Help & Tips

Solutions for Windows Activation problems
17 April 2007 in Help & Tips | Comments (1)

One of the most annoying and controversial points of Microsoft software these days is the need for activation. It’s easy to see why they’ve done it, but it can be frustrating - especially when the darn activation system won’t work properly!!!

If Windows Activation in Vista is causing you a few problems, here’s a couple of things you can try…

The Microsoft Knowledge Base contains an article which details various Error codes from the Activation Wizard. It’s worth checking if the Activation Wizard is giving you problems. You can read the article here.

You can also download the Windows Genuine Advantage Diagnostics Tool. This will generate a report about your system and your Activation issue, which you can then post to forums.microsoft.com/genuine for further advice from the experts at Microsoft.

Messenger crashing? Turn off Data Execution Prevention
5 March 2007 in Help & Tips | Comments (4)

I’ve been investigating why some users are having problems running Windows Live Messenger under Windows Vista. The errors are different, but often talk about something called DEP or ‘Data Execution Prevention’.

DEP was introduced in Windows XP. and is also present in Windows 2003 Server and now Windows Vista. It’s purpose is to detect and stop malicious code from running on your machine (a third party installer, for example). It’s quite picky by all accounts, and - assuming you have User Account Control, a firewall, and virus protection - can probably be turned off reasonably safely.

It’s quite amusing that DEP prevents Microsoft’s own software from working properly, but it’s true! Switching DEP off and then restarting your PC cures the problem with Messenger, and you’ll be back chatting in no time.

You can find out more, and get detail instructions on how to turn DEP off at BeyondtheManual.com.

Can YOU run Windows Vista?
15 February 2007 in Compatibility & Help & Tips | Comments (1)

If you’re thinking of upgrading to Windows Vista, it’s worth checking before you buy that your PC is capable of running the version of Vista you wish to install.

Luckily, Microsoft have provided a downloadable tool called the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor which will tell you if your computer is capable of running Vista, and which features are likely to work with your system (the “Aero” interface for example requires 128mb dedicated graphics RAM).

Click here to download the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor.

Dan

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