Suggest your Windows troubleshoot solutions...

[Tim Xue]

Hello, everyone! To keep improving our product Advanced WindowsCare, we'd like our kind users(you guys) to suggest more Windows troubleshoot solutions for us.

 

For example, we added two items into AWC database to resolve the problems.

 

One of them is to fix the "Show Desktop" feature.

 

The very key in registry is:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.scf]

@="SHCmdFile"

 

Set the detault value into "SHCmdFile".

 

So, you can suggest more. But the solution for the problem can only be resolved by modifying the registry keys or values, and also please be aware of that you can suggest the solution for resolving problems but not suggestion for optimization for Windows. Note, please indicate how to set the registry value including the full key and value, and tell us what it is for and the description of the solutions, and which OS it is available for, WinXP or Vista.

 

We are appreciated that if you can share your experience or idea, thank you in advantage.

[samr]

Hi Tim,

This may be a little off from troubleshooting, but may avoid having to troubleshooot. How about a feature that asks permission before allowing changes in system files (similar to Spybot Tea-timer)?

Another would be an option from AWC to run a command prompt for System File Checker. Many people do not know what this is, let alone how to run the command for it. Could it be an easy way to solve many windows problems?

samr.

[solbjerg]

Hi Tim,

This may be a little off from troubleshooting, but may avoid having to troubleshooot. How about a feature that asks permission before allowing changes in system files (similar to Spybot Tea-timer)?

Another would be an option from AWC to run a command prompt for System File Checker. Many people do not know what this is, let alone how to run the command for it. Could it be an easy way to solve many windows problems?

samr.

 

I'm with you there samr!

I am sure the first option would save many from (grief) trouble.

The second is also good if the problems are hard to pin down, but requires the Windows Install disk, (which may be a problem for some).

Cheers

[samr]

Yes, there would need to be VERY CLEAR instructions on that.

samr.

[solbjerg]

Hello, everyone! To keep improving our product Advanced WindowsCare, we'd like our kind users(you guys) to suggest more Windows troubleshoot solutions for us.

 

For example, we added two items into AWC database to resolve the problems.

 

One of them is to fix the "Show Desktop" feature.

 

The very key in registry is:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.scf]

@="SHCmdFile"

 

Set the detault value into "SHCmdFile".

 

So, you can suggest more. But the solution for the problem can only be resolved by modifying the registry keys or values, and also please be aware of that you can suggest the solution for resolving problems but not suggestion for optimization for Windows. Note, please indicate how to set the registry value including the full key and value, and tell us what it is for and the description of the solutions, and which OS it is available for, WinXP or Vista.

 

We are appreciated that if you can share your experience or idea, thank you in advantage.

 

Hi Tim

 

As I read you now, I suspect you mean fixes for specific problems with the system settings. This would be good to know!! And where to find in the registry base!!

But as I see most of the problems with the system settings, I suspect that most of them are due to running the program without checking the details before accepting the optimization and the cleaning, and therefore a bit of incentive to do that would be good, I think.

But thanks for the thought Tim!

I'll post possibles from time to time.

 

圣诞快乐 一 個愉快和興旺的新年

 

Cheers

[Tim Xue]

Hello, my friends! My idea is to add solutions for special problems. I got a virus last month, it hidede its execute file even if I select "Show All Hidden File" in "My Conputer". Finally, I found that the problem is caused by modifying some registry value. Many virus will do the same thing. So my idea is to fix these problem via the "System Analyze" module in AWC. And we can improve it by updating the difinition database file, so users can get it once they do a update.

 

Regarding the second suggestion of System File Checker, I think it's very good. But we can only add it into AWC3 but not V2.

[samr]

Hi Tim,

I don't have any suggestions along these lines, but I also had a recent virus problem. Each time I let the anti-virus program take care of it, my windows had big problems. I checked error logs and found a problem with a driver. Running System File Checker fixed it. It actually fixed from back-up files and did not use the windows installation disk, but I do think that if you did put that option in the Pro version, it should probably have a warning that you must have the Windows disk to run it. If not, I could see some problems. However, I think it would be a handy way to run a utility that many people know nothing about.

 

By the way-Merry Christmas to you & yours!

samr.

[enoskype]

Hello guys,

 

This SFC is not a big issue for asking the Windows installation media.

 

The advice should be to copy "i386" folder in the installation media beforehand to the system drive, i.e. in most cases "C:\i386" if it is already not there.

 

It will not ask if we give the correct path in the registry. See this post.

 

http://www.egem.com.tr/downloads/santasmiley.png

[Tim Xue]

Hello, that's good idea. By the way, there is a parameter "/Silent/, it is used to restore default system file without any confirmation. Should we use this parameter?

[samr]

Hi Tim,

Could you explain this in more depth?

samr.

[enoskype]

But, I am not sure, if this parameter forces it to be taken from "C:\WINDOWS\Driver Cache\i386" and if there is any unwanted change there, it may be useless.

My idea is to purge the one in Driver Cache, and automatically get it from "C:\i386" and Service Packs in Windows folder.

 

 

Edit: Sorry, I did not see your post samr.

 

http://www.egem.com.tr/downloads/santasmiley.png

[Tim Xue]

I think it's better to ask user to insert WindowsXP CD first, then launch the program. During the scanning, when sfc finds that if any system file is changed, it will ask user restore to the detault file or not. The parameter is used for ignore this message and automaticlly restore the file, if there are 100 changed system file, user will confirm 100 times.

[enoskype]

Of course, it is a matter of preference, someone wouldn't care what it has changed unless everything is OK.

 

Personally, I would like to see what is changed, and if it can be troubleshooted.

 

Anyway, it will be a great feature however you decide to put it.

Can there be an option to choose please? :roll: :lol: :lol:

 

http://www.egem.com.tr/downloads/santasmiley.png

[Tim Xue]

Yes. We may add the option for user. We will put it into AWC v3

[sunny staines]

An idea for AWC3

 

Found this free program similar to AWC2. Might be worth IObit looking at it with AWC3 in the pipline as they include a few useful bits may help you impove some of these functions and add them to AWC if not already included.

http://www.glaryutilities.com/

[Tim Xue]

Yep, I knew them before. The author comes from China, they just copied Tune-Up and then copied our idea. They don't have free edition and 1-click solution and all-in-one feature before, they changed their product in March 2007 after they saw our product. But they have some good tools, we will add some into AWC3.

[satlantis]

A suggestion

 

Hey Tim! How are things going? Perhaps you should vreate some sort of back up utility! Something thats not too complicated, just like all the other back up utilities out there. Im sure people would be interested.

[sunny staines]

if your looking at back up you need something that will clone a partition or image it, would be great if AWC had a function like this. Something to task the iobit team with once AWC3 is out the way.

[verdy_p]

Repairing Windows Update and UAC / UIPI Virtualization

 

Windows Update may not work as expectec for LOTS of reasons, not just those indicated by Microsoft on its help page.

One of the most difficult situation that can cause it to no longer work is the fact that the background downloader services ("BITS") does no longer start.

Look nito the MANY areas on the Internet where failures of BITS to start are discussed and you'll immediately see that it depends of LOTS of system locations and registry settings, some of them being garbled not just by spywares and other malwares, but also by some program installers (including from Microsoft itself).

The main cause of this problem is in the registration of ActiveX components, and program classes for the service DLLs, that create a very complex patchwork. Some dependencies are never scanned by Microsoft tools, and this includes the Microsoft XML parser libraries (conflicting versions).

Finding those missing DLLs that were incorerctly unregistered or left registered for a different version after some program (un)installation can be a real knightmare, causing hours or days to find what causes BITS not to start, even on systems that have never been infected by malwares.

Some of the registry garbled entries are caused by some older versions of Microsoft patches; they can also be caused by reinstalling on a new version of Windows some of your previous Microsoft tools and products which don't install correctly on the newer system with all service packs and updates: they are replacing some new components by older ones. Microsoft installers are also leaving a lot of old registry behind, for older components, but they are causing performance issues, with the Shell constantly looking for many more locations trying to find some implementation DLLs for some services.

The lengthy enumeration of services can cause programs to timeout and start incorerctly, or can cause later updates not to detect your newer installation and failing to update them later correctly when needed.

 

BITS is certainly one of the most fragile component and the most difficult to repair (even reinstalling Wnidows "in place" does not always restaure the service, as such "reinstallation" uses version checking and creates a mix of versions without necessarily reinstalling everything, and older versions of some components do not work reliably with newer versions of some others). Unfortunately, it is also one that is absolutely needed to download the Windows Updates. Without it, you're left without Windows Update, and the only way to install security updates will be to consult the "Security" information page on MS Technet site, and download each match individually and trying them: such process is dangerous because not all these separately downloadable updates perform full system scan to determine if they are appropriate or the best suited for your system.

 

In fact, now each time I rnu some installer or uninstaller, or after each security update, you can immediately see that there are lots of bogous registry settings left behind, even when they come from Microsoft. In the medium term, this cause Windows to become slower at startup, and it will finally crash. And this problem is not related to file fragmentation or registry fragmentation whose effect is MUCH more minor than garbled and superfluous registry settings.

 

Now in Vista, this is even more complex because of file and registry virtualization made by UAC and UIPI (note that some virtualization also exists in XP if you have installed Windows Defender): virtaulization causes old applications not prepared for Vista to cause a request to elevation or to use only local user settings in diffeernt locations than expected:

see C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore in Vista and compare the content with files in \ProgramData protected by Administrator's elevated privileges in UAC.

 

Unfortunately there are still lots of programs that run in XP but that do not respect the Administrator elevation restriction: they are modifying global system settings or protected files shared by all users without explicitly requesting Consent Admins authaurization. Virtualization made in Vsita is there to allow these programs to still run, even though they are not actually modifying the system settings, but affecting only file and registry data in a virtual store in the user profile. This causes unexpected things later when your installed programs will perform updates.

 

So I suggest investigating these:

* provide an option to restore BITS functionality

* provide a data cleanup uption for Virtualized files and registry settings

* looking for missing DLLs and components ALSO in virtual stores, not just the indicated system paths that may have been virtualized: scan the virtual stores for the current local user profile, then look into other profiles. (And don't forget that there's a virtualization also in XP, however more limited, made by Windows Defender and by IE7 installation).

[solbjerg]

Take a look here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2829e460-4045-435b-b165-2c1496cd94a4&DisplayLang=en

 

Cheers

 

 

 

Windows Update may not work as expectec for LOTS of reasons, not just those indicated by Microsoft on its help page.

One of the most difficult situation that can cause it to no longer work is the fact that the background downloader services ("BITS") does no longer start.

Look nito the MANY areas on the Internet where failures of BITS to start are discussed and you'll immediately see that it depends of LOTS of system locations and registry settings, some of them being garbled not just by spywares and other malwares, but also by some program installers (including from Microsoft itself).

The main cause of this problem is in the registration of ActiveX components, and program classes for the service DLLs, that create a very complex patchwork. Some dependencies are never scanned by Microsoft tools, and this includes the Microsoft XML parser libraries (conflicting versions).

Finding those missing DLLs that were incorerctly unregistered or left registered for a different version after some program (un)installation can be a real knightmare, causing hours or days to find what causes BITS not to start, even on systems that have never been infected by malwares.

Some of the registry garbled entries are caused by some older versions of Microsoft patches; they can also be caused by reinstalling on a new version of Windows some of your previous Microsoft tools and products which don't install correctly on the newer system with all service packs and updates: they are replacing some new components by older ones. Microsoft installers are also leaving a lot of old registry behind, for older components, but they are causing performance issues, with the Shell constantly looking for many more locations trying to find some implementation DLLs for some services.

The lengthy enumeration of services can cause programs to timeout and start incorerctly, or can cause later updates not to detect your newer installation and failing to update them later correctly when needed.

 

BITS is certainly one of the most fragile component and the most difficult to repair (even reinstalling Wnidows "in place" does not always restaure the service, as such "reinstallation" uses version checking and creates a mix of versions without necessarily reinstalling everything, and older versions of some components do not work reliably with newer versions of some others). Unfortunately, it is also one that is absolutely needed to download the Windows Updates. Without it, you're left without Windows Update, and the only way to install security updates will be to consult the "Security" information page on MS Technet site, and download each match individually and trying them: such process is dangerous because not all these separately downloadable updates perform full system scan to determine if they are appropriate or the best suited for your system.

 

In fact, now each time I rnu some installer or uninstaller, or after each security update, you can immediately see that there are lots of bogous registry settings left behind, even when they come from Microsoft. In the medium term, this cause Windows to become slower at startup, and it will finally crash. And this problem is not related to file fragmentation or registry fragmentation whose effect is MUCH more minor than garbled and superfluous registry settings.

 

Now in Vista, this is even more complex because of file and registry virtualization made by UAC and UIPI (note that some virtualization also exists in XP if you have installed Windows Defender): virtaulization causes old applications not prepared for Vista to cause a request to elevation or to use only local user settings in diffeernt locations than expected:

see C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore in Vista and compare the content with files in \ProgramData protected by Administrator's elevated privileges in UAC.

 

Unfortunately there are still lots of programs that run in XP but that do not respect the Administrator elevation restriction: they are modifying global system settings or protected files shared by all users without explicitly requesting Consent Admins authaurization. Virtualization made in Vsita is there to allow these programs to still run, even though they are not actually modifying the system settings, but affecting only file and registry data in a virtual store in the user profile. This causes unexpected things later when your installed programs will perform updates.

 

So I suggest investigating these:

* provide an option to restore BITS functionality

* provide a data cleanup uption for Virtualized files and registry settings

* looking for missing DLLs and components ALSO in virtual stores, not just the indicated system paths that may have been virtualized: scan the virtual stores for the current local user profile, then look into other profiles. (And don't forget that there's a virtualization also in XP, however more limited, made by Windows Defender and by IE7 installation).