IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I bought and installed a Norton anti-virus package when I got my computer and it has just expired.  My ISP offered me two months free trial of their security package so I downloaded and installed it, so I’m good (touch wood) for a few weeks, giving me time to investigate options.

My geeky friends tell me it’s okay to download free security packs and in fact, a couple say they have never paid for anti-virus software in years of owning a computer.

How can this be so?

I can understand that they offer this free in the hope that over time they’ll convince me to buy (with $$) some of their other products, but am I really going to get something that works as well for (decidedly non-geeky) me, as a package that I pay for?

Are these companies legit?  Is the software legit?  Am I opening myself up to problems I don’t have the skills to handle. How safe can it be to depend on free virus protection? 

I just keep asking myself:  would I give my address to someone I don’t know who’s offering to come around and install free locks!

There’s nothing wrong with free software. In fact, there’s an active group of programmers who believe all software should be free and there is no shortage of free applications available for budget conscious computer users.

The software your friends are talking about are the free antivirus packages. The most common are AVG, AntiVir and Avast. All three of them are good although we’ve had a few hiccups recently with AVG.

These are slightly different to free software, they are more like “teaser” products, where the vendors offer a free version with no support and slightly fewer features than their paid versions to encourage people to use their software.

Despite the slightly limited features and occasional hiccups, these three are as good, if not better, than the popular commercial anti-virus and security products and we’d highly recommend all three of them over the better know brand names.

One thing to watch though are some scams posing as free anti virus programs. If a message pops up on a website saying “you are infected with a virus, download our free scan” be warned that this is almost certainly a rip off that probably has spyware built into it.

Before downloading anything from the Internet, do a quick web search to make sure it is safe and it will do what it promises.

We have CAD design software that is on a old PC running windows 98 (note there is a dongal, which we have and we are registered owners for software).

We need to upgrade VIDEO card but since the computer is so old and becoming unstable I am thinking it would be best to replace the PC

The problem is do not have installation disc for software and Company has since gone bust. Can software be copied off old PC onto new.

Unfortunately I think you may hit some problems with this. While copying older programs can work, the time it will take for a good computer tech to get it running will probably be more than the cost of a new program.

To add to the difficulties, it’s highly likely a new computer won’t have a parallel or serial port to plug in an older style dongle and the older software may struggle with modern screen resolutions, graphics cards and hard drive capacities.

Put simply, doing this is probably more of a hassle than it’s worth.

The best thing to do is bite the bullet on some commercial software, preferably a package your employees and business partners are used to or investigate open source CAD programs.

I would like to know how to remove lime wire completely from my computer I’ve removed it with add/remove but the icon on the low right corner of the screen is still there and can be activated, when I try to delete it it says it is not able to be deleted.

Uninstalling Limewire can be a problem and the newer versions don’t use the Add/Remove programs applet. The simplest way is to run the built in uninstaller that comes with the program.

To access this click Start then Programs, Limewire  and select Uninstall.

The uninstall wizard will then take you through the process.

Once you’re finished, check your computer for viruses as Limewire users seem to be prone to picking up malware.

If you are still stuck, you may want to contact a computer tech to help you remove the program and clean up your system.

When we access the start menu, click on icon for Media player it comes up on the task bar but no window, it would appear to be hidden behind what ever screen is open at the time.

What’s happened is the media player has been accidentally dragged off the screen. The quick way to fix it is to right-click the task bar icon and  select Maximize.

If you want to fix the problem permanently and select Move, then use the arrow keys to move the program back onto the screen.

Recently I downloaded a trial version of magix music maker14 on my computer. It got installed properly. but when I tried to run the program , I got the message – magix music maker needs a screen display of atleast 1024 by 768 pixels. my computer’s screen resolution is 1280 by 720 and my operating system is Windows XP .

Unfortunately this is a problem with the software. It doesn’t realise that resolutions like 1280 x 720 are common on modern computers and will adequately deal with 1024 x 768 pictures.

The best course of action is to contact the vendors of Magix Music Maker to see if they have a fix. Otherwise you’ll have to change your screen resolution while using the program.

We have just realised we used our last ‘regional code’ change for our DVD player to code 1 and we need code 4 (aus)(DVD installed inside the laptop). What is the best option for being able to use our DVD player again? ie. software (bought/free) or new external DVD player?

You could try another DVD playing program, but that can be hit and miss. A free DVD player is VLC Player and that may resolve the problem. 

Another option is to use a program like AnyDVD which overcomes the zoning settings before the player can read it.

It may be worthwhile doing contacting the laptop manufacturer to see if they have a workaround or an update. In some countries, such as Australia, DVD region coding isn’t legal and may be a breach of consumer rights.

My anti virus program, AVG Free, is telling me the file sysaudio.sys is infected with the Trojan Horse downloader.Delf.BUY malware. What should I do?

At the time of writing, this appears to be a mistake by AVG which is the third time in recent months. You should not delete or put sysaudio.sys in the virus vault as you will disable your computer’s sound.

Grisoft should release a fix for this in the next few hours. In the meantime you should check your system for nasties by following our Removing a Trojan instructions.

You may also want to consider another anti virus such as Avast! or AntiVir.

When I open Firefox it says “Firefox has encountered a problem and needs to close” and then shuts down. I can use Internet Explorer but my bookmarks are in Firefox. What should I do?

The first thing you should do is open Firefox in Safe Mode. To do this, click Start, Run and type in the box firefox -safe-mode.

If Firefox won’t start in Safe Mode you need to uninstall it, download a new copy and reinstall. See our post on uninstalling software.

Should it start in Safe Mode, you’ll get a screen asking about what options you’d like to disable. Ignore those for now and click the Continue in Safe Mode button.

Once you have the browser open, wipe the cache contents by clicking the Tools menu, select Clear Private Data, tick the Browsing History and Cache boxes then click Clear Private Data Now.

Shut down Mozilla and restart it to see if that has cleared the problem.

If not, restart again in Safe Mode and this time go to the box that appears when it starts. Select the Disable All Add-Ons box and click the Make Changes and Restart button.

If Firefox restarts, it was a damaged add-on. If it doesn’t repeat the Safe Mode process and try the other check boxes.

Thanks for the tip about XPS files. I’m running a Mac and I’d like to be able to open them. The Microsoft software is Windows only.

Unfortunately that’s right, Microsoft have made it difficult to read the XPS files if you aren’t using MS products and this is one of the biggest barriers for using this format.

There are some third party applications that will read XPS files on the Mac including NiXPS and these are the best bet at the moment.

I’ve received a file that finishes .xps. what is it and should I open it?

An XPS file is an XML Paper Specification document which is Microsoft’s answer to Adobe Acrobat, or PDF files.

XPS files are slowly becoming more common as time goes on although they are still fairly rare creatures.

If you want to open them, you’ll need the XPS reader sofware which is a free download from Microsoft. They also offer the XML Essentials Pack which allows you to create these files as well.

You should treat any file you receive as being potentially infected and run it with an up to date virus scanner.