rualtek

Technology tutorials and step-by-step guides for problems encountered in rural U.S.A.

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Installing 32-bit Print Drivers on 64-bit Servers

If your organization's servers have an operating system of Windows Server 2008 R2 or later, they are using a 64-bit architecture.  A Windows 2008 R2, or later, print server will install printers with their 64-bit drivers by default.  The 32-bit client computers on your network will be unable to print unless the 32-bit drivers are installed on the print server.

Installing 32-bit print drivers on a 64-bit servers can be a bit tricky.  Follow these steps to install the additional drivers trouble free.

From a 32-bit computer, go to Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Print Management

Right-click Print Servers and select Add/Remove Servers

In the Add Servers field, add your 64-bit print server and click Add to list

Expand Servers->Printers and open the Printer Properties windows of the desired printer

Go to the Sharing tab and click the Additional drivers button

Check the box for 'x86 Type 3 - User Mode'

Click OK or navigate to the location of your 32-bit print driver

**The preceding steps MUST be performed from a 32-bit computer or the installation will fail**

Now your 32-bit client computer will be able print via the 64-bit print server.

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Installing Network Printers on Windows 7

The End-of-Life date for the Microsoft Windows XP operating system was April 8th.  As more and more organizations upgrade their workstations from Windows XP to Windows 7, they are experiencing minor issues with Windows 7.  Those of us who have been using Windows 7 for years have already resolved these issues and can help.

One of these minor inconveniences relates to installing network printers on your new Windows 7 workstations.  If your organization shares its printers via a Windows print server, you may notice that during the 'Add a Printer' process, all of your printers are not listed in the printer directory.

By default, Windows 7 limits the number of printers listed in the directory to 20.  A small change to your Group Policy settings can increase that number.

Open Group Policy Management and navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Printers

Double click the Add Printer Wizard - Network scan page (Managed Network)

Enable this policy

The Number of Directory Printers is set to 20 by default.  Change it to a number high enough to include all of your shared printers.

After the group policy settings update on your workstations, you will now see all of your shared printers listed in the printer directory.

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WIFI Security - One Step Above the Minimum

In the previous post I demonstrated how to change the default password to your WIFI router's administration.  Here I'll show how to add one more layer of security to your home WIFI: requiring a password to access your network.

As with changing the administration password, the first step is to find the IP address of the router.  Read the previous post to learn how to locate the computer's default gateway and login to the administration interface.

After logging in, the instructions depend on your Internet Service Provider.  For a Newwave Communications router, go to the Basic Setup section.  Use the Security Mode dropdown menu to select WPA2-PSK.  Next, scroll down to the Security Settings section and select TKIP/AES in the Encryption Algorithm dropdown.  Finally, in the Pre-Shared Key field, type your desired password and click the Apply button.

If your ISP is Consolidated Communications, go to the Wireless-Security page.  Select WPA2-PSK in the Network Authentication dropdown menu.  After the Network Authentication is selected, you can enter a password for the Pre-Shared Key.

The next time a device attempts to access your WIFI network, it will be required to provide the Pre-Shared Key you just configured.

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WIFI Security - The Bare Minimum

If you have a home WiFi network, you need to have some kind of security configured.  Setting up a password in order to join your WiFi is the most common way to add security.  Although adding an encrypted password to your network is a best practice, those keys can be easily cracked.  Also, I wouldn't recommend it, but an open WiFi network gives you deniability, i.e. "I don't know who downloaded that music illegally ... I have open WiFi."

Whether you want an open WiFi network or not, you need to secure access to the router's administration.  Leaving the default password on the router allows anyone connected to the network the opportunity to cause mischief.  The following steps will show how to change the default password on your router.

First, we need to find the IP address of your router.  Go to Start->All Programs->Command Prompt to open a command prompt.  In the command prompt, type ipconfig.  Look for the Default Gateway in the results.

Now that we have the IP address of the router, open an internet browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, etc) and type that address into the address bar.  Your router's login page will appear.

The instructions for this page depend on your Internet Service Provider.  If, like me, your ISP is Newwave Communications, the default username is admin and the default password is password.  The most common ISP in the Hillsboro area is Consolidated Communications.  Consolidated routers have a default username of admin and a default password of cciadmin.

After logging into a Newwave router, the Basic Setup screen is displayed.  In the Basic Setup section, click the 'Change Password' button.  The 'Set Password' window will open.  In the 'Old Password' field, type password.  In the 'New Password' and 'Repeat New Password' fields, type your new password.

If you have a Consolidated router, there will be a list of options on the left side of the window.  Go to Management->Access Control->Passwords.  On the Access Control - Password screen, select the admin account from the dropdown menu.  Then enter cciadmin in the 'Old Password'.  Enter your new password in the 'New Password' and the 'Confirm Password' fields.

That's it.  After completing these steps, you now have the bare minimum security configured on your WiFi router.

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HP Notebook 2000 Error - System Fan (90B)

An HP Notebook 2000 was brought to me with a significant problem.  During the boot process, an error message was displayed.  The error code was System Fan (90B).  It stated a cooling fan was not operating correctly and continued use could result in permanent damage.  It looked like this:

A common problem with many laptops is dust and dirt getting into the system fan and causing problems.  I happened to know that the owners of this laptop have been involved in home renovations recently.  And they have a dog.  The odds were that the fan was caked with dust, dirt and dog hair.

Removing the system fan involves dismantling the laptop.  It's quite a process.  The easiest way to explain it is with the following video.  Thanks to DIY Tech for posting the video.  It was a big help.

After digging into the guts of the laptop, I finally removed the system fan.  Sure enough, it was covered in dirt and dog hair.  Pretty gross.  A can of pressurized air and alcohol wipes were the only cleaning supplies needed.  Here's a picture of the fan after cleaning:

I reassembled the laptop, booted it, and crossed my fingers.  The error message no longer displayed and the laptop booted successfully.

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How to Burn a CD Part 2 - Data Disc When burning a CD, it can be optimized for audio or data.  This tutorial will demonstrate how to burn a data disc which can be sent to friends, family, or colleagues. The following was completed on a computer with the Windows 7 operating system and uses the Live File System format which allows files to be added to/deleted from the disc at a later time. Step 1: Verify you have a R/W disc drive Click on the Windows Start Button —> Computer Under Devices with Removable Storage, your drive should include R/W somewhere in the name. Step 2: Insert your CD into your disc drive Open the disc drive, place the CD into the disc drive, close the disc drive. The AutoPlay prompt will appear.  Choose Burn files to disc to open the Burn a Disc window. Step 3: Format the disc In the Burn a Disc window, type a name in the Disc Title field and verify that the Like a USB Flash Drive radio button is selected. Click the Next button to format the disc. After the disc is finished formatting, Another AutoPlay prompt will appear.  Click Open folder to view files. Step 4: Copy your files to the disc Browse to the location of files.  Select the desired files and drag them to the disc drive window. To select multiple files, hold down the CRTL button on your keyboard and click the desired files.  Then drag all of the selected files to the disc drive window. Click Close Session and eject the disc (clicking Close Session is optional; when the disc is ejected the session will automatically be closed). Now you can send your disc to someone who needs those files.

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How to Burn a CD Part 1 - Audio Disc

When burning a CD, it can be optimized for audio or data.  This tutorial will demonstrate how to burn an audio disc which can be played in modern CD players.

The following was completed on a computer with the Windows 7 operating system and using Windows Media Player as the burning software.

Step 1: Verify you have a R/W disc drive

Click on the Windows Start Button —> Computer

Under Devices with Removable Storage, your drive should include R/W somewhere in the name.

Step 2: Insert your CD into your disc drive

Open the disc drive, place the CD into the disc drive, close the disc drive.

Step 3: Open Windows Media Player

Click Burn an Audio CD using Windows Media Player in the AutoPlay prompt.

Windows Media Player opens automatically to the Burn tab.

If the AutoPlay prompt does not appear, open Windows Media Player manually, and click on the Burn tab in the upper-right corner.

Step 4: Drag Music Files into Windows Media Player

Select the desired files and drag them in the Windows Media Player burn list which is located on the right side of Windows Media Player.

To select multiple files, hold down the CRTL button on your keyboard and click the desired files.  Then drag all of the selected files to the burn list.

Step 5: Burn the Disc

Click Start Burn located above the burn list.

When finished, the CD ejects itself and you can enjoy the music on your newly burned CD!