IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I was using Norton Antivirus which expired few days back. Hence i uninstalled it. But it is still showing in my Add/Remove programs list and its not allowing any other antivirus to get installed.

Norton can be problematic to remove and it’s one of the reasons why we don’t endorse the product.

Symantec are aware Norton doesn’t always uninstall with ease or grace so they provide the Norton Removal Tool to eradicate all traces of the product.

Before running the removal make sure you have downloaded your new antivirus program and you’ve backed up important data. Also note the Norton Removal Tool will remove older Symantec products like Winfax and ACT! so if you are using those, take care.

I’ve been told I can’t use AVG Free for my business and I have to buy the professional version. Is this true?

It is true. The three main free anti virus programs – AVG Free, AntiVir and Avast! are all for home users only. If you’re a business, you have to pay for their professional versions.

All three products offer good deals compared to their larger competitors and by buying them you’ll be supporting the free software you can use at home.

The price of these anti virus programs is tiny compared to the embarrassment and costs of being infected with a virus so do it.

My system is ms 2000 and I have a problem with Incredimail.

When I try to send or forward an email once I click on send the window freezes and I have to press alt ctrl delete to be able to shut down.  I am still on dialup.  I have rung my ISP who told me to change my outgoing stmp to 124.254.72.68 but this made no difference.

Is there anything to fix this or is it time to get a new computer ?

A Windows 2000 system is pushing 12 years old, which is over a hundred in computer years, so it may be worthwhile buying a new system.

With the Incredimail problem, it may be related to the Windows Scripting Host, you can download the most recent version that works with Windows 2000 from the Microsoft web site.

If that doesn’t work, you should look at giving your computer a clean up which may help. Of course, make sure you’ve backed up your data before running the programs.

Once you’ve done all the cleanups, it will be worth visiting the Windows Update website and run any outstanding updates.

Updating Incredimail may help as well, although it may simply be time for a new computer.

I’ve set the Microsoft Office Journal function to record documents I’ve opened in word, excel etc.

It works fine for documents on the local computer c: drive, but since I upgraded to Office 2007 , it doesn’t record documents opened from network drives. 

With the release of Vista and the built in Windows Search, Microsoft decided to disable the Office Journaling function for networked documents, the idea being Vista would handle the issue.

While Microsoft Office journaling hasn’t been popular with users as it tends to slow machines down, the few people that do use it were deeply unhappy with Microsoft’s decision.

As a consequence, Microsoft have released a patch for this which can be requested from their knowledge base article, Description of the 2007 Office system hotfix package (Mso.msp): August 26, 2008.

Microsoft hotfixes are funny beasts, you have to submit a request for it and then you’ll be sent a link by email to the download address. When you recieve that, download the hotfix, install it and the network journaling will be back after a reboot.

Remember to back up your Outlook data  files before running this update as it can affect your system.

I use two User Accounts, one as a Computer Administrator and one as a Limited Account. Recently a ran the programme Easy Cleaner to do a Registry check on the Limited Account.

It came back with 581 entries to be considered for deletion. Not surprisingly, I could not remove those entries while in the Limited Account mode. I then changed that account to a Computer Administrator and ran Easy Cleaner again.

It then only found one possible entry for deletion. When I changed it back to a Limited Account and ran Easy Cleaner again, surprise surprise, 581 entries once again.

I find that a bit of a puzzle.

It’s a good question and not a puzzle at all.

The registry checker looks at your computer’s settings then checks the files referred to in the registry actually exist.

As a Limited User you can’t access critical system files so the registry checker reports errors as can’t find the files shown in the registry.

The is the reason we like Limited User mode for Windows users, it makes life harder for viruses and other malware.

Running the registry checker is good, but make sure you’ve made a backup before making changes to your registry as you can lock yourself out of your system if the program makes a mistake.

While removing unused software I deleted the MIDI and Realtek stuff and no longer have sound. How can I get it back?

The simple answer is to reinstall the Realtek software, however the problem lies in identifying which version of the Realtek drivers suits your machine.

While you could plow through your computer manuals or the manufacturer’s website, the simplest thing is to download the Unknown Device Identifier tool, then run it to find the Realtek model.

With that information, you can then visit the Realtek website to download and install the correct software for your system.

This can be a bit fiddly, if so then it may be best to contact your local computer specialist to help you.

I have been trying to install Sygate Personal Firewall, as per your excellent “internet protection kit” but am being told that it is incompatible with my Vista SP1.  Should I be comfortable using the “Before you Download” tab which directs me to “Uniblue Registry Booster”?  Is this a safe site?

Many thanks

We don’t know much about Avira, but it seems to be a fine anti-virus. If it seems to be working, and your ISP will support it, then it’s probably worth sticking with.

As far as firewalls go, Sygate is unfortunately no longer being supported, which means there won’t be a version that works with Vista.

Some free alternatives to Sygate are Comodo Internet Security and PC Tools Firewall Plus. Both of these products are basic, but working versions. If you want assistance with them though you’ll need to buy the professional editions.

When updating my AVG I keep getting the message “Invalid update control CTF file”. I’ve followed your advice on waiting for the AVG Update server to be less busy, but without any luck. What’s going wrong?

The problem is a corrupt update file in AVG. That file is blocking the incoming updates. 

You’ll have to delete the .ctf files before the update will work. Grisoft have the procedure for doing this on their website. Keep in mind you may have to view hidden files to find and delete the corrupt entries.

Our thanks to John G who alerted us to this problem and his link to Sanjay Goel’s blog.

My son attempted to uninstall limewire, my computer is now misty and wiil not switch off and simply refuses to do anything, help.

You’ll need to go back to a system restore point as we describe in previous question. 

However to do that you’ll have to turn off and restart the computer. The easiest way to do this is to hold the on/off button in for ten seconds and it will turn off.

Once the system’s running again follow the instructions on how to reset to a previous point.

It may be this is not Limewire’s or your son’s fault. It could be a different hardware problem as screens “going misty” usually indicates something like a video card problem.

See how it goes and post another query if the system restore doesn’t work