Metro Apps Cannot Connect to Internet – Resolved

I was having problems with my upgrade to Windows 8 where my Metro Apps were not connecting to the internet. It turns out, for me, it was a very simple fix and I should have caught it sooner.

I was running last year’s AVG (2012). It turns out they have a new version (2013) that works just fine with the Metro apps, simply replace your old Antivirus/Firewall and you should be good to go.

 

Also some people from what I read on the forums were having problems because their screen resolution was to low and needed to go to a higher resolution.
Hope this helps!

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Cannot fetch a row using a bookmark from OLE DB provider (Msg 7333, Level 16, State 2)

Linked Server Msg 7333

If you are getting this error and are trying to resolve it. Let me give you a little background information. A bookmark in this error is a left over from SQL Server 2005 SP1 and earlier. Bookmarks after 2005 SP1 is really a referred to as a key lookup, not to be confused with primary/foreign keys. From now on I am going to refer to bookmarks as key lookups so we are uniform and using the modern terminology.

Key lookups are objects within a query that refer to a data page (where the data is actually stored in the database) from a non-clustered index.

When SQL Server is executing DML (Insert, Update, Delete) against a linked server successfully for days, months, or even years and then fails with this error:

 Cannot fetch a row using a bookmark from OLE DB provider (Msg 7333, Level 16, State 2)

Something in the query execution plan is wrong. So far I have only run into this problem using linked servers and it probably has to do with resource management within SQL Server. Perhaps someone could elaborate on this that has more experience than I. But within the query’s execution plan, SQL Server decides to switch to a different index to run the query. The query then fails because it is using an index that is lacking information to complete the request.

Resolution

Ultimately, you have to do the following:

1. Look at your where criteria in your query that is dependent on the linked server.
2. Review indices on the table, that the where criteria is referring to.
3. Is your one of your criteria covered by more than one index?

If you answered yes to number 3, there is a good chance that the behavior I am describing is actually causing your problem.

To diagnose this, disable one of the indexes  that is in question.

NOTE: Never disable the clustered index, you will prevent data access to the table.

Run the query again, and it should work, if not rebuild the disabled index to bring it back online and then disable the other index. If the query works you are in business. Talk with your database administrator, developer, or vendor of the application to come up with a good solution. But this will temporarily get your query to work.

RSOD – Red Screen of Death! No, I’m not kidding.

So there is actually a red screen of death. Microsoft does have an RSOD, it is very rare to see these days. As a matter of fact, it was only visible in a beta version of Windows Vista. Seen here:

Windows Vista Red Screen of Death

There is another RSOD, HP has one too and I saw it first hand today:

HP Red Screen of Death

This error indicates a problem with your SAS Controller. A firmware upgrade from HP might be able to fix your problem.

Either error is not good, my sympathies.

Resolution: Error Syncing Windows Phone to Zune

So after several hours of trying to sync my Windows Phone to Zune, I have a couple of things for you to try. These have helped me and I hope they will help you.

Fix the Drivers

This will work well if Windows is not detecting the phone. The Microsoft Fix It can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/mats/Windows_phone_7_and_Zune_diagnostic/

Forget the Phone

Well this is not me being sarcastic! In your Zune Settings > Phone > Sync Options > Forget this Phone. Once you do that unplug your phone and plug it back in. This seems to work exceptionally well.

Reinstall Zune

If you made it past that point, chances are something might be messed up in your Zune software. It could be that the information for the phone is corrupted within the Zune software, if this is the case try this Fix It: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929358

Temporarily Turn Off Zune Launcher

This trick worked for me very well, I think what can happen is that the zunelauncher.exe doesn’t release the phone’s resources, thereby blocking Zune from syncing with your phone. Here is what to do:

1. Disconnect your phone.
2. Open Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del and select Task Manager).
3. In the processes tab, select zunelauncher.exe and click on End Task.
4. Open Zune.
5. Connect your phone.

If this solution works with you open msconfig and disable zunelauncher. This will prevent it from starting on startup of your computer. Please note: doing this will prevent Zune from launching when your phone is connected to your computer.

Reset to Factory

Use this as a last resort backup photos and other material you wish to keep to your Sky Drive, because you will lose all your data and applications. If you bought any apps, you are allowed to download them 5 times before you have to pay for them again, so only install them again if you have resolved all your issues. I don’t want to hear that you had to pay for your applications again.  Do this sparingly!

On your phone go to Settings > About > reset your phone.

Update 9/2/2012

I found one other issue that could cause syncing issues. If your computer has bad RAM or your motherboard doesn’t play nice with the RAM in your computer, you might have intermittent problems syncing. Recently upgraded my computer to 8GB and that caused Zune to have issues. Other symptoms included general slowness with the computer I was using.

Thanks for reading, let me know if this worked for you or if you found another solution.