[Fix] Windows blue screen after upgrade to XP SP3

Windows XP service pack 3 has been released for some times. But if you want to install it on your AMD based HP/Compaq computer, you probably will always faced the blue screen problem (BSoD, Blue Screen of Death).

HP had comes out with a solution. There are 5 steps to fix this problem:

1) Restart computer and press F8 key repeatedly until Windows Advanced Options Menu appears.
2) Choose Safe Mode.
3) Browse to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers.
4) Find a file named “intelppm.sys” and rename it to “XXXintelppm.syx“.
5) Restart.

The problem should be fixed and you will no longer get the same error message.

Reference: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&dlc=en&docname=c01457284&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN&lc=en

How to make Unmanged SEP client become managed SEP Client

Firstly, right click on Symantec Endpoint Protection Client on start menu taskbar as the snapshot below.
Then click on "Open Symantec Endpoint Protection"

You will saw SEP console interface, then go to help and click on troubleshooting on right top hand side.

Next, a window will pop out, click on import under Communication Settings. This step will ask you connect to server, mean we are now make a unmanged SEP client become managed SEP client.

Before that, you have to find out a file called "Sylink.xml". Then you have to select it, the file may get from SEP manager (which in server/core workstation) or get it from other computer which SEP client was installed. (C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\...\...)

Wait for awhile, then you will saw the information of SEP client changed. Make sure it is correctly connect to server IP address that you able to see in the window.
For Example: 192.168.0.12 is my server

Exit the SEP console, and right click on the SEP icon again, you will see the difference context menu, compare with first snapshot.
Update Policy is to get latest config file, policy setting and virus definition from Server (SEP manager)

If you able to see the context menu of SEP client as last snapshot, that mean you have successful make unmanaged SEP client become managed SEP client.

Besides that, there is the other way to import sylink.xml

1) click on "Run", then type "smc - stop" without quote, to unload SEP client
2) copy "Sylink.xml" into C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection
3) click on "Run", then type "smc - start" without quote, to reload Symantec Endpoint Protection Client

Wish you good luck =)

[Guide] How to remove solid background of desktop icons

Desktop icons with blue background color looks so bad and annoying. It makes desktop look tacky with lot of irritating blue color splashed on beautiful desktop wallpaper. You can easily remove this background color from desktop icons and make the background transparent.

It really sucks if you have a cool looking wallpaper as a background, but all your icons have large dark blue borders. Instead, if the text looks like it’s written right onto the wallpaper, the effect is much nicer.

Therefore here is the guide shown you how to get rid of those blue color background from desktop icons.

Guide
Step 1: First, may right click My Computer -> Propesties, or open the Control Panel and click on System.

Step 2: Now click on the Advanced tab and click on the Settings button under the Performance section.

Step 3: Finally, scroll down and check the Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop box.

That’s it! Now all of your desktop icons will have the blue backgrounds removed and will appear transparent.

Now doesn’t that look much better! Sure does to me!
Desktop icon background is set to transparent by default in Windows Vista and Windows 7, so you don’t have that problem in those operating systems. Enjoy!

Reference:
http://elechub.com/how-to-remove-blue-background-behind-desktop-icons/
http://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-xp-tips/desktop-icons-transparent-background/
http://itview.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/how-to-remove-the-background-color-of-the-desktop-icons/
http://www.techf5.com/827/remove-solid-background-color-from-desktop-icons/

Location of Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe)

The location of this file is different for almost every version of Outlook and it sometimes also depends on which language of Outlook you have installed and even if you have it installed on a 32-bit version of Windows or 64-bit version of Windows.

You can also use OutlookTools (free) to locate it for you.
Below you’ll find an overview of the default locations of scanpst.exe throughout the versions of Outlook.

Outlook 2013
32-bit Windows - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15
64-bit Windows - C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15
64-bit Outlook   - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15
Click-to-Run      - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15

Outlook 2010
32-bit Windows - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14
64-bit Windows - C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14
64-bit Outlook   - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14

Outlook 2007
32-bit Windows - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12
64-bit Windows - C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12

Outlook 2003
32-bit Windows - C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\<locale ID>
64-bit Windows - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\<locale ID>

Outlook 2002/XP
C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MAPI\<locale ID>\scanpst.exe

Outlook 2000
C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MAPI\<locale ID>\NT\scanpst.exe

Outlook 97 / Outlook 98
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Windows Messaging\scanpst.exe

Notes
The <locale ID> is a number to identify your language of Office. You can find an overview of the numbers here. You need to look in the "LCID Dec" column for the correct number.

When you connect to an Exchange server and need to check your local cache (ost-file) for errors you’ll need to run scanost.exe. You can find this in the same location as scanpst.exe except for Outlook 97/98/2000 and Outlook 2010. These versions of Outlook don’t have the scanost.exe feature. In this case, rename the ost-file to .old and Outlook will rebuild a new cache from the Exchange mailbox.

If scanpst.exe is unable to fix your pst-file, then it is too badly corrupted. You can then try repairing or salvage recoverable items via a 3rd party recovery tool such as Advanced Outlook Repair (for pst-files) or Advanced Exchange Recovery (for ost-files).


Reference:
http://www.msoutlook.info/question/77
http://www.datanumen.com/aor/
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm

[Fix] Window login as temporary profile

Sometimes Windows OS may not read your correct user profile properly, instead, load with temporary profile which will look completely different.  If you are not aware of temp profile or missed to see the pop-up message at bottom right side of the screen, then really you will be surprised to see completely different and new desktop without your files,folders,shortcut icons and any customized settings.This guide shows how to fix temporary profile issue on Windows.

Why Windows Loads with Temporary Profile?
Obviously, your profile (the files and folders located under C:\Users\user_name) is corrupted. There is another chance which is a delay in reading your profile files due to Antivirus scan or something else during boot up. Usually after typing your user name and password Windows tries to read and load your profile, if it gets corrupted or delay in reading, Windows will load with temp profile to give temporary access on computer.



How to Fix Windows Temp Issue on Workgroup and Domain Environment

Rename the temp profile registry and revert back the old registry settings for the correct profile.

Then, find out the temporary profile SID and rename the registry folder to .bak

How to know which is the correct profile SID?
You may check on ProfileImagePath binary data that allocated in the particular SID folder under ProfileList.

Next, log off and log in with your username and password. You will get a new profile with default icons and profile settings back.

IF you still login as Temporary profile, please follow the steps below to delete the corrupted profile:

• Click Start, right-click Computer, and then click Properties.
• Click Change settings.
• In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
• Under User Profiles, click Settings.
• In the User Profiles dialog box, select the profile that you want to delete, click Delete, and then click OK.
• Click Start , type regedit in the Start search box, and then press ENTER.
• Locate and then expand the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
• Right-click the SID that you want to remove, and then click Delete.
• Sign in to the computer and create a new profile.

Try to login again. Hope you get back correct profile =)

NOTE:

Please backup the data in the profile if you really need to delete away the profile by using the steps above.
Data such as:

• My Documents (Music, videos and downloads)
• Desktop
• Favorites
• Any outlook PST files

Reference:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/3571.microsoft-windows-user-profiles-service-event-1511.aspx
http://www.sysprobs.com/fix-temporary-profile-windows-7
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947242
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Fix-a-corrupted-user-profile

[Fix] S.M.A.R.T Repair Removal Instructions

S.M.A.R.T Repair is a malicious software that will display fake alerts, claiming that several hard drive errors were detected on your computer.

In reality, none of the reported issues are real, and are only used to scare you into buying S.M.A.R.T Repair and stealing your personal financial information.This rogue software has changed your desktop background,hidden your files and shortcuts and it’s causing browsing redirects.


Under no circumstance should you buy this rogue security software as this can lead to identity theft. If you’ve got a S.M.A.R.T Repair infection , you’ll be seeing this screens :

Removal guide for S.M.A.R.T Repair
Start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking then log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator rights

STEP 1: Remove Smart HDD malicious proxy server Smart HDD may add a proxy server which prevents the user from accessing the internet
Follow the below instructions to remove the proxy. Start Internet Explorer and if you are using Internet Explorer 9, click on the gear icon (Tools for Internet Explorer 8 users), then select Internet Options.

Then go to the tab Connections. At the bottom, click on LAN Settings. Uncheck the option Use a proxy server for your LAN. This should remove the malicious proxy server and allow you to use the internet again.

If you are a Firefox users, go to Firefox(upper left corner) → Options → Advanced tab → Network → Settings → Select No Proxy


STEP 2: Run RKill to terminate known malware processes associated with Smart HDD.
May download from official website, then execute the RKill after download is completed. Be patient while the program is looks for various malware programs and tries to termintate them.

IF you receive a message that RKill is an infection, that is a fake warning given by the rogue. As a possible solution we advise you to leave the warning on the screen and try to rename RKill then run RKill again. Run RKill until the fake program is not visible but not more than ten times.

When Rkill has completed its task, it will generate a log. You can then proceed with the rest of the guide.

WARNING: Do not reboot your computer after running RKill as the malware process will start again, preventing you from properly performing the next step.

STEP 3: Remove Smart HDD malicious files with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware FREE
Please download the latest official version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware FREE.


When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure you leave both the Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware checked. Then click on the Finish button. If Malwarebytes’ prompts you to reboot, please do not do so. Then start the Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware FULL scanning.

You will now be presented with a screen showing you the malware infections that Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has detected. Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image. Make sure that everything is Checked (ticked) and click on the Remove Selected button

Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will now start removing the malicious files. If during the removal process Malwarebytes will display a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow this request.

STEP 4: Double check your system for any left over infections with HitmanPro
This step can be performed in Normal Mode ,so please download the latest official version of HitmanPro.


NOTE : If you have problems starting HitmanPro, use the “Force Breach” mode. Hold down the left CTRL-key when you start HitmanPro and all non-essential processes are terminated, including the malware process.

After finish installation, just perform scanning once. Once the scan is complete,a screen displaying all the malicious files that the program found will be shown as seen in the image below. After reviewing each malicious object click Next.

Click Activate free license to start the free 30 days trial and remove the malicious files.

HitmanPro will now start removing the infected objects, and in some instances, may suggest a reboot in order to completely remove the malware from your system. In this scenario, always confirm the reboot action to be on the safe side.


STEP 5: Unhide your files and folders
Smart HDD modifies your file system in such a way that all files and folders become hidden, to restore the default settings , you’ll need to run the below program.

Please download Tweaking.com-UnhideNonSystemFiles.exe to unhide your files and folders.

Double click on Tweaking.com-UnhideNonSystemFiles.exe and when the utility starts click on the ‘Start’ button to unhide your files.

STEP 6: Restore your shortcuts and remove any left over malicious registry keys
Smart HDD has moved your shortcuts files in the Temporary Internet folder and added some malicious registry keys to your Windows installation , to restore your files we will need to perform a scan with RogueKiller. Please download the latest official version of RogueKiller.

Double click on RogueKiller.exe to start this utility and then wait for the Prescan to complete.This should take only a few seconds and then you canclick the Start button to perform a system scan.

After the scan has completed, press the Delete button to remove any malicious registry keys.
Next we will need to restore your shortcuts, so click on the ShortcutsFix button and allow the program to run.

STEP 7: Get your desktop look back!
Smart HDD changes your desktop background to a solid black color,to change it back to default one follow the below instruction.

• Windows XP: Click on the Start button and then select Control Panel. When the Control Panel opens, please click on the Display icon. From this screen you can now change your Theme and desktop background.
• Windows 7 and Vista: Click on the Start button and then select Control Panel. When the Control Panel opens, please click on the Appearance and Personalization category. Then select Change the Theme or Change Desktop Background to revert back to your original Theme and colors.

STEP 8: Restore your pinned task bar shortcuts , star menu items and other missing icons.

Smart HDD has moved your saved pinned task bar items and other shortcuts into the temporary internet folder, so now we will have to copy them back to their original location.

Enable on your system the ‘Show hidden files, folders, and drives’ option.

• If you are using Windows 7 or Vista,go to Computer → Click on theOrganize tab → select Folder and search options.
• If you are using Windows XP,go to My Computer → Tools tab → selectFolder Options.

In the new window that appeared select the View tab and choose the option Show hidden files, folders, and drives then click Apply and OK.

This rogue software has moved your shorcuts in a folder in the Temporary Internet files called smtmp, so now we will need to copy them back to their original locations.

• Windows 7 and Vista users can find the smtmp folder in C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Local\Temp
• Windows XP users can find smtmp folder the in : C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\[Your Username]\LOCAL SETTINGS\Temp

The smtmp folder will contain 4 folders and you’ll need to copy the content of this folders back to their original locations.

Copy the content from %Temp%\smtmp\1\ to:

• Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu
• Windows Vista and Windows 7: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
• Copy the content from %Temp%\smtmp\2\ to:
• Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[your username]\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\
• Windows Vista and Windows 7: C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\
• Copy the content from %Temp%\smtmp\3\ to:
• Windows XP: It does not exist on Windows  XP.
• Windows Vista and Windows 7 C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar
• Copy the content from %Temp%\smtmp\4\ to:
• Windows XP : C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop
• Windows Vista and Windows 7: C:\Users\Public\Desktop

End of Topic.

Good Luck to you all... ^-^

Reference:
http://malwaretips.com/blogs/s-m-a-r-t-repair-rogue-removal-instructions/
http://www.malwareexperts.com/s-m-a-r-t-repair-removal-guide/
http://www.spywarehelpcenter.com/smart-repair-virus-removal-instructions/
http://www.google.com.sg/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=smart+repair+removal