Windows On Vista

Illegal System DLL Relocation Problems

2007-04-09T00:59:00.000-05:00

Did you start receiving the following error message when booting your computer this week?

"The system DLL user32.dll was relocated in memory. The application will not run properly. The relocation occurred because the DLL C:\Windows\System32\Hhctrl.ocx occupied an address range reserved for Windows system DLLs. The vendor supplying the DLL should be contacted for a new DLL."

The error message may be accompanied by a variety of problems: no Internet, DNS lookups not working, some applications refuse to run, etc. The problem was caused by the Microsoft hotfix "925902" that was released on Tuesday.

You can quickly get back in business by doing a System Restore, but the next time you get Windows updates, it will happen all over again. There is a hotfix for the hotfix. I've run it on 2 computers without a hitch so take heart and take the plunge.

Microsoft's support page for this problem is very cleverly called:
"Certain third-party applications may not start, and you receive an error message when you start the computer: 'Illegal System DLL Relocation'". Go ahead and download the 935448 package found there and install it. Your problems should magically disappear.

Use Vista ReadyBoost To Improve Performance

2007-02-23T12:33:00.000-05:00

Vista flavored Windows introduces some methods to improve your system's performance: ReadyBoost, ReadyDrive, & SuperFetch. Here's a short synopsis of ReadyBoost.

ReadyBoost permits you to use a USB flash drive as virtual memory. At present, you may only use one drive from 256MB up to 4GB in size (there are also speed requirements - some drives can be too slow).

The information that is stored on your flash drive is also stored on your hard drive, but Vista will search for it on the flash drive first because it can be as much as 10x faster (for small amounts of random data access) than the hard drive.

If you remove the flash drive, Vista is smart enough to go back to your hard drive in order to find the info. Since security is often a concern, 128-bit encryption is used to write your data to the flash drive.

Here's a great blog post on the subject:
ReadyBoost Q&A on Tom Archer's Blog

Windows Vista Beta Expiration Date

2007-02-20T07:51:00.001-05:00

I'm still running an RC2 (Release Candidate 2) version of Windows Vista Ultimate. Recently, I received a message from Windows that Outlook had crashed and restarted. It also said that Vista had caused the crash, and mentioned that it would soon expire.

Oops! I had a plan where I saved my money for several months, and then I purchased the upgrade. It's worth knowing WHEN I can expect Vista to drop to "limited functionality" mode. Here's an easy way for you to find out this important little tidbit:

Click Start
Search on "winver"

The resulting dialog box will display the version that you are running AND its expiration date. Fortunately, mine doesn't expire until early in May. Maybe I can purchase Vista with my income tax refund...

Office 2007 Breaks Spell Check: French Only

2007-02-12T06:54:00.001-05:00

I ran across a little bug the other day that will affect a lot of people. A fellow brought his computer to our club for help. He had installed the new Office 2007: Student Edition on his Windows XP computer. After the install, the spellchecker in Outlook Express would only spell-check in French (technically "en Francaise" <grin>).

Well, I'm not worried. I'm running Vista (Beta RC2 Build 5744) and the FULL version of Office 2007 that Microsoft gave us for attending the Vista & Office Launch, and I use Outlook instead of Outlook Express. Oops! I was wrong -- BOTH my Outlook and FrontPage XP were indeed affected. Outlook appeared to spell check, but it only found misspellings - it didn't correct them. When I tried to force a spell check from within FrontPage, it told me that it couldn't find the English dictionary. Heavy sigh...

After searching, playing, and praying, I offer the following fix. It has worked to correct both of the above problems. You need to install the Proofing Tools from a previous version of Office. You'll be cured if you follow these instructions:

Run Setup from another Office installation disk.
Select "Custom Install".
You'll have to insert your Product Key.
Turn Off ALL of the product installations. (Right-Click icon and select "Not Available")
Under "Office Shared Features", set "Proofing Tools" to "Run all from My Computer" This should install the English, French, and Spanish dictionaries. English alone would probably solve the problem, but what the heck?

That should fix it. Enjoy!

Should I Upgrade to Windows Vista?

2007-02-09T04:26:00.000-05:00

Yes! Okay, okay, I'm an unabashed fan. I realize that not everybody wants to be an early adopter of new technologies. While some enjoy being a pioneer, no one enjoys removing arrows from their back.

The most important thing to do if you are considering an upgrade is to download and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor on your current computer.

Please, please, please DO NOT overlook this important step. I can't tell you how many people I remember getting very upset that their printer or scanner no longer worked after they upgraded to WinXP when they would have known that in advance if they had only taken the time to run the Advisor.

It's all about the drivers. If the proper driver doesn't exist yet for YOUR printer, scanner, camera, turbo shoe buffer... it probably will soon. It will be a dash of cold water if your equipment is labelled "legacy" equipment. That's techspeak for "unsupported: status will not change".

What's a driver?

A driver is a program that communicates between Windows and the devices connected to it: printers, scanners, modems, monitors, keyboard, mouse, etc. When we upgrade to Vista, it's up to the manufacturers to provide new drivers.

I cringe a little bit every time I'm asked to upgrade a driver - I've had a problem or three with driver upgrades in the past. Vista will come with hundreds of new drivers, but the drivers for newer devices will have to be installed.

Note: For the technical literati, you may access:
Windows Vista Hardware Compatibility List.

I've installed Vista, how do I get my software to run?

Most programs that are written for WinXP will also work with Vista. However, some programs might run poorly or not at all. If this is the case, you can run the Program Compatibility Wizard to adjust the settings (you can also do this manually by accessing the program's Compatibility tab).

Running the the Program Compatibility Wizard.

Click the Start button , then the Control Panel, then Programs, and then: "Use an older program with this version of Windows." Follow directions.

Software that doesn't work with Vista tends to be trying to manipulate the file system, edit the Windows Registry, or talk to the hardware directly. Windows no longer permits this because these have historically been areas of abuse. They are now "sanitized for your protection".

I took the plunge and installed Windows Vista...

...and now I'm having problems. You should take a look at another Microsoft page: Make older programs run in this version of Windows.

I LOVE my Vista upgrade...

Windows Vista is a wonderful upgrade. Unless severe problems rear their ugly little heads now that it's been released to the general public, I expect users to quickly adjust to the new OS with a fair degree of satisfaction.

Vista requires more RAM on the motherboard AND on your video card - these are the 2 most important areas imho. Once that you've made sure that you have the hardware necessary to run Vista, you are going to enjoy the speed, the capabilities, and the responsiveness of your computer.

Daylight Saving Time (DST) & Microsoft Windows

2007-02-07T13:28:00.000-05:00

Daylight saving time (DST) will begin 3 weeks earlier this year than it has in the past (2:00am on March 11, 2007) as mandated by the Energy Policy Act.

The various flavors of Windows (95, 98, 98SE, Me, NT, 2000, & XP) automatically change the time on our computers based upon the old methods. Except for XP, support has gone away. I don't see any evidence that Microsoft will patch them. You will have to reset your system's clock twice in the spring and twice in the fall. And you'll have to do it the old, manual way like your great-grandfather used to have to set HIS system clock. No more "let the computer take care of it" like WinXP and Vista users will be able to do. <grin>

Many of your home electronics devices (VCRs, telephones, & PDAs) are also affected as are software calendars like Outlook. Hmmm... let's see: water sprinkler timers, computer thermostats, water softeners, alarm systems, etc. Okay, so I'm simply going to have to manually reset my home electronics devices, but what about my home computers?

What action should I take?

If you have Vista, none. If you have WinXP, you MUST make sure that you have upgraded to Service Pack 2 (aka SP2). For those who have WinXP SP2, it appears likely that if you take No Action, Microsoft will download the patch to your system automatically (assuming that you have auto updates turned on).

I'm not going to update - I don't care about their patch...

If you don't apply the patch that fixes this problem, you can always adjust your computer times manually. Not exactly a horrible downside is it?

There are various and sundry pages on Microsoft's website to give you a more detailed answer, but I strongly suggest that you use one called: Determining the impact of Daylight Saving Time 2007 on your home computer

The following page gives greater detail:
2007 time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems

I hope this helps shed a little daylight on the problem.

Windows Vista Released

2007-01-31T17:20:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday was the day. After 5 years and 6 Billion dollars, Microsoft finally released the latest and greatest version of Windows. Is it really the greatest version - YES! I've been running the Beta for a few months, and I think it's a very worthy upgrade.

There are plenty of ubergeeks out there who will praise or denigrate the product mightily, but I am just a poor user spawned in the cassette drive of a TRS-80 computer lo, those many years ago. I will do my best not to dazzle, but to simply write about the things that I like, as well as the things that I don't like about Microsoft's newest operating system.

I'll be viewing Vista through a window for you. Please feel free to comment.

Note: Yes, yes, I know: Macs & Linux operating systems had ALL of those nifty features before Microsoft deigned to finally add them to Windows. It doesn't matter to me. I just want functionality after the behemoths work out the legality.