Monthly Archives: May 2009

stop 0X0000008E

Computer Aid Posted on by

This laptop would (at seemingly random times), generate a blue screen (BSOD), with the error: Stop 0x0000008E

Customer tells me that a few days ago, norton found something bad, and removed it.

So I figure: I’ll install MBAM, and do a scan.

While Mbam is scanning, I check whats auto-starting, and disable anything that doesn’t need to start.

Part-way through that, I get the BSOD 0x0000008e

I decide to check for hardware issues (laptop is used in a footy club, so its probably not treated nicely at times). Ram test finds no problem, but the CPU (core2) seems quite warm at 48c, but nothing too bad. The hard drive is not low on space.

Back into windows, I restart mbam, while I check the net for error 0c0000008e, after about a minute of browsing, I get another BSOD.

I try 2 more times, but mbam just cannot complete the scan.

But I do manage to find out that the BSOD could be caused by a rootkit.

So I boot from my CD (UBCD4Win), start superantispyware, run an update, then scan the PC.

Sure enough, it finds and removes:

  • Rootkit.Aagent/Ggen-Loader
  • Rootkit.Agent/Gen-SoftV
  • Trojan.UnknownOrigin

After that, I restart into windows XP, and mbam finds about 180 infected components (mostly registry entries, but also a handful of infected files).

Once the laptop is totally clean, I remove norton antivirus 2005 (!), install antivir and windows defender (ie some modern protection), and then tell the customer of the possible consequences, if she doesn’t change the internet banking password ASAP.

I started wondering why an infection would cause a BSOD. It could be bad programming, but it might also be deliberate. Why?

It could be, that if the infection detects anything that seems like an attempt to either remove it, scan for it, or even search the net for anything related to anti-malware, then it generates a BSOD, in the hope of distracting the PC user.

It certainly had me guessing for a while.

google activesync error 0X80004005

Computer Aid Posted on by

I’ve been investigating the possibilities of integrating most of my office activities by using a smartphone.

Until now, I’ve been using Palm PDA’s so I didn’t want to go to windows mobile in a big way, only to find that I might regret it. So I decided to start “small”

By small, I meant cheap, which meant I got an ipaq H6365 with pocket PC 2003 (big, heavy, but I can see if its suitable)

activesyncI managed to setup gmail, google calendar and google contacts, import data from the palm, and then active sync to the ipaq.

It would work for a few days, and then I started getting error 0x80004005 during an active sync (and no contact/calendar items would get updated)

I’m syncing about 15 appointments and about 475 contacts.

I’d disable the contact syncing, and the calendar would work fine. I then re-enable contacts and 0x80004005 happens again (and only 100 contacts will get transferred).

I disable contacts again,

In google contacts, i export all the contacts in google csv format (note: group associations will be lost), delete all the google contacts, import contacts from the csv file, enable contact syncing on the ipaq, and everything is fine again.

For a few days, then it all happens again.

It seems like an obvious bug with google contacts and/or their sync software.

Sure, I really shouldn’t expect much from a beta application, but I’d like it to work better

gsyncThen I find the real problem: seems that google mobile sync is only tested to work with windows mobile 5 & 6 (not pocket pc 2003 and earlier).

Luckily, I’m happy enough with using a windows mobile device, that I’ll be looking at getting a more modern HTC smartphone… maybe the original HTC Touch.

Virgin, Vista, gmail and 0X800CCC0B

Computer Aid Posted on by

I had setup internet access on a laptop using a USB 3G modem via Virgin

Then I setup a gmail account and enabled pop3 access so I could download emails to windows mail (Vista).

I setup windows mail with the  google pop3 and SMTP names (like I’ve done many times before).

But this time, I seem to receive emails, but sending emails gives error 0x800CCC0B

I double check everything, but still no go.

No help on the internet, except for the obvious stuff like check the SSL settings, etc etc.

There is only one explanation I can think of: Virgin are blocking port 465.

So I take the quick and easy way out: I use the virgin SMTP server and port.

Sometimes its just not worth wasting much time making something work “just right”

intermittent internet dropouts

Computer Aid Posted on by

After replacing a faulty ADSL modem, the main PC worked fine, but the wireless laptop would either lose its connection to the internet, or websites would be very very slow to load.

A quick way to test this was to ping google.com.au.

Sometimes ping would say something like “connection unavailable” or it would timeout, or give return times of over 2000 ms.

I know ping return times are normally between 150 ms and 400 ms, so something is wrong.

The wireless signal strength is excellent.

The laptop is a fairly new core2duo, and it hasn’t had these problems in the past.

As I’m taking to the owner, I mention that Norton might be interfering somehow… its expired, so I’ll probably need to remove it.

He says that Norton shouldn’t be running. He had a mate tell him Nod32 offered the best protection. So this friend installed nod32, but couldn’t remove norton…

Ahhh, I’ve been here before… back in the days before dual-core CPUs.

So, it looks like running 2 antivirus programs doesn’t appear to slow down a multi-core CPU much, but it does drive the internet connection haywire.

Something to remember for “next time”.

Vista Stop 0X00008086

Computer Aid Posted on by

An Acer laptop got an infection that prevented it from connecting to the home wifi access point.

I cleaned up the infection… the laptop was very slow, even for Vista, given that it had 1Gb RAM.

After a while, I noticed that it would occasionally (every few hours) freeze, or produce a BSOD, with the error: Stop 0x00008086

I try a RAM test (all ok), HDD test (all ok).

I also download all the latest drivers via windows update, but that doesn’t help either.

There is not much info on the net about this error, so after a futile couple of hours trying fix it, I decide to give up and allow the customer to keep using it for as long as she can, and eventually get a new one if deemed necessary.

I hate giving up on problems, but in some cases it becomes obvious very quickly, that there is no point in trying to to find a solution, if its either unlikely to exist, or its going to take many hours to find.

smartphone, imap email, contacts, calendar

Computer Aid Posted on by

I find I spend a lot of time “on the road”. Its the nature of a “to your door” computer service.

As soon as Computer Aid grew to having more than 1 person running the business, it became obvious that communication would be an important part of making sure everything ran like clockwork.

So for the past 3 years, me and my other half, have struggled with SMS, MYOB, and an awkward way of synchronising calendar and contacts between 2 Palm devices and MYOB…

Except for MYOB, I’ve found switching to a smart phone and google applications was a great solution.

In my case, I’m going with a windows mobile smartphone, but this could work just as well with the iphone, a blackberry, or an Android phone.

The “glue” that hold all this together is Google. I find it amazing that I can enter an appointment on google calendar, and if its a new customer, enter the details on google contacts… then the information quickly finds its way to any smart phone that I’ve setup for this.

On top of that, I can also check my google emails without needing to get to to office to read them.

And of course telephone and SMS are all well integrated, so I just need to lookup a contact, click on the phone number, and I’m dialling them. Quick and easy.

I would never have thought I could do all that, for free, without implementing an awkward outlook server system.

The smartphone also offers many other “features” that I probably won’t use (camera, mp3 player, messenger client, video player, games, spreadsheets, etc

Now I just need to get used to the “quirks” of windows mobile…

IE7 history doesn’t update

Computer Aid Posted on by

Found an odd problem with IE7 running on Vista Home Basic (on a new Compaq laptop).

I would go to a few websites, then look at the browser history, and none of the sites I went to, would show in the history.

I try refresh (F5), and generally try changing a few settings, but nothing seems to work… except:

If I shutdown IE7, then I restart it a few seconds later, the browser history is now updated… very strange.

I then try deleting some history items (they don’t disappear), and new websites still won’t appear…

OK, I restart the browser, and the “deletes” and new additions are now visible.

I can’t be sure if this is a Vista “feature”, or if something just went haywire with this particular setup, but the history only updates when IE7 is restarted.

ie

I’ve got no answer to this one… has anyone else noticed this?

Does anyone have a solution?

slow intel Atom: stay away!

Computer Aid Posted on by

I saw my first intel atom computer the other day.

And it wasn’t a laptop. It was an Acer e-Machine EL1600

e-machine-el1600

At first glance, Its seemed nice: 4 front USB ports, 4 rear USB ports, a DVD-RW, a small case, XP, a small monitor was also included.

At first, I didn’t even check the CPU… I just assumed it was a celeron, a low-end pentium, or a core2 duo.

I installed it and fired it up, I went through the install process, setup the internet connection, and then installed anti-virus, etc.

But as I was configuring it, something wasn’t right.

It felt slow… sluggish.

I thought: thats unusual for a new PC running XP. It should be faster than this. I’ve got 6 year old PCs that feel faster than this.

When I saw it was an Atom CPU, then the penny dropped: I had heard that Atoms were slower than celerons, but I didn’t expect then to be this slow.

According to some people, a 1.6Ghz Atom performs like a 800Mhz celeron. Well, it certainly feels like a sub-1Ghz computer.

Some people might think its worth it for the price… But in this case: I disagree. Pay a bit extra, and you will get something (non-Atom) that is substantially, and noticeably faster.

The computer of the future will be your mobile phone – revisited

Computer Aid Posted on by

Back in January 2006, I wrote an article on my vision on the future of computers.

For a recap, take a look at:

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Computer-of-the-Future-Will-be-Your-Mobile-Phone&id=135735

In 3 years, I can say a lot of progress has happened.

Smartphones based on the windows mobile platform, Googles android platform, and of course the iphone platform have improved “computing” usability.

You can now buy a smartphone that can read/synchronise your emails & calendar, GPS can help you navigate, you can play music and videos, use them as a usb drive, surf the internet, use a messenger client, etc

Smart phones have become more powerful, with CPU speeds up to 1000Mhz (!), and some now have integrated graphics accelerators (!!). Dual-core processors are just aroung the corner.

pdakeyboard

But my original idea of having a bluetooth-like connection to a wireless keyboard and mouse, is already here. But wireless bluetooth-like connection to a monitor hasn’t happened yet.

The closest I’ve seen are:

  • USB to dvi adaptors – OK, its not wireless, but an interesting way to plug multiple monitors into a laptop. How long before we have a wireless version might depend on an enterprising individual who sees a potential market.
  • Displaylink – This is really exciting technology. As long as you have a Displaylink-capable monitor, you can plug it into an existing PC or Mac (no support for linux and smartphones 🙁 ), and you can have an extra display without getting a fancy video card… You can have up to 6 monitors connected to one PC. If only this technology can be adapted to use bluetooth, and support added for smartphones…

You might be thinking: why bother? The resolution is going to be low.

Firstly, some modern smartphones have resolutions of 800 X 480, ie: reasonable.

Secondly, there is no reason why smartphones can’t run displays like laptops, where the resolution of the built-in LCD can be lower than the resolution of an external monitor.

So, is it theoretically possible to use existing technology to utilise a smartphone as a “PC”?

Yes, as long as someone develops a Displaylink driver for smartphones.

But can a monitor be used wirelessly?

Well, USB 2.0 is now capable of displaying onto a monitor, and the data transfer rates are 480 Mbits/s

Bluetooth 1.2 is only capable of transferring data at 721 kbit/s (ie not fast enough)

Bluetooth 2.0 tops out at 2Mbits/s … still not fast enough

Bluetooth 3.0 has just been released (April 2009), and uses wifi to reach speeds of 24Mbits/s … also not fast enough. To get a true “laptop in your pocket” effect, you will need speeds about 20 times faster than Bluetooth 3.0.

Wifi running 802.11n is promising: about 100Mbps to 200Mbps

So, it looks like good wireless monitors will take a while yet.

wireless interference and GlobeSurfer II wifi setup

Computer Aid Posted on by

OK, here is the setup:

  • Laptop (wifi 802.11G capable, wifi currently switched off)
  • Virgin GlobeSurfer II 3G modem/phone access point/wifi access point… wifi currently switched off)
  • Wii console (no wifi setup… yet)
  • Cordless phone (the base is connected to the GlobeSurfer II for standard phone access)

The laptop, Globesurfer II, and cordless phone are on a small table about 60cm X 60 cmglobesurfer2

Laptop connects to the GlobeSurfer II (GS2) via ethernet cable.

GS2 has wifi disabled by default, so to get the Wii console onto the internet, I switch on the GS2 wifi by:

login -> go to connection settings -> network connections -> lan bridge -> Lan wireless -> edit -> setup the SSID, WPA-PSK, password, and save/apply settings.

I then setup the Wii (also pretty standard stuff). The Wii connects, and it does its usual system updates. I also download some extra channels (everybody votes, opera browser, contest channel).

Everything is working well.

I figure: The laptop probably doesn’t need to use ethernet anymore, I’ll switch on its wifi, and get it running without a cable, so the laptop can “roam around the house”. This also works well.

A few minutes later, the customer makes a call with the cordless phone… She hears 2 ring tones, then silence.

She tries again, but no luck.

I try phoning the cordless (house) phone… but I eventually get a busy tone.

I’m told the phone sometimes drops out like this, but starts working again after a few minutes.

30 Minutes later, and the problem isn’t fixed.

I know I didn’t change any phone setting within the GS2, but I take a look anyway.

I find a screen with a call log, and I can see all the failed calls are logged (duration 2 seconds).

Hmmm, I decide to try disabling the GS2 wifi, in case its interfering somehow… but the problem still persists.

Since the GS2 is back to its original setup, Its now looking like a possible Virgin network problem.

I ask the customer to call virgin and ask for help. She says she doesn’t have time now, and will do it later.

The next day, she say she tried to call Virgin, but could only manage to leave a message for them to investigate. In the meantime, she resets the GS2 back to factory default settings, and a few hours later, the phone is working again. So Virgin might have fixed something… or the reset to factory defaults did… not sure which.

She also reads the Virgin Mobile “manual”… and finds an interesting gem of information: wireless devices should not be closer than 30cm.

Now thats something I didn’t know.

So, on a small table, she had the GS2, the cordless phone, and a laptop, all within 30 cm of each other.

Looks like radio interference was the problem.

So she moves the cordless phone further away, and decides to stick with an ethernet cable connecting the laptop to the GS2.

But I’m invited back to try getting the Wii going again…

So I do the same as my first visit (but just in case, I change the wifi channel from 11 to 1 (in case there was any channel contention).

Except for a minor spelling mistake (on my part) on the Wifi wpa password, it all worked well, and its still working a few weeks later.

Its situations like these that that make me wish for a wireless “interference” tester… If there is any wireless interference, I need to resort to trial and error in order to fix the problem.

Computer only crashes at the back of the house

Computer Aid Posted on by

Here is one of the most unusual problems I’ve not seen (the whole thing is an email exchange):

We have a computer which repeatedly crashes on boot up or boots up, works for about 10 min max, then crashes in any room across the back of our house.

It works fine at a friend’s house, at the computer repair place OR EVEN IN ANOTHER ROOM AT THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE.

The rooms across the back of the house are on 3 different circuits, and we have even run it on an extension cord from what we thought was a faulty power point in the room where it crashes.

Had the circuitry checked by two different electricians. Both claim the power is sound.

We have been told radiation could be doing it, but can’t find anyone to check (It would also be dangerous to us). None of neighbours are having trouble. Do you think you can help ? Or is it just the aliens ?

Charles

Hello Charles,

How unusual!

Have you tried a different computer across the back? Maybe even a laptop? (I ask about a laptop, as it has a battery that should shield it from power spikes).

Do the crashes happen at any time of the day or night?

Does the computer have broadband internet access at both the front and back of the house?

I’m not sure I can help, but given what you’ve told me there are a few possibilities:

– temperature (is it hotter/colder at the back of the house?)

– infection (computer only crashes when connected to your interet modem)

– practical joke (a neighbor might have rigged your pc, so he/she can deliberately crash the pc… but they can only see you when you are at the back of the house)…

Best regards,
Luigi

We have tried a friend’s laptop. It doesn’t crash.
Another desktop in the same room also crashes, less frequently – it is brand new.
The crashes occur at any time, even the early hours of the morning.
It has broadband internet (cable with wireless router) at both locations.
Temperature is about the same in both rooms. The computer reports no viruses, malware or spyware – numerous scans.
I doubt if any of my friends would have the computing expertise to crash a remote computer – apart from that I don’t think we can be seen by anyone.
I am still looking at the radio tower about 500 metres away and wonder. When we moved the computer into direct line of site, it crashed immediately, and continued to crash on boot up.
Thanks for your suggestions. Greatly appreciated. By the way, my delay in replying was because I was trialling an UPS, but it didn’t help.
Thanks again,
Charles

I wouldn’t have thought a radio tower can cause such strange problems. I guess its possible.

house