* Dr. Internet columnist Steve Blass offers advice on how to fix corrupt Windows XP systems * Help Desk columnist Ron Nutter offers advice on how to get Tivo to work with WPA
* How to fix corrupt Windows XP systems
By Steve Blass
Q: My Windows XP system won’t boot. I get a message that says the file system32configsystem is corrupt or missing. Can I fix this?
A: If you have an Automated System Recovery backup for the system, the first thing to try is to restore that backup and recover the system. To repair manually, start by booting from the XP installation disk. Choose the Recovery Console from the Welcome to Setup screen. Create a temporary directory and copy the files named system, software, sam, security and default from the WindowsSystem32config directory to your temporary directory. Type “exit” at the command prompt and restart.
To read Steve’s response in its entirety, please click here.
* Getting Tivo to work with WPA
By Ron Nutter
Q: I am doing a friend a favor, setting up her Tivo box, Dell wireless laptop and Netgear WGT624 Firewall Router. All of these are up to date via wire connection, then moved on to wireless connection. The Tivo folks won’t support WPA and I have been forced to downgrade to WEP. I know I want 128 bit encryption (it’s better than wide open in an apartment complex) but I hit a snag.
I chose a Hex compliant 26 alphanumeric password & have tested the password via online Web sites to make sure I wasn’t choosing a letter that wasn’t A-F, and 0-9. When I input the 26 character password, it doesn’t work but yet fits into all the rules.
What am I missing that I don’t see in front of my face???
A: It sounds like you may have a problem with how the Tivo box is using the WEP key vs. how the Netgear router is handling the key. I looked on the Tivo Web site and didn’t see a Tivo box that came with a wireless connection, so I will assume that the wireless portion was brought from Tivo as a separate item that plugs into the box externally. Going with the highest level of encryption and the strongest key possible is always a good thing. My favorite site for creating passwords for this type of situation is Steve Gibson’s GRC Web site. In going to the site you will automatically be changed over to a https connection.
To read Ron’s response in its entirety, please click here.
