YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Expert computing advice Chris Byers tackles readers hardware and software conundrums INSUFFICIENT RESOURCES Q Whenever I try to connect to the internet I get the error message 'C: backslash Program files backslash Internet Explorer.exe. Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service. I'm using Windows XP and Internet Explorer (IE) 8.0. How do I fix this, please? Kirsty As the error suggests, Windows is struggling to run IE. This could be due to a lack of disk space, RAM or processing power. If you've previously been able to run IE without problems, try a little housekeeping using CCleaner ( tinyurl.com slash 673cywt). This will remove any temporary files from your browser, as it's possible that you've filled up the web cache. It will also delete other temporary files and your Recycle Bin contents, and clean up other parts of the operating system where clutter accumulates. If this doesn't help, use Task Manager to identify what's hogging system resources. Right-click the Taskbar and select Task Manager. Click the Performance tab for an indication of how hard your computer is working. Have a look at the CPU usage graph. Ideally, your CPU usage should be low when your system is idling (not running any programs). In the 'Physical Memory section you'll see how much memory (RAM) you have and how much is being used by your computer. You ought to have at least 1GB installed. If you have only 512MB, lack of RAM may be the cause of your problem. If you have plenty of RAM but the CPU usage is high, click on the Processes tab. This will show you the programs and system operations running on your computer. The CPU and 'Memory Usage columns indicate the programs and services using the most system resources. Use a search engine to find out which program each service belongs to. Winword.exe is clearly a part of Microsoft Word, for example, but crss.exe isn't obviously a Windows system file. If you find that a process is taking up an inordinate amount of system resources and it's a program that you installed yourself, either close it within Task Manager (simply right-click the program icon and select 'End Process) or uninstall it. It's wise to reboot your PC first, however, since it may simply be a task the program is completing at that moment that's causing it to hog resources. If you still can't get IE to start, try using an alternative web browser, such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Apple Safari. SCREEN NO-SHOW Q My ViewSonic monitor refuses to display a picture. The LED blinks on and off for around 30 minutes, after which time the screen will often work following a restart. A local repair shop says there is nothing wrong with the hardware. Keith Sales The blinking LED indicates no signal to the monitor, and the problem could be as simple as your needing a new monitor lead. The cable pins and internal solder can become loose or cracked with no outwardly visible signs. If your monitor and computer both have more than one connection type, such as VGA and DVI, try using a different input method. Another option is to use a different power source for your monitor, particularly if a single plug is powering your PC and all its peripherals. Failing that, check your graphics card is seated correctly and that its connectors aren't bent or missing. WRONg WI-FI CONNECTION Q My wife's laptop and my internet radio happily talk to our Belkin N modem router on our wireless network, but my Windows XP PC insists on first connecting to a nearby unsecured BT network when waking from Hibernate mode. Sometimes it refuses to connect to our own network until I reboot the router. Anthony Hampson When your computer enters Hibernate mode it switches off the wireless card; on wake up it seeks out the networks it regards as the most accessible. Windows XP isn't the most wireless-friendly operating system, and it has problems correctly starting up hardware when waking from Hibernate. These issues have been fixed in Vista and Windows 7. As XP is no longer supported, you should consider upgrading the operating system (assuming your hardware is up to the task). You can get a copy of Vista Home Premium for just ukp45 at amazon.co.uk. In the meantime, change your settings to make your own wireless network the default, with no other networks available for connection. Open the wireless connection settings, right-click those you don't want to use and select Disable. Next, open the Control Panel and go to Network Connections. Right-click your wireless card and select the Wireless Networks tab. In the box marked 'Preferred networks, ensure your home access point appears at the top by highlighting it and clicking the 'Move up button as necessary. This will force Windows to look only to the preferred connection, ignoring the wireless connections you've disabled. SECURITy CENTER STANDS DOWN Q I'm having problems with Windows Security Center, which keeps switching itself off. I get a warning flag pop-up in the Taskbar, but when I try to activate the service Action Center reports that 'The Windows Security Center service can't be started. When I restart it in Control Panel Services, Action Center immediately reports it's off again. Brian Forbes First, check that the Security Center service is set to start automatically. Go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services and double-click 'Security Center Service. Select the General tab in the Properties window, then ensure the Startup type is listed as 'Automatic (Delayed Start)'. On the Recovery tab, ensure that the 'First Failure, 'Second Failure and subsequent failure fields have 'Restart the Service selected. If the problem persists, download and run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool ( tinyurl.com slash 64Ld3ya). System Restore is another useful resource, able to roll back your computer to a time when you knew it was working correctly. Find a Troubleshooter on our DVD with instructions on using it. SLOW BOOTINg Q I upgraded my PC's motherboard, CPU and hard disk. Windows 7 64bit now takes 4 minutes to load. By booting into Safe mode, I found that it's hanging at Windows backslash System32 backslash Drivers backslash ClassPnp.sys. Malcolm Pott The possible causes and solutions for this problem are myriad. First ensure your motherboard has the latest Bios installed. Next, use the Recovery Console to check Windows and your hard disk for errors. Boot up from your Windows 7 installation disc and choose 'Repair my computer. When the 'System Recovery Options menu appears, choose 'Startup Repair. If this doesn't offer any solutions, return to the System Recovery Options menu and select 'Command Prompt. At the command prompt, type chkdsk c: slash f and press Enter. This will check your hard disk for any file errors and repair them as necessary. If the problem persists, try disabling onboard hardware such as network and sound cards one by one via the Bios. Check whether the machine still boots each time. Failing this, delete the ClassPnp.sys file. It may be corrupted, and Windows will create a fresh version on reboot. Access the Command prompt via the Recovery Options menu, then type rename c: backslash windows backslash system32 backslash drivers backslash classpnp.sys classpnp. old, press Enter and reboot. If you're still experiencing problems, a Windows reinstallation is in order. SOUND ALERT Q I've lost all sound from the speakers and audio jack on my Sony laptop. I can get sound by plugging in external speakers via a USB slash audio jack adaptor, however. Terry Snow Disconnect your headphones and speakers from the laptop, then visit Control Panel, Sound. Select the Playback tab and check that your preferred sound output is selected as the default device. If it isn't, highlight the preferred option and click 'Set Default. Next, select the Properties tab. Ensure the volume is set at an audible level under 'Levels. Next, on the Enhancements tab, ensure no options are selected. On the Advanced tab, for testing sake, reduce the 'Default Format audio quality rate to '16 Bit (CD Quality)'. Click the 'Test button. If you can hear sound, test the next setting (DVD Quality). If this also works, leave this setting selected. If you still can't hear any sound, try using the Sony drivers for your device and updating the Bios ( tinyurl.com slash 6dm2ehg). If this fails, you may have a problem with the speakers and should return the laptop to Sony for repair if it has a valid warranty. DEFENDER IS DOWN Q When I try to run Defender in Vista I get a message that it's turned off. I select 'Turn on and open Windows Defender, but then get the message 'Error Ox8000106b5'. Help and Support tells me to select Tools and click on Options, but there is no such choice in the drop-down menu. Please help me solve this problem. Alan St. Pierre Your best bet is to install the free Microsoft Security Essentials suite. This includes a newer and more powerful version of Windows Defender. Get Security Essentials from tinyurl.com slash 6eLshas. As part of the installation, Security Center will disable Windows Defender, preventing it from running again and removing the messages. USINg AN SSD FOR VIDEO WORk Q I run a Dell Inspiron laptop with an AMD 6000 processor, 4 grams B of RAM and Windows 7 64bit. I'd like to install a 128 grams B solid-state disk (SSD) to act as a system drive. Will this improve performance with video editing and conversion? If so, what sort of SSD should I buy? roger Weed Using an SSD for video editing is a good move, since the improved input slash output can assist in rendering footage. There are other factors to bear in mind, however, depending on the video-editing package you're using. As Windows 7 supports SSD features such as the Trim command (which allows the disk to perform efficient data cleansing), there should be no compatibility problems. And since you are to use the SSD in a laptop, neither will you have throughput issues - the latest SATA connections are included. Desktop PC users looking to perform a similar upgrade would need to check whether the SATA interface is version 2 or 3, however, and perhaps invest in a faster SATA card to enable data to be moved on and around the drive with greater speed. If you need any pointers on which SSD to buy, read the reviews on our website to help guide you ( tinyurl.com slash ybw3s6w). UNINSTALLINg EXTRAS Q My Acer Aspire Ethos 8943 grams laptop came preinstalled with several 'bloatware applications that I neither want nor need. Windows 7 discs are not provided, but the HDD is partitioned to create a recovery disc - I would also like to remove this partition. I have a desktop PC on which I have installed a retail version of Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit. Is it possible - and permissible - to use my Windows retail disc to make a clean installation of Windows on my laptop using the key on the sticker affixed to the Acer? Peter Pemberton The extra programs some manufacturers add to their PCs can be annoying and often time-consuming to remove. However, you should only go ahead and wipe the hard drive clean if you have a Windows 7 licence. You can't simply use another manufacturer's key. They are often locked into the brand of hardware on which they're installed. Your best course of action is to manually remove the 'bloatware and install your own programs. If you must wipe the entire drive, you should first purchase a Windows 7 disc online for around ukp75. HARD-DRIVE UPgRADE Q My Windows XP PC has a 320 grams B Seagate 7,200rpm SATA 2 hard drive and an Asus A7N8X Deluxe motherboard. I want to upgrade to a 1TB Seagate 7,200rpm SATA 3 drive, but the Bios won't recognise it even after I set the drive jumpers to run at SATA 1 speeds. It works perfectly when attached in an enclosure and connected via USB, however. I have updated the Bios, but updating the SATA driver caused the system to crash and was immediately rolled back. Clive Mansell This is largely because your motherboard is getting rather old (it was released in 2005) and won't support hard drives larger than 500GB in capacity. Using the drive in an external enclosure is an exception, since the SATA controller is contained within the enclosure. You should also note that the SATA interface version on your motherboard is SATA 150 (SATA 1, in essence). You could purchase an internal PCI SATA 2 card for around ukp35 and fit that to run the drive from. If you do, disable your onboard SATA in the Bios. The PCI SATA card will then handle the input slash output to the drive for you. Note that you should ensure the model of SATA card you purchase has Windows XP drivers available. UNEXPECTED DELIVERy Q I received an email from a company calling itself Post Express regarding a delivery refusal, claiming that there is an error in the address. This must be some form of scam as I'm not expecting a delivery. I saw somewhere that an official body asked that if anything like this occurred then to forward the mail on to them, but I can't remember who it was. Can you help? Alwyn Andrew This is indeed a scam, and you were right to ignore the instructions. Antivirus company Sophos reports on it at tinyurl.com slash 44f38jd, where it indicates that the email may also include a malicious attachment. The best course of action is to delete and forget about the email. BANDED PRINTINg Q I have been using my Canon IP3000 printer for several years, but it's started printing in bands. I'm trying to print a Publisher page with pictures, a border and text, but it prints about half a centimetre, leaves a half-centimetre gap, then prints another half-centimetre. I tried printing an old Publisher file that had previously printed correctly, but the same problem occurred. All cartridges have ink, and I've performed nozzle and alignment tests. Wildhouse It sounds as though you have a blocked printhead. Even though you ran the nozzle test, this won't fully clear the blocked printhead. This is a common problem on older printers, and particularly those that aren't often used to print full-colour pages. Canon's My Printer utility now has a 'Diagnose and Repair function that may be able to help ( tinyurl.com slash 5tehbpd). If this doesn't solve the problem, a replacement printhead can be purchased online for around ukp57. Be sure to search for it using the part code QY6-0064-000, and note that you may need to have it professionally fitted. FREEVIEW VIEWINg Q We're in the process of changing over to digital TV, which means we need to retune our Freeview TVs and set-top boxes. I've done so successfully on my TV and PVR, but I'm having trouble retuning my PC's TV tuner, a Compro Video Mate S350. I can no longer pick up any BBC channels other than BBC Parliament and BBC 4. Compro told me to type in the frequency details by hand, which would be fine if I knew what they were. I need to know the Frequency, Service ID, Video PID and Audio PID. Please can you help? Audeal A driver for your tuner card was released on 13 March, so your first priority should be to download this ( tinyurl.com slash 6dv9k5u). You should also consider fitting a dedicated digital TV aerial to replace your existing one if you haven't already done so. These are available for around ukp35; a good one will improve the reception. For technical information about manual tuning take a look at Ofcom's advice: tinyurl.com slash yhcyjvr. FOXED By FOXMAIL Q I'm using Foxmail and can't seem to activate the auto send slash receive function that's supposed to take place when I launch the application. To download new email messages I have to click the send slash receive icon. There is a setting in the Tools menu, but for some reason it fails to work. Arnie30 First ensure you're running the latest version of Foxmail (6.5), since any bugs may have been corrected. Note that it's been two years since the last release, however, so it's unlikely that further program or feature improvements are coming. Good alternatives to Foxmail that are also light on system resources include Windows Live Mail ( explore.live.com) and Mozilla Thunderbird ( mozillamessaging.com). I can't find any reference online to an auto send slash receive feature. However, in the latest version of Foxmail, you should go to Tools, Options and select the General tab. Select the option to 'Autorun when system starts up. HOMEPLUg OUT OF RANgE? Q I have a pair of Homeplug 200 megabits per second (Mbps) Powerline adaptors, broadband web access and a Speedtouch ST585 v6 router. The computer is located upstairs and connected to the router via a wireless access point. I've connected a Homeplug to the router. I installed the software to connect one device to the Speedtouch, but the computer doesn't detect the Homeplug. According to the instructions, it should be simple and straightforward. I have no idea where to go from here - can you help? Jimskopi You may be experiencing problems with the electrical circuit in your house. Homeplugs require all the sockets you wish to connect through to be on the same electrical circuit. If your upstairs electrics are on a different circuit from those downstairs, your computer won't be able to see your Homeplug. If possible, take your computer downstairs and run the connection software to see whether the Homeplug is visible to it. If so, you will need to rethink your setup. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
