CPU Speed set to Compatible

Problem: A user reported that his machine was running very slow after taking a power surge. I observed that the CPU usage was pegged to 100%, but memory usage was down near zero. I also noted that there were no unusual tasks running, so I decided to run hardware diagnostics. The Dell diagnostics quickly produced an Error Code 0700:0120, msg: No cache detected. Cache might be disabled, defective or not present. Immediately after this error, I got a System Error! msg: System_Error illegal attempt to disable Intel CH SMI without restoring original values first...... Time to look at the BIOS settings.

Solution:
I expected to find that some of the devices were not even detected, but all seemed to be there. I compared the BIOS settings on an identical machine and found several settings that were different. I won't give all the details; the one setting that was causing the problem was: the CPU Speed was set to "Compatible" on the bad machine. I reset it to "Normal" and let the machine boot. Back in business.

Disabled Items? Come on, MS

Problem: The other day a user reported that she tried to turn off her Outlook Out of Office notification. Instead of the expected dialog, she got a message saying, "The command is not available. See the program documentation about how to use this extension." Now that's very descriptive.

Solution: I can't take credit for finding the fix. The user was so irritated that she took the time to search the internet herself. It turns out that the outex.dll Addin was disabled for some reason. All she had to do is:

1. Go to the Outlook Help menu
2. Choose About Microsoft Outlook
3. Hit the Disabled Items button
4. Select outex.dll and hit the Enable button

My impression: I'm glad it was that easy to fix once we knew where to look. Thank God for my friends out there who find these things first! I don't know what I would do without other peoples' research. As for MS: Does Outlook have items that get disabled so often that you need to have a formal dialog in the application to handle them? I'm glad you do, but it would help if the error message held some hope of finding the actual solution once in awhile.

Beware of the Weasels!!

Problem: I have an odd network to support. Odd in that the hardware and software are very strange to me. It's extremely difficult for a lot of reasons; I'll just name a few.

1. The servers are very new to me. Most people don't even know there are servers for this technology, so I'm not alone on this one! "New" can sometimes be very confusing and intimidating.
2. In spite of their spiffy commercials and superior attitude, this technology is not the know-all, end-all computer technology. Their machines actually DO hang from-time-to-time.
3. Routine upgrades are not all that "routine". In fact, I haven't experienced one yet that wasn't problematic in some way.
4. People talk about it being intuitive technology??? What a bunch of CRAP!

Now for the real problem: The guy that turned this network over to me did so without giving me any formal documentation. He told me not to worry; I could always call on him for backup if I had a problem. Since then, I've had LOTs of problems. The only way I've gotten any help from the asshole is to track him down in his office. He has never answered a phone call since the turnover.

In the past few days I upgraded the servers to the latest maintenance level. This should have been an easy task, but again there was a problem. I searched for the solution until my wit's end but just couldn't see what was wrong, so I decided to call for backup. Again, no answer. I was off site, so I called another colleague to track down my backup guy. She called me in a few minutes with unbelievable news. The weasel had QUIT! That's right, he just quit without the common courtesy to tell me he couldn't back me up any longer. Had I known, I could have spent some time bringing someone else up to speed.

In my professional career, I have never paid much attention to what supervisors and managers have thought of my work. They usually tell me it's good, but it just doesn't matter to me. I've done very well with promotions and pay all my life, in spite of this. What I really rely on for job satisfaction is the respect of my peers. In business this means more to me than anything, including promotions and pay! I always assumed that all techies felt this way. Well, my X-backup proves my assumption wrong. That weasel will never have my respect.

Solution:

1. Don't do another upgrade without having a backup team mate fully trained. There's nothing like the help of a competent colleague when you're in trouble; even if you just have another set of eyes to look at the problem.
2. Make sure my backup knows about the upgrade before I do it. If I had tried to contact the weasel before the last upgrade and found that he had moved away, I never would have done the upgrade. I thought I was doing him a favor by not bothering him. So much for that.
3. Develop good documentation and keep it up to date.