PCTips Box

Although Microsoft has hammered away at Windows XP SP3 in order to provide an experience as seamless as possible for end users when deploying the service pack, failed installation scenarios are still a valid possibility. In the eventuality of a failed installation of XP SP3 RTM, there are some troubleshooting steps end users can take before running to Microsoft Support for help. The troubleshooting methods involve nothing more than basic actions on the part of the end user and are designed to resolve an unsuccessful installation process while, at the same, time ignoring the error message.

First of all, Microsoft advises all end users to turn to Windows Update for the primary source of the gold bits of XP SP3. “Sometimes an installation is unsuccessful because a previous operation was not completed. By restarting the computer, you close any pending computer functions and restart the process. Wait until the computer finishes the restart process, and then log on to your account. Visit Windows Update to reselect and install Windows XP SP3. Click Express Install (Recommended),” Microsoft stated. (more…)

Sometimes one just isn’t enough. Plugins that is. Adding plugins to Firefox can be addictive, and once you start sometimes you can’t stop. After a while Firefox installations can end up getting very bloated and hard to use.

Luckily you can regain some control of your browser by installing the Menu Editor Firefox plugin. What this plugin does is allow you to remove useless or infrequently used items from the right click menu. This can be quite handy as a number of plugins have a nasty habit of adding commands to the contextual menu, which can mean that the right-click menu can get quite massive. (more…)

On some XP Pro installations, when connected to a network (peer-peer in this case), the computer boot time is over 1:40. The system seems to freeze after logging in and the desktop may not appear or will freeze for a minute. As timed with the utility, Bootvis.exe, the problem was with the driver mrxsmb.dll, adding over 67 seconds to the boot time. Turning off and restoring file and printer sharing eliminated 65 seconds from the boot time. (more…)

One way of disabling Internet Explorer in Windows XP is by using the Set Program Access and Defaults utility available as part of all Windows XP installations with at least Service Pack 2 installed.

Make sure you’ve installed and tested an alternative browser (like Firefox) and then follow the easy steps below to disable Internet Explorer using the Set Program Access and Defaults utility:

Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Disabling IE in Windows XP using the Program Defaults Utility usually takes less than 15 minutes
Here’s How: (more…)