Monthly Archives: February 2011

An Office 2003 installation on your computer is corrupted

Computer Aid Posted on by

Customer couldn’t install Microsoft Office 2010… Every time he tried, he would get the error:

An Office 2003 installation on your computer is corrupted.

This computer is running XP, and it currently has office 2007

I tried removing some office 2000 components, but I still got the error.

Office 2003 (and various related components) had been uninstalled a few days prior.

After some searching around, I found a possible solution:

Use Microsofts MSICUU2 uninstaller to remove any office “leftovers”.

But even after removing everything vaguely related to office 2003, I still had a problem.

I eventually found that I needed  to make some registry changes so that office 2010 didn’t incorrectly think that office 2003 was installed.

I started regedit, went to:

HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftOffice

Under that key, I found other “folders” with numbers like 8.0, 9.0, 10.0, 11.0, 12.0

12.0 represents office 2007, so all the other numbers didn’t need to be there and could cause install problems.

So I removed 8.0, 9.0, 10.0, and 11.0 (but left 12.0 alone)

I then did the same thing at:

HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftOffice

Close regedit

After that, Office 2010 installed correctly.

Blank Windows 7 Libraries

Computer Aid Posted on by

This is a PC running Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.

But I’m seeing some very strange problems:

when windows starts, I see windows with the following errors:

  • gfxui has stopped working.
  • Desktop gadgets: settings.ini is being used by another process.
  • Firefox no longer starts.
  • Some of the applications pinned to the taskbar will display blank icons.
  • In windows explorer, the Libraries folder is blank.
  • Its difficult to get to the Documents, Music and Videos folders.
  • The windows “search” box/bar has disappeared.
  • Sound had stopped working a few months prior… fixed by installing a new sound card

Since this is a 6 month old system that I supplied, I need to find a solution, or find a hardware fault so that I can return the PC for a warranty repair.

The first thing I do is check for faulty sound.

I plug in a new HDD, and install Win 7. Once Win7 is running, the sound works normally.

Oh well, there goes my chance for a warranty repair.

As usual, I have built a good quality PC that just won’t die.

So its now looking like a problem with Windows 7.

I try a system restore to 1 month earlier, but after 1 hour, I decide It isn’t going to work…

I try sfc /scannow, but doesn’t fix anything.

All I can think of, is that the PC had a very difficult to diagnose RAM fault during its first few days of life.

In attempting to diagnose the fault, I did all sorts of tests, even disabling .net framework.

So, although the RAM fault has been fixed, there are some lingering registry problems that are gradually getting worse.

I realise I now have 2 options left:

  • Repair install of windows 7
  • Wipe the HDD and install a fresh Windows 7

I decide to try the repair install.

The first step is to start windows 7 normally, then insert the W7 Disc, then allow the autorun to start setup.exe

I Allow W7 to install available updates, then select the upgrade option.

The rest if quite simple, and once complete, I use the Intel driver CD to install any drivers that were missed in the re-install.

After all that, I ran all sorts of tests, and could not get any problems (from event viewer nor from my own use of the system).

At the moment, I’d say the problem is fixed, but in the back of my mind, I’m worried that if the registry is still “broken”, then other problems might surface.

Autocad pit.config is not found

Computer Aid Posted on by

A customer was having trouble installing autocad on a new windows 7 laptop.

So I try it myself: Uninstall, then reinstall Autocad (so far so good).

I start Autocad from the desktop icon, and I see the EULA again, and once more get asked for the serial number.

Once I enter the serial number, I get the error:

pit.config is not found.

I find the solution by running regedit, and going to:

HKLMSOFTWAREAutodeskAutoCAD 2011 – English

I then change the value of “Eula” from 0 to 1

Once that is done, Autocad work normally.

stop 0x0000007B

Computer Aid Posted on by

This computer had some problems starting… blank screen and not much else.

A look inside the tower showed a video card with a burned out fan… Now thats an obvious place to start.

Once I replace the vid card, the PC now shows a bios message, XP starts its normal boot, and then I see a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death).

The message is stop 0x0000007B

A search around the net shows it can be caused by all sorts of stuff (virus, hardware failure, device driver problems).

In this case, the hard drive is the component to try.

I plug the drive into my workshop PC, run speedfan, and quickly see that the SMART settings indicate an imminant drive failure.

I quickly shutdown, restart using acronis, and clone the drive to a new drive.

Luckily, the clone is successful, and the customer computer is back up and runninng shortly after.

Laptop won’t boot when plugged into officejet 8500A

Computer Aid Posted on by

This laptop would even get to the bios screen.

Occasionally, it would boot into Vista normally, but usually, it would just show a black screen with a short grey line in the top-left of the screen.

The laptop is a HP Pavillion.

At first, I pull out the battery and power, push the power button a few times, then re-attach the battery and power.

This works for many non-starting computers… but not in this case.

Next I try removing the HDD. It felt quite warm, so it might have been close to failure. But removing the hard drive doesn’t make any difference.

At this stage, I can only remove the 2 usb devives: a wireless mouse, and a the HP Officejet 8500A printer.

Now the laptop will boot every time.

I quickly find that its the printer thats preventing the laptop from starting.

I’ve seen a similar problem before, and I suspect that the cause is tha laptop trying to boot from the printer.

I find that once the laptop freezes, I can just remove the printers USB cable for a few seconds, and the laptop starts booting normally. I can then re-insert the printer USB cable, and everything works as it should.

Given time constraints, I wasn’t able to find a permanent fix to this problem… but pulling out the USB cable is good enough.

Configuring an Edimax BR-6226N as a wireless repeater

Computer Aid Posted on by

I had a situation where an existing modem/WiFi access point was in a relatively shielded corner of a house (a garage converted to an office… steel roof, and the rest of the house was set higher than the garage).

I tried a higher gain antenna, but that only gave a marginal improvement.

Using my phone’s WiFi I could see that once I walked through the door from the office, into the rest of the house, the signal would start dropping very quickly

I couldn’t see much point in going for a 802.11N modem/WiFi router, as the sheilding could still cause connectivity problems.

Based on my past success with setting an edimax BR6204WLG router as a client-mode hub, I decided to get an Edimax BR-6226N and test out its ability to work as a WIFi repeater.

I found that once its configured correctly, it does a great job as a repeater.

Before you start, you need to make sure you do the initial setup using an ethernet cable to configure the router (don’t use WiFi until configuration is complete)

The first step (as usual with Edimax), is to upgrade the firmware (I needed to upgrade from 1.14 to 1.19).

The second step is to change the router IP address and DHCP range to something compatible with the primary router.

For example, the primary router has an IP address of 192.168.8.121, and a DHCP range of 192.168.8.1 to 192.168.8.99

So I decide to setup the edimax with an IP address of 192.168.8.133, and a dhcp address range of 192.168.8.200 to 192.168.8.250

So, from the router home page, I go general setup-> LAN -> I then change the IP address and DHCP start/end IP addresses, then hit Apply -> Apply, then wait 30seconds.

Now set your browser to go to the new address you entered (eg 192.168.8.133)

Now back at the Edimax home page:

General setup-> Wireless -> Basic settings ->

Mode: Universal Repeater

ESSID: Repeater1 (or any other name you want to call the repeater. Don’t use the same name as the main router.

Channel Numer: pick the same numer as your main router (this is important… it must be the same!)

Use the “Site Survey” button to select your main router (remember to do all this while the 2 routers are close (eg in the same room).

Apply -> Apply -> wait 30 seconds.

Reconnect to the Edimax home page.

General setup -> Wireless -> Security Settings -> encryption: set it to allow acces to the main router (eg WPAPSK), as well as the appropriate password/key.

If you are not sure, check the main router.

Apply -> Apply -> wait 30 seconds.

Once everything is setup, make sure you turn off both routers, the laptop (or other WiFi device you will use to test this).

Now position the Edimax in its new location (make sure it can still connect to the main router, but make sure your computer gets a much stronger signal from the repeater, than from the main router).

Switch on the main router. Once it has started:

Switch on the repeater. Once it has started:

Switch on your laptop

Now use your laptop / smartphone / game console to connect to the Edimax (eg Repeater1)… use the password/key that you have for the main router (which should be the same the password you used in the Edimax).

Since you have 2 DHCP consoles running, you might find that you get the second set of IP addresses… this will prevent you from “seeing” the main router and the internet.

You should now fix this by disabling DHCP on the router: general setup-> LAN

Restart, and you should now have access to the main router network (which would usually mean the internet as well).

Fatal error. Installation failed d:i386asms (The parameter is incorrect)

Computer Aid Posted on by

This PC had a failed motherboard, so I got a new motherboard/CPU/RAM.

But when it came to performing a repair install of Winsows XP, I got the error:

Fatal error. Installation failed d:i386asms   The parameter is incorrect

Hmmm, I test the hard drive, but its OK.

I try a different hard drive anyway, but that also gives an error.

The wisdom of the net says the CD must be corrupt.

So I try a different CD… but I’m still getting the error.

Is it the RAM? Nope!

The only other thing I can think of is a faulty optical (CD) drive.

Sure enough, XP now installs without any hiccups.

The strange part, is that the CD drive worked well for just about anything else (it even worked after I finished with the XP install!)