Monday, August 30, 2004
How can I gain access to a Windows 2000/XP/NT computer if I forgot the administrator's password? How can I reset the administrator's password if I for
http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
How can I gain access to a Windows 2000/XP/NT computer if I forgot the administrator's password? How can I reset the administrator's password if I forgot it?
Featured Product:
Windows XP/2000/NT Key - Easy to use utility to reset Windows 2003/XP/2K/NT local and domain controller administrator passwords. Download FREE version now!
Ok, so you say you forgot your Windows administrator's password, huh? Oh well, it doesn't really matter if you did or you just say you did. The fact is that you need to gain access to a computer and you cannot "remember" the administrator's password.
How can you get out of this situation without formatting and re-installing the operating system?
Well, you can always try to remember the login password, or if that doesn't work (you wouldn't be sitting here reading my crap if you did remember, would you?) you can restore a backed up System State (in W2K DC) or a ERD (in NT 4.0) in which you do remember the password. The problem with doing so is that you'll probably lose all of the recently add users and groups, and all the changed passwords for all of your users since the last backup was made.
Note: If you are looking for password cracking tools that can be used for miscellaneous objectives such as password-protected PDF documents, zipped archives, Office documents, BIOS protection and so on then this pages is NOT for you. See some links at the bottom of this page for hints on where to find such tools, but I can tell you right away that Google might be a better choice for you.
Free Tools
Free Windows password-cracking tools are usually Linux boot disks that have NT file system drivers and software that will read the registry and rewrite the password hashes for any account including the Administrators. This process requires physical access to the console and an available floppy drive but it works like a charm! I've done it myself several times with no glitch or problem whatsoever.
Beware!!! Resetting a user's or administrator's password on some systems (like Windows XP) might cause data loss, especially EFS-encrypted files and saved passwords from within Internet Explorer. To protect yourself against EFS-encrypted files loss you should always export your Private and Public key, along with the keys for the Recovery Agent user. Please read more about EFS on my What's EFS? page.
Here are 4 of these free tools:
Petter Nordahl-Hagen's Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
Openwall's John the Ripper
EBCD – Emergency Boot CD
Austrumi
If you happen to know about other free tools please let me know .
For Domain Admin password resetting procedures please see the Related Articles section at the bottom of this page.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor (v040818)
Petter Nordahl-Hagen has written a Windows NT/2000/XP offline password editor:
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd
This is a utility to (re)set the password of any user that has a valid (local) account on your NT system, by modifying the encrypted password in the registry's SAM file.
You do not need to know the old password to set a new one.
It works offline, that is, you have to shutdown your computer and boot off a floppy disk or CD. The boot-disk includes stuff to access NTFS partitions and scripts to glue the whole thing together.
Works with syskey (no need to turn it off, but you can if you have lost the key)
Will detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts!
Caution: If used on users that have EFS encrypted files, and the system is XP or later service packs on W2K, all encrypted files for that user will be UNREADABLE! and cannot be recovered unless you remember the old password again!
Download links:
bd040818.zip (~1.1MB) - Bootdisk image, date 040818
cd040818.zip (~1MB) - SCSI-drivers (040818) (only use newest drivers with newest bootdisk, this one works with bd040818)
sc040818.zip (~2MB) - Bootable CD image with same version and drivers as floppies above.
To write these images to a floppy disk you'll need Raw Write, Win Image or any other writing software you want.
Support and Problems? Don't call me! Talk to the creator of this great tool. He also has a good FAQ set up covering most of the day-to-day questions. Read it right HERE
Author claims that this tool was successfully tested on NT 3.51, NT 4, Windows 2000 (except datacenter), Windows XP (all versions) and Window Server 2003. Notice that it is NOT compatible with Active Directory.
Need to change Windows NT/2000 Domain Admin password? This tool, however useful, will only reset the local administrator's password (e.g. the one found in the local computer's SAM). To reset a password of a domain administrator (or any other user for that matter) you must perform the routine that is described in the following page: Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Reset Domain Admin Password in Windows 2000 AD.
Note: This trick will probably not work under Windows Server 2003 due to service account security changes. To work around these limitations please read the Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Reset Domain Admin Password in Windows Server 2003 AD page.
John the Ripper (v1.6)
John the Ripper is a fast password cracker, currently available for many flavors of Unix (11 are officially supported, not counting different architectures), DOS, Win32, BeOS, and OpenVMS. Its primary purpose is to detect weak Unix passwords. Besides several crypt(3) password hash types most commonly found on various Unix flavors, supported out of the box are Kerberos AFS and Windows NT/2000/XP LM hashes, plus several more with contributed patches.
Read more at http://www.openwall.com/john/
Download links:
John the Ripper 1.6 (768kb)
EBCD – Emergency Boot CD (v0.60)
EBCD is a bootable CD, intended for system recovery in the case of software or hardware faults. It is able to create backup copies of normally working system and restore system to saved state. It contains the best system software ever created, properly compiled and configured for the maximum efficient use.
EBCD will be very useful when you need to:
Copy/move files (with long names, not necessary in CP437 encoding) from/to the disk but OS which can handle them (windows, Linux...) cannot boot. In particular, you may create a backup copy of normally installed and configured Windows and later restore Windows from such backup copy. So, in the case of fault OS itself and all software and its settings can be restored in 5-10 minutes.
Perform emergency boot of Windows NT / 2000 / XP. When the loader of this OS on the hard disk is damaged or misconfigured, you are able to load OS using another, standalone loader from this CD.
Recover master boot record of HDD. This allows to boot OS after incorrect uninstallation of custom loader (LILO, for example), which made all OS on your PC not bootable.
Delete, move, copy to file (image) and re-create partition from file. Image transfer over network is also supported: so you may configure one PC and then make contents of hard disks of other PCs same as contents of the hard disk of the first one.
Change password of any user, including administrator of Windows NT/2000/XP OS. You do not need to know the old password.
Recover deleted file, even file re-deleted from Windows Recycle Bin, and, in contrast, wipe single file or a whole disk so that it will be impossible to recover it in any way.
Recover data from accidentally formatted disk. Sometimes it helps to recover data from the disk, damaged by a virus.
Recover data from a floppy disk, which is not readable by OS. Format 3.5" disk for 1.7 Mb size.
Also the disk includes full set of external DOS commands, console versions of the most popular archivers/compressors.
Moreover, emergency boot CD includes minimal Linux distribution (Rescue Linux distribution) which may be very useful to a professional user.
Read more at http://ebcd.pcministry.com/
Download links:
EBCD Pro distribution (18mb)
More download links: HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. One of them has got to work, and if not, please send me a note.
Austrumi (v0.84)
Reader Cory Zerwas pointed out this tool. I haven't tested it myself, but from what I read about it it seems to do the job.
Austrumi is a Linux bootable ISO image for recovering NT passwords and other cool tools and methods, sized for Business Card size CD media (50Mb). It allows you to change any password, including that of the Administrator, on a partition occupied by Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Simply boot the CD and when you get to the initial boot prompt, type:
boot: nt_pass
This will launch a console utility that will detect Windows partitions on the hard disk and provide you with a menu to modify any user or Administrator passwords on the Windows system. It will even give access to the Windows registry for recovery purposes. Quite a handy utility to keep in your wallet (AUSTRUMI is small enough to fit on a business card-size CD) if you are unfortunate enough to having to deal with Windows machines in your line of work.
Read more at http://sourceforge.net/projects/austrumi
Download links:
Austrumi v0.84 (ISO file, 52mb)
Commercial Tools
Here are some of the commercial tools that will help you get out of the mess you're in. Make note that theses tools are not listed in any particular order:
Lostpassword.com
O&O BlueCon XXL
Administrator's Pak, NTFSDOS, ERD Commander 2003
LC5 - The Password Auditing and Recovery Application
NTAccess 1.4
These tools cost money. Sometimes more than you think.
Other commercial password recovery tools (not administrator or OS related):
http://www.elcomsoft.com/prs.html
See this page that has links to lots and lots of password cracking tools (for Office, PDF, ZIP etc.):
http://www.openwall.com/PR
Note: I'd like to put together all the info you have about these issues. If you have any tips, recommended links or any ideas about how to figure out a lost password - please e-mail me and I'll get back to you .
Related articles
You may find these related articles of interest to you:
Change Recovery Console Password
Change User Password from a Remote Computer
Change User Password from the Command Prompt
Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Alternate Logon Trick
Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Reset Domain Admin Password in Windows 2000 AD
Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Reset Domain Admin Password in Windows Server 2003 AD
What's the Password Reset Disk in Windows XP?
Links
Changing the Administrator password if you have forgotten it (Windows NT 4.0 only)
Lost your Administrator password and need the ultimate hack? (Windows NT 4.0 only)
Recover Lost Windows NT Administrator Password
Password Recovery Resources
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
How can I gain access to a Windows 2000/XP/NT computer if I forgot the administrator's password? How can I reset the administrator's password if I forgot it?
Featured Product:
Windows XP/2000/NT Key - Easy to use utility to reset Windows 2003/XP/2K/NT local and domain controller administrator passwords. Download FREE version now!
Ok, so you say you forgot your Windows administrator's password, huh? Oh well, it doesn't really matter if you did or you just say you did. The fact is that you need to gain access to a computer and you cannot "remember" the administrator's password.
How can you get out of this situation without formatting and re-installing the operating system?
Well, you can always try to remember the login password, or if that doesn't work (you wouldn't be sitting here reading my crap if you did remember, would you?) you can restore a backed up System State (in W2K DC) or a ERD (in NT 4.0) in which you do remember the password. The problem with doing so is that you'll probably lose all of the recently add users and groups, and all the changed passwords for all of your users since the last backup was made.
Note: If you are looking for password cracking tools that can be used for miscellaneous objectives such as password-protected PDF documents, zipped archives, Office documents, BIOS protection and so on then this pages is NOT for you. See some links at the bottom of this page for hints on where to find such tools, but I can tell you right away that Google might be a better choice for you.
Free Tools
Free Windows password-cracking tools are usually Linux boot disks that have NT file system drivers and software that will read the registry and rewrite the password hashes for any account including the Administrators. This process requires physical access to the console and an available floppy drive but it works like a charm! I've done it myself several times with no glitch or problem whatsoever.
Beware!!! Resetting a user's or administrator's password on some systems (like Windows XP) might cause data loss, especially EFS-encrypted files and saved passwords from within Internet Explorer. To protect yourself against EFS-encrypted files loss you should always export your Private and Public key, along with the keys for the Recovery Agent user. Please read more about EFS on my What's EFS? page.
Here are 4 of these free tools:
Petter Nordahl-Hagen's Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
Openwall's John the Ripper
EBCD – Emergency Boot CD
Austrumi
If you happen to know about other free tools please let me know .
For Domain Admin password resetting procedures please see the Related Articles section at the bottom of this page.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor (v040818)
Petter Nordahl-Hagen has written a Windows NT/2000/XP offline password editor:
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd
This is a utility to (re)set the password of any user that has a valid (local) account on your NT system, by modifying the encrypted password in the registry's SAM file.
You do not need to know the old password to set a new one.
It works offline, that is, you have to shutdown your computer and boot off a floppy disk or CD. The boot-disk includes stuff to access NTFS partitions and scripts to glue the whole thing together.
Works with syskey (no need to turn it off, but you can if you have lost the key)
Will detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts!
Caution: If used on users that have EFS encrypted files, and the system is XP or later service packs on W2K, all encrypted files for that user will be UNREADABLE! and cannot be recovered unless you remember the old password again!
Download links:
bd040818.zip (~1.1MB) - Bootdisk image, date 040818
cd040818.zip (~1MB) - SCSI-drivers (040818) (only use newest drivers with newest bootdisk, this one works with bd040818)
sc040818.zip (~2MB) - Bootable CD image with same version and drivers as floppies above.
To write these images to a floppy disk you'll need Raw Write, Win Image or any other writing software you want.
Support and Problems? Don't call me! Talk to the creator of this great tool. He also has a good FAQ set up covering most of the day-to-day questions. Read it right HERE
Author claims that this tool was successfully tested on NT 3.51, NT 4, Windows 2000 (except datacenter), Windows XP (all versions) and Window Server 2003. Notice that it is NOT compatible with Active Directory.
Need to change Windows NT/2000 Domain Admin password? This tool, however useful, will only reset the local administrator's password (e.g. the one found in the local computer's SAM). To reset a password of a domain administrator (or any other user for that matter) you must perform the routine that is described in the following page: Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Reset Domain Admin Password in Windows 2000 AD.
Note: This trick will probably not work under Windows Server 2003 due to service account security changes. To work around these limitations please read the Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Reset Domain Admin Password in Windows Server 2003 AD page.
John the Ripper (v1.6)
John the Ripper is a fast password cracker, currently available for many flavors of Unix (11 are officially supported, not counting different architectures), DOS, Win32, BeOS, and OpenVMS. Its primary purpose is to detect weak Unix passwords. Besides several crypt(3) password hash types most commonly found on various Unix flavors, supported out of the box are Kerberos AFS and Windows NT/2000/XP LM hashes, plus several more with contributed patches.
Read more at http://www.openwall.com/john/
Download links:
John the Ripper 1.6 (768kb)
EBCD – Emergency Boot CD (v0.60)
EBCD is a bootable CD, intended for system recovery in the case of software or hardware faults. It is able to create backup copies of normally working system and restore system to saved state. It contains the best system software ever created, properly compiled and configured for the maximum efficient use.
EBCD will be very useful when you need to:
Copy/move files (with long names, not necessary in CP437 encoding) from/to the disk but OS which can handle them (windows, Linux...) cannot boot. In particular, you may create a backup copy of normally installed and configured Windows and later restore Windows from such backup copy. So, in the case of fault OS itself and all software and its settings can be restored in 5-10 minutes.
Perform emergency boot of Windows NT / 2000 / XP. When the loader of this OS on the hard disk is damaged or misconfigured, you are able to load OS using another, standalone loader from this CD.
Recover master boot record of HDD. This allows to boot OS after incorrect uninstallation of custom loader (LILO, for example), which made all OS on your PC not bootable.
Delete, move, copy to file (image) and re-create partition from file. Image transfer over network is also supported: so you may configure one PC and then make contents of hard disks of other PCs same as contents of the hard disk of the first one.
Change password of any user, including administrator of Windows NT/2000/XP OS. You do not need to know the old password.
Recover deleted file, even file re-deleted from Windows Recycle Bin, and, in contrast, wipe single file or a whole disk so that it will be impossible to recover it in any way.
Recover data from accidentally formatted disk. Sometimes it helps to recover data from the disk, damaged by a virus.
Recover data from a floppy disk, which is not readable by OS. Format 3.5" disk for 1.7 Mb size.
Also the disk includes full set of external DOS commands, console versions of the most popular archivers/compressors.
Moreover, emergency boot CD includes minimal Linux distribution (Rescue Linux distribution) which may be very useful to a professional user.
Read more at http://ebcd.pcministry.com/
Download links:
EBCD Pro distribution (18mb)
More download links: HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. One of them has got to work, and if not, please send me a note.
Austrumi (v0.84)
Reader Cory Zerwas pointed out this tool. I haven't tested it myself, but from what I read about it it seems to do the job.
Austrumi is a Linux bootable ISO image for recovering NT passwords and other cool tools and methods, sized for Business Card size CD media (50Mb). It allows you to change any password, including that of the Administrator, on a partition occupied by Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Simply boot the CD and when you get to the initial boot prompt, type:
boot: nt_pass
This will launch a console utility that will detect Windows partitions on the hard disk and provide you with a menu to modify any user or Administrator passwords on the Windows system. It will even give access to the Windows registry for recovery purposes. Quite a handy utility to keep in your wallet (AUSTRUMI is small enough to fit on a business card-size CD) if you are unfortunate enough to having to deal with Windows machines in your line of work.
Read more at http://sourceforge.net/projects/austrumi
Download links:
Austrumi v0.84 (ISO file, 52mb)
Commercial Tools
Here are some of the commercial tools that will help you get out of the mess you're in. Make note that theses tools are not listed in any particular order:
Lostpassword.com
O&O BlueCon XXL
Administrator's Pak, NTFSDOS, ERD Commander 2003
LC5 - The Password Auditing and Recovery Application
NTAccess 1.4
These tools cost money. Sometimes more than you think.
Other commercial password recovery tools (not administrator or OS related):
http://www.elcomsoft.com/prs.html
See this page that has links to lots and lots of password cracking tools (for Office, PDF, ZIP etc.):
http://www.openwall.com/PR
Note: I'd like to put together all the info you have about these issues. If you have any tips, recommended links or any ideas about how to figure out a lost password - please e-mail me and I'll get back to you .
Related articles
You may find these related articles of interest to you:
Change Recovery Console Password
Change User Password from a Remote Computer
Change User Password from the Command Prompt
Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Alternate Logon Trick
Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Reset Domain Admin Password in Windows 2000 AD
Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Reset Domain Admin Password in Windows Server 2003 AD
What's the Password Reset Disk in Windows XP?
Links
Changing the Administrator password if you have forgotten it (Windows NT 4.0 only)
Lost your Administrator password and need the ultimate hack? (Windows NT 4.0 only)
Recover Lost Windows NT Administrator Password
Password Recovery Resources
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
XP bugs
Probably biggest gotcha! is that Windows XP Pro and Windows XP Home are very different products. Lots is missing in XP Home and it is much less stable than XP Pro.
Acdsee May Cause an Error Message
ACPI Troubleshooting
Admin file ownership in XP Inconsistent
Admin pw : Cannot Change the Password for the Administrator Account in User Accounts in Control Panel
Admin can't install updates? Only happens if your workstation is part of domain it has either reg key HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoWindowsUpdate set and/or has changed full control permission from admin on HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate.
Audit accounts: if you have auditing enabled, users may be prompted for a password even if no password is required. If this happens there is nothing you can do except assign passwords. You could try the current SP to see if it resolves the bug. Its actually an odd situation. What environment would had auditing enable and allow auto logon?
audio or video files don't play - GSpot Codec Information Appliance will tell you what codec are required
Backup utility for XP Home - where is it? On the install CD in \VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP. Double-click the Ntbackup.msi to start the wizard that installs the Backup utility.
Bandwidth : XP needlessly consumes 20% of available bandwidth. The QoS packet scheduler dialogue box in XP Pro has a default bandwidth limit of 20%. Some interpreted this setting to mean that XP will hold back 20% of your bandwidth even if its packet scheduler was turned off. Not true.
Blank activate Windows page in the Windows Product Activation Wizard
Booting
BootVis.exe Tool
How to Disable a Service or Device that Prevents Windows from Booting
"System Has Recovered from a Serious Error" message every reboot (Q317277)
CD - when you copy files from a CD to your HD, XP copies them read-only. Need to update them? Remove the read only attrib : attrib -r * /s
CD-R Drive or CD-RW Drive Is Not Recognized As a Recordable Device
CD-ROM Drive or DVD-ROM Drive Missing After You Install Windows XP
"Incorrect Function" Error Message When You Access the CD-ROM Drive, DVD-ROM Drive, or CD-RW Drive
"CD Recording Software Will Cause Windows to Become Unstable" Error Message When You Start Windows
CD-ROM Access Is Missing and Messages Cite Error Code 31, Code 32, Code 19, or Code 39 After You Remove Easy CD Creator in Windows XP
CDRom : Limited users can not burn CDs in Windows XP Home if you have setup limited users and want them to be able to burn CDs, set value HLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\AllocateDASD = 2.
C-Media Cmaudio.ax Driver : Problems When You Are Using an Out-of-Date Version
Compiling programs take 30-40% longer on XP rather than NT. Solution: Compile on a Windows XP-Based Computer Takes Longer to Complete Than on a Windows NT-based Computer
Compressed files : XP search treats zips as directories and searches through them. If you have lots of compressed files, this can extend XP search time to hours. Solution: Disable Windows XP's builtin zip support
Computer Does Not Start After You Change the Active Partition by Using the Disk Management Tool
Control Panel icons missing after upgrading to XP delete the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Don't load key.
Copying from XP to Windows 2000 SLOWWWWWWWWWW Q321169: Slow SMB Performance When You Copy Files from Windows XP to a Windows 2000 Domain Controller
Crashes :
XP setting crashes dorm networks Bill Brawley, director of user communications at Computing Services, said that the problem begins when a laptop with Windows XP switches between the wireless Internet card and an Ethernet cable connection. "There are two sort of network interfaces then," Brawley said. "The bridge feature is handy on a home network, but on our network it bridges those two devices and sets up a loop in which packets travel between the networks, sort of a feedback loop. This messes up both networks for the whole building." For background on bridging issues:
XP Bridging and Media Support for Home Networking
CreativeLabs :
Audigy registration program causes error message : InetReg.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience
Error Message When You Shut Down Computer: DEVLDR Not Responding
Ctplay2.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. Creative SoundBlaster Audigy Audio May Cause an Error
CPU : Explorer.exe Process Uses Many CPU Cycles When Windows Is Idle
Desktop Icons gone !!! This is a setting available in XP. Maybe your buddy is screwing with you. In any case:
Right-click desktop
Select Arrange Icons by
Check/uncheck Show Desktop Icons
Device conflicts: Troubleshooting Device Conflicts with Device Manager
Disk Cleanup : Stops Responding when searching for compressed files Q812930 : caused by incorrect entry in the registry This can also be caused by a corrupt temporary file. Clear the files from the Temp folder:
Close all applications
Start, click Run and type %temp% which opens the Temp folder
Type Ctrl+A to select all files
Press Delete
Close Windows Explorer
Open the Control Panel Internet Options applet
Select the General tab, then click Delete Files
Select the Delete all offline content check box
Click OK
DSL : XP kills Verizon DSL
DVD : Windows 2000 DVD-ROM Drive Cannot Read Windows XP-Formatted DVD Q304841 Although Win98 can read the XP formatted DVD!
XP often will not read or write to a floppy formatted by an earlier version of Windows Keep it in mind. No prob if formatted by XP.
Hard Disk Performance Is Slower Than You Expect in XP
IE issues - probably not unique to any particular OS
IE only saves graphics as BMPs
Internet Connection Sharing in Windows XP Troubleshooting
Dial-Up Connection in ICS Does Not Prompt to Disconnect when you quit Microsoft Internet Explorer on an Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) client computer,
Infrared Data Transfer Slower in Windows XP Than in Windows 2000workaround
information about the hardware installed on his computer hangs with message: 'all.part2' is null, or it is not an object
IIS : can't install IIS web server under XP Home - have to upgrade to XP Pro or use Apache instead
Language gotcha! : Cannot Upgrade or Install a Different Language Version of Windows XP
Mail Folders, Address Book, and E-mail Messages Are Missing After You Upgrade to Microsoft Windows XP
Media Player Info Exposure XP Windows When you play media files, Media Player collects titles, artiles and album art from the Internet. It also leaves behind info about you and your computer. To block Windows Media Player from providing your info: click Tools > Options and go to the Player tab and disable option Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your player?
Modem Does Not Work After You Upgrade a Hewlett Packard Pavilion Computer to Windows XP this occurs when you upgrade certain models of the HP Pavilion computer that are equipped with a modem based on the Rockwell chip set.
Modem, external serial modem can't be installed because XP does not recognize any COM ports except for the LPT port for the printer. Enable com port in BIOS and reboot. Now XP will have serial port available.
Mouse Pointer Moves Erratically or Does Not Respond with Windows XP
Netware : Poor Performance with File and Print Services for NetWare
My Network Places vulnerability
Outlook Express : can't make it default mail client you try to set Outlook Express in XP as your default mail client. It resets saying "this is not the default mail client" every time you go into the options menu. Solution: Click Start, Run and enter MSIMN.EXE /REG Then if needed, go to Control Panel, Internet Options, Programs and click the Reset Web Settings Button.
passwords:
Admin resets user's password and user loses access to EFS-encrypted files, email and various credentials No problem if PC is a member of a domain but a real problem for non-domain PCs.
Admin pw : Cannot Change the Password for the Administrator Account in User Accounts in Control Panel
No Password Expiration Notice Is Presented During the Logon Process
Q811493 - Windows XP Security : after applying it, XP systems are SLOW
Random crashes - causes
USB hub - got one? XP crashing? Worse - using an unpowered hub? Remove it and see if crashes stop. what I see more often is that hub works well before upgrading to XP but not under XP.
memory - my first thought - remove existing memory and replace with known good memory. Sometimes you just need to reseat cards and memory; vibrated ever so slightly loose.
drivers or bios - always check with vendors - particularly sound cards
power supply - not as common with modern boxes but if your PC is older, it may literally be underpowered. upgrade to a 400w.
Recovery Console in Windows XP 'The Password Is Not Valid' Error Message Appears When You Log On to Recovery Console in Windows XP
Remove programs - can't - get Error 1719 occur when you try to add or remove a program that uses the Windows Installer Microsoft Software Installation (MSI) package file (.msi).
Restore Point
Restore Point : Restoration Incomplete occurs when the computer is not shut down properly
When you start the System Restore tool and view the "Select a Restore Point" page, some of your restore points may be missing : Q301224
When you run the System Restore tool on a Windows XP-based computer, the calendar on the left side of the "Choose a Restore Point" window is not displayed : Q313853
"RUNDLL32.EXE - Entry Point Not Found" Error Message When You Start Your Computer Believe it or not, if you get this error, one major cause is older NVIDIA video drivers. Update them.
Scandisk missing ? XP like NT uses chkdsk.exe. Open a cmd prompt and type in chkdsk.exe /? to checkout the available parameters you may use.
Search function in Windows® XP has a known issue of not finding a number of File Types when you do a Search for Files "containing text" or using the "A word or phrase in the file" option. See Using the "A Word or Phrase in the File" Search Criterion May Not Work for Microsoft writeup or Search - Text for an alterative.
XP by default only searches for registered file types. Use a registry hack to make XP Search for All File Types
Security Exposure : XP Windows Universal Plug and Play
Security flaw : IE I can't begin to list the number of security problems found in IE. Use Windows Update often or if you fear it, monitor current security issues and patch when needed. Really Windows Update will save you a world of hassle. I would schedule the updates manually. See Automatic Updates Give XP Users New Headaches.
Security tab missing in XP If your hard drive is formatted NTFS, you can set permissions on files if you right-click file and choose properties. If your XP workstation is standalone or part of a workgroup, the security tab will be hidden. To have it show,
Open Windows Explorer
Choose Folder Options from the Tools menu
On the View tab, scroll to the bottom of the Advanced Settings
Clear the check box next to "Use Simple File Sharing."
Click OK to apply the change
Serious privacy problems in Windows Media Player for Windows XP
Services : disable service with services.msc rather than msconfig msconfig will allow you to disable any service including required services - services.msc will not allow you to do that kind of damage.
Sony MovieShaker : "This Application Cannot Use This File as a Clip" error message appears after an upgrade to Windows XP on a Sony VAIO PCV-R553DS computer that runs Windows 98 Second Edition and has MovieShaker version 1.1 installed. this version of Sony MovieShaker is not compatible with Windows XP
Shutdown : Resources to Help Troubleshoot Shutdown Problems in Windows XP
Startup : Resources for Troubleshooting Startup Problems in Windows XP
STOP errors:
STOP 0x00000073 CONFIG_LIST_FAILED Error Message in Windows XP one of the core Windows system hives (the SAM hive, the SECURITY hive, the SOFTWARE hive, or the DEFAULT hive) cannot be linked in the Windows registry. However, this error does not mean that the hive is damaged or that it was not loaded successfully.
STOP 0x00000074 BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO Error Message in Windows XP caused by having one or more RAM sticks that are either damaged or not placed into the computer correctly. turn off the computer and double check the RAM seating. If the memory is seated correctly, it could be that you have a bad DIMM. Try swapping out the DIMMs one at a time.
STOP 0x0000009C MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION Error Message in Windows XP processor detected an unrecoverable hardware error and reported it to Windows XP
"Stop 0x000000A5" Error When You Are Installing Windows XP Windows has detected that the BIOS in the computer is not fully compliant with Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI).
Stop 0x000000C2 error in Windows XP kernel-mode process or driver incorrectly attempted to perform a memory operation. This error message is typically caused by a faulty device driver or software.
Stop 0x000000D1 Error Message When You Turn Your Computer Off the OHCI endpoint is unable to find the transfer descriptor in the list of USB devices attached
Stop 0xc0000135 Damaged Registry Repair and Recovery in Windows XP Registry damage often occurs when programs with access to the registry do not cleanly remove temporary items that they store in the registry. This problem may also be caused if a program is terminated or experiences a user-mode fault.
System restore points taking up LOTS of space. This can consume several gigs. Solution is to set maximum space allocated to System Restore In the System Restore tab of the system applet in the Control Panel, click on settings and reduce the amount of space allotted to System Restore. This will remove older restore points using space not allocated and it will prevent System Restore from getting too large in the future.
System Restore Tool Displays a Blank Calendar in Windows XP
Taskbar Is Missing When You Logon
Upgrade gotcha!:
"Setupapi.dll File Appears to be Corrupt" Error Message When You Try to Upgrade to Windows XP
Existing Computers Are Not Updated to the DNS-Style Domain Name After You Upgrade the Domain to Active Directory
User Profiles May Not Be Migrated During Windows XP Upgrade
Missing Third-Party Control Panel Icons After Upgrade to Windows XP
Video Drivers : How to Determine Which Video Driver Is Loading in Windows XP
Webfolders : Cannot Add FQDN Web Folders that Require Basic Authentication to "My Network Places"
Windows XP Stops Responding at the Welcome Screen System restart has been paused : computer enters into the Hibernate mode and accesses a corrupted memory snapshot
XP SP1 Problems
SP1 : 100 Percent CPU Usage May Occur Under Some Battery Conditions
SP1 : Network File Errors Occur After You Install Windows XP SP1
Acdsee May Cause an Error Message
ACPI Troubleshooting
Admin file ownership in XP Inconsistent
Admin pw : Cannot Change the Password for the Administrator Account in User Accounts in Control Panel
Admin can't install updates? Only happens if your workstation is part of domain it has either reg key HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoWindowsUpdate set and/or has changed full control permission from admin on HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate.
Audit accounts: if you have auditing enabled, users may be prompted for a password even if no password is required. If this happens there is nothing you can do except assign passwords. You could try the current SP to see if it resolves the bug. Its actually an odd situation. What environment would had auditing enable and allow auto logon?
audio or video files don't play - GSpot Codec Information Appliance will tell you what codec are required
Backup utility for XP Home - where is it? On the install CD in \VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP. Double-click the Ntbackup.msi to start the wizard that installs the Backup utility.
Bandwidth : XP needlessly consumes 20% of available bandwidth. The QoS packet scheduler dialogue box in XP Pro has a default bandwidth limit of 20%. Some interpreted this setting to mean that XP will hold back 20% of your bandwidth even if its packet scheduler was turned off. Not true.
Blank activate Windows page in the Windows Product Activation Wizard
Booting
BootVis.exe Tool
How to Disable a Service or Device that Prevents Windows from Booting
"System Has Recovered from a Serious Error" message every reboot (Q317277)
CD - when you copy files from a CD to your HD, XP copies them read-only. Need to update them? Remove the read only attrib : attrib -r * /s
CD-R Drive or CD-RW Drive Is Not Recognized As a Recordable Device
CD-ROM Drive or DVD-ROM Drive Missing After You Install Windows XP
"Incorrect Function" Error Message When You Access the CD-ROM Drive, DVD-ROM Drive, or CD-RW Drive
"CD Recording Software Will Cause Windows to Become Unstable" Error Message When You Start Windows
CD-ROM Access Is Missing and Messages Cite Error Code 31, Code 32, Code 19, or Code 39 After You Remove Easy CD Creator in Windows XP
CDRom : Limited users can not burn CDs in Windows XP Home if you have setup limited users and want them to be able to burn CDs, set value HLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\AllocateDASD = 2.
C-Media Cmaudio.ax Driver : Problems When You Are Using an Out-of-Date Version
Compiling programs take 30-40% longer on XP rather than NT. Solution: Compile on a Windows XP-Based Computer Takes Longer to Complete Than on a Windows NT-based Computer
Compressed files : XP search treats zips as directories and searches through them. If you have lots of compressed files, this can extend XP search time to hours. Solution: Disable Windows XP's builtin zip support
Computer Does Not Start After You Change the Active Partition by Using the Disk Management Tool
Control Panel icons missing after upgrading to XP delete the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Don't load key.
Copying from XP to Windows 2000 SLOWWWWWWWWWW Q321169: Slow SMB Performance When You Copy Files from Windows XP to a Windows 2000 Domain Controller
Crashes :
XP setting crashes dorm networks Bill Brawley, director of user communications at Computing Services, said that the problem begins when a laptop with Windows XP switches between the wireless Internet card and an Ethernet cable connection. "There are two sort of network interfaces then," Brawley said. "The bridge feature is handy on a home network, but on our network it bridges those two devices and sets up a loop in which packets travel between the networks, sort of a feedback loop. This messes up both networks for the whole building." For background on bridging issues:
XP Bridging and Media Support for Home Networking
CreativeLabs :
Audigy registration program causes error message : InetReg.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience
Error Message When You Shut Down Computer: DEVLDR Not Responding
Ctplay2.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. Creative SoundBlaster Audigy Audio May Cause an Error
CPU : Explorer.exe Process Uses Many CPU Cycles When Windows Is Idle
Desktop Icons gone !!! This is a setting available in XP. Maybe your buddy is screwing with you. In any case:
Right-click desktop
Select Arrange Icons by
Check/uncheck Show Desktop Icons
Device conflicts: Troubleshooting Device Conflicts with Device Manager
Disk Cleanup : Stops Responding when searching for compressed files Q812930 : caused by incorrect entry in the registry This can also be caused by a corrupt temporary file. Clear the files from the Temp folder:
Close all applications
Start, click Run and type %temp% which opens the Temp folder
Type Ctrl+A to select all files
Press Delete
Close Windows Explorer
Open the Control Panel Internet Options applet
Select the General tab, then click Delete Files
Select the Delete all offline content check box
Click OK
DSL : XP kills Verizon DSL
DVD : Windows 2000 DVD-ROM Drive Cannot Read Windows XP-Formatted DVD Q304841 Although Win98 can read the XP formatted DVD!
XP often will not read or write to a floppy formatted by an earlier version of Windows Keep it in mind. No prob if formatted by XP.
Hard Disk Performance Is Slower Than You Expect in XP
IE issues - probably not unique to any particular OS
IE only saves graphics as BMPs
Internet Connection Sharing in Windows XP Troubleshooting
Dial-Up Connection in ICS Does Not Prompt to Disconnect when you quit Microsoft Internet Explorer on an Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) client computer,
Infrared Data Transfer Slower in Windows XP Than in Windows 2000workaround
information about the hardware installed on his computer hangs with message: 'all.part2' is null, or it is not an object
IIS : can't install IIS web server under XP Home - have to upgrade to XP Pro or use Apache instead
Language gotcha! : Cannot Upgrade or Install a Different Language Version of Windows XP
Mail Folders, Address Book, and E-mail Messages Are Missing After You Upgrade to Microsoft Windows XP
Media Player Info Exposure XP Windows When you play media files, Media Player collects titles, artiles and album art from the Internet. It also leaves behind info about you and your computer. To block Windows Media Player from providing your info: click Tools > Options and go to the Player tab and disable option Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your player?
Modem Does Not Work After You Upgrade a Hewlett Packard Pavilion Computer to Windows XP this occurs when you upgrade certain models of the HP Pavilion computer that are equipped with a modem based on the Rockwell chip set.
Modem, external serial modem can't be installed because XP does not recognize any COM ports except for the LPT port for the printer. Enable com port in BIOS and reboot. Now XP will have serial port available.
Mouse Pointer Moves Erratically or Does Not Respond with Windows XP
Netware : Poor Performance with File and Print Services for NetWare
My Network Places vulnerability
Outlook Express : can't make it default mail client you try to set Outlook Express in XP as your default mail client. It resets saying "this is not the default mail client" every time you go into the options menu. Solution: Click Start, Run and enter MSIMN.EXE /REG Then if needed, go to Control Panel, Internet Options, Programs and click the Reset Web Settings Button.
passwords:
Admin resets user's password and user loses access to EFS-encrypted files, email and various credentials No problem if PC is a member of a domain but a real problem for non-domain PCs.
Admin pw : Cannot Change the Password for the Administrator Account in User Accounts in Control Panel
No Password Expiration Notice Is Presented During the Logon Process
Q811493 - Windows XP Security : after applying it, XP systems are SLOW
Random crashes - causes
USB hub - got one? XP crashing? Worse - using an unpowered hub? Remove it and see if crashes stop. what I see more often is that hub works well before upgrading to XP but not under XP.
memory - my first thought - remove existing memory and replace with known good memory. Sometimes you just need to reseat cards and memory; vibrated ever so slightly loose.
drivers or bios - always check with vendors - particularly sound cards
power supply - not as common with modern boxes but if your PC is older, it may literally be underpowered. upgrade to a 400w.
Recovery Console in Windows XP 'The Password Is Not Valid' Error Message Appears When You Log On to Recovery Console in Windows XP
Remove programs - can't - get Error 1719 occur when you try to add or remove a program that uses the Windows Installer Microsoft Software Installation (MSI) package file (.msi).
Restore Point
Restore Point : Restoration Incomplete occurs when the computer is not shut down properly
When you start the System Restore tool and view the "Select a Restore Point" page, some of your restore points may be missing : Q301224
When you run the System Restore tool on a Windows XP-based computer, the calendar on the left side of the "Choose a Restore Point" window is not displayed : Q313853
"RUNDLL32.EXE - Entry Point Not Found" Error Message When You Start Your Computer Believe it or not, if you get this error, one major cause is older NVIDIA video drivers. Update them.
Scandisk missing ? XP like NT uses chkdsk.exe. Open a cmd prompt and type in chkdsk.exe /? to checkout the available parameters you may use.
Search function in Windows® XP has a known issue of not finding a number of File Types when you do a Search for Files "containing text" or using the "A word or phrase in the file" option. See Using the "A Word or Phrase in the File" Search Criterion May Not Work for Microsoft writeup or Search - Text for an alterative.
XP by default only searches for registered file types. Use a registry hack to make XP Search for All File Types
Security Exposure : XP Windows Universal Plug and Play
Security flaw : IE I can't begin to list the number of security problems found in IE. Use Windows Update often or if you fear it, monitor current security issues and patch when needed. Really Windows Update will save you a world of hassle. I would schedule the updates manually. See Automatic Updates Give XP Users New Headaches.
Security tab missing in XP If your hard drive is formatted NTFS, you can set permissions on files if you right-click file and choose properties. If your XP workstation is standalone or part of a workgroup, the security tab will be hidden. To have it show,
Open Windows Explorer
Choose Folder Options from the Tools menu
On the View tab, scroll to the bottom of the Advanced Settings
Clear the check box next to "Use Simple File Sharing."
Click OK to apply the change
Serious privacy problems in Windows Media Player for Windows XP
Services : disable service with services.msc rather than msconfig msconfig will allow you to disable any service including required services - services.msc will not allow you to do that kind of damage.
Sony MovieShaker : "This Application Cannot Use This File as a Clip" error message appears after an upgrade to Windows XP on a Sony VAIO PCV-R553DS computer that runs Windows 98 Second Edition and has MovieShaker version 1.1 installed. this version of Sony MovieShaker is not compatible with Windows XP
Shutdown : Resources to Help Troubleshoot Shutdown Problems in Windows XP
Startup : Resources for Troubleshooting Startup Problems in Windows XP
STOP errors:
STOP 0x00000073 CONFIG_LIST_FAILED Error Message in Windows XP one of the core Windows system hives (the SAM hive, the SECURITY hive, the SOFTWARE hive, or the DEFAULT hive) cannot be linked in the Windows registry. However, this error does not mean that the hive is damaged or that it was not loaded successfully.
STOP 0x00000074 BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO Error Message in Windows XP caused by having one or more RAM sticks that are either damaged or not placed into the computer correctly. turn off the computer and double check the RAM seating. If the memory is seated correctly, it could be that you have a bad DIMM. Try swapping out the DIMMs one at a time.
STOP 0x0000009C MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION Error Message in Windows XP processor detected an unrecoverable hardware error and reported it to Windows XP
"Stop 0x000000A5" Error When You Are Installing Windows XP Windows has detected that the BIOS in the computer is not fully compliant with Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI).
Stop 0x000000C2 error in Windows XP kernel-mode process or driver incorrectly attempted to perform a memory operation. This error message is typically caused by a faulty device driver or software.
Stop 0x000000D1 Error Message When You Turn Your Computer Off the OHCI endpoint is unable to find the transfer descriptor in the list of USB devices attached
Stop 0xc0000135 Damaged Registry Repair and Recovery in Windows XP Registry damage often occurs when programs with access to the registry do not cleanly remove temporary items that they store in the registry. This problem may also be caused if a program is terminated or experiences a user-mode fault.
System restore points taking up LOTS of space. This can consume several gigs. Solution is to set maximum space allocated to System Restore In the System Restore tab of the system applet in the Control Panel, click on settings and reduce the amount of space allotted to System Restore. This will remove older restore points using space not allocated and it will prevent System Restore from getting too large in the future.
System Restore Tool Displays a Blank Calendar in Windows XP
Taskbar Is Missing When You Logon
Upgrade gotcha!:
"Setupapi.dll File Appears to be Corrupt" Error Message When You Try to Upgrade to Windows XP
Existing Computers Are Not Updated to the DNS-Style Domain Name After You Upgrade the Domain to Active Directory
User Profiles May Not Be Migrated During Windows XP Upgrade
Missing Third-Party Control Panel Icons After Upgrade to Windows XP
Video Drivers : How to Determine Which Video Driver Is Loading in Windows XP
Webfolders : Cannot Add FQDN Web Folders that Require Basic Authentication to "My Network Places"
Windows XP Stops Responding at the Welcome Screen System restart has been paused : computer enters into the Hibernate mode and accesses a corrupted memory snapshot
XP SP1 Problems
SP1 : 100 Percent CPU Usage May Occur Under Some Battery Conditions
SP1 : Network File Errors Occur After You Install Windows XP SP1
Monday, August 16, 2004
Reinstall TCP/IP in XP PRo
You receive an "An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket" error message when you try to connect to a network
View products that this article applies to.
Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
SYMPTOMS
When you try to connect your computer to a network, you may receive the following error message:
An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.
This symptom occurs on a computer that obtains an IP address from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. If you assign a static IP address to your computer, you do not receive this message.
CAUSE
This issue may occur if you have a third-party product installed that uses Windows sockets and also uses the ipconfig, release, and renew commands. The Windows sockets registry subkeys may be corrupted.
RESOLUTION
Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require 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 either of the following methods.
Method 1
We recommend that you use Method 1 if either of the following conditions are true:
You only have one computer.
You do not have access to a computer that is similar to the first computer where you experienced the symptoms that are described in the "Symptoms" section. A computer that is similar to the first computer is another computer that has the same operating system version and a similar hardware configuration.
Use Registry Editor to export and delete the Winsock and Winsock2 registry subkeys, and then remove and reinstall TCP/IP on Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows XP. To do this, follow these steps.
Export and delete the corrupted registry subkeys
1. Insert a floppy disk in the floppy disk drive of the computer whose registry entries you are exporting.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock
4. On the File menu, click Export.
5. In the Save in box, click 3½ Floppy (A:), type a name for the file in the File name box, and then click Save.
6. Right-click Winsock, and then click Delete. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 for the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2
Note Each .reg file that you save must have a different name.
8. Right-click Winsock2, click Delete, and then click Yes.
9. Quit Registry Editor.
Windows 2000-based computer
Remove TCP/IP on a Windows 2000-based computer
1. Log on to Windows as administrator.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Network Connections, right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
3. Under This component uses the following items, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Uninstall.
4. Follow the instructions on the screen to remove TCP/IP.
5. Restart your computer, but click No if you are prompted to let Windows enable a protocol.
Install TCP/IP on a Windows 2000-based computer
1. Log on to Windows as administrator.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Network Connections, right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
3. Click Install.
4. In the Select Network Component Type dialog box, click Protocol, and then click Add.
5. Under Network Protocol, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click OK.
6. When the protocol is installed, click Close.
7. Restart your computer.
Windows XP-based computer
Reinstall TCP/IP on a Windows XP-based computer
In Windows XP, the TCP/IP stack is a core component of the operating system. Therefore, you cannot remove TCP/IP in Windows XP.
1. Install TCP/IP on top of itself. To do this, follow these steps:
a. In Control Panel, double-click Network Connections, right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
b. Click Install.
c. Click Protocol, and then click Add.
d. Click Have Disk.
e. In the Copy manufacturer's files from box, type System_Drive_Letter:\windows\inf, and then click OK.
f. In the list of available protocols, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click OK.
2. Restart your computer.
Method 2
If you are correcting this problem on several computers and you have access to a working computer with the same operating system version and a similar hardware configuration, we recommend Method 2.
To resolve this issue, delete the corrupted registry entries, and then replace them with the registry key information that you exported from a computer that has a working installation of TCP/IP. To do this, follow these steps.
Delete the corrupted registry entries
On the computer that has the corrupted registry entries, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
.
3. Right-click Winsock, and then click Delete. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
4. Right-click Winsock2, and then click Delete. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
Export the registry entries to a floppy disk
On the computer that has a working installation of TCP/IP, follow these steps.
Note The computer that you are importing the registry entries from must use the same version of Windows and be either similar to or a duplicate of the computer that is experiencing the symptoms that are described in the "Symptoms" section.
1. Insert a floppy disk in the floppy disk drive of the computer that has the registry entries that you are exporting.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry subkey and then click Winsock:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
4. Click File, and then click Export.
5. In the Save in box, click 3½ Floppy(A:), type a name for the file in the File name box, and then click Save.
6. Click Winsock2, click File, and then click Export.
7. In the Save in box, click 3½ Floppy(A:), type a name for the file in the File name box, and then click Save.
Note Each .reg file that you save must have a different name.
8. Quit Registry Editor.
Import the registry entries from the floppy disk
On the computer that had the corrupted registry entries, follow these steps:
1. Insert the floppy disk that contains the .reg files in the floppy disk drive of the computer that is experiencing the symptoms that are described in the "Symptoms" section.
2. Start Windows Explorer, click My Computer, and then double-click 3½ Floppy(A:).
3. Double-click each .reg file that you created and saved to the floppy disk in the "Export the registry keys to a floppy disk" section.
4. Click Yes when you are prompted to add information to the registry.
5. Click OK when you receive the message that the information is successfully entered in the registry.
6. Quit Registry Editor.
MORE INFORMATION
These methods restore basic functionality to the Winsock and the Winsock2 subkeys. You may have to reinstall some third-party proxy software or firewalls.
View products that this article applies to.
Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
SYMPTOMS
When you try to connect your computer to a network, you may receive the following error message:
An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.
This symptom occurs on a computer that obtains an IP address from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. If you assign a static IP address to your computer, you do not receive this message.
CAUSE
This issue may occur if you have a third-party product installed that uses Windows sockets and also uses the ipconfig, release, and renew commands. The Windows sockets registry subkeys may be corrupted.
RESOLUTION
Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require 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 either of the following methods.
Method 1
We recommend that you use Method 1 if either of the following conditions are true:
You only have one computer.
You do not have access to a computer that is similar to the first computer where you experienced the symptoms that are described in the "Symptoms" section. A computer that is similar to the first computer is another computer that has the same operating system version and a similar hardware configuration.
Use Registry Editor to export and delete the Winsock and Winsock2 registry subkeys, and then remove and reinstall TCP/IP on Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows XP. To do this, follow these steps.
Export and delete the corrupted registry subkeys
1. Insert a floppy disk in the floppy disk drive of the computer whose registry entries you are exporting.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock
4. On the File menu, click Export.
5. In the Save in box, click 3½ Floppy (A:), type a name for the file in the File name box, and then click Save.
6. Right-click Winsock, and then click Delete. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 for the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2
Note Each .reg file that you save must have a different name.
8. Right-click Winsock2, click Delete, and then click Yes.
9. Quit Registry Editor.
Windows 2000-based computer
Remove TCP/IP on a Windows 2000-based computer
1. Log on to Windows as administrator.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Network Connections, right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
3. Under This component uses the following items, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Uninstall.
4. Follow the instructions on the screen to remove TCP/IP.
5. Restart your computer, but click No if you are prompted to let Windows enable a protocol.
Install TCP/IP on a Windows 2000-based computer
1. Log on to Windows as administrator.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Network Connections, right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
3. Click Install.
4. In the Select Network Component Type dialog box, click Protocol, and then click Add.
5. Under Network Protocol, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click OK.
6. When the protocol is installed, click Close.
7. Restart your computer.
Windows XP-based computer
Reinstall TCP/IP on a Windows XP-based computer
In Windows XP, the TCP/IP stack is a core component of the operating system. Therefore, you cannot remove TCP/IP in Windows XP.
1. Install TCP/IP on top of itself. To do this, follow these steps:
a. In Control Panel, double-click Network Connections, right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
b. Click Install.
c. Click Protocol, and then click Add.
d. Click Have Disk.
e. In the Copy manufacturer's files from box, type System_Drive_Letter:\windows\inf, and then click OK.
f. In the list of available protocols, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click OK.
2. Restart your computer.
Method 2
If you are correcting this problem on several computers and you have access to a working computer with the same operating system version and a similar hardware configuration, we recommend Method 2.
To resolve this issue, delete the corrupted registry entries, and then replace them with the registry key information that you exported from a computer that has a working installation of TCP/IP. To do this, follow these steps.
Delete the corrupted registry entries
On the computer that has the corrupted registry entries, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
.
3. Right-click Winsock, and then click Delete. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
4. Right-click Winsock2, and then click Delete. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
Export the registry entries to a floppy disk
On the computer that has a working installation of TCP/IP, follow these steps.
Note The computer that you are importing the registry entries from must use the same version of Windows and be either similar to or a duplicate of the computer that is experiencing the symptoms that are described in the "Symptoms" section.
1. Insert a floppy disk in the floppy disk drive of the computer that has the registry entries that you are exporting.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry subkey and then click Winsock:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
4. Click File, and then click Export.
5. In the Save in box, click 3½ Floppy(A:), type a name for the file in the File name box, and then click Save.
6. Click Winsock2, click File, and then click Export.
7. In the Save in box, click 3½ Floppy(A:), type a name for the file in the File name box, and then click Save.
Note Each .reg file that you save must have a different name.
8. Quit Registry Editor.
Import the registry entries from the floppy disk
On the computer that had the corrupted registry entries, follow these steps:
1. Insert the floppy disk that contains the .reg files in the floppy disk drive of the computer that is experiencing the symptoms that are described in the "Symptoms" section.
2. Start Windows Explorer, click My Computer, and then double-click 3½ Floppy(A:).
3. Double-click each .reg file that you created and saved to the floppy disk in the "Export the registry keys to a floppy disk" section.
4. Click Yes when you are prompted to add information to the registry.
5. Click OK when you receive the message that the information is successfully entered in the registry.
6. Quit Registry Editor.
MORE INFORMATION
These methods restore basic functionality to the Winsock and the Winsock2 subkeys. You may have to reinstall some third-party proxy software or firewalls.
