Monday, January 18, 2010

Start the Network and Internet Troubl...

Excerpted from my daily  feeds this item received from the folks at:



How to Geeks   & www.7tutorials.com

Start the Network and Internet Troubleshooting Wizards from the Command-Prompt

The network and Internet troubleshooting wizards can also be started from the command line, using the parameters below. All you need is to copy and paste these commands in the Run window (press the Windows key + R) or in the Command Prompt:

  • To open the Internet Connections troubleshooter - msdt.exe -id NetworkDiagnosticsWeb;
  • To open the Shared Folders troubleshooter - msdt.exe -id NetworkDiagnosticsFileShare;
  • To open the HomeGroup troubleshooter - msdt.exe -id HomeGroupDiagnostic;
  • To open the Network Adapter troubleshooter - msdt.exe -id NetworkDiagnosticsNetworkAdapter;
  • To open the Incoming Connections troubleshooter - msdt.exe -id NetworkDiagnosticsInbound.

How to Work With the Network and Internet Troubleshooting Wizards

Once you start one of the available wizards for troubleshooting, click on Next. For this article, I chose the Network Adapter troubleshooting wizard which seemed to be the most used in our home network.

Network and Internet Troubleshooting

Depending on your hardware configuration, you may be asked to select the network adapter to diagnose. If you have problems with your wireless connection select Wireless Network Connection, otherwise select Local Area Connection. When done, click on Next.

Network and Internet Troubleshooting

The troubleshooting wizard will now start the diagnostics process and show you a progress bar like the one below.

Network and Internet Troubleshooting

In case a problem was found, it will show you a summary of the problem and the steps you need to follow in order to fix it. Follow these steps and then click on 'Check to see if the problem is fixed'.

Network and Internet Troubleshooting

If the problem is now fixed, it will tell you that 'Troubleshooting has completed'. Click on Close and you are done.

Network and Internet Troubleshooting

NOTE: if the troubleshooting wizard hasn't detected any problems but you still have issues, it might mean that you used the wrong wizard. In this case, try another wizard from the list which is related to the symptoms you are experiencing.

Conclusion

Windows 7 has a very complete list of troubleshooting wizards which can help you identify the root cause of your networking problems and ways to fix them. In two months of using it, I never had a networking problem which Windows 7 couldn't identify correctly. The instructions I received helped me fix most issues by myself. When not, they contained very useful information which helped in the dialog with my Internet provider and their technical support people understood what's happening and what they need to fix.

If you have other useful tips about how to troubleshoot networking problems in Windows 7, don't hesitate to share them in a comment.

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Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year !!!!!!
2010

Analyze Your PC & Detect New Driver U...


This post excerpted from my daily RSS feeds credit the folks from make use of dot com 





Analyze Your PC & Detect New Driver Updates Online With Ma-Config

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 03:31 PM PST

pc analyzerMost of us can clock 80–90 mph on a highway, but how many of us can handle a breakdown and change a car essential like an air filter? Some of us perhaps…but not all. It’s just like cruising on the information superhighway on our computers. Not everyone has an idea of what goes on under the hood. It’s not needed of course, but just like a broken down car, you would rather repair it yourself than push it. Especially if a mechanic (read, a support guy) is not close at hand.

Even if the support helpdesk is just a dial away, knowing the innards of your computer is just as important as knowing the software you are working on. Unlike cars, computers need constant updates of both software and hardware. For the sake of efficiency, updating these should be a matter of routine. Take for example, moving up from Windows Vista to Seven…does your computer hardware support the new OS? Or would it do better with some drive upgrades?

These are very basic tasks and thankfully, we don’t have to consult a thick manual to see this through. Single click solutions are available which can analyze pc systems and give us a brief on our hardware and the changes that can be made.

Ma-Config is an online tool that does two jobs for us – it analyzes your pc and identifies the hardware and software components (also up to 10 shared PCs). Secondly, with a few clicks, one can download all the latest drivers matching the hardware configuration.


Ma-Config does all the driver detection using a downloadable ActiveX plug-in. The free service is Windows only and is certified by VeriSign. The plug-in is compatible with all the major browsers like Internet Explorer, Opera, Chrome, Firefox and Safari. The driver database is provided by TousLesDrivers.

Ma-Config makes it easy for both the starter guy and the experienced hand. There is nothing complicated to install apart from a little plug-in to start the process to analyze pc systems. Ma-Config moves the process towards the download of the newer drivers and also gives us a few more steps to consider like sharing your configuration or recording it in a PDF document.

analyze pc

Before starting the detection you can change a few of the settings via the Settings link given on the left hand side menu of the homepage. The settings relate to the detail of the detection. For those not comfortable with the terms, the default settings are good enough.

analyze pc

Click on Start the Detection to bare the large green button which tells you to run the detection. The plug-in will analyze the PC system and generates the report summary. Click on the devices list on the left menu to get the finer details. You can redetect your system anytime with a click.

analyze pc

If you now want to update your PC, the large green button marked with Download drivers compatible with this configuration, takes you down that path courtesy of TousLesDrivers.

pc analyzer

As asides, you can share your configuration using a link or with an email. Or maybe take out a PDF report and mail it directly across. The PDF report comes in quite handy if you want to send it forth to a vendor or the support technician.

Ma-Config also has an offline mode whereby you can use the plug-in on a computer not connected to the internet, run the scan and save the results. The results can then be analyzed on another computer with an internet connection.

Ma-Config is a web tool and like all web based tools it prevents us from installing a bulky program. The only minus is that some parts of the website are in French. Though, the English version makes everything as easy as tea and biscuits.

Ma-Config is not the first tool we have reviewed to help us with our hardware. Some others have been –

But it could be one of the simplest going around. But we would like your opinion on that. Go over to Ma-Config and do let us know.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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