Administrator unable to unlock locked computer

SYMPTOMS

After you restart a computer running Windows and no one has logged on, you may be unable to log on

to the computer either locally or to the domain.

The following error message may be displayed at logon:

This computer is in use and has been locked.

Only or an administrator can unlock this computer.

Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to unlock this computer.

If you try to unlock the computer, the following error message may be displayed:

This computer is locked. Only or an administrator can unlock this computer.

If a user has logged on and logged off, you may be unable to log on to the computer (locally or to the

domain) and the following error message may be displayed:

This computer is in use and has been locked.

Only

Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to unlock this computer.

domain\username or an administrator can unlock this computer.

If you try to unlock the computer, the following error message may be displayed:

This computer is locked. Only

computer.

domain\username or an administrator can unlock this

NOTES

•

server and

 

CAUSE

This behavior can occur for either of the following reasons:

•

When the default screen saver is set to use a non-existent screen saver program.

•

 

RESOLUTION

WARNING

you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that

result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To resolve this problem, use another screen saver program (such as Logon.scr) that is installed locally

on the system or that is not corrupted.

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require

Administrator unable to unlock a "locked" computer http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242917

2 of 2 10/12/2007 12:15 PM

2. Locate the Scrnsave.exe value under the following registry key:

HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Desktop

3. On the

4. Locate the ScreenSaverIsSecure value.

5. On the

6. Quit Registry Editor.

Edit menu, click String, type logon.scr, and then click OK.Edit menu, click String, type 0, and then click OK.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use the appropriate method.

Method 1: When the Error Message States the Computer Is Locked by

domain

\username

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to unlock the computer.

2. Type the logon information for the last logged on user, and then click

3. When the

normally.

OK.Unlock Computer dialog box disappears, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and log on

Method 2: When the Error Message Does Not State Who Locked the Computer

1. Use the Shutdown tool in the Microsoft Windows Resource Kit and attempt to shut down the

locked computer. The

the computer does not restart.

2. When the shutdown timer expires, the

3. Before the screen saver becomes active, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and log on normally.

System Shutdown dialog box is displayed on the locked computer, butWelcome to Windows dialog box is displayed.

NOTE

before the screen saver program starts.: If you do not use one of these methods to log on, you must restart the computer and log on

When you use a corrupted screen saver that is password protected.

In the error messages above, domain is the domain name of the last user who logged on to theusername is the name of the user who last logged on to the server.

Change windows XP Activation Key

 First move to this location HKEY LOCAL MACHINE/MICROSOFT/WINDOWS NT/CURRENT VERSION/WPAEvents

change OOBETimer key

Then

Go to this location :- C:\WINDOWS\system32\oobe

Drag the oobe exe to run

Go to run C:\WINDOWS\system32\oobe /a

Change the activation key

Solutions for Not Able to Search files & Folder

Find the solutions for not able to search files & folder for eg: doc, folder or any other .extension.

To configure Windows XP to search all files no matter what the file type, obtain the latest service pack for Windows XP and then turn on the Index file types with unknown extensions option.

If you use this method, Windows XP searches all file types for the text that you specify. This can affect the performance of the search functionality. To do this:

1.	Click Start, and then click Search (or point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders).
2.	Click Change preferences, and then click With Indexing Service (for faster local searches).
3.	Click Change Indexing Service Settings (Advanced). Note that you do not have to turn on the Index service.
4.	On the toolbar, click Show/Hide Console Tree.
5.	In the left pane, right-click Indexing Service on Local Machine, and then click Properties.
6.	On the Generation tab, click to select the Index files with unknown extensions check box, and then click OK.
7.	Close the Indexing Service console.

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.
Network administrators can configure this setting by modifying the registry. To do this, set the FilterFilesWithUnknownExtensions DWORD value to 1 in the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ContentIndex

Change IE Title bar Text

Solution for DCOM error in event viewer

If you are getting any DCOM error in event viewer (like Machine not pinging to other machine, Netlogon ,Computer Brower,Server Services are not enabled)

Try the following things.

1.Take the Registry back up of the problematic machine

 Go to another machine having the same os (which must be working fine )

In this machine

Browse to

Regedit ->HKEY _LOCAL_MACHINE ->SOFTWARE ->Microsoft ->Windows NT ->Current Version -> Svchost

Export Registry of Svchost and same it on the same name svchost.reg

Copy this registry key on to Problematic machine

Run svchost.reg by double clicking the svchost.reg

Reboot the machine

This is working fine with windows 2003 enterprise edition os

Disabling Instant Search in Outlook 2007

Disabling Instant Search in Outlook 2007

I personally found this very useful when the Instant Search just completely broke. It returned nothing at all, and I needed to find a message quickly… so I just disabled the index temporarily.

Note: I'm not recommending that you just go and try this. Only use this as a troubleshooting technique, and only if you backup first.

Disable Instant Search

Click the tiny drop-down arrow next to the Instant Search box, and then choose Search Options from the menu.

You'll see a list of your data files or .pst files here, and you'll want to remove the checks next to each one.

When you close the dialog you'll get an extremely wide message telling you that you will need to exit and re-open Outlook.

Now when you restart Outlook, the search will work just like the old versions of Outlook did. That's right, it will be painfully slow.

To reverse these changes you can simply complete the same steps, but make sure to check the boxes. Note that when you re-enable Windows will rebuild the search index again, so it won't be available for a while.

Resolution for Word 2007 Spell Check & Grammar not working

Problem:

 In word 2007 Spell Check & Grammar is not working.

Cause:

The Proofing Tools information in the Windows registry is located in "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Proofing Tools\1.0." On the system whose spelling        checker did not work, there exists a subkey named "Override" within the "1.0" key. The known good systems did not have an "Override" subkey.

Resolution:

1)      Close all word application if it opened.

2)      Delete the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Proofing Tools\1.0\Override" registry key. Or just run the Spell Check On.exe file attached in the mail. You need rename the extension of the file from .txt to exe before running.

3)      Restart word application again this time Spell Check & Grammar should work fine.

Outlook Integration Error

When you try to log on to Microsoft Office Communicator 2007, you receive the following error message:

Outlook Integration Error

For more, when you click the message to display the details, you receive the following error message:

There was a problem connecting to Microsoft Office Outlook. The e-mail address used in your default Outlook profile is different from the sign-in address used in Communicator. Change your default Outlook profile to match the sign-in address you are using in Communicator, and then sign out and sign back in to Communicator.

Resolution :

1	Click Start, and then click Run.
2	In the Open box, type regedit, and then press ENTER.
3.	Locate and then right-click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator
4.	Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5.	Type DisableEmailComparisonCheck as the name of new registry entry, and then press ENTER.
6.	Double-click DisableEmailComparisonCheck, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK.
7.	Exit Registry Editor.

For more refer to

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951644

Tips for Performance Enhancements on Vista :

=======================================================================================

*Caution: Kindly evaluate and test out these steps in test environment before rolling out in production. There are some registry tweaks which can destabilize the installation.

*Note: These are in no way recommendations from Microsoft Corporation

=======================================================================================

Try Disabling the following services:

• Diagnostic Policy Service
• Diagnostic Service Host
• Diagnostic System Host
• Offline Files
• Terminal Services
• Windows Error Reporting Service
• Windows Search (This will lead to losing out on Instant Search one of them most powerful feature in Windows Vista)
• SuperFetch Service

Other configuration suggestions:

·         Speed up start menu search

o   HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > Current Version > Explorer > Advanced

o   Start_SearchFiles

o   Value to 0

o   Restart Explorer

·         Disable Remote Differential Compression

o   Start->run->optional features

o   Uncheck-> Disable Remote Differential Compression

·         Disable TCP Autotuning

o   At c: type netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

·         Install hotfix 931770

·         Disable Indexing

o   Start->Run-> services.msc

o   Uncheck Indexing service

·         Delete the index folder

o   Unhide hidden/system files in explorer

o   Browse to the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search

o   Delete search folder

·         Manage startup programs

o    Control Panel -> Performance Information And Tools

o   Uncheck

§  Microsoft Firewall Client

§  One note screen clipper

§  Etc…

·         Cross reference with the registry entries shown in the system information toon (msinfo32)

·         Delete the startup folder

o    Browse to All Users\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\StartMenu\Programs\Startup.

o    Right click and delete

·         Adjust processor scheduling for best performance

o    Performance options dialog box -> Adjust for best performance of programs

·         Set static paging file

o    Set appropriate Initial Size and Maximum Size fields in virtual memory dialog box

·         Increase SATA Disk Drive Performance

o    Open Device manager

o    Expand disk drives

o    Go to properties of %systemdrive%

o    On Policies tab, check Enable Advanced Performance

====================================================================================

Optional configuration:

Disable DWM (if aero is a bottleneck; particularly when there is no dedicated Graphics RAM<64MB and Primary RAM <1 GB)

• Download and install the following updates for Windows Vista which improves the performance:

      1. KB938194

      2. KB938979

      3. KB940105

• Disable graphical effects and change settings for Virtual memory:

Ø  Right click on ComputeràPropertiesàclick Advanced tabà in ‘Performance’ option click Settingsàin ‘Performance Options’ select Visual Effects tabàchoose Adjust for best performanceàthen select Advanced tab in ‘Performance Options’àclick Change button to change ‘Virtual memory’àfor ‘system drive’ change the page file size setting to System managed sizeàclick OK on all windows and restart the computer.

   

• Disable automatic Disk Defragmenter service and Super Fetch service:

Ø  Go to services of the computer click on StartàRunàtype Services.mscàin services search for super fetch serviceàStop and Disable the service.

Ø  Go to StartàProgramsàAccessoriesàSystem ToolsàDisk Defragmenteràremove the check mark present for scheduled disk defragmenter optionàclick OK.

• Disable Windows Side Bar:

Ø  In some cases the Windows Side Bar slows down the machine performance. To disable Side barà right click on the Windows Side Bar icon present in the task barà click Exità a window will pop up and in that window remove the check mark which enables Side Bar whenever Windows startsàclick Exit

   

After completing the above mentioned tasks, check for the performance of Windows Vista by working on the computer for at least 1-2 days.

Your account is configured to prevent you from using this computer

Solutions :

1.Click Start, and then click Run.

2.In the Open box, type regedt32.exe, and then click OK.

3.Click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\CrashOnAuditFail

4.In the right pane, double-click CrashOnAuditFail.

5.In the Value data box, type 0 (zero), and then click OK.

6.Click Start, and then click Run.

7.In the Open box, type secedit /refreshpolicy machine_policy /enforce, and then click OK to apply the new security setting.

8.Restart your server

How to Give Read Only Permissions to the Event Viewer ?

Step 1

Open the registry of the respective system on which you have to give the permissions

My Computer à HKLM à SYSTEM à ControlSet001 à Control à SecurePipeServers à{ winreg }

Right Click à Permissions à

Add the user ID and set the permissions.

Check that the permissions should apply on below registry values too

{AllowedExactPaths}

{AllowedPaths}

Step 2

My Computer à HKLM à SYSTEM à ControlSet001 à Services à Eventlog à Application

Add following value in {CustomSD}

(A;;0x3;;;AU)

Do the above addition for Security and System too.

Step 3

Unregister the scecli.dll

Command : regsvr32 scecli.dll /u

register the scecli.dll

Command : regsvr32 scecli.dll

Step 4

Open System32 Give the permissions on the scecli.dll

Right Click on the scecli.dll

Properties à Security à Add User name

Set the read only permissions

The connection ended because of network error :- Remote Desktop issue

1.       Open start = Run  and type regedit  and press enter.

2.       Navigation to  the following path:

HKLM \System \currentcontrolset  \Services \Terminal services \Parameters

3.       Now delete registry keys named certificate , x500 certificate and x509 certificate ID value. (These keys will get auto generated after system restart with system default values, which is actually needed)

4.       Exit registry editor and restart your computer.

5.       Problem will be solve .

Mcaffe SuperDAt Scan - DOS Scan

Use the SuperDAT to run a complete command line scan as below:

1. Create a folder in the root of the C: drive. For example, C:\scan.
2. Into this directory, download the latest SuperDAT package from:
   http://www.mcafee.com/apps/downloads/security_updates/superdat.asp?region=us&segment=smb
   The SuperDAT file comes in the format sdat####.exe, where #### is a numeric value.
3. Restart your computer, pressing F8 during restart to bring up the Windows Startup menu.
4. Select Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
5. Log on using the local Administrator user name and password.
6. Type cd c:\scan and press ENTER.
7. Type sdat####.exe /e and press ENTER.
8. This command extracts the contents of the SuperDAT package. This usually takes between 5 and 10 seconds.
9. Type scan.exe/adl/all/analyze/clean/program/unzip/winmem/rptall/report=c:\scan.log and press ENTER.
   NOTE: This scan may take some time to complete, depending on the amount of data to be scanned.
10. After the program has finished, press CTRL+ALT+DEL to launch the Task Manager.
11. Select Shut Down to restart the system.
    NOTE: You can view the scan results by opening the following log file: C:\scan.log.