IT Queries: Computer problems answered

Hi. I am using Windows XP. Once in a while after turning on my computer and then open up files, my computer would go blank (black screen) for about 3 secs. This happens when I any file inluding when I am on the web and I open a new tab or go to another website. I don’t know what’s wrong with it and it really bothers me.

This could either be a problem with your monitor, video card or the display settings.

To change your display settings, right-click the background of your desktop and select properties. The Display Properties box will appear.

In the Display Properties, click the settings tab. In the bottom left hand corner of the box you’ll find Screen Resolution and a sliding bar below it. NOTE THE CURRENT SETTING then move the bar to the left and try the 800×600 or 640×480 resolutions to see if the problem goes away.

Should you have a wide screen monitor the dimensions will be different and keep in mind changing the resolution will affect the size and appearance of the screen.

You may have to call a technician to figure out which is the best resolution for your system.

For the other two possiblities — the graphics card or monitor, these are both hardware related and it’s best to have your local computer store have a look at the problem and give you quote for replacing them if necessary.

I have an iPhone and I can’t figure out how to remove some programs that my niece has installed on my phone. Can you help?

Removing iPhone apps is pretty straightforward. Press down on the application for five seconds and all the icons will start wriggling.

On the app you want to remove press the little X in the top right hand corner and you’ll be asked if you want to delete the program. Click Delete and it wall be gone. If there was any data in the function then you may also be asked if you want to save the date, choose whichever’s suitable for you.

You’ll also probably be asked if you want to rate the application, again you can choose to skip this however ratings do help the developers and customers decide how good the app is.

Would it be possible for me to install a new video card in desktop pentium 4 cpu 2.66ghz windows XP? The system shuts down then shows message thread stuck in device driver.The video card is nvidia gforce.Thanks.

It would be if you could find the right card, which in the case of this machine is probably an AGP card. The problem you will hit is finding a card is going to be expensive as these aren’t common any more.

You may find replacing the card isn’t necessary and it’s a software driver problem. This can be fixed by booting the computer into Safe Mode, deleting the existing video card drivers and copying the latest software across.

This isn’t a simple task though and it’s best done by a computer technician. You might want to speak with your local tech or computer store to see what the options are. It may be replacing the computer is a more cost effective option.

Hi Paul,
Unfortunately you had run out of time on the excellent radio program last night when I called. Wondering if you have any idea what has suddenly happened to my pc, XP o/s, HP9002.
1. All of my Inbox in Outlook Express disappeared. The 400 emails had been sent to the Deleted folder. This always happens when I first go in to Outlook
2. The Delete keyboard key no longer works.
3. When I click on the task bar Start menu a pop-up asks me if I want to send the Start Menu to the Recycle bin. This only seems to happen intermittently.

Hope you can help.

This certainly is very suspicious behaviour and the first step would be to follow our Removing a Trojan instructions. Before doing that, make sure all your data has been backed up.

Both free versions of AVG and Avast! are good programs and you should use whichever one you find easiest to install.

If no malware is found, it might be best to have a technician look at the system and your security settings.

My hard drive just got replaced. I have Windows 7. We set up outlook for my e-mails. It works with my go-daddy account, no problem sending and receiving e-mails.

However, if I’m on a web site, and I decide to right click it and e-mail the web site somewhere, it wants to send it via windows live, instead of defaulting to my outlook instead. How do I get it to work and e-mail from my outlook?

The problem lies with Outlook not being your default email program. To fix this, click the Start Button and select Control Panel.

In the Control Panel screen, select Programs then Default Programs and Set Default Programs.

In the Set Your Default Programs list, highlight Microsoft Office Outlook and click the Set this program as default. Click OK and Outlook will now be the program used for all email function.

I have received an email from “New Update to fix Windows File Errors” wanting me to “run a diagnostic test to check for any potentially harmful file errors located in your registry”. There is a link on the email for me to launch this test. Is this a bona fide website or some sort of virus?

It’s a scam. Basically it will run a “diagnostic test” which will then claim you are infected with some malware and you need to buy their product to fix the problem. Even if you do pay, you may well find the “nag alerts” continue with no way of getting rid of them.

Even if they weren’t a scam you should ignore these messages as most registry tools are snake oil anyway, we recommend not bothering with registry cleaners.

If you have opened one of these links, or you find these pop up messages are appearing, then follow our instructions on “Removing a Trojan” to make sure it hasn’t infected your system.

Hello – we have 2 identical Brother DCP-350C printers and both all of a sudden have stopped printing “red” and why this has affected the printing of black when we have an exclusive black ink in the machines I don’t know but it has and now anything we print out in supposed black comes out in green! I have cleaned and cleaned and cleaned some more but still it hasn’t worked plus replaced cartridges. One printer has already had a printer head replaced under warranty. Neither are under warranty now and are approximately 2 years old. Can you advise anything we might be able to do to get this working as I don’t really think it is worthwhile taking them to a repairer as they only cost $99 each at time of purchase but want to cover all avenues in case there might a simple solution.

If not what machines would you recommend. We only use them for home purposes but my husband does do a lot of graphic printouts so a relatively good quality print would be beneficial. Also are there any just solely black inkjet printers available these days – this would be for the second computer.

The problem lies in the way the Brother printer deals with colours. What is probably happening is if the printer thinks there is any colour in the document, it mixes the red, green and blue cartridges to make something close to black rather than using the black document. Apart from your current problem this is an insanely expensive way to print.

We’d recommend ditching the printers and getting a cheap colour laser. While this may cost a few hundred dollars more than an inkjet, you’ll get better quality prints from a more reliable system. If the two computers are networked, you’ll be able to share them or be able to plug the printer directly into the network.

If someone used my computer and logged on to msn messenger, are the log in name and password stored in my computer?

The short answer is “it depends”. If the user ticked the box asking to remember details when they logged in, then yes it is.

If they didn’t, it is still possible relevant files have been saved in the registry, in the user’s profiles or in the temporary file storage. Even if they are encrypted it may be possible to find them.

This is why it’s good practice to wipe a computer after use to make sure data isn’t saved.

Should you be asking in the hope you can find the user’s log in details, be careful as in many places you will be breaking the law should you log onto someone’s account without their permission.

I am using windows XP. I am on Microsoft Outlook for my email and I have gmail as my default email.

What should i do? should i go to control panel, firewall, and go to advanced and press return to default? i am scared to as it said some things could be lost. I think at some point last week I pressed a button somewhere saying ‘reset’ but i can’t remember what i did . thank you so much.

Email error 554 really doesn’t tell you much except the message has been rejected by the recipient’s server. It could be for any of a number of reasons which could lie on your system, your Internet provider’s servers or a problem at the other end.

One common problem is time and dates. If the clock on your computer is seriously out, then some servers will reject emails sent from it. So checking your computer’s time and date is a good first step.

You should also check your return addresses are correct; for instance if you are sending out emails saying you’re with AOL when you are really with Comcast will be another reason for servers to reject your emails.

If the problem continues, call your Internet provider and get their support line to walk through your email settings to ensure they are correct. Beyond that, the problems are either with the various mail servers or your ISP.

I have been having issues associated with my PC from the past 6 months. Whenever I try to insert a single stick of 512Mb of memory or two of them in pair, my PC either freezes or restarts with a blink of blue screen on booting up. Occasionally, if it does load successfully, there is no obvious increase in performance of the speed and the games as well like The Matrix Path of Neo, NFS Mostwanted etc. My PC has a 2.0Ghz of Intel Processor, an ASUS P4S533-VM board, 256MB of DDR memory, 128MB of nVIDIA Geforce FX5500 AGP card, 80GB HDD and a 350 Watts Cooler Master PSU.

It sounds like the problem lies with the memory not being compatible with the motherboard or the RAM sticks you already have on the system. Often there are timing issues between different sets of memory sticks which negate any benefit the additional memory might add.

The best solution is to take the system to your local computer supplier along with any manuals and invoices that came with the equipment and RAM so the technicians can get the right memory.

Keep in mind it may be necessary to replace the older memory with some newer sticks as this could overcome the problem, also as the ASUS P4S533-VM is an older board it may be difficult and expensive to find the right upgrades.