Alexander’s Blog

Are you getting the following error on your Windows Server 2003? If so, your event viewer is probably displaying this error every 5 minutes.

Event ID: 1054
Source: Userenv
Type: Error
Description: Windows cannot obtain the domain controller name for your computer network. (The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted). Group Policy processing aborted.

Microsoft’s KB article 324174 addresses this issue. This behavior may occur if the address for the configured preferred DNS server on the client is invalid or unreachable. This error may also cause the client computer to take a long time to logon. To resolve this issue, correct the DNS address in the TCP/IP properties.

NOTE: If you are getting this error in Windows XP, then check out this KB article 298656.

Windows PowerShell 1.0 RTW currently supports Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Windows PowerShell can be downloaded from Microsoft’s Download Center for all operating systems except for Windows Server 2008 where it is available as an optional component on the installation disk or via Server Manager. The .NET Framework 2.0 is required in order to install Windows PowerShell. Remember to download the Windows PowerShell Documentation Pack that includes a Getting Started Guide, Quick Reference chart and a 100+ page Windows PowerShell primer.

Click here to download PowerShell.

Most Windows XP computers run close to 80 services. You’ll be amazed how many extraneous services are running on a typical Windows XP computer that aren’t necessarily required for day-to-day operations. The list of services required on a Windows XP corporate client will differ from the services required on a home PC. On an average Windows XP computer you may only need to run about 20 services. Running fewer services will conserve memory and other system resources which will result in better performance, faster speeds, and more reliable operating system.

Here’s a list of various services running on a typical Windows XP computer and some advice on how you can tweak your system by properly configuring the services. For simplicity, we will only discuss Windows XP Professional (and not the Home edition of Windows XP). If you have a choice between running the Home edition or Professional, always choose the Professional edition.

There are lots of articles on the Web that document the type of Windows XP services tweaks listed in this article. Be cautious when you start implementing suggestions listed in any article, including the one you are reading. What works for me and for someone else may not work for you. If you are unsure, leave the service to its default setting. I’ve seen several articles on tweaking XP services but I do not agree with several of the recommendations listed elsewhere, so I came up with my own recommendations. One Web site called blkviper.com has devoted a lot of material to this topic and the information is much more accurate than the other Web sites. Even though his suggested actions may not totally agree with mine, you’ll find lots of additional useful information on his Web site, including XP Home Edition and gaming configurations.

Before we look at the services and discuss any details, you should document the status of all your current services. If you get unexpected results after tweaking your system, you should set the settings back to the original configuration. If you don’t feel comfortable with the description and the purpose of a service, consider modifying one service at a time and observe the system behavior before making massive changes to your operating system. You can access the Services Console either by typing services.msc at Start, Run or through the Administrative Tools folder.

You should be aware that when you disable certain services you may get errors in the Event Viewer. If the errors bother you, consider either setting the service to Manual or to Automatic until the error disappears. Along with the name of the service, the description, and the recommended action, you will also notice the short name for the service. This can be useful if you decide to script to disable or stop certain services. For example, create a script that disables all the unnecessary services on your corporate Windows XP clients. You may also stop, start, pause, or continue a service using the “net” command at the command prompt.

Caution! You should always backup your Windows XP computer before making any changes to the services. For more information check out the article Automated System Recovery and System Restore in Windows XP.

Click here to read the rest of this article.

You can get error 1606 under various circumstances. One person I know was encountering the error when installing “Creating Keepsakes - Scrapbook Designer”, a Scrapbook application, but this error can pop up at other times as well. For example, you may encounter this error if you try to install or uninstall Norton AntiVirus 2003. Sometimes the path and location is given in the error message, which may point to one of several different possible paths, such as C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop, or C:\My Documents\My Pictures.

Microsoft’s KB article 315352 mentions that this error occurs if you upgrade from Windows 98 SE or Windows Me to Windows XP, or Windows XP SP1. However, variations of this error are also known to exist when you upgrade from Windows 98 to Windows 2000. Here’s a step-by-step solution that seems to work.

1. Click on Start, Run and then type REGEDIT.EXE to start the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders.
3. Double-click the Common Administrative Tools Value Name and set the data value to %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools.
4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders. Notice that this path is different than the path in step 2. This is “Shell Folders”, in step 2 you went to “User Shell Folders”.
5. Double-click the Common Administrative Tools Value name and verify that the Value data is set to the %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools.
6. Close the Registry Editor.
7. Restart your computer.

The Malware Removal Starter Kit, the newest Solution Accelerator from Microsoft, provides free, tested guidance to help you combat malware attacks and restore infected systems—so users can safely get back to work. The kit shows you how to use the Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) to discover malware by performing a thorough offline scan of your computers, uncovering malware that may be hiding in the operating system. And once malware is located and identified, it can be quickly removed from infected PCs with a number of free anti-malware tools, like the Malicious Software Removal Tool from Microsoft.

The Malware Removal Starter Kit answers questions like:
• What are the keys to a reliable, effective response plan to remedy malware outbreaks?
• How do I build a bootable CD that lets me perform offline virus scans?
• How can I discover and remove viruses and other malware hiding in the operating system?
• How does the Malware Removal Starter Kit augment Microsoft’s anti-malware strategy?

Click here to download the kit.