Thread: Fix Hard-Drive and Folder Annoyances With These Simple Tips

YOU PRESS YOUR PC's power button, and instead of seeing the familiar Windows logo, you encounter a boot-failure message. You could throw yourself in front of a moving truck-or maybe just read my quick fix. I also show you how to correct dopey folder behavior and how to uninstall unwanted programs cleanly.

My PC Won't Boot (OMG!)
The Hassle: I booted my laptop only to see a message stating 'Boot Failure: System Halted'. I've tried every partition-recovery program under the sun, but my notebook still won't boot. H-e-l-p!

The Fix: Stay calm. Somehow the laptop's BIOS isn't able to identify your hard drive's partition. But chances are good you can fix it. First, boot to the BIOS (press <Del> or <Fl0> as you boot) and jot down the current settings. Then find the option to set the BIOS back to the default. It's usually the menu item on the far right. Reboot and keep your fingers crossed. If that doesn't work, grab a copy of the free DTIData NTFS Recovery Repair tool (pcworld.in/ downloads/index.jsp). It lets you repair the boot sector and make the drive bootable again. Before you start, however, it's essential to read the instructions at/ntfs_partitionJepair.



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Program FoLder Opens at Startup
The Hassle: When I boot my system, on Explorer folder pops open on the desktop for the VMWare virtualization app I recently in¬stalled. Where's this folder coming from-and how do I stop it?

The Fix: You'll need to go on a treasure hunt to find where the program's folder is loading. The first spot to look is in Scheduled Tasks (from Control Panel). Not there? See if a shortcut with the program's folder resides in the Startup folder (Start'Programs' Startup). No luck? Then use Win Patrol, a free utility for removing background programs (find it on the DVD), and see if it's listed. If it is, use Win Patrol's Remove feature.

My guess, though, is that Windows is trying to read a Registry entry with an incorrect value, likely a string that contains spaces but is not surrounded by quotation marks. Windows is reading only part of the path, so it opens up a folder on the desktop.

You can manually massage this Registry entry by opening RegE¬dit (click Start Run, type regedit, and press <Enter». Next, use <Ctrl-F> to search for the path you see in the Explorer folder that appears on your desktop. This path will look similar to 'C:\Program FilesWMware Workstation\vmware.exe' with a space separating other characters, such as '%1', if they appear. In the right-hand panel, double-click the item and add a quotation mark to the start and the end of the path. If the problem is not resolved, you may have additional flawed Registry entries. Some fun, eh?
Speed Up Windows ExpLorer The Hassle: I use Windows XP on a fast. dual-core system with a SATA II drive and lots of RAM Yet Windows' My Computer some¬times takes a full 2 minutes to open.

The Fix: Ah, the pain. I'll bet you're on a network, and XP is mer¬rily monitoring shared resources-a printer, for instance, or a net¬worked folder-to make connecting to those resources easier. But you can turn off the monitoring, and still access shared stuff.



Open Windows Explorer, go to Taals'Falder Options, click on the View tab, and uncheck Automatically search for network folders and printers-and you'll feel the speed again.

Back Up-But Validate, Too I made a terrible discovery. My old, reliable backup image wasn't any good. I had backed up to a drive with a bad sector, so my Acro¬nis True Image backup was corrupt. Lesson learned: Always, always find and use your backup program's validate feature. It's the only way to be certain of having a reliable backup.