After having uninstalled an application, I rebooted my system. Windows 7 would not boot. I got a BSOD problem suggesting that I try "chkdsk /f" - going into the recovery or repair console I went to the command prompt and entered that, but to no avail. The system reboots and returns to the same problem.
Somehow my system restore was off. I could not restore my system !
I look up a solution that requires that I enter the recovery console :
1. at the command prompt enter "regedit"
2. Determine the latest loaded driver or program correspond to the latest driver
3. HKLM - file->load hive>system32\config\SYSTEM - name as OFFLINE
4. Remove the keys / entries related to the latest installed hardware
5. Unload hive
Reboot.
If that does not work, make a back up of all your personal data on another disk. Leave your whole user profile as it may cause problems with future installations of windows.
Install Windows 7 on a clean partition and re-install all your software.
It may not seem as straight forward as old XP where you could reinstall to repair problems, but it does eliminate the risk of old problems coming back from lingering drivers or system files.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Smartphones are not good for the environment
Print out a page of where you want to go. Print out 1000 pages. Still it will take less resources than manufacturing many of the components of your touchphone.
Take a regular "feature phone", drop it on the concrete floor. Pick it up, keep on using it. Try that with a glass screen iPhone.
I can access e-mail, google maps, etc, on my 2006 phone, why should I pay 4 times as much for a limited data plan and get no real additional functionality.
An FM radio has a longer life than 64 GB of music or podcasts etc. There is something nice about having someone else do the programming.
If your current phone only needs a new battery, that should be no more than 5$. At least you will be able to change that battery.
Take a regular "feature phone", drop it on the concrete floor. Pick it up, keep on using it. Try that with a glass screen iPhone.
I can access e-mail, google maps, etc, on my 2006 phone, why should I pay 4 times as much for a limited data plan and get no real additional functionality.
An FM radio has a longer life than 64 GB of music or podcasts etc. There is something nice about having someone else do the programming.
If your current phone only needs a new battery, that should be no more than 5$. At least you will be able to change that battery.
Monday, August 29, 2011
iPhone 5 features voice and SMS communication
You probably heard that yet another iPhone is coming out: The iPhone 5.
According to reports, it will be just another touch screen phone. Although the were plans to make the screen bigger, it seems like it will remains at a size large enough to fit in a blazer pocket.
One of the greatest features of the phone is ability to use voice. Given that SMS currently dominate the use of mobile phones, the reintroduction of voice communication will allow people to communicate in real time without text.
According to reports, it will be just another touch screen phone. Although the were plans to make the screen bigger, it seems like it will remains at a size large enough to fit in a blazer pocket.
One of the greatest features of the phone is ability to use voice. Given that SMS currently dominate the use of mobile phones, the reintroduction of voice communication will allow people to communicate in real time without text.
Assholes usually get bad customer service
Have you ever worked in customer service or tech support?
It may not be much fun, nor does it pay well, but is something that is needed in today's economy so that a company can stay afloat. Sometimes the associates at tech support are less knowledgeable than they should be. It is a job rather than a passion or hobby. Could you imagine a tech support line for English grammar or bad hair days?
When I look at people's complaints about technical service, I understand as I have had my fair share of poor tech support over the phone or through e-mail. When dealing with customer support, it is important to be courteous, polite and patient. I recall a few years ago I helped a friend with a Apple iBook which had a display failure. Apparently there was a recall for the video chip that got partly unsoldered from the logic board, but the recall did not reach everybody. I took the responsibility of contacting customer support, and eventually going to the local shop. Although tech support did provide a solution not going to cost that much money (200$), the retailer's technician was incompetent. He changed the LCD before changing the logic board. The problem was not resolved, other than me spending about 350$ towards a new MacBook that my colleague bought. I just wanted the problem to go away and not have to deal with person who I was intending to help.
The internet has hopefully reduced the costs that companies have to spend on tech support, but it may have also contributed to the calls that support technicians receive that cause them to roll their eyes.
It may not be much fun, nor does it pay well, but is something that is needed in today's economy so that a company can stay afloat. Sometimes the associates at tech support are less knowledgeable than they should be. It is a job rather than a passion or hobby. Could you imagine a tech support line for English grammar or bad hair days?
When I look at people's complaints about technical service, I understand as I have had my fair share of poor tech support over the phone or through e-mail. When dealing with customer support, it is important to be courteous, polite and patient. I recall a few years ago I helped a friend with a Apple iBook which had a display failure. Apparently there was a recall for the video chip that got partly unsoldered from the logic board, but the recall did not reach everybody. I took the responsibility of contacting customer support, and eventually going to the local shop. Although tech support did provide a solution not going to cost that much money (200$), the retailer's technician was incompetent. He changed the LCD before changing the logic board. The problem was not resolved, other than me spending about 350$ towards a new MacBook that my colleague bought. I just wanted the problem to go away and not have to deal with person who I was intending to help.
The internet has hopefully reduced the costs that companies have to spend on tech support, but it may have also contributed to the calls that support technicians receive that cause them to roll their eyes.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Slim margins - bad corporate social responsibility
In the past number of years, I have bought more electronics than I should have. Taking them apart for fun, or trying to fix them has allowed me to understand some aspects of design, assembly and costs.
Unfortunately some manufacturers, or should I say small entrepreneurs, may omit some parts to save on costs. For example, one can easily find a 7-portUSB hub without the capacitors that should be found at each port to avoid a power down of the hub when a new device is plugged in. Sometimes a 12MHz crystal is missing making the hub only USB 1.1. The costs of electronic manufacturing have dropped significantly, but being competitive is only possible if you are not having to recall products.
Ì feel guilty when I have to tell sellers on ebay that the items are defective, plain knock offs or just not working properly. If the products were advertised properly ie. USB N with true range of 15m I doubt that anyone would complain if they knew what they were getting, but sometimes the products just don't work at all.
Unfortunately some manufacturers, or should I say small entrepreneurs, may omit some parts to save on costs. For example, one can easily find a 7-portUSB hub without the capacitors that should be found at each port to avoid a power down of the hub when a new device is plugged in. Sometimes a 12MHz crystal is missing making the hub only USB 1.1. The costs of electronic manufacturing have dropped significantly, but being competitive is only possible if you are not having to recall products.
Ì feel guilty when I have to tell sellers on ebay that the items are defective, plain knock offs or just not working properly. If the products were advertised properly ie. USB N with true range of 15m I doubt that anyone would complain if they knew what they were getting, but sometimes the products just don't work at all.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Leaving facebook because it is obsolete
Refusing facebook?
Maybe I missed out on things in this world because I did not facebook, as I had no interest in exposing myself. I should mention that few of my friends were interested in social media as well.
Maybe I missed out on things in this world because I did not facebook, as I had no interest in exposing myself. I should mention that few of my friends were interested in social media as well.
OSX 86 PCI configuration begin hang
If you are having problems with booting OSX after you installed a kext here are some solutions :
1) At boot, try to boot in safe mode
-x npci=0x2000
2) If you had the problem just after installing sleepenabler.kext
Try a boot flag
-x npci=0x2000 pmVersion=0
3) If you have the original Snow Leopard OSX boot disc and an EFI boot disc, go the the installation using the EFI, then OSX disc. From there you can go to the /Volume/YOURDISCNAME ... System/Library/Extensions and then remove the problematic kext.
4) If the problem persists, you will have to access the drive to remove the problematic kext.
Puppy Linux was the solution for me. You need to access a HFS+ partition
In a command terminal I entered :
# modprobe hfs
# modprobe hfsplus
# mount -t hfsplus /dev/sdb2 /mnt/flash/
Open the /mnt/flash directory in ROX (or the command line)
Go to System/Library/Extensions and remove the kext
1) At boot, try to boot in safe mode
-x npci=0x2000
2) If you had the problem just after installing sleepenabler.kext
Try a boot flag
-x npci=0x2000 pmVersion=0
3) If you have the original Snow Leopard OSX boot disc and an EFI boot disc, go the the installation using the EFI, then OSX disc. From there you can go to the /Volume/YOURDISCNAME ... System/Library/Extensions and then remove the problematic kext.
4) If the problem persists, you will have to access the drive to remove the problematic kext.
Puppy Linux was the solution for me. You need to access a HFS+ partition
In a command terminal I entered :
# modprobe hfs
# modprobe hfsplus
# mount -t hfsplus /dev/sdb2 /mnt/flash/
Open the /mnt/flash directory in ROX (or the command line)
Go to System/Library/Extensions and remove the kext
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