THE LIST
A low-tech but ingeniously distributed E-letter by Mr. E
Vol. I, No. 11 — July 11, 2001
To read previous issues of The E-List, click here.
Send comments about The E-List to: elist@aumha.org
Please see Legal Notice.

This newsletter tracks new information, and improvements in existing information, on www.aumha.org, my website supporting Windows desktop systems and leading application software. I also include small, useful items that might not find a permanent place on the site, but that I would like to pass along.

Click here to subscribe. If you subscribe, you will receive email notification when there is a new edition of the newsletter. (You will not receive the newsletter itself by email. That’s why I call it low-tech.) My intention is to provide a new and further way to serve the 50,000 people per month who visit my site. Previous newsletters are available online, and their content searchable through this site’s search engine. Enjoy! — Jim Eshelman


CONTENTS of this Issue

  1. NEWS & VIEWS
  2. WINDOWS SUPPORT SITES
  3. WINDOWS SUPPORT ARTICLES

    MS KNOWLEDGE BASE Articles:
  4. Commands, Utilities & Files
  5. Error Messages
  6. Hardware, Drivers & RAM
  7. Internet Explorer & Outlook Express

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 I AM MY ONLY AD!
My employer closed its doors for good in February.
If you find anything of value in this newsletter or on this site,
please view my resume and pass it along to someone. Thank you!
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NEWS & VIEWS

Welcome back! Since it has been a while since the last issue of The E-List — and since we had been running at a weekly pace — I should probably take this opportunity to remind everyone that there is no fixed schedule for this newsletter. When I began this newsletter, I assumed it would come out a couple of times a month. Then, I immediately got into a regular weekly cycle. But, as the saying goes, “life happens.”

Besides the occasional “life happens” fluctuations, you’ll see me stretch the schedule about twice each year — in February-March and August-September when I have a large biannual project to get done, and my site doesn’t get updated quite so as aggressively, as I work ’round the clock on something else. But, since Knowledge Base articles pour out of Microsoft regularly, with no such seasonal break, and there’s always something newsy and interesting to learn online, my guess is that The E-List will keep coming about as often as ever during those busy times — though probably with less editorial content such as “News & Views.”


A SMALL FACELIFT

I gave the entire site a subtle “facelift” this week. I redesigned the navigation bar that tops most pages. The new version is slightly smaller, and the individual links act more like buttons on mouse-over. I know that it’s a lot easier for me to use, so I hope you’ll find the same to be true.

My one concern about the navbar is that I’m sure it has browser-specific quirks. However, well over 90% of you, it should work well all the time. One pointer: I use pure HTML to generate the navbar, rather than graphical buttons, for several reasons — for example, this approach produces a navbar that loads many times faster. However, like all pure HTML generation, the coder (that’s me) doesn’t have absolute control over the display details on the visitor’s computer. If you have your browser fonts set unusually large or small, the navbar won’t display quite right. The same is true on some small monitors. What you may not know, though, is that you can click-and-drag the bottom edge of the navbar with your mouse to resize it. If the navigation bar doesn’t display perfectly on your screen, feel free to adjust it.


AND IT’S IE 6 COMING INTO THE LEAD...

Yes, Windows XP’s Release Candidate 1 (RC1) did get released last week, and yes, as predicted, since Internet Explorer 6 comes built into Win XP, the number of IE 6 (Beta) users has soared! In one week, their number appears to have doubled. I mentioned a few weeks ago that IE6 was beginning to pass the old, reliable war horse, Netscape 4.x. They then ran neck-and-neck for a few weeks. But, with Win XP RC1’s release, the race is all over. IE 6, even as a Beta product, has moving into the lead. And it isn’t drawing its popularity from other IE users so much, either — it’s the Netscape numbers that are dropping. In the first nine days of July, Netscape 4.x was used 8,594 times to hit my site, and IE 6 was used 17,396 times — just over twice as often. (During the same time, IE 5.x was used 83,865 times.)

A number of the less popular browsers are appearing more in use of late as well. Opera has always been the leader in the “Other” category, and more Opera versions are appearing. I even got a few dozen hits from the Konqueror browser popular with Lunix users. Imagine! Lunix users visiting my Windows Desktop Systems support site. We must be doing something right. <g>


INSIDE WINDOWS PRODUCT ACTIVATION

Unquestionably, the big scoop of the week is the release of an important technical paper by Fully Licensed, a Berlin start-up company that identifies itself as “The holistic solution for software licensing & distribution.” Apparently to catch the world’s attention, they’ve published an in-depth study of the highly controversial Windows Product Activation (WPA) system that is part of Microsoft’s XP line of products — Office XP and Widows XP. You can access their paper here.

What this superb paper provides is real information on the Product Activation system, in contrast to the rampant misinformation that is all too easily encountered online. It also provides far more detailed facts than Microsoft has released to date. It doesn’t give enough info to “break” WPA, but does give enough to address most of the distrust and insecurity that have developed around this anti-piracy technology.

Though I had planned to summarize the article’s key points for you, I wouldn’t get The E-List out to you at all this week if I took the time to do that. (“Life happens.”) I leave it to you to read for yourself, if you are interested. However, I do want to mention a couple of things that inquiring minds have wanted to know since long before the WPA system hit the streets in Office XP: What hardware is detected in the formulation of the WPA hash? And: How much can you change your hardware before telephone reactivation is required? The answer, at least for RC1, is that eight specific hardware components are checked, if they exist on the system: hard drive, CD-ROM drive, network card, graphics card, CPU, installed RAM, SCSI host adapter, and IDE controller card. If four or more of these components change, telephone reactivation is required.

Add this Fully Licensed report to the Microsoft Product Activation FAQ that I mentioned in the last issue of The E-List. Between the two, they clear up a lot of questions people have been asking.


MORE COMING ON THE PENTIUM 4 & RDRAM

Last issue’s counterpoint contribution on the Pentium 4 and RDRAM, by MS-MVP Gary Woodruff, drew some response of its own. I haven’t time to prepare this properly for inclusion in the present issue, so consider this a “Coming Attractions” teaser for next week’s issue. More concrete information is becoming available on what Intel will be doing with the P4 this fall, and what this means for upgrades. Stay tuned.

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WINDOWS SUPPORT SITES

SITE OF THE WEEK:
RON’S PLACE by Ron Badour

Two years before my Web site (uh, that’s the one you’re reading right now) was even a concept, Ron’s Place was already providing superior online Windows support. Today, MS-MVP Ron Badour’s site is a collection of basic how-to pages (on partitioning, back-ups, installations, Registry maintenance, fixing DUN password problems, and more), helpful Registry patches (he has a dozen I don’t have), tips on Win95/98 (probably over a hundred — I stopped counting after the first two pages), and more.

From the email notes you send me, I know that most of you think my site has quite a lot of material on it. Well, Ron’s Place has dozens-to-hundreds of tips that you won’t find on my site. (I’ve started adding a few links to his pages, scattered here and there around my pages; but that’s barely a sampling of the information he has stored.) Ron’s instructions commonly display much insight into the minds of beginners and their needs. He has far more “how-to” instructions on fundamental tasks than I have on my site. Nor do you have to be a beginner to learn something new from him — I learn from Ron all the time.

Ron’s “Personal” page describes his military career and his computer experiences. You will also find his Jokes section at the bottom of that page. I recommend the jokes, too. (If you’re under 18, and live in a state where my suggestion that a minor read “certain” kinds of material is a crime, then let me be clear that I do not recommend you read them.<g>)

By the way, it was Ron who, in June, 1999, strongly urged me to start a Web page, and turned me on to my first site host. But he was already going strong by that point. Check out his site. I’m guessing that you will find a lot that you want to thank him for!


BON VOYAGE: “WINDOWS 95 FOR SENIORS”

This isn’t notice of an addition to my site. It’s notice of a deletion, and an honoring of greatness. During its several years of life, Tess Goodman’s “Windows 95 for Seniors” Web site was the best thing of its kind ever to exist. A community’s sadness at its departure is supplanted only by the knowledge that Tess herself has gone on to even bigger things.

Windows 95 For Seniors wasn’t just for seniors! Sure, it was exactly targeted at the Gray Panther crew. Besides its introduction to Win95 computing, it contained lots of information on issues of importance to seniors, including a great selection of web sites specially suited for its target audience. But, in addition to this, its patient tutorial on beginning Windows 95 computing was the best introduction I’ve ever seen on the Web. I happily referred anyone to it that was new to computers.

Times have changed, though. Today, there are more resources available to fill this gap than when Tess first tried her hand at HTML. Also, Tess has, herself, grown considerably in her page design skills, and, today, has her own Web design and digital video production business, Visions Multimedia, providing Web page design, Web hosting, wedding filming, and other video services. I love her company slogan: “...because the path to excellence begins with a vision.” I encourage you to check out her site — and, hey, send her some business, if you’re in a place to do so.

This is, after all, the woman who, several years ago, had a vision that people in their 60s, 70s, and beyond could and would thrive if they got their hands on a computer and learned a little bit about how to use it. Her insight was visionary indeed.

R.I.P., “Windows 95 For Seniors.”

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WINDOWS SUPPORT ARTICLES

WINDOWS XP SHUTDOWN & RESTART ISSUES

Windows XP’s much-anticipated RC1 hit the streets this last week. One result of this is that we have a steady trickle of new information on shutdown and restart issues that, at present, occur in the pre-release versions of the new operating system. Accordingly, the preliminary Windows XP Shutdown & Restart Troubleshooting page has grown rapidly this week — rapidly enough, in fact, that I had to redesign the page, because it was no longer as easy to speed-read as it used to be!

The new information is too much to list here — especially since it is likely to keep increasing over the course of the week. Just use the link above to check the page itself. So far, the initial impressions are holding true: Device drivers are the most common causes of shutdown issues (as we should always expect with a new OS). Of these, the SBLive is the biggest culprit (yeah, what else is new! <g>), and the Prophet 4500 video card has also emerged as a “problem child” in this early stage. Some particular software is providing a problem, too, especially popular CD-writer software including Direct CD and version 5 of EZ CD.

One category of problem includes those situations where Win XP reboots instead of shutting down. This is different from any similar reboot-instead-of-shutdown problems on earlier versions of Windows, because Win XP has a default feature to reboot the operating system whenever there is a system failure. That means that a very wide range of problems — almost anything, in fact — could cause these reboot-on-shutdown problems. The recommended troubleshooting protocol includes disabling the default reboot-on-error setting so that you stand a better chance of encountering — and, thus, of identifying — the underlying problem.

If you learn anything on this issue, please let me know. I’ll add it to the available information. About 25,000 people consult this site each month for help resolving Windows shutdown problems. Any information you contribute stands a good chance of helping a lot of folks solve their problems!

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KB ARTICLES: Specific Commands

WHAT DOES MSGSRV.EXE DO, ANYWAY?

Have you ever had a problem with MSGSRV on your Windows computer? Odds are that you have encountered one or more situations where MSGSRV is “not responding,” according to Task Manager. Perhaps your modem or a USB appliance has hung, or power management features wouldn’t respond right, or some other hardware problem has made itself known. For any of these circumstances, MSGSRV often ends up taking the blame.

Taking the blame? Yes. MSGSRV is rarely the real problem. Don’t shoot the messenger; for, that’s just what MSGSRV is: the Windows Message Server. When it won’t respond, this just means that something is wrong — somewhere else! But, what is MSGSRV’s real job? Microsoft answered that question this week for Win95, Win98, and Win ME users, in a new Knowledge Base article, Function of the Windows 32-Bit Message Server. It’s a rather short article, so I’ll quote its main points in full:

Msgsrv32.exe is a program that runs invisibly on the Windows desktop and performs several background functions necessary for Windows operation. These functions include:

Note that last one! It’s probably the function that is hanging most often when your system freezes due to an error — in some other component of your computer — for which MSGSRV gets the blame.

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KB ARTICLES: Error Messages

MSGSRV32 Not Responding When Computer Hangs While Idle Win95
Speaking of MSGSRV (as I just was), this present condition is pure simplicity: Some programs (for example, some screen savers) may not get along very well with your computer’s power management features. Therefore (here comes the amazing part), power management may not work exactly right if these programs are running. The chief symptom is that if your computer is idle for a prolonged period of time, you may discover that it is frozen. As commonly happens, MSGSRV will show in Task Manager as “not responding” at such times. This article gives detailed instructions on how to resolve the problem.

WNMSGUPDT cause Invalid Page Fault in module KERNEL32.DLL OE5 for Win98
If you configure Outlook Express to use the ATT WorldNet Software Dial-Up Networking connector to connect to the ATT ISP, you can get the above error following an illegal operation in Outlook Express. Solution? Microsoft recommends going through a LAN connection instead of using the ATT software to connect.

“Error Loading Kernel. You Must Reinstall Windows.” Win95, Win98, Win98 SE, WinME
This is not a nice error message to get! It occurs when you are starting Windows. After you receive the error message, Windows quits — just like that! (How rude!) The problem is a simple one, though: The KERNEL32.DLL file is either missing or damaged. This articles tells how to replace it.

Fatal Exception 0E at 0028:C02A0201 in VXD IOS (04) Win95, Win98, Win98 SE, Win ME
IOS.VXD is the Virtual Input Output System base file in Windows. It is the device loader for adapters in the ADAPTER.INF, FORCEIOS.INF, and SCSI.INF files. Several MSKB articles list 0E errors involving IOS.VXD. Add this one to your list: It occurs due to an incompatibility between Windows and Corel CD Creator 2.0. Specifically, this version of CD Creator has a copy of CDRASPI.VXD that doesn’t work right with Windows 9x. The solution to the issue from Windows’ point of view is to rename CDRASPI.VXD so that it can’t be executed.

Runtime Error 216... Win98, Win ME, IE 5.0 or 5.01
This is an “oldie but goodie” article that I haven’t had on my site until now. This error message pretty much always means that you are the unlucky recipient of a SubSeven Trojan. Like ET, SubSevens “phone home” any chance they get, and can very seriously compromise your online security, and even start running your computer. “Aw, c’mon, man, run my computer? Isn’t that an exaggeration?” Not much of one — since SubSeven Trojans can run programs; move, copy, rename, or delete files (including erase the entire contents of a hard drive); and upload or download files from the Internet, just to mention a few things. They can even monitor everything that passes across your computer screen, take over mouse control, and — the real shocker if you don’t know it already! — log any and all keystrokes from your keyboard, including any passwords you type, and “phone them home” to Papa.

Yeah, they can run your computer. You don’t want to see “Runtime Error 216” appear on your screen. If you do, turn on your personal firewall at once, and kick your antivirus program into action.

One of the jewels in this particular KB article is the link to the SubSeven FAQ at Hackfix.org. I recommend you use that link and read up on these nasty invaders, just as part of your general Internet education. (I’ve added it to the Security section on my Windows Support Sites page.)

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KB ARTICLES: Hardware, Drivers & RAM

Notice the slight change to this page. Previously, I had listed MSKB articles concerning RAM (and other memory issues) on their own page. This week, I folded them into the Hardware & Drivers KB articles page. (RAM is, after all, hardware.) The Site Search Engine has been updated to take you to the right place!

Description of Device Drivers Win95, Win98, Win98 SE, Win ME
What better article for a drivers page than one that explains what a driver is? This informational article (apparently new on July 6) briefly defines “driver,” then gives more expansive definitions of five driver types: Monolithic, Universal, Virtualization (VxD), Win32 Driver Model (WDM), and Human Interface Device (HID).

PnP Serial Device May Not Enumerate Win ME
Speaking of device drivers, some Plug-and-Play serial devices may not be detected when Windows ME starts. Therefore, it doesn’t install the right device driver. According to Microsoft, “This issue can occur if the PnP Serial device issues a BREAK condition after sending the PnP identifier string to the host. The Windows ME version of the Windows serial PnP bus driver (the SERENUM.VXD file) interprets this BREAK as an error condition, and therefore terminates enumeration of the device. Earlier versions of the SERENUM.VXD file do not check for error conditions after the serial PnP identifier string is received from a device. This is not true for Windows ME, which does check for errors after receiving the PnP identifier string.” Bottom line: There’s a patch to fix this. The article tells how to get the patch.

How to Enable Universal Serial Bus Support Win95, Win98, Win98 SE, Win ME
Just what it sounds like. This article tells you what has to happen for USB to be supported on a Windows computer.

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KB ARTICLES: Internet Explorer & Outlook Express

Windows ME Stops — Task Manager Cites MSIMN When You Try to Close OE
McAfee Personal Firewall doesn’t play nice with Outlook Express version 5.5 for Windows ME. They have an inherent conflict. As a result, using them in combination can lead to Windows ME running slowly, or even hanging altogether (with Task Manager indicating that MSIMN — that is, Outlook Express — isn’t responding) when you exit OE.

Apparently, there’s no way to make them play nice together. The solution provided is to get rid of McAfee. There’s a specific way you need to go about doing this, which involves uninstalling both programs, running a repair utility, then reinstalling OE, Internet Explorer, and Internet Tools. This article walks you through the steps.

How to Troubleshoot Invalid Page Fault Error Messages in Outlook Express OE 5.x
This is a wonderful collection of information on addressing almost any Invalid Page Fault condition involving Outlook Express — if, that is, you are using IE 5.x. This article is a worthy companion to the several Internet Explorer error message articles listed on the IE & OE Knowledge Base articles page, such as the IE 5.x article, Unrecoverable Errors Such as “Invalid Page Faults” or “General Protection Faults” in Internet Explorer.

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Happy computing, everyone!

Jim Eshelman


THE NECESSARY LEGAL STUFF
DISCLAIMER: Any information given in this newsletter, or on any other part of the www.aumha.org website, is researched by me and believed to be accurate. However, I cannot guarantee, and do not guarantee, that all the information provided will work on all computer systems, for all users, all the time. Also, I sometimes make mistakes (that’s life!), and it is possible I made one or more of them here. All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind. In other words, I rely on the best information sources I can, and do my best to get it to you accurately; and, thereafter, you take your life in your own hands if you trust me on it. Neither James Eshelman, this site, outside contributors to this site, people quoted on this site, nor my cat is/are responsible for any loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from application of any information presented here.

The E-List. Copyright © 2001 by James A. Eshelman. All Rights Reserved.

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