WinShell cannot start AcrobatReader XI

When I tried to launch Acrobat Reader from WinShell, I got the following error message:

Cannot start AcrobatReader or open the document.
1. Please check on the exe file and cmd line of the PDFView options.
2. Please set correct Adobe DDE Version in registry key 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\acrobat\shell\open\ddeexec\application'

Seems that the solution is quite straightforward:

1. Make sure the Acrobat Reader is already running before calling it from WinShell (just run the Acrobat Reader from the start menu once, and keep it running).
2. Edit the registry entry as mentioned in the error message. For example, in my case, I found that the value of my Acrobat Reader was set to AcroViewR10. Since I am using version 11, I have to change the value to AcroViewR11.

That's all :)

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt \windows\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

Three days ago, a friend asked me to recover his laptop (winXP) from the following error which always appeared during booting:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt \windows\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

The solution is straightforward from Microsoft website (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545). In brief:
The first step is to gain access to windows OS by replacing the broken registry file with the default registry file (windows installation CD is required). The second step is to copy the latest system restore registry file (hopefully your system restore is enabled) to replace the default registry file.

To be more detail, those steps are done as follow:

1. boot using the WinXP installation CD, select repair


2. after entering the command prompt, manually copy (overwrite) the registry file (SYSTEM, SOFTWARE, SAM, SECURITY, DEFAULT) from C:\WINDOWS\REPAIR\ to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\ (you might want to backup the original files)


3. restart to save mode.


4. gain access to System Volume Information folder (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/), inside the folder, find sub folder with name _restore {GUID}\RPx\snapshot. For example: C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot


5. copy the following files from the Snapshot folder to any other folders: _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT, _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY, _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE, _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM, _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM. Rename each of the files to DEFAULT, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM, SAM, respectively.


6. boot using WinXP installation CD, select repair


7. after entering the command prompt, manually copy (overwrite) the file from step (5) to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\


8. restart.


9. finish, or according to the microsoft website, you should try to restore the setting to previous restore point (Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore, Restore to a previous restore point).

That's all :)

how to change gimp language setting

After changing some regional and language settings in my vista to Japanese, if I run gimp, it displays unreadable character instead of English. I found this url is very helpful to change the language of gimp (in XP, Linux, and MacOSX):
http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-fire-up.html#gimp-concepts-running-language

For vista, it is very similar with XP, example is to use English (en):

1. go to control panel, system, advanced system settings
2. click Environment variables..
3. add new environment variable (click New...):
   variable name: LANG
   variable value: en
4. Ok. Finish.

That's all :)

Cannot display Hidden Folders and Files

If you have just infected by some worm or mallware, probably your windows cannot display hidden folders and files although you already set the hidden files options from explorer.
Copy paste the following text to notepad, and save it (for example: repair.reg), then double click to make changes to windows registry.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden]
"Text"="@shell32.dll,-30499"
"Type"="group"
"Bitmap"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\
00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,53,00,\
48,00,45,00,4c,00,4c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,34,00,00,\
00
"HelpID"="shell.hlp#51131"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\NOHIDDEN]
"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced"
"Text"="@shell32.dll,-30501"
"Type"="radio"
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000002
"ValueName"="Hidden"
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000002
"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001
"HelpID"="shell.hlp#51104"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL]
"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced"
"Text"="@shell32.dll,-30500"
"Type"="radio"
"ValueName"="Hidden"
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000002
"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001
"HelpID"="shell.hlp#51105"
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000001

That's all :)