NTLDR is Missing Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart - Windows XP

If you're a technician, then you've seen this error a million times. I have finally found the answer to fix this problem.

PROBLEM:
NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to Restart

SOLUTION:

1. Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
2. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
3. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
4. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
5. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
6. Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter, which in this case is "e." This letter may be different on your computer.
   
   copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\
   copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
   
   
7. Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.

Copy Network Connections to Another Computer: Save and Restore Dial-up Connections in Windows XP

PROBLEM: If you are switching to a new computer, you may have found that there is no easy way to actually copy your network connections to the new computer. Here is the process for backing up and restoring these. *NOTE This will not copy the usernames and passwords, just the settings and configuration.

SOLUTION: "Rasphone.pbk" located in the %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk folder, copy this file from the old computer to the new computer, then reboot to take effect.

WALK-THROUGH:

1. Locate the Rasphone.pbk file in the %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk folder.

*NOTE The Application Data folder is a hidden folder. To view the folder, follow these steps:

1. Open the All Users folder, and then click Folder Options on the Tools menu.
2. Click View, click Show hidden files and folders, and then click OK.

2. Copy the Rasphone.pbk to a safe location, and then copy the Rasphone.pbk file to the %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk folder on the other computer.

More information located at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=284269

Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 not installing from Network Share: This installation was interrupted

I have encountered problems launching the MSI to install Microsoft Office Communicator 2005. The installation fails prematurely. This problem occurred while installing from a network share but may also occur when installing locally. Typically the installation is halted by an error stating that the installation was interrupted.

PROBLEM: Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 installation fails and doesn’t not complete when installing from a network share or from the local machine.

ERROR MESSAGE: "This installation was interrupted. No Changes were made to your computer system. Please try running this installation again."

SOLUTION: Copy the installation folder to the local disk and install from there.

If that does not work, search the computer for Windows Update patch KB974571 and remove it if found.

WALK-THROUGH:

1. Copy the installation folder to the local drive.
2. Click "Start" then click "Control Panel"
3. Now double click "Add/Remove Programs"
4. Scan through Add/Remove until you see the patch KB974571 *NOTE You may need to click "Show Updates" at the top of the window.
5. Once you see the patch, uninstall it by choosing "Uninstall"
6. Reboot the computer.
7. Now, try installing Communicator again.
8. Issue resolved.

Hyperlink not working in Outlook 2007

PROBLEM: Links sent within email messages in Outlook 2007 will not open. For me, Internet Explorer launches the link (for us a link to a SharePoint page). However, it times out and crashes the browser. But when you copy and paste the link into the browser, it works fine.

OR sometimes this message is displayed;

ERROR MESSAGE: This operation has been canceled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.

This occurs because the following registry key is either missing or corrupted:

HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Classes\htmlfile\shell\open\command

SOLUTION: Restore the Registry key by copying it from another machine.

WALKTHROUGH:

Export the registry key from another computer
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate the following registry key: HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Classes\htmlfile\shell\open\command
4. Click the command folder.
5. On the File or Registry menu (depending on your operating system), click Export.
6. Note the location of where the file will be saved. The registry file can be saved directly to the hard drive or floppy disk.
7. Type a unique file name, and then click Save.
8. Quit the Registry Editor.

Next,

Import the registry key
1. Copy the Exported registry key to the desktop on the problem computer.
2. Double-click the .reg file.

You receive the following message:
Are you sure you want to add the information in drive: location file was copied to\file name.reg to the registry?
3. Click Yes, and then click OK.

Issue Resolved.

More information here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310049

.NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2 Update for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP - KB976570 FAILED

FAILED Installation

PROBLEM:

Error Code #1: Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with error 0x80070643: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2 Update for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP x86 (KB976570).

Error Code #2: Event ID:11720 Microsoft Fix it 50123 -- Error 1720. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A script required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. Custom action RUN_32_PARSEARG script error -2146827859, Microsoft VBScript runtime error: ActiveX component can't create object: 'wscript.shell'

SOLUTION: I have encountered this mutiple times using Windows Update via WSUS on XP SP2 / SP3. The solution to fix this is to register the following dll files:

regsvr32 vbscript

regsvr32 wshom.ocx

WALKTHROUGH:

1. Click "Start" then "Run"
2. Type "regsvr32 vbscript" (without quotes)
3. Press Enter
4. Type "regsvr32 wshom.ocx" (without quotes)
5. Press Enter
6. Now try installing the patch.

Issue Resolved.

Information about the patch: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976570

It begans again...

The selfish philosopher rages.