Advice

by Matthew Skelly Matthew Skelly No Comments

Fix Black Screen at boot, continual restarts, or stuck at windows logo

Problem:

Fix Black Screen at boot, continual restarts, or stuck at windows logo

Solution:

This has worked for me in a number of cases where Windows will not boot. If the file system becomes corrupt from something like a virus issue this write a new boot sector to the system partition or repair the MBR.

First you will need to boot into windows Windows recovery console
If there is an administrator password you will need this, if not it can be cleared with an offline password recovery disk. (UBCD, or there are standalone ones as well)
Once the console is loaded you have to choose the installation you wish to repair.

At the prompt type “fixboot” to rewrite a new boot sector to the drive.

After this completes type “fixmbr” to repair the MBR this may be redundant but it doesnt hurt.

Finally you can also re-add the the installations of Windows to the boot.ini file by running the command “bootcfg /rebuild” this automatically scans the drive for installs and adds them to the file.

You can then reboot and see if this fixed your issue.
If you are still having problems or if recovery console does not see the installation run “chkdsk /r”, it never hurts.

 

by Matthew Skelly Matthew Skelly No Comments

server reboot – Restart mobile mail and OWA

 

Problem:

Whenever the server reboots a process starts before the default website can start casuing mobile mail and OWA to not function.

Solution:

To restart default website in IIS right click task manager, click show processes from all users, end EdgeTransport.exe process, open “Internet Information Services (IIS)”, tree down experit-2k11sbs > sites > default website, on the right hand side where it says manage website click start, if restart and stop become highlighted, you have started the website which controls OWA and mobile mail.

by Matthew Skelly Matthew Skelly No Comments

Mail error “Your organization does not allow external forwarding”

Some Microsoft 365 accounts default to block automatic email forwarding as part of their outbound spam protection. If external forwarding is disabled for your Microsoft 365 account, you will see a specific bounce message in your inbox at Microsoft 365 after attempting to set up forwarding to Help Scout. The text of the bounce will include this line:

550 5.7.520 Access denied, Your organization does not allow external forwarding. Please contact your administrator for further assistance. AS(7555)

 

You may choose to enable automatic forwarding for all mailboxes in your Microsoft 365 account, or enable it only for the mailboxes you’re forwarding to Help Scout. Choose the option that is best according to your organization’s security policies.

Note: The menus and options you see in your Microsoft 365 account may vary depending on several factors, including the level of service you have with Microsoft or if you purchased Microsoft 365 through a reseller. Reach out to your reseller or Microsoft support if you are unable to follow the directions here.

Enable Automatic External Forwarding for All Mailboxes

1
Log in to your Office 365 Security & Compliance portal for Microsoft 365 and choose Threat management > Anti-spam or head directly to the Anti-spam settings page here: https://protection.office.com/antispam
2
Click the down arrow next to Outbound spam filter policy ‎(always ON) and click the Edit policy button.
3
Click the down arrow next to Automatic forwarding, then choose On – Forwarding is enabled from the dropdown. Click Save.
by Matthew Skelly Matthew Skelly No Comments

Program syncing with Outlook 2010

 

Problem:

If security center service is missing or damaged, or antivirus software is not installed and current, Outlook 2010 will not allow sync with other apps without prompt.  Eg. Commit.

Solution:

You could try adding the following key to the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftOffice14.0OutlookSecurity

In this key add the following value:
ObjectModelGuard, DWORD =2

The values 0, 1 and 2 correspond to the options in the Programmatic Access Security settings in the Trust Center.
0 = Warn if Anti-Virus is out of date (recommended)
1 = Always warn
2 = Never warn

by Matthew Skelly Matthew Skelly No Comments

Off Facebook Activity

You know me. I don’t forward chain mail or conspiracy theories. I also don’t like apps that track you or send information into the cloud (Even when I set up residential computers I always set a local account, not a M$ one). I just went in and turned this off in my settings and then cleared the history which included things like Cnet and Comic Book Resources.

However if you turn off the function it takes 48 hours to turn off. And once the function is deactivated you will not be able to use FB to login to other sites. So if you enjoy the ability to use FB as a login source for other website you’ll want to leave it on, but clear your history from time to time. Make sure you check those setting!

by Matthew Skelly Matthew Skelly No Comments

New scam!

This alert was sent to a person in Maine from an Indiana area code informing them that they need to quarantine  because they came in contact with someone who tested positive or has shown symptoms for the corona virus.

The alert also instructed them to get tested.

“If you receive a text message like the one pictured, DO NOT click the link!”police posted on Facebook. “It is not a message from any official agency. It is however a gateway for bad actors to find their way into your world.”

by Matthew Skelly Matthew Skelly No Comments

Voice Searching and Scammers

One of the issues I’m constantly running into is people who have been taken advantage of by scammers. You know, the old “This is Microsoft calling! Your computer will self destruct in ten seconds unless you let us remote in and fix it for $200!”

These scams aren’t limited to hone calls though. there’s plenty of fake tech support ads floating through the web. In fact, when you do a web search for a tech support phone number, you always have to be extra careful. It’s not unusual for the first few numbers to be random tech places, using words like “Microsoft” or “Google” or “Norton” in thier names.

 

The rise of voice recognition technology on the smart phones that pervade our society has led to a new twist on this old scam. You see, while you can look at some of these URLS and try to figure out whether it’s legit or not… Alexa isn’t that clever.

The Better Business Bureau reports that scammers are taking advantage of Alexa and Siri’s auto-dialer to send you to the wrong websites or phone numbers. For instance, you may ask your phone to find you tech support for your printer, but the scammers have figured the keywords better than the manufacture and you end up talking to a tech support schemer who has no connection to the manufacturer whatsoever.

You’re always better getting your information from an official company website or correspondence such as a bill or invoice. For more information, visit BBB.org/Scamtracker

by Matthew Skelly Matthew Skelly No Comments

Cannot read from the source file or disk – undeletable

Problem:

File shows up in a folder, but any attempt to delete, rename or move it results in : “Error Deleting File or Folder – Cannot delete file: Cannot read from the source file or disk“.

If it’s a folder, no hidden files are inside it. You can read and write to it. No permissions error, and the file/folder is not set as hidden or read only in properties.

Dropping down to a DOS prompt and trying a DEL, DELTREE, or RN return the same error.

Solution:

This is caused by an invalid character in the file name. Possibly a dot or a space (Spaces are really hard to spot – they’re invisible. But try a rename and just use the arrow keys in the rename box. If there’s a space at the end, the arrow key will find it and move one character past the last letter). Normally Windows will not let you create something with an invalid character in the name, but it can happen if you’re in a system remotely and the connection gets cut off, or if there’s corruption on the Hard disk, or if the file was created by a Mac and then some how transferred over to the system.

I ran across a couple of possible solutions from the command prompt, but if your file has a space in the name, especially in the middle of the name, you won’t be able to run them.  Tried a couple of tools, “Killbox” returned a similar error – that the file dosen’t appear to exist. Finally came across “Unlocker”. This app will force a delete of the file. Start up the program and use it’s interface to browse to the file / folder in question (local or network drive, it doesn’t matter. as long as you can browse to it, the application can work with it), and from the actions list select “Delete”. File is immediately deleted. There’s also a “Rename” and a “Move” option. if your trying to preserve the file.

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