This is a problem which arises when you try to install or remove a Microsoft application. It could be a copy of Microsoft Word, the latest Microsoft Digital Image Pro or even Outlook. For a full list of the affected programs, take a look at the Microsoft website under instructions for Error 1606.

The error is usually the result of a corrupted Windows registry. This isn’t immediately apparent when you receive the error, which will appear as seen below:

“Error 1606: Could Not Access Network Location”

To fix the problem, you have two choices. One is manual, and one is automated. You can download a free registry cleaning utility and run a thorough scan of your system. This will take note of the missing settings and correct them where necessary.

Alternatively, if you have a little more technical know-how, you can access the registry and adjust the settings yourself. Be warned though, tampering with the Windows registry and configuring settings inappropriately can result in even more problems, and in some cases, a corrupted copy of Windows altogether! Yes, editing the registry CAN seriously damage your system if you don’t know what you’re doing.

We would suggest that you take the safe route of downloading a free registry cleaner and letting it fix your problem. But if you’re feeling adventurous, here’s how to get rid of the error manually.

• Go to Start, Run, and then type “regedit” in the dialogue.
• When the Registry Editor opens, locate your way to:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
  CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
• View the table below and ensure that all of the entries match up to those of your own registry.

If any of the entries don’t match what you see in the table;

• Delete the value.
• Right click on User Shell Folders, go to New and then Expandable String Value.
• Enter the name value in accordance with the matching name value in the table above.
• Now right click on the new entry and go to Modify.
• Type the new value in the Value Data box.
• Click OK

Follow the same procedure to correct the values in:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

This should clear up any future Error 1606 problems. Remember to save the registry and restart your computer for the new settings to take effect. And whenever you’re editing the Windows Registry, as ever, it’s a good idea to make a back-up in case something goes wrong.

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“Error 1612. The installation source for this product is not available”

This is an error which you may receive when you try to install duplicate copies of standalone Microsoft products. The main affected applications are as follows:

• Microsoft Access
• Microsoft FrontPage
• Microsoft Publisher

The error usually occurs, but isn’t restricted to - the 2002 versions of the products. You will typically receive the error when trying to install SP1 of Microsoft Office XP. It stems from having more than one copy of the designated programs installed on the system. This sounds like a silly thing to be suffering from, but when you consider how Microsoft loves to sell its programs in bundles, it isn’t such a rare issue after all.

Thankfully, Microsoft has released a fix which deals with the clash and cleans up your system files. The fix is known as the Microsoft Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.

To download this small utility, you will need to go to the Microsoft website. There’s plenty of information and support to get you up and running, and the application is easy to use.

Once you’ve installed the utility, go to Start. Click across to Programs and locate Windows Install Clean Up.

You will see a list of all the Microsoft programs that you have installed on the operating system. Click on each of the programs, check the box and click Remove.

Each program comes with a slightly different removal procedure, but none of them should be too complicated to follow. Pay attention to the instructions and complete the uninstall process. Finally press exit to close the utility.

Assuming that you received the error while attempting to install Microsoft Office XP SP1, you should now be able to complete that particular setup. Once Office has been updated, you can safely track back and reinstall the standalone applications which were causing the 1612 error.

There are some instances where you may be receiving the 1612 error WITHOUT the mentioned programs being installed on the system. While they might not be present in the operational sense, some uninstalled software can leave behind files and registry entries which later cause problems.

This is a natural problem for PCs which have been used for months on end without a regular system clean-up. Have you noticed how the performance begins to drop, even after you’ve uninstalled all of the extra programs to leave yourself with the default configuration?

This is because most uninstall procedures leave behind traces of files, and unnecessary entries to the Windows registry. While they might not cause too many noticeable errors, it’s possible that such traces could lead to a 1612 error when you don’t actually have the Microsoft programs installed at the current time.

To get around this issue, we would suggest that you run two cleaning utilities. The first being a standard Windows cleaner, to get rid of loose odds and ends. The second being a more detailed Windows registry utility. Ridding the registry of redundant files will clear up a lot of errors and performance related issues, including, you guessed it, the 1612 error.

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There are many kinds of login services, but some of the most problematic are those that involve connecting to a network or to an ISP for an Internet connection.

What is the point of a login service? Well, it goes beyond simply entering the correct username and password. In fact, a large portion of login service errors have nothing to do with the details. They’re caused by a failed connection or a loose configuration setting.

Of course, that’s not to say that you should rule out the possibility of a mistaken password or username altogether. Always check the details that you enter, making sure that the caps lock is turned off to prevent a system misinterpreting what is essentially the same combination through the use of different case. And check again just to make sure.

If you’re still having trouble with the login service, it’s probably down to the connection. If you enter the correct details, you will be granted access by the login service. If you enter incorrect details, obviously you won’t be. But if you enter the right details without having a working connection, you’ll receive a potentially misleading error. You must be connected to the login service to be able to reach the verification mechanism. Without verification, you’ll be locked out. Correct details or not.

If you are using the Windows Login Service and your password isn’t being accepted, you may have been the victim of a virus attacking the core of the system. Some viruses are capable of altering a system user or password to cause maximum damage and lock a user out of the operating system.

The best way to avoid such circumstances is to use the trusted road of anti-Virus protection. Always protect your machine from third party software and malicious hackers. You should have a firewall in place at all times when using the Internet, and preferably a commercial scale anti-Virus suite too.

It’s possible to reset the Login Service password by accessing your Windows registry and changing the key information. But this can be problematic if the virus has locked you out completely. A complete scan of the system with both a cleaning utility and a registry scanner will eliminate the threat of harmful viruses.

If you are having problems with the login service of a remote ISP, there could be many different causes to blame. First and foremost, check the connectivity of your hardware devices. This involves resetting modems, checking network wires and removing the static from plugs if necessary. If you can’t use the login service, it doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem with the software. You could be suffering from a hardware detection issue which happens to terminate at that particular time.

Some login services require the enabling of additional technologies. For example, web based Login Services might require JavaScript to validate details against the authorized list. In these cases, ensure that scripting is enabled in the Advanced tab of your Internet Options.

When logging in to any local network, ensure that the relevant cable is attached and working. If this isn’t correct, you might not even see a login screen. A “Page Cannot Display” message is quite common in scenarios where the login service can’t initiate, whether it be through a faulty Internet connection, a network hardware issue or even a system virus.

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.Net is an umbrella term for the group of technologies that Microsoft uses to stage its web serving capabilities. You have probably heard of the .Net Framework which ties these technologies together, and the IIS (Internet Information Service) which makes it all possible.

As a side effect of the sophisticated technology in place, .Net does tend to produce quite a large number of errors, especially if you lack the required accuracy with your configuration settings!

It’s also very important to learn to distinguish between problems with the .Net Framework, and problems with a .NET application which is down to poor programming. Anybody can code in ASP.NET.

Here are a few examples of errors that are down to the code of the application.

CS0029: Cannot implicitly convert type ‘object name’ to ’string’

CS0117: ‘object name’ does not contain a definition for ‘Length’

CS0201: Only assignment, call, increment, decrement, and new object expressions can be used as a statement

All of these scenarios indicate lax code, and not necessarily a problem with the .Net framework itself. But of course, if you are receiving errors that indicate a failure to connect to a data source, or a lack of a connection altogether, then you should start to look at the larger picture of server issues and IIS configuration.

There are many sources for errors when using the web services that Microsoft offers. It could be an authorization issue, or something much more serious.

Error handling plays an important part in locating the root of the problem when you’re working on the .NET development side, whether it is with ASP.NET or VB.NET. The technologies that work with the .NET Framework are sophisticated and can be hard to interpret.

If, however, you are receiving errors that relate to the structure of the Framework and the connectivity itself, you might want to look a little deeper to find the solution. Errors such as the examples below represent a problem with the security permissions of the .NET environment itself.

Access denied to ‘C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot’ directory. Failed to start monitoring directory changes.

Server cannot access application directory ‘C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot\ Virtual Directory Name \’. The directory does not exist or is not accessible because of security settings.

In these instances, it’s possible to fix the errors by simply changing the permissions of the root folder involved (wwwroot, in this case). We should allow read, execute and list capabilities for the various .NET technologies to be accessible through the wwwroot folder. Without sufficient permissions, an error will be returned. But as you can see, the error is less to do with the code and more to do with the environment.

Be sure to keep up to date with the latest Microsoft .NET Framework patches and security packs as they are sure to fix many of the errors that you’re likely to encounter. The .NET standard is constantly evolving and so if you leave your software for a couple of months without updating, it’s highly likely that you’ll find a wide range of patches and fixes when you re-visit the Microsoft website.

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