THE LIST
A low-tech but ingeniously distributed E-letter by Mr. E
Vol. I, No. 21 — November 20, 2001
(Links updated June 2, 2003)
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 the Windows Support Center, 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, and anything else I feel like writing!

Click here to subscribe. If you subscribe, you will receive email notification when there is a new issue 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. REGISTRY PATCHES

    MS KNOWLEDGE BASE Articles:
  3. Commands, Utilities & Files
  4. Error Messages
  5. Hardware, Drivers & RAM
  6. Windows Registry
  7. Startup
  8. Windows XP
  9. Windows XP Setup

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NEWS & VIEWS

This issue is catch-up! I mentioned a couple of issues back that I had added quite a lot of new material to the Windows Support Center here at AumHa.org, and I’d be telling you about it soon. Most of this backlog is included in the present issue.

In addition to the new items, I should also mention that the Windows XP Shutdown & Restart Troubleshooter continues to be the hottest draw on the site, with 30% of all hits going to that one page. In the last week, I have substantially restructured it, and added a lot of new material. Most of the new material pertains to hardware issues affecting Win XP shutdown. Roxio has now released patches for both the Platinum and Basic versions of Easy CD 5, and this alone is expected (by me, anyway) to wipe out half or more of all Win XP shutdown problems. This does, however, cause the other causes to float more visibly to the top! If you’re still having Windows XP shutdown or restart problems, you might want to go see if there is anything helpful to you in the new material on this page.

And, of the things I wanted to talk to you about, that just leaves the Going Away Party for formal Windows 95 customer support from Microsoft...


WINDOWS 95 SUPPORT GIANT CLEARANCE EVENT:
Everything Must Go! (or must it?)

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go. That’s the way it is with Microsoft’s formal customer support for Windows 95. In six weeks it’s gone. Sayonara. All she wrote. Hasta la BSOD, baby! The operating system that made Plug-and-Pray a reality and the “Blue Screen of Death” a cultural icon (provided, of course, that your icon cache was big enough), that loved RAM-cached contents so much it would never let them go, and had more than a few users exclaiming, “I’ll tell you where to go today!” — this 6-year-old trooper is being given its gold watch.

To state it plainly: On December 31, 2001, Microsoft will officially terminate all paid customer support for Windows 95. (The unpaid telephone support was terminated a year ago.)

Now, before the trolls begin thinking that just maybe they’ve been wrong all these years and I’m not really a Microsoft shill (I’m not; but one would hate to have the trolls start actually liking one), we should stop and acknowledge the other side of the Win95 story. Windows 95 was revolutionary — so revolutionary that about 90% of all personal computers in the world, at home or at work, today run either Win95 or its child, sibling, nephew, grandchild, or great-grandchild. The “chicken in every pot” promises of politicians utterly pale next to the Microsoft-impelled reality of “a computer on every desk and in every home.” Whatever else anyone thinks of the company or its founders, Microsoft set out to accomplish that goal when no one else was envisioning it, and the goal came to pass.

And Win95 didn’t do too badly on, say 12 MB of RAM. It ran on my 486-DX4-100 on a 1 GB hard drive giving me more satisfaction than some people claim they get today from its grandchild running on new hardware. So: A toast. In case you’ve never heard it before, here is a, uh, variation of the classic song that officially launched Win95 in August 1995 — it may stir a few old feelings <vbg>.

Of course, it’s not Win95 that’s taking its leave from us, but only Microsoft’s formal telephone support. I suspect the number of Win95 users still measures in the millions. Still, the training one needs to support Win95 differs significantly from the training one needs to support its successors (as a couple weeks on Win95, Win98, Win ME, and Win XP newsgroups will teach anyone!). It was inevitable that the time would come when MS would close out that dwindling part of its business.

My most important point in this “News & Views” ramble, though, is not that Win95 support is about to vanish. Rather, I want to make note of just how much support remains. The majority of all Windows 95 support options presently available to its users will be continuing. And Microsoft is still providing much of what remains.

Here are avenues of technical support that Win95 users will continue to have as we enter 2002:

  1. Microsoft is continuing to provide microsoft.public newsgroup support for Win95. You can find direct links to these newsgroups here. There may be some restructuring or consolidation of the Win95 newsgroups if traffic doesn’t justify the current lengthy list (in fact, I’ve suggested they all be folded into win95.general.discussion) but I’ve been assured from sources inside Microsoft that they are committed to maintaining a Win95 newsgroup presence.
  2. Microsoft’s Knowledge Base will still have its Win95 articles. That’s the idea of a knowledge base — the knowledge just keeps accumulating!
  3. This present site, AumHa.org, will continue to provide support for Win95, just as it does now.
  4. Many other sites will be doing this also. Several excellent Win95 sites can be found on www.mvps.org. Others are scattered all over the World Wide Web. (I should particularly mention , the excellent site by MS-MVP Ron Badour, one of the strongest advocates for Win95 users during this transition.)
  5. Win95 books can still be found in computer goods stores everywhere. In fact, as used books, they are often almost free! They are as good today as they were six years ago. Generally, the amount of Win95 knowledge in the world today is enormous!

One area where I am optimistic, but have not yet been able to get a clear statement from anyone inside of Microsoft, is the issue of Win95-related downloads. This is being looked into, and I’ll let you know what I learn; but, as of right now, there isn’t a firm answer. Both the Windows Update Site and the Microsoft Download Center have important Win95 resources. In the past, Microsoft has removed a product’s downloads from these sites when its successor was released (primarily with versions of Internet Explorer). The situation with Win95 is a bit different — its successors have been out for years! — but, still, if you want maximum assurance of having everything you might need in the future, you just might consider hitting these sites before Christmas and harvesting everything you think you might need down the road.

Who knows... all those hits might get interpreted as really big customer interest in the Update Site and Download Center Win95 files. It just might keep one more support avenue alive!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

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REGISTRY PATCHES

Windows XP Icon Repair

Some users of the new Windows XP PowerToys have reported that, after installing and using these wonderful little tools, their desktop icons revert to the older — and, let’s face it, uglier — pre-XP forms. This doesn’t happen very often (I’ve never actually seen it myself), but it does happen for a few people.

This problem is caused by a corruption of WindowMetrics data in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ desktop Registry key. Specifically, wrong data is placed in the “Shell Icon BPP” and “Shell Icon Size” variables. The new XPIcons repair file on my Registry Patches page fixes this. (For your convenience, I’ll also put a link to the patch here.)

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KB ARTICLES: Specific Commands

Articles added this week to the Commands, Utilities & Files page don’t really need any explanation or comment. They are mostly “how to” articles, and their titles are self-explanatory. (All of them happen to be WinXP articles, since that’s the OS for which the most new KB articles are emerging from Microsoft at the moment. Remember when we had a weeks-long flood of revised and new Win95/98 articles over the summer?) Here is the list of articles I’ve added to the page recently:

How to Quickly Lock Your Computer & Use Other Windows Logo Shortcut Keys Win XP

How to Use System Information (MSINFO32) Switches WinXP

How to Schedule a Server Process in Windows XP Professional Win XP

Terminal Services Settings That Affect Remote Assistance Win XP

Cannot Establish a Remote Assistance Connection Win XP

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KB ARTICLES: Error Messages

WINDOWS 9x ERROR MESSAGES

HH or MSPAINT causes an Invalid Page Fault in module HHCTRL.OCX Win98

HH.EXE (like other Win98 files beginning with the letters HH, such as HHCTRL.OCX) is part of Windows’ Help. After receiving (and closing) either the HH or MSPAINT version of the above error message, you may get another that says, “Hard Disk is Full. You have run out of disk space on drive C. To free space on this drive by deleting old or unnecessary files, click Disk Cleanup.” This second error message is pretty much on target: The problem is that there isn’t enough room for the swap file on whatever partition it’s on. The article tells you how to fix this.

Note that closing other programs may solve the problem, rebooting the computer would almost certainly solve the problem for a while, and adding more RAM would be the long-term solution of choice if you have this problem a lot. Oh, yeah, it probably also means that your hard disk is way too full and you should think of adding more hard drive space. The rule of thumb that continues to serve me is: If you have less than 10% of your hard drive space left — whatever that 10% is for the size of your drive — then it’s time to get a new drive to add more space.

EXPLORER caused an Invalid Page Fault in module <UNKNOWN> at 0000:00000000 or
Unable to load the Dynamic Link Library: NOVELLNP.DLL Win95, Win98, Win98 SE, Win ME

These are alternate error messages for the same situation, described by the same article. Either can occur in Win9x if you have Novell Client32 for Novell networks installed and it is damaged, or if you previously had it installed, you uninstalled it, but its Registry entries were not removed during the uninstall. The first of these two error messages (or a similar one) occurs when you right-click a file then click Properties. The second occurs during Windows startup.


WINDOWS XP ERRORS: STOP MESSAGES

STOP messages are an entirely new category of Windows error message for former users of Win9x who have no prior experience with NT-based versions of Windows. I’ve just added a section on STOP messages to my Error Messages page, as well as a basic description of the error category, and a few basic troubleshooting tips. This section will grow and be refined as time permits, and may look a bit crude right now; for example, for the most common STOP messages, I give page numbers for the troubleshooting section in the Windows 2000 Professional Resource Kit. I just haven’t had time to reduce the very lengthy advice given there to something suitable for this page, though I plan to do that as I have the time.

STOP messages literally mean that Windows has stopped! They are identified by an 8-digit hexadecimal number, such as 0x0000001E, but are also commonly written in a shorthand notation. For example, a STOP 0x0000000A may also be written Stop 0xA, or STOP 0x0000007A may be written as Stop 0x7A. These are interchangeable. Four additional 8-digit hex numbers may appear in parentheses (usually unique to your computer and the particular situation). If you can’t find your STOP Message listed in the links here, try searching the MS Knowledge Base for at least the first hexadecimal number in the STOP message (e.g., 0x0000001e) and for the name of any specified file. (BTW, they also have cool names that usually actually tell you what’s going on. The names may look weird at first; but are they any less clear than traditional Win9x error messages? Heck, no! Usually, they are much more to the point!)

Some general troubleshooting principles are suggested in the Resource Kit for approaching STOP messages overall. If you can’t find a specific reference to your problem, running through the following checklist stands a good chance of resolving the problem for you:

  1. If you’ve recently added new hardware, remove it and retest.
  2. Run hardware diagnostics supplied by the manufacturer.
  3. Make sure device drivers and system BIOS are up-to-date.
  4. However, if you’ve installed new drivers just before the problem appeared, try rolling them back to the older ones.
  5. Open the box and make sure all hardware is correctly installed, well seated, and solidly connected.
  6. Confirm that all of your hardware is on the Hardware Compatibility List. If some of it isn’t, then pay particular attention to the non-HCL hardware in your troubleshooting.
  7. Check for viruses.
  8. Examine the System Log and Application Log in Event Viewer for other recent errors that might give further clues.
  9. Investigate recently added software.
  10. Examine (and try disabling) BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.

When a STOP message occurs, Windows can create a debug file for very detailed analysis. To do this, it needs a workspace equal to the amount of physical RAM you have installed. If you resize your Win XP pagefile minimum to less than the size of your physical RAM, you will get an advisory message that your system may not be able to create a debugging information file if a STOP error occurs. My advice is to go ahead with this pagefile change if you want, but simply remember the limitation so that you can change it back if you need to troubleshoot STOP messages in the future.

Just to get things started, here is a list of the first three dozen KB articles on STOP messages that I’ve added to the Error Messages page. (There is more information on the actual page than in the summary list below.)

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KB ARTICLES: Hardware, Drivers & RAM

Windows Reports Out of Resources Error When Memory Is Available Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP

“System Resources” means something quite different in the NT-based operating systems (such as Windows 2000 and XP) than in Windows 95, 98, or ME. You can read what it means in Win9x in my System Resources vs. Memory FAQ. In Windows 2000 and XP, though, it means what you probably always used to think it meant. In the present case, the phrase refers to memory.

Specifically, this article describes a situation where Windows reports that the system is “out of resources.” However, according to the Performance Monitor (or your favorite third-party tool of choice), there’s plenty of RAM still unused. The problem is that there are limits to the amount of paged-pool memory, i.e., virtual memory allocated by Windows to a particular process that can be paged (swapped). In this present situation, the Windows kernel has used up its share of paged-pool memory. In both Windows 2000 and 32-bit Windows XP, the maximum value for paged-pool memory is 470 MB. If the kernel allocates all of this, it won’t be able to do much more than pop up the STOP error message 0xC000009A: STATUS_INSUFFICIENT_RESOURCES when more is requested.

So what do you do about this? Well, nothing, exactly. This is how Windows was built to work. Windows’ 32-bit memory addressing architecture allows for 4 GB of addressable RAM, which has to be shared by different functions. The kernel gets 2 GB to divide up as it sees fit. Paged-pool memory only gets 470 MB of this. We’ve reached the day when the limits of the 32-bit addressing architecture are starting to bite us where we sit!


Paging File Functionality Requires System Account Permissions & Proper Size Win 2000, Win XP

Speaking of memory pages, if the Windows pagefile (swap file) has been reduced to 0 bytes or has become corrupted, or if you’ve been screwing around with NTFS permissions and have managed to remove the System account from a partition, you’ll have a problem. To fix it, you have to go back and fix the permissions situation, or repair the pagefile condition. This article walks you through it.


General USB Troubleshooting in Windows XP Win XP

This article is just what the title says. Keep it in your toolkit!

“USB Power Exceeded” Error Message When Connecting USB Devices Win XP

You can start getting error messages indicating that that your USB hub doesn’t have enough power if you have a passive (unpowered) USB hub, and there are too many USB devices attached to it. Solution: Get a powered hub.

Maximum Partition Size Using the FAT16 File System in Windows XP Win XP

In Windows 95, 98, and ME, FAT16 partitions can be no larger than 2 GB. In Windows XP, though, they can be as large as 4 GB. There are two things you need to remember, though: First, if you make a FAT16 partition in Win XP, Win9x won’t be able to read it. Second, the cluster size on this will be huge, each cluster taking 64 KB of space. I’m not sure why someone might want to do this, unless they needed to store a lot of space-demanding files that are large enough not to be prone to the wasted space issue that comes with large clusters. For example, someone might want to use a 4 GB FAT16 partition for their MP3 collection!

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KB ARTICLES: Windows Registry

Three new Knowledge Base items were added to the Registry KB links page this week, expanding the list of articles that describe how specific parts of the Windows Registry works. (All of these happen to refer to the Win XP Registry — a majority of new KB articles are, understandably, about Microsoft’s newest operating system.)

Description of HKEY_CURRENT_USER Registry Subkeys Win XP

HKEY_CURRENT_USER (often abbreviated HKCU) is one of the main parts of the Windows Registry. If you plan on working heavily in the Registry, you’ll spend a lot of time here. It contains user-specific settings that are built from information in the HKEY_USERS key each time a user logs onto Windows. This article explains the basic functions of HKCU’s main parts: AppEvents, Control Panel, InstallLocationsMRU, Keyboard Layout, Network, Remote Access, and Software.

Description of the RunOnceEx Registry Key Win XP

Last issue, I introduced you to an article explaining the RunOnce key, and how it works in all 32-bit versions of Windows. Win XP’s RunOnceEx key is a little different (and a bit more efficient). I could explain it to you, but then you wouldn’t have to read the article — so I shan’t spoil your fun by giving away all the details. The article itself does that rather efficiently.

Description of the Subkeys Contained in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum Registry Key Win XP

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum contains subkeys for specific hardware on your computer. As the article says, “Windows uses this information to allocate resources (for example, IO addresses and interrupts for the devices). All values in the Enum subkey are manufacturer-specific and device-specific, so specific information can vary from computer to computer.” It has obviously interesting subkeys with names like BIOS, Flop, Monitor, Network, PCI, SCSI, and USB, among others.

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KB ARTICLES: Startup

WIN 9x STARTUP ARTICLES

Computer Always Starts in Safe Mode Win98, Win98 SE

I was surprised to see a brand new KB article covering this long-understood phenomenon. When Win98 always starts in Safe Mode, even if you forcibly choose Normal Mode in the boot menu, the problem is a setting in the [Options] section of MSDOS.SYS. It contains the entry BootSafe=1. What does this do? It causes Win98 always to start in Safe Mode, even if you forcibly choose Normal Mode in the boot menu!

Damaged .VXD or .386 File Causes Incorrect Error Message Win95, Win98, Win98 SE

A somewhat common startup bummer is to get an error message saying that a .386 or .VXD file referenced in SYSTEM.INI can’t be found. Usually, the problem is exactly what it says. Sometimes, though, the file is present but damaged. (Also, the file may not be referenced in SYSTEM.INI. It could be in VMM32, or the Registry). In any case, you just need to use the process of elimination (employing MSCONFIG.SYS in Win98, or a cruder method in Win95) to find out which file is causing problems, and then retrieve a good copy of it from the appropriate CD.


WIN XP STARTUP ARTICLES

How to Set the NUM LOCK State at Logon Using a Logon Script Win98, Win 2000, Win XP

Check this one out if you aren’t able to use one of the simpler methods to get NumLock the way you want it when you start Windows. But this article has some other hidden goodies that the title doesn’t mention: It has links to white papers on scripting and group policy setting, and a “Group Policy Technical Walkthrough.” If you want to get into writing scripts to make group policy changes, this is a great place to start.

Windows XP Overwrites BeOs Boot Manager on a Multiboot System Win XP

Last one there is a rotten egg? Nope! Where Windows is concerned, on many issues, the rule is, “Last one in wins!” In this case, if you have a non-Windows boot manager in place and then install Win XP, what do you suppose it does? You guessed it. Windows overwrites the other boot manager with its own. Last one in wins! The quick work-around for this problem is to boot BeOs from a boot diskette. The permanent solution is to use a third-party boot manager, such as Boot-It.


SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

How to Modify the List of Programs that Run When You Start Windows

Quite an excellent article. The essential information is already contained in my Startup Program Loading article. But here’s someone else taking a crack at explaining it. (Psst... Microsoft gives more detailed steps than I do in my article, but they left out some of the Registry keys. We won’t tell then, OK? Just go back to my article and get the rest of the information.)

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KB ARTICLES: Windows XP

I give up! I’ve been trying for over a month to get my entire Win XP article backlog caught up without just flooding this newsletter with them, but I just can’t keep ahead of the curve. So, here is the catch-up barrage, with just enough annotation to be sure you know what the article is really all about.

Windows XP Professional Resource Kit
You don’t have this book yet? Well, neither do I. I’m very eagerly awaiting it. Meanwhile as we’re all waiting on the book, you can read it here! This is the “bible” of which every other Win XP book you buy will simply be a physical copy.

Dynamic vs. Basic Storage in Win 2000 and Win XP
Win 2000 and XP have introduced a new form of logical disk storage that supercedes the basic storage type with which everyone has long been familiar. This article introduces this very well. A recommended read for anyone who likes to know at least a little bit of what’s going on under the hood, and where to apply the Transient Concussive Remediation (TCR) modality of troubleshooting. (Translation: Bang on it until it works!)

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) Basics
DHCP (as you may know) is an important component of all but the smallest networks with which you’ll be dealing, a standard protocol that allows a network server to dynamically distribute IP addressing and configuration information to network clients. Here is a quick run-through on how it manifests in Win XP.

Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Basics Win95, Win 2000, Win XP, &c.
This kinda goes with the last one. If you’re the kind of dude or dudette who discovered that you actually enjoyed reading the DHCP article, then you should read this one, too. Think Ping!

Configuration of the My Documents Folder
All kinds of useful information about this sometimes perplexing and frustrating folder.

Default Processes in Windows 2000
This is a Windows 2000 article, but I bet it’s updated for Win XP in the near future. Certain processes are launched at Windows startup by default. Some probably will look familiar, some not. This article gives you a little bit of solid information on many of them, including EXPLORER.EXE, SERVICES.EXE, SVCHOST.EXE, TASKMGR.EXE, WINLOGON.EXE, WINMGMT.EXE, MSTASK.EXE, System, System Idle Process, SPOOLSV.EXE, INTERNAT.EXE, SMSS.EXE, CSRSS.EXE, and the ever-popular LSASS.EXE.

And a couple of others:

Description of the Disk Manager Diagnostics (DMDIAG.EXE) Command-Line Tool
Gathering Blue Screen Information After Memory Dump


AND THESE TELL YOU HOW TO...

How to Create Custom MMC (Microsoft Management Console) Snap-in Tools
If you don’t know what MCC — the Microsoft Management Console — is, then you’ve just gotta find out. Seriously! I’ve been meaning to do a “Tips” article on it for a couple of months and just haven’t gotten around to it. If you come from a Win9x background and haven’t been around NT operating systems, you’re about to learn why your new happy song will be, “Me & My MMC!” Right-click My Computer and click Manage, just to see what’s there. (This isn’t MMC. It’s a simpler look-alike.) Now, imagine you could customize this just about anyway you want, add and remove tools as you want, so that you end up with just the personal, custom system monitoring and management tool you want — then carry it around with you on a floppy anyplace you go. Sound cool? That’s MMC. Read it and grin!

How to Use Computer Management in Windows XP
This is the “right-click on Manage” thing I told you about just above — the standard MMC-like console that’s already built-in on every Windows 2000 or XP system you’ll ever see. This useful article walks you through some of its best features. A must read!

How to Add Items to the “Send To” Menu in Windows XP
The SendTo folder is not as obvious to find as in Win9x — but, actually, it’s easier to find. Just type sendto in a Run box!

How to Configure or Disable Solicited Remote Assistance
This article is on both the Windows XP & 2000 page and the Commands, Utilities & Files page. In fact, there’s a whole new section of articles there on Remote Assistance.

How to Enable the “Run As” Command on Program Shortcut Menus
Don’t confuse this with “Save As” — it’s something quite different. It lets you run a program as if you were a different user. Quite useful for circumventing overly narrow permissions (ahem, appropriately, of course).

How to Arrange Files Using Folder Views
Win XP has capabilities in this regard that none of its predecessors has. You might find some features here that you think are pretty cool and convenient!

Kill an Orphaned Process
Killing orphans? What kind of inhuman monster is that Bill Gates, anyhow?!?!?!?!? Oh, uh, no, that’s not what the title means, so calm down already. When a Win XP service terminates abnormally, it can leave an “orphan” process behind. This tells you how to shut that down. (Whew!)

How to Set, View, Change, or Remove File and Folder Permissions
If you already understand this in Win 2K, then this will be a speed-read for you. Otherwise, plan on taking some time. A great deal of basic and important Win XP network management information is here.

And some that don’t require any explanation at all:

How to Create a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition with Windows XP
How to Distribute Registry Changes to Windows XP Computers
How to Use the Program Compatibility Wizard
How to Use File Compression in Windows XP
How to Configure & Use Text to Speech in Windows XP
Install & Configure a Virtual Private Network (VPN) Server

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KB ARTICLES: Windows XP Setup

How to Use Files & Settings Transfer Wizard

If you’ve read Gary Woodruff’s article on Suggestions for Preparing to Install Windows XP as an Upgrade, you’re already at least somewhat familiar with the File and Settings Transfer tool in Windows XP — abbreviated by many of us as FAST. The FAST wizard “helps you transfer files and settings from your old computer to your new one. You can transfer settings for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook Express, as well as desktop and display settings, dial-up connections, and other types of settings. As you go through the wizard, you can select the files and settings that you want to transfer.” This article walks you through using it.

FAST serves at least three distinct purposes. First, as stated above, it provides a way for you to transfer files and settings from an old computer to a new one. Second, it provides another avenue of deployment of customized settings across several machines (since you can import the same settings file to multiple computers on which Win XP is installed). Third, it provides you a way to get much of the benefit of an upgrade install while actually doing a clean install — because you can use FAST to export a lot of the settings and Registry program installation information from an existing installation of Windows, do a clean install of XP, then import the FAST file to the newly installed Win XP system. (See Gary’s article for a discussion of the trade-offs of a clean vs. upgrade installation of XP in light of this information.)

Please note that this doesn’t transfer your applications themselves. You still have to install them on the new machine (or leave them installed on the old machine, if they are on a partition other than the one holding Windows and you left them undisturbed). Whenever you install a 32-bit program, two primary kinds of information are written to your hard drive. First, the program files themselves are copied to your computer. Second, certain information concerning their use is written to the Windows Registry. FAST will preserve what is written in the Windows Registry, but not the other part, the program files themselves. You have to get those onto the computer some other way. (Additionally, some programs write configuration information in .INI files that are stored in the Windows folder. This is no longer recommended practice, but some programs still do it. You will lose these in a clean install, and will need to reinstall the program.)

Does FAST export relevant settings information on all of your Windows programs? No, it doesn’t. It’s a great tool, but not infinitely capable in this regard. That’s where the next new article comes in....


List of Programs Whose Settings Are Migrated When You Use the Files & Settings Transfer Wizard

This KB article explains for which programs you can migrate a user’s files and settings using FAST, and also lists the operating systems from which this migration is supported (which is anything from Win95 and Win NT 4.0 forward).

How to Troubleshoot Win XP Setup Problems When You Upgrade from Win98 or Win ME

If you run into problems upgrading to Win XP from Win98 or Win ME, this article is a great place to start. In addition to general setup troubleshooting, it primarily addresses three areas: file copy errors during setup; computer hangs during the upgrade procedure itself; and STOP messages or other error messages during setup.

How to Enable Dual Boot After You Install Windows ME on a Windows 2000-based Computer Win ME, Win 2000

Hey, I didn’t know you could do this, until my friend, MS-MVP Sky King, pointed me to this article. The usual approach, if you want to dual-boot Win ME and Win 2000 or XP, is to install Win ME first, then let the smarter Win 2K/XP boot manager handle things by installing it second. But what if you want to put ME on last? (Say, you discover too late that your old scanner doesn’t really work in Windows 2000.) You can still add the older child last by using the Win 2K/XP installation repair utility.

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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 Windows Support Center 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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