Internet Explorer Doesn’t Work Properly After Running an XP Repair Option

I had a system that the OS had become corrupted due to failing RAM and was locking on the desktop. As the customer had important data that they did not want to lose but could not tell me the exact location of these files, I chose to run a XP repair option from the XP CD. After running a repair of XP, Internet Explorer stopped working other than for the homepage. Attempting to open any other page resulted in another instance of Internet Explorer opening up and the page taking several minutes to load and crashing in some cases.

The fact that another instance of IE opened up was puzzling at first, but after running the standalone Firefox browser in my trusty USB memory stick with Portableapps (www.portableapps.com) installed, I was able to determine that the issue was due to the browser and not the internet connection itself. After a couple choice expletives targeted towards the Windows OS, I figured that the issue was most likely due to the fact that Internet Explorer had been updated to IE7. I downloaded IE7 (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx) from a different machine and installed it on the system and, sure enough, the problem was gone.

Up to now the XP repair option has been pretty good at resolving issues, even when the CD used for the repair was that of an older Service Pack. Unfortunately, it seems that when IE7 installs itself, it does so in a manner that it doesn’t allow IE6 to run correctly even after a XP repair. 

Alternatively, follow the instructions in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article below to resolve this issue:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917964

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Windows XP Requests Immediate Activation after the Reboot of a Clean Reinstall

So you’ve gone and reinstalled Windows XP on your system but after completing the installation and rebooting the computer, it’s asking that it be activated immediately. You’re unable to enter Safe Mode as it hangs before the desktop. You begrudgingly reinstall XP again hoping it will fix your problem but you still encounter the same problem. You contact Microsoft and they tell you that the product key is correct and they have no clue as to why Windows is asking for immediate activation. The Microsoft rep tells you to contact the distributor of the software as they can’t help you at this point. The distributor may turn around and tell you that all product keys are good and suggest, in not so many words, that you need to get glasses. Well, this issue is most likely due to the Windows XP CD you used to do the installation.

Some of you are probably thinking at this point, I know the differences between retail and an OEM CD and the different versions of XP that are available and that you wouldn’t be foolish enough to make that mistake. Well you’re right. You wouldn’t be able to get past the point where you need to enter the product key with the incorrect version. The problem lies with the fact that Microsoft has gone ahead and changed something in the media. I’ve seen it first hand with OEM versions of XP. OEM XP labels have gone through several changes in shapes and colors but the most recent incarnations comes with different media. Here is a picture of the most recent label:

You’ve probably installed XP using a CD from a different machine and assumed that you could just use that one thinking that they’re all the same. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case and the only resolution that I’ve come up with so far is completely reinstalling the OS using the correct CD.

If any of you have come up with another way to resolve this issue feel free to leave a comment and share the information.

Asus P5Q and EVGA 8600 GT BIOS Update Issue

Another quick one….. If you own an Asus P5Q3 Deluxe Wifi/AP and an EVGA 8600GT, you may want to reconsider updating to the latest 1103 BIOS released on July 14th. Basically after updating the BIOS, you can no longer get the system to post. If you have an alternate card, you can use that to get a display again and revert the system back to an older BIOS. You may not be able to ’reverse’ the update, by flashing to an older BIOS, through the Asus EZFlash utility in the BIOS. In this case, download the BIOS utility, Afudos, from from the motherboard download page for your motherboard. One note, when you use Afudos, make sure that you type in the BIOS ROM name right after the ‘i’ without spaces. So the command to update the BIOS is “afudos /i<ROM filename>”.

I’ve also seen this issue with other P5Q series and the most recent BIOSes for these boards. Don’t know if it’s due to the board or the firmware of the video card but I’ve sent off a message to Asus and havn’t heard back yet. If they reply back, I’ll update this post.

If anyone else has seen this problem with other brands of 8600GT’s, or any other video card, please share, and leave a comment!

EVGA 780i SLI Reboot Issues with Vista

Another FYI post. This time specifically for those of you that have EVGA 780i SLI motherboards and are experiencing issues with the system locking up at the Vista logo after a reboot. EVGA has issued a BIOS (P6) as of last Thursday to address the issue.

http://www.evga.com/support/drivers/

Select ‘Mainboards’ in the first column, then ‘BIOS Updates’ in the second column, and then ‘NF78 – Intel 780i SLI’.