Filesharing & Network Mapping Issues with a File Server

The other day I got a call from a customer who was using a fairly decent system for file sharing in a small office of 4 people.

She told me that she was having issues connecting to the network drive where the coworkers shared their documents. This was strange because we had all the network drives mapped and they had always connected fast without issues in the past.

The server had been up and running for about a month now so I was concerned that something was going on and offered to stop in to take a look at it.

Upon inspecting the server I noted there were numerous errors in the event log referencing the following errors:

• Event ID 2017
• Event ID 2021

With sources SRV and LANMAN being referenced in some of the errors.

After referencing the error in Google I saw numerous people asking about this online and finally found an answer about what was going on and how to fix it.

It turns out this error is commonly caused by a system that is being used mainly for file sharing that has not been optimized with server settings for file sharing. It basically came down to the system not allotting enough resources to the users trying to access the server.

Now this applied even for users who were running Windows Server, Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 because the main difference between how these OS run compared to Windows Server are just registry settings that allot various resources.

So in order to resolve the problem there are two registry tweaks you need to make to optimize system resources in a PC used mainly for file sharing.

(It’s always wise to export a backup copy of your registry when you first go into Regedit before making any major changes to a system.)

01. First open Regedit. (Start > Run > Regedit)

02. Then locate the first key:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\LargeSystemCache

03. By default this value is probably set to “0” and needs to be changed to “1”

04. Then locate the following key:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\Size

05. By default this value is probably also “0” and needs to be changed to “3”

06. Once these changes have been made, reboot the system for the new settings to take effect.

This should resolve the errors in the event log and should clear up any issues users are having with file sharing or network mapping.

Please comment and let us know if this fixed the problem for you!

Change the Ribbon Menu in Microsoft Office to Classic Display

If you are like many users out there you are probably not happy with the new Microsoft Office “Ribbon” interface that completely changes the way your menus look at the top of the page.

While Microsoft made this change to improve productivity, some people really don’t like the new layout and I don’t blame them.

In several cases customers I was working with even asked me if there was a way to disable the ribbon menu and change it back to the classic Office 2003 menu.

Unfortunately there isn’t an easy way to do this right through Microsoft Office but as always I have an alternative solution that will allow you to change Microsoft Office 2007 or Office 2010 back to the classic menu you are accustomed to.

The best method I found was using a program called “Classic Menu for Microsoft Office” from Detong Technology Ltd. The program is free to try but costs $29.95 to purchase if you decide to continue using it. Well worth it for most business customers, and as a home user how much is your productivity worth?

You can download the program for Microsoft Office 2007 or Office 2010 by making the proper selection at the top of the webpage.

Once you have installed the program the “Classic Menu Manager” should display on the screen. The classic menu manager allows you to toggle options for each of the Microsoft Office programs on the system.

In the tabs you can enable or disable the classic menus, as well as modify additional details about how you would like the program to display things in Microsoft Office.

This is a great alternative for customers who are unhappy with the new Microsoft Office Ribbon menu and want to change back to the classic Microsoft Office menu.

Windows Phone 7 Changes the Way We Interact With Smart Phones

With the pending release of the Windows 7 Phone many users have been wondering about the functionality and interface of this new Smart Phone driven by Microsoft technology. Now with MIX 10 in session some of our questions are finally being answered… along with new questions being posed.

First off (for those who don’t already know) what is Windows Phone 7?

Windows Phone 7 series is the latest release of the Microsoft Windows Phone operating system. While the name implies similarities to Windows 7 the best way to look at this OS is that it was designed from the ground up, in the same way that Windows 7 was. At least this is the initial impression we are hearing from the guys over at Engadget.

With a hands-on demonstration their initial reports seem to show that they are impressed with the look and feel of the device, short of the initial limitations that are going to be imposed on the phone. The biggest concerns of many users being the lack of a “Copy & Paste” function in the Windows Phone 7 OS.

But haven’t we been down this road before?

I remember waiting in line to get my first Apple iPhone and the initial excitement I felt about the device kept me occupied for quite some time before I even realized I couldn’t copy and paste. The sheer number of things I COULD do with the phone made this a non-issue for many months.

Regardless of how you feel about this lacking feature lets look at some of the other things the Windows Phone 7 will allow you to do.

As you would expect with any Smart Phone now a days the Windows Phone 7 will allow you to email, go online, organize multimedia, offer access to audio and video with additional features like being able to update your Xbox Live profile on the go, and play games.

The development platforms for Apps on the new OS also show a lot of promise as they will be designed around XNA & Silverlight to offer rich, content oriented mobile computing.

Even now we are learning more details about the Apps platform for this phone along with the potential for developers. For now we will need to sit back and relax as all the details are released. But we can look forward to seeing this new OS in action around Q4 of this year.

Windows XP BSOD Error while Installing on an Intel Motherboard

Hey guys, here’s a quick one I ran across the other day that could give people massive headaches because it’s such an obtuse issue.

While installing Windows XP SP1 one onto an Intel motherboard I received a Blue Screen of Death error with a mention or IRQL in the dump.

I did a memory diagnostic test which came back error free. I reseated the CPU, and checked the cooler to make sure it was not overheating. I even tried a different hard drives and cables.

It turns out that many Intel Motherboards will Blue Screen if you are installing Windows XP with an old service pack. (In most cases SP1). A good way to identify if this is the case is that the error usually always occurs at the same point of the install. (Usually 1 min into the graphical portion of the Windows XP installation.)

If this is the case you can do a few things to resolve the issue:

1. Get a copy of Windows XP (Home or Pro depending on what you are trying to reinstall) that is Service Pack 2 (SP2) and up from a friend or coworker. Use your windows key when you reinstall and this should resolve the BSOD error.
2. If you cannot get a copy of an updated service pack version of Windows use a program like nLite to slip stream the service pack into your copy of Windows.

(You will need to the latest version of the .NET framework on the PC you create your slipstream disk on. http://www.microsoft.com/Net/Download.aspx)

To slipstream your disk simply run nLite and it will walk you through the process. You will need your original Windows installation disk, and a standalone executable of SP2 or SP3.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/default.mspx

When you run nLite it will ask for your installation disk. Put it into the system and nLite will copy your disk. Then it will ask you to point it to the executable you would like to slipstream into the disk. Point nLite to where you saved your service pack download and walla! You now have a slipstreamed disk that should help you avoid the BSOD error on Intel Motherboards.

My iPhone Won’t Sync on Windows 7 Due to an “Unknown Error”?

Lately a few friends have been asking me about their latest problem where they are having issues were their iPhones won’t sync with Windows 7. In the majority of these cases Windows 7 is reporting an “Unknown Error” when they try to sync the iPhone with iTunes.

From what we have seen from doing some research online this problem seems to be more common for users who are running Windows 7 64-bit, and also motherboards with the P55 chipset. In some cases users are reporting the Unknown Error message along with an error code 0xE8000065.

This problem actually goes back to some of the power management problems I discussed in a previous article entitled “How to Wake a PC from Hibernation / Sleep / Stand By on Windows” which discusses Power Management issues with Windows 7 and the USB ports on the motherboard.

For information on How To fix the iPhone / Windows 7 sync issue, follow the instructions below:

1. First click “Start” and then “Right Click” on “Computer” and select “Properties”
2. Under the Properties window click on the “Device Manager” link in the upper left corner.
3. In Device Manager click on the arrow next to “Universal Serial Bus controllers”. Look for the entries labeled “USB Root Hub” and right click on the first one and select “Properties”.
4. Under Properties, click on the “Power Management” tab.
5. Under Power Management uncheck the option that says “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” and then click “OK”.
6. Repeat this process for each entry of USB Root Hub going down the list in device manager.

Once you have changed them the Power Management options of each entry of USB Root Hub reboot your PC and see if you are now able to sync your iPhone.

This issue is similar to the cases where Windows 7 will not come out of sleep mode when users have connected a USB keyboard or mouse which I discuss in the article I linked to above.