Category Archives: Windows

How to sync your iPhone to multiple computers using iTunes 10

I tried Google for solution and found a solution that made you copy an ID across but that didn’t work for me on iTunes 10. So I started messing about and came up with my own solution:

  1. Create a backup of your whole iTunes on your second computer (the one which needs to be synced with iTunes).
  2. Make sure iTunes is closed on both computers. Start by copying the whole iTunes folder from the first computer and pasting it in the second computer replacing any files and folders (if you have music in second computer, don’t worry, you can re-run iTunes lookup to get them back in).
  3. Open iTunes on the second computer and plug-in your iPhone. (all your settings would have been copied over with the songs. Re-run the lookup if you have songs missing).
  4. Sync away…. you can right-click on the iPhone and click “Transfer purchases” to authorize the second computer. (Please note you can only authorize 5 computers.)

I still don’t understand why Apple can’t do this themselves!!

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Realtek’s network controller deep sleep mode issue

As I’ve noticed a fair bit of visitors interested in my post of Windows 7 and Network Controller Deep Sleep Mode problem, I thought I should write a “clean” version of the post (basically the fix for the problem minus my ramblings 🙂 )

The problem starts when the computer goes into sleep/standby mode, a few components of the PC including the network controller (or adapter) are turned off. The issue occurs when the PC wakes up and power to everything is restored. The network controller doesn’t come on and as per Realtek installation message:

The Realtek Network Adapter/Controller was not found.
If Deep Sleep Mode enabled Please Plug the Cable

The best fix is to reset the motherboard and the best way to reset your motherboard is to remove your RAM chips. Leave them out for some time (in my case 30 seconds) and put them back in. And that is all! The motherboard will be reset and the network controller will come out of deep sleep mode!

Note: If this doesn’t work, leave the RAM out for good 10 minutes. Leaving the RAM out longer has worked for some people (see comments below).

Note 2: For laptops, removing the battery for 5-10 minutes has worked for a few.

Note 3: If nothing works, turn off the system and plug in a external hard drive (or a USB thumb drive) and then turn the computer on. Once on the desktop, Windows will try to install the external hardware. This, in some cases, has worked and wakes up the network controller.

Note 4: Some people have reported that “Loading Default Settings” in the BIOS solves the issue as well. You will need to go into the BIOS at start up by pressing the Delete key (can be F2 or some other, please check the message at the start of the screen). Once in BIOS, you can press F10 to “Load Default Settings” (If you don’t see that, look for a button saying that. It is usually around the “Save & Exit” Button). Once loaded, hit “Save & Exit”. This will restart your computer and some people have reported this fixes the issue.

Once you have it working, to make sure the network controller doesn’t go into sleep mode again, try this:

  1. Open Device Manager by:
    1. Go to Start
    2. Click Control Panel
    3. Choose System and Security
    4. Click Device Manager (under System)
  2. Open Network Controller properties by:
    1. Double-click Network adapters to expand it
    2. Double-click the Realtek Network Controller
  3. Turn off Deep Sleep mode by:
    1. Choose the Power Management tab
    2. Untick “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”

Doing this will make sure the network controller is not put in to sleep mode till someone fixes the issue!

Finally, if something does work you please post the Motherboard/Laptop model and the method that worked to help others!

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No network adapter/controller found on waking up from Sleep Mode

UPDATE: I’ve made a separate post for people interested in quick fix: Realtek’s network controller deep sleep mode issue

Yes, you read the title right. It is my second day of Windows 7 and trust me it was a long one. Its 1 o’clock in the morning and I finally got my internet working (after I got my Network Controller to work). So, lets start from the top.

Windows 7 does not like waking up from sleep

As it seems, Windows 7 really doesn’t like waking up from “Sleep” mode, most of the times for me, it just crashes. When I say crashes, it means I get a message on my monitor screen saying “No video input”, and the system is frozen because pressing the Num Lock key does not make the light of Num Lock go off.

No internet connection

I restarted the system (something I hate to do as it is my fresh install!) and was greeted by the screen asking me if I wanted to do a clean start up or try to restore the sleep mode again (as if it was my fault!). I had some work to do, so I jumped to the clean start up option and went straight onto Windows 7 desktop. So far so good. But then I noticed, Windows was screaming at me that I had “No internet connection”!

Network Controller/Adapter Gone

I went through several steps and came to conclusion that my network adapter had ‘died’, ‘gone to sleep’, ‘cuckooed’! It seemed that Windows 7 just could not see my Network Controller/Adapter, as if it has disappeared or vanished or just didn’t exist! There wasn’t even a section for Network Adapters in Device Manager.

Network Controller in Deep Sleep Mode

I tried to install the drivers for my Network Adapter (RealTek by the way) but I got a really nice error message during the RealTek setup:

The RealTek Network Adapter/Controller was not found.
If Deep Sleep Mode enabled Please Plug the Cable

And that’s when I noticed something interesting, my network adapter wasn’t flashing. Just for curious minds, I own a SilverStone Raven (photo) in which the whole motherboard is turned 90° clockwise and the back-panel becomes the top-panel. This means, luckily, I could saw the problem.

Getting your Network Adapter/Controller Back

I instantly knew this isn’t a Windows 7 only issue. The first thing popped in my head I have to reset my motherboard. As I own a M4A79T Deluxe, resetting is as simple as sliding the RAM out and popping it back in (the normal way of resetting your motherboard by using BIOS/CMOS jumper).

And guess what, it did the job. I got my Network Controller/Adapter back!

Once I got my internet back, I tried to find out why does Windows 7 crash on trying to wake up from Sleep mode, I believe it has something to do with the S1 and S3 settings in the BIOS. I will investigate and report back here soon. But for people having trouble getting the Network Controller working, I hope this helps.

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Shortcut for shutting down Windows 7

I had been using Microsoft XP since 2004 and being a power user relied heavily on its keyboard shortcuts. I had pre-ordered a copy of Windows 7 and installed it last night. What I’m shocked to realise is they have broken one the most used keyboard shortcuts, i.e. the one to shut down Windows.

In Windows XP, it was as simple as pressing the Windows key and ‘U’. Now that no longer works and I have to use my mouse to turn off my PC. Not a problem for most of the users but for people used to shortcuts its a big nuisance.

I went through the booklet provided to find out if they had put a replacement in it but of no vain. I switched to plan B, tinkering around till I find a shortcut.

To shutdown Windows 7 the shortcut is: Windows key > Left Arrow key > Enter

To open the Shutdown options’ menu, you need to press the Left Arrow key again followed by the shortcut key for the required action.

Shutting down the PC, although different, takes same number of key presses but sleeping (Standby mode in Windows XP), Switch User and log off are two more extra keys.

Is this better than Windows XP? I’ll leave that for you to decide.

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How to enable Registry Editor Tool

I had a problem yesterday where I got a virus in my Desktop PC (running Windows XP). It disabled the Registry Editor Tool (regedit.exe) to stop the user (that’s me) from going and manually editing/deleting registry entry.

This useful command helped me enable Registry Editor. Just click on Start -> Run and then type the following in (all as one line):

REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableRegistryTools /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Hope this is useful to someone too 😉

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