Known Issues

Windows

Windows Update

MS Office patches

• Windows Update fails when installing Microsoft Office patches, with an error code 0x80070641
• Solution: Click Start => Run and enter:

msiexec /Unregister

• Click OK, then click Start => Run and enter:

msiexec /regserver

Windows Update Stops with error 0x80072EE2

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
3. Click the Security tab, and then click Trusted Sites.
4. Click Sites.
5. Click to clear the Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone check box.
6. In Add this Web site to the zone, type each of the following Web site addresses, and then click Add:
   1. https://*.microsoft.com
   2. https://download.windowsupdate.com
   3. https://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate
   4. http://*.update.microsoft.com
   5. https://*.update.microsoft.com
   6. http://download.windowsupdate.com
7. Click Close, and then click OK.
8. Visit the Windows Update Web site or the Microsoft Update Web site.

Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/836961

Login Delay

Some Windows-based laptops joined to our domain may experience delays at, before, or after the login screen. For example, there may be a delay before the CTRL+ALT+DELETE screen appears (or the login window appears). There may be a delay AFTER pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL. There may be a delay AFTER entering username/password and starting the login process.

In all cases, disabling the wireless before login or before shutdown has helped:

• On laptops that have a physical switch to turn off wireless, slide the switch to the OFF (or "0" position), then login. After logging in, turn the switch to the ON (or "1") position if you need to use wireless.

Vista

• WebVPN does not work
• INB is not very stable, see Vista#INB
• Novell drives cannot be mapped by default, very nice fixes available at: Vista#Mapping_Network_Drives_in_Vista
• Searching Novell drives is slow, for workaround see: Vista#Searching_Novell_Network_Drives.2FShares_in_Vista
• Novell drives may be slow to open/access/list files. Not really sure why. Try installing the Novell client, as outlined in Option 2, on this page: Vista#Mapping_Network_Drives_in_Vista
  • Disabling Remote Differential Compression did not help when attempted, but may help others. See this page to learn how to disable this feature: http://www.petri.co.il/tweaking_window_vista_performance.htm
  • The web page above has many more tips on how to improve the networking performance in Vista

Known Software Issues

Firefox 3 and self-signed certificates

There is a known "feature" in Firefox 3 that makes certain secure pages appear scarier when they are using self-signed certificates. The message that appears is "Secure Connection Failed". See the Firefox 3 and self-signed certificates article for a description of the cause for this, as well as appropriate steps to resolve it.

Internet Explorer 7 and self-signed certificates

There is a known "feature" in Internet Explorer 7 that makes certain secure pages appear scarier when they are using self-signed certificates. The message that appears is "There is a problem with this website's security certificate". See the Internet Explorer 7 and self-signed certificates article for a description of the cause for this, as well as appropriate steps to resolve it.

Outlook - Unable to create new item (if Skype installed)

• If Skype and Outlook are running at the same time, and you try to create a new Outlook message, you may get an error message saying something to the extent "can't create new item".
• The solution is to open Skype and under the view menu, and click on "View Outlook Contacts".

ATI Video Drivers Incompatible with XP SP3

ATI drivers earlier than version 8.5 are NOT compatible with XP SP3. http://ati.com has the latest drivers, download and install those to fix resolution/color issues after installing SP3.  Full ATI Catalyst driver and additional information also on "Snowleopard\Vol1\Software\Software-Windows\Windows XP\ATI Catalyst Driver for XP".

USB and Keyboard issues on Optiplex GX620

Keyboard/mouse/USB devices may be unresponsive on Optiplex GX620 computers. Possible solutions:

• Update the Chipset Drivers (http://support.dell.com) <== CRITICAL!
• Update the BIOS (http://support.dell.com)

RTVScan error on shutdown

This is a known issue with Symantec AntiVirus -- it basically doesn't shut down properly when the computer is powering off or restarting and gives an error message:

Rtvscan.exe - Application error

The instruction at 0x00427371 referenced memory at 0x0000000 cannot be read

• Symantec has some notes on this page: RTVScan error

Possible solutions:

• Update Symantec Antivirus with this patch: SAV 10.1.6100
• Reboot twice to test, then if the above patch doesn't help, uninstall Symantec AV and install it from http://go.middlebury.edu/antivirus
• Additional solutions involve adding the Group Policy shutdown scripts to an exclusion list in Symantec or completely disabling these shutdown scripts.

Mac

Network Preference Pane refuses to close

• Problem: The Network Preference Pane refuses to close displaying the message "Your network settings have been modified by another application".
• Solution: Visit /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration and MOVE "preferences.plist" to the Desktop. Restart the computer, open System Preferences and create a new location (call it "MIDD" or "Repaired" or whatever). Then click "Apply Now". This will resolve the issue.
• Side effects: You will lose saved network settings, including saved wireless profiles with their keys.

Known Image Issues

Visit the Known Image Issues article to read about problems that occur on College-owned Macs that have our standard computer image.

Known Software Issues

Office 2008 Installation#Known_issues_with_Office_2008

Some known issues with Office 2008 for Mac: Office 2008 Installation#Known_issues_with_Office_2008

Entourage vs Outlook

Issues with Entourage and features that it lacks in comparison to Outlook: Entourage vs Outlook

Cannot Update Firefox

Various systems may be unable to update Firefox in some cases. See Cannot Update Firefox for solutions.

Firefox 3 and self-signed certificates

There is a known "feature" in Firefox 3 that makes certain secure pages appear scarier when they are using self-signed certificates. The message that appears is "Secure Connection Failed". See the Firefox 3 and self-signed certificates article for a description of the cause for this, as well as appropriate steps to resolve it.

Download error in Firefox

• Problem: Customer is unable to download files from Firefox. She gets the typical error about the file not being created because she doesn't have permissions to save things in that folder.
• Solution: Open Safari, change the default download location in Safari to users desktop folder. This should allow Firefox to be fixed as well. Full walk through is here: Firefox Download Error

Cannot download any files in Safari

Problem: Safari gives you an error message "file cannot be created" when you try to download a file from the internet.

Solution: In Safari click on Safari -> Preferences. Under "Save Downloaded files to...", select other and click on Desktop (or navigate to any desired folder). Close the preferences pane and restart Safari.

Finder crashes when opening USB drives

Cause: Corrupt DS_Store files. Instructions for removing them are here: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_16831 but here are some modified instructions that are better and safer.

• Open the Terminal, then type this in (replace NAMEOFUSBDRIVE with the name of the troublesome USB drive):

find /Volumes/NAMEOFUSBDRIVE -name ".DS_Store" -depth -exec rm -V {} \;

• Press enter/return to execute

Minor Issues

• Special Software#Known_issues_with_Adobe_Bridge_and_its_Photo_Downloader