AOL DESKTOP 9.7 NOT STARTING (NO ERROR)

AOL DESKTOP 9.7 NOT STARTING (NO ERROR): Windows 8

Problem:

When the AOL Desktop 9.7 icon is double clicked from the desktop, there is no response from the computer. No error is displayed, but the AOL desktop software does not start.


Solution:

After investigating the problem, I was able to resolve it by renaming the splash.ini file in the C:\ProgramData\AOL\C_AOL Desktop 9.7\ folder.

My guess is that reinstalling the program would not have resolved the problem as I don't think files in C:\ProgramData are modified if they are already present.

HOW TO FIX: Sound not working in Windows 8 - 'Error 0x800706cc: The Endpoint is a duplicate'

There have been many reports on the Internet recently of a problem affecting sound playback in Windows 8/8.1 caused by the accidental removal of system files by AVG anti-virus.

The symptoms include:

- Complete loss of audio
- A red cross over the speaker icon in the system tray (bottom right corner) area of the screen.
- Unresponsive navigation of the Windows Control Panel causing explorer.exe to hang.
- Inability to start the 'Windows Audio' service with the error message Error 0x800706cc: The Endpoint is a duplicate.
- Inability to start the 'Network List' service with the error message Error 127: The specified procedure could not be found.
- One or more system files in AVG quarantine (this can vary).

Many reports indicate that restoring the system files from the AVG quarantine restores normal sound and Control Panel operation. On the Toshiba laptop I was working on, there was evidence of a Printconfig.dll file having been recently 'secured' but no sign of it existed in the quarantine, so this was not an option. The file name itself seems to vary, with some accounts of the problem mentioning a 'launcher.exe' file instead.

What was strange about the problem is that the regular 'SFC' and 'DISM' tools did not recognise any missing or corrupt files, so it was very difficult to find out exactly what was missing. After a lot of Internet searching, I finally came across a post by Nathan Mixter at http://superuser.com/questions/814671/cant-enable-windows-audio-on-windows-8-1. Nathan had fixed the problem by using a a free program called 'Windows Repair', available to download from http://www.tweaking.com/content/page/windows_repair_all_in_one.html.

I was sceptical at first, but started the 'repair' section of the program running with its default options ticked and left it to process overnight. After about 8 and a half hours it finally finished, and on restarting the computer I was amazed to discover that the sound was now working again. Whatever it was doing it all that time remains a mystery, and I have no idea what file or registry key was preventing the audio service from starting. If anybody knows, I would be really interested to hear from them.

Unfortunately, the problem with the unresponsive control panel remained. After examining the event logs, I found that it was caused by a faulty 'Network List' service which would refuse to start with the message Error 127: The specified procedure could not be found. Disabling the service seemed to restore normal operation, but I wasn't sure what the consequences of leaving it disabled might have been.

After a lot of trial and error, I was able to finally repair the problem by extracting the registry key that controls the 'Network List' service from a working computer and then importing it into the computer with the problem.

Key for the 'Network List' service:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\netprofm

After a reboot, the service started without error and the Control Panel worked normally.

To fix this on your own machine, download the file 'netprofm.reg' from the following link:

https://sites.google.com/site/wintegrity01/netprofm.reg

Once downloaded, double click on the file and accept any warnings that appear. This will import a working 'Network List' registry key and it will automatically replace the faulty version. After restarting the computer, the Control Panel should be back to normal.

How to manually set an IP address (Windows Vista)

1. Click on the Start circle in the bottom left corner of the screen. From the menu that appears, click on Control Panel.

2. Click on the option marked Classic View to the left of the Control Panel window that appears.

3. Double click on the icon marked Network and Sharing Center.

4. Click on the option marked Manage network connections to the left of the window.

5. Right click on the connection to which the IP address needs to be set. In most cases this will be either Local Area Connection or Wireless Network Connection. From the menu that appears, click on Status.

6. Click on the Details button in the new window that appears.

7. A new window filled with technical information will appear showing the IP address and other settings that are currently assigned to the network connection. Make a note of:

• IPv4 IP Address
• IPv4 Subnet Mask
• IPv4 Default Gateway
• IPv4 DNS Server

Click on Close.

8. Click on the Properties button. If a warning message appears, click on Continue.

9. In the new window that appears, click on the text marked Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), then click on the Properties button.

10. In the new window that appears, click on the circle button marked Use the following IP address: and fill in the form below accordingly:

• IP address: This is in four sections in the form of xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx. The first three sections must be the same as the old address, but the fourth section can be any number between 2 and 253 as long as it hasn't been taken by another device. If the old address was 192.168.0.4 then the new address could be 192.168.0.60 for example.
• Subnet mask: This is almost always 255.255.255.0 but needs to be set the same as before.
• Default gateway: This is the address of your router and needs to be set the same as before. It could be 192.168.0.1 for example.
• Preferred DNS server: This is usually the address of your router and needs to be set the same as before. It could be 192.168.0.1 for example.
• Alternate DNS server: This can be left blank in most cases.

After filling in these options, click on OK.

11. Click on the Close button.

12. Click on the Close button and click the cross in the top right corner of any remaining windows to return to the desktop.

HOW TO FIX: The following error occurred while attempting to print your pictures (Windows Vista)

'The following error occurred while attempting to print your pictures:' Its a very frustrating message because it does not give any indication as to why the error occurred.

This error occurred on a Windows Vista machine whenever a picture was selected in Windows Explorer and the 'Print' option clicked on the tool bar. The error appeared repeatedly and I found that the only way to close it was to use Task Manager to close explorer.exe and then manually restart it.

I was able to trace it back to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\ICM\RegisteredProfiles

renaming RegisteredProfiles to RegisteredProfiles.old appears to have resolved the problem.

I suspect the problem is caused by installing some old photo editing software that has incompatibility problems with Windows Vista but am not certain about this.

How to permanently disable PepperFlash in Chrome

PepperFlash is a version of Flash Player that comes bundled with Google Chrome. In general, it works well on most systems. However, on some websites or hardware configurations, a different version called Adobe Flash Player plugin reduces stuttering and improves general video playback performance.

PepperFlash can be easily disabled, and Adobe Flash Player plugin can be installed in its place, but a problem that many people have encountered is that PepperFlash keeps re-enabling itself, especially when a Chrome update takes place.

These instructions should keep this from happening. Please note that this will only work with a system-wide installation of Google Chrome installed to its default location in C:\Program Files.

1. Download and install Adobe Flash Player plug-in from the following address: https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?fpchrome. Remember to un-tick the box to install McAfee Security Scan Plus.

2. Once the installation is complete, close and re-open Chrome, then type about:plugins into the Chrome address bar at the top of the screen and press enter.

3. Click the + symbol next to Details in the top right corner of the page that appears.

4. On the left of the page, under the heading Adobe Flash Player, there should be two versions of Flash Player showing: The PepperFlash version that is stored in the Chrome program folder and the plug-in version that is stored in the Windows folder. Click on the Disable link underneath the PepperFlash listing.

5. Download the following file: https://sites.google.com/site/wintegrity01/ChromeLaunch.zip. Unzip the file, then double click on INSTALL. This will place another icon on the desktop called ChromeLaunch with a golden Chrome icon. Double clicking this icon to launch Chrome should ensure that PepperFlash remains disabled.

Notes:

- As ChromeLaunch makes a modification to the folder in which Chrome is installed, administrator rights are required. Click on Yes or Continue if a warning message appears when double clicking the icon.

- Your Anti-virus scanner may detect unusual activity because ChromeLaunch is making a change to a system folder. The program must be able to make these changes to be able to work.

How to remove folders with long, random names in Windows 7

Have you ever seen a folder with a name such as 626c0e158b81c4df4b71c9? These folders are created when updates are installed, but are not always cleared afterwards as they should be. Sometimes they cannot be deleted easily, giving an access denied or similar error. Here is the procedure I use to remove these unwanted folders.

1. Right click on the folder and click on Properties from the menu that appears.

2. Click on the Security tab at the top of the new window that appears, then click on Advanced.

3. In the new window, click the Owner tab at the top.

4. Click on the Edit button.

5. In the listing under the words Change owner to, click on yourcomputername\yourusername underneath Administrators, then tick the box marked Replace owner on subcontainers and objects and click on OK.

6. Click OK on the warning message that appears and continue to click OK until all the extra windows are closed and the folder with the random name is visible again.

7. Right click on the folder for a second time and click on Properties from the menu that appears.

8. Click on the Security tab at the top of the new window that appears, then click on Edit.

9. Click on the Add button in the new Permissions window that appears.

10. Click inside the Enter the object names to select text box, type in the word Everyone and then click on OK.

11. Within the Permissions window that should now be back on the screen, click on Everyone and tick the Allow box for the Full control category below, then click on OK. Continue to click OK until all the extra windows are closed and the folder with the random name is visible again.

12. Click once on the folder with the random name to highlight it. Using the keyboard, hold down the shift key, tap the delete key and then click on Yes in the warning message that appears. The folder should now be gone.

HOW TO FIX: Outlook not remembering passwords (Windows XP)

HOW TO FIX: Outlook not remembering passwords (Windows XP)

An error in the registry at the following location can prevent Microsoft Outlook from remembering passwords for E-Mail accounts:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

It can be fixed by resetting the entries back to the defaults. The easiest way to do this is the download the file below (usershellfolders.reg) and double click on it. Click on Yes to allow the changes to be imported, then try setting the password in Outlook again.

usershellfolders.reg