The active directory is rebuilding indices please wait...

Problem
Error "The active directory is rebuilding indices please wait” in Windows Server 2003.



Operating system
Windows 2003 server

Solution 
The server may show the message “The Active Directory is rebuilding indices” if the Active Directory database (NTDS) gets corrupt. Follow the below steps to get this message.

Boot the server in “Directory Service Restore Mode” using “F8” on boot up.
Move the log files (res1.log, res2.log and edb.log) from “c:\windows\ntds\” to another location.

Type ntdsutil files integrity (Checks integrity of ntds.dit)
Type ntdsutil “sem d a” go
Type ntdsutil “sem d a” “go f”
Perform the database recovery using the “Esentutl.exe”.

Type esentutl /r c:\windows\ntds\ntds.dit
Delete the database log files (.log) from the WINDOWS\Ntds folder.
Execute the command esentutl /p “c:\windows\ntds\ntds.dit”

Open the registry editor by typing “regedit” in command prompt. Locate the path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RpcSs
 
Add a “Reg_Multi_Sz” with the name as “DependOnService” then add “Eventlog” to the data list “DependOnService”, close the registry and reboot the server in normal mode.

Excel formulas not working, not updating, not calculating: fixes & solutions

Excel formulas not working

Symptoms: Excel formula not working correctly, it returns an error or a wrong result.

This section provides a summary of the most common mistakes people make when creating formulas in Excel and solutions to fix them.

1. Match all opening and closing parentheses in a formula

As you know, the arguments of Excel functions are entered within the parentheses. In complex formulas, you may need to enter more than one set of parentheses, one within another, to indicate the order in which the calculations should take place.  When creating such a formula, be sure to pair the parentheses properly so that you always have a right parenthesis for every left parenthesis in your formula.

Microsoft Excel displays the parentheses pairs in different colors as you enter them in a formula. If your formula is short of one or more parentheses, Excel displays an error message and suggests a correction to balance the pairs. Please see How to highlight and match parenthesis pairs for more information.

2. Enter all required arguments in an Excel function

All Excel functions have one or more required arguments. Some functions also have optional arguments, which are enclosed in [square brackets] in the formula's syntax.

A formula must contain all of the required arguments, otherwise Excel displays "You've entered too few arguments for this function" alert.

If you have entered more arguments than allowed by the formula's syntax, you will get "You've entered too many arguments for this function" error message.

3. Do not nest more than 64 functions in a formula

When nesting two or more Excel functions into each other, e.g. creating a nested IF formula, remember about the following limitations:

• In Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Excel 2010 and Excel 2007, you can use up to 64 nested functions.
• In Excel 2003 and lower, only up to 7 nested functions can be used.

4. Don't enclose numbers in double quotes

In Excel formulas, any value enclosed in double quotes is interpreted as a text string.

What it means is that if you enter a formula like =IF(A1>0, "1"), Excel will treat number 1 as text, and therefore you won't be able to use the returned 1's in other calculations. To fix this, just remove the double quotes around "1": =IF(A1>0, 1).

So, whenever you are writing a formula for numerical values, follow this simple rule: don't enclose numbers in double quotes unless you want them to be treated as text.

5. Enter numbers without any formatting

When using a number in an Excel formula, don't add any decimal separator or currency sign like $ or €.

Remember that in Excel formulas, a comma is typically used to separate a function's arguments, and the dollar sign makes an absolute cell reference.

For instance, instead of entering $50,000 in your formula, input simply 50000, and use the Format Cells dialog (Ctrl + 1) to format the output to your liking.

6. Make sure numbers are not formatted as text values

Numbers formatted as text values are another common reason for Excel formulas not working. At first sight, they look like normal numbers, but Microsoft Excel perceives them as text strings and leaves out of calculations.

The visual indicators of text-numbers are as follows:

• Numbers formatted as text are left-aligned by default, while normal numbers are right-aligned in cells.
• The Number Format box on the Home tab in the Number group displays the Text format.
• When several cells with text numbers are selected on the sheet, the Status Bar only shows Count, while usually it shows Average, Count and SUM for numbers.
• There may be a leading apostrophe visible in the formula bar, or green triangles appear in the top-left corner of the cells.

The below screenshot shows that even a simple Excel SUM formula may not work because of numbers formatted as text:

To fix this, select all problematic cells, click the warning sign, and then click Convert to Number:

In some cases, however, neither green triangles nor the warning sign appear in cells. For example, if you enclose numeric values in double quotes in your formulas, Excel assumes you want to output a text string rather than a number.

At first sight, the following formula appears to be working fine:
=IF(A1="Good", "1", "0")

But the problem is the returned 1's and 0's are text values, not numbers! And if you reference any cells with the above formula in other formulas, those cells won't be included in calculations. As soon as you remove "" surrounding 1 and 0 in the above formula, Excel will treat the outputs as numbers and they will be calculated correctly.

If the small green triangles do not appear in cells for some other reason, look at the Number Format box on the Home tab in the Number group. If it displays Text, try clearing all formatting for the problematic cells, and set the cells' format to Number or General. If that doesn't work, you might have to create a new column, manually input the data (e.g. copy your text-numbers to Notepad, and then back to a new column), and delete the broken column.

Another possible solution is to multiply the values in the problematic column by 1 using a simple formula like =A1*1. And then, copy the formula cells and paste them as values in the same or in any other column via Paste Special > Values.

7. Separate function arguments with a proper character

Most of us are used to separating function arguments with commas. However, this does not work for everyone's Excel. The character you use to separate arguments depends on the List Separator set in your Regional Settings.

Comma is the default list separator in North America and some other countries. In European countries, comma is used as the decimal symbol and the list separator is usually set to semicolon.

For example, in North America you would write =IF(A1>0, "OK", "Not OK"), while European users of Excel should put the same formula as =IF(A1>0; "OK"; "Not OK").

So, if your Excel formulas are not working because of "We found a problem with this formula..."error, go to your Regional Settings (Control Panel > Region and Language > Additional Settings) and check what character is set as List Separator there. And then, use exactly that character to separate arguments in your Excel formulas.

8. Enclose workbook and worksheet names in single quotes

When referring to other worksheets or workbooks that have spaces or non-alphabetical characters in their names, enclose the names in 'single quotation marks'. For example,

Reference to another sheet:
=SUM('Jan Sales'!B2:B10)

Reference to another workbook:
=SUM('[2015 Sales.xlsx]Jan sales'!B2:B10)

For more information, please see How to refer to another sheet or workbook in Excel.

9. Include the full path to a closed workbook

If you are writing a formula that references a closed Excel workbook, your external reference must include the workbook name and entire path to the workbook. For example:

=SUM('D:\Reports\[Sales.xlsx]Jan'!B2:B10)

For more information, please see Creating a reference to another workbook.

If the above tips do not help, try to evaluate and debug each part of your formula individually by using the F9 key and other debugging techniques explained in the following tutorial: How to evaluate and debug formulas in Excel.

Excel formulas not updating

Symptoms: The value returned by your Excel formula does not update automatically, i.e. the formula continues to show the old value even after you've changed the values of the dependent cells.

When Excel formulas are not updating automatically, most likely it's because the Calculationsetting has been changed to Manual instead of Automatic. To fix this, just set the Calculation option to Automatic again.

On the Excel ribbon, go to the Formulas tab > Calculation group, click the Calculation Optionsbutton, and select Automatic:

Alternatively, you can change this setting in Excel Options:

• In Excel 2003, click Tools > Options > Calculation > Calculation > Automatic.
• In Excel 2007, click Office button > Excel options > Formulas > Workbook Calculation > Automatic.
• In Excel 2010, Excel 2013, and Excel 2016, go to File > Options > Formulas > Calculation optionssection, and select Automatic under Workbook Calculation.

How to force Excel formulas to recalculate

If for some reason, you need to have the Calculation option set to Manual, you can force the formulas to recalculate by clicking the Calculate button on the ribbon or by using one of the following shortcuts:

To recalculate the entire workbook:

• Press F9, or
• Click the Calculate Now button on the Formulas tab > Calculation group.

To recalculate an active sheet:

• Press Shift + F9, or
• Click Calculate Sheet on the Formulas tab > Calculation group.

To recalculate all sheets in all open workbooks, press Ctrl + Alt + F9.

If you need to recalculate only one formula on a sheet, select the formula cell, enter the editing mode either by pressing F2 or double clicking the cell, and then press the Enter key.

Excel formulas not calculating

Symptoms: A cell displays the formula, not the result.

If your Excel formula is not working because a cell displays the function instead of the calculated value, it's because one of the following reasons.

1. Show Formulas mode is turned on

The most common reason for an Excel formula not calculating is that you have inadvertently activated the Show Formulas mode in a worksheet.

To get the formula to display the calculated result, just turn off the Show Formulas mode by doing one of the following:

• Pressing the Ctrl + ` shortcut, or
• Clicking the Show Formulas button on the Formulas tab > Formula Auditing  group.

2. A formula is entered as text

Another frequent reason for your Excel formula not calculating is that the formula has been formatted as text. To check this, select the formula cell, and look at the Number Format box in the Number group on the Home tab:

If it is the case, change the cell format to General, and while in the cell press F2 and Enter for the formula to recalculate and display the calculated value.

3. A formula cell has a leading space or apostrophe before the equal sign

If you have inadvertently entered a space or apostrophe (') before the equal sign, Excel treats the cell contents as text, and consequently does not evaluate any formula within that cell (a leading space often appears when you copy a formula from the web). To fix this, just remove the leading space or single quote.

This is how you deal with formulas not working in Excel. If you know any other solutions to fix formulas not updating or not calculating, please do share in comments. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week.

source: https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/2016/02/03/excel-formulas-not-working/#excel-formulas-not-updating

How to enable/disable Protected View in Office 2016 Word/Excel/PowerPoint

An Office document that opens in protected view mode can’t be edited. If you trust the source of this document, just need to click the Enable editing button to remove the "Protected view" so that you can edit the document. However, this is temporary. Next time you open a Word document, it will still open in protected view mode. To permanently disable "Protected View" in Office 2016, do as follows.

Step 1: Open one already existing Office document, such as Word. Or create and open a new Office document.

Step 2: Select the File -> Options tab.



Step 3: After the Word Options dialog opens, select Trust Center on the left-side pane, and then click Trust Center Settings button on the right-side pane. 



Step 4: After the Trust Center dialog opens, select Protected View. "Protected View" is enabled by default. To disable it, uncheck the boxes next to the corresponding items and click OK. If you want to disable "Protected View" in Excel/PowerPoint 2016, the steps are the same.



Then you won’t be prompted with the Protected View warning next time when you open an Office file downloaded/received from the internet or other location.

Tips: "Protected View" is actually one very useful feature to secure computer system from potential dangerous programs/files. Once a Word/Excel/PowerPoint document is received from the Internet or other places, Office program will detect it. Once potential safety problems are found, Office will open the document in an environment isolated from the computer system, which is just the "Protected View". This prevents the virus or malware running on your computer. Hence, You are not recommended to disable “Protected View” feature in Office 2016/2013/2010 unless you are pretty sure you won’t open any potentially unsafe Office files or you’ve installed anti-virus software on your computer.




source: https://www.isumsoft.com/office/disable-protected-view-in-office-2016.html

Never let your computer know you are in a hurry

How to Cancel or Delete a Stuck Print Job in Windows

Sometimes, documents you’re printing get stuck in the printer’s queue, preventing further documents from being printed. Here’s how to fix it when that happens.

Whether you’re using a local or shared network printer, sometimes printing doesn’t go quite right. If you’ve tried troubleshooting obvious printer problems—paper jams, no paper, low ink or toner, or simply restarting the printer—it’s time to turn your attention toward the print queue. Often, simply clearing and restarting the print spooler—the software that prepares and manages printing documents—can fix the problem. If that fails, you may need to cancel one or more documents in your print queue and see if that gets things going again.

This should work in Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10.

Clear and Restart the Print Spooler

Clearing and restarting the print spooler should be your first step when trying to fix stuck print jobs because it won’t actually cancel any of your currently printing documents. Instead, it restarts things and proceeds as if all those documents had just been sent to the printer for the first time.

To do this, you’ll stop the Print Spooler service, delete the temporary cache Windows uses to spool print jobs, and then start the service again. We’re going to show you two ways to do this. First, we’ll look at how to do it manually, and then we’ll look at how to create a batch script so that you can do it any time you want with just a click.


Clear and Restart the Print Spooler Manually

To clear and restart the print spooler manually, you’ll first need to stop the Print Spooler service. Click Start, type “services,” and then click the Services app.


In the right-hand pane of the Services window, find and double-click the “Print Spooler” service to open its properties window.



In the properties window, on the “General” tab, click the “Stop” button. You’ll be restarting the service a bit later, so go ahead and leave this properties window open for now.




Fire up File Explorer and browse to the following location—or just copy and paste this text into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter:

%windir%\System32\spool\PRINTERS

You’ll likely be asked to provide permission to access this folder. Go ahead and accept.


 
Delete the contents of the entire folder by pressing Ctrl+A and then the Delete key.

Now, return to that open properties window in the Services app and click “Start” to restart the Print Spooler service. Click “OK” to close the properties window and you can also go ahead and exit the Services app.



As soon as you restart the Print Spooler service, all the documents in your queue are immediately respooled and sent to the printer. If all goes well, they should start printing again right away.

Clear and Restart the Print Spooler with a Batch File

If clearing your print queue by restarting the Print Spooler service is something you think you’ll be doing more than once—or you’d just rather not go through the trouble of using the Services app—you can also create a simple batch file to do the job.

Fire up Notepad or your preferred text editor. Copy and paste the following text as separate lines into the blank document:

net stop spooler

del /Q /F /S "%windir%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*.*"

net start spooler

Next, you’ll save your document as a .bat file. Open the “File” menu and click the “Save As” command. In the “Save As” window, browse to the location you want to save the file. On the “Save as type” drop-down menu, choose the “All files (*.*)” entry. Name your file whatever you like, but include “.bat” at the end. Click “Save” when you’re done.



You can now double-click that batch file to clear the print spooler whenever you want. Better yet, create a shortcut to the batch file and then place that shortcut where it makes the most sense to you—desktop, Start menu, or taskbar—and you’ll have one-click access to clear and restart the print spooler whenever you want.

Restart or Cancel Some or All of Your Printing Documents

If clearing and restarting the print spooler didn’t do the trick, the next step you’ll want to take is to see if you can identify—and cancel—whatever document is stuck. Sometimes, clearing a single stuck document will get your printer going again and any other print jobs in the queue can finish printing normally. Other times, you might have to cancel all the currently printing documents and then try printing them again.

Click Start, type “devices,” and then click the “Devices and Printers” Control Panel app.



In the Devices and Printers window, right-click the printer you’re having trouble with and then click the “See what’s printing” command to open the print queue.




The print queue window shows the print jobs currently awaiting printing. If a single document is causing the problem and you have more than one document in the queue, it’s usually the earliest document that’s stuck. Click the header for the “Submitted” column so that the documents are arranged in the order they were submitted, with the earliest at the top. Note that in our example, we arranged the columns so they would fit in our screenshot better, so your “Submitted” column may be further to the right.



Right-click the earliest print job and then select “Restart” from the context menu.



If your printer cranks up and starts printing after restarting the document, you’re good to go. Otherwise, you’ll need to try canceling the document. Right-click the document again and select the “Cancel” command.



Click “Yes” to confirm that you want to cancel the document.



If the cancellation was successful, the document should disappear from the print queue and the printer will start printing the next document in line. If the document didn’t get canceled at all—or if the document did get canceled but printing is still not happening—you’ll need to try canceling all the documents in the queue. Click the “Printer” menu and then choose the “Cancel all documents” command.



All the documents in the queue should disappear and you can try printing a new document to see if it works. 








Credit to: https://www.howtogeek.com/100358/how-to-cancel-or-delete-a-stuck-print-job-in-the-windows-print-queue/

How To Enable Windows Photo Viewer In Windows 10

There are some default apps in Windows for every program which user can select according to his desire. There are many Apps of Photo Viewer but mostly users like Windows Photo Viewer because it is very simple and easy to use. It isn’t activated by default when you download the Windows. So users need to activate/enable it. There are more than one ways to do this. Just follow the below steps to enable Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10.

Install and Enable Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10

Sometimes “Windows Photo Viewer" is not present in list of photo viewers so it means the registry of it, is missing in your Windows. You need to add it 

Download Activate Photo Viewer in Windows 10 registry file

Double click the “.reg" to add it to your Windows registry.

Now Registry of Windows Photo Viewer will be added. You need to make it as default now, for this go to Control Panel\Default Programs\Set Default Programs. Find the Windows Photo Viewer from the list and after selecting it, click on “Set This Program as Default". Now you are done.

 
















Install Windows Photo Viewer In Windows 10


Now right click on any picture and select “Open with" and now select “Windows Photo Viewer" from list. Now your every photo will open in “Windows Photo Viewer" by default.

Check the box of “Always use this app to open .png files" so now you don’t need to tell your system again and again to use “Windows photo Viewer" to use as default photo viewer.

For every format, when you open it for first time, you need to select “Windows Photo Viewer" for that particular format as default. And next time it will open auto in “Windows Photo Viewer". As in above shot my picture was in PNG format that’s why it said “Always use this app to open .png files".

The format of photo can be “JPEG/JFIF, Exif, TIFF, GIF, BMP, PNG, PPM, PGM, HDR, BPG or any other.If you don’t add .reg file in your registry, the “Windows Photo Viewer" will not be shown in list.

Microsfot Office always ask to activate

Office repeatedly prompts you to activate on a new PC

When you install a volume license version of Office Standard or Office Professional Plus on a new PC, you might be prompted with a Let's get started screen each time you start Office. This can happen if you don't uninstall the pre-installed version of Office on your new PC before installing a volume license version of Office.

To stop the prompts for activation, make sure your Office uses volume licensing and then update the registry.

Verify that your Office version uses volume licensing

Volume license versions of Office are typically used by large organizations. Here's how to check if your version of Office uses volume licensing:

1. Open a document in Word.
2. Go to File > Account.
3. Compare your screen to this screen shot and look for the following.
   
   
   • Volume license versions are named Office Standard or Office Professional Plus
   • Volume license versions have a Change Product Key link.
   • 
     

If you see buttons named Manage Account or Update Options, you're not using a volume license version of Office.

Update the registry to remove the Office 365 activation prompt

Important: This task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

1. Close the activation window and all Office apps.
2. Right-click the Start button  on the lower-left corner of your screen, and select Run.
3. Type regedit, and then press Enter. Select Yes when prompted to open the Registry Editor.
4. On the left side of the Registry Editor, under Computer, navigate to the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\OEM
5. Right click the OEM value and click File>Export.
6. Save the key.
7. After the key is backed up, select Edit>Delete.
8. Repeat steps 3-6 for the following key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\OEM
9. Close the Registry Editor and start Office again.