Having computer problems? Maybe I can help

June 29, 2020
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I know its been awhile since I last posted anything on this site but I normally only post things on this site on issues that I find are hard to find solutions for or interesting things I come across in the field.

So I wanted to see if there is some computer issues I could help anyone out there with. If you are willing to work with me via a remote session I would love to help you out and in turn it would give me something to post on this site as to the problem and solution.

Let me know in the comments below and I will pick a couple of people to work with. Leave me a message with the problem and what steps you have taken so far.

RG

Windows 10 – Keyboard doesn’t work in windows but works in BIOS. HELP!

June 29, 2020
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I recently came across this issue with an HP envy laptop in that once the computer booted into windows the touchpad or keyboard didn’t work. I was able to hook up an external mouse and keyboard via the USB ports and this worked just fine so I figured something was going on with windows. In order to verify my theory I restated the computer, removed the external keyboard and mouse and went into the BIOS. In the BIOS I was able to navigate around just fine with the mouse and keyboard.

So what is the fix? Well apparently there is some windows update that is causing this issue on some laptops. This issue has do to with the intel integrated sensor. Once you disable this the laptop keyboard and mouse will work just fine. So here are the steps to disable this.

  1. Connect an external keyboard and mouse so you can navigate around windows.
  2. Click on the windows start button and do a search of Device Manager.
  3. In device manager scroll down till you see System Devices and double click on this. It will now expand and you will see a bunch of items.
  4. Scroll down till you see the Intel Integrated Sensor. Right click on this and then choose Disable
  5. It may take a couple of minutes but eventually you will see a message that you need to restart your computer for the changes to take affect. Go ahead and restart laptop and once it comes back up your laptop keyboard and mouse should work now.

I’m still doing some research as to which update or why this is happening but the steps above will get your laptop back up and running again. If an update does get installed later on just know you may have to do the same steps again as the update may re-enable the Intel Integrated Sensor.

Let me know if this has helped or if you run into other issues.

Till next time,

RG

Filemaker send email server busy notification

June 26, 2017
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I was called to help out an upgrade from Filemaker 11 to Filemaker 16. The overall process of upgrading was pretty easy and no problems in converting the files and getting the desktops upgraded.

I did get a call a couple of days later as users were unable to send emails from the Filemaker database via a custom script they had. Here is a screen shot of the server busy error message you get from outlook when sending an email from Filemaker.

filemaker 16 server busy message

After some troubleshooting and calling Filemaker tech support, we found that outlook was running a 32 bit version and Filemaker 16 was running a 64 bit version. Apparently these programs need to be on the same version (either both 64 bit or 32 bit).

Because outlook was already installed on all the computers in this office I uninstalled the 64 bit version of Filemaker and installed the 32 bit one. Once I did this sending emails worked again like it should and no other problems were found.

So if you are getting this same type of error, take a look at which version of Filemaker and outlook you are running and make them the same.

How To Send A Text Message From Your Computer

April 5, 2016
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Have you ever had your phone die but still needed to send a text message? Or maybe you are working on your laptop and don’t have a cell phone signal? You can send a text message from your email to the person you are trying to reach. The only catch is that you do need to know the other persons cell phone provider.

send text messages from your computer

Send Text Through Email:
  • AT&T: @text.att.net
  • Boost Mobile: @sms.myboostmobile.com
  • Cricket: @sms.mycricket.com
  • Metro PCS: @mymetropcs.com
  • Sprint: @messaging.sprintpcs.com
  • T-Mobile: @tmomail.net
  • U.S. Cellular: @email.uscc.net
  • Verizon: @vtext.com (or @vzwpix.com to send video & pictures)
  • Virgin Mobile: @vmobl.com

Example: If you wanted to send a text message to your friend who is with Sprint and their phone number is 321-987-6543 you would email 321-987-6543@messaging.sprintpcs.com and they would get your email via text message. If the email is long it will be broken up into multiple text messages. When they respond back it will go to your email inbox where you sent it from.

If there are other carriers you would like me to add to this list make a comment below and I will add to this list. So next time your in the airport, out of the country or don’t have cell phone service you can still keep in contact with friends and family.

 

CrashPlan – Service won’t Start and unable to connect to backup engine

November 11, 2015
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I’ve been using CrashPlan for a couple of years now and have never had any issues with it till the last update that it automatically did. Not sure what happened but all of a sudden my little crashplan tray icon was grayed out and said “unable to connect to the backup engine.”

After making sure my antivirus program wasn’t blocking ports or doing something odd to hinder the operation of Crashplan I downloaded the newest update from their website and proceeded to do an uninstall and reinstall of it thinking that should fix any problems that had happened during the last update. Boy was I wrong!! After doing a couple of hours of research and reading forums and even sending off emails to them about my issue I was able to finally figure out my problem.

The problem was that the Crashplan backup service would not start. If I tried to start the process it would stop immediately.

So here is the fix…You need edit the crashplanservice.ini file. For me it was in c:\program files\crashplan\crashplanservice.ini or you could do a file search for this if you can’t locate it. Open up the file in notepad and edit the line that has Virtual Machine Parameters=-Xrs -Xms15M -Xmx1024M and change the Xmx1024M to Xmx512M then save the file and now try and start the Crashplan backup service again or just reboot the computer.

Hope this helps anyone out there that has this issue and save you the many hours trying to resolve this.

RG