IT Queries: Computer problems answered

On your recommendation I’ve installed AVG anti virus and now I find the little green stars and ticks are slowing my web surfing down. Can I turn this off or should I uninstall it?

The link scanning function of AVG 8 is a serious problem and Grisoft’s reaction has been less than impressive. While it’s slowing your web browsing down it is also causing havoc for webmasters having to deal with excess traffic and messed up access logs.

To turn it off, double click the  mutlticolored AVG icon near the time in the bottom left hand corner of the screen to open the AVG control screen. In the AVG Control Centre, click on Link Scanner.

In the Link Scanner dialog box, take the tick off  Enable AVG Shield Search, click the Tools item on the toolbar and select Advanced Settings, click Ignore faulty conditions and tick Linkscanner, click okay, save changes and restart your browser.

There’s a number of alternatives to AVG if this is too fiddly. Other free antiviruses are Avast AntiVirus Home Edition and AntiVir Personal Edition Classic.

Hopefully Grisoft will fix this problem quickly. It would be a shame if such a good product has its name tarnished by this silly mistake.

I’ve been reading about the new Firefox. Should I upgrade to it?

The new version of Firefox has been breaking all sorts of download records and so far we’ve seen nothing terrible while being impressed with the speed and new features.

One area that may cause problems are tool bars and addins. If you’ve installed these programs that add features to Firefox you may find some of those don’t work.

If you do have tools like password savers that you rely on then you should check that these will work with the new Firefox. If they don’t then hold off installing the new browser until a new version of the add-in becomes available.

Most people don’t use add-ins so the upgrade is recommended.

How do I delete Individual favourites from my Firefox home page. Right click on mouse does work.   thank you Chris

Managing bookmarks in Firefox is a little more fiddly than in Internet Explore. You have to go into the Manage Bookmarks function.

To do this, click bookmarks on the menu at the top of the screen and select Organise Bookmarks. In the Bookmarks Manager screen you can now create new bookmark folders, change bookmark details or delete them as you’d like.

Incidentally, if you do a search on bookmarks.htm on your computer you’ll Firefox saves the bookmarks as a web page deep in your profile settings which you can backup, print out or edit manually if you are really keen.

when I login to a certain classified website everything works fine except it won’t accept my advertisements. Any reason for this?

There’s a number of things it could be; pop up blockers, scripting errors or even the type of technology used by the website. We’ll look at each of them.

1. What browser are you using?
It could be the website is using technology that only runs properly on one type of browser, usually Internet Explorer. Try accessing the site in Internet Explorer or another web browser such as Firefox, Opera or Safari.

2. Pop up blockers
Many websites use pop up screens for entering information. Check your browser or a tool bar add in isn’t blocking those pop up screens. If you look across the top of your screen when you click the submit link or button you might see something flashing or changing color.

You may want to try turning off the pop up blockers in add ins like the Google or Yahoo! toolbars as we’re finding many people have three or four pop up blockers working at once.

3. Scripting problems
Many website rely on Flash, Java or Windows Active Scripting. It’s worthwhile reinstalling all of these.

4. Clean up your computer
It could be your system needs a clean up. We have a previous page on tidying up your web browser and another on cleaning your computer. Do both.

If it’s all too hard, try another site. There’s no excuse for web designers to make it hard for their visitors and if a site doesn’t work for you, look elsewhere.

I am want to get Broadband, so as to use VOIP to make video calls to family members, overseas.

I understand that I will be charged by my Internet Provider for the data downloaded & uploaded while making these calls.
However, I have no idea of the amount of data involved.  As such, I am finding it difficult to determine the plan size that I will need.

Could you please provide the information that I will need to take into consideration to do this?

The answer depends on what standard your Voice over IP provider users.

The most popular standard, G729, uses around 14Mb per hour of talk time each way. Some of the higher quality standards use up to 40Mb. Skype varies between 10Mb and 60Mb per hour.

Note that these data rates are each way. If you have an Internet account that counts both uploads and downloads, such as Telstra or Optus (I’m assuming you’re an Australian user) then you’ll use double these amounts.

It’s best to ask potential VoIP providers and then look at your ISP account. As a rule, we’d recommend a minimum 1500kb/s service with a 10Gb download allowance before considering using VoIP.

I purchased a Toshiba M200 notebook to use as a means of connection to internet while travelling around Australia.

I have Bigpond ADSL connected via land line at home.
I have a next G mobile phone (Telstra LG phone)

The important thing is the NextG service, this is Telstra’s branding of the 3.5G mobile phone services. 3.5G allows you to connect to the Internet at broadband speeds while on the road. Most countries have such services.

Depending on your phone and the software included with it you should be able to connect your phone as a wireless broadband modem to the laptop.

Australian broadband pricing is mind bogglingly complex and expensive if you choose the wrong plan so you need to be careful. Some of the cheaper plans have massive charges if you go over miniscule monthly data allowances.
The Telstra mobile plans we’d recommend are their $89 or $119 a month Mobile As a  Modem Browsing Packs. Given the excess usage charges, you shouldn’t consider anything less than 1Gb of data a month.

We are currently implementing web-based application systems, is there a need to have all computers connected to the internet?

It depends where the servers for your applications are based. If this is an office based system then you’ll only need a connection to your intranet and not to the wider Internet. It is possible for your system administrator to set up a network so certain computers can’t go outside your office.

However most web based applications have their own servers. This means any computer that wants to use these programs has to have an Internet connection.

While it is possible to set up Internet connections that only access certain websites it does take a level of IT skills and can be messy to implement and enforce.

If this is a problem for your business, then you’ll have to consider the viability of a web based application.

Can you please tell me how I can speed up page downloading with my current web browser, which is Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.12. I also seem to have difficulty loading pages with ‘youtube’ attachments, as per the news.com daily news website.

I am running Windows 2000 Professional with 256 meg ram, cpu 550mhz, modem 56kbps, dial up ISP.

Can you please refer me to a free tool as I am on a disability pension.

There’s a number of things you can do to speed up your computer and we’ve covered these previously.

You could also download the latest versions of Flash and Java as well.

The real problem though is your Internet account: Dial up doesn’t cut it any more for anything beyond basic email and websurfing. Content rich sites like youtube and news.com.au are designed on the assumption you have a faster connection.

Depending upon how much you use the net and your local telephone charge rates, you may find broadband is actually cheaper than dialup given you don’t have to pay for telephone calls.

Our suggestion is to contact your Internet Service Provider and see what’s available in your area.

What are all the various domains I need to register to secure my business name?

You’ll first need to decide what domain you want to operate in. For some businesses .com is the right way to go but many of the good names have already gone.

If you are operating in a single country outside the US visit then you may want to consider registering in your specific country’s domain such as .ca for Canada, .au for Australian or .uk for British domains. Every country has their own rules and methods for signing up.

In many cases you’ll find the name is already gone in the commercial, that is the .com or .co domains, so you may have to consider other domains such as .net or .biz.

It’s best to consider which one meets your needs and exactly what’s available. Then shop around and see who has the best deal.

Be careful of super cheap prices however as some domain registrars aren’t as good as others and some try to load you up with extras such as webhosting, e-commerce and other features you may or may not need from them.

If you have a web designer it’s worthwhile discussing this with them as they will be more across what will be right for your business.

I am having difficulty setting up my BR Broadband. Cut a long story short have been advised by the BT Technical Dept that my virus software is stopping the broadband from connecting. I have tried to delete the software. There were 3 files, 2 deleted but the last one will not delete. It comes up with a message saying “Delete Macafee Service Centre” but there is no file of that description.

This is a fairly typical problem with the big security software programs. They leave all sorts of components lying around and don’t do a good job of removing them.

Fortunately the bigger software developer have removal tools for their products. In this case McAfee have the McAfee Consumer Product Removal tool and the instructions for its use are at their website.

If the problem with the connection continues you may want to check for other firewall or security programs on your computer by looking in the Add/Remove Programs applet.