If you own a Blackberry Playbook and a Blackberry phone then most likely you are using the Blackberry Bridge app which would display your messages, contacts, calendar, and – the Blackberry Messenger or most popularly known as BBM.

Making the Blackberry Bridge work is as easy as installing the Bridge application on both the Playbook and your Blackberry phone. However, it’s possible that when you launch the Blackberry Messenger in your Playbook – you get the following error:

Blackberry Bridge plug-in for Blackberry Messenger does not exist, or your version of Blackberry Messenger does not support Blackberry Bridge

Now fixing this does not entail too much work. What you need to do to fix the BBM error in your Playbook is to just update the Blackberry Messenger on your phone.

The minimum version of the Blackberry Messenger in your phone should be 5.0.3. To check – from your Blackberry phone press the Blackberry button then go to Options-> Applications. On the drop down located at the top choose Core or Add-On (instead of Third Party). Check the Blackberry Messenger version

Now to update the Blackberry Messenger in your phone, you have two options:

1. Go to Blackberry Appworld through your phone or though your computer’s browser. Just sign in with your Blackberry ID and then install from your phone or sync it using your computer’s browser.

2. Go to www.blackberry.com/messenger using your phone. From what we’ve experienced, some Blackberry phones who are in the older OS versions (OS 5) cannot update their Blackberry messenger through the Appworld. If this happens, just use this method and you are good to go.

After successfully updating your Blackberry Messenger, don’t forget to restart your phone. To restart your Blackberry phone completely – remove its battery and wait for 1 minute before putting the battery back on.

That’s it! You should now have a working Blackberry Messenger with you Playbook via the Blackberry Bridge.

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Let’s get straight to the point – yes the Google Toolbar can still be used in Firefox 5, Firefox 6, and even Firefox 7. It’s not officially supported by Google anymore (which is a shame) but it can still be used on the new Firefox web browsers.

There are actually several ways to make the Google Toolbar work for the new versions of Firefox but the one below is by far the easiest as it doesn’t require you to code or modify any files.

I’ll show you how to have the Google Toolbar on a fresh install of Firefox or by updating your Firefox 4 which already has the Google Toolbar.

From Firefox 4 (or below) with Google Toolbar

If you are using Firefox 4 or below and have the Google Toolbar already installed, you can safely update your Firefox browser to a later version.

However, once Firefox is updated, the Google Toolbar will not show up and Firefox will tell you that it is incompatible with the new version of Firefox. You can also check out your disabled Add-ons (by pressing Ctrl-Shift-A).

Now once this has happened just install the Add-on Compatibility reporter using the link below.

Official link – Add-on Compatibility Reporter

Just click the green Add to Firefox button:

Click Install when a prompt appears

And then restart Firefox when finished installing. Note that the Google toolbar won’t work immediately. You need to restart Firefox again to make it work.

Let me repeat that as this is a very important step so as to make Google Toolbar work again – after restarting Firefox when the Add-on Compatibility Reporter has finished installing, you need to restart Firefox another time so as to re-enable the Google Toolbar.

The Google Toolbar should now work with your new version of Firefox.

Install Google Toolbar on a Fresh Install of Firefox 5, Firefox 6, or Firefox 7

If you’ve upgraded from Firefox 4 without installing Google Toolbar; or made a fresh install of Firefox 5, 6, or 7 – you can still install Google Toolbar. However, you won’t be able to install it from the official Google Toolbar link – http://toolbar.google.com. You’ll encounter an error like this one:

First you need install the Add-on Compatibility Reporter by using the link above. Once installed, you need to download the Google Toolbar from another link as the official Google toolbar site would not allow you.

You can download and install Google Toolbar on your Firefox 5, Firefox 6, or Firefox 7, in download.com or download.cnet.com – Google Toolbar for Firefox

The download link above should not just download the Google Toolbar but also install it on your Firefox browser.

Or you can download it first to your PC using the alternative link – Google Toolbar Alternative Link

This won’t automatically install the Google Toolbar so once you’ve completed downloading the file, just open Firefox and then drag and drop the file anywhere inside the Firefox browser or window. Wait about 5 – 10 seconds and then a pop-up window will appear asking you to install the Google Toolbar.

Once you’ve installed the Google Toolbar, you may need to restart Firefox once/twice to make it work. You should now have a fully working Google Toolbar for Firefox 5, Firefox 6, or Firefox 7.

That’s it! I hope you found this guide easy and helpful whether you are upgrading from Firefox 4 with Google Toolbar already installed, or working from a fresh install of Firefox 5, 6, or 7.

Related posts:

1. Auto Shutdown after Download for Firefox 4

Have you ever had days whereon you were downloading a file so large, or you were downloading multiple files at once but you had neither the time nor the patience to wait for it to finish? Or maybe it was already late at night and you already want to sleep but need the file or files very badly?

Ever since I have been using Firefox, I have also used Auto Shutdown by InBasic.

Auto Shutdown by Inbasic can automatically shutdown your computer, whether it is in Windows, Mac, or Linux, after your downloads complete. I’ve used it multiple times and I’ve found it very handy and very convenient to use. When the download window appears in Firefox, just click the Shutdown checkbox at the bottom right.

Now in the official release of Auto Shutdown by Inbasic, it’s only compatible up to Firefox 3.6. Fortunately, concerned netizens (citizens of the Internet) modified the code and made it compatible to Firefox 4 (take a look at the reviews in Mozilla addons).

Unfortunately this has not been submitted to Mozilla yet so I will just repost their download link of Auto Shutdown. I’ll also add a download link of my own just in case the original download link disappears.

Original Download Link with no auto install to Firefox – Auto Shutdown

Techiechips Auto Shutdown Download link: Auto Shutdown

Once you’ve downloaded the file, to install it manually to Firefox, just click the red Firefox button and click Add-ons. Alternatively you can also press Ctrl+Shift+A.

You can then click the tool button in the right and then click Install Add-on From File.

Then a pop-up would appear so you could go choose the file you want to install – in this case the file you just downloaded (ShutDown-InBasic.xpi).

There you have it! You can now use Auto Shutdown for Firefox 4 to automatically shutdown your computer after downloads. No need to wait for those long downloads in front of your computer. You can just leave your computer and confidently know that your computer would shutdown by itself.
 

Related posts:

1. Enable Google Toolbar for Firefox 5, Firefox 6, and Firefox 7

Have you ever played multiplayer games in Starcraft 2 and experienced lag spikes? Lag spikes so unbearable that the games are already unplayable and unenjoyable? Lag spikes that appear so often that you can’t decently micromanage your units? What’s worse is that sometimes the lag spikes in Starcraft 2 already disconnect you from the game?

Let’s first clear the scope of what we’re here to discuss. What we’re going to tackle are lag spikes and how to deal with them in Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand region server (SEA/ANZ) – or most popularly known as SEA Battle.net server. I won’t be discussing lag spikes in the North America or NA Battle.net server.

If you don’t know what Battle.net server you’re on, you can check the box. The edition of the game should be indicated there.

Check the top right portion of your box to see if you’ve bought the SEA edition

What are the Causes of Lag Spikes?

Lag spikes occur due to three factors that I know of: 

1. Lag Spikes due to a Choppy or Unreliable Internet Connection

Most if not all instances of lag spikes during multiplayer games in Starcraft 2 can be attributed to a suddenly slow or choppy Internet connection. Let’s face it: there are days when our Internet connection is simply unreliable. Even though your Internet provider has given you a 12mbps connection (I’ve run SC2 in 1mbps and 512kbps and it still runs great in multiplayer), sometimes, they encounter problems that compromise the quality of the connection they provide you.

To check/verify if your Internet connection is the culprit for the lag spikes, we’ll need to perform a Traceroute to the Starcraft 2 SEA server.

A traceroute to the SC2 SEA server would give us an idea on how our computer is connecting to the SEA server. It would give us an idea on many hops (or places) it goes to at first before eventually reaching the SEA server and if there are any problems in between.

To be able to do this in Windows, go to Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt. The Start icon is usually located at the bottom left of the screen with the Windows logo.

Once you open Command Prompt, a new window would appear with a black screen. Just type tracert 202.9.66.76 and then press the Enter key.

Now if the first few traces (or lines) show an asterisk(*) or an error like on the traceroute example below, then you are most probably just encountering a choppy and unreliable Internet connection.

Asterisks(*) on traceroutes tells us that our computers can’t connect or did not receive a response on the IP address or destination you are trying to contact (which are the IP addresses at the right side).

So the asterisks(*) in the first 3 traces actually tell us that we are not receiving responses from our Internet Service Provider (ISP). Ultimately this tells us that the ISP that you are connected to is having problems or is presently unreliable. This would now affect subsequent connections or hops to the SEA server resulting to lag spikes.

Another traceroute illustrating this is below:

Since a bad Internet connection would not just affect Starcraft 2 but also your browsing and other Internet related activities, it may be a good idea to raise this to your ISP by calling their customer service or technical support. Sometimes, a simple reset of your router would solve the problem. Sometimes, you just have to wait it out.

Take the usual steps first in fixing your Internet connection. If you can’t fix it yourself, it’s best if you can call your ISP about it.

2. Lag Spikes due to your ISPs Connection to Starcraft 2 SEA Server

If you experience lag spikes all the time (and I really mean all the time), but have a seamless Internet browsing experience, and play other multiplayer games without any lag spikes – then most probably the lag spikes you experience in SC2 is because of how your ISP is connecting to the Starcraft 2 SEA server

Again if we do a traceroute to the Starcraft 2 SEA server, (tracert 202.9.66.76), you would most probably have a trace like below:

Notice the asterisks(*) on traces 5th and onwards? This tells us that our computer is having a hard time going to the reach.com servers – which seems to be the servers that our computers need to hop or pass through before going to the Starcraft 2 Battle.net SEA server.

I’ve read several reports of other people in forums complaining that they always experience lag spikes in SC2 and when they eventually do a traceroute, they are having problems connecting to the reach.com servers.

We can try to solve this problem in two ways. One is to do a traceroute, save it to a file (or make a screenshot), and raise it to your ISP. If your ISP would listen to you, they would do something on their side to fix the problem so that you would be able to connect seamlessly to the SC2 SEA servers (or to the reach.com servers which is prior the SEA servers).

Another is to complain to Blizzard/IAH games (IAH games is partnered with Blizzard for the Southeast Asia Edition). Although this is a long shot, they MAY be able to do something. Blizzard/IAH games may opt to move their servers to another location (SEA servers are in Singapore by the way), or they may add other Battle.net servers. As I said, this is a long shot. The best bet for you is still to raise your concern to your ISP.

3. Lag Spikes due to the Starcraft 2 SEA server itself

Sometimes, lag spikes are due to the problems in the Starcraft 2 SEA servers themselves. The servers may sometimes encounter problems that could degrade the quality of the gameplay in SC2.

I haven’t experienced this personally but some people have claimed in the official SC2 SEA forums that this sometimes happens on peak hours – as many people are logged in during this time.

I think for these kinds of situations, we just need to inform Blizzard or IAH games for them to improve the quality of gameplay. However, I’m pretty sure they’re already improving their servers even if we don’t tell them as Battle.net is their main selling point in SC2. When they removed LAN play in SC2, they said Battle.net was a more than able replacement for it.

Note: I didn’t include anymore the reason wherein your firewall might be degrading your connection from SC2 to the Battle.net SEA servers. Windows firewall and most third-party software usually ask the user if they would allow Starcraft 2 to communicate through the Internet – and then they would automatically open the necessary ports for SC2 to work. If a firewall is somehow blocking SC2, I think you wouldn’t be able connect to SC2 entirely.

However, to be absolutely sure, it would still be best to check your firewall settings, especially if you have a third-party firewall software installed.

There you have it. These are the three most probable reasons in lag spikes in Starcraft 2 SEA server. I hope I was able to enlighten and somehow help you in making your Starcraft 2 multiplayer games more enjoyable and lag spike free.

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When I was having my usual haircut at a salon near our house, my hairstylist (well, he just cuts my hair and I guess he doesn’t want to be called a barber), asked me for help on a problem in his laptop. I momentarily glanced at his table and there I saw his newly purchased gadget. I was quite surprised that there was already a problem when it was obviously brand new. He told me he’s been trying to change the wallpaper of his laptop for days and he couldn’t change it.

Now right after my haircut, I checked his laptop and saw that it was in Windows 7. When I checked what version/edition – voila! It was Windows 7 Starter. 

Windows 7 Starter Default Wallpaper

I immediately told him that Windows 7 Starter doesn’t allow the user to change the wallpaper. When I saw the long look of his face when I told him that, I knew I had to help this guy.

Windows 7 Starter: How to Change the Wallpaper

I know of two ways to change the wallpaper in Windows 7. Both methods require that you at least install a program to do it. Make sure you only install one.

1. Stardock MyColors

Stardock MyColors is a program which allows you not only to change the wallpaper but also the overall look of Windows. Stardock MyColors primarily changes the standard Windows 7 Aero theme to another theme.

You need to download and install Stardock MyColors (download it from Stardock MyColors official website)

After successful installation, just launch the application and go to My Themes. By default, there would only be 2 kinds of themes – Windows 7 Aero and Think Green. Choose the Think Green theme.

Now you can download several other themes from the Stardock website itself but the Think Green theme is the only additional theme in the default installation. This step (of choosing a theme other than Windows 7 aero) is important because if you have the Windows 7 Aero theme selected, you won’t be able to change the wallpaper.

After this just go to the Wallpapers tab, and choose any wallpaper which is in your Pictures folder.

Note that Stardock MyColors does not allow you to choose how to layout your wallpaper. By default, it would stretch your picture to fit the screen. So be sure to choose high resolution pictures so that it would not look pixelized in your screen.

2. Starter Background Changer

There are already several programs out there made by helpful people, which can change the background or wallpaper of Windows 7 Starter. Out of these programs, I have a favorite which is the Starter Background Changer by Renaud Gerson which he made available for download in his website renaudgerson.fr. His website and the actual installer are in French so I’ll help you on how to make it work. Once you’ve installed it, it would be in English so don’t worry about it.

You can download it at his official website renaudgerson.fr (just scroll down and click on the image saying Download), or you can use the download link I’ve provided below:

StarterBackgroundChanger v0.8

What’s good about this program is that you don’t have to change the overall theme and you can just change the wallpaper. What’s better is you can choose from a set of different layouts like stretch, tile, center, etc. (unlike Stardock MyColors which has the stretch layout only).

To install, just follow the screenshots below. “Suivant” means “Next”, and “Demarrer” means “To Start”.

Just choose “Suivant” on the following prompts.  

Choose “Yes”.

Then choose “Demarrer”.

Now once you’ve installed the program, just right click on your desktop and select “Personalize”. Notice that it’s not in French. It actually defaults to your language.

A new window would pop-up where you can change the wallpaper. It would have banner ads or advertisements at the bottom but it’s not that bothersome.

Note: If you’re going to upgrade to another version of Windows (i.e. Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, etc.) be sure to uninstall these programs.

There you have it! I hope I’ve helped you change your Windows 7 Starter wallpaper.

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Ever since the launch of Windows 7, I’ve been asked this question several times. Many people have already reported to me that they’re experiencing connection and setup problems for web folders or web disks (also called web client or WebDAV) .

I personally have Windows 7 64-bit in one of my PCs and I’m also having problems using web folders. Whenever I try to setup a web folder by “adding a network location” or “map a network drive” through My Computer, I’m given an error saying that either “The folder you entered does not appear to be valid. Please choose another” or “Windows cannot access… Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise, there might be…”. These errors appear whether I’m using SSL or non-SSL.

Your problem on Web folders or the WebDAV client in Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit may be a little different, but I’m guessing that what you’re experiencing falls under these two main categories:

1. Connection to a web folder or web disk cannot be established.

Whenever you try to setup a web folder or web disk (whether it is through “add a network location”, “map a network drive”, through the “net use” command, or any other method), it fails.

2. You can establish or setup a web folder but can only view contents.

Here, you can setup a web folder but you can only browse the root folder. When you try to open a folder or transfer a file to it, you won’t be able to.

What to do

This problem on web folders was also present on Windows Vista but it was easily resolved when Microsoft released a hotfix for it – Software Update for Web Folders (KB907306). I thought Windows 7 won’t encounter this kind of issue, but I guess it was just expecting too much.

To cut the long story short, I’ve tried to resolve the Web Folder problem of Windows 7 myself and have also sought help from other people as well. I’ve tried several solutions some of which are: using the update above, modifying registry settings (by modifying how the web client accepts Basic Authentication or by adding the “AuthForwardServerList” registry key), or by using different “net use” commands – all to no avail.

So to be able to setup or use web folders in Windows 7, we would be using a web folder or web client software until Microsoft fixes the problem.

BitKinex Web folder software

I’ve tested several free web folder software and found BitKinex to be the best so far. First of all is it’s completely free – it was once paid software but is now freeware. It’s very easy to use and work both for Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit. Bitkinex can be downloaded from their official website bitkinex.com or from download.com.

You can also just drag and drop files from your PC to the BitKinex window to copy files to your server or online storage (similar to windows explorer drag and drop functionality).

Just drag and drop files to the middle pane window (once you’ve chosen the correct folder on the left pane explorer window) to copy files to your server or online storage.

Setting up the web folder or WebDAV connection in BitKinex is easy as well. Once you’ve finished installation, it will automatically direct you to its network setup wizard – which would help you configure the application so it can have access to the Internet.

Once network setup is complete, it would ask you if you want to configure a WebDAV or FTP connection next. I suggest you DON’T click “yes” as it will direct you to another configuration wizard which doesn’t really properly configure the connection.

You could manually set-up a WebDAV or web folder connection in the BitKinex window by right-clicking Http/WebDAV then choosing New then Http/WebDAV.

You would then need to type a name for the connection. Once you’ve specified a name and pressed the “Enter” key, a new window would appear for you to specify the connection details.

After this, just double-click the newly created connection to connect to your server or online storage and start using WebDAV or web folders in Windows 7!

Do you know of another freeware which can use WebDAV in Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit? Please don’t hesitate to post it below so we can all check it out. I’ll also be updating this article (if in case Microsoft releases a fix for WebDAV or web folders) so be sure to check back to the site or subscribe to the feed or email updates. It’s free!

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A friend recently complained to me that whenever she was browsing the net, she would get an error or pop-up saying: Adobe Flash Player: Where is the debugger or host application running? There would then be two choices: Localhost and Other Machine (directly below it is Enter IP address). She says that this always happens to her even though she upgraded from Adobe Flash Player 9 to Adobe Flash Player 10.

It gets pretty annoying as it always pops up several times in websites with flash graphics. And you can’t proceed any further without clicking “Ok” or “Cancel”

When I scoured the web for answers, I found that it was maybe because of a corrupt or unsuccessful installation of the Adobe Flash Player, or even wrong coding of the flash file in the website. Whatever it is, Tom the Designer of tomsskylinedesign.com wrote in his site that you just need to install the Adobe Flash Player Debugger update which can be downloaded from the official Adobe macromedia website to solve the problem. Thanks Tom!

Update for Adobe Flash Player 10 for Internet Explorer Browsers.

Update for Adobe Flash Player 10 for Firefox / Netscape compatible browsers.

Update for Adobe Flash Player 9 for Internet Explorer browsers.

Update for Adobe Flash Player 9 for Firefox / Netscape compatible browsers.

Just download and install the appropriate update for your browser using the links above and that annoying Adobe Flash Player: Where is the debugger or host application running? pop-up should be gone.

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It’s a challenge to find a laptop with the right mix. It has to have the specs you’re looking for, features you want, design that’s acceptable, and must fit your budget. However, sometimes we tend to neglect some of the minor things we should also be looking out for when buying a laptop – which is the keyboard button layout.

Have you ever felt that one of the keys in your keyboard just doesn’t feel to be in the right place? You felt that the Ctrl key shouldn’t be there and should be in the place of the Alt key? Or one of the keys needs to be disabled?

For desktop computers with separate keyboards, when you don’t like the layout or when you find some keys are in an uncomfortable place in the keyboard, it’s easy to change and buy another keyboard.

For laptops or notebooks however, you can’t do that. You’re stuck with how the keys are situated or laid out. So how do we fix that?

Fortunately for Windows users (Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/ Win 7), you just need to install KeyTweak created by Travis Krumsick. KeyTweak is technically a keyboard remapper which is absolutely free to download and use. You can interchange keys, change the assignment of several keys or change the layout of the whole keyboard if you want.

Using Keytweak is very easy. You can use the manual method where you click any of the keys in the virtual keyboard and reassign it using the dropdown provided.

Or you can use the Full Teach Mode or Half Teach Mode which can be activated through the buttons located at the bottom.

When in Full Teach Mode, just click Begin Teach Mode and then press (1) the key you want to modify and then (2) press the new key it would be assigned to.

When in Half Teach Mode, click Begin Teach Mode and then press the key you want to modify and then manually select the key it would be assigned to.

It’s really very easy to use and once you’re done reassigning keys, you don’t need to run it again as your keyboard will now have the new ones.

Limitations

Keytweak is great but it still has some limitations which I believe it really can’t be blamed for. One major limitation is the FN Key found in laptops can’t be reassigned. If you want the FN key to be reassigned, the BIOS of your laptop needs to be modified (usually through an update).

Keytweak doesn’t also support multiple keys in one keystroke. If you want that, use the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator. I found it harder to use though and it can only modify the alphanumeric keys/buttons. You can’t modify the other keys like Tab, Caps, Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Enter, and Backspace buttons.

Keytweak also can’t modify the keyboard for a single application only. The change it makes is global and affects all applications in your operating system.

There you go, I hope I’ve helped you change or modify the Input Keys or Buttons of your Keyboard in Windows.

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There is another variant of the virus/worm/Trojan which makes your Windows Vista or Windows XP blank after login. We’ve discussed in an earlier article how to fix a previous variant of this virus (you can find the previous article here), but this variant requires another kind of approach.

To be more specific, the virus we discussed previously had 4 types of processes which it runs that we had to stop and delete – services.exe, lsass.exe, usb-hi.exe, and kbdrv16.com

However, this other kind of virus only has 2 types of processes which it runs that we have to stop and delete – services.exe and kbdrv32.com

Notice that the previous virus was kbdrv16.com, but now it is kbdrv32.com.

When you have this kind of virus its main symptom is still the same: Windows Vista / Windows XP displays a blank screen showing only the mouse pointer after booting-up (after the login screen which is usually after clicking the username).

Solution:

Make sure first that your Task Manager is working. You can check this by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL and then choosing Task Manager. If Task Manager doesn’t work, then this guide will not be able to help.

Moreover, unless specified, all the steps are applicable to Windows Vista and Windows XP.

1. Launch Task Manager and Restore your Desktop

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and then click File->New Task

When the Run window appears, type Explorer or Explorer.exe or C:WindowsExplorer

Important: This step should already restore your desktop (your wallpaper, desktop icons, taskbar, etc). If it doesn’t, then this guide will not be able to help you.

2. Check your Registry

Create a New Task by again using the Task Manager or by clicking Windows Start and then choosing Run. When the Create a New Task or Run window appears, type regedit.

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon. Once you’ve clicked on Winlogon look for Shell in the right pane. Double-click on Shell and the value for Shell should only be Explorer.exe.

As can be seen above, there is an additional entry which is C:Windowsservices.exe which the Shell key refers to. Normally what we should do is just delete this additional entry and leave Explorer.exe in the field. But even if you delete the additional entry, it would come back a few seconds after deletion as your computer is now infected with a Malware – specifically a Key Logger.

Important: If the value above is not just Explorer.exe and has a different additional entry (and not C:Windowsservices.exe), then you may have another kind of Malware. If the additional entry is C:WindowsSystem32keyboardservices.exe, then you should read my previous article here – Windows Vista / Windows XP Blank Screen after Login. If it’s neither of the two, then this guide would not help you.

3. Stop the Virus Processes

You’ll need to open Task Manager again by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL and choosing Task Manager. Click the Processes Tab and then sort by Description by clicking on the Description field.

Look for the description Win32 Keyboard Driver. You should be able to see 3 processes like below.

You would need to end the 3 processes shown above. You can do this by right clicking on the process and choosing End Process.

Important: You should end the 3 processes quickly because if you only end one and you don’t immediately end the other 2 processes, the recently ended process would just be started again.

Again, make sure that the three processes are all ended.

4. Delete the Malware Files

Go to C:Windows and look for services.exe and then delete it.

Go to following folders and delete the files indicated.

For Windows Vista
C:Users<Username>AppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartup – delete kbdrv32.com

Important: Change <Username> with the appropriate usernames that are being used in your Windows Vista. Check your C:Users folder and this folder should indicate all the usernames your Windows Vista is using. Check all the usernames for kbdrv32.com and delete it.

For Windows XP
C:Documents and SettingsAll UsersStart MenuProgramsStartup – delete kbdrv32.com

Important: After checking C:Documents and SettingsAll Users, change “All Users” to the other usernames being used in your Windows XP. Check the C:Documents and Settings folder and this folder should indicate all the usernames your Windows XP is and has been using. Check all the usernames for kbdrv32.com and delete it.

C:WINDOWSsystem32configsystemprofileStart MenuProgramsStartup – delete kbdrv32.com

Thus, all we are deleting are two kinds of files, services.exe and kbdrv32.com. We are just making sure that all instances of the virus are deleted.

5. Clean your Registry

Launch Registration editor again by making a new task through Task Manager or by using the Run command and entering regedit.

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon and then double-click on Shell on the right pane to modify it (You can now modify it). Only Explorer.exe should be the value left.

Click Ok to accept the changes.

The virus or malware should now be removed. If you experienced the blank screen after login symptom, be sure to restart Windows to test if it will happen again.

That’s it! I hope I’ve helped you solve your problem on Windows Vista / Windows XP blank screen after login.

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A few days ago, I was referred by a friend of a friend, who had another friend who was having some problems with her PCs (pretty far huh?). She said that she can’t use her PCs anymore as both show a blank screen after Windows boot-up. It was weird that both PCs were showing the same problem that I had to see it myself. It got even weirder as one PC had Windows Vista, and the other had Windows XP.

The problem: Windows Vista or Windows XP displays a blank screen showing only the mouse pointer after booting-up (after the login screen which is usually after clicking the username).

Solution for Windows Vista / Windows XP Blank Screen after Login

Make sure first that the Task Manager is working by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL, and choosing Task Manager. If Task Manager doesn’t work, then this guide cannot help you.

Moreover, unless specified, the steps below are both applicable for Windows Vista and Windows XP.

1. Launch the Task Manger and Restore your Desktop

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and then go to File->New Task

When the Run window appears, type Explorer or Explorer.exe or C:\Windows\Explorer

Important: If this does not restore your desktop, your desktop icons and windows taskbar, then you should stop reading this now as this guide would not be able to help you.

2. Check your Registry

Create a New Task again by using the Task Manager. Since you now have the Taskbar restored, you can do this also by clicking Windows Start and choosing Run. When the Create a New Task or Run window appears, type regedit.

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. Once you’ve clicked on WinLogon look for Shell in the right pane. Double-click on Shell and the value for Shell should only be Explorer.exe.

As can be seen above, there is an additional entry which is C:\Windows\System32\keyboard\services.exe which the Shell key refers to. Normally what we should do is just delete this additional entry and leave Explorer.exe in the field. However, if you’re seeing that value above, your computer is now infected with a Malware – specifically a Keylogger.

Important: If the value above is not just Explorer.exe but has a different additional entry (and not C:\Windows\System32\keyboard\services.exe), then you may have another kind of Malware. If the additional entry is C:\Windows\services.exe, then you should read my other article here – Windows Vista / Windows XP Blank Screen after Login – Version 2. If it’s neither of the two, then this guide would not help you.

3. Download and Install Unlocker software

We won’t be using any Malware scanner or virus scanner as I have not found any which can remove this Malware. Moreover, if there is a scanner out there which could remove this Malware, I think using Unlocker is still the most simple way where you have total control of what is going on.

As I’ve mentioned, download Unlocker from CNET as their official website is currently down. Once you’ve successfully downloaded the software, install it.

4. Delete the Malware files

Go to C:\Windows\System32\keyboard\ through Windows Explorer or by typing this in the Create New Task or Run command.

You should be able to see the services.exe file. DON’T execute or double click it. Right click on it and if you’ve successfully installed Unlocker, you should be able to select it like below:

The Unlocker program should now launch and show you the Processes that are using services.exe. Select all the processes and choose, Kill Process.

Once there is no more process using services.exe, quit Unlocker, and then delete services.exe. Make sure to delete it at the Recycle Bin as well. If we don’t use Unlocker, we won’t easily delete the Malware.

For Windows Vista
Go to the following folders and delete the files indicated. Use Unlocker as needed.

C:\ProgramData\Application Data\Fearghus\ – delete lsass.exe
C:\ProgramData\Fearghus\ – delete lsass.exe
C:\ProgramData\Application Data\microsoft\usb2.0\ – delete usb-hi.exe
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\ – delete kbdrv16.com

Important: Use the Create New Task or Run window as sometimes using Windows Explorer doesn’t work saying that the folder does not exist.

For Windows XP
Go to the following folders and delete the files indicated. Use Unlocker as needed.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Fearghus\ – delete lsass.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\USB2.0\ – delete usb-hi.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\ – delete kbdrv16.com

5. Clean your Registry

Launch Registration editor again by making a new task through Task Manager or by using the Run command and entering regedit.

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\ and then on the right pane click USB2.0 and Keyboard and then delete both.

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon and then double-click on Shell on the right pane to modify it (You can now modify it). Only Explorer.exe should be the value left.

Click Ok to accept the changes.

The only thing left to do now is restart Windows and test if the Windows desktop would still be blank.

That’s it! I hope I’ve helped you solve your problem on Windows Vista / Windows XP blank screen after login.

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