Windows 7 Search in Start Menu bar is broken

Posted on March 7th, 2010 in Microsoft, Server 2008, Windows 7 by Gil Kreslavsky

 

I got this after installing some update, can’t say exactly which.
The problem symptom is that when you type anything in search bar it looks like that
Search programs and files

To solve it.

Go to Run> type regedit.exe

Navigate to :HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{EF87B4CB-F2CE-4785-8658-4CA6C63E38C6}\TopViews\

You will see a key named {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}
Just rename it to anything else like {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}.Orig

After you rename the key , start Task manager and kill the explorer.exe process

Run the process again from file>New Task (Run..)

File new task Run

Type in bar explorer.exe

And Walla!

It works!

Microsoft published a hotfix that addresses the issue in Windows 7 and 2008R2

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977380

Vista Unable to send Fax – Error: Media is write protected

Posted on March 16th, 2009 in Microsoft, Vista by Gil Kreslavsky

To fix fax sending issue in Windows Vista:

  • Click Start >in search field type “regedit“  hit Enter
  • Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Fax
  • On the right pane find and click on ArchiveFolder
  • Check if  the value of the key is  C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows NT\MSFax if not fill it
    note:The location can be D:\ or any other windows installation folder
  • Reboot your Vista

Configure Fax Windows Server 2008

Posted on December 10th, 2008 in Microsoft, Server 2008 by Gil Kreslavsky

Configure Fax properties – Windows server 2008

  • Within Server Manager, expand Roles and then expand Fax Server.
  • Right-click Fax and choose Properties.
  • On the Receipts tab, click the box labeled Enable SMTP E-Mail Receipts Delivery and
    enter a From e-mail address, SMTP server address, and port number.
  • Select the Activity Logging tab. Click the boxes next to Log Incoming Fax Activity and
    Log Outgoing Fax Activity.
  • In the Activity Log Folder text box, enter the path to store the activity log. The default
    location is C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows NT\MSFax\ActivityLog.
  • Select the Outbox tab, check the Automatically Delete Faxes Older Than option and
    then choose the number of days to keep faxes.
  • Select the Archives tab and then check Archive All Faxes to This Folder.
  • Browse to the location that should be used to store archived faxes. The default is
    C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows NT\MSFax.
  • To allow faxes to be reassigned, select the Accounts tab and then check the On box
    under Reassign Settings.
  • Click OK.

Defining a Dialing Rule

Setting up dialing rules will help the fax server understand what your area requires. For
example, most locations in the United States require dialing a 1 before dialing a number
outside a local area code. When dialing within an area code, only 7 digits are needed.
Alternatively, if a local area uses 10-digit dialing, a user has to put in an area code plus the
7-digit phone number. As you can see, by setting up the dialing rules first, you keep your
users from having to enter numbers such as 1 before the area code.You can configure the
following options for dialing rules:
Dialed Number You can enter a region code and area code.
Target Device Choose to apply your rule to devices.

Configuring a Dialing Rule

  • Under Fax Server in Server Manager, expand Outgoing Routing.
  • Right-click on Rules and choose New and then Rule.
  • In the Dialed Number section of the Add New Rule dialog box, enter your region
    code. If you are unsure, click Select and then choose from the list.
  • In the Target Device section, choose whether you want this rule to apply to a device
    or a routing group and then choose from the list in the drop-down box.
  • Click OK.

Manual Remove of Winspywareprotectscan.exe

Posted on July 16th, 2008 in Malicious Software, Spyware, Virus by Gil Kreslavsky

Risk Level : Very High ( Dangerous )

Symptoms

Pop up balloon warning messages claiming that your PC is infected.

* “Critical System Error”,
* “Your computer is infected”,

Search and kill the following processes

* antivirus.v.1.0.0, WinSpywareProtect.EXE, WinSpywareProtectSetup.exe

Remove Scan.Winspywareprotectscan.com files & dlls files

* antivirus.v.1.0.0,
* WinSpywareProtect.EXE,
* WinSpywareProtectSetup.exe

Remove/Modify corrupt Registry Entries

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WinSpywareProtect
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Uninstall\WinSpywareProtect
HKEY_ALL_USERS\Software\Adsl Software Limited
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TacOnlyOne

Use Shield Deluxe 2008 – Antivirus & Anti-Spyware to scan yor computer for other threats

Remove Virusheat.com trojan

Posted on February 17th, 2008 in Malicious Software, Spyware, Virus by Gil Kreslavsky

Virus Heat is a Trojan.Win32 . More or less, it does degrade performance of computers and generate annoying pop up witch send you to virusheat.com.

Virus Heat Manual Removal Process:

1. Go to Control Panel >Add or Remove Programs and uninstall Virus Heat

2. Close all programs.

3. Go to >Start>Run >regedit find and delete key

“HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\

Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Virus Heat”

4. Restart the computer.

5. Stop Virus Heat process

6. Find and delete the following infected files from your system. Don’t worry if you don’t find these files. Just proceed to next step. Virus Heat 3.9.exe, wuuawkz.dll , iinqyl.dll

7. Go to C:\Program Files\ folder and delete the “Virus Heat” folder (if you can’t delete it, reboot your computer to safe mode then delete the folder.

8. After all steps go to http://siri.geekstogo.com/SmitfraudFix.php and download last version of Smitfraudfix.exe

9. Reboot the computer in safe mode and run the utility.

W32.BAGLE virus – wintems.exe hldrrr.exe srosa.sys

Posted on February 9th, 2008 in Malicious Software, Spyware, Virus by Gil Kreslavsky

W32.BAGLE virus – wintems.exe hldrrr.exe srosa.sys

I must say that with all my of experience that one was one of the hardest to remove ..
It disables your current antivirus software, prohibit you from accessing system in safe mode , and changes names each time it starts.

So.. Here are the steps

Go to http://www.majorgeeks.com/GMER_d5198.html and download GMER
Run the tool and when it finds wintems.exe process kill him..

  1. Run regedit go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache and see all entries regarding “C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers” .
  2. In Explorer window Go to> tools>folder options>view and select show hidden files
  3. Browse to your C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers .. find drivers folder and try to delete all files listed in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache
  4. Scan your system with panda online scanner (the only one that actually cleans , not only detects
  5. Install anti virus program, download last updates and do a full scan to your system

Of course there is always an option to reapply service pack or do a reinstall to your system.

The problem is solved !

Thanks to Eran Amir