Windows 7 Newbie Questions

[jpanhalt]

I bit the bullet and installed Windows 7 Pro 64 yesterday morning onto a clean SSD. Fortunately all the stuff on my RAID (mirror) HD's* appears to be saved and is accessible, including some old programs that ran from just a .exe file (Oh, those were the halcyon days when all you needed was a pif to make it any program look like a Windows program.)

There are lots of differences, to point out the obvious. This post is about two problems I have not been able to solve:
1) See this attachment:



Note the highlighted computer. If one clicks on it now, one gets an error, "Windows cannot access \\BRW008092950..." That device is a Brother HL-2270DW wireless printer. My original (old) wireless adapter card wasn't working in Win7. I had set up the printer previously (with Win XP and before I got Internet, a modem, and router) as an ad hoc wireless connection. So, while my wireless adapter wasn't working, I plugged a newer Netgear WiFi into the UBS slot and tried to get the printer running. That failed. I then bought a Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band USB adapter. Everything is now linked on a home network and working. EXCEPT, I get little exclamation marks and minor error messages about that non-accessible network "PC." How do I remove it? I have tried everything, except dropping the main PC (identified ad GB) on the floor.

2) Win7 seems to be infected with the iconorrhea virus that infects a lot of newer programs (Solid Works used to be my prime example -- Win7 may share its place in infamy.) Despite my adversity to so many icons, I do like a few on my desktop for favorite programs and Internet sites. For example, when I installed MPLab 8.92, I got the familiar little icon for it. However, for Internet links, like ETO, I cannot figure out how to get and KEEP cute specific icons. I can get them temporarily by closing a link and then right clicking on the browser (Chrome) icon to see the pinned link. I have not figured out how to save that icons so they appears in the change icon dialog under properties.

John

My XP configuration had dual HD's in RAID mirror that were logically partitioned into programs (was drive "C") and data (drive "D"). The Win7 install wisely recognized that, shifted the RAID drive letters to D and E, respectively (RAID is now volume 1 instead of volume 0) and installed Win7 on the clean SSD. I had copied D to a thumbdrive, but so far, I have not needed to use it.

 

[MrAl]

Hi John,

At first read it sounds like you did not run the printer driver install program after your adapter was added. Just a guess though.

I also found this:
https://social.technet.microsoft.co...oes-my-wireless-printer-show-up-as-a-computer

 

[jpanhalt]

That suggestion may help once Windows finishes with its "updates." There were 129 updates. They were installed, but didn't configure on re-start, so I have no idea what is in store for me when I shut down again.. Yes, I did run the install program after the new wireless adapter was added. Printer works fine and appears in the Windows device management screens as one would expect. The appearance of the second "computer" is just a little nit to pick.

BTW, That printer cost $100 on sale at an office supply chain. I have gone through 2 reams (500 pages each) of paper with the starter toner cartridge and now get the toner low warning, but it still prints fine. It is quieter and faster than my $4000 LaserJet 4101mfp, and I can't tell any difference in quality. Independently, my daughter and her geek husband (he writes apps for Apple and things like that) bought the same printer and are equally impressed. I was bragging about my great purchase to her and saying how happy I was with it, when she says dad, we have the same one.

John

 

[DerStrom8]

I would check the driver for the printer, for starters:

Go to the Start menu-->Control Panel, and open the "Device Manager". A list of all your devices (drives, computers, etc) will show up, as well as all your other hardware. You should be able to find your printer in this list. It will depend on your exact printer where it will be located. Once you find it, however, right-click it and select "Update Driver Software". Tell it to search automatically, and it will browse the web for the most recent drivers. I believe it will also look at which OS you're running and choose the right one for your system.

This would be a good place to start, anyway. Let me know if you need any help.

Good luck!
Regards,
Matt

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Turn off wireless in the printer? The printer might have a bad network card.

 

[jpanhalt]

The printer is wireless, and it is working fine now as it was before installing Windows7. I suspect it only has one wireless "card" in it, and that must be working. Cannot "update" driver in Device Manager as Windows cannot connect to the device. Read and tried a lot (about 6 hours worth) found on Google searches. It is not an uncommon type of problem or error code, but it is not easily solved. Some posters recommend going into the registry and erasing stuff. I am not likely to do that blindly. Microsoft Knowledge Base is helpless. I did install the Brother AdminLight utility and got access to the printer. FWIW, page count is 948. Toner-low warning was apparently reset and the LED stopped flashing...almost makes me wonder whether the start-up cartridge is just a regular cartridge with a low page count programmed into it.

So far, no joy. I have access to the printer through the PC and router, but it appears that Windows7 just won't allow the simple step of removing a device.

This is the lesser of my annoyances with Windows7, so it will wait to be resolved.

John

 

[eTech]

hi

Looks like the characters following "BRW" is a MAC address.

1. Right click on the "BRW008092950EA2" icon, select "Properties". What does it show for Device Information?
Is this really a device you want to remove?

2. If you really want to remove it, click "Hardware" Tab, click "Properties" Button, click "Driver" Tab.
You can then choose "Uninstall" driver.

eT

 

[jpanhalt]

Thanks fellas for the suggestions. I have tried all of the "standard" Windows approaches. Neither the problematic printer nor the other wireless printer show up in Device Manager. Right clicking on the device only gives the options Expand, Connect, and something else, but NOT properties. The "mac" address of the working printer is exactly the same as the problematic printer, except for the prefix, BRW, which might mean Brother Wireless.

I even went to god mode (https://gigaom.com/2010/01/03/how-to-enable-windows-7-secret-god-mode/) and got nowhere.

I believe having ruled out the obvious that one must consider something else. The logic of finding a device that cannot be connected to (according to Windows) and cannot be deleted or ignored is suspicious. Perhaps James Clapper had it installed to remotely monitor all Windows computers, and I just happened to stumble on it.

John

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

You can try pinging the broadcast(BC) address. e.g. if your network is 192.168.1.1 and the Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, the BC addr is 192.168.1.255

Then check the ARP table: I think it's arp -a

Then delete the entry from the ARP table. It could come back.

 

[jpanhalt]

I just spent some time nosing around the IP addresses. I think what I am seeing is actually OK. The printer is on the network as a device, aka "computer." Windows can't access it. I finally got a window that explained that failed access, "Remote access to the server is not enabled." I see no reason to enable it at this time. In the Printer screen, only the Brother HL-2270DW shows up.

Now that I think I understand it, it doesn't bother me so much. At least, I got the router firmware updated in the process. Now, on to two other nits:1) both my RAID and SSD drives are being called SCSI devices --they are actually SATA; 2) there are 2 unidentified devices in device manager.

Regards, John

 

[eTech]

I think that device may have shown up because you installed the printer admin software.
Normally, all you need is just the printer driver. The printer device object should only be under the "Printers and faxes".

A way to avoid this is in the future is to:

1. Configure the network settings on the printer (from the printer display panel or printer web configuration page). you'll need to know the printers IP address.

2. After that, in Windows 7, just add a new tcpip printer and follow the prompts. It will prompt you for the driver. Just use the browse button and select the driver from the CD.

By the way,

Did you perform a "in place" upgrade when you installed Windows 7?
I don't recommend doing that because it never installs cleanly...

eT

 

[jpanhalt]

I installed Win7 onto a brand new SSD. It was a fully legitimate OEM/SystemBuilder's version with SP1 from Amazon . The RAID disks, which were partitioned into C and D and previously used for programs and data, respectively, were physically attached to the PC ( a new build). I was pleasantly surprised that the install didn't complain about the other version of Windows. It just went ahead and installed on the new C drive (SSD) and re-labeled the other drives as D and E. Once everything was running, I formatted the old C (now D) drive. Then, I took care of a minor problem with the DVD/CD drives, and the rest has been smooth sailing. That is, except for this silly non-problem.

I think the machine will shut down and start quicker once all of the updates get installed, if ever.

I do miss Outlook Express with all the grandkid's pictures. I will get that fixed, even if it means buying the full version of Outlook.

John