IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I want to change my browser search engine to use Microsoft’s Bing. How do I do this?

The simplest way is to simply type www.bing.com into your browser’s address bar and go from there, but if you want to set your system so it always uses Bing, you need to change the default settings.

Google Chrome

Click the spanner icon in the top right hand corner, select Options and under the Basics tab choose Default Search.

As a new browser, Bing won’t be listed so select Manage, then Add and type the Microsoft Bing into the Name box and the address www.bing.com into the URL field. Click Okay and Close.

Internet Explorer

Next to the Search box in the top right hand corner is an arrow pointing down, click on that and select Change Search Defaults. Highlight Live Search and click Set Default. Click Okay.

Firefox

In Firefox, go to the Mozilla Live Search Add On Page, click the Add to Firefox button and a box will appear asking if you want to add Live Search to your system. Tick the box that says “start using right away”  and click Add.

Keep in mind you can undo these settings easily by simply changing the settings back to Google, Yahoo! or whichever search engine you prefer so it’s no great problem if you find Bing doesn’t work for you.

I am unable to open any blogspot sites, including the Blogger home page – I just get the standard “Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage” message. Typepad and other no blogger sites are working normally. Help! Thank you.

The problem is probably in your firewall settings so you’ll need to say which firewall you’re using. 

You may also want to check Blogger hasn’t inadvertently been added to Internet Explorer’s Restricted Sites list.

Click Tools, Options and select the Security tab.

Highlight Restricted Sites and then click the Sites button.

You’ll get a list of the sites currently restricted, scroll through the list and check Blogger isn’t on it. If it is, hightlight it and click Remove.

I’m trying to log into an overseas television network’s website. It contains a lot of colour and graphics and thus takes a while to fully load up.

Problem is I can’t seem to access this site at home. I can do so at Uni and my friends can successfully log into it. Could it be a problem with my ISP?

It could be in that your ISPs network isn’t set up as well as your university’s or your home connection has a problem. 

However it’s more likely that the overseas site is blocking foreign access due to licensing restriction and they don’t realise your uni address is an overseas connection.

Before complaining to your ISP you may want to ask some of your friends or relatives to try accessing the site to see if they have a similar problem.

If you are being blocked, you may want to explore using proxy servers to get around the problem.

I recently bought a mobile broadband modem which connects on every machine but the one I need it too. I have a Dell Inspiron 1720 running Vista.

The software loads, there are no conflicts but when I try to connect to the net, I get “connection terminated”.

I have removed and re-installed the software several times and rebooted the machine.

As it works on other computers, I would think the mode is not faulty. Any suggestions?

The modem isn’t faulty. As you’ve gathered, if it’s working on other machines then it isn’t the hardware.

This problem is almost certainly a Vista driver problem. The solution will be to download the latest software for the modem from the manufacturer’s website.

When you do this, make sure you uninstall all the old software and reboot before setting up the modem using the new drivers.

There may also be some quirks with the telco’s setup having one of your other computers handy will allow you to check your settings to make sure you are accessing the right access point and have the right login details.

Can you explain the following.  If I use Google to  search on a subject such as “googlebomb”, I get search responses with sensible summaries, but the URLs dont make  sense, returning what appears to be spam and malicious sites.

I have AVG running,  tried Spybot and Malwarebytes and plan to try Adware.

Is what I’m seeing  through a result of Trojan’s?  BTW,  I have an unaffected computer which is returning  sensible results  on Google searches.

It certainly doesn’t sound good. It may be worth trying another browser on the system to see if the same happens.

If another browser doesn’t have the same problem, itt could be something in your current brower’s proxy settings.

You may want to check your anti virus and malware scanners are up to date. If you have a serious infection, the trojan could be interfering with the updates. So try downloading the update files for AVG, Spybot and Malwarebytes manually.

It’s worthwhile giving the computer a serious scan for malware and we’d suggest following our Removing a Trojan instructions.

I keep getting attachments with a .ics at the end of them. What are they and should I be worried?

An .ics attachment is an iCalendar file. Somebody is probably trying to invite you to an event so you don’t need to be worried about them.

If you are running Outlook Express or a version of Outlook older than 2ooo (Outlook 200o needs service pack 3 to read them properly) then you won’t be able to read them.

Should you want to enter these into a calendar you’ll have to look at another program. Google’s online calendar is one that handles iCal files without a problem.

I had a Hotmail address. My address book has been stolen. My password has been changed.

When I seek to get it back via my private question the question is in chinese. I got it translated and the question is the same as in english. Tried to put my answer back but no go.

Many of my contacts have been receiving unwanted emails from a chinese company, now includes hundreds of people I have never heard of!

Some time back I did go to a chinese electronic site looking for a chart plotter. As far as I know I did not enter anything that would have linked me but I must have. Any solutions?

Unfortunately it sounds like your Hotmail account has been hijacked and there is very little you can do about it.

Because the thieves will have almost certainly changed all your profile settings there is little, if any, chance you can prove to Hotmail that you are the account holder.

If your Hotmail password was the same as your online banking password then you should change that immediately and check your accounts.

It would be a very good idea to check your computer for malware as it may be the websites you visited infected your computer with a drive by download.

In future, it’s worthwhile using an alternative browser and choosing a strong password when surfing the net and accessing secure websites.

We are trying to access a number of sites and recieve a message “replace index html file”

Index.htm is the front page of a website. The problem is the sites you are trying to access are not properly configured. This is beyond your control.

It is possible your computer has been hijacked with some malware and the web browser is being redirected to a site that has been disabled so you should check your computer isn’t infected with a Trojan.

For the past 3 weeks whenever I forward an email that has a GIP file on the front page it wont go. The error Number is 0x800CCC0F.

If the said email is auto forwarded thorugh the Message Rules then no problem… only when I manually forward the email that it wont go.

I have been in touch with and spent many hours with  my ISP (IINET), same with my modem maker and also with Microsoft.  Final advice is to delete OExp and use another mail program.

This problem happened at the same time on my PC, My laptop and my husbands laptop. I use Outlook express 6 and Int Explor. V7 on my laptop.  My husband has Int Expl V7 and Windows Web mail on his laptop.

None of these computer can now send Gif files if they are on the front page. (Attachments are OK)
I have bought and changed to a new modem.. Dlink. I removed my antivirus for 4 days (AVG) I haveswitched off firewalls.  I have spent hours fiddling with settings.

The only things that all computers have in common is that we use IINET yet they say that there is no way they can have anything to do with this problem.

The other thing that all computers have in common is that about 3 – 4 weeks ago we did a Registry cleanup … using the free CCleaner.  Have spoken to a computer wiz and he assures me that that could not have caused this.

I am not totally convinced that the Reg Cleaner hasnt caused a problem but I just dont know.

Hope you can help.

The 0x800CCC0F error message means something is interrupting the connection with your mail server.

Microsoft have a number of Outlook Express troubleshooting tips on their website including disabling firewalls and checking your mail server settings. It sounds like you’ve already covered those with your ISP.

It sounds like this could be an MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) problem. The Internet works on breaking down information into little parcels and the MTU is the biggest packet your computer will send.

The easiest way to reduce the MTU on a Windows machine is to use the free DrTCP program from DSL Reports. There are detailed instructions on using DrTCP on the DSLReports website.

A trap with DrTCP is you need to select the correct network adaptor that you are using to access the net. Once you’ve chosen the right connection, you’ll need to reduce the MaxMTU to a lower setting, say 1450. 

Reboot your computer and check that everything works, as you may find changing the setting could affect other applications.

Changing settings like this can cause problems and is best done by a qualified computer technician so you may want to contact your local computer tech to help you.

I’ve read I should use a different browser to Internet Explorer because of its security problems. Which one should I use?

Internet Explorer is the web browser built into Windows. Because of the way Microsoft have set it up, it is particularly prone to security problems.

To make things worse Internet Explorer is a fundamental part of Windows so any problem with IE becomes a problem for your entire system.

So regardless of the current security scare it’s a good idea to use an alternative to Internet Explorer and there are plenty of options.

Mozilla Firefox

The most popular alternative browser is Mozilla Firefox. You can download a free a copy from the Mozilla website.

Opera

One of the longest established alternative browsers, Opera tends to be the cutting edge browser, while it’s not for everyone it’s fast, stable and is also a free download.

Google Chrome

A new alternative is Google’s web browser. It’s fast but it does do things a bit differently from the others. You can get this free from Google’s website.

Apple Safari

If you use a Mac then the Safari browser is included with your system. Windows users can download a free version from Apple.

All of these alternatives are perfectly good for general web browsing. It’s best to try each and use the one you find works best for you.

Unfortunately you can’t completely get rid of Internet Explorer. Not only is it a integral part of Windows, but some web sites won’t work properly on anything else, so reserve IE for those sites that require it and use an alternative for the rest of the web.