Common Windows Problems

Outlook Error 0x800CCC0E

"Task Checking for new mail in subscribed folders on servername. reported error (0x800CCC0E) : 'Outlook is unable to download folder (null) from the IMAP e-mail server for account servername. Error: Unable to connect to the server. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP)."

This is a timeout message because Windows decides the server is taking too long to respond.

There are many things that can cause this problem. It can happen if you have two Outlooks running at the same time. One will block the other. Use Ctrl-Alt-Delete to make sure there is only one. Or your network connection might be temporarily down because you are connecting over a WiFi link.

Another cause is having Norton Security, Mcafee, or Windows firewall turned on. They causes a long delay because they scan every incoming email. Windows thinks the server is not responding.

The most likely cause is having too much stuff in your inbox. This will cause the server to take a longer time to respond, and Windows interprets it as a timeout.

Outlook has an option for changing the timeout setting. It should be set to at least 5 minutes.

One person on the Internet suggested turning off the Exchange Extensions and iTunes Addin: Outlook2003/Tools/Options/Other/AdvancedOptions/Add-In Manager/ Untick Exchange Extensions property.
Also, Outlook2003/Tools/Options/Other/AdvancedOptions/COM Add-Ins/ Remove anything that isn't essential.
I have not tested this.

Turning off windows firewall

If windows firewall will not turn off, open a cmd window and type services.msc. Double-click on Windows Firewall/Internet connection and click "stop".

Creating a Password Reset Disk

A Password Reset Disk is a floppy disk that can be used in case you forget or lose your password.

  1. Install a floppy drive in your computer if you don't have one.
  2. Press the Start button and click Control Panel/ User Accounts
  3. Click on your user account and then under Related Tasks, click Prevent a Forgotten Password.
  4. Once you click "Prevent a Forgotten Password", a Wizard will pop up. Follow the prompts to create a disk.
  5. Insert your floppy disk
  6. Enter your log on password
  7. Follow the prompts to create your Password Reset Disk
  8. You should receive the prompt that your disk is created. Label the disk and save.

Creating an Emergency Repair Disk in Windows 2000

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/231777
Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. On the Tools menu, click Create an Emergency Repair Disk.

Forcing windows to ask for a password for a network share.

This is a very common problem. Windows secretly sends a password to your server without displaying a password dialog box. Windows sends the wrong password if you have ever logged on to any other account (such as the guest account) on this same computer. It is necessary to trick Windows into forgetting the password so the password box is displayed.

Method 1

Click Control Panel - User accounts then highlight your name from the list and click the Advanced tab. Click Manage passwords. There should be a list. Click on the one that says the name of the computer you are having trouble connecting to and click Remove. The next time you go to this computer it should ask for your password. Later if you go to a guest directory on this same server, you will have to do this step again. This is a limitation in Windows.

Note that you can't get the password box by clicking on "Add a network place". This makes it impossible to add a network place. On the server, the logs will show the following: Authentication for user [username] -> [username] FAILED with error NT_STATUS_WRONG_PASSWORD . This is because Windows is repeatedly sending the wrong password without your knowledge. Sometimes it's possible to get the password dialog box by clicking My Network Places - Other Places - Entire Network - Microsoft Windows Network. Click on the icon for your workgroup and then click on the icon for the computer. A password dialog box should appear. If not, it will be necessary to use Method 2 or 3.

This problem can also prevent you from printing. The symptom is that print jobs hang in the queue. Once you are able to trick Windows into asking you for your password, printing should resume.

Method 2

Start - Run - type cmd
A black box will appear titled command prompt. Type the following:

net user myusername *

Substitute your actual user name. Then type your password to assign to this account. Type it again to confirm. The drawback of this method is that you may need to use the same password on all your computer accounts. This was necessary in earlier versions of Windows.

That should assign your password. There is no easy way to log into two separate accounts on the same computer in Windows. WinSCP is better for transferring files if the server is running secure shell (ssh).

Method 3

Type the following command in a cmd window:
net use * /delete
This will delete all network connections.

See also linuxsetup38a.html.

Restore current connections at each logon

net use /persistent:yes (or no as desired)

To capture lpt1 printer port in windows 2000

net use lpt1 \\myservername\myprintername /persistent=yes

Back