Home Networking With XP

Problem: All I was trying to do is share one directory from an XP machine to another user on the home network, running Windows 2000. Both machines were connected to a Linksys router. Simple, eh? That's what I thought.

I did all the normal things:

1. Turned on File and Print Sharing on the XP machine.
2. Made sure both machines were in the same workgroup.
3. Verified that both machines were set to get an IP address via DHCP.
4. The machines were not in a domain but the user needing access to the share had a local userid on both the XP machine and W2K machine (same user name).
5. Unchecked the use simple file sharing box in the folder options, so that we would see the Sharing and Security tabs on the folder and file properties.
6. Shared the directory on the XP machine. Changed the share permissions to allow Everyone Full Control (been burned by that one before).
7. Attempted to set the NTFS permissions, but found that the C drive was FAT32. Ran a Convert to get us on NFTS and then set the NTFS permissions to allow Everyone Full Control.
8. Checked the XP Firewall settings and made sure that file and print sharing was allowed.
9. Yes, I even made sure both machines were plugged into the network.

And..... you guessed it; it didn't work. The W2K user didn't have permission to access the share. It made no sense; Everyone had Full Control.

Solution: A little investigation showed that the user wasn't using a password on either machine. We simply gave her a password on the XP machine and she was able to connect to the share from the W2K machine. Go figure......

Dodged Another Bullet....

Problem: I've been fighting an apparent virus for the past couple of weeks. I'm not sure what it was because I've never seen or heard of the specific symptoms before. Suffice to say that the machine was acting wacky. For instance Internet Explorer seemed okay most of the time during normal surfing. However, when linking to a web site from email, occasionally I would get an unknown error message; the message box wouldn't completely paint and then IE would crash. My printer was also hanging and causing the system to dynamically reboot. Somewhere along the line I tried an XP Repair, but XP Setup didn't give me the Repair option. I started saving stuff for an imminent rebuild but the system degraded so much that I finally couldn't even logon due to recursive BSODs. I really needed to save my email, so I couldn't just blow the system away and rebuild without tyring to save the data.

Solution: After numerous tries and failures at rebooting with the Last Known Good configuration, and unsuccessful attempts to even bring the thing up in Safe Mode, I ran XP Setup. I was thinking all was lost and was prepared to blow away the partition, when suddenly a ray of hope appeared. For some reason this time I got the Repair option during Setup. I ran the Repair, brought the machine up and reinstalled SP2. Once the system appeared to be stable, I backed up my email ........ :o) just in case. (The machine seems to be back to normal, but I'm never sure what "normal" is anymore).

NOTE: I'm using Incredimail for my email client. Incredimail has a very slick backup facility which puts all the email data into a single cab file for transporting to other machines or restoring after disasters. It's much cleaner than another very popular email client that most people use, which has no built-in backup/restore capability.

Outlook Signatures

Problem: A user reported that he was unable to insert a custom signature into a note on Outlook. The "Signature" option was not on the Insert menu.

Solution: The whole problem revolves around the option of using Outlook as your email editor vs using Word as the editor. If you use Outlook as your email editor and you want to insert a custom signature, or choose from a list of custom signatures, simply select "Signature" from the Insert menu when composing the note. If you use Word as your email editor, the "Signature" option will not appear on the Insert menu.

Brand-X Strikes Again ...

Problem: A user requested help with the sound on her machine. It happened to be another one of those brand-x machines that I love so much, loaded with parts that I've never seen or heard of. The sound circuits were integrated so I opened the box to determine the manufacturer of the mother board. It wasn't easy but I found the manufacturer's web site and downloaded the audio driver. At this point you're probably asking, "Why is he giving the solution under the problem statement?" Well, because I haven't gotten to the real problem yet :o( .... I started the installation of the audio driver and began to pack my stuff to leave, when the install process abruptly ended and the system crashed. When it came back up, of course the audio still didn't work. In addition, both the CD reader and the CD-RW devices went yellow in Device Manager. I unpacked my stuff and spent the next 3 hours trying to reload the CD and CD-RW drivers. Nothing worked. I had to revisit the machine the next day. You're right, the drivers didn't magically load by themselves over night. Going on advice I found on the internet, I deleted both devices and let the machine rediscover them. Of course the plug and play process loaded the same old driver and I got the same old message: "The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)". Now for the real killer; I deleted the devices again and decided to reboot and let the devices get rediscovered during system initialization. The machine came up as far as the logon prompt and permanently hung (please shoot me ...... now......)

Solution: I decided to try Safe Mode. However, when I hit the F8 key I didn't get the normal black screen with Safe Mode and the other choices. I got another short menu of choices for selecting a boot device. Oddly enough it let me choose the CD drive at this point, so I inserted the XP CD and ran a Setup Repair. This allowed me to logon again (whew), after which I was able to reinstall SP2 and get back to normal. Unfortunately this only got me back to square one, with no audio driver. By this time the user was happy to live without sound. That was good enough for me!

After days like this I always hope it's true what they say ..... "That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger"

Scanner Not Recognized

Problem: On an XP workstation, I was able to install the driver for an HP Scanjet 4570c, but the system didn't recognize it. The USB cable was fine and properly connected, and the device was powered on.

Solution: Disconnect the power from the scanner and then reconnect it. You should immediately see the plug and play dialog and the scanner will show up in the device list.
NOTE: This particular scanner was using a USB extension cable, to further complicate the situation. As it turned out, the device wouldn't work even after the above problem was solved until I removed the extension cable.

Stop BITCHIN'!!

Problem: I run into a lot of cynical people in this business! It's hard to put my finger on just why, but I think it has to do with a certain arrogance that builds up over time. Arrogance that grows out of handing lots of what we would call simple problems for 'stupid' users. Anyhow, it's a HUGE mistake to get carried away with this attitude, because sooner or later it's going to get back to the users. The users are not really stupid just because they might not know as much about technology as we do. If you really care about eating, remember who's buying the groceries!!

Solution:

1. First of all decide right now if you really want to be in the business. There are plenty of other job opportunities. The longer you do this with a bad attitude the greater the chance someone will notice, and they're not gonna like what they see. NOTE: there are lots of very smart people in India, Canada and other countries who are willing to do your job right now, cheaper and with a big smile on their face.
2. Think of positive ways to solve the problems. If the routine stuff is getting under your skin, find a way to automate it or somehow limit your personal involvement.
3. In your spare time, if you have any, find ways to make the users see your true value to them. If they're not absolutely delighted to see you when you show up, your not trying very hard. IT people and organizations have always been regarded as a burden; a cost; something to tolerate; and eventually as something that needs to be downsized. Thus, all the outsourcing we've seen in the past several years. It's YOUR job to turn this thing around. If you play your cards right you can get your superiors and/or customers to view you as an assest instead of the typical burden. When you're finally appreciated you'll be a much happier person, and I won't have to worry about you taking the pipe.