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Computer Related Questions - Volume 85 - Dynamic Dave

***** This thread is now closed, please CLICK HERE to go to Volume 86 *****


In this thread you may ask any computer related question for which you need help, advice, suggestions or whatever.

Usual rules apply,

No motoring related discussion,
No politics,
No Speeding, speed cameras, traffic calming
No arguments or slanging matches
Nothing which I think is not following the spirit of the thread
Nothing that risks the future of this site (please see the small print for details www.honestjohn.co.uk/credits/index.htm )

Any of the above will be deleted. If the thread becomes difficult to maintain it will simply be removed.

There is a wealth of knowledge in here, much of which is not motoring related, but most of which is useful.

This is Volume 85. Previous Volumes will not be deleted.

A list of previous volumes can be found here:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=20892


PLEASE NOTE:

When posting a NEW question, please "Reply to" the first message in this thread, i.e. this one. This keeps each question in it's own separate segment and stops each new question from getting mixed up in amongst existing questions. Also please remember to change the subject header.

Re-installing Windows XP - Robbie
I have a problem with burning video DVDs on my pc and after trying everything it looks as if I might have to reinstall Windows. If I just re-run my Windows XP cd can I reinstall without losing everything?

I recall doing this with an old pc but with 98SE and I never lost anything.
Re-installing Windows XP - Civic8
>>I have a problem with burning video DVDs on my pc and after trying everything it looks as if I might have to reinstall Windows.

What is the problem?,I have had problems but never to the point of recovering XP
--
Steve
Re-installing Windows XP - Stuartli
You can undertake a Repair of XP without losing your programs, applications, configuration etc.

To save me typing it all out, here's a link to an explanation of how to do it (you may/also have to also reinstall SP2 and all the updates since then):

www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

PS

You will need to go into the Bios before undertaking the Repair and set the first boot to be from CDROM. Have your XP installation disk in the CD drive tray after Saving and Exiting from the Bios.
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What's for you won't pass you by
Re-installing Windows XP - Robbie
Thanks Stuart.

I don't really know what is wrong but I've tried everything - un-installing the optical drive, software, replacing the drive. Dell have been unsuccessful and want me to return the pc to them, but that means it being away for the better part of two weeks.

I can burn CDs but not DVDs. Sonic can't see the drive. Nero can but doesn't burn the DVD.
Re-installing Windows XP - rory
You may not have to, particularly if it's a recent-ish Dell. There is a facility to revert your machine back to its ex-factory state, this is achieved via a menu by pressing one of the f-keys on boot-up, but consider all that you will lose. I'm not at my machine at home and thus can't remember which one it is ( I believe it's via F12 ) but I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along soon. Best of luck.

Sonic and Nero are probably fighting with each other.
File sharing over wlan issue? - cheddar
Hello,

I previously had my wireless router wired to my 98SE PC with a Belkin USB Adapter on the kids ME machine, I had a shared folder on the ME PC which I could access from the 98SE PC to drop files into or copy files from.

I now have the router wired to my XP PC and I have put a Belkin USB adapter type 7050 on the 98SE PC so all three (plus my laptop) are on the network. However I now have a problem sharing files between the 98SE and ME PCs. Although the 98SE PC can see the shared folder on the ME machine and read from it with no problem, when I copy & paste or drag & drop a file from the 98SE PC into the shared folder the 98SE PC locks up, Task Manager indicates that Explorer is not responding and a reset is the only way to recover it.

Any ideas?


Regards.
File sharing over wlan issue? - Pezzer
cheddar, I have two xp pcs doing something similar and it was driving me nuts because I could see each of them but could not access the shared folders/printer. In the end it turned out that I had to set up an Administrator password on the one of them which did not have it set (I made them the same) and hey presto it worked. I dont know whether this will help but I note that you have added XP into the mix.

Also have you enabled access on the respective firewalls ?

Cheers P
File sharing over wlan issue? - No FM2R
>>Any ideas?

No, but I wouldn't mind knowing the answer since I have the same issue. In the end I abandoned any idea of a solution. the 98 PC can see and read, but no write, edit or delete. The XP machines cannot even see the 98 machine.

I was told that I needed to wire the things together while I set it up, set all the folders to share etc. etc. but I couldn't be bothered to lump the 98 (heavy) machince all the way to the other end of the house.

I was also told that I could install the networking programs from the XP machines on the 98 machine, but I didn't get around to that either.

As an aside should you not upgrade the machines ? Whilst you may not be able to upgrade the 98, although you might be able to get it to 2000, but getting the ME machines to XP might be a good idea.
File sharing over wlan issue? - Altea Ego
www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/wxpwi...l
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
File sharing over wlan issue? - cheddar
As an aside should you not upgrade the machines ? Whilst
you may not be able to upgrade the 98, although you
might be able to get it to 2000, but getting the
ME machines to XP might be a good idea.

>>

My network was all working fine with a mix of 98SE, ME and XP until I moved the router and put a wireless USB device on the 98SE machine. As it happens the 98SE PC would probably take XP and I have a licenced copy of XP Home I could use however I do like 98SE. The ME PC however would not take an upgrade.

I will look at RF's link and post again if I find an answer.

Thanks also to Pezzer.
File sharing over wlan issue? - No FM2R
>>until I moved the router and put a wireless USB device on the 98SE machine.

As was mine. Which I find particularly annoying since I don't really understand why it would make a difference whether or not it is wireless.
File sharing over wlan issue? - Dalglish


since no-fm2r too is stumped by this problem, it is hard to imagine where the problem lies.
i have no personal experience of this configuration and so cannot say whether it is specific to wireless or usb or the make of the hardware.

all i can suggest is that you look through

www.homenethelp.com/web/howto/net-update.asp

and the user comments at the bottom of that page, plus

forum.homenethelp.com/

File sharing over wlan issue? - cheddar
I have not got time to look in detail until this evening though thinking about it some more it might be to do with the TCP/IP Bindings in ME and 98SE, I am thinking that File & Print Sharing needs to be in the same Binding as the USB network adapter, perhaps my problem is that it is not. I will look later and report.

Thanks all.
File sharing over wlan issue? - cheddar
Couldn't resist trying it, it is not a bindings issue from what I can see. I reckon it might be caused by the wireless adapter, I am thinking of swapping the wireless adapters and fiting the older one to the 98SE PC and the new one to the ME PC and see if it makes any difference.
File sharing over wlan issue? - Altea Ego
Everyone is going to shout at me but I dont care and its an opinion based on personal experience.

I wouldnt trust windows 98 (SE or no) or ME with any USB device.

USB support pre Win2k was, is and always will be a cludge
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
File sharing over wlan issue? - cheddar
Everyone is going to shout at me but I dont care
and its an opinion based on personal experience.
I wouldnt trust windows 98 (SE or no) or ME with
any USB device.
USB support pre Win2k was, is and always will be a
cludge



No shouting though I must say that I have never had a USB problem on 98SE or ME, until recently my 98SE machine was USB to my wireless router and had a four port hub running an external h/d, a printer, a MM card reader and occasionally a scanner with no probs whatsoever.

Of course 98 would not support USB at all, though 98SE and ME are fine IME.
File sharing over wlan issue? - Stuartli
I used several USB devices on my one time Windows 98SE system and, like cheddar's experiences, they created no problems.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
File sharing over wlan issue? - expat
Seconded. You can get USB to work with 98 but it doesn't always do it and in general it is more problems than it is worth.

As an aside I have run into problems with San Disk USB drives which won't work with some machines and will with others. It seems some San Disk USB drives need too much power. Other brands no worries.
File sharing over wlan issue? - cheddar
Sorted!

I ran the "Home Networking Wizard" on the ME PC, ticked the "I want to give others access to my files" box in "File and Print" sharing on the 98SE PC.

Also using the "Access Shared Files" facility in the router GUI provides an easy way to file share.

Dont know why it worked before moving the router, though no worries, it works now.



Regards.
File sharing over wlan issue? - cheddar
PS: Forgot to mention Zone Alarm, I have it running on the 98SE PC and it needs to be either carefully configured or shut down while file sharing due it's port blocking functions.
Outlook Express "deleted items" folder - L'escargot
I've got McAfee Shredder which enables me to shred unwanted sensitive files, but I can't find out how to use it on the contents of the Outlook Express "deleted items" folder. Any ideas? If I just empty the folder, do the contents remain anywhere in a form to which a hacker could get access?
--
L\'escargot.
Outlook Express "deleted items" folder - Dalglish
If I just empty the folder, do the contents remain anywhere in a
form to which a hacker could get access?

>>

yes.
according to secunia, this vulnerability has remained unpatched since 2002.
secunia.com/advisories/7414/

anyone not tech-savvy who is paranoid should ditch ie and oe; and certainly switch to firefox browser and thunderbird email.

alternatively, use web-mail if you don't want to download your secret-service emails on to your pc.
use pgp (prety good privacy) or other encryption, etc.

but then if you deal in sensitive material, you will already know about all these things.


Remote access, Firewall - RichardW
I'm trying to connect to my Parent's computer over the web using VNC to correct a problem (that my Sister created, thanks then!), but I can't get it to work. I eventually managed to ping their machine, but VNC still couldn't find it. We've got Zonealarm free, and I guess it's blocking the port VNC uses (5900). Don't really want to turn ZA off for the duration, but the free edition won't allow port confiuguration. So, anybody know if..
configuring my IP address (I realise this will need to be updated every time due to dynamic IP address) in the trusted zone will allow it through;
there's another remote access solution that will work with ZA Free;
there's another free firewall that does allow port configuration?

Or anyhow else to get on to it!

Cheers
--
RichardW

Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
Remote access, Firewall - Dalglish
but the free edition won't allow port confiuguration.

>>

i use agnitum-pro so don't really know zone-alarm free features from personal experience.

however, i was under the impression that the zonealarm free version includes all the firewall features that the pro version does. all the free version lacks are the anti-virus/spy etc. features.

download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/1230_zl/zlsSetup_61...e

download.zonelabs.com/bin/media/pdf/zaclient61_use...f

Remote access, Firewall - Stuartli
It's a while since I've used VNC - I have it installed but never needed its features - but did once on my best mate's business system to link up with my son, an IT support specialist.

ZoneAlarm did not attempt to stop the linkup.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Remote access, Firewall - kennybase
I can second that the remote assistance (easier through MSN) is a godsend! One of my Dad's friends was having problems with his PC and trying to talk him through what to do was painful (and he is in France) so we hooked him up to MSN Messenger, got him to request assistance, and I took control of his PC (make sure you tell them to leave the mouse alone!) and sorted his problem out in a few minutes! Logged off, and all is still working!
Remote access, Firewall - Citroënian {P}
Hi Richard,

If you're both using XP, there's a remote assistance option that may help - it's built into the OS. You can do the same thing through MSN messenger, so if you can chat over messenger, you should be able to take control with permission.

hth

Lee -- Do you have any conceivable reason for even getting up in the morning?
Mouse Pointer Creeping - Cardew
I have to use a friend's laptop from time to time.

It has a fault in that the pointer creeps all the time and will not stay static. The normal movement is vertically up the screen - but not always. Everything else works OK and to Click on a link you have to position it below the link and 'time' your 'click' as it passes over.

The pointer creeps both with an external mouse and using the touch pad.

Mouse driver has been re-installed a couple of times and all options in control panel have been tried. OS is XP home.

Any Ideas?
Mouse Pointer Creeping - cheddar
It is likely to be the touch pad, it probably "thinks" that there is slight pressure on it when there is not. There should be an application that controls the touch pad settings, this should be reset so the PC knows what static is. I once had a simlar problem with a "nipple" type pointer controller.
Mouse Pointer Creeping - mfarrow
Further to the other comment, if you're using the mouse, disabling the touch pad in Control Panel with stop the creeping.

--------------
Mike Farrow
Why won't my BACK button work - alan kearn
When I want to return to the previous web page on this web site using the BACK button, it will not do so, I have to use list that appears when you click the NARROW button between the BACK and FORWARD buttons. The following unidentified address also appears in the list of Honest John web pages that show up in the list
amch.questionmarket.com/jsc/jsc
When I click on this address it does not take me to the site.
These problems only happen on this web site

This is only a mild irritation but I would be interested if anyone knows what the problem is.

Thanks
Why won't my BACK button work - Robin
Me too. I was just about to post the very same question.
Why won't my BACK button work - Stuartli
I would run an anti-virus scan (ensure the AV has been updated first) just to be on the safe side, plus Search and Destroy and Ad-Aware (again updated first).
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Why won't my BACK button work - normd
the Back button works fine for me - running XP Pro SP2.
Why won't my BACK button work - alan kearn
Already ran
Avast
Spybot
Adaware
Trend micro
My computer looks clean
Why won't my BACK button work - rustbucket
same here been like it for a couple of days,back button on my clean xp works ok on all other sites but not honestjohn.
--
rustbucket (the original)
Why won't my BACK button work - Dynamic Dave
If using Internet Explorer, try pressing the Alt key + left arrow key instead. If that works, then the fault must lie elsewhere.
Why won't my BACK button work - Robin
Just tried the Alt and left arrow combination: works fine.

Very puzzling.
Why won't my BACK button work - Dalglish
then the fault must lie elsewhere.

>>

re. questionmarket.com; according to www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/pest/pest.aspx?id=4530...7

search other pointers from google for that company.


Why won't my BACK button work - Number_Cruncher
I've just had the same trouble.

To fix it, I added questionmarket.com to the list of sites to block in my browser.

Why won't my BACK button work - alan kearn
Number_Cruncher
Or anyone else please, how do you go about blocking questionmarket.com in your browser and do you have to enter the full web address.

Thanks
Why won't my BACK button work - Number_Cruncher
Now I have played around a bit more, I'm not sure I have fixed it at all - please disregard my earlier post.

Number_Cruncher
Keyboard Problem; How do I... - Robbie
When writing e-mails my return key suddenly does a double space instead of a single. How can I rectify this?

I'm sure it must be simple but I can't find how I do it.

Oulook Express with Windows XP.
Keyboard Problem; How do I... - Robbie
Never mind, it's cured itself.

It's very odd, I've no idea how it happened. I've been trying to fix it for nearly an hour.
Keyboard Problem; How do I... - g3zdm
Possibly you were writing an email using rich text or replying to an email that used rich text or HTML.
Either can automagically decide to add extra spaces and formatting - cured by switching back to plain text.
At least this is so in MS Outlook.

Chris Muriel, Manchester
Cleaning a TFT monitor - Adam {P}
After a year, my monitor screen has picked up various fingerprints (I know I know) and speckles of coffee/breakfast etc

What's the best way of cleaning it? I though nipping to PC World and getting some proper wipes would be best but someone said this damages them.

Any suggestions?
Cleaning a TFT monitor - smokie
Apple say

"To clean the LCD:

1. Turn off the computer or display. You may need to turn off the computer in order to turn off some Apple displays.
2. Dampen a clean, soft, lint-free cloth or paper with water only.
3. Wipe the screen. Do not spray liquid directly on the screen.


You may also use a mild glass cleaner that contains no alcohol or ammonia. Most office supply stores sell cleaning kits specifically designed for this purpose."
Cleaning a TFT monitor - Altea Ego
Use spectacle wipes, - available in your high st chemist and supermarkets.

Unless of course you want to pay over the odds down at PC world, but winding up the staff makes it worth while.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Cleaning a TFT monitor - Adam {P}
Thanks for the advice folks.

I'll give it a whirl in the next few days.
Wireless Networking Security - Hugo {P}
Having gone out to buy a new wireless enabled laptop and a Netgear router, I have installed what i believe to be a basicc security measure.

I have changed the name of the network from the 'Netgear' default to a name of my choosing, and added in a 'key' based on a 10 diget number in the password area, as indicated by the Manual etc.

Is this adequate protection against expected forms of wireless invasion/ theft of bandwidth?

H
Wireless Networking Security - Citroënian {P}
Hi Hugo,

You should have decent enough security there for day to day use. If you're terrbily paranoid, you could set up MAC address filtering in the router to accept only connections from your devices and not broadcast the SSID. Neither of these are perfect (MAC addresses can be spoofed, SSIDs sniffed) but take the extra step.

If you have WLA encryption on both sides, use that rather than WEP and take a silly long passphrase such as "AdamsCarIsGoldandHasABoot@@#". That's probably the most effective of all the means around at the moment if the passphrase is sufficiently complex, without going down the road of certificate servers.

So, er, yes you're probably OK with what you've done - if you play with it you could make it properly secure and lock yourself out of your own network if any of the config is wrong!!

Lee
Lee -- Do you have any conceivable reason for even getting up in the morning?
Wireless Networking Security - Hugo {P}
Thanks Lee

I think I'll stick with something that I can access and get around easily if need be. I know it's not totally secure against some gizmos that are out there but the hacker would need to be either a neigbour or sitting in their car with a laptop in our road - which we would notice anyway.

So, from what you say, it's unlikely I'd have a security issue.

H
Wireless Networking Security - Dalglish
hugo:
- advice given by lee-citroenian is all you need.

this is all explained in detail in plain-english (as far as they can make techno speak plain) here:

www.getsafeonline.org/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=1151

( each technical term has a link to a glossary ).

getsafeonline is sponsored by
"The CSIA is a unit of the UK Government's Cabinet Office and works with partners in the public and private sectors, as well as its international counterparts, to help safeguard the nation's IT and telecommunications services."

Wireless Networking Security - Dalglish
if you play with it you could make it properly secure and
lock yourself out of your own network if any of the config is
wrong!!

>>

although that should normally be easily overcome by resetting the wireless router to factory default settings. ( no harm to check the manual now to learn the reset procedure just in case you need it at some stage ! ).

Wireless Networking Security - smokescreen
Most passer by's wont care. WPA2 is pretty strong these days especially with long passwords. Infact the only real weakness of wpa2 is ... centralised passwords.

If your really worried you could setup a radius (remote access authentication server) on a PC thats always on via the lan ethernet for ultimate security, although its a bit too much for most home users.
Broadband Connection Question - PoloGirl
I installed our broadband yesterday, and was very proud of myself when it all worked on the PC downstairs and all the phones in the house still work!

Before we had broadband, I used to just plug my laptop into the phone point in the bedroom and get online, and I assumed that as long as I had the little DSL filter on that phone point I'd be able to do that with broadband. However, I now see that I can't do that any more. I know, I know...I should read the instructions...I should have been a man. ;)

Would it be better to try and get another modem for that line or to get a wireless router for the one downstairs? Neither my laptop or the PC are wireless enabled, so that would presumably mean buying two wireless dongles as well as a USB hub for the PC as we're all out of ports!

Would the second modem just be a much easier/cheaper option? I'm not bothere about being able to get online all over the house as I only use my laptop in one room.

Thanks!
Broadband Connection Question - Stuartli
>>I'm not bothere about being able to get online all over the house as I only use my laptop in one room. >>

Why not have a look at this idea?

tinyurl.com/fm8kv
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What's for you won't pass you by
Broadband Connection Question - Citroënian {P}
Hi,

I'd suggest a wireless router as the easiest answer (although Stuart's link is no bad idea either). If you live in a house over 6 floors or have 4ft thick walls wireless doesn't work very well though!!

You'll run into difficulties if you try and run 2x USB broadband modems in the house at the same time!!

The router itself shouldn't be any more than £60 and then cards for the PC & laptop should be around £20.

post back if you need more info


Lee -- Do you have any conceivable reason for even getting up in the morning?
Broadband Connection Question - smokescreen
If you get the Linksys WRT54G series (make sure that its version 4 or below, says on barcode of box!) you can load a new modified firmware such as DD-WRT which you can use to increase power output by upto 10x although upto around 8x brings best results.

Use it myself and get great signal all over my house.

There's also the networking via powerlines but you'll need to check if its going to intefere with the ADSL setup. Powerlines RF signals arent always the best of ideas.
Broadband Connection Question - cheddar
This really is an excellent router, a top quality product made by 2Wire for BT, it is 802.11b wireless spec so a slower LAN speed than 'g' routers however it is still 11Mbps so 5.5 x faster that 2Mb broadband.

www.shop.bt.com/invt/cbx136

It has one great additional feature, it comes with two home PNA adapters so you can use your phone extensions to connect your PC/PCs to the router without the need for wireless adapters if you wish.

This was £150 18 months ago, and then without the PNA adapters, all you need for £50, really great value.
Broadband Connection Question - smokescreen
What's printed on the box and whats possible are unfortunately quite different with 802.11b/g wireless products.

A good 802.11b router/access card will achieve with a good signal around 6mbit/s tops which is roughly 750KB/s.

A good 802.11g router/access card thats not forced to work with 802.11b devices and with good signal will reach 25mbit/s tops. 3.1MB/s roughly.

Ofcourse with distance , environment, and antennas in use in a real world you'll see different figgures. Next gen MIMO (multi in multi out) should bring it up to near wire speeds.
Broadband Connection Question - cheddar
What's printed on the box and whats possible are unfortunately quite
different with 802.11b/g wireless products.


My experience / research does not concur with this, an 802.11b router/access card will achieve its rated 11 Mbps with a fairly good signal. Though a 802.11g router set up needs a very good signal to get any where near it's rated 54Mbps.

MIMO is fatser though nowhere near what is possible wired, with duplex Gb ethernet etc.

The key point for a home application is that "b" is substantially faster than even 8Mb BB so the only advantage of "g", MIMO or ethernet is file sharing.
Broadband Connection Question - Baskerville
>There's also the networking via powerlines but you'll need to check if its going to intefere with the ADSL setup. Powerlines RF signals arent always the best of ideas.

Can confirm that those Devolo networking via powerlines devices work brilliantly. No trouble with interference at all and set up in seconds. I've been using a pair for six months now with quite a few devices plugged in each end with no problems--might just as well be CAT5 if you get the high speed (85mbps) version.
Broadband Connection Question - PoloGirl
Thank you all for your words of wisdom. Unfortunately most of it is greek to me and I'm wondering if we've bitten off more than I or the computer can chew here.

The PC is about two years old now, and was never designed to have huge memory for games or graphics, as we only use it for the internet and MS Office. Having spent the whole afternoon trying to work out why it wont open MS Word now (it will if you go through Works but if you try and open Word straight off the start menu it says it's out of memory), and now the realisation that it's going to cost another chunk of money just to be able to get online in another room, whereas it was hassle free before, is making me less than enamoured with the whole broadband experience (and it's not even that much faster).

I'm thinking I should just parcel the whole lot up and send it back to AOL, and go back to AOL 7 on this PC which we never had any problems with. We have until about Tuesday to do that - what do you think?

Broadband Connection Question - Chicken Madras
My honest opinion would be to send the stuff back to AOL, remove AOL 7 and go to a proper ISP. I've had nothing but trouble in the past with friends who have installed AOL and would not recommend it to anyone.

Broadband Connection Question - steveincornwall
amazon.co.uk have an offer at present where you get a free USB adapter with the Netgear DG834G modem router,got one myself for my Win ME laptop and bought an extra adapter for the XP desktop upstairs and been delighted by the performance. I've read that AOL can be a real pain to set up for wireless though so it may be worth getting a proper ISP as chicken said.
Steve
Broadband Connection Question - Citroënian {P}
Is the computer coming up with the error the one with the USB modem in it? It places an overhead on the computer itself (i.e. uses memory & processor power) to run a USB modem. A router gets rid of the need for this as the router does all the conversion from telephone/broadband signals into a computer friendly format ( {geek note} I know, I know{/geek} )

AOL itself it quite a memory hogger compared to usual providers (people will talk about providers as ISPs - Internet Service Providers).

Broadband should be a lot faster than dialup - up between 10 and 40 times faster depending on the line speed - it's definitely noticably faster. I'm wondering if your computer is struggling a bit - have a look at task manager (CTRL-SHIFT-ESC then select the performance tab). If the Commit Charge Peak (bottom left) is higher than the total Physical Memory (opposite and above), it'll be quite slow. That last bit isn't as geeky or difficult as it sounds - just hit the keys, select the tab and read the boxes!

Not sure if you're spending much more on broadband than dialup, but companies like plusnet (www.plus.net) do packages for £14.99 a month which really are tremendous value these days.

Crikey - I've written an essay here. Check the performance in task manager, have a think about ditching AOL for someone else. Finally, if it's all too much hassle and you've not seen much of a speed advantage, yes, it might be worth going back to the easier dialup connection!

Lee
Lee -- Do you have any conceivable reason for even getting up in the morning?
Broadband Connection Question - Dalglish
The PC is about two years old now,....
... trying to work out why it wont open MS Word now
.... whereas it was hassle free before,

>>

i say stick with it, and you will fix it all.
i do not think the pc, laptop or broadband are responsible for the works-word-memory problem. it seems just a coincidence. i know of much older computers and pcs with 256 mb or less memory that work fine with xp, office-xp, and broadband.

to learn about broadband in simple terms:

www.adslguide.org.uk/qanda.asp

especially:
www.adslguide.org.uk/guide/connections.asp#microfi...s
www.adslguide.org.uk/qanda.asp?faq=dslhardware

you should keep the aol-modem as a backup for emergnecies, and get a wireless-router-modem which will enable you to connect anywhere in the house.

Broadband Connection Question - buzbee
"Not sure if you're spending much more on broadband than dialup . . ."

Newnet was £11 + VAT when I last looked a short while ago and looks to be very good value -- includes web space, static address, etc.

I think, like Metronet (£10/month + VAT) which has recently been bought out (by Plusnet), it may eventually go the same way. But then, I suppose, that could happen to almost any ISP.
Broadband Connection Question - Stuartli
>>i know of much older computers and pcs with 256 mb or less memory that work fine with xp, office-xp, and broadband.>>

I can vouch for that - I use to have a 550MHz Slot1 based system which comfortably achieved all that plus more, then a 1GB PentiumIII and now an Athlon XP 3200+.

In normal every day basic use the Athlon system's additional speed isn't noticeable.

Even 2MB broadband isn't achieving the same throughput as a CD rewriter writing to a blank disk at 16x - in fact the rewriter would fill a 700MB disk in less than five minutes even with a modest system.
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Broadband Connection Question - cheddar
Our family PC (as opposed to my workstation) is a PIII 500 with 256MB ram, it even handles firly intensive Photoshop stuff with aplomb. Helps being on 98SE which is not as memory intensive as XP.

Re the BB v CD writing analogy, a two year old PC with enough memory and a suitble network device can support the fastest network speeds. Even the fastest BB speed is "only" 8Mbps where as wifi 'b' is 11Mbps, 'g' between 54 and 108 Mbps and gigabit duplex ethernet up to 2000 Mbps, the latter being 250 MBps equivalent to writing a full CD in 3 to 4 seconds.
Broadband Connection Question - Stuartli
>>>Even the fastest BB speed is "only" 8Mbps>>

Some areas of the UK now have ISPs providing 22 and 24MB BB services. See: www.ukonline.net/broadband/ for example.

A basic USB BB modem such as a Sagem F@ast 800/840 can handle up to 8MB BB services.
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Broadband Connection Question - cheddar
Some areas of the UK now have ISPs providing 22 and
24MB BB services. See: www.ukonline.net/broadband/ for example.


Ok. I was talking nationally available ADSL, the point being that PG was concerned that her 2 year old PC might not handle BB, I was pointing out that it can handle much greater data transfer speeds that is required by BB.
Broadband Connection Question - Stuartli
>>I was pointing out that it can handle much greater data transfer speeds that is required by BB.>>

Fully agree and it was also the point I was making in an indirect way.

Most ISPs' minimum specification for BB is usually a Pentium CPU of little more than 200MHz upwards...:-)

Here's Tiscali's for instance:

Processor PII 233 MHz or higher
# 32MB RAM
# Four-speed CD-ROM player
# Video card/display 800 x 600, 256 colours
# 150MB free on your computer's hard drive
# Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000 Professional or XP.

XP Pro proves a little slow on my system with this spec but I'm coping...:-)
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HP PSC 1501 Alignment Page - commerdriver
Wondered if any of you guys could help with this one.
I have a PSC 1501 printer, we use laptops at home & connect to the printer only when we need to use it. The problem is that every time we power the printer up it decides that it needs to align the print cartridges and prints an alignment page.
Is there a way of stopping it from needing this every time its powered on or at least not printing yet another alignment page every time?
It's probably somewhere in the user guide but I can't find it.
HP PSC 1501 Alignment Page - Pezzer
Dont turn it off ! Seriously I think you are meant to leave them switched on if possible to help prevent this/ wasting ink/ blockages etc.

HP PSC 1501 Alignment Page - commerdriver
Am I unusual in this , do other people leave their home printer powered on all the time?
I can't believe alignment is really necessary each time you change a print cartridge anyway which is what it's supposed to be for. Seriously it's annoying because it's a great little printer in every other way, it just seems like a needless waste of paper and ink.
HP PSC 1501 Alignment Page - Stuartli
If it's connected to the system then it will be switched on and off in any case.

Try the printer's Configuration menu and/or Help to discover how to disable the alignment feature.
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HP PSC 1501 Alignment Page - Bill Payer
It's not the same model, but does this help? The solution is in the 4th post:
tinyurl.com/l9j7o
VMware networking problems - Vin {P}
I run VMware at home for various reasons (e.g. ability to resolve my kids' misuse of the PC in ten seconds flat).

I'm having trouble with networking. I have a machine A attached to a wireless router using a network cable. I have a machine B wirelessly connected. On machine B I have virtual machine C running.

I want to be able to look from machine A and see what is on machine C. I can see on machine A what's on machine B with no problems. I can see machine C's data on machine B. What I simply can't do is see C from A.

I know this is an esoteric problem, but I just hope someone on here might have a clue.

V
VMware networking problems - grn
Vin,

I know nothing of vmware, but as it is a virtual machine on B, I could understand why only B knows about it.

However, an alternative - If the setup is to monitor realtime what is happening on other pc's you could go for a free "off the shelf" solution from the internet. RealVnc runs a server on system to be monitore3d/controlled and a client(viewer) on whichever machines you choose to monitor/control from. It allows remote desktop monitoring and/or remote control of other PC's.

Sorry I cannot be much more help on vmware, but if you care to expand on what the vm setup is, more help may be possible?


Rgds,
Graham.
Hotmail file attachments - BobbyG
My brother has a Hotmail account and both myself and my dad are blueyonder. When we send him any attachments, whether they be jpeg, wmv or whatever, he gets them no problems.

However, if he tries to send us attachements, the attachment comes through as a ".txt" attachment and is basically gobbledygook.

Now he claims all his mates get the attachments fine, its just me and my dad that don't. Personally I think his mates may just be saying that.

Anyone any ideas? I am not a Hotmail user myself so not sure?
Hotmail file attachments - Adam {P}
Bobby,

May sound silly but are you sure there's not anotherattachement along with the .txt file?
Hotmail file attachments - Citroënian {P}
Bobby,

What are you using to read the mail? Do you get any "good" attachments from other people?


Lee -- Without bills, magazines and junk mail, there is no mail
Hotmail file attachments - BobbyG
Yip, I get attachments from everyone else and no, its only a .txt attachment that comes through.

Have spoken to my BIL who has a BT broadband account and he says that he cannot open them either!

We are stumped!
Hotmail file attachments - Adam {P}
Bobby,

I'll email you an attachment and see if you can open that ok. If not, take a screenshot of what you see when you get the email and send it back to me.
MAC vs. PC - No FM2R
Because MACs are more secure with less flaws, aren't they ?

blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/index.php?p=165
MAC vs. PC - Baskerville
Whatever.

But.

How many are unpatched? 3 for XP (two of them dating back to 2004) and 1 for Mac OS X (dating back a week and resolvable by checking a box).

I'll tell you what. Let's set up two fully patched but default machines with direct, access to the Internet. I'll put all my personal details and financial information on my Mac and you put yours on a Windows XP-running PC. Then we'll switch off the firewalls. OK?
MAC vs. PC - Citroënian {P}
OMG here we go - was that even a question or just some baiting Mark...?!

I use both a Mac and PC at home and like them both. That more malware for OSX would appear was pretty inevitable.

Anything you connect to t'interweb needs to be secure, be that
Apple, MS or Linux.


Lee -- Without bills, magazines and junk mail, there is no mail
MAC vs. PC - Baskerville
>Anything you connect to t'interweb needs to be secure, be that
Apple, MS or Linux.

I think the difference lies in how much effort it requires. It's interesting that the coverage of the recent OS X malware began with "OMG its a VIRUS for OS X!" (Symantec of course) to "Oh, right, it's a proof of concept and it doesn't actually work unless you install it yourself (password required)" (the forums). Anyway I'm pleased to see that MS will be adopting a Unix-like permissions policy for Vista. Finally it's sunk in.

Did you get an anglepoise iMac then?
MAC vs. PC - Citroënian {P}
Ended up with a nice blue iMac G3; got Panther on it (no DVD drive) and it's really good. Especially like Safari although the chess program is whopping me even on the easy mode. Must be losing my touch...

Still really want a G4 anglepoise, but am hoping the new Intel kit will soften the prices of these. Am currently trying to persuade work that I need a pair of 20" G5s for a "video conferencing fact finder". Here's hoping. Thanks for the links B, they were really useful when researching.

PCs are a lot of effort to keep safe (Have a large attack surface!!) but as you mention Vista will go some way to fixing things - I see the x64 version just won't install unsigned drivers. Won't make it popular but should make it a little more secure... :-)


Lee -- Without bills, magazines and junk mail, there is no mail
MAC vs. PC - Baskerville
That chess program is nasty. I'm running Panther as well and haven't really got on with Safari because I use RSS feeds a lot and that's not supported unless you get Tiger. So it's Firefox for me, which also makes it easier with my main workstation, which runs SuSE Linux.
MAC vs. PC - deepwith
The mac v pc will run and run, but on security we have a G5 imac (dream to look at, dream to operate), 2 ibook G4's and Fujitsu Siemans laptop and guess which one has had to be completely reformatted several times despite having firewalls and any other security you can think of? Not the macs, that is for sure.
I have both Mozilla and Safari and use both - some sites work well on one and some on the other. Internet Explorer is variable and often very slow.
Printer tray selection - cheddar
Hello,

I have had a wifi Canon ip4000r for 18 months or so, sits as a device on my wireless LAN, great printer. Printing to it from new XP Pro PC with Office 2000, I cannot get Word to print to the cassette, it only prints to the sheet feeder however if I print a test page or print from Powerpoint it will print from the cassette with no problem. Reckon it is a Word page setup issue because I have tried all relevant printer settings, i.e. selecting "cassette", selecting "paper feed switch" etc.

Any thoughts?


Thanks.
Website pictures - wemyss
On several sites I go there is a white box where there should obviously be a picture but it is not showing.
In the corner of these white boxes is a tiny white box with a red cross.
Any suggestions why the pictures are not there.
Website pictures - Stuartli
If you use Internet Explorer, go to Tools>Internet Options>Advanced tab and scroll down to a box marked on the lines of Show Pictures and Enable it (i.e. tick the box).

Don't forget to OK as well.
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Website pictures - wemyss
Had tried that Stuart and I still have the same on the site I was viewing even ater a refresh.
The one next to it.."Show image download placeholders" hadnt been ticked ant tried that.
Still made no difference.
Website pictures - wemyss
Sometimes get this also with e-mail. For example Savastores will often have a box with the red cross in the corner where there should obviously be a picture.
This started a few months ago and may have started after installing Norton anti-spam or perhaps Norton password manager.
But it may have conincidental.
Website pictures - Stuartli
Mozilla Thunderbird brings up a button asking if you wish to show pictures etc - it's to stop potential nasties getting onto your system, although it would be difficult with Thunderbird's philosophy.

In OE's Tools>Internet Options>Security tab you'll see Don't Open attachments which may....

Uncheck (disable) it as it can causes such problems and is of very little value, especially if you install critical updates etc as and when they are available.
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Website pictures - Baskerville
Guessing, but I wonder if this is something Norton did to "patch" the Windows Metafile vulnerability back in December/January. That allowed malicious code to hide in images and run on your machine if you were dumb enough to want to use the Internet, for example. Microsoft dawdled a bit over the patch and some vendors released their own ways round it (there was even a third-party actual patch). Either that or it could just be the usual Norton nonsense.
Website pictures - Dalglish
red x in place of images has many possible causes, icluding firewall and antivirus setings.

type "small red x image microsoft" in google to see some of the possible causes.