of the System Volume Information folder will appear on-screen. The reader should open the _RESTORE folder or, if more than one _RESTORE folder exists, open the oldest of these folders to view a list of restore points. Each restore point is identified as a folder labeled with the letters "RP." The reader should double-click any of the restore points to open another window that contains a Snap-shot folder. Open the Snapshot folder and, while holding down the CTRL key, click each of the following subfolders: _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT, _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY, _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE, _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM, and _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM. With these five subfolders highlighted, open the Edit menu, select Copy, and deposit the copies in the C:\WINDOWS\TEMP folder by navigating to this folder, right-clicking inside it, and clicking Paste. Next, the reader needs to move these fresh system files into their appropriate locations on the Windows drive, after deleting the system files that are there already. He can accomplish both tasks by rebooting into the Recovery Console and typing the following commands (where c represents the letter assigned to the Windows drive) at the resulting prompt (press ENTER after each one): del c:\windows\system32\config\sam del c:\windows\system32\config\security del c:\windows\system32\config\software del c:\windows\system32\config\default del c:\windows\system32\config\system copy c:\windows\tmp\software c:\windows\system32\config\software copy c:\windows\tmp\system c:\windows\system32\config\system copy c:\windows\tmp\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam copy c:\windows\tmp\security c:\windows\system32\config\security copy c:\windows\tmp\default c:\windows\system32\config\default After removing the CD-ROM, type exit and press ENTER. The computer will restart. Finally, access the System Restore utility and follow the on-screen instructions to restore a previous restore point. This should eliminate the problem. To minimize the likelihood of Registry errors, follow a maintenance routine that involves scanning for viruses and cleaning the Registry. For more about keeping the Registry clean, see "Wring Out The Registry" at http://www.smartcomputing.com/15s09/21.asp for more information about keeping the Registry in top condition.  by Jeff Dodd
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