The initial problem reported:

The computer cannot go past the Windows start up logo screen, then it restarts automatically. After restart, the computer asks whether to go into Safe Mode or to start computer normally.

In my case, the computer hangs or reboots automatically no matter which option I choose.

To get actual problem:

Keep pressing F8 on start up to get into Windows Advanced Options Menu. Then select Disable automatic restart on system failure.

By doing so, the computer will continue to load until the blue screen shows up. That's the place where you could get the error message.

The error I found:

Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate

The solution for all kinds of registry problem, in short:

Format the damned PC.

The solution for registry recovery, in long:

The five registry files to be recovered are:

• system
• software
• sam
• security
• default

Procedures to copy all registry files from C:\windows\repair\ folder to C:\windows\system32\config\ folder:

1. Using Windows XP installation CD, get into Recovery Mode.
2. Go to C:\windows\system32\config folder.
3. Backup the 5 registry files to a temporary folder.
4. Copy the 5 registry files from C:\windows\repair\ folder to C:\windows\system32\config folder.
5. Enter exit to restart to computer.

Procedures to get into Safe Mode to copy last known good registry files to be restored:

1. Upon start up, press F8 and select Safe Mode to get into Windows Safe Mode.
2. Get into C:\System Volume Information\_restore{XXXX}\RPXX\snapshot\ (Rule: Check the properties of the folder to get the date of the backup. Always take the latest version.)
3. You will find these files:
   1. _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
   2. _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
   3. _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
   4. _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
   5. _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM
4. Copy the files to another temporary folder, preferably to be in C:\Windows folder.
5. Rename all the 5 files to its original name, e.g. _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to default.

Finally, get back to Recovery Mode to replace the files you have found from System Volume Information to registry original folder (C:\windows\system32\config).

Done. You should now be able to start your computer normally.

This same procedure will help you recover all kinds of registry corrupted problem that you ever get.

I am trying to keep this guide simple and short, for myself, because I found that the guide provided by Microsoft is too lengthy. You may refer to the Knowledge Base page if this guide does not make any sense.

For your information, my PHP-MySQL system is running on Apache HTTP server version 2.2 in Microsoft Windows XP environment.

I see the following errors repeating in the log file:
[Fri Jul 03 15:20:52 2009] [warn] (OS 121)The semaphore timeout period has expired. : winnt_accept: Asynchronous AcceptEx failed.
[Fri Jul 03 15:20:52 2009] [warn] (OS 64)The specified network name is no longer available. : winnt_accept: Asynchronous AcceptEx failed.


If you are not sure where's the log file:
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\logs\error.log

Solution that works:

As recommended by the Apache documentation, I added Win32DisableAcceptEx directive to the apache configuration file.

Apache configuration file can be found at:
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\conf\httpd.conf

I am expecting this to be a Windows specific problem that should be mentioned in Platform Specific Notes for Windows, but it didn't.

Anyway, I solved my problem.

--

But... on another installation of my system, I encountered a different error in the log file.
child process exited with status 3221225477

It also causes the httpd.exe process to die off suddenly and the user is experiencing the same problem when submitting data. Every result in Google shows a different problem. It seems like the error is a generic one. Do let me know if you have any idea on how to fix this.

With few of my clients running on this same configurations, the actual disaster only happen few days ago. The lightning strike hit the server computer and it failed. Totally dead. Replacing the power supply didn't help.

So, I had to do disaster recover by moving the hard disk to another computer. I didn't realise that Microsoft Office 2007 actually detects what hardware it is running on.

This morning, the Microsoft Office didn't work. It says something like:

The Microsoft office systems detected hardware changes on your computer.

The PHP script that called Microsoft Excel COM failed. It requires reactivation. Reactivation is easy, can be done with just 2 clicks of mouse. But would Microsoft disable the license and ask me to buy another new copy?

A sane mind will agree that evil Microsoft will force me to do so. The office has spent more than RM10,000 on Microsoft licenses. They will definitely find more ways to squeeze more money from us!

Unbelievably, the reactivation was successful.

Although it good for now, I'm not sure whether I will get another message like "You are running a pirated version of Microsoft Office, please get a genuine version" tomorrow.

My settings: A few computers connected to a D-link router modem. I'm able to access the router page from my PC.

My problem: ADSL/Link light blinking, which is obviously a problem with the line.

The silly troubleshooting instruction:

1. Do direct connection from the wall socket to the modem, then restart the modem. (Acceptable)
2. Open your PC, open up command prompt, type: ipconfig, then check the IP address, subnet mask and default gateway is correct. (Why should I do so when I'm able to access to router page?)
3. Ping your own IP. (???)
4. Ping your localhost. (...)
5. Ping your own the default gateway. (.........)

I was wondering how the troubleshooting instructions would help her identify the problem. Finally, she restarted the port at their side and the internet works again.

So, what you should really do, is to ask them whether there's any outage at your area. If there's none, tell them you have done the above then ask them to restart the port.

Other tips:

1. Make sure you paid your bill. You can check by calling their billing department.
2. Call them on your handphone or cordless phone, so that you can walk around to do what is needed to be done.
3. You can save money by calling 100 from your home line, but you will need extra line to do so. Else, you will either get noise (if you have extra extension) or disconnect your own phone.

Enjoy troubleshooting...

The file you are trying to open, 'XXX.xls', is in a different format than specified by the file extension. Verify that the file is not corrupted and is from a trusted source before opening the file. Do you want to open the file?

Most of the time, when you get that message, your Excel file is corrupted. Here's a way to get data from your corrupted file.

1. In office 2007, click on the round office button, then 'Open' (in older versions, go to File > Open).
2. Select the problematic Excel file. Then, click on the small triangle on the right of the 'Open' button.
3. Click on 'Select and Repair...'.
4. Then, 'Extract Data'.
5. Try both 'Convert to Values' and 'Recover Formulas' ('Convert to Values' works for me).

The small menu at Open button if you can't find it:

Of course, you are going to lose some formatting or data, but at least you still have something.

Hope this helps.

The path '::{6af09ec9-b429-11d4-a1fb-0090960218cb}' does not exist or is not a directory.

A forum thread at Tech Support Guy was very helpful. If you are facing the same problem, all you have to do is to add the following key to registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{6af09ec9-b429-11d4-a1fb-0090960218cb}

Set the value as 'My Bluetooth Places', without the quotes. I am able to explore my bluetooth devices again.

I believe the key could have been removed by certain cleanup programs which are supposed to be doing good to your system but this is certainly a false negative.

After a few rounds of self reboot, I think I could put it into safe mode then use system restore to restore the system back to the time before I install the new driver.

To put a Windows XP machine into safe mode, all you have to do is to keep pressing F8 button when the computer boots up. Then you will be displayed with an "Windows Advanced Options Menu", which you need to select "Safe Mode".

Unfortunately, safe mode didn't work for me. It has the same fate as before. It reboots before it can enter Windows. The next option I tried was Last Known Good Configuration, but still no luck.

Then, I tried Disable automatic restart on system failure in the "Windows Advanced Options Menu", initiated with the same F8 way.

The Windows XP loading screen showed up. Then, I get a blue screen with the following error:

STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}
The Windows Logon Process system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc0000139 (0x00000000 0x00000000).
The system has been shut down.

Now, I got the error code. I start another computer to search for a solution and I found a Microsoft Knowledge Base article titled How to troubleshoot a "STOP 0xC000021A" error. I thought I found the solution, but it asked me to use a command prompt to enable Dr. Watson. Is the guide silly or I'm the one stupid? How do I do it when I can't start anything, even safe mode in command prompt failed.

Another search result points me to this thread: Blue screen after installation on Win XP. The user mentioned:

Turned out that the problem was caused by the installer overwriting msvcrt.dll in System32, causing the crash.

So, my next attempt will try to replace the file using Recovery Console. Copy the file from another computer and put it into a USB drive. Plug it into the failed computer.

Then, start Recovery Console to copy the file.

1. Put the Windows XP setup CD into the failed machine.
2. Start/Reboot the computer.
3. Press any key to boot from CD.
4. You will get yourself into Windows Setup.
5. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
6. Press number to select the correct Windows XP installation, then enter the administrator password.

Now, I'm in the recovery console. These are what I did:

1. Check the date and size of the msvcrt.dll. For my case, it is different from what I can find in another computer. The correct size is at around 335KB.
2. Backup the original DLL in C:\windows\system32.
3. Copy the file in USB drive to c:\windows\system32\msvcrt.DLL (Note: you may need to try a few drive letters to find your USB drive.)
4. Enter "exit" to reboot the computer.
5. Remove the Windows XP CD and USB drive.

And... my HP laptop is working!

After a few hours, the machine began to slow down untill it hanged. After trying out every possible buttons and the system is still not responding, we have no choice but to press and hold the power button to shut it down.

The next time it started up, some of the Windows Vista system files got corrupted. So, the fastest recovery way would be to use Dell System Restore. I was surprised that the first few search results were not Dell Support pages (just like when we search for Windows problem, we normally don't get Microsoft support pages). Most of the pages asked me to press Ctrl + F11 when the system boots up to initiate Dell System Restore.

I failed to initiate the System Restore until I read it at yorkspace.com that I should press F8 if I'm using Windows Vista. The steps after that were very straight forward. A full guide taken from Dell Support page (which I found later) is as follows:

1. Restart the computer.
2. Tap <F8> during startup until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears. If the Windows Advanced Options menu does not appear, restart the computer, and try again.
3. Press the <Down Arrow> until Repair Your Computer is highlighted, and press <Enter>.
4. In the System Recovery Options window, log in as a user with administrative rights, and click OK.
5. In the Windows Vista Recovery Environment, click to select your language, and click Next.
6. Click System Restore.
7. In the System Restore window, click Next to display the most recent restore points in chronological order.
8. Click the Show restore points older than 5 days check box for a complete listing of restore points.
9. Click to select a restore point.
   A good starting point is to attempt to restore from the most recent restore point. If this fails to correct the problem, then try the next oldest restore point until the issue is resolved. Any software installed after the selected restore point needs to be reinstalled.
10. Click Next and then Finish.

Though I successfully recovered the system, it did not go well the second time. The machine lasted for a few hours for me to reinstall everything, it slowed down and not responding again. I'll get Dell engineers to check up the system.

I found 2 "undelete" tools which I tried to recover the delete file from my USB drive.

Free Undelete 2.0 (Not working)

The Free Undelete from Office Recovery showed up as the first result in Google. Believing in Google's PageRank, I gave it a try.

After installing it, I start it up. The user interface was very user-friendly. Besides that, the file size is only 1MB.

However, as soon as I click on the scan button, the whole program took about 5 minutes to scan. Before it shows any result, Windows XP Error Reporting box showed up, then followed by messages related to Dr Watson. I had to restart my computer to gain control of everything (even 'End task' in the Task Manager does not work).

I'm not sure why it doesn't work for me, or probably it doesn't work on USB drives?

PC Inspector File Recovery (Recommended)

PC Inspector File Recovery was the next program I found.

Very much different from FreeUndelete, the file size was so much bigger, with more than 5MB and the user interface was awful. It takes a while to understand the buttons.

The good part is, it shows all the result instantly and I can find the file that I needed in no time. It also shows the modified date and condition of the files.

Give it a try when you are having the same fate some day.

One important note: If possible, do not perform any activity on the drive you would like to recover. Activities may include copying and creating files. That means, installing the recovery program itself can pose some risks that your deleted file could be overwritten. You may want to install it now, if you think you might need it some day.

As I begin using Internet Explorer not too long ago, I never use any other clients since then. It is convenient as it is pre-installed in every machine!

Recently, as I tried to use it on a different computer, I keep getting "Page not found" error. But the FTP server is working fine when I try to access using command line FTP.

After spending sometime to search for solution, I found a setting in Internet options that fixes it. Go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced tab > tick Enable folder view for FTP sites.

If you have never use IE for this purpose, I recommend you to try it.

Just type in address bar: ftp://www.yoursite.com

Unless you need some extraordinary functions, IE is good enough.