Have you ever accidentally unchecked the “Always ask before opening this type of file” checkbox when downloading a file using IE? Wish you could change it back so that IE will ask you where to save to the file instead of automagically opening it? You can through the file type settings in XP. Open open a Windows Explorer (not IE) windows. Click on Tools>Folder Options>File Types. Find the extension of the file type you wish to change and select it. Then click the Advanced button and then check the “Confirm open after download” checkbox. You’ll now be prompted before downloading the file.
Category Archives: Windows
Microsoft Update causes 100% CPU for svchost.exe process
<UPDATE>John Bigg brought to my attention a hotfix Microsoft recently released for Windows Installer 3.1 v2: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916089 that fixes this specific issue. Thanks John!</UPDATE>
You may have noticed since switching to Microsoft Update to get your updates, that your computer is unresponsive after startup when you have Automatic Updates enabled. You’ll also experience this problem when connecting to the Microsoft Update site. Task Manager will show near 100% CPU usage and extremely high Disk I/O for the svhost.exe process. Running tasklist /SVC from the command line will show that the matching PID contains the wuauserv service. The only known current solution, is to revert back to Windows Update. The problem manifests itself in the fact that Microsoft Update will search all cached installs on your local PC; a very CPU and Disk intensive process.
To revert back to the standard Windows Update, connect to the Microsoft Update site. On the left pane, click “Change Settings”. In the next window, scroll down to the “To stop using Microsoft Update” section and select the “Disable Microsoft Update software and let me use Windows Update only” checkbox. Click “Apply Changes”.
WLBS Causes Service Failure on Windows 2003 Server
You may receive a “One or more services failed to start” error message when booting a Windows 2003 Server installation which may or may not be accompanied by an Event ID 7000 in the system event viewer. This is caused by the WLBS service. To resolve this issue, modify the following registry key:
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WBLS
Change the value of Group from PNP_TDI to an emtpy string. More information regarding this regfix can be found on Microsoft’s KB: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833375.