Tag Archives: windows

Display Tabs Missing In Windows XP (NOT via POLICY)

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Got a Windows XP Machine? Got missing Display Tabs? Tried all the other fixes that tell you to fudge with system policy settings in the registry?

Try this:

Here’s some words to help search engines find this. Missing display tabs. Display tabs missing. Not policy. Policy didn’t work. Changing the registry doesn’t work. Tabs are really small. Tabs are invisible. Invisible tabs. I can still click on the tabs, but they are really small, almost invisible.

Fix missing services & Active Directory / Remote Desktop / Network Printer Missing

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It’s a two-fer today.

First off,  if you have a Windows XP machine (2k variants, too probably) that has a completely missing, yet normally present system service, lets say like, Windows Audio, you can fix it fairly easily by "grafting" it back in from another computer.

  • Find another computer with the same version of XP/2k/2k3/Vista
  • On that computer, Run regedit
  • go to HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Services
  • Find the system service on the good one that is missing on the broken one
  • Right click it’s key and extract it somewheres
  • Take the resulting .reg file to the broken machine and import it
  • Reboot the broken machine
  • Fixed!!

And now, part 2! This is a weird thing, and I will try to explain it in a way that helps people find this online in the future. If:

  • You have an Active Directory Domain
  • A Terminal Services server users log into (or a Domain Controller using the 2 remote administration consoles)
  • Users at a physically different location
  • A printer mapped on the Terminal Services server OVER THE LOCAL NETWORK
  • This mapped printer is physically attached to another computer in the same network as the Terminal Services machine
  • AND for some reason Terminal Services users cannot even SEE the printer when logged in via RDP/Remote Desktop

This occurs, usually, because the computer to which the printer is attached does not give Domain Users rights to print to it. Yeah, I know, I thought the server would override local workstation security, but it apparently does not.

  • Go physically to the computer where the printer is connected
  • Go into the printer properties
  • Hit the Security Tab
  • Add Domain Users and give them "Print" control.
  • Apply, OK
  • Fixed.

Lego Wiki – On a Windows Box?

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Well, it seems that if my hosting provider is willing to do some custom installation for me, then I can probably have a Wiki on their windows server.

What sucks about this entire wiki situation, is that because inanis.net is hosted on a windows box, the blog is a .NET application, and can't be moved to a linux box. I also don't feel like trying to hand convert all the blog entries, so the site will have to stay on windows. This means if I want wiki,  I need a seperate domain/ip address/server for it, or somehow get it on the windows server.

Anyways, Take a look here.

I also found that there is a wiki software called OpenWiki that runs natively on Windows servers. Might have to try that out! 

Smart and Stupid

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One of my technicians was having a problem with a CD-ROM drive. Any optical drive he attached would not work in Windows, and the Device Manager gave an error like “Error 31: Cannot load the drivers for this device.”

I had seen the problem before and knew it was related to UpperFilters and LowerFilters in the registry, but I, in a stupid moment, couldn’t remember that detail, so I couldn’t find the registry entry.

My technician, however, was really smart and was able to find a fix for the problem on his own, about an hour later. The moment he said UpperFilters, the fix came rushing back into my brain.

Beware of the Upper and LowerFilters issue. Some CD/DVD writer software and even some malware plug themselves in there, and can cause you headaches if the filter driver file becomes lost or corrupt.

Microsoft Knowledge Base Article