One of my clients has an nVidia GeForce 9600 GT card (based on an nVidia G94 core) and it doesn’t like doing its job anymore. Lo and behold, there’s a lot more to it than that: nVidia’s had a very bad track record for in-field failures recently, and we’re investigating the possibility that her card failure is related to this trend. Boy, did we dig up a mess…
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Fix the “Windows could not determine if this computer contains a valid system volume” error!
IF THIS POST HELPS YOU, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT!
If you install Windows Vista on a computer and you happen to run into this absolutely ridiculous error message:
“Windows could not determine if this computer contains a valid system volume”
The fix is extremely simple. We’ve run into it a few times when we needed to load a RAID or SATA driver from a USB flash drive. Let me explain what’s going on, and how to fix it, but not in that order.
The fix: unplug all the USB flash drives on your computer before you boot or reboot the computer. Even if Vista reboots the computer for you, UNPLUG ALL THE USB FLASH DRIVES.
What’s happening when you get the error is fairly simple to understand with a little information about how a PC’s BIOS works, and how Windows interacts with it. The BIOS attempts to boot from devices in a certain sequence, and on some computers this sequence puts USB storage devices before the actual hard drive or RAID array in the computer. The key aspect of all of this mess is the device that gets assigned as the first bootable hard drive in the system (known to people familiar with nasty BIOS programming stuff as “drive 0x80”) and Windows uses this assignment by the BIOS to figure out which hard drive in the system will be booted before all the others.
The whole idea here is to use the drive the BIOS says is the first hard drive to install the Vista boot files on. The problem is that almost all USB flash drives are considered to be hard drives by a modern BIOS, which totally trashes the detected boot order if USB flash drives are set to boot before internal hard drives. Windows Vista sees that a flash drive is the first bootable hard drive, but it knows that what it’s looking at isn’t actually a real hard drive (and if you’re plugging it in to get RAID drivers off of it like we do so often, the first phase of setup wouldn’t have had this problem while the second phase does).
Thus, “Windows could not determine if this computer contains a valid system volume.” The “system volume” is basically the first bootable hard drive, and that device is clearly not something Vista can (normally) boot from, so it spews this cryptic error message.
An alternative workaround is to change the BIOS boot order so that your USB stuff boots last, but you never know when you’ll need to boot a Linux rescue system from a USB flash drive to fix Windows, eh? 😉
STOP 0x00000050 (or 0x50 or 50) in RTL8185.SYS: Update your drivers
IF THIS POST HELPS YOU, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT!
I ran into a persistent STOP error message that would always be in RTL8185.SYS on a client’s computer today. He had a TrendNet TEW-421PC (the PCMCIA variant of the TEW-423PI PCI card) based on a Realtek RTL8185 chip. He uses an older Dell Inspiron 2600 laptop, and you couldn’t remove the card or browse for too long without a crash. Even updating the drivers with the card inserted would crash the system.
TrendNet’s “latest drivers” are old as dirt for this chip, and it turned out the solution was only a little bit further away: hit up realtek.com and search for RTL8185! Downloading the latest drivers straight from Realtek and installing them solves the problem quite nicely.
But how do we update drivers when the card isn’t inserted to avoid the imminent crash? There are a few ways to do it. The least complicated way is to delete the file RTL8185.SYS from the “drivers” folder under the “system32” folder (the majority of systems store this at “C:\WINDOWS\System32\drivers” and insert the card. The driver doesn’t load until the card is inserted, so deleting it before inserting the card will allow you to change out the driver without the crash.
For more advanced users, adding DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES = 1 to the system-wide environment variables under the System control panel, then starting Device Manager and going to View -> Show Hidden Devices will let you manipulate hardware that’s not plugged in, but the deletion is easier for most people.
If you need help with this process, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.
A rant I posted recently, regarding Internet security…
We drop Avast on ALL computers that come in, while simultaneously telling every single customer that it will do nothing to prevent them from brand new threats…and neither will anything else on the market today! Quoting myself, “viruses are a cat-and-mouse game, and antivirus vendors are always the cat doing the chasing.” Software firewalls are also junk, because any virus that does take root can easily bypass such a program. In reality, the only two things that are needed to keep a secure network are (A) a hardware firewall between you and the Internet and (B) well-educated, cautious, skeptical users. Education seems to fly out the window when an erection or free music is involved, which is why 90% of what we see is porn seekers downloading whatever they think will be porn (and obviously wasn’t) and teens who grab LimeWire and proceed to download every virus known to man in the process. Computers and their software stopped being the weakest link over a decade ago. The most commonly exploited security hole on a computer is the device which sits between the keyboard and the chair, not the IP stack or WMF rendering libraries.
Using Gimp on a netbook
That’s right, I am officially crazy enough to try to use Gimp on a netbook. While they may be small and underpowered, the ability to use an advanced image editor can come in handy at the most unexpected times (and often does!) There are a few tricks needed to make Gimp’s tools fit on the screen of a netbook, though, particularly a 7″ netbook like my Sylvania G, and I shall reveal them now.
Using Firefox? Get Adblock Plus NOW.
If you’re using the Mozilla Firefox browser (or one of its variants like Swiftfox, Iceweasel, etc.) you need to install the Adblock Plus plugin and subscribe to EasyList NOW.
If you’re still using Internet Explorer, Safari, or some other browser, you need to get Firefox. Trust me, Firefox with Adblock Plus will make a huge difference in your browsing. I haven’t seen an ad in years. Firefox with Adblock Plus comes standard on all Tritech Computer Solutions new and used computer systems for a reason.
Additionally, you should get your hands on NoScript. NoScript blocks JavaScript, which is largely responsible for unwanted popups, things that can block or bypass Adblock Plus, and many other annoying things you don’t want to see on websites. Unfortunately, JavaScript is also responsible for most of the sites that you love being able to have pop-up menus and other user-friendly capabilities. NoScript lets you “whitelist” the specific domain names you trust, while blocking those you don’t, which allows you to block ad scripts and things you’re not sure about while turning on just enough JavaScript capability to make sites such as Gmail work properly.
If you’ve got these installed but still want to maximize your Firefox browsing speed and keep your experience clean, FlashBlock is the way to go. It’s very simple, really: FlashBlock replaces all Flash content with boxes containing a “Play” button instead. The content won’t load and play until you click on the box, and it can be turned off for sites that you visit regularly as well.
All of these Firefox add-ons can make Internet browsing faster, ad-free, and much more enjoyable. Plus, because fake security software “vendors” are able to easily purchase top ad placement on Google and other services, you’re also lowering the risk of accidentally clicking on one of these dangerous sites. NoScript will also protect you from those confusing JavaScripts that try to force virus downloads upon you.
So, if you don’t have these things,GET THEM NOW. End of story!
Google Chrome OS: Why it will suck, and why I don’t want it
Ah, yes, the much-speculated Google Operating System. Rumors about a possible OS from Google have been floating about for years now, and it seems that Google has finally delivered the cornucopia of computing goodness to your door. Coming soon to a netbook near you: Google’s new operating system. The news is practically flooded with articles about why Google’s fancy new OS is so important and interesting.
I’m here to tell you why it sucks, and why it isn’t really that special at all.
My netbook returns from the grave, and why it rocks in the car
The warranty place must have replaced the motherboard on my netbook, because every problem (including what I didn’t remember to tell them) was fixed when I got it back. The low volume in Windows XP went away, the headphone jack works great, the unit doesn’t freeze at all, the power button works when there’s a serious problem, USB booting isn’t flakey anymore, and the only problem I have had is the problem I always had from the start: the gOS installation on the Sylvania G likes to lock up the system sometimes. This is probably due to a lousy or hastily created Linux X.org driver for the VIA video chip.
Anyway, the warranty people did an excellent job. When I talked to them on the phone, I made myself look a bit foolish because I thought I nuked the OS, when in reality I didn’t, but that’s beside the point. I talked to them about my problems and I swear unto you, the day after I talked to them my machine was delivered! They had it for a couple of weeks and got tired of looking at it, and they overnighted it back to me. Quite a lot of service for a laptop that originally cost $300 and can be bought for far less even now!
You’re probably more interested in what I have to say about my netbook and my car. I picked up a cassette tape adapter and used it to link up the audio from my 64-bit laptop to the tape deck because my stereo is stock from 12 years back, but the laptop quickly overloaded my AC inverter. Ouch. So, I whipped out my Sylvania G and hooked it up instead, and my inverter didn’t overload once as I drove to and from jobs all day long. One of the primary design considerations for netbooks is minimal power consumption, and if you don’t have a real 12V lighter socket and/or you have a cheap inverter, a netbook is highly likely to work just fine whereas a “real” laptop will overload things, shut down the inverter, or maybe even cause a fuse to blow out. MP3 listening requires very little in terms of modern processing power, so a netbook is very well-suited to this role in a car.
On top of that, having a running netbook in the car gives me immediate access to wireless services, so if I need to check an email quickly, I don’t have to dig out a machine and wait for it to start up.
Viva la netbook 🙂
How was the first day with minimal telephony?
GREAT. I was able to contact T-mobile and get my phone to ring for much longer, giving me more time to answer a call in lieu of the now-disabled voicemail system picking up. That alone has already come in handy, as I have been able to pick up calls from my wife and my techs long after it would have kicked over to voicemail, inevitably leading to phone tag and wasted time. I’ve instructed my technicians that calls asking for me are to be screened aggressively, and only those which they are completely unable to assist should make it to my desk (as in one customer today who inquired about a custom computer and needed to discuss the options for getting that custom computer.)
Because I am being interrupted less often today, I have managed to mostly finish converting a multi-language website for one of my long-time business clients to a PHP-based and easily managed layout, including langauge-coded folders and more standardization across the board. This has been difficult to work on for days now because of all of the unnecessary interruptions that customer service matters have caused. Now that only essential issues reach my ears and break my concentration, my productivity is already seeing a significant boost.
This is the way it should be. A business owner needs to focus on one thing only: the business and making it better. Customer-oriented approaches to doing business are as crucial to success as ever, but the best advice I can give to a small business owner starting out is this: learn the value of making the people you supervise handle things; that’s what they’re there for, and you can’t do your job of supporting their efforts if you’re too busy doing theirs. A business relies not only on good personnel who know what they’re doing and have enough authority to help customers sufficiently, but also on good managers who can coordinate and support the creative and assistive forces of those personnel to ensure that they work together optimally. Put another way, it seems impossible to coordinate and supervise your workers if you spend too much time doing their job and not enough doing your own.
Separating myself from customers and letting my people shine, both on the phone as well as in person, is proving to be crucial to my ability to do my job. My techs can’t be expected to do work if I’m not out there revamping the website or performing SEO or passing out flyers or hitting up local businesses or whatever else I have to do as the most important manager in the business.
I can’t emphasize enough that this doesn’t mean I won’t ever talk to customers or do tech work myself. It’s important for a manager of any kind to be “in touch” with what’s going on amongst the managed, and to provide guidance and assistance when it is seriously needed.
The problem is that many of us want our business to succeed so badly that we forget about the high-level management stuff as we worry over minutiae. I’d say that as of today, I’ve learned that lesson, and I hope that this post helps others to do the same.
Telephone? Bah! Why I am making myself scarce on the phone.
“Well, if we’re all done, I’ll just make myself scarce.” I don’t know where I picked up the expression, but it’s really cute and gets a chuckle now and then. In a more serious light, though, “making one’s self scarce” is exactly what I’m doing with phone calls, starting today. Now, me being a small business owner may incite much questioning about this new policy. Doesn’t a good business owner answer the phone and talk to customers? What could possibly be the reason behind this?
There is an article that covers this topic well which deserves an honorable mention: Should You Turn Off Your Telephone? Now I’ll answer the question about why and how I am getting away from the telephone.
I have access to three professional telephone numbers: two at the shop which are daisy-chained together by call forwarding, and my own cell phone. Both sets of phones have voicemail at the end. Well, had voicemail. About 15 minutes ago, I cut my T-mobile voicemail service off completely. Every time I made a voicemail greeting, it would politely recite the shop phone number, insist on calling that number, texting, or calling back in 10 minutes, and explaining what to press to unblock a call, followed by a request, then a demand, to not leave voicemail because I won’t get it. That request was not respected at all, and my phone would constantly blip up voicemail notification reminders despite my explicit demands to simply wait on a call back! Where did people lose their ability to understand basic English, and to respect my explicitly spelled out request and warning that I don’t check voicemail?
I felt disrespected beyond belief every time someone left a message. It’s like they said “okay, I’ll leave one anyway because I don’t give a damn about what YOU want, Mister Smarty-Pants Business Owner!” It’s like someone else spitting in my face. There’s no excuse for it. Nowhere in the realm of human decency is ignoring an explicit request even remotely close to existing, yet people do it daily. I’ve come to realize that many people simply do not consider the human factor of people in business. The reasons are obvious, but the most significant one is that each ten-minute conversation to them is one ten-minute conversation, while to me it’s just one ten-minute interval in a huge flood of calls that eventually ruins almost half of my potential work time per day. I need that time to grow my business, write some software, redesign the website, print business cards, and things like that, but instead it is completely drained away having conversations that my technicians could easily handle if callers would stop demanding to talk exclusively to me for anything and everything under the sun.
I want to be available to help everyone, but I am being forced to come to terms with the fact that I am one person with only 16 hours a day to do everything that must be done. I understand now why corporate types rarely talk to customers: it’s simply not possible to do that and still get their own jobs within the company finished too.
I have decided that I must take charge of my time. I must manage my time and treat it as the most precious resource in this company, as well as in my life. It is limited and non-renewable, and I need to make all of it count for as much as possible. If that means making a customer upset because they can’t speak directly to me, then so be it. If a customer would refuse to do business with my business simply because they can’t talk directly to me whenever they feel like it, then I wonder whether they are the kind of customer we are in business to serve. I hired and mentored a team of professionals so that I could extend my capabilities to more people, and it is extremely important that customers take advantage of their knowledge and willingness to help.
Not to mention the fact that some work might actually get finished around here now…