Another solution for "Slow Computer" symptoms: Hard Drive Transfer Mode

Already defragmented the computer? Cleaned out Temp files, ran CCleaner, created new user profiles? Even gone so far as re-installing the operating system, and the system is still just as sluggish? Read on..

The problem may be that Windows has switched the transfer mode of the hard drive(s) in your computer. NOTE: This is for IDE/PATA hard drives, on Windows XP.

1. Go into the Device Manager 
2. Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers
3. Select the Primary IDE Channel, go to Properties 
4. Click on the Advanced Settings tab
5. Check to see if Current Transfer Mode is PIO or Ultra DMA Mode 5. If it is PIO, that is your problem. 

To fix this you'll want to simply uninstall the Primary IDE Channel device and reboot. Windows will automatically detect and reinstall drivers for it, setting the transfer mode to the default, which is Ultra DMA Mode 5.

How to reclaim a massive amount of Hard Drive space (hiberfil.sys)

The Hibernate mode on your computer differs from a Sleep mode in two ways. Sleep places your documents and running programs in memory (RAM), and then switches to very low power consumption. Hibernate places your documents and running programs on the hard disk, and will then switch to an ultra low power consumption mode (even less than Sleep). This is ideal for laptops that will be left for long periods of time without access to a charger.

Hibernate takes a snapshot of your currently running session, and saves it to the hard disk. On Windows XP, this file is equal to the amount of RAM on your computer, which can be quite a large file on some computers. On Windows 7, it is equal to 75% of the total amount of RAM.

To reclaim this space, you will need to disable Hibernate mode on your computer


For Windows XP:

1. Open up the Control Panel, and click on Power Options.
2. On the Power Options and Properties page, click on the Hibernate tab.
3. Remove the checkmark next to "Enable Hibernation".


For Windows Vista and 7:

Disable Hibernate The Easy Way:

1. Open an elevated command prompt, and type powercfg -h off

Disable Hibernate The Long Way:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Click on Power Options
3. Click on Change plan settings for your power settings
4. Click on Change advanced power settings 
5. In the list expand Sleep
6. Expand both Hibernate after and Allow hybrid sleep, and set them to Never and Off, respectively.
7. When finished, click Apply.

Macbook Air Kernel Panic (after LCD/screen repair)

Our fix today comes from user "guilleamodeo", from the Apple Knowledge Base. The full discussion can be found here: https://discussions.apple.com/message/25114007#25114007


I originally saw this problem on a 2008 Macbook Air. Directly after I replaced the LCD cable (which involved removing the front face of the LCD screen) the computer would go to Kernel Panic immediately, whenever the screen brightness was set to Full. Although this KP was constant, I did see other Kernel Panics, both on booting the computer, as well as using the camera.

Though some people point to a specific driver update after OS X 10.5.2, one item for sure that is causing the issue is the Apple Backlight control. You can see this when reviewing the Diagnostics Report, as it is the last item loaded. There is a brief moment, right before the Log In screen, where you will see the screen flash - this is the operating system adjusting the lighting. It will try to adjust to full, causing the Kernel Panic.

THE FIX  

This fix, unfortunately, has a side effect. You will no longer be able to control the brightness using the keyboard keys. Be advised. You will be adjusting the filesystem directly.

1. Boot into single user mode (hold the Command - S keys on boot up)

2. Open Terminal, and enter /sbin/fcsk -fy then /sbin/mount -uw /

3. Next, in Terminal, type mv -r /System/Library/Extensions/com.apple.AppleBacklightExpert.kext /oldext


This will move the .kext which gives control of the backlight to a separate folder, effectively "disabling" it.

Why is the .NK2 file so fragile?

Those using Outlook 2000, 2003, or 2007, know that the nickname file seems to "forget" addresses at random. A bit of an outdated component, now that Office 2010 and newer utilize Suggested Contacts, but the issue remains. Why does Outlook not remembering email addresses that I send to?

Diane Poremsky over at SlipStick.com has a suggestion: Outlook clears lesser-used addresses from the nickname file. The limit she quotes was 1000 remembered address for Outlook 2000 and 2003, or 2000 remembered address for Outlook 2007. This means that as you send to new email addresses, they will automatically replace addresses that are not as often used.

I haven't seen this information repeated anywhere else, but it makes sense. Especially since the nickname file never grows very large (I've never seen one larger than 2MB).

At the very least, it is a better explanation than "I don't know why the auto-complete addresses keep disappearing from your Outlook!".

Dell laptop BIOS files (for older notebooks)

I wanted to pass on a website that I stumbled across which contains a number of BIOS files for older Dell notebooks.

Dell doesn't have some of the older Inspiron, Dxxx, or Cxxx BIOS files available in their archives, so thankfully, we have Bay-Wolf.

http://www.bay-wolf.com/flashbios.htm

Breaking News: Google Apps Sync may not work with Dell MessageONE Outlook Plug-in

If you are using the newest version of Google Apps Sync, you may receive this message:

There are many "fixes" posted online, about deleting the Google Apps Sync password, restoring the .pst file, etc., but the one that worked for me was disabling the Dell MessageONE Outlook add-in.

This problem can occur for both Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007 users. Keep in mind, that you may need to create a generic Outlook account just so that you can get access to Outlook.

Disable Add-Ins in Outlook 2003: Tools > Options > Advanced Options > Add-In Manager. Uncheck the box next to "MessageOne Outlook Extension".

Disable Add-Ins in Outlook 2007: Tools > Trust Center > Add-Ins > (change the drop down list to) Exchange Client Add-Ins (click "Go"). Uncheck the box next to "MessageOne Outlook Extension".


The Dell MessageOne add-in is not needed when connecting to a Google Apps account (it is a continuity agent, but has security logging capabilities).

Blackberry: Changing language input results in blank emails

Spoiler alert: if your email system adds signatures to employee emails, try disabling that.


We had an employee who needed to be able to switch back and forth between Japanese and English text input when writing emails. Setting up a new language pack on the Blackberry is not terribly difficult (instructions here), but the issue occurred when she would change from Japanese back to English. From that point on, any emails sent from the device would be blank. The subject line would come through, but no text in the body.


We tried all manner of troubleshooting. Pulling the battery, trying other Blackberries, re-installing the Operating System (as well as the language pack), etc. 


What we finally realized, was that the signature (which our email system automatically adds to the bottom of all employee emails) was disappearing along with all other text. We had previously encountered issues with a product on iPhones that took offense to our signature system, so the thought entered our minds to disable the signature for this user. Long story short, that worked. The encoding included in the signature-adding process was not compatible with the Language Packs, and was resulting in corrupted emails.




Tested with:


Blackberries: 8310 Curve and 9700 Bold


BES Version: 5.0.3.31


Language Pack: East Asin Language Pack 5.0.0.541


Service Provider: AT&T