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Wanted to stream some stuff and suddenly got this error:

Unhandled exception (Choose formaat A suitable driver is not available to provide vaild format selections.)

I was running an older version of SAM (version 2) and it seemed that a 64-bit thing was causing the error. So note that this only works on 64-bit systems. To solve this problem, I did the following:

1. Download LAME ACM codec here.

2. Extract the the files to some directory like C:\lame

3. Run the command prompt as an administrator (by right clicking on command prompt).

4. Navigate to C:\Windows\SysWOW64 by typing in:

cd %windir%\SysWOW64

5. Now register the codec by typing in:

rundll32 setupapi.dll,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 0 C:\lame\LameACM.inf

6. Done.

Note that if you get the same error, there might be some other problem causing it and in that case this solution might now work.

Introduction

Java can be a pain. Even installing or removing it can sometimes be a problem. There are many common problems you might run into. Below is by no means an extensive list:

Older version of java .. cannot be removed. Contact your technical support group.

Error 1720. There is a problem with this windows installer package. A DLL reguired for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package vendor

Another case is that when trying to install/remove a package, the setup gives the information that it cannot find a necessary .msi file, usually as the following path:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\..\.. .msi

This of course does not help a bit because you are unable to get that file or you get even more errors.

Solution

This was a real nightmare for me, but I managed to resolve the issue with a Microsoft Fix-It thing. Just download this file:

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9779673&entrypointid=MATSKB

which is located at this site. Now uninstall all (or the necessary) Java stuff, and retry your install. It should now work like a charm.

Introduction

So my keyboard and mouse suddenly stopped working, and I really didn’t know why. What followed was many frustrating hours spent to try and “safe” my machine from a new fresh Windows 7 install, because it would take just too much time to do a fresh install of everything that I currently have on the laptop.

However, the keyboard did work while I was trying to access the BIOS, but as soon as Windows started loading the keyboard and touchpad stopped working. The system booted to the Windows logon screen and I wasn’t able to do anything. Or at least, then I decided to confront the problem.

Note: First create a backup of your registry or create a System Restore point before you proceed!

The symptoms

Further symptoms manifested themselves by showing that there were some driver problems in the Device Manager. The following devices seemed to have problems:

• HID Keyboard Device
• Standard PS/2 Keyboard
• PS/2 Compatible Mouse

The error codes varied and so it is really dependent of your system configuration, but is should be at least one of the following:

• This device cannot start. (Code 10)
• This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)
• Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)
• Windows cannot access this hardware because its service key information in the registry is missing or recorded incorrectly. (Code 40)

Fix it automatically in Windows Vista/7

DOWNLOAD REGISTRY FIX

Now just restart Windows and the problem should be solved.

If the problem is still present and/or you want to fix it manually, then follow the instructions in the section Fix it manually.

Fix it manually

You should access the registry by clicking on Run and then typing

regedit

Now find the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E96B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

You should now see a key UpperFilters which should contain at least one entry “kbdclass”. If you have the same problem as I do, then you there are more entries there which you should delete. So now after editing, your UpperFilters key should only contain “kbdclass” (without quotes). Restart Windows, and the problem should be fixed.

If you only have the entry “kbdclass” as value and/or are still experiencing the same problem, then you should search for the word “kbdclass” (without quotes) and replace every UpperFilters key with kbdclass and other values to only kbdclass.

Below you’ll find further information and alternative scenarios on how to fix certain sub-problems.

Problems with logging into Windows

To fix the problem you should be able to access the Registry in some way and change the registry keys. I managed to get into windows by using a separate USB-mouse and accessing the On-Screen Keyboard by which I could login and do the necessary registry changes. You can do this by

1. Clicking on the Ease of Access button at the bottom-left corner of the login screen
2. Checking the “Type without the keyboard” and clicking OK
3. Clicking on: Ctrl+AltGr+Del
4. Logging in

Fixing other similar problems

The folder with GUID

{4D36E96B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

represents the class Keyboard that is defined by the Windows operating system. It is used to install devices or other drivers. If you have another but similar problem, then you could try to analyze the filters under the GUIDs as listed below (see [3] for a complete list).

The next step is to adjust the UpperFilters like the problem where the CD or DVD drive is missing or not recognized by other programs [1][2].

References

• [1] http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
• [2] http://djlizard.net/2007/04/30/230/
• [3] http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff553426(v=vs.85).aspx
• [4] http://blog.ryantadams.com/2008/01/18/keyboard-not-working-due-to-missing-or-corrupt-drivers-code-39/

Introduction
Any module installer that is created using distutils (bdist_wininst) is very likely to produce this error. The problem is that it only detects 32bit installations of Python on 64bit Windows machines. Or more technically, 32bit versions of Python create the following registry path

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Python\PythonCore

while 64bits versions create a slightly other registry path which is

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Python\PythonCore

When any 32-bit module setup is started (with a Python 64-bit on your system), it first checks whether the first path exists, while instead it should check the second (which does exist).

There are basically three ways of solving this:

• You can install a 32-bit Python version
• or install a 64-bit version of your module
• or adjust the registry such that it really sees that a 64bit Python is installed

I will of course elaborate on the last two options.

Install a 64-bit version of your module

You can find many module binaries here. Choose a 64-bit version and install it. This is the most clean way of fixing the problem.

If your module is not in the list, then try the alternative below.

Fix by adjusting the registry

So the dirty way is to do the following adjustments in the registry:

1. Run regedit.
2. Locate the path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wow6432Node\
3. Create keys in this path: Python\PythonCore\2.7\InstallPath
4. Modify the “(Default)“, which is initially empty, to the path where Python is located, for example “C:\Python27\”.
5. You are done. Exit and retry the setup that gave the error.

You can alternatively create a .reg file (for example fix.reg) that will do the above steps automatically. Put exactly the following in it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Python\PythonCore\2.7\InstallPath]
@="C:\\Python27\\"

If you are lazy, then you can also download this file, unpack the registry file and just run it.

I needed the lxml library on a machine for some python script that I coded earlier. I tried using easy_install by doing

easy_install lxml

but then I got the following error:

Searching for lxml
Reading http://pypi.python.org/simple/lxml/
Reading http://codespeak.net/lxml
Best match: lxml 2.3.3
Downloading http://lxml.de/files/lxml-2.3.3.tgz
Processing lxml-2.3.3.tgz
Running lxml-2.3.3\setup.py -q bdist_egg --dist-dir c:\users\edin\appdata\local\
temp\easy_install-9sxhlm\lxml-2.3.3\egg-dist-tmp-pjbtkm
Building lxml version 2.3.3.
Building without Cython.
ERROR: 'xslt-config' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

** make sure the development packages of libxml2 and libxslt are installed **

Using build configuration of libxslt
warning: no files found matching 'lxml.etree.c' under directory 'src\lxml'
warning: no files found matching 'lxml.objectify.c' under directory 'src\lxml'
warning: no files found matching 'lxml.etree.h' under directory 'src\lxml'
warning: no files found matching 'lxml.etree_api.h' under directory 'src\lxml'
warning: no files found matching 'etree_defs.h' under directory 'src\lxml'
warning: no files found matching 'pubkey.asc' under directory 'doc'
warning: no files found matching 'tagpython*.png' under directory 'doc'
warning: no files found matching 'Makefile' under directory 'doc'
error: Setup script exited with error: Unable to find vcvarsall.bat

I tried installing libxml2 and libxslt, but it resulted in similar errors.

Searching for libxml2
Reading http://pypi.python.org/simple/libxml2/
Couldn’t find index page for ‘libxml2′ (maybe misspelled?)
Scanning index of all packages (this may take a while)
Reading http://pypi.python.org/simple/
No local packages or download links found for libxml2
Best match: None
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “C:\Python27\Scripts\easy_install-script.py”, line 8, in
load_entry_point(‘setuptools==0.6c11′, ‘console_scripts’, ‘easy_install’)()
File “C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\setuptools-0.6c11-py2.7.egg\setuptools\com
mand\easy_install.py”, line 1712, in main
File “C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\setuptools-0.6c11-py2.7.egg\setuptools\com
mand\easy_install.py”, line 1700, in with_ei_usage
File “C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\setuptools-0.6c11-py2.7.egg\setuptools\com
mand\easy_install.py”, line 1716, in
File “C:\Python27\lib\distutils\core.py”, line 152, in setup
dist.run_commands()
File “C:\Python27\lib\distutils\dist.py”, line 953, in run_commands
self.run_command(cmd)
File “C:\Python27\lib\distutils\dist.py”, line 972, in run_command
cmd_obj.run()
File “C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\setuptools-0.6c11-py2.7.egg\setuptools\com
mand\easy_install.py”, line 211, in run
File “C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\setuptools-0.6c11-py2.7.egg\setuptools\com
mand\easy_install.py”, line 434, in easy_install
File “C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\setuptools-0.6c11-py2.7.egg\setuptools\pac
kage_index.py”, line 475, in fetch_distribution
AttributeError: ‘NoneType’ object has no attribute ‘clone’

In one of my previous posts I pointed out how you can solve a similar problem with a missing vcvarsall.bat error, but unfortunately that approach did not solve my problem. Compiling the sources from the ground up was a too intensive job (which I might try to figure out in the future), so I chose the easy path.

The issue was solved by installing these packages from this site which lists a lot of (unoffical) Windows binaries for Python. Everything suddenly started to work as it should.

There might be several reasons as to why you can’t install the .NET Framework. I had the problem while installing the framework via the Windows Update.

Symptoms
While trying to install Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Update for Windows 7 x86 (KB982526), Windows Update told me that the update was unsuccessful and gave me the following “useful” error:

“WindowsUpdate_800F081F” “WindowsUpdate_dt000″

You might also get several other errors similar to the following:

• an error of type 0×643
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (x64) ‘package’: [2] Error: Installation failed for component Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (x64) ‘package’. MSI returned error code 1601
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (x64) ‘package’: [2] Error: Installation failed for component Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (x64) ‘package’. MSI returned error code 1603
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0SP1 (x64) (CBS): [2] Error: Installation failed for component Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0SP1 (x64) (CBS). MSI returned error code -2146762496
  
• WapUI: [2] DepCheck indicates Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0SP1 (CBS) is not installed
  

“WindowsUpdate_00009C47″ “WindowsUpdate_dt000″

Solution(s)
It strongly depends on the situation and your system but you might try one of the following solutions:

• You can first try to install the System Update Readiness Tool for Windows 7 which is an August 2011 release (KB947821 - 32-bit (x86)) at this moment of writing. This should solve any inconsistencies in the Windows servicing store which may prevent the successful installation of future updates, service packs, and software. There is also a 64-bit version for Windows 7. Windows Vista: 32-bit (x86), 64-bit (x64).
• If you’re not using Windows Update, then you can try to download and install the framework manually: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1.
• There is also a newer version of the framework which most newer applications use which might also suffice: Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (Web Installer).
• Another thing that you can try on top of all the above is to first remove all the existing .NET framework versions. Do it via Add or remove programs from the Configuration Panel. You can also try the .NET Framework Cleanup Tool.
• Do the following: Start > Run > type “services.msc”. Now check whether the Startup Type of Windows Installer is set to Manual.
• Go to Start > Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows features on or off. Check now that the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 is checked on.
• Disable any security/antivirus software while trying to install. Usually this shouldn’t give problems, but it’s worth a try.

Got this compile error from LaTeX today and I really don’t have any idea what is exactly going on.

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-1.40.10 (MiKTeX 2.8)
Running miktex-pdftex.exe...
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-1.40.10 (MiKTeX 2.8) (INITEX)
entering extended mode
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.8\tex\latex\config\latex.ini"
(C:\Users\Edin\AppData\Roaming\MiKTeX\2.8\tex\generic\config\pdftexconfig.tex)
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.8\tex\latex\base\latex.ltx"
("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.8\tex\latex\00miktex\texsys.cfg")
./texsys.aux found

\@currdir set to: ./.

Assuming \openin and \input
have the same search path.

Defining UNIX/DOS style filename parser.

catcodes, registers, compatibility for TeX 2,  parameters,

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
! You are attempting to make a LaTeX format from a source file
! That is more than five years old.
!
! If you enter <return> to scroll past this message then the format
! will be built, but please consider obtaining newer source files
! before continuing to build LaTeX.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

! LaTeX source files more than 5 years old!.
l.545 ...aTeX source files more than 5 years old!}

No pages of output.
Transcript written on latex.log.
miktex-makefmt: miktex-pdftex.exe failed on latex.ini.
initexmf.exe: The operation failed for some reason.
initexmf.exe: Data: C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.8\miktex\bin\miktex-makefmt.exe
I can't find the default format file!

However, I did find a workaround that seemed to solve the problem and I decided to share it. Perform the following steps:

1. Open “C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.8\tex\latex\base\latex.ltx” (or wherever your latex.ltx resides). One alternative path that is different from mine is “C:\Program Files\MiKTeX\miktex\bin\tex\latex\base”.
2. Find “\ifnum\count@65>” and change it into “\ifnum\count@>100” (or some number larger than 100)
3. Save the file.

The real problem is not fixed, but at least you should now be able to compile your files.

Note that in Windows Vista and Windows 7 you’ll have to have administrator access to be able to overwrite this file since Program Files is a system directory. One way to accomplish this is to simply copy the file to let’s say the desktop, edit it, and then overwrite the original file with the edited file.

Introduction
In some strange situations it might occur that you want to recover your Outlook Account Settings from an old drive or partition on which you are unable to boot in Windows (or you just don’t want to). Unlike the Outlook mails which are stored in a PST file, the Outlook account settings are located in the Windows Registry. If you haven’t deleted your Windows files it is possible to access certain registry keys so that you can export all the account settings information and import it in your current registry.

This tutorial applies for Outlook 2007, but it might also be usable for Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2010.

Read more…

Introduction
Here I will describe how to recover lost or deleted partitions with a cool tool called TestDisk that I recently found with which

I successfully restored my own broken partition. The tool is OpenSource and is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).

Symptoms and problem description
You are not able to boot your hard drive because the partition is damaged or deleted and you want to recover all your files.

Multiple recover options
There are a few ways to fix the problem since it depends on your specific situation and what options we have available.

If your lost partition is on a second drive that is also plugged in, like it was in my case, or you have a working partition on your hard drive that you can boot normally (while the damaged/deleted partition is on the same drive) , then read Recover partition from a booted working partition.

It is very possible that your only partition that you used to boot became corrupted and you don’t have a second working hard drive available. In that case you can use a Live CD by following the steps described in the part Recover partition by a Live CD.

Recover partition from a booted working partition
Your best way to recovery is from an already booted OS (Windows/Linux/Mac). You can download TestDisk from here. In the following description I will use TestDisk version 6.11.3 and show the recovery steps that may include some Windows specific details. This should be analogous to other versions and OS’es.

1. After you have extracted the downloaded file, run TestDisk from your extracted testdisk folder (win/testdisk_win.exe).
2. Now follow the TestDisk Step by Step instructions that are described on the TestDisk wiki page.

Recover partition by a Live CD
You might not be able to boot anything since you don’t have another working partition. In that case you can use a Live CD that will basically boot in memory after which you can start TestDisk without having to boot an operating system. Hence:

1. Download and then burn the TestDisk Live CD on an empty CD, insert it in your machine and boot from it. *
2. Now you can basically follow the same TestDisk Step by Step instructions as if booted from an OS.

* Note that you have to setup your BIOS such that your first boot option is your CD/DVD drive. In case your first boot option is your hard drive, the Live CD will not boot up!

Keep in mind
Keep also in mind that you have to be careful when performing the above described operations. Don’t overwrite or fully format the partition if you want to be able to recover your partition and files. Also note that there may be various situations that you can encounter that are not covered by this tutoriol, and hence I cannot be held responsible for any consequences that might occur after you decide to use the tool. It should not get dramatic, but keep in mind anyway that you use it at your own risk.

Today I started my desktop PC and when I wanted to login I got an unexpected Windows message:

“The referenced account is currently locked out and may not be logged on to.”

I retyped my username and password without thinking much about it, but it showed again the same message. Even after rebooting the PC, the same message was visible every time. A few minutes I sat and thought about it, but then suddenly I figured out what the real problem was.

Some time earlier I was testing some stuff and changed the domain and computer name of the PC to that of my laptop. So basically, both machines were connected to the network with the same name on the same domain, and that was the obvious problem.

So the problem was clear, and the solution simple. I just had to change the computer name and everything should be fine again, but the problem was that I was unable to login on my PC since my laptop was also running. I switched off the wireless adapter of the laptop, but it didn’t help. I had to switch off the PC wireless adapter, restart the machine and login. After changing the computer name and restarting again, the problem was resolved.

To summarize everything, if you get the same error, it might be the case that two machines are using the same name on the same domain, as was in my case. You should proceed as follows:

1. If you cannot login to Windows because you are getting the above mentioned error, switch off the wireless adapter, unplug your Ethernet cable or turn off the router and then (re)start your machine and login to Windows (so the machine shouldn’t be connected to the network/internet).
2. After you have logged in, make sure to change your computer name to some unique name that is accepted by the domain (or fix some other issues if you are experiencing another similar problem).
3. Now connect again to the network/internet and restart your machine.
4. You should be able to login again as usual.