David Vielmetter

Category: Tips

  • NTSTATUS Error Code List

    Ever wonder about those error codes displayed in kernel level messages? Device driver developers these codes when they make calls into Windows APIs as well as when driver developers return error codes to Windows. Below is a comprehensive list of NTSTATUS codes defined in ntstatus.h: Status Value Description STATUS_WAIT_0 0x0 STATUS_SUCCESS STATUS_SUCCESS 0x0 STATUS_SUCCESS STATUS_WAIT_1…

  • Dell keyboard height is too low in the back

    I deploy a lot of Dell computers and one gripe I hear over and over is that the new Dell keyboards don’t adjust high enough in the back. The problem is a design flaw where on newer Dell keyboards the extendable legs or feet in the back don’t extend far enough for most users. As…

  • Remove the MoneyPak FBI virus

    A couple of weeks ago, one of my clients had a machine infected by the MoneyPak FBI scam virus/malware. The MoneyPak variant works by suppressing all computer programs basically rendering the system unusable while displaying a fake warning message from the FBI stating that all activities on the PC are being recorded/encrypted. The fake message…

  • Postini message center freezes IE8/IE9

    Got a lot of reports about the Google Message Center freezing in IE8/IE9 this week and determined that this is a problem with an older version of the Java JRE. To resolve this issue simply download and install the latest version of the Java JRE. You may also want to take this opportunity to remove…

  • Adobe Acrobat 9 blank error message

    I hate Acrobat 9. Among it’s many shortcomings is this idiotic incremental upgrade procedure, but I digress. Unfortunately many penny wise business owners don’t understand that up-to-date software is inexplicably tied to employee productivity and insist that they want to keep using that Acrobat 9 license they purchased in ’06. So as an IT guy…

  • Tivo Slide Bluetooth remote for SageTV

    Yes, I’m still using SageTV. I just can’t get away from it, plus the 6 or so terabytes of recorded content are going to take me years to go through. So to make a long story shot, the Firefly wireless remote I had been using to control SageTV got progressively worse and I finally replaced…

  • Banish Skype to the notification area

    If you’ve got the latest version of Skype, you may have noticed that it doesn’t disappear from your task bar when you close the program. This is extremely annoying to me. I understand that the program is still running, but why can’t it do that in the notification area (which is the designated area for…

  • Delete a windows service

    The more applications you install, the more services are created on your Windows computer. Services in Windows are akin to daemons on a Mac or Linux system. They run in the background and perform various tasks. Sometimes when you uninstall an application from Windows, its service(s) are left behind by the uninstaller. These left behind…

  • Links in Outlook 2010 won’t work

    Some pictures part of HTML email messages do not render in the message preview pane in Microsoft Outlook 2010. Also, when clicking links in Outlook 2010, the following message is observed: This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator. The problem is most likely not…

  • Printkey 2000 – An Oldie but a Goodie

    Printkey 2000 is really just another screen printing tool. It’s a bit dated in its design and I’ve had it crash on me a couple of times over the years, but it has some great features that are hard to find in other screenshot apps. Here are some of the reasons people may still use PrintKey…