Solve your Computer Problems:
A Blog of Useful Information

As we research computer problems, we find interesting articles about security, useful applications, website design and solving computer problems. We hope you find these tidbits useful.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Microsoft is offering a free software

Free Microsoft Software for Giving Feedback If you are a Windows Vista or Windows XP user and decide to join and participate, Microsoft will send you a free Microsoft product when you participate in the program. Limit one gift per person. This offer is non-transferable. This offer expires on 12/31/07, while supplies last, and is not redeemable for cash. - Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (32-bit and 64-bit DVD) - Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 - Microsoft Money Plus Premium - Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2008 - Microsoft Streets and Trips 2008

Does the software impact the performance of my computer? We have gone to great lengths to design the Windows Feedback Program software to limit the amount of computer resources it uses to collect data. You may see a minor change in performance when you first log in to Windows; however, this typically only occurs during the first few minutes after login while we are collecting basic configuration information.

What types of information will you collect and why? We are looking for information that will help us understand problems you encounter with Windows, how you have configured your computer and Windows, what hardware you are using, and general information about how you are using Windows and Microsoft Office products on your computer. You can see a list of examples of the data we collect in our FAQ.

How often will Microsoft collect data? How often you will share data depends on how actively you use your computer and how often your computer is connected to the internet. In general, the data is shared once per day.

When you choose to participate in the automated feedback program, most of the work is done behind the scenes, with no additional effort, time requirement, or inconvenience to you. Occasionally, we might send you an invitation to participate in a survey or another feedback program to get additional information about your use of computers.

Go to http://wfp.microsoft.com/Registration.aspx

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Tuesday, September 11, 2007

HP Printer Laserjet won't work with remote desktop

When you use Remote Desktop Connection or the Terminal Services Client version 4.0 or 5.0 to connect to another Windows-based computer from a computer that is not running Windows Server 2003, your local printers may not be redirected. As a result, your local printers are not available in the remote desktop or terminal services session. For example, if your Windows XP-based computer has a multifunction print device using a DOT4 port, it may not be redirected in a remote desktop session to a Windows 2000- or Windows Server 2003-based computer.

CAUSE

This problem occurs because the printer port does not begin with COM, LPT, or USB. By default, printer port names that do not begin with COM, LPT, or USB are only redirected in Windows Server 2003. By default, multifunction print devices may not be redirected unless you are running Windows Server 2003 on your local computer because they use DOT4 ports.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem on a computer that is not running Windows Server 2003, force all ports (including DOT4) on the client computer to be filtered for redirection. To do this, add a DWORD value named FilterQueueType to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\Default\AddIns\RDPDR and set its value data to FFFFFFFF.

Follow these steps, and then quit Registry Editor:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\Default\AddIns\RDPDR
  3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
  4. Type FilterQueueType, and then press ENTER.
  5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
  6. Type FFFFFFFF, and then click OK.This enables all ports on the client to be redirected. To work around this problem on a client computer that has a multifunction print device, change the port that the multifunction print device uses from DOT4 to an LPT port.

For example, to configure a multifunction print device to use an LPT port on a Windows XP-based computer, follow these steps:

  1. InControl Panel, openPrinters and Faxes.
  2. Right-click the local printer that is not redirected, and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Ports tab, click an LPT port, and then click Apply.The printer should now appear next to that port.
  4. Close the Printer Properties window, and then reconnect by using Remote Desktop.Important When a multifunction printer is using a standard LPT port instead of the DOT4 port, it loses its multifunction capabilities, such as scanning, faxing, or copying. To regain the multifunction capabilities, the print device must use the DOT4 port.

STATUS
This behavior is by design.

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