Windows 7 Not Detecting CD / DVD ROM Drive

Some Windows 7 users have reported issues lately where Windows 7 is not detecting their DVD Drive after they have installed Windows.

In most of these cases there are two things users can do to attempt to fix the problem.

The first fix involves removing two registry entries referencing the DVD Rom Drive. These two entries can be found in the following location.

Click the Start Menu > and in the “FIND” or “RUN’ field type “REGEDIT”.

In the Registry Editor go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\
Once you have found this key, look in the right hand pane and [...] Continue Reading…

The Vista to Windows 7 Upgrade Hangs & Stops at 62% Percent

I have had a couple people mention to me lately that they have purchased the Windows 7 upgrade from Vista and have run into some problems. Many users are reporting a case where the system will hang at 62% during the Windows 7 upgrade.

This can actually be caused by several factors. To determine what might be affecting your installation you should check in the “Setup Log”. To do this you need to reboot your PC > roll back to Windows Vista > and then check the following file:
\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther\setupact.log
(You [...] Continue Reading…

Windows 7 Does Not Come Out of Sleep Mode (Hibernation / Stand By)
With Windows 7 Microsoft took the sleep mode / power saving options a little to the extreme. Because of this some users have been having issues getting their PC to come out of sleep mode. After working with Windows 7 for awhile I have come up with several common fixes that users can try if they are running into these problems.
Using the Power Button to Wake to the PC with Windows 7
In some cases with Hibernation / Sleep mode under Windows 7 waking the PC by jiggling [...] Continue Reading…

Installing a New Copy of Microsoft Windows XP on a PC
From time to time it can be really useful to reinstall Windows onto a PC. Doing a clean install once a year can help keep your system running smoothly, and wipe out a lot of the junk that you may have accumulated over time.

As with any type of OS installation make sure that prior to doing this you have backed up any important data you do not want to lose.

Once your data has been backed up you are ready to do a clean install of Windows. Whether you are [...] Continue Reading…

How to Set the Boot Order in Your BIOS
I have had several people asking me lately about how to setup the Boot Order in the BIOS.

This is important to do because many installation disks, diagnostic utilities and other programs require a specific boot order to operate.

The main thing you need to do is make sure the CD-ROM is setup to load before the hard drive in your system. This way you can boot disks, and diagnostic tools prior to loading into Windows.

This is important if you are reinstalling Windows or doing a Memory Diagnostic on your system.
To Set the [...] Continue Reading…