IT Queries: Computer problems answered

Purchased brand new desktop with Windows7 pre-installed, and I am unable to activate the product key the technician and I wrote down, as one  message says it it not genuine. A message in the bottom right hand corner reads “Windows7  Build 7600  This copy of Windows is not genuine”

The system cost was over $2000 from a reputable national chain. No back-up disc included.

To make matters worse, when turned off, next morning I find the console is on again – seems to have a mind of its own.

What can I do as I work full time and have never had such problems with a new computer?

Normally there is a sticker on the side of the computer with the authorisation number. That number should verify the system when it first runs.

In this case, either the wrong number has been put it or the number supplied wasn’t correct.

You’ll have to check with the store you bought it from as this is their problem.

Be careful though, the store’s first reaction will be to refer you either to Microsoft or to the manufacturer of the computer. Given the system has been like this since you’ve bought it, this is the retailer’s problem.

You don’t say if you bought this on a discount as floor or returned stock and it may be that somebody has tampered with the computer before you bought it.

Unfortunately in this case, you’re going to have to stand up against the store. You might want to follow our sister site’s checklist for dealing with disputes. Good luck.

Does windows 7 operating system supports 32 bit processor or not? I installed the OS but I cant get sound when I am playing songs? What’s the reason?

Window 7 does support 32 bit systems which is a good thing as your system probably is one. The reason you can’t get sound is that the sound card drivers haven’t correctly installed when you upgraded the system to Windows 7.

The easiest way of resolving this is to install the Windows 7 drivers for your sound card from the manufacturers website if they are available.

Microsoft have a wizard to help fix sound problems in Windows 7 and this might assist you as well.

When I buy a laptop with Windows 7 do I need to buy more software to connect to the internet?

Usually you’ll be able to plug straight into your Internet router and go. One of the great improvements with Windows 7 is the system will automatically detect and configure your connection for you.

If it doesn’t then you should contact your ISP.

Once you are connected, the first thing you should do is let Windows detect any security upgrades through the Windows Update website, allow your antivirus program to update itself and download Firefox, Opera or Google Chrome as a browser to replace Internet Explorer 8.

You should do these before surfing the net or checking email just to make sure your computer is secure.

please list current free anti virus software downloads that are thorough and efficient for windows 7 home?

The free anti virus programs we’d suggest for Windows 7 Home users are the following;

Microsoft Security Essentials: Microsot’s free anti-virus program for Windows XP, Vista and 7.
AntiVir: Will offer to give you the Premium edition for free as well, but we don’t like the sign up process
AVG Free: The sign up will also try to steer you towards the paid for package
Avast!: Avast is one of the longest standing free products

While AVG pushes their paid for version the hardest during the download process, all of the free versions are loss leaders for their paid versions.

The paid versions are good value for money compared to the bigger brand name products and give you more features than the free version and tech support for when there are problems.

We’d recommend the paid versions of all of these programs as well.

Note that all of these programs, with the exception of Microsoft Security Essentials, are free only for personal use; if you want to use them in a business you have to shell out for the paid versions.

I notice you advertise companies that provide registry cleaners on your site. I used a uniblue registry cleaner on my small notebook and it completely destroyed the operation of windows. I was able to recover normal operation through system restore. I would like to keep my computers running quickly and efficiently. Do you recommend the use of registry cleaners. I have Windows XP on both our laptops, Dell and Fujitsu.

The short answer is that we don’t recommend any registry cleaners as most are snake oil and the benefits of running a registry cleaner are not that great for the majority of Windows computers.

We discuss this in more detail, along with why we don’t recommend registry cleaners on our registry repair tools page.

Overall, save your money and time.

In regards to the adverts on the site, they are provided by third party companies and we unfortunately don’t control every advert that appears.

Hi, I need to reinstall my Win XP OS to get rid of all the junk I’ve accumulated;  I’ve burnt a DVD with my documents on it, but will my emails be there as well ?  if not, how do I preserve them ?

Your emails probably won’t be in My Documents unless you’ve specifically told your system to save them there.

Finding your emails on a Windows system is particularly irritating as the different programs dump them into different folders. In Outlook Express and Windows Mail the address books are also saved in a completely different location.

The best thing is to back up your entire profile, this sits in the Documents and Settings folder on your C: drive and the profile will be either your log in name or something close to it.

By backing up this entire folder, you’ll save your My Documents folder, desktop, web browser bookmarks, address books and email. Just take care that your email folder isn’t so big it won’t fit on a single DVD.

I have received a fraudulent email from a bogus UPS parcel delivery site. As I have been expecting a delivery, I mistakenly opened the email and clicked on the attachment.

My AVG 9 program promptly detected 2 viruses which I thought I had then successfully removed. However now, when I boot up, I get the following 2 error messages:
C:\\WINDOWS\\rhstap.dll – Specified module could not be found
C:WINDOWS\\olamobel.dll -Specified module could not be found

1. Does this mean the registry is damaged?

2. How can I repair the registry and avoid getting these error messages … can you recommend a safe registry repair tool?

It’s good your antivirus picked up the problem and removed the malware. Just to be safe, we’d recommend following our Removing a Trojan instructions as well.

Once you’re happy you’ve cleaned the computer out, you can fix the missing .dll issues. The registry itself isn’t damaged, it’s just trying to find the files the malware installed and told it to run on startup.

The best tool for cleaning out the errant registry entries is CCleaner and running that after making sure you are free of viruses should give your computer a significant performance boost.

I have Windows 7 and I’ve discovered that Windows 7 does not have windows mail.  We have Bigpond account with a proxy server.  Can you suggest an email program for me?

Microsoft’s decision not to bundle an email program with Windows 7 was a strange one which is awkward for most users.

There are a number of ways to resolve this; with Microsoft’s free download, with an online service or with a third party email.

Third Party Solutions

If you are installing Microsoft Office on your computer then you may have Outlook as part of the suite. Use that for your email.

Otherwise, look at downloading a program like Thunderbird or the venerable Eudora.

Online Services

For many people the online services are fine. These include Gmail, Yahoo! and Hotmail. These can be set to collect your Bigpond or other ISP emails. The advantage with these is they are easy to use, portable and don’t require you to install anything on your computer.

Windows Live Essentials

The fact Microsoft calls them “essentials” indicate they should have been included with Window 7. The only thought why they were not is as a marketing strategy or a ruse to get around US or EU competition concerns. The Windows Live Essentials pack is free and contains mail, calendar and chat functions.

So there’s plenty of options for mail with Windows 7, have a look at them and see which one works best for you.

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.

Would it be possible for me to install a new video card in desktop pentium 4 cpu 2.66ghz windows XP? The system shuts down then shows message thread stuck in device driver.The video card is nvidia gforce.Thanks.

It would be if you could find the right card, which in the case of this machine is probably an AGP card. The problem you will hit is finding a card is going to be expensive as these aren’t common any more.

You may find replacing the card isn’t necessary and it’s a software driver problem. This can be fixed by booting the computer into Safe Mode, deleting the existing video card drivers and copying the latest software across.

This isn’t a simple task though and it’s best done by a computer technician. You might want to speak with your local tech or computer store to see what the options are. It may be replacing the computer is a more cost effective option.