ajua Online

The day before yesterday, i talked to a cousin that was having problems with his dvd drive. Windows didn’t show it in explorer and in device manager there was this error: Device Cannot Start (Code 10).

Then, i remembered having to face this problem more than once before. I offered my help as usual and the problem was solved. I thought of posting about it just in case someone needs a quick fix for it.

This problem can have many possible causes. The most common ones are that programs for burning or ripping, like Nero, AnyDVD and others sometimes left drivers installed when they are removed.

The first solution is to re-install the program. About a year ago, AnyDVD caused this, so re-installing it would solve the problem, same with some old versions of Nero. Try this to see if a program you installed/uninstalled was the cause.

The other solution involves deleting two registry entries and restarting your computer. It works for XP, Vista and Windows 7.

• Open the Windows Registry Editor. Type regedit in the Run box of the Start Menu.
• Navigate to this path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\
  Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
• Go to File and choose Export. Then select Selected Branch and save this in case you run into a problem. You will be able to restore these values if something goes wrong.
• Right click these two entries and delete them. UpperFilters and LowerFilters. If you only have one of them there, don’t worry, delete it.
• Restart you computer. You should be able to see and use your CD-DVD drive again.

In case deleting the key causes you more trouble or conflicts, double click the file you saved and restart Windows. The entries will be restored as they were before deleting them.

A week ago i got the RTM release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1. Its the stand-alone installer.

Today i made some backups in my laptop to install it but things got frustating enough. First, the setup ran for about 3 housr and in the end, i got this error code: 0xC004F013.

I unplugged my external hard disk drive and my wireless mouse, stopped some services of programs i use and tried the SP1 setup again. The installation ran for about 80 min and i got the same error code at the end: 0xC004F013.

After thinking this over and searching Microsoft KB for some information i ended without any hint of a solution.

I also ran Vista’s System File Checker tool and Vista’s Memory Diagnostics but nothing was wrong with my system.

Then, i read here that some guy was having the same problem as me. He uninstalled Update KB941649 and reported that the installation of SP1 went smoothly afterwards.

I read the installation logs and figured that the same update was preventing SP1 from installing correctly.

I uninstalled i tried the SP1 setup again. After almost an hour (average installation time according to numerous reports) the setup ended successfully.

Now that i have SP1 installed will make some benchmarks, try some programs and will post my experience.

After i return to my home (im visitting my parents this weekend) i will install it on my desktop computer but from a fresh install without updates being installed first to streamline the whole experience.

So, if you encourter this same error code, try uninstalling that update first and then try the setup again.

A week ago i formatted my laptop with my unattended Vista installation DVD and all went smooth as usual.

Things got bad as soon as i started to configure settings and installing some programs because i started to get BSOD after a few minutes of using the computer.

The error message: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.

I thought it was the latest Intel graphics drivers because that was the only thing i updated on my VistaUA (Vista Unattended) disc. I replaced them with the previous version and ran the installation again. Result: BSOD again in a few minutes.

I disabled drivers, startup programs and services but nothing seemed to fix it. I was formatting other computers and i unplugged my Western Digital 80Gb External USB hard drive to install programs on those computers.

I noticed that my laptop was able to function properly and longer without any errors. I plugged my HDD again, restarted windows to make a test and i got the same BSOD again.

I tried to boot my desktop computer with the same external drive connected and the same thing happened: BSOD after a minute or two.

If i connect the drive after Windows is loaded there is no problem and i can use the drive as i normally do.

I’ve searched the web for solutions but i didn’t find any real answers to the problem. I even looked at Microsoft Knowledge Base but came out empty.

So, if you’re having this particular problem (i haven’t tried my external hdd in WinXP) check to see if you have external devices connected. Maybe a windows update introduced this kind of behavior because i have been using this drive for about two and half years without any single issue.

If i find a solution i will post it for people that is suffering the same thing as me. If someone has some solution, please post it.