IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I’ve a received a file which ends in .rtf and I’m not sure if that type of file is safe to open or what it does?

An RTF file is a document saved in Rich Text Format; a basic computer standard that allows documents to have formatted text like italics, bold and bullet points. Because RTF files are simple compared to files saved in Microsoft Word’s format or those of other sophisticated word processing programs, it’s a fairly popular way to send files.

You can open RTF files in most word processing files including Wordpad, the basic free programs included with Microsoft Windows, and TextEdit, Apple’s free word processor that comes with OSX.

Generally RTF files are safe to open although it is possible that when opening them with Microsoft Word you could be caught by a macro virus, although these are rare at the moment.

If you open the file in Wordpad or TextEdit you should be fine.

I’m told my copy of Windows Vista is “at the end of support”. What does that mean?

Being at the end of support is Microsoft’s way of saying they won’t help you with that version of Windows any more and other people will probably stop writing programs for it. Microsoft explain it in a bit more detail on their website.

If your system is legitimate and working well, you can upgrade Vista or Windows XP to their latest Service Packs through the Windows Update site.

For most people though it doesn’t mean much. As long as your system is working fine, there should be few problems and experience has shown Microsoft will still provide important updates over time.

You should ask your computer tech to upgrade your system to the latest Windows service pack though at the first opportunity.

I purchased a new computer 3 months ago with Windows 7.  It had a trial period of 3 months for Microsoft Outlok 2007 (Office Professional).  It is about to expire on 31st March and I can’t afford to my the complete pogramme.  My husband has Office Professional 2003 but when i try to load it it says it is not compatible with Vista 7.  Could that be correct?  I now also discover that Windows 7 does not have windows mail.  We have Bigpond account with a proxy server.  Can you suggest an email program for me.  PS I really hate Windows 7.

Office 2003 is compatible with Windows 7 however you have to uninstall the Office 2007 trial edition before installing 2003. Follow our instructions on uninstalling software on doing this. The Office 2007 trial edition does have a reputation for being difficult to remove so if you are having problems you may need to contact your local computer technician.

As far as the email options for Windows 7 go, you can download the free Windows Live Essentials pack which includes an email program.

I have many things that appear twice or more in my add or Delete programs file.Why is this …J2SE Runtime three times.

What is all this stuff and do i really need it all taking up space on my hard-drive…. Grateful for any intelligent but simple language reply Thanks

Sometimes Windows programs don’t behave as they should and you get multiple entries but in this case, it appears they are legitimate programs. Java is particularly notorious for leaving older versions on your computer.

The first thing to do is to run the Windows Installer clean up tool which we’ve described in an earlier post. This will clear out any problems.

For programs like Java which have installed multiple versions, it’s probably best to uninstall all of them then download and install the latest version from the Sun Java website.

In the case of the Windows Updates, these are best left alone as they are specific fixes for known Windows problems. Should Microsoft release a Windows XP Service Pack 4, then it may be worthwhile deleting these before installing the new upgrade.

The Visual C++, we don’t know. Do you have a programmer in your household? If so, best let them deal with it or leave the program alone.

Otherwise, it’s best to delete anything you don’t use often. However the general rule with computer is “if you don’t know what it does, then leave it alone” and that certainly applies to your Add/Remove programs.

I have a Laptop running Vista Home premium 32 bit and keep getting this message when i try to load a new program There is another installation occuring, please finish the existing before continuing.

For some reason the Windows Installer function has become confused, probably by an incomplete installation of another program.

The first thing to do is check your Add/Remove programs function and remove any programs you aren’t using or are giving you problems. If you have the replacement disks, then removing and reinstalling Microsoft Office is a good idea.

If that doesn’t work, then downloading and running the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility may well fix the problem. Note that while Microsoft discuss Office in the linked article, the clean up utility works for all programs.

After running the installer clean up, you may want to clean up your hard drive to flush out any left over nasties before attempting to install the new software.

I have an Apple Mac and I can’t open WMV files. How can I play them?

WMV files belong to Windows Media Player and QuickTime, which is the Apple Mac’s media player, doesn’t automatically run them. So an Apple Mac can’t play WMV files until you install some extra software.

You can fix this by either downloading the Microsoft Windows Media Player for the Mac or by installing the QuickTime add in.

The QuickTime add in allows the Mac’s built in media player show WMV files and is the best solution if you don’t want to be adding more programs to your Computer. You can download it from Apple’s support website.

Alternatively you can install the full Windows Media Player for Mac package from Microsoft’s Mactopia website. This will give you another full featured media player for your system.

Either solution will run Windows Media Player videos on your computer.

I’m finding certain sites like Ebay, YouTube and other sites won’t open. The screen just stays blank and my computer slows down.

It sounds like you have a problem with your Flash player. The first thing you need to do is clean up the system by running a program like ccleaner to flush out any temporary files that could be causing the problem.

Should cleaning up the computer not work, then you’ll have to reinstall Flash. The first thing to do is run the Add/Remove Programs function and remove an Adobe Flash programs listed. Once you’ve uninstalled them, reboot and then run the Adobe Flash Player removal tool. Once you’ve run the tool, reboot your computer.

With Adobe Flash Player now completely off your computer, visit the Abode Flash website and reinstall.

What is the setting on Macs & PCs To make jpg files readable when transferred by email?

Both Macs and Windows systems should be able to read JPG image files. If you have any problems, then two good image readers are Irfranview and Picasa which are free and have some editing capacities.

When ever I try to open anything in windows media player it freezes the computer and the only way to do make it respond is to shut down computer with power button on computer.

The first thing to do is clean up your computer as it may well be something lurking in your temporary files which is upsetting Media Player.

Should the problem continue, you may have to reinstall Windows Media Player. Open the Control Panel and click Add/Remove Programs, or Programs in Windows Vista, and select Internet Explorer.

To right of the selection there are two buttons; change and remove. Click the Change button and follow the wizard to repair the existing installation.

When trying to watch a news or lifestyle video or Youtube it goes for a few seconds and then stops for quite a few seconds, then starts again. It is virually impossible to comprehend what it is about. very frustrating. What is the cause of this?

Your Internet connection  isn’t moving data to your computer fast enough for the videos to play smoothly. The computer has to stop and wait for more data to be loaded from the server.

The problem is you simply need a faster Internet connection and you should talk to your ISP about moving up a plan or considering moving your service elsewhere.

For the moment though you can fix the problem by pausing the clip once it starts playing. Flash based clips will continue to download and if you wait a few minutes you should be able to watch the full clip without interruption.

You can also change the buffer settings which control how much video data your computer will download by right clicking one of the clips you want to play and choose settings.

In the Flash Player settings you then choose the yellow folder icon and move the Local Storage setting to the far right which is unlimited. This means the entire clip will be downloaded while you wait.

Waiting for clips to download and increasing buffers won’t fix your underlying problem that your Internet connection is simply too slow, so you’ll still have to see about getting a better plan.