Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with microsoft and XP

Accidentally deleted audio driver on Windows XP machine. How do I get it back?

MattMangels — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:45:59 -0800

I accidentally deleted my audio driver software on my XP machine. How can I remedy this? I was going through files on my old XP machine, deleting unnecessary programs and such, and when I was in the "Add/Remove Programs" part of the control panel I noticed a program called "C Media 3D audio" or something like that. I have a bunch of old video and audio converter programs and figured this was one of them. It even said that I used the program rarely, the last time being April of 2005. "Well surely I can delete that!" So I did. And then the computer restarted itself and now I have no more ability to play sound. You know, a fucking prompt that says "hey if you delete this you won't be able to play audio anymore" would be nice, Microsoft. (In case someone from Microsoft is reading this, THIS IS WHY PEOPLE HATE YOU.) Anyway, what can I do to restore audio capabilities on this computer?

Hardware + Windows 7 Pro + XP Mode?

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:36:59 -0800

Can I use a Keyspan USB-to-serial adapter with a Windows XP 32-bit application running within XP Compatibility Mode within Windows 7 Professional 64-bit? (That's a mouthful. So many different versions and complications, Microsoft.)

My dad has some software that connects to a motorcycle ECU through a proprietary cable that turns into a 9-pin serial DIN plug. I had this working through a Keyspan USB-to-serial adapter to an old Toshiba laptop running XP.

The laptop is toast so he wants to replace it with a new laptop. They don't sell Windows XP laptops, so I need to find some way for him to run his stuff under Windows 7 Professional via its XP Compatibility Mode Plug-In Add-on. Does this XP Mode allow use of hardware, like a USB-to-serial port adapter?

Java Bunnies Breeding

Black_Umbrella — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:32:04 -0800

Which of these Java programs can i get rid of and why are they breeding like bunnies? Everyone that has my computer has the same issue where these things keep building up. It is school issued so i know a lot of people with the same computer and many of the same programs pre-installed. I have been deleting the old versions every now and again but why so many versions & which can I get rid of? I don't like 100+ MB bunnies breeding in my computer.

J2SE runtime vs Java 2 runtime vs Java 2 SDK vs Java(TM) update vs Java(TM) SE runtime

...I don't program so I don't need any if that is what they are used for. Oh and I run windows xp.

How can I make a DDE connection close in Windows XP?

slavlin — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:33:33 -0800

How can I close DDE connections? If I am testing macros that are opening DDE connections to Excel, is there a way to force all of the DDE connections to close if something crashes? I have noted that the macro becomes unstable if I have to run it more than once and I think this is what is happening.

Bonus question, is there a way, assuming nothing beyond MS Office XP (2002) and Windows XP standard software, to see what DDE connections are open?

MS Word overwrite function is failing

IndigoJones — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:57:42 -0800

MS Word 2003 on XP is misbehaving. (I must have hit some Clever Keys in error and now do not now how to get back.) Time was, if I wrote a mistake, I could highlight the error, type the new improved version directly, and the new improved version would automatically displace the old bad version.

No more. Now if I highlight and type, I get both old and new side by side and have to delete the old part by hand. (That is to say, if I wrote “Now is the tome”, high light “tome”, type in “time”, the final product will be “now is the timetome”)

(Hitting insert is not the solution. That simply lets me type over the same number of characters highlighted. I want to be able to highlight a full paragraph, type in one word, and have the one word displace everything. Liek I used to.)

It is not doing this in Outlook.

Why aren't there universal 32->64 bit driver translator/emulators?

Mokusatsu — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:37:56 -0800

Why aren't there universal 32->64 bit driver translator/emulators? 64 bit versions of Windows require 64 bit drivers for printers, scanners and other devices. Many people upgrading to a 64 bit computer have had to retire perfectly good hardware simply because of lack of 64 bit drivers.

One way around this is to set up a 32 bit guest OS in a virtual machine and then run your devices from the guest OS, i.e. you can install your printer on a VMWare (or other type) virtual machine with XP or Vista 32 bit (or perhaps a Linux distro) and transfer your files to the guest OS when you want to print them.

Clearly the virtual machine is able to pass on commands to the device either via the host OS, or bypassing it altogether. This seems to me to be a proof of concept for a universal driver translator.

My question is, would a 64 bit emulator program doing essentially the same job as the 32 bit virtual machine be possible? Basically it would be a virtual machine with a stripped down OS that does nothing more than run 32 bit drivers on a 64 bit host.

If it is possible, how come such a program hasn't been written yet?

I'd willingly pay $100 for such software instead of updating my hardware, because running a full blown 32 bit guest OS purely to scan or print things is a bit of a hassle. I'm sure thousands of people would, and the existence of such software would remove one of the major objections people have to getting a 64 bit OS.

How can we NOT move to Vista without hoarding XP licenses?

bartleby — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:30:41 -0800

Can someone clarify how (volume?) licensing of XP is going to work when we refuse to move to Vista? Reading all day, nothing makes sense. Not that long left to figure it out. Okay, so 50 people use XP Professional and are sticking with it until there's absolutely no choice.
But they're going to need computers replaced or bought for new employees.
Anything bought new after June, or whatever the final drop-dead date is, will have Vista.

What exactly do I need to do, in order to do the following legitimately?
Buy new PC with OEM Vista (Biz or Enterprise, probably):grab drivers, format hard drive
Install XP (from some other media)
Make the licensing gnomes happy.

Do I just need an XP install CD (OEM? Plain retail? some special thing?), and then use the Vista product key from the sticker? It can't be that simple. But I can't get an intelligible answer anywhere.

Thus I turn to the wise hive mind.
I can't be the only one needing a plan for this; please describe your method, or point me at some documentation that I've missed for how to do this.

My XP takes too long to shut down & boot up. What could be causing it?

cheero — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:29:59 -0800

My XP takes too long to shut down & boot up. What could be causing it? In the past 2-3 months I've noticed that whenever I shutdown or reboot, the computer needs at least 5 minutes to do so. It keeps getting stuck on 'saving your settings' window for at least 5 minutes. This wasn't an issue before so I am wondering what I can do to fix it.

My Specs:

OS: WinXP Professional 5.1 SP2 (Build #2600)
CPU: Intel Pentium D , 2.99 GHz

Thanks!

Will someone marry my keyboard?

skylar — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:29:26 -0800

I've just bought a Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Keyboard 7000, which comes with the matching mouse (8000). It works great with my Windows XP computer, as long as the computer is on. Once I switch the computer off and attempt to restart, the Bluetooth connection is lost and the computer won't start, citing the lack of a keyboard as the reason. Only by repeatedly fiddling and resynching can I get the computer started up. Can anyone suggest how I bond these three devices in permanent holy matrimony?

Take Word off an XP disk?

prior — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:10:45 -0800

Is it possible to download Word off an XP disk without reinstalling XP in its entirety? I have a new computer with XP on it but no Microsoft Word. I also have an old XP disk that does have Word included on it, if I remember correctly. Is there a way to boot up this XP disk and only take Word off of it without risking losing all my files/settings by reinstalling the whole OS?

Can't work means can't get paid

Eideteker — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 14:33:31 -0800

Help! I'm locked out of my work laptop! Yesterday, I was trying to set up printer sharing on my home network. I plugged my printer into my desktop, and set it up to share (see here and here). I couldn't get it to show up on my laptop, which is still set up for the office network I used to use, even though I no longer go to the office and am now just a weekend telecommuter. So in the process of poking around to get it working, I changed the Network ID. I changed Option 1: "This computer is part of a business network, and I use it to connect to other computers at work." to Option 2: "This computer is for home use and is not part of a business network." However, unlike what the MS support page I linked to says, it did NOT prompt me for a username/password. It just told me to restart the computer, which I did. Now it is not recognizing my password. This is very bad. I cannot get into the laptop at all.

1. Is there any way for me to get back in and change that setting? I don't have the password for 'Administrator' (though my account was originally set up with computer administrator access). I don't have an XP Pro CD. I have a full-time job during the week that will make it difficult to bring the laptop in to the office to be reset by the IT manager.

2. Can anyone help me with the printer sharing? Why was my printer not showing up even when I searched "HOMENETWORK" not "OFFICENETWORK"? Does it have anything to do with the fact my desktop is running XP Home, not Pro?

Third Times a charm

DJWeezy — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:34:43 -0800

I am building a new computer and was wondering if this setup seems good I already have the OS and case/power supply more details after break. (previously, previously) LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA

MSI NX8400GS-TD256E GeForce 8400GS 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Xeon 3060 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX805573060 - Retail

Already have the case Alienware MJ-12 Mid-Tower ATX Case with 700 Watt Power Supply

Os XP

Help restore start menu icon and text

gfroese — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 08:41:37 -0800

How do I restore the graphic and text on my Start menu to the Windows default? I'm using the Windows Classic mode for start menu in XP. A long time ago I installed some Gnome foot replacement icon on my start menu and now I'd like to go back to the boring windows default. Screenshot here I can't recall what the program was that changed the icon for me in the first place, and there is nothing in my add/remove programs that looks like the culprit. Help me restore the menu to its standard goodness.

My computer doesn't like my mouse!

softlord — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:06:34 -0800

Recently (and I know its obnoxious to not be able to pin it down to a single event), I've been having an issue where my Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer USB (It's optical) will freeze up for a few seconds and then start working. It seems that my XP machine thinks it is being disconnected, as I heard the sound cue for hardware being removed, and then 5 seconds later the re-connection sound. The thing is, I've had this issue before, and I believe it was resolved with a registry hack, or uninstalling a bit of software, I just can't for the life of me remember which. It seems to happen more frequently when I have a bunch of apps open, though not exclusively (it also happens right in the middle of FPS games *grumble).

The only other helpful information i can gather is, when going to the Mouse control panel, i get a popup that says "Some mouse settings might not work until you connect a Microsoft mouse to a USB port on your computer or set up a Microsoft mouse that uses Bluetooth technology." which seems to me like XP doesn't know which mouse this is, even though i've specified in the "connected device" the specific mouse that i have.

I have tried removing the device from the device manager and letting it redetect.

Could it be something due to the number of USB devices i have attached (two external drives, the mouse, a printer, a webcam and sometimes an ipod)? My machine has 6 USB ports, so I didn't think it was that...

Please help before this drives me completely insane (not a long drive, i know)

Nothing but .net

lukemeister — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 06:02:19 -0800

Why don't the New York Times Reader, Doppler, and Juice work? Doppler and Juice started crashing on my XP (SP2) box after a period of normal use, and I can't get the Times Reader to run at all. The common thread seems to be that these applications use various versions of .NET. The Times Reader requires the NET 3.0 Framework, which supposedly was downloaded as part of the Reader install. Any suggestions?

Will XP2 break my computer?

Wet Spot — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 13:35:18 -0800

Should I install XP SP2? This MS page lists "programs that are known to experience a loss of functionality when they run on a Windows XP Service Pack 2-based computer." Included are three programs I use on a regular basis:

PhotoShop CS 8.0 ("Program installs, but will not start.")
Norton SystemWorks 2004 - GoBack32 2004 ("If you install this program, you receive the "DRIVER_OR_IRQ_NOT_EQUAL" error every time your computer starts.")
ZoneAlarm 5.0.590 ("When you try to remove ZoneAlarm, you receive a Stop error message or your computer restarts before the uninstall program finishes.")

Elsewhere I've read the SP2 breaks all Adobe help pages. I use Adobe Framemaker all the time; if there is issue with this program it will be a real problem.

I've held out for this long, but an organization I often work with won't let me connect to their network unless SP2 is installed. Is it going to break my computer? Any experience with SP2 with these programs?

Why is my "AutoRecovery" function fickle?

zharptitsa — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 12:23:47 -0800

My office computer operates Windows XP with Word 2000. (I'm a Mac person at home so no lectures please...) About once a week or so, a Word doc will freeze up on me forcing me to hit the good old Ctrl+Alt+Del and End Task. I would say 50% of the time when I open Word again, the document I was working on comes up as a recovered document (phew!). The other 50% of the time, I open Word and... no recovered document (!!!). What gives? Why the discrepancy? How can I guarantee that a recovered document will come up all the time and not just when the computer feels like it? Aside from searching through a million temp files, is there an easy way to get the version I was working on back if it doesn't come up automatically? (Yes, I save as often as I can, but I'm only human.) Sorry if this has been answered before... I searched for a similar post, but didn't find one. Thank you!

It looks like you're writing a letter.

thejoshu — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 21:58:38 -0800

I have been desperately seeking those Microsoft Office XP Flash animations featuring the voice of Gilbert Gottfried that proclaimed the "Death of Clippy." (Or maybe it was just the Pink-Slipping of Clippy.) Are those still around anywhere on this crazy Internet?

What added a command to MS Office?

blue_wardrobe — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 13:00:14 -0800

Suddenly, "Sign out of Microsoft Passport network" has appeared in the file menu of all my Microsoft Office 2003 applications. At least, I don't remember it from before. When did it appear, and what put it there? If I click it, it logs me out of Microsoft Passport (natch), and then isn't on the menu anymore. Interestingly, it doesn't log me out of MSN Messenger. I don't remember this function being there before, and I pretty much have a photographic memory for software menus, etc. Hmmm.

Shutting Down...

terrier319 — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 08:40:58 -0800

Since installing XP professional in November, I have experienced a spontaneous shutdown and restart of my desktop. When it returns, it tells me the system has recovered from a fatal error that is caused by an unspecified device driver. I have uninstalled both software and hardware one by one over the last several weeks in hopes of identifying the problem. Nothing. Even system restore does not solve it. Is is time to reinstall XP, even with the risk that it will likely happen again?

Files Lost After Windows XP Temporary Profile Zapped -- Any Way to Recover?

brookedel — Thu, 21 Oct 2004 01:44:16 -0800

Is there any way to recover files saved under a temporary profile in Windows XP? (MI) Condensing my long and sordid story: after my father's profile was corrupted, my sister went onto the computer under a temporary profile. My father was confused about where his files were, so she moved the contents of his Documents folder to a different location (not sure where exactly). After a reboot, the files were gone. Disappeared into the ether. My guess is that she saved these files somewhere within the hierarchy of the temporary profile, and they were deleted (along with the profile itself) after she rebooted the computer.

My question: can I recover them somehow? Is there a magical utility out there that can scrape up recently deleted files? Cursory searches on Google show a few file recovery utilities, but I have no idea which ones are reputable. Would a data recovery service apply in this case (all the sites I'm seeing talk about crashed hard drives and disasters, while this was just a weird mistake)?

Exhortations to "backup, you fool!" will be duly passed on to my chagrined family.

Firefox opening twice in two identical windows

nylon — Thu, 16 Sep 2004 11:24:44 -0800

Eudora + Firefox + XP: every time I launch a link from within an email, Firefox opens it twice in two identical windows, and I also get a blank IE window. Needless to say, I just want one version of the link. In Firefox.
Spybot, Adaware, Hijackthis and AVG show nothing untoward on my system. Anyone else get this?

How do I move from Windows 98 to Windows XP?

RavinDave — Fri, 28 May 2004 06:04:03 -0800

Updating Windows98 SE to Windows XP. (mi) Understand, I come from the Unix world, so I don't know alot of things about Windows that are second nature to most of you.

I have my old copy of Windows 98. I have a new update disk for Windows XP. I would be re-installing my old system then installing XP over the top of it, right?

Do I need to get all the patches and upgrades first (are they even available now?), or would those be anticipated by the upgrade disk already?

How can my laptop share my desktop's broadband?

Aaorn — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 12:26:21 -0800

I have a (WinXP) desktop with a broadband connection, and a laptop with a WiFi card. My school doesn't allow wireless routers. I'd like to set it up so that my laptop can connect wirelessly to my desktop and piggyback on that connection, without a router. What equipment do I need? Are there some terms I should Google for instructions? I should add that the range doesn't need to be great -- I just want to be able to do my work outside on the lawn, 30 feet below the window where my desktop is. Hooray for springtime.