Category: repair

Windows 7 Can’t run .exe files?

Posted onAuthorTips Of Tech

A friend was having trouble with her laptop not being able to run .exe files.
I had to go through a few checks to see exactly what the issue was. First I had her right click an executable file and see what general tab says for type of file. Everything checked out fine in there. Said “exe”

file type exe

file type exe

Now mind you, she doesn’t care much for computers but had a few things she wanted to do. So it was hard doing this over the phone.
She couldn’t open email or run a browser.
The trick was to change her registry

reg edit for .exe association

reg edit for .exe association

but again, she can’t run .exe files, and making a copy of her regedit.exe and renaming it to regedit.com didn’t work either. Seems that has stopped working on windows 7.
So, the solution was, to .reg file for her and email it to her so she can save the file on a thumb drive from another computer and then run the file her computer
she couldn’t copy it to notepad or create it in notepad, simply because she had no way of running the notepad.exe file. Don’t ask me why or how explorer.exe was functioning. Because I just do not know.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@=”exefile”
“Content Type”=”application/x-msdownload”

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\PersistentHandler]
@=”{098f2470-bae0-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}”

Now the trick is, copy the text in the code box there paste it into notepad, save the file as “fixit.reg”, make sure it does not save with txt on the end. Then save it to a usb stick,thumb drive, memory stick, cd what ever you have to sneaker mail (hand deliver the file) the file to the computer with the issue. When the drive opens, just double click and say yes to everything.

I did do a search on the internet to see if there was another way. Everyone’s advice said to open regedit.exe on the computer with the problem. erm…… Nope. will not open .exe files.

Now I am not saying this is for everyone. She was on windows 7, and I am on windows 7 . She is using a laptop, I am using a pc. This worked for her, I might not work for you. I myself would go ahead and try it if it was the last logical solution or if I felt comfortable with what I have seen the reg commands. It just tells the computer that an exefile is exe. Pretty simple. So use that at your own risk. There is a chance that this will not work with your computer. This is not for anyone who is not on windows 7. This is for some (probably not all) windows 7 computers only. But.. .. since this post I have tried this Method on a windows XP computer that couldn’t open .exe files, and this Registry Edit did work. Here is the reg fix for Xp

Looks like the exact same set of commands.

 

GTAIV issues, what works for me.

Posted onAuthorTech News

Playing Grand Theft Auto IV I was having the issue of images vanishing after just minutes of gameplay. The more the stuff I had going on, the worse it got. I looked online for the capacities of my motherboard. I found that the native memory I was using, What the manufacture says on the box that my motherboard came with is 667mhz. No where on the box did it signify that I could go any further. So I Googled my motherboard. What I found was lots of people like myself did what I did. We all bough what we thought was the max memory for the board. 2 Gigs of 667mhz ddr2. but others experimented and found that it can handle greater than 800 mhz ddr. So I headed to the electronics store and bought 4 gigs of pc 6400 800 mhz ddr2 memory. Then when I got home, I tried to find teh forums that I saw earlier. By that time I found a handfull sites selling the same motherboard, the specs they had on those sites showed greater than 800 mhz..Dang. but I did the install.
You would not believe the speed increase I gained from this. The game has no lag issues. I stay at 30 fps min, and never have any stutter, never have any vanishing items. just that small step up and doubling my memory, the game plays like a gem.
The canned air in the heatsinks didn’t hurt me . So I think I am well on my way. See you online. I will be at gtaclans.com when I am not actually in game.

How to Fix GTAIV pc Memory leak

Posted onAuthorTruXter11 Comments

If you have a computer and plan to play  Grand Theft Auto iv  on pc.

People are  reading forums on how to resolve issues with their game. They are gathering information from people who do not know what they are talking about. I will help you with just a couple steps. First you have to understand that the person who claimed GTAIV pc has a memory leak, has no clue what he/she is talking about and should clearly be labeled the planets biggest idiot.  All planets need an idiot.

The fix, is the same fix for all games using a new architecture/engine. Here is the fix.

Go to the website for the manufacturer of your motherboard. Download all drivers for your motherboard.

Go to the website for the manufacturer of your video card.

Now before installing the new drivers, you must uninstall all the drivers you currently have installed.  I usually disabled the plug and play option in Control PanelAdministrative Toolsservices. Of course I do this on Vista because it keeps trying to install some crummy drivers  when I reboot after an uninstall. You really shouldn’t need that, but if you do, you know how.

Ok after the uninstall reboot your computer, and now install your drivers one by one, rebooting after each driver installed. On the final driver install, instead of rebooting, shut down your pc. When the pc is off, unplug the power to it. Clean up all the dust in all of your heatsinks (cpu,gpu,northbridge,south etc) clean your memory sticks. Remove all dust out of your pc. Make sure your air flow is heavy through your case.

The way I do that is, at the back of the pc where you see the 80 mm fans. There is like a grill around those. Since I don’t have a 2 year old kid in my house, I snip those grills out. This drops my temperature by about 2-5 degrees C . Here’s more on the subject.

And the last thing for you. DON’T OVERCLOCK YOUR MACHINE, unless you know what you are doing.

I am a regular user at the gtaforums  located at gtaforums.com.  100% of the memory leak complaints there, have been resolved with driver issues,heat issues, or the moron tried to overclock and did not want to face the fact that his computer was the issue, not the game.

In the end, this help post will get you playing Grand Theft Auto IV, that simple. The game works fine. Maintain your rig or go back to the console gaming. The cause is not overclocking it’s self, but poor overclocking could be a factor. If your machine is overclocked, set your o/c items back to default and give the game a go. If you can get the game running with your parts clocked to normal, gradually work your way back up in o/c until you reach a stable setting.

How? As if you are overclocking your video card, move each slider (depending on the tool you are using) up by 5mhz, test the game, move up 5 more, test the game and so on till you get a crash. After crash, move sliders back three. When it stables out, move forward one, if it crashes move it back one. and so on. Helpful posts

Same with bios / cmos settings with memory and cpu. Except not with sliders of course. Yes it is tedious but it resolves your issue.

Here is a lesson in how to adjust your  settings for smooth video play

And here is the whole help page from Rockstar.

Note: You must have Vista Service Pack 1 or Windows XP Service Pack 3 installed PRIOR to installing and running
Grand Theft Auto IV PC.
Right-click ‘My Computer –> Properties’ to see if you have the latest Service Packs installed, and if not check Windows Update and download before trying to install the game.

To help you understand that. It means that if you installed the latest service pack for your operating system  AFTER you installed GTAIV. It would be wise if you uninstall the game and delete all folders now. and reinstall the game.

Somewhere there was talk of resetting your registry but I haven’t had to study that. I will look into it if needed.  Yes it sounds like a hassle, but it does tell you on the box what the required service pack would be.  Fyi  windows xp 64 , you have to have service pack 2, or it will tell you it’s an incompatible operating system. 64 is not listed in the req area :-(

It does work though.

How To Speed Up Your Computer

Posted onAuthorTruXter

Ok if you do not want to read all this, let me sum it up for you. Cool your computer. Cooling your computer is greatest strongest method of overclocking you will ever do. Now for the non A.D.D. Readers in here.

Ideal range is 80-95 °F. This will be the optimal temperature region. For a short while there, it was common for a processor to boot at 150 °F. That to me that is a scary temperature. But that does seem to be a peice of the past now.

<taken from everest>

Temperatures
Motherboard   29 °C (84 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #1   12 °C (54 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #2   15 °C (59 °F)
MCP   47 °C (117 °F)
Aux   11 °C (52 °F)
GPU Diode   38 °C (100 °F)
HDT722516DLAT80    31 °C  (88 °F)
MAXTOR 6L080L4    23 °C  (73 °F)

Cooling Fans
CPU    3013 RPM
Chassis    4116 RPM

The first thing you do to drop your temperature, clear passage from front. Get some zip ties and find a way to tie everything back without creasing anything. The flat cables (if you have them) Known as ribbon cables, do not fold or squish or crease them, the wires inside are pretty fragile.

Find all heatsinks remove the fans and clean out the dust from the heatsinks. Do the same with the fans.

Use canned air when you can, some times a toothpick  with a mashed end. what I mean by that is have one end kind of smooshed and frayed to be like a paint brush. you will need the pointy end and the brushy end to get into the tight spots. yes it is important to get in all grooves even the tiny spots.  that junk builds up fast if it has some already there to stick to.

air flow needs to be from one end to the other. not some out the back some in the back som in the front some out the side. You would have crazy crap and get nothing accomplished. you have to think about it like water.  water/air flow best when there is as little disruption as can be. So one fluid direction is best.

Also you do not want to disrupt the air flowing through the cpu’s heatsink. This one is most important, second most important is the Video Card. If you know how to replace heatpaste, I suggest you knock that out now also.

The sorriest myth is the video card memory heatsinks. If they are stuck on by two sided tape, peal them off and chunk them aside, they are useless. You want as  smooth of a metal to metal contact. Foam in between is just retarded and a really sorry joke they pulled on you. Faom tape glue is not a good heat inductive material… sorry.   but teh tech world has proven that copper is best. The heat paste people use is to creat a vacuum seal between the metals. Amazing how it all works.. just trust me foam tape is not going to cool anything.

This so far is teh best way hardware wise to make your computer feel like brand new if not slightly better.

The Parents’ Computer!

Posted onAuthorTruXter3 Comments

Maybe my parents are weird, maybe this normal.

They have a dell, a 900mhz Dell CD ROM and 15 inch CRT and Windows 98SE ME bundle.

Well they keep getting pop ups and spyware. I keep trying to fix it. that was some frustrating stuff. I mean it is said all over the net that the hosts file is located in the windows directory. Well on their machine, it was not. It was no where. S I download mvp’s hosts from his site. their computer had nothing to uncompress zip files. No wonder they think computers are useless. I mean they can’t even get a bundle of Christmas pictures because no one can send them a compressed file.

Ok 7zip came to the rescue. See you can not tell them you are installing stuff you just have to do it. If you tell them you are putting stuff on there ” that ain’t gonna slow it down is it?. does it take up much space? is it a virus thingy?” so just wait till they go to the bathroom and BANG!

Well the hosts file does go in the Windows directory, even if there isn’t one already.

Well now mom opens here browser and sees in the little boxes where the ads used to be “page can not be displayed” and gets mad because I made it ugly.

WTF!

so I tell her I didn’t do it and something must have broke.

I tell her I will look and see if something is broke inside the computer, because “I thought I smelled something burning earlier.”

I open the computer and pull out all of the dust and hairballs and fuzzy stuff. and clean from motherboard to hard drive, yank out the PCI slot modem because I know they have cable. I throw away teh pci slot modem and close the computer and boot up and surf the net a bit, defragment the hard drive run spyware and online virus scanners , when all is done I shut it down and leave.

for the next week I will not be answering their phone calls.