Messages

1

General Computer Support / Trying to format dell pc running XP.

« on: April 06, 2016, 04:20:38 am »

Hi Shane, it's been a few years but can I avail of your knowledge and expertise again, please ?

I am attempting to format my 12 year old Dell pc, running XP,... clean format.

 When I get to the page I need, which is:

 "To quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3"

 I get the message: "Windows XP is not completely setup on your computer. If you quit setup now, you will need to run setup again to setup Windows XP.
 To continue setup press enter To quit, press F3"

 Clicking on Enter takes me back to the above page, while F3 restarts my pc.

 I have all, but one, of the original discs and I ran them again hoping that would solve the problem without success.

I can access the net from my downstairs pc, wi-fi, running Windows 10 but can't open any of my browsers. I do this with the help of a dongle and wi-fi adapter.

I appreciate any help you can give Shane.

Thank you,
Cheers.
Tom.

2

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 28, 2014, 03:09:36 pm »

Hi Shane...it's me, your worst nightmare, just when you thought I had gone away !!!

Today I finally threw in the towel and took my pc to a shop. He returned every thing to factory settings and it worked. No problems with 'that' or any other  downloads.

As I had already done two 'system restores' I didn't have much on it anyway.

A big thanks to you and everyone who contributed to my attempts. In a way it was enjoyable...going places and doing things I would never have done.

That does not mean I enjoyed the "deafening" silence from MS...they should be congratulated for making the biggest mess since the invention of PC's.

Thank you Shane. I look forward to reading and seeing if you can solve that problem.

Cheers,
Tom.

3

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 18, 2014, 07:11:18 am »

Hi Shane,

Just to baffle you a little further. Last night I tried something strange. I installed  KB2919355 (the big one) which I saved. It did install, but instead of restarting I I shut it down and restarted, nothing happened.

When I restarted I went into control panel/installed updates and it was in there. So I installed the rest of the updates in the order recommended and just shut down and restarted after each one. They all installed except one, not applicable to my pc, but none of them showed in 'installed updates'.

Then I restarted...but the same thing happened again..."Failure configering etc"

Just thought I would confuse you some more.   

Cheers Shane.
Tom.

4

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 17, 2014, 04:47:13 am »

Hi Shane.

Just thought I would keep you up to speed it may help someone else...or not.

I completed the first part of that page you recommended and as expected...failed.   http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/c203334f-7ae5-4716-aeb5-0fa3d60da216/kb2919355-issues-being-investigatedtracked?forum=winserver8gen

I even completed the install but when I tried to reboot it was back to the usual "Failure configuring etc".

I have asked the lady concerned for further advice.

I'll keep you informed.
Cheers Shane.
Tom.

5

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 15, 2014, 09:58:30 am »

Hi Shane.

About time MS got their heads out of where ever they are.

Interesting page that, by the time I get throught half of them windows 9 will be out of date.

I'll get back to you when I am finished with it....if I live that long.   

Cheers Shane.
Tom.

6

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 15, 2014, 04:35:02 am »

Hi Shane.

You knew I was going to have problems...right ?   Me too !

I followed the instructions (I think) and it almost worked. I even ran it twice.

This is what I got in cmd prompt:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.3.9600]
(c) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>DISM /online /get-packages /format:table | findstr KB2919355


C:\WINDOWS\system32>dism /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.3.9600.16384

Image Version: 6.3.9600.16384

[==========================100.0%==========================]
The operation completed successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>
C:\WINDOWS\system32>

I skipped instruction number 3, was that right ?

I even downloaded the KB from MS and not the one I had saved.

Copying packages to the window update cache, this ran for about 15 minutes.
Then it started to download, this ran for about 30 minutes before reporting "The following updates were not installed....etc"
I let the second attempt run over night but the same results.

"Murphys Law" rules !!!!

Cheers Shane...you are a very patient man.
Tom.

7

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 14, 2014, 10:50:48 am »

Hi Shane.

Sorry I mislead you...the message I got said there were no results found for the  error 8024a000 not the actual download. 

I ran your updated repair tool today but it didn't work on my problem.

Despite trying a few times my windows update says 'failed'.

I saw the latest message for you re 'Jadog's fix. I'll wait for you to check it out, it looks above my head at the moment until I study it....about 100 times.

Cheers Shane.
Tom.
 

8

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 12, 2014, 03:53:12 pm »

Hi Shane.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend with your family.

As per your instructions, I ran your repair tool and you were right....again.

I opened control panel and windows update immediately after. There were 4 updates there including KB2919355, the big one. That was the only one that was 'unchecked' so I left it that way and tried the other 3.....they downloaded immediately without any problem.
I then tried to download the big one...but failed...."Failure configuring etc"       

I tried to do it manually and microsoft gave me a list that had to be done in order, the big one was second on that list. KB2919442 was next on the list and I tried to download it, it said it was already installed. I opened one of the pages with the big one on it...sort of scary. What do you make of it ?      http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/search/search?SearchTerm=KB2919355&x=0&y=0&CurrentScope.ForumName=Windows&CurrentScope.Filter=windows8_1-windows_update&ContentTypeScope=

When I tried to download the big one through the control panel...I got the error code 8024a000. According to microsoft it doesn't exist.

Thank you Shane.
Cheers,
Tom

9

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 10, 2014, 06:33:32 pm »

Hi Shane.

I fear I am going mad...the unfortunate thing is, I am scared I'll take you with me.

I tried KB2919442 again and it said it was already installed. So I tried KB2939087 and it installed..i rebooted, first time I saw 100% in ages.

When I opened control panel/updates again...there were 4 new updates there, including the 'big' one...however, when I opened it again there were gone except for the 'big' one and the 'adobe flash' which says it installes but keeps re-appearing.

I tried to download the four individually but they refused.

Let me check something with you please ? I need to see that I am doing this right.

When the download window opens is says "What should Firefox do with this file" "Open with" is dotted and "Windows update standalone installer (default)" Is that ok ?

I checked my 'installed updates' and everything was ok up to the 31/3/, I don't know what happened after that...I don't think Microsoft do either. People all over the net have the same problems but some have managed to solve them by doing some of the things we have done.

Once again Shane, thank you for your help, appreciated.
Tom.

10

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 09, 2014, 03:14:43 pm »

Hi again Shane.

About KB291355, the download centre says that KB2919442 must be installed before.

But it won't let me download it. It says it's a standalone and is not applicable to my pc.

11

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 09, 2014, 12:33:48 pm »

Hi Shane.

Things are the same as last I reported. Still just the two updates available (I am glad to say)

According to update history, KB2934802 has been downloaded successfully 8 times...but when I open control panel/updates it's available again.

The other update, KB2919355 fails each time. The error code is 80070BC9.

I don't have a clue what happened to the other available updates, but they are not in my update history.

Cheers Shane.
Tom.

12

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 08, 2014, 02:22:36 pm »

Hi Shane, it took me a while to get back to you, I'll explain a little later.

In answer to your question. I started out with 17 updates and 3 optional. I tried different combinations, two's and three's and sometimes 10's. But all failed.

I tried some number with one optional update and it failed except for the optional one....that downloaded.

Ok, the reason for the delay....a little while ago I went back into control panel/check for updates....and this only you may be able to explain.

There were only 6 updates and the 2 optional ones there  !!!!

So I tried to download them. 5 were ticked so I done them first...and it said there were downloaded, but they were not in my download history.

I closed control panel and went back in again...and there 2 important updates there. One,  KB2934802 downloaded the other failed...so I closed control panel etc...

Went back in and downloaded KB2934802 and it worked...again and showed in my download history. I done it about 4 times and it showed in download history, but everytime I went back to control panel...KB2934802 was back again.

I also have to say, I tried to download some of the original updates one at a time but microsoft said they were applicable to my system.

Once again, Shane, thank you for you patience.
Tom.

13

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 08, 2014, 01:13:31 pm »

Hi again Shane.

Thank you for your patience and perseverence. It's your fault really, you should know by now not to trust me with something like that.     

I don't know how much of this you want to see but here goes.....

Log Name:      Application
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
Date:          08/04/2014 14:49:14
Event ID:      1001
Task Category: None
Level:         Information
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      Tommy
Description:


Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Windows.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.                         

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
  289024 file records processed.                                                       

File verification completed.
  2638 large file records processed.                                   

  0 bad file records processed.                                     


Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
  354960 index entries processed.                                                       

Index verification completed.
  0 unindexed files scanned.                                       

  0 unindexed files recovered.                                     


Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 29 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 29 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 29 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
  32969 data files processed.                                           

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
  40237792 USN bytes processed.                                                           

Usn Journal verification completed.

Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ...
  289008 files processed.                                                               

File data verification completed.

Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ...
  227962845 free clusters processed.                                                       

Free space verification is complete.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

 957025279 KB total disk space.
  44618976 KB in 197705 files.
    127720 KB in 32970 indexes.
         0 KB in bad sectors.
    427203 KB in use by the system.
     65536 KB occupied by the log file.
 911851380 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
 239256319 total allocation units on disk.
 227962845 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
00 69 04 00 1a 85 03 00 32 cd 06 00 00 00 00 00  .i......2.......
e5 00 00 00 26 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ....&...........

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Wininit" Guid="{206f6dea-d3c5-4d10-bc72-989f03c8b84b}" EventSourceName="Wininit" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="16384">1001</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>4</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2014-04-08T13:49:14.000000000Z" />
    <EventRecordID>67314</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />
    <Channel>Application</Channel>
    <Computer>Tommy</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Windows.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.                         

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
  289024 file records processed.                                                       

File verification completed.
  2638 large file records processed.                                   

  0 bad file records processed.                                     


Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
  354960 index entries processed.                                                       

Index verification completed.
  0 unindexed files scanned.                                       

  0 unindexed files recovered.                                     


Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 29 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 29 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 29 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
  32969 data files processed.                                           

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
  40237792 USN bytes processed.                                                           

Usn Journal verification completed.

Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ...
  289008 files processed.                                                               

File data verification completed.

Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ...
  227962845 free clusters processed.                                                       

Free space verification is complete.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

 957025279 KB total disk space.
  44618976 KB in 197705 files.
    127720 KB in 32970 indexes.
         0 KB in bad sectors.
    427203 KB in use by the system.
     65536 KB occupied by the log file.
 911851380 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
 239256319 total allocation units on disk.
 227962845 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
00 69 04 00 1a 85 03 00 32 cd 06 00 00 00 00 00  .i......2.......
e5 00 00 00 26 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ....&amp;...........

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.
</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

This was under 'details'

Checking file system on C: The type of the file system is NTFS. Volume label is Windows. A disk check has been scheduled. Windows will now check the disk. Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ... 289024 file records processed. File verification completed. 2638 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ... 354960 index entries processed. Index verification completed. 0 unindexed files scanned. 0 unindexed files recovered. Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ... Cleaning up 29 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9. Cleaning up 29 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9. Cleaning up 29 unused security descriptors. Security descriptor verification completed. 32969 data files processed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal... 40237792 USN bytes processed. Usn Journal verification completed. Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ... 289008 files processed. File data verification completed. Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ... 227962845 free clusters processed. Free space verification is complete. Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems. No further action is required. 957025279 KB total disk space. 44618976 KB in 197705 files. 127720 KB in 32970 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 427203 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 911851380 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 239256319 total allocation units on disk. 227962845 allocation units available on disk. Internal Info: 00 69 04 00 1a 85 03 00 32 cd 06 00 00 00 00 00 .i......2....... e5 00 00 00 26 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....&........... Windows has finished checking your disk. Please wait while your computer restarts.

Cheers,
Shane.

14

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 08, 2014, 12:15:25 pm »

Hi Shane.

         I would love to view that log and post it on here....but I don't have a clue where to find it !   

I went to search/event viewer...but there is so much information in there, I have been completely baffled for the last 30 minutes.

15

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 08, 2014, 04:28:08 am »

Hi Shane.

Still bad news.

I let 'chkdsk' run over night and when I checked it had returned to my desktop without any info. So, I ran it again and watched and waited.


As before it 'froze' on 10% and stayed there for 2 hours before returning to the desktop.


I bought this pc in early December 2013. I done 2 'system restores' recently so there is very little on it. I saved photos ect on an external drive.

Back to you Shane.

Cheers,
Tom.

16

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 07, 2014, 02:25:24 pm »

Hi Shane.

Apologies not necessary, I appreciate any time and help you can spare me...sorry for being such a pest.

It's bad news on the 'chkdsk'..I done as instructed and it ran to 10% and stayed there. I tried it 3 times with the same results. Should I leave it on overnight and see if it makes any difference ?

And you thought I was kidding about "Murphys Law"   

Once again Shane, thank you for your time and expertise.

Tom.

17

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 06, 2014, 12:11:25 pm »

Hi Shane.

I did, through 'search' manage to find chkds which I did manage to run with mixed and strange results.

The first one I ran through   c:/properties/tools/and check.

The result was "Windows successfully scanned the drive, no errors were found".

The next one I ran through cmd chkdsk c: / and it  gave me a choice between f and r...so I ran one after the other.  The f one ran ok but I got no report the 'r' one got stuck on 10% and I had to close it down, I tried it twice.

I decided to do something different today. I have 17 updates and 3 optional ones. So, I unchecked the 17 and selected one of the optional ones and restarted my pc. It still tried to download the 17, despite being 'unchecked' but it DID download the optional one. I tried to download just one of the 17 from the Microsoft site but it said it was not applicable to my system.

I would appreciate any other suggestions.
Thank you.
Tom.

18

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 05, 2014, 12:38:49 pm »

Hi Shane, thank you for getting back to me so fast.

Re chkdsk, please explain further. Remember I am not the most literate pc used in the world.

Cheers,
Tom.

19

General Computer Support / Re: Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 04, 2014, 03:04:35 pm »

Hi, thank you for your reply. Yes I did run your repair tool but not correctly. So I ran it again earlier.

However, it didn't solve my problem but one of the options reported...."Corrupt files, unable to fix some of them". It goes on to explain where I can find them...but I can't !

After following the instructions C:\windows\logs\CBS. I opened that file and the only things I got were:



        CBS    Text Document                         9,630                                   The access was denied on this one.
        CbsPersist _20140404104715        Cab file     1,133KB
        CbsPersist _20140404180642        Cab file     879KB
        CbsPersist _20140404210157        Test Document 16,481KB        The access was denied on this one also.
        FilterList  Text Document  1KB.

I ran "Windows Update" After running the repair tool and got the same results as before.
I hope you can help me further.

Thank you,
Tom.

20

General Computer Support / Failure to update windows 8.1

« on: April 04, 2014, 07:44:46 am »

Hi, I am running windows 8.1 and every time (at least 50 attempts) I try to update it goes to about 35% before  I get the message "Failure configuring windows update, undoing changes, do not turn your computer off" This goes on for about 15 minutes before eventually going back to my desktop. I know, looking at the net I am not alone in this but some people have managed to fix this problem throught various means. I have tried a lot of them (too many to mention) I must also say that "Murphys Law" was written especially with me in mind.   

I have contacted Microsoft about this problem and the young lady suggested I do a refresh. The problem is, I made a recover flash drive but I can't remember if I made it with 8 or 8.1 so I am scared to try a refresh or a restore to factory condition in case it asks for my windows 8 restore disc (flash drive) and I have only the 8.1...or vice versa. I am also  less than 20% computer literate.

Any suggestions, except for getting the hammer out, would be most welcome....I am going bonkers !!!

Thank you,
Tom.