Webuser Forums: RHR - General PC (32)

Hi everyone. I recently had to have WIN98 re-installed due to HDD problems. I am now plagued by it asking for a password everytime I log on. Can anyone tell me how to remove this. I've looked in all the usual places but to no avail. Thanks. Keith
Keith - Rugby - Wed Sep 25 21:38 2002
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Keith,
Have a look at M$KB 152104
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Wed Sep 25 22:20 2002
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Ian, Many thanks for sorting this one out for me. Keith
Keith - Rugby - Fri Sep 27 20:39 2002
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I am unable to access my hotmail.com. The page cannot be found i have checked my internet settings and all cookies are enabled. Any ideas?
Kayleigh - Rushden - Wed Sep 25 18:23 2002
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Is this through the website, or through outlook express? If it is through the website, make sure that your password is correct, apart from that, the advice is keep trying, as all seems well!!
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Wed Sep 25 18:43 2002
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Hi guys, am having sound trouble. When I boot up everything is on mute, and when I switch that off the sound is down to about half its maximum level. Not earth shattering, but it's come out of nowhere and it's an annoyance. Any help would be much appreciated.
PAR - London - Tue Sep 24 13:18 2002
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Hello all. I'd like to be able to transfer DVD to VHS but have never done any multimedia editing before. Can anyone put me on the right track ? I'm running an Athlon 1.2 with a 40 Gb hard disk and 512 Mb of memory. My WIN-TV Go card has an S Video Input socket. Thanks in advance.
daniel - northampton - Mon Sep 23 22:36 2002
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Daniel ,
Do you realise how difficult this is? Not the transferring of information, but finding info on it? Everyone wants to do it the other way around!!
But after page 63 of 275, I did manage to find this Rather you than me ;^)
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Tue Sep 24 09:00 2002
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Thanks for digging out this link for me Iain. Looks like I've got some long nights ahead tussling with a merry mile of in/out connections. Any thoughts on DVD to Betamax ? (only kidding ). Daniel
Daniel - Northampton - Tue Sep 24 17:13 2002
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Hi tecchie people, Can you pls help with a problem that is driving me crazy? I have a 12 month old system from Tiny. It's a pentium 4, 1,5 Ghz with 256mb ram running Windows Me ver 4.90.3000 (well somebody has to have it) and a cdrw/dvd combo drive. It's a Samsung SM-308B (Firmware Revision BS05) and the problem I have is that the drive doesn't recognize that there is a cd in the drive. If ejected/reinserted often enough it eventually deigns to acknowledge it, but this can take 1/2 hour or more. I was told by someone at Dixons that combo drives only have a 12 month life expectancy due to inferior build quality, is this true? I use the drive mainly for gaming/music and infrequent cd burning. I have tried updating drivers to no avail and even removed the drive and dismantled it looking for any obvious faults. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated. Running 'update device driver' from device manager shows that the driver is C\WINDOWS\INF\MSCDROM.INF which it has always been I think, so much for trying to update the driver. Annoyingly, under device status I always get the message 'This device is working properly' Ha! http://www.samsungelectronics.com/ odd/combo/sm_308b.html - This could be a helpful link. Many thanks, Tony Barwick
Tony - Romford, Essex - Mon Sep 23 18:36 2002
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Nothing wrong with that system, Tony :)
Quote"I was told by someone at Dixons that combo drives only have a 12 month life expectancy due to inferior build quality".... Hmmm, seeing as Dixons is the leading re-seller of Samsung Product, that is a scary admission.

We'll start by laying that one to rest, Samsung are no worse or any better than many other manufacturers of hardware.

Right, now to the business in hand. The two things I would definitely do is ensure that the disks are sparkling.

Try and use a toluene based cleaner which will evaporate quickkly and leave no film on the surface of the disk
Clean the lens of the cd player, again use a good cleaning system.
This may sound silly, but if you are still having problems, open the drive and rotate the disk by 90°. Close the drawer. If the disk is even the slightest bit warped, the laser will have difficulty reading it

That updated driver you mentioned will utilise the same name, otherwise Windows wouldn't know where to look ;^), the giveaway will be the creation date.

Give us a shout if your are still having problems
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Mon Sep 23 19:52 2002
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Hi Iain, thank you for your comments. Since I last wrote I have replaced the combo drive with an old 24x Cd drive. Now all my disks work first time every time. I guess it's time to admit defeat and chuck it. Unless you have any other ideas of course. Thnx Tony
Tony - Romford, Essex - Wed Sep 25 19:34 2002
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Tony,
If your disks are working in "old faithful", then I think I would have to concur with your conclusion that it is dead, ceased to be.. an ex cd-rw drive!!
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Wed Sep 25 20:59 2002
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I have my Lexmark 3200 printer disconnected from my pc for a while. But now that I have put it back every time i go to print the message comes up: Please put paper in the auto sheet feeder. Well the fact is there is paper. When I turn the printer off it says thankyou. But when I turn it on again it says promlem contacting printer. Does anyone know what this good be?
Terry - London - Wed Sep 18 15:04 2002
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Try re-installing the printer drivers, Terry
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Thu Sep 19 20:38 2002
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Backing up files. HELP!!! I'm at my wits end!! I have used Nero, easyCD, WinCD. Everytime i back up my files, I can't overwrite them, delete them off the CD-RW. I leave the session open, but I still can't do anything to them. I can't keep buying CD-rWS everytime I save my files. I'm running Windows XP using a HP CD writer. Appreciate any help or advice.
Glen - London - Wed Sep 18 09:58 2002
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Hope Iain doesn't mind butting in. Just thought I'd mention, Nero is a bit of a snob,has been known to bitch at the quality of discs.I mention XP's program further down,it will delete your CDRW,add to them, but it does not have packet writing facility. I will now carry on mowing the lawn and mind my own business.
George - Choppington - Wed Sep 18 16:53 2002
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George, please don't apologise for butting in. Two or more heads are better than one. The more angles that a problem is looked at from gives us an improved chance to provide a solution
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Wed Sep 18 17:21 2002
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I assume that you did format your cd-rw?
Are you packet writing your data or track only writing

Packet writing is the software that lets you use a CDRW like a big floppy - enables drag & drop or file copy from Windows Explorer.)

To use a packet writer, the CDRW must be formatted first, unlike conventional burning software.

The two common packet writers are Roxio's DirectCD and Nero's InCD (which should be on your Nero CD). They are incompatible - if both are installed, neither will work. (This is not true of Nero and EasyCD Creator - they will co-exist quite happily)
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Wed Sep 18 10:20 2002
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Windows XP has it's own support to copy files etc to CD/CDRW. Very handy while fathoming out Nero's program. Very easy to use too.
George - Choppington - Wed Sep 18 15:38 2002
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Hi Terry, George, Iain, and all,

I've heard that Microsoft incorporated their CD-RW Software programme into their XP Operating System.Is this true and is it of benefit or another piece of bundling to be ignored?
Joe - London. - Wed Sep 18 18:05 2002
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Evening Joe, definitely not to be ignored, it's so easy to use although a trifle limited.Problem is it might create a tendency for users to ignore other software. I've just copied some photos to disc by just a couple of clicks from 'My Pictures'.
George - Choppington - Wed Sep 18 20:46 2002
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They did, it's based on the Adaptec EasyCD creator. For those interested, this article gives some details about the cd writing package bundled with XP
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Wed Sep 18 18:26 2002
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I Thank you both for that helpful information.
Joe - London. - Thu Sep 19 10:49 2002
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Hello All. I have noticed that I have a number of programmes on the toolbar next to the clock which seem to load up on start-up. Is there anyway I can stop this happening? Thanks Keith
Keith Waudby - Rugby - Wed Sep 18 08:29 2002
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As long as you aren't using Windows 2000,
Go to Start | Run
Type in msconfig
Click the Startup tab Uncheck the items you don't wish to start
The next time you start your system, the unchecked items no longer load

However, word of warning, some items are essential to the running of your system, so before you go unchecking everything, go to pacs-portal to check whether you can or cannot uncheck it
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Wed Sep 18 09:00 2002
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Thanks Ian, worked a treat.
Keith - Rugby - Sat Sep 21 20:23 2002
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Hello everyone Tuck here, wonder if anyone would be kind enough to lend me their wisdom for a moment. I am quite tired of seeing these ubiquitous send error/dont send error to microsoft boxes appearing at the mere sniff of a problem. Some time ago - though not as far back as my youth when I used to take great pleasure in donning my sunday strides and best overcoat to wander this great land in search of ale and wench, by God and was there ale and wench in those days!! - no, not that long ago, I am of the opinion that I read in an issue of this steadfast and upstanding publication that it was indeed possible to be rid of this wretched curse - but alas when my fine collection of past publications went up in flames - along with dear dear Bessie - I lost the key to this heavenly knowledge, so members of my flock, my children, I ask of you this favour once only, to rid an old fool of an unpleasant distraction and thus free what time he has left so he can to tend to his knees which are not what they once were.... thank you, my pipkins, and may the most beautiful light descend on anyone who spares a moment of their time to help....peace be with you all....
Friar Tuck - Glasgow - Wed Sep 18 02:41 2002
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Sire, methinks I shall join you in a cup of that ale you are drinking!
If you are running XP, then the following applies for programs:

Go to Start | Control Panel | System,
On the Advanced tab, click Error Reporting.
Click Disable error reporting
If it is Internet Explorer error reporting that you no longer require, see M$KB 276506 for information as to how to remove it
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Wed Sep 18 07:03 2002
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Five and one thousand tokens of thanks to you my wise and trusted minstrel - a draught of a long cool'd vintage for you Sir and a complementary chicken leg to boot. I bid you farewell until the next time that Tuck here finds himself in a touch of bother and needs to tempt you with suckling pig, roast goose and some of Aunt Flo's hot horseradich sauce (not for the faint hearted or loose tongued) to impart with your wisdom....may your tankard never be empty..
Friar Tuck - Glasgow - Wed Sep 18 14:30 2002
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Hello Everyone, We have a problem with Word2000, the toolbar and menu bar are missing. I have visted the Microsft site and their advice was to use keyboard commands to bring up the view menu but nothing is coming up on the screen, it just won't respond to the keyboard. Any ideas on what to do now. Thanks.
Anne - Orpington - Tue Sep 17 11:49 2002
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Try clicking on the document and clicking ALT C
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Tue Sep 17 13:00 2002
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I have just tired that and still the screen is a complete blank, no menu is being shown :)
Anne - Orpington - Tue Sep 17 22:06 2002
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So Alt V and Alt C doesn't do it for you, what if you move your mouse to the very top of your screen?
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Tue Sep 17 22:27 2002
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No Iain,That's not doing it for me either. All I have at the top of my screen is a blue bar with the title Document 1 Microsoft Word,underneath that is what I think is a ruler going straight across the screen and top to bottom on left hand side and I think I'm confusing a blank screen with this one that looks like a giant page.
Anne - Orpington - Wed Sep 18 13:30 2002
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Ok, so we are looking at a probable corrupt entry in the registry, or a corrupted global template.
I would suggest that you have a really good read of M$KB 242368

If that doesn't work, you might want to re-install Word over the top of the original
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Wed Sep 18 14:12 2002
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Can anybody tell me how I can transfer home video footage from a vhs video onto a disc, if at all possible?
Ross Hunter - Dundee - Mon Sep 16 22:27 2002
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Thanks very much guys, I think I am going to be busy over the next few weeks. A very interesting site!!
Ross Hunter - Dundee - Tue Sep 17 21:42 2002
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Are you in for some sleepless nights, Ross!!!
Your best bet would be to have a look around vcdhelp.
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Mon Sep 16 23:05 2002
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Hi Ross, for a wealth of information on capturing, encoding and burning video as well as some free tools go to www.vcdhelp.com
Dave C - Salisbury - Mon Sep 16 22:56 2002
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Beat me to it, Dave ;)
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Mon Sep 16 23:07 2002
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Hi there. I have a problem with my sound. I can only get sound from my left speaker. The speakers themselves are fine (and they are connceted properly), I have tried some external speakers and got the same problem, I have checked the PC's sound settings and they are set for stereo, I have used the device manager to troubleshoot the sound card, and still no errors found. Im at a loss as to what the problem might be. Anyone have any ideas? All suggestions welcome as I am stumped. Thankyou XX
Marie - Chippenham - Fri Sep 13 11:00 2002
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A few questions, Marie. (You are going to hate me)
Has this just started, having worked before, but the speaker is no longer working?

If no, is your sound card installation new?
what sound card?
Is this a four speaker system?
What speakers?
Which operating System?
Does this happen in all applications or just some?

If yes, to the first question, the question list is VERY slightly shorter
what sound card?
Is this a four speaker system?
What speakers?
Which operating System?
Does this happen in all applications or just some?

Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Fri Sep 13 11:51 2002
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Wow just a few questions hey!! lol. Well as I am noyt so hot on the details of my pc I rang the service centre in the end, and after a lengthy call they decided to send an engineer out and change the motherboard. Had the problem since I bought the pc, and they had never heard of the problem. Thank you for your time and help Iain. Im sure I will call on you again one day XX
Marie - Chippenham - Tue Sep 17 22:58 2002
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Hi Ian,i wonder if you could help me with a problem i am having with my floppy disc drive, i have only just had my pc returned from a repair under warranty as it would not play sny cds i put in. i now have same problem with floppy drive which was ok before repair.i am using an hp750 with windows xp,and i have uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers for this drive to no avail. Device manager also tells me drive is ok, any help greatly appreciated as i do not want to do without pc for another 4 weeks.
george mullen - port glasgow - Fri Sep 13 02:52 2002
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Are there any error messages that are accompany this inability to use your floppy drive?
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Fri Sep 13 05:55 2002
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the only message i am getting ian is = please insert a disc into drive a.i dont think this drive is working , but why does the trouble shooter tell me it is .
george mullen - port glasgow - Tue Sep 17 11:41 2002
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everytime i click onto a link i.e comes up instead then i have to close i e because when i click again a sound comes on any ideas?
mifa 85 - wigan - Thu Sep 12 11:32 2002
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I understand you to mean one of two things, either
when you click on a hyperlink, Internet Explorer opens and you close Internet Explorer and you don't want Internet Explorer to open
Or

Internet Explorer closes because you have an error
If it is the first, which browser do you want to use?
If it is the second, what is the error that shows?
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Thu Sep 12 12:01 2002
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Allan
I can't seem to post a direct answer to the question below so, here is the answer about formatting
If viewed in Wordpad, you would see no

paragraphing,
no bold,
no centring,
etc...
So basically all you would see is a mass of words. A bit like some of the very long posts on this site. (That isn't a dig at anyone, by the way)
It just makes it that little more difficult to read, and may lose some of the impact that a properly formatted document might have.

For instance, the above paragraghs might look like this

If viewed in Wordpad, you would see no paragraphing,no bold, no centring, etc...So basically all you would see is a mass of words. A bit like some of the very long posts on this site. (That isn't a dig at anyone, by the way). It just makes it that little more difficult to read, and may lose some of the impact that a properly formatted document might have.

Hope that explains it a bit
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Thu Sep 12 11:04 2002
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i recieved an e-mail and wish to send it to someone else,the problem being is that it needs to be opened in word,and my friend has not got it installed,is there another way to send so he can read it?thanks in advance
allan - Thu Sep 12 05:38 2002
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They don't have to own Word , but if you can get the recipient to download Word viewer you can forward it as normal. Alternatively, it can be viewed in Wordpad, but ALL formatting is lost!
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Thu Sep 12 07:48 2002
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thanks iain,but could you explain what losing the formatting actually means
allan - Thu Sep 12 09:49 2002
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If viewed in Wordpad, you would see no
paragraphing,
no bold,
no centring,
etc...
So basically all you would see is a mass of words. A bit like some of the very long posts on this site. (That isn't a dig at anyone, by the way)
It just makes it that little more difficult to read, and may lose some of the impact that a properly formatted document might have.

For instance, the above paragraghs might look like this

If viewed in Wordpad, you would see no paragraphing,no bold, no centring, etc...So basically all you would see is a mass of words. A bit like some of the very long posts on this site. (That isn't a dig at anyone, by the way). It just makes it that little more difficult to read, and may lose some of the impact that a properly formatted document might have.

Hope that explains it a bit
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Thu Sep 12 11:00 2002
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This problem is annoying me and has only recently manifested itself. I suspect that I have inadvertently changed some preference or setting in MS-Word 2002 (XP). In a document which is running my “Normal” style I may wish to change a line by making it bold or adding a bullet point or one of many formatting options. I highlight the section to amend then click the required formatting button, let's say Bold for example. After a while, during which the hour-glass is displayed, the WHOLE document changes to Bold. If I then click the Undo button the document will revert to normal and only the highlighted section will be bold. As the document gets bigger the re-formatting time increases. Several times this has caused the MS-Word to hang. Is it a hidden viral infection or my settings? I have checked normal.dot and it seems to be well....normal. Any help please.
Geoff Fowler - Newbury - Wed Sep 11 18:25 2002
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Iain, your advice is working well on my copy/paste question but the clipboard seems to hold only one at a time.Any way to improve ?,it's XP by the way. Cheers.
George - Choppington - Mon Sep 09 19:17 2002
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George,
Click the Link to download Clipboard magic, (908kb freeware). That should increase your efficiency :^)
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Mon Sep 09 21:24 2002
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Thanks Iain,you are definitely Numero Uno.Download completed and have bookmarked the page for further info.During the download there were numerous popups from Weight Watchers,cheeky devils ! Thanks again.
George - Choppington - Mon Sep 09 23:03 2002
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The program itself has a very comprehensive Help file, should you need it!
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Mon Sep 09 23:23 2002
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Thanks Iain for the help in setting up the network, I finally got it up and running. The problem I have now is that i cant get the "guest" machine to connect to the internet. I've tried using Internet Connection Sharing but I cant get it to work. I was recommended "SpoonProxy" proxy server program, I've downloaded it and attempted to set it up but to no avail. Its asking for all sorts of addresses and things and im afraid im not that technical about PC's. Can anyone help me sort this problem out? I would be very grateful.
John O'Neill - Glasgow - Sun Sep 08 22:40 2002
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John
I'm afraid I am not familiar with Spoon Proxy

All I can off you is this site. I hope that this may solve your problem
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Mon Sep 09 21:33 2002
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All I can offer you is this site. I hope that this may solve your problem
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Mon Sep 09 21:35 2002
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Thanks, Iain, for the swift reply and the information, it is very much appreciated. Everything is running fine now, thank goodness, and its no longer annoying me. Once again, thankyou.
John O'Neill - Glasgow - Mon Sep 09 22:30 2002
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My usual procedure when browsing this and other forums is to record certain Q&A's by writing into notebooks.As this takes up online time I have been practicing with -highlight/copy/ paste into Notepad/Wordpad.The intention being to print out and/or copy to CD. However,after pasting I find the end result is one Q&A takes up so much space I would be wasting paper. Is there a method whereby text can be reduced to allow more Q&A's on the same page for print out ?
George - Choppington - Sat Sep 07 17:28 2002
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I've been meaning to do the same for ages, George.
the only thing I can suggest is the rather long winded approach of doing a bit of editing and maybe even a bit of combining of posts, with a few links.
So for instance if the instructions have a common thread, such as Go to Control Panel, then you would have the instructions as to how to do that followed by a hyperlink to the next part, then you can save pages as HTML on your local drive.

This has a dual advantage in that if you ever decided to publish it to the web, half the work is already done
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Sat Sep 07 18:39 2002
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Many thanks Iain,I shall copy/paste your answer then practice your advice. Thanks also for a speedy response,you really are making up for lost time and we are all the better for it.
George - Choppington - Sat Sep 07 19:03 2002
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I would be abliged if anyone (Ian) could help me with a folder problem. When opening folders, My Pictures for example, and others which I have created my self,they seam to pause for a while before displaying their contents.I have the view set to thumbnail,and more often than not have to manually refresh the screen to see the thumbnail in its correct mode.Its seams to be showing in icon view with a thumbnail border around it.When refreshed its fine,but when scrolling,the folder freezes temporarily before showing the bordered icons.Manual refresh corrects the problem. Diagnosis would suggest memory etc,but I'm using 512 of RAM,and processor is Pentium 4,2.2ghz and XP Home. Scrolling problems also arise,in particular with the temp internet files folder, which I have put on my desk top for access,scrolling faster than a snails pace crashes the system.Not sure if these problems are related. Again I would appreciate any help.Thanks. Steve. (ps welcome back Ian)
Steve - N/E - Sat Sep 07 16:30 2002
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Can I ask what graphics card you have on board and what size the file is that you are exploring?
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Sat Sep 07 16:36 2002
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Thanks for swift reply Ian. My graphics card is an ATI-Radeon 8500 with 64mb of DDR. The file sizes in total for My Pictures folder is 2.84mb (36 files/objects). Different folders obviously vary with there content, and temp internet folder depends on net useage, although the less in the folder,the problem is less servere. My hardware is only 6 months old and so relatively knew drivers are installed. Steve.
Steve - N/E - Sat Sep 07 17:54 2002
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This is not, unfortunately, a rare occurence. The most common cause for this is a combination of events and hardware.
Don't take it to heart. If you have a Hard disk drive (HDD) with a access speed of 5400rpm (which is the vast majority of HDD for cost reasons) combined some factors, then you may have some problems:

You mentioned clearing your Temporary Internet Files,which means you have recognised the correlation between Internet Explorer and Explorer, especially important if you have enabled Active Desktop.
However, it doesn't end just there

Windows\History
Windows\Temp
Windows\Cookies
Windows\Favorites (be ruthless!!)
Outlook Express Mail Folders
You are probably thinking that I have gone mad. But I haven't finished yet.

Start culling files and folders that you don't need.
Now empty your recycle bin
Your final task is to do a complete defrag
This will not cure your problem, but should alleviate it. There are various registry hacks that I could give you, but to be honest, I am not sure of their value to the vast majority of users. I think these were developed purely to prove that someone could. However,because of this and as even I am not prepared to try them, I don't feel that I could inflict them on users who may have a little less experience than I have and wouldn't have the same knowledge to repair the damage it might inflict
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Sat Sep 07 19:23 2002
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Thanks Iain the mad man, no seriously,you guessed correctly with the access speed of 5400rpm for the HDD,and with a capacity of 120gb, this doesn't help.Will know better next time when chosing disc speed. I appreciate your comments and will be "culling" files and folders imminently. Thanks again Iain, keep up the good work. Steve.
- Sat Sep 07 22:14 2002
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Just as a matter of interest, Steve, how is this 120Gb HDD partitioned? Is it one partition of 120Gb or several smaller ones?
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Sat Sep 07 22:46 2002
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Iain the HDD is one partion of 120GB. Steve.
Steve - N/E - Sun Sep 08 09:11 2002
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Ouch, good job, it isn't full or too defragmented, otherwise you be there until the end of next year waiting for it to finish :^O.
Word of warning with partitions of this size, You must keep on top of maintenance, otherwise you WILL see performance impairment
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Sun Sep 08 12:12 2002
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I empty the temp internet files folder every 2 days, so content is not a problem. Steve.
Steve - N/E - Sat Sep 07 17:58 2002
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I would be abliged if anyone (Ian) could help me with a folder problem. When opening folders, My Pictures for example, and others which I have created my self,they seam to pause for a while before displaying their contents.I have the view set to thumbnail,and more often than not have to manually refresh the screen to see the thumbnail in its correct mode.Its seams to be showing in icon view with a thumbnail border around it.When refreshed its fine,but when scrolling,the folder freezes temporarily before showing the bordered icons.Manual refresh corrects the problem. Diagnosis would suggest memory etc,but I'm using 512 of RAM,and processor is Pentium 4,2.2ghz and XP Home. Scrolling problems also arise,in particular with the temp internet files folder, which I have put on my desk top for access,scrolling faster than a snails pace crashes the system.Not sure if these problems are related. Again I would appreciate any help.Thanks. Steve. (ps welcome back Ian)
Steve - N/E - Sat Sep 07 16:30 2002
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Ive been looking to buy an anti virus package for my pc. Really wanting to know a basic one that works well. Was told to get Nortons Internet Security? I also think i have a virus on my pc at the moment, if i got a anti virus package could it detect it? if not why and how!. Prob looking to download it as its cheaper looking on comet website which is quite good.I have also been looking at Norton AntiVirus 2003 ? really wanna know which is good 4 me!
Tery - London - Fri Sep 06 23:43 2002
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I agree with Ian, I've been using AVG for ages and as long as you regularly download the FREE updates you'll be fine!!!!!!!!!
the techie - caldicot - Sat Sep 07 16:54 2002
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A lot of people (including myself) use a free anti-virus package called AVG available from Grisoft
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Sat Sep 07 07:10 2002
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A lot of people (including myself) use a free anti-virus package called AVG available from reply

why will my pc sometimes close pages slow or freeze for a moment while busy??????
roger greenwood - leeds - Fri Sep 06 01:04 2002
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Possibly because your computer is trying to do other things at the same time.
You don't give the specs of your pc, but certainly giving the pc too much do, will make it slow down. It may be a case of reducing the number of programs running alongside Internet Explorer, (including spyware etc).

Another possible problem is that your pc could do with some basic maintenance, such as clearing out your temporary internet files, temporary folder, and doing a defrag etc.
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Fri Sep 06 11:42 2002
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im attempting to set up a network at home between 2 pc's. one is running xp, the other is running me. i have a hub, all the cables and network cards in both machines. its the xp machine which is connected to the net via ntl's broadband set-up. every time i attempt to set up a network the modem disconnects and cant recognise the isp (or so it tells me.) ive tried to run the network setup wizard and it still disconnects me. i was told to try switching off the xp firewall but every time i do it seems to be still there when i run the wizard again. i tried to manually set it up and it still isnt happy. ive also been told to try a router but someone else informed me that i would still have a problem. ive spoken to ntl and all they can tell me is that "they dont support networks" it doesnt matter what i ask, this is the only answer i get. if anyone can help it will be very much appreciated. cheers.
John O'Neill - Glasgow - Mon Sep 02 21:35 2002
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John,
Suggest you have a look through this site. Looks pretty comprehensive
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Mon Sep 02 22:52 2002
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im attempting to set up a network at home between 2 pc's. one is running xp, the other is running me. i have a hub, all the cables and network cards in both machines. its the xp machine which is connected to the net via ntl's broadband set-up. every time i attempt to set up a network the modem disconnects and cant recognise the isp (or so it tells me.) ive tried to run the network setup wizard and it still disconnects me. i was told to try switching off the xp firewall but every time i do it seems to be still there when i run the wizard again. i tried to manually set it up and it still isnt happy. ive also been told to try a router but someone else informed me that i would still have a problem. ive spoken to ntl and all they can tell me is that "they dont support networks" it doesnt matter what i ask, this is the only answer i get. if anyone can help it will be very much appreciated. cheers.
John O'Neill - Glasgow - Mon Sep 02 21:35 2002
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ive got a pacbell computer 256 ram upgraded from 128 32 megabyte graphics card pci upgraded from 4mb onboard graphics and added a rewriter after after a bad crash and a 1 gig processor (IM4508) WHILE PLAYING ANARCHY online anarchy online crashed,though it left the screen it was still running even though it wasnt showing in the task manager, so shut it off at the switch .when i tried to switch on it wouldent even come on in safe mode. luckily a few days earlier i had taken ghost image using norton,but i dont know the program well enough to restore it i am waitinf for friend to help.im using library computer at the moment. but for a new computer bought in february ive had nothing but trouble pacbell set up makes a bad situation worse. their master cds only work if the computers the same as when u bought it. i cant use windows boot\set up discs because you dont get the windows xp disc. the last time my comp crashed i spent an extra 50 in phone bills so ive decided not use the support this time even though i paid 138£ for 3 years i feel like taking my upgrades out cancelling my DD and let them collect it .How they can call a 4mb shared graphic a modern computer and no agp slots is beyond me. i could have them under the trade descriptions act this is just a rant but any advice welcome fed up salford
darren knight - salford - Mon Sep 02 14:18 2002
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Darren, Seeing as you have Norton Ghost, why don't you learn a bit about it by using these interactive tutorials
Iain Wolstencroft - Accrington - Mon Sep 02 22:44 2002
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thanks ian a mate came down rescued my system using ghost but he wizzed through it so fast i dont know if i could do it myselfso these tutorials will help ive added to my favorites cheers no more supportlines hopefully
darren knight - salford - Wed Sep 04 17:16 2002
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ps after adding upgrades checked my system out at pc pitstop and all was well. ive cancelled my anarchy online can anyone suggest an online rpg that doesnt require such high specs. i look after people with learning difficulties so the computer is a good way to relax from a sressful job thanks pacbell
darren knight - salford - Mon Sep 02 14:24 2002
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Compaq Evo 600 Laptop - When I start up I am asked to press Ctrl/Alt/delete. The next screen says Administrator and has a box for a password. I press Enter and the computer opens up fully. The problem is that it does remember passwords although it allows me to tick the "Remember Password" boxes. This is most annoying as I have 3 e-mail addresses. I have another older Compaq E500 and do not have any problems. Ideally I would like to just switch on the computer and be straight in, with the passwords remembered. I know vitually nothing about computers and would appreciate a step by step solution. Many thanks.
Robert Ross - Bedford - Mon Sep 02 11:14 2002
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my son downloaded 2 10 second vids. from a sex site ,to favourites,view offline,but when he tries error messagage this programme has performed illegal operation,result nothing moves how do we get rid of this error message?
peter ruddiman - kirkcaldy - Sun Sep 01 20:54 2002
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I have many such videos to share if your son is interested. e-mail me at omar1611@hotmail.com
omar - london - Mon Sep 16 16:30 2002
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I tried this address but my email bounced back!
colin hobbs - wellingborough - Fri Jan 31 14:28 2003
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I have downloaded DirectX8.1 from the Windows Update site but I have been unsuccessful in installing this update.When answering yes, to the prompt to install, a box appears titled "Installing Microsoft(R)DirectX(R) Which advises "Searching for updated DirectX Runtime Components and updating as necessary.This may take a few minutes." After waiting half an hour or so no movement is noted on the install progress bar and keying Ctrl+Alt+Del shows that the install program is not responding.Can anyone please advise how to overcome this problem? My OS is Me and a diagnostic check on the current DirectX shows no problems.
Brian Woolley - Solihull - Sun Sep 01 16:17 2002

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