VPN Connections Extremely Slow in Windows 11

Problem: Windows 11 Update KB5026372 has caused L2TP VPN connections to run extremely slowly, often well under 1Mbps regardless of Internet connection speeds at the VPN endpoints. Solution: Enable and start the “Routing and Remote Access” service on the Windows 11 client computer. Procedure: Open the Run box by pressing the Windows key + R. ...

Rolling Back a Windows 11 Update

Problem: Updating a computer to Windows 11 can sometimes create problems, particularly with file and printer sharing if other computers on the network are continuing to run Windows 10. Solution: Rolling back the Windows 11 update on the computer acting as the file/printer server allows sharing to resume as normal. Procedure: Open the system Settings. ...

Setting Chrome or Edge to Open PDF Files in System Viewer

Problem: Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge attempt to force PDF files to open in the browser rather than in the system default application, ignoring Windows settings. Solution: Manually change settings within the browser to force it to download PDF files so they can be opened in the system default viewer. Procedure: Click on the main ...

Recovering AutoComplete Entries in Microsoft Outlook

Recovering AutoComplete Entries in Microsoft Outlook
Problem: If a problem arises with an email account set up in Microsoft Outlook, it may be necessary to remove and replace account settings or create an entirely new Outlook profile. This will generally empty Outlook’s AutoComplete cache, its ability to predict possible email addresses from your history as you type them in. Solution: Backup ...

Exporting and Importing Outlook Contacts between Profiles

Exporting and Importing Outlook Contacts between Profiles
Problem: When migrating email it is often desirable to create a new Outlook profile for the new account. In some cases, particularly when the original account is set up to use IMAP, certain data including email, contacts, and/or calendars may be stored in data files that cannot be directly imported into the new profile. Solution: ...

Add a New Partition to an Existing Drive

Add a New Partition to an Existing Drive
Problem: Occasionally, it may be necessary due to software requirements, company policy, or interoperability requirements to have a hard disk drive partition with a particular drive letter other than the default assigned by Microsoft Windows. Normally, drive lettering works as follows: A: Primary Floppy Disk Drive (this drive letter is typically skipped if there is ...

Map Network Drives Using Group Policy

Problem: Windows allows mapping shared folders as logical drives, but this is a per-workstation setting. In large organizations, there are often shared folders which must be accessed by many workstations. Adding or changing drive mappings can be highly tedious in this case. Solution: If the workstations are connected to a Windows domain, Group Policy can ...

Change a GPT Disk into an MBR Disk

Problem: Some operating systems only support the older Master Boot Record (MBR) partition table, while newer operating systems support GUID Partition Tables (GPT). Sometimes it is necessary to install an older operating system on a disk formatted for GPT, which will not work unless the GPT disk is converted to MBR Solution: Convert the GPT ...

Sage 50 High CPU Usage

Problem: Sage 50 may begin to use most or all available CPU, usually on only one processor. Restarting Sage typically resolves the problem temporarily. The root cause seems to be that Sage is repeatedly trying to open a Crystal Reports registry key that doesn’t exist. Solution: Create the missing Crystal Reports registry key. Procedure: Open ...

Stop error 0x00000074 – BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO

Problem: This STOP error occurs on startup if the SYSTEM registry hive is corrupted. Solution: Restore the SYSTEM hive from the backup that Windows automatically creates on every successful startup. Procedure: Go to the Repair Console using a boot disk and open a command prompt. Go to E:\Windows\system32\config. Back up all existing registry hives. Overwrite ...