It’s going to be a long day!!
Posted by Ben | Under Microsoft, Software, Technologically Inept, Work Sucks Thursday Jul 24, 2008I came in to start my PC, and as SOON as Vista started I got this (this isn’t the actual screenshot but it’s the same error message I got):
and I had to restart.
I ended up doing nothing yesterday but play on Youtube all day and read up on West Ham to get ready for tonight’s All-Star game, and now my boss needs that Excel spreadsheet by end of business today. Hopefully this POS PC decides to cooperate with me and I can actually focus on my work for a few hours, I dont want my boss screaming at me first thing on a Friday morning.
Does anybody know any free programs I can install to see if there is something slowing up and causing problems with my PC? A friend of mine mentioned something about spyware?
Hi Ben,
My name is Edwin Guarin. I am the Microsoft Academic Evangelist for Higher-Ed in New England.
Sorry to hear about your issue. Getting those error messages are never fun.
Since you mentioned that it was not the original screenshot, did yours looks similar to the following?
I’ve clicked on “Check for solution” before and it actually led me to a resolution which was pretty cool.
There are a couple of free tools that are included in Vista that help you diagnose and potentially resolve these type of issues. Check out:
1) Problem Reports and Solutions.
Sometimes there are known updates with Vista and/or third-party programs that address some of the issues you’ve had related to this error and this app can contain links to the resolution.
You can easily access it by clicking on the Start Button, and type “problem”. Problem Reports and Solutions should appear automagically.
BTW, the new search feature is one of my favorite aspects of Vista over XP. Makes me feel lazy, yet productive, ha! Just typing something in the Start menu (i.e. “word” or “calc”) then hit enter. Search does the work for me. I digress..
2) Reliability and Performance Monitor.
As you can see above, there’s a chart that looks at different types of failures, the date it happenes, and possible resolutions. You can find more useful information about this tool and feedback on Paul Thurrott’s blog: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_ff_rmon.asp
As for a free spyware tool, included with Vista is:
Windows Defender.
Again, just click on start, and type “Defender”. Choose Windows Defender and do a “Scan now”. It does a pretty good job on checking for spyware.
You can find more info on Defender at <a href=”http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx”
Hope this helps!
PS. That West Ham / All-Stars game was pretty tight! I was actually surprised with the outcome.
Wow I have Microsoft people commenting on here now? This is intense! Edwin thank you this is very useful. Anything that’s going to help me through my day is very much appreciated. Honestly I’m not the most tech savvy person out there and I don’t quite know how I landed this internship but I have to stick it out for now. I don’t want to blame all my problems on Vista as I’m not a tech guy so most of the issues I run into could very well be of my own doing. However, it seems like the more I work with it the easier it becomes.
Lemme ask you, how did you actually find this blog post? Did it just show up in a Google search or something?
Thanks again for the tips. I’m going to check out that Windows Defender thing now.
Glad to assist, Ben. I’ve been in similar situations before, so I feel your pain. You landed the internship partly because you proably gave the impression that you’re persistent and you stick things out and get things done no matter what it takes. That’s definitely an important quality to have. But again, I digress.
As for finding the blog post, I remembering encoutering a time when I used the Reliability and Performance monitor after a smiliar error. So I actually used Live search and the blog post a couple of links down. I’m sure you can Google it as well.
Good luck and keep me posted!
Edwin
FYI, I attempted to add some screen shots in my first reply, but I guess it didn’t come through. My apologies.
I have two questions for you.
1) What is the difference between http://www.live.com and http://www.msn.com ? Is one better than the other?
2) Is there any way I can speed-up the run time of Vista? From what I understand Vista uses a lot of processing resources so if there was a way I could close unnecessary programs to help speed up my computer that would be great.
Thanks for replying by the way. It’s cool that you’ve posted here and are helping me with this stuff. Do you know of any resources online that I could take a look at? Maybe help me navigate Vista a bit better?
Hi Ben,
Great questions!
1) I’m sure there has been a lot of confusion on this topic (including on my part), but I’ll try to break it down for you based on how I understand it.
Think of Live.com as a providing services like web/image searches (Live Search), Virtual Earth maps (Live Search Maps), instant messenger (Live Messenger),
MSN.com as a portal for things like news, weather, shopping, health, dating, etc…
2) There’s a pretty helpful video I found for improving performance at http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DTwr-in0w7aI. I also found that the tips mentioned at http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=200&tag=rbxccnbtr1 seemed to be pretty good at identifying some things you can do to improve performance.
Free Vista training videos!
Check out http://www.microsoft4me.com/. Scroll down and you’ll see an article titled “Vista Training”. There are links to free Vista training videos from Microsoft Learning (http://www.microsoft.com/learning).
Hope this helps!
Edwin
Very helpful Edwin thank you! In looking through the http://www.microsoft4me.com/ site I found this http://www.microsoft4me.com/career/s2b/ and I also found this http://www.microsoft.com/studentstobusiness/home/default.aspx I’m wondering if it might be worth it to enroll in these free training programs. What do my career options look like if I do so? The economy isn’t in the best shape right now so if taking these classes gives me a leg up then I might be inclined to participate. Not to mention it would be really good to know this stuff anyway. Do you know people who have participated in these free training programs and are now working in IT because of it?
Good finds, Ben! I’m glad you went through the Microsoft4Me.com site and found those links. Students2Business is a really cool program created to link students directly to companies looking specifically for college interns and graduates looking for jobs in the industry. Think of it similar to a monster.com but dedicated for students! But wait, there’s more! As you mentioned, you do receive free Microsoft online training! Be sure to sign up as it will definitely add to your skillset and make you look more attractive to employers.
I know there have been many students who were able to get jobs and internships through the S2B program, and we’re aiming to put those success stories on the website very soon!
I’m pretty impressed with your determination and the fact that you’re dedicated to finding answers via this blog. I also noticed that you are in the SoCal area near LA? Sam Stokes is my counterpart for your region. I would like to ask Sam if we can invite you to the Microsoft office in Irvine and introduce you to some of the Microsoft employees in the field. I’m sure you have many questions regarding Microsoft products, career paths, and skills you need to get a good job. Would this be something in which you’re interested? Let me know, and I’ll ask Sam to chime in and possibly give you an opportunity to give your feedback to our company.
Hi Ben,
I am in the SoCal Area, just use my email that I left on the site, be glad you have you and any of your friends (let’s keep it to a few of your friends) to come on by the Microsoft Irvine office for a tour, and lunch!
Um…wow! Is this real? I would completely be down for that. I may ask my buddy to join if that’s cool. Sam, I’ll send you an email to get the details. That’s really nice of you guys. Psyched!