IT Queries: Computer problems answered

When I start my computer a warning appears saying “update manager an error occurred”. It’s something to do with Installshield but I can’t get rid of it”

You’ll need to remove Installshield with the Remove Programs functions on the computer. To do this, follow our instructions on Adding and Removing software.

In many situations it doesn’t appear in the Add/Remove programs box and you’ll need to go into your drive and uninstall it manually by running unwise.exe from the file C:\WINDOWS\IsUninst.

To do this, click the Vista Start Button and in the search box at the bottom of the menu that appears type in C:\WINDOWS\IsUninst. This will open the folder for the Installshield remover.

Then double click the Unwise.exe program and the removal of Installshield will begin.

With Windows 7 and Vista system you may get the User Access Control messages warning you that this might be unsafe and asking if you want to go ahead with it. The answer is you do and you should click Yes to continue with the uninstall.

When complete, restart your computer and the problem will be gone.

How can I use system restore option. It is in “off” mode in my computer?

On your computer click the Start button, usually found in the bottom left corner then right-click My Computer, and  click Properties.

The System Properties box will open, then click the System Restore tab.

Either take the tick off the Turn off System Restore check box or click the Turn off System Restore on all drives box to turn it back on. Click the OK button and system restore will be back when you restart the computer.

If you haven’t turned system restore off, you should also check your computer for viruses as a common trick for malware is to turn of Windows’ System Restore function.

Operating System: Windows XP SP3
Windows Media Player is default media player.
On saving email attachments that are in Adobe Acrobat Reader format, they show up as _auto_file with the WMP icon and can’t be read unless I go through the process of choosing to open them in Adobe Reader.
A further file type that is defaulting to the WMP icon is PDS for home movie editing. This particular type of file becomes inaccessible and also shows up as _auto_file.
How can I stop the _auto_file function occurring and return the affected files to the correct formats?
Look forward to your advice. Regards Jen

Hi Jen,

In Windows XP you can change the file association simply by saving one of your PDF attachments to a directory or your desktop, then going to that directory or the desktop right-clicking the file and choose Open With in the menu.

Then select Choose Program and select the correct application from the list and tick the box reading Always use the selected program to open this kind of file. Click OK and the problem will be fixed for that particular file.

You might want to check your computer hasn’t had a virus infection as this problem is common after a malware attack, to scan your system visit our Removing a Trojan page.

I use windows XP and have used Incredimail for years without problem, since upgrading to Incredimail 2 as suggested in October, the computer continually closes down with a message the system has recovered from a serious error.

I again upgraded and am still having the same problem The error signature is BC Code14, BCP1 00000003, BCP2 859D9020, BCP3 859D9194, BCP4 8060577E, OS Ver 5_1_2600, SP3_0, Product 768_1 Can you advise me what the problem is please and how do I fix it.

Thanks Denise

Denise, it sounds like the problem isn’t related to Incredimail, it’s more likely to be a hardware problem, possibly a hard drive problem, a memory defect or simply some dust causing the system to overheat.

You can check some of these things yourself by following our instructions in the “System Has Recovered From A Serious Error Message” post, however it’s very likely you’ll need to take your system to a computer technician for a check up.

I have a Packard Bell PC. Operating system is Window XP. I can only access Outlook Express once after start up. Nothing happens when I want to access it again. I have to reboot the system to be able to access O/E again, then I again can only access it once. Can you help please?

Outlook Express is a fragile program and there’s a number of things that can upset it. The first thing to do is to clean up your mailbox by deleting unwanted emails and emptying the trash bin as OE doesn’t like the data folders getting too big.

If that isn’t resolving the problem, check our post on Outlook Express Keeps Disappearing.

Should it still misbehave, you can reset Internet Explorer’s settings or checking for damaged Outlook Express files as we describe in Missing Links in Outlook Express.

The final solution could be a damaged Outlook Express data file and we have the instructions for that at Outlook Express data files damaged.

Outlook Express is a fairly buggy program and is very much showing its age, so you might want to consider alternative options such as Gmail, Windows Live or Yahoo! Mail.

An anti-virus program called Smart Engine has been installed on my pc

I have sent 3 e-mails to them find how to remove it – the 3rd answer gave a link to an uninstall file however Windows Defender says the file is infectected with the Win32/FileVimes trojan & will not allow me to download the full file – smart Engine advised me to turn off Windows Defender to allow the uninstall file to be installed – this does not sound like a good idea to me

Can you please give me any advise on how to remove this program?

It’s not worth calling Smart Engine an anti-virus. It’s actually a scam that claims you’re infected with all manner of viruses and asks you to pay them to remove the non-existent malware. If anything, it’s more likely to be adding viruses than removing them.

The best way to deal with this program is to download Malware Bytes and follow the instructions in our Removing a Trojan post. This will clean it off.

Before doing it, it’s worthwhile backing up important data just in case something serious goes wrong.

I use an 8GB Lexar USB drive to transfer downloaded shows from my Mac Mini to my HDD.

The problem is that when the USB is inserted in the computer and I delete some or all items from it, the info shows that the number of bytes available does not alter and I am unable to add any items.

I have deleted all the downloads from the USB, so it should be blank, but it does not acknowledge this and reports that “the item cannot be copied because their is not enough free space”. I have just copied an item of 366.6MB and the Info says there is 25.5MB available, and 7.98GB used in disk. It is the only item on the disc.

Are you able to tell me how to clear the previous content from the USB?

You should be able to clear this by emptying the Trash Bin on a Mac or the Recycle Bin on a Windows System.

On a Windows computer, right click the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop and select Empty Recycle Bin. It should then clear all your deleted files off all drives.

It’s a similar process for the Mac, either right click on the Taskbar’s Trash Bin icon and select Empty Trash or click on the desktop, then select the Finder menu and click Empty Trash.

If neither of those work, then you may have to follow our reformatting a USB drive instructions.

Somehow I downloaded a program called Playitall. It started to take over my computer, first by, when starting media player, pop ups occured asking for Playitall instead. I searched out this program within the computer and found it in program files and in documents and settings.

I went to add and remove and removed the program and then searched out any other programs with the same name in Explorer. Entrees that I found I deleted. I then went to the Registry and did the same.
I restarted the computer and was unable to start any programs.

All the Icons on the desktop were labled with .lnk. I did a sfc and that did not work. After all my efforts to restore .exe files, I installed my XP disk and did a total repair of the operating system (not Format). After this I downloaded all updates and service packs. Once completed< Playitall was back. I have researched this on Mcaffe, Norton,and AVG and also google and not come up with any answers. the research I have found is there are other people out there with the same problem but no answers.

The problem is PlayItAll is a poorly designed program that damages your critical file associations which means Windows doesn’t know what to open programs with.

To fix it, you’ll have to download a couple of the File Association fixes from Doug Knox’s excellent site. Specifically the ZIP Folder Association Fix, REG File Association Fix,EXE File Association Fix and the LNK (Shortcut) File Association Fix. Save all of these to a folder you can access easily.

Uninstall PlayItAll and follow Doug’s instructions on running the two fixes from the Command Line as they won’t work without the file associations.

You can then fix the problem by running first the Zip folder which will mean you can unzip the other three fixes.

Once you’ve unzipped the REG, EXE and LNK fixes, click CTR-ALT-DEL and choose File and New Task the type regedit into the box.

In the registry editor, choose File and import then select the REG fix that you unzipped earlier. Import the file and click Exit.

Once you’ve exited the Registry Editor you should be able to just click the EXE and LNK files for them to be automatically run, if not re-open REGEDIT and import them the same way as you did for the REG fix.

When finished, exit registry editor and reboot your computer. You may find some of the other file associations may need to be fixed as well. In the worst case, some programs may have to be reinstalled.

We’ve covered a similar problem in our Cannot Open Programs post.

Do files deleted from floppy disk get tansfered to recycle bin ?

Unfortunately they don’t. Files deleted from removable drives in Windows aren’t saved to the Recycle Bin. Micorsoft discuss this on their website at Files or Folders Deleted from Floppy Disk Not in the Recycle Bin

If you haven’t used the floppy disk since deleting the file, there is a good chance you can recover the lost files by using the software described in our Recovering Deleted Files post.

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.