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What To Do When System Restore Fails

Lately, I have been installing and testing several software products and my laptop is starting to get flaky.  It has slowed down and no longer goes into standby when closing the lid.  In my experience, the easiest fix for this type of problem is to use Microsoft's System Restore.  Simply pick a restore point from before the testing and let System Restore do it's magic.

 

 

I started System Restore, picked a restore point and sent it off to work – or so I thought.  System Restore ran as it should, restarted the computer, but then displayed a dialog box explaining that System Restore did not finish what it set out to do.  Amongst the rather not so helpful text in the dialog box, it said, “an unspecified error occurred during System Restore (0x80071a90).”  Humm…I guess this means that System Restore did not work.  The message goes on the further suggest that I try other restore points - which I did.  Lamentably, trying other restore points proved futile.  I was soon to discovered that broken restore points were not the issue.

System Restore can fail because some software on your computer doesn't understand or respect System Restore.  Common culprits are virus and malware protection products and other programs that are typically loaded to provide some type of background service.

If there is any good news here it is that getting around these problems with System Restore is rather easy.  Following, I offer 2 approaches that may help.  Neither of these will destroy data that is on your computer.  However, it goes without saying that you should always make a backup of your important data before you work on your computer.

Run System Restore in Safe Mode

Start Windows in safe mode. To run Windows in safe mode, turn on or restart your computer.  When the splash screen from the PC’s manufacturer is displayed, hold down the F8 key.  You will see a text based screen with several options appear that will look a lot like Figure 1 below.  Using the up and down arrow keys, select the option “Safe Mode”, then hit the enter key on your keyboard.  The computer will start Windows in safe mode which is Windows with a limited set of files and drivers.  If Windows loads normally, try repeating the instructions above.

Figure 1
Safe Mode

 

Next start System Restore.  You can access System Restore from the System Tools menu in the Accessories group.  Select the restore point that you want and follow the onscreen instructions.  Your computer will restart, Windows will load and present a dialog box telling you whether or not System Restore was successful.  If System Restore was not successful, try the next approach.

Run System Restore in a Clean Boot Environment

Start Windows by performing a clean boot.  Below, there are links to instructions for different versions of Windows:

Windows Vista or Windows 7:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353

Next start System Restore.  You can access System Restore from the System Tools menu in the Accessories group.  Select the restore point that you want and follow the onscreen instructions.  Your computer will restart, Windows will load and present a dialog box telling you whether or not System Restore was successful.  Hopefully, System Restore worked and you are now happy.  However, if you're unhappy and are still not able to get System Restore to work, it may be time for more drastic action like backing up your data, formatting your hard drive, and reinstalling Windows.  If you don't know how to do this, I suggest that you contact a local PC support company to assist you.

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Problem Solved: My iPhone Skips Songs When I Ride My Bike

I've been on a quest to find a product that will let me safely listen to music when I ride my bike.  The operating word here is safely.  Headphones don't cut it as they block the ear canal.  So, you can't hear what's going on around you.  Another solution I've considered is mounting speakers on the handlebars.  But they require batteries and add weight to the bike.  I've looked at a number of possible speakers, but nothing resonated with me.  As I continued to look, I became aware of a new product called the Tunebug Shake by Silicon Valley Global LLC. The Shake is a very cool product - it uses SurfaceSound speaker technology making a helmet into a speaker and bluetooth for a wireless connection between it and the music player. The Shake just started shipping in June.  So, I ordered one.

Silicon Valley Global describes the Shake as:

"Mobile music typically means listening through headphones, dangerously isolating yourself from others and your environment. The Tunebug Shake is an ultra-portable sound generator that can be connected to iPods, MP3 players or mobile phones or used wirelessly using Bluetooth®. When mounted on a bike, skate or snowboard helmet, the Shake creates a surround sound experience."

I received my Shake, charged it up, and fitted it to my bike helmet.  I tried it with my iPhone 3G.  The bluetooth setup with straight forward and worked the first time.  I turned on iPod and listened to music.  I did the same with Pandora.  I tried connecting the Shake with a stereo cable.  The music sounded fuller and louder.  I'm a bit hard of hearing.  So, having good volume is helpful to me. 

I have an iPhone holder on my bike.  So, I mounted the iPhone, connected the Shake, and went for a ride.  Everything started off great.  I now had music that I could hear well and still be totally aware of all of the sounds around me.  Unfortunately, that didn't last long.  As I continued to ride, the iPod application started to randomly change songs on me.  I have never had this problem before with my iPhone and a number of different headphones and speakers. 

I fiddled with the wiring, the controls, the iPhone, the Shake, restarted the iPhone, read through the Shake documentation, and looked at the support area on the Tunebug website.  Unfortunately, I didn't find anything that could explain the random song changing.  Could it be a faulty Shake?  Could it be interfance from my wireless bike computer?  Could it be a bad cable?  I tested everything and found no solution.  But I did notice one thing - when my bike was stationary, the iPhone didn't skip songs. It only skipped songs when I was riding.

In growing frustration, I called Tunebug support.  My call was answered immediately.  They took my information and told me that I would be contacted in short order.  The folks at Tunebug were very responsive, but since the device is new and hasn't been exposed to all user scenarios, they didn't have a fix.  I agreed to do some more testing and they agreed to discuss the problem with engineering.  That was yesterday.

Today, I got an email from Tunebug.  They told me that they have had other reports of this problem with iPhone and iTouch.  And better, they provided a simple fix.  This is the version of the fix for an iPhone:

1. Open Settings
2. Select iPod
3. In the iPod setting, turn off "Shake to Shuffle"

This sure did make me laugh.  I had no idea that this feature was available and set to on by default.  I think that it's even funnier since the name of the feature is the same as the name of the Tunebug product.

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Unsupported Audio Signal. Please Check Your Device Output.

I have a nice home entertainment center.  Nearly everyone who watches a movie at my house comments that they really like it.  Recently, I added a Nintendo Wii to my entertainment center.  Soon, I started to receive an error message on the HDTV saying “Unsupported audio signal. Please check your device output.“

As a tech, I made the logical assumption that the error message had to do with the Wii.  So, I started to look at the Wii connections and settings.  Unfortunately, nothing I did eliminated the error message.  It still flashed on my screen every once in a while for about 10 seconds. 

I realized a couple of things as I continued to troubleshoot the problem.  First, the error message only appeared when displaying output from the computer connected to the HDTV, not from the cable box.  Also, the error message didn’t tell me which component was generating the message.  Was it the computer, the receiver, or the HDTV?

An Internet search helped me learn that the error message is common to several Sony HDTVs.  But, there seemed to be a general confusion as to what the error message means.  In my view,  Sony TVs do little to tell you that they are the source of the error message, nor what input channel is causing the error.  I had to spend a lot of time troubleshooting this error message in order to resolve it.  If Sony simply told me that it was a Sony generated error and which channel was faulty, I would have been much better off and able to fix the issue much more quickly.  This unfortunately, was not the case.

This is the original error message:

"Unsupported audio signal. Please check your device output."

This is my suggestion for an improved error message:

"The Sony HDTV is having an audio input problem on HDMI 3."

I did solve the mystery after a couple of days of on and off troubleshooting.  My computer is connected to the Sony HDTV via HDMI.  HDMI has the ability to carry both video and audio.  Often a computer is connected to a HDTV via HDMI, but the sound is routed to the receiver for sound processing.  In my case, I use an optical connection from the computer to the receiver for sound processing.  I've had my home entertainment center setup and working without errors for close to a year.  Why it started to report an error now is beyond me.  My fix was to use a DVI to HDMI adapter and connect the HDMI cable to the DVI port on the computer.  The screen resolution was unaffected and the error message vanished as the DVI port does not transmit sound as an HDMI port does.

I love my Sony HDTV.  I only wish that Sony did a better job reporting errors.

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Microsoft Security Essentials: Reasonable Security for Free

I'm awfully sick of bulky security products.  You know, those do-anything-anti-everything products from Symantec, McAfee and the others.  Over the last 6 months, my client call volume increased dramatically with complaints of slowing computers.  My customers were not be assaulted by spyware and adware.  They were under assault from their trusted security vendors raising pigs - bloated anti-everything products.  If you have a 3 year old PC with a 2 GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, you may find the machine nearly useless overnight due to the latest antivirus update.

So, I began a quest to find a great security product based on new criteria – it must be small and use limited system resources.  As well, it must install in under 5 minutes.  Anything that takes longer is such a dead giveaway that it’s bloatware.  I started looking at the options and spent time with a number of products including Kaspersky, Viper from SunBelt Software, and ClamWin, an open source antivirus program.  I started installing Kaspersky on a number of client PCs with good results.  

However, there was a downside to this choice.  Most PC users now have access to ‘free’ antivirus software from their internet service providers.  Comcast and AT&T, my 2 providers, offer McAfee to their users at no additional cost.  It’s quite a tempting offer until it renders your PC somewhat useless.

Now enters Microsoft to offer Microsoft Security Essentials.  I have been testing the product on 4 of my PCs, and I must admit, Microsoft has done a decent job on this product.  So far in my testing, I have not seen any problems.  In fact, it’s proving to be a great product.  I'm especially pleased with its performance on my netbook.  Most netbooks are optimized for long battery life – the opposite of performance.  Most antivirus suites kill any remaining performance in a netbook.  But Microsoft Security Essentials' small profile is perfect for these low performance computers.

Here is what I like about Security Essentials:

• It’s readily available at no cost
• It installed very quickly
• It’s small and doesn’t have much overhead
• It installs on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7
• It can catch most common virus and malware problems

If you are interested in trying it, you can download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials.  Just remember to remove your old bloated antivirus software in the add/remove programs section of the Control Panel before installing it.

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How to Run Bioshock on Windows 7

I admit it.  I like to play games on my computer.  My latest gaming obsession is Bioshock. For me, it's a great game and I'm having a blast working through it. 

I recently purchased it for $19.99 from Steam, downloaded it, and got extremely frustrated because I couldn't get it to work with Windows 7.  Every time I started the game, I got a small splash screen saying BIOSHOCK followed by an error message stating, "bioshock.exe has stopped working..."

As tech people do, I went hunting for a solution on Google.  I updated video drivers and Direct X, uninstalled and reinstalled C++ runtimes, uninstalled and reinstalled the game, and tried running it in a variety of Windows compatibility modes.  I still could not get it to work. 

So, I kept digging and I finally found a fix that has been working just fine.  Here is what I did:

1. First, make sure that you meet the minimum hardware requirements and that you are running the latest drivers for your video card.  You know, this is the basic stuff that you need to do for any game issue.
2. Next, go to Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, Manage Audio Devices, and select the Recording tab.
3. Next, right click the empty space below the installed devices and check Show Disabled Devices. 
4. The Stereo Mix should appear.  Right click on the icon and enable it.  Then, click on OK to close the window and then close the Control Panel.
5. Next, locate the bioshock.exe file. Mine is located here: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\bioshock\Builds\Release\Bioshock.exe".  Right click on it and select Properties.  Select the Compatibility tab and and check "Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows Vista". 
6. To start the game, double click on the bioshock.exe file.

This is what I did and everything about Bioshock is running great.

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Revisited: Insidious MS Antivirus Removal Instructions

I last wrote about MS Antivirus and its derivatives in March of 2009.  In recent weeks, this parasite has been extremely active as I have seen a significant spike in service calls.  According to the Wikipedia, this parasite is going by many names: XP Antivirus, Vitae Antivirus, Windows Antivirus, Win Antivirus, Antivirus Pro, Antivirus Pro 2009, Antivirus 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 360, Internet Antivirus Plus, System Antivirus, Spyware Guard 2008 and 2009, Spyware Protect 2009, Winweb Security 2008, System Security, Malware Defender 2009, Ultimate Antivirus2008, Vista Antivirus, General Antivirus, AntiSpywareMaster, Antispyware 2008, XP AntiSpyware 2008 and 2009, WinPCDefender, Antivirus XP Pro, and Anti-Virus-1.

Before I provide instructions on how to remove this parasite, I have a few words of advice.  This parasite will tell you that your computer is infected with many things, and if you buy it for $29.95, $34.95, or 49.95, etc., if will fix your computer.  If you have given this parasite your credit card, immediately stop what you are doing and cancel your credit card.  That said, these instructions have worked on removing the parasite from many computers.  But if you have interacted with this thing a lot or have one of the more destructive versions on your computer, you may end up with no other option than to rescue your data, format your hard drive and reinstall your operating system and applications.  If you don’t know how to do this, contact your local computer professional for assistance.

OK, here’s what to do when you are infected. 

1. Don’t interact with it.  If possible, use Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up the task list and kill the window which is telling you that your computer is infected.
2. Step #1 - Run System Restore.  You can do this by clicking on Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore.  Select a restore point from before you got infected and run system restore.  If you have no restore points or you run System Restore and you are told that it wasn’t able to restore your computer to date you selected, you may be in trouble.  You can try the next steps, but your chances for a good outcome have just lessened.
3. Step #2 - If you use Internet Explorer, empty your browser cache.  Open Internet Explorer and click on Tools, Internet Options, and delete all of your browsing history and cookies.  Please note that these instructions may vary based on the version of IE that you are using.  You can consult Internet Explorer's Help if you can't figure out how to do this.
4. Step #2 - If you use Firefox, click on Tools, Clear Recent History and delete all your browsing history and cookies.  Please note that these instructions may vary based on the version of Firefox that you are using.  You can consult Firefox's Help if you can't figure out how to do this.
5. Step #3 - Install and run Anti-Malware by Malwarebytes.  Go to http://www.malwarebytes.org/.  Click on the link to “Download free version” on the left side of the screen.  Next, install it on your computer.  Leave both check marks selected and start Anti-Malware and update.  Make sure that you have the Scanner tab selected. Select Perform full scan.  When the scan is complete, you will be given the option to remove what Anti-Malware finds. Use that option. It may ask for permission to restart your computer. Do so.
6. Setp #4 - Install and run Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool.  Go to http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.aspx.  Click on "Skip the details and download the tool".  Click on the download link and install. Run Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool and follow it's instructions to remove any malware that it finds.

If you are unable to perform these steps, you are in trouble.  Your best course of action is to backup your data, format your hard drive and reinstall your operating system and applications.  I know that it hurts, it hurts a lot.

In the future, be very careful when security warnings appear on your computer. Unfortunately, you need to evaluate them and decide if they are real, or as in your recent case, malware.  It is very confusing.  If you get involved with this type of malware in the future (and Windows XP is the target as Visa is more secure), go immediately to system restore and restore your computer to a date prior to the infection. Do not interact with it as by doing so, you are most likely giving permission to install on your computer.  If you are unable to perform a restore, call me or your local computer repair professional for assistance.

Contact Info: info@consideritfixed.com

Update on Insidious MS AntiVirus

On December 2nd of last year, I wrote about a family of computer parasites going by the names MS AntiVirus 2009, MS AntiVirus XP, etc.  A number of my clients had close encounters with this pest and it wasn't kind.  Some had been duped and offered it their credit card in a frustrated attempt to get their computer back.  In all of these cases, the fix was bogus.  Some of my readers took the time to offer stories of their experiences with it and solutions that they have found to remove it.  You can see their comments here:  http://www.consideritfixed.com/2008/12/insidious-ms-an.html.

Since I originally wrote about MS AntiVirus, I have had more opportunities to spend time with it.  Here are some of the things that I have learned.

1. When you first see signs that this parasite is on your computer, don't interact with it.  Simply stop what you are doing and run system restore to an earlier date.  Next, download Microsoft's Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool (http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx) or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (http://www.malwarebytes.org and run them.  You should be OK.
   
2. If you interact with it, it will install into your system and begin to cause problems.  I have found that it can do several things including disabling the tools that computer repair techs use to fix computers.  For example, it will delete all system restore points so that you can not run system restore.  I have seen it disable the menu system so that the run command and control panel appear unavailable.  In these cases, I believe that it is better to remove any user data from the PC, format the hard drive, reinstall the operating system and replace the data.  One specific procedural note.  Make sure that the new install has modern virus protection in place before putting the user data on it.  Also, run either Microsoft 's Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on the new configuration to ensure that the parasite hasn't hitchhiked.
   
3. If you were duped by it and gave it your credit card, call your credit card company and report the exploit to them.  I also recommend that you cancel your credit card.
4. When in doubt, take a more conservative approach with this parasite.  While some malware tools appear to remove it, it's unclear as to whether it has left any 'back doors' open into your system for further exploits.  So, in my view, a full format and reinstall is the only way to insure a successful removal.

Please keep posting information about this family of parasites here so that we can collectively help others who are infected.

Contact Info: info@consideritfixed.com

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The Dependency Service or Group Failed to Start

In the past week, I encountered a curious problem on 2 clients' Windows Vista PCs.  The symptom are:

• A red "X" on the network icon in the tray displaying the pop message - Connection status: Unknown The dependency service or group failed to start
• The PC is able to see available wireless networks
• The PC connects to available wireless networks but the status is limited and cannot connect to the Internet
• Both systems are running Windows Vista and Trend Micro virus protection

I spent a lot of time researching this problem and found that the error message "The Dependency Service or Group Failed to Start" is a somewhat generic message addressing Windows services issues.  I also found that many Internet help sites are littered with tons of bad information on this issue.  I tried many of the 'fixes' without success.  Then I found a thread on Microsoft's TechNet Forum that correctly identified my clients' problem and offered a fix that worked.  So, I give credit to Terry Downing for the fix. It worked like a charm. 

The problem:  Trend Micro's virus protection is getting confused and mistakenly identifies a Windows file as being infected with a virus.  In its efforts to remove the supposed virus, it corrupts the Windows Network Location Awareness service.  This service collects and stores network configuration information for the network and notifies programs when this information is modified.  If this service is stopped, configuration information might be unavailable.  If this service is disabled, any service that explicitly depends on it will fail to start.  The Network List Service will not run when the Network Location Awareness service is disabled.  Hence, the error message that a dependency service failed to start.  The Network Location Awareness service is found in nlasvc.dll which is located in the system32 directory.

Above is a screenshot of the Services window in the Computer Management window with Network Location Awareness service highlighted.

The fix: The corrupted system file, nlasvc.dll, needs to be replaced with a working version of the file.  For your convenience, I have put a copy of it here.  Click on the link to download the file:

nlasvc.dll

If you need to delete or overwrite a system file in Windows Vista, you'll quickly notice that you cannot delete system files, even as administrator.  This is because Windows Vista's system files are owned by the TrustedInstaller service by default and Windows File Protection will keep them from being overwritten.  Thankfully, there's a way that you can get around this.  You need to take ownership of the files, and then assign yourself rights to delete or modify the file.  For this, we'll use the command line.

First, open an administrator command prompt by typing cmd into the start menu search box, and hit the Ctrl+Shift+Enter key combination.

To take ownership of the file, you'll need to use the takeown command.

At the command prompt type: takeown /f c:\windows\system32\nlasvc.dll

That will give you ownership of the file, but you still have no rights to delete, move and rename it.  Next, you need to run the cacls command to give yourself full control rights to the file:

At the command prompt type: cacls c:\windows\system32\nlasvc.dll /G your username:F

Make sure that you replace "your username" with your username exactly as it is spelled for the currently active user account on your computer.

At this point, you should be able to change the file.  Rename the file from nlasvc.dll to nlasvc.dll.old.  Next, copy the new source file that you downloaded from above to c:\windows\system32.

Once the file has been replaced you need to set the permissions back to its original state.  Locate nlasvc.dll in c:\windows\system32 in the Windows File Manager.  Right mouse button click on the file and choose Properties.

Click Security tab; Click Advanced button; Click Owner tab; Click Edit button; Click Other User or Group and type in NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller.

Press Ok on all dialogs until all property dialogs are closed.  Restart the PC and you should be back in business.

Please post a comment if this has been helpful to you.

Contact Info: info@consideritfixed.com

Computer repair in West Hartford, Computer repair in Avon, Computer repair in Simsbury, Computer repair in Farmington, Computer repair in Newington, Computer repair in Canton, Computer repair in Hartford, Computer repair in Bloomfield, Computer repair in Unionville, Computer repair in Wethsfield, Computer repair in Glastonbury