IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I am a windows XP SP2 user. Everytime on start up i get the following error message “windows cannot find KHATARNAK.EXE. Make sure you typed the name correctly and then try again. To search for a file, click the start button and then click search”.

Below this i get another dialogue box with the message “windows cannot find ‘c:\WINDOWS\inf\other.exe”. Make sure you typed the name correctly and then try again”

If i click ok or close this dialogue box i get one more dialogue box which says “could not run “c:\WINDOWS\inf\other.exe” specified in the registry” and on closing this another one which says “windows cannot find “c:\windows\system32\config\win.exe’ .make sure u type the name correctly and then try again”

On closing this my normal desktop screen appears. What is wrong ?? What is the solution ??

 What’s happening is Windows wants to open some programs when it starts.  It can’t find them so you are getting these errors.

The good news is these programs are spyware and viruses. What it seems has happened is you’ve been infected but the infection has been cleaned from the computer.  Whatever cleaned your infection, it didn’t remove some of the pointers to the problem.

To fix this, open the System Configuration tool and take the ticks off the startup options pointing to KHATARNAK.EXE and the other items that are coming up as “not found”.

It’s also a very good idea to scan your computer for other infections and change any important passwords such as banking details.

I have an HP Compaq nx6330 notebook running XP Pro SP2. The hard disk is 50GB in size. When I check the free space it says 3GB; however when I run WinDirStat there is an “Unknown” file of 25GB. I have run chkdsk /F/X on startup but this does not fix the problem. How can I recover this space from the “Unknown” file.

First, check this is not related to the System Restore process. Make sure you have a recent backup of your system then right-click My Computer and select Properties. Click the System Restore tab and tick Turn off System Restore on all drives.

When you reboot the computer check the file has gone. Turn system restore back on and restart the computer.

If the file is still there, check you don’t have a compressed files, a third party backup or file protection system as these can create these hidden files. You need to be very careful in deleting as they can be something very important.

If you do have one of these programs use the application settings to change the file sizes or to disable the program.

I installed a new monitor, which worked fine until I tried to adjust the display settings to improve the fonts. Then I got a black screen and a message that said I have the wrong frequency. Now I can’t see anything to reset the default display. I know the monitor works because I can see the computer name and Windows logo at boot up. How do I get to settings again?

You’ll need to start the computer in Safe Mode. Once in Safe Mode, Click Start, Control Panel and choose Display.

In the Display properties, click on the Settings tab and move the slider under the heading Screen Resolution to the left.

When you reboot the computer, the display will be back at 16 colors. You can then move it back to the proper resolution.

If this happens in future, don’t panic. If you wait ten seconds WITHOUT touching the mouse or keyboard the screen will go back to the previous setting.

My pc seems to be getting slower what ways are there to speed it up before I decide to go out and buy more speed for it?

I assume you mean getting more memory when you say “buy more speed for it”. In my view, adding memory is always a good idea to give a sluggish computer a boost.

In this case though we’d recommend you give your computer a clean up just to see if that will give it a speed boost. First, try uninstalling any unnecessary programs. Only remove programs you know and don’t use: If you don’t know what it does, leave it alone.

The next step is to make sure your system is clean with a spyware check.

Once you are sure the system is clear of nasties, run a clean up tool to flush out accumulated junk. We recommend CCleaner or Cleanup! Make sure you backup important data files first.

With all of that done, it can be worthwhile checking your disk for minor errors. The Chkdsk tool built into Windows is as good as any.

If you find all of this hasn’t improved speed then you should speak to your local computer tech about the upgrading options.

Hard drives are complex and precision engineered pieces of equipment and saving files on them is a complex business. Sometimes the computer can forget forget exactly where it has saved files.

When this happens, computers slow down as the system has to search for files when it needs them.

To overcome this problem in Windows computers, you can run the Check Disk command. Click Start, Run and type Chkdsk c: /r in the box. On Windows Vista machines click Find and do likewise.

The c: refers to the main disk drive. If you have more drives you can insert d:, e: or whatever. Note this won’t work with CD and DVD drives but it will with external and flash drives.

A black box will appear and if you’ve chosen the C: drive or any other drive that’s in use, it tell you the drive is locked and do you want to run chkdsk the next time you start the computer. Type Y (for yes) and press the enter key.

If the drive is in use as a network or data drive, you may be asked if you want to dismount the drive. Press N (for no) and then Y for the next question.

When you restart the computer a blue screen will appear telling you a disk check has been scheduled and press any key to cancel. Leave the computer alone and let it run.

Be warned this process might take several hours. Once the process starts, you cannot cancel the operation and the computer must not be restarted.

If Chkdsk detects bad blocks on the hard drive, then you should contact your computer expert immediately as your hard drive is probably beginning to fail.

I installed a digital image editing program (PhotoPlus 11), and now everytime I want to open anything from My Pictures, it opens in this program.  I think I may have made the program the default manager for  all the  image file types I thought I might be likely to use (via the installation wizard on the CD).  I would rather have Windows Picture Manager as the default for viewing my pictures, but I can’t find it as a program on my computer.   Where do I go to change it back?  I have Windows XP SP2 Home Version.

To get the association back on image files, right click one of your images. Click the Open With option and select Choose Program.

In the choose program dialog box select Microsoft Office Picture Manager and tick the box below that reads Always use the selected program to open this type of file.

Click okay and this will fix the problem. Keep in mind you’ll have to do this with each type of image file (eg; jpg, gif, etc.).

“Everytime I open my computer before I log in there is error message “a duplicate name exist on the network”. I already change the computer name on the properties then change computer name. then when I re-start my Computer nothing happen. still the error appears before I log in.

You should check you are actually changing the name. Open the Control Panel by clicking Start, Settings, Control Panel and then click System.

In the System properties click the Computer Name tab. This is where you may be being misled as the “Computer Description” box is different to the computer’s name. The actual name is below under the “Full Computer Name” heading.

To change this, click the “Change” button. Choose a name different to all the other computers on the network and put this in the Computer name box. Keep clicking okay until the computer says it needs to restart and let the computer reboot.

This should clear the problem. If it doesn’t click Start, Run and type ipconfig /flushdns. This should wipe the computer’s memory of other addresses and should get rid of the message on restart.

I have a file called “thumbs.db” on my desktop. I’ve deleted it a number of times but it keeps reappearing. Do I have a virus?

Thumbs.db is a system file. It tracks the thumbnail views of the files on your desktop. Thumbnails are the little previews of your files Windows sometimes shows depending on the folder view.

The file itself is harmless and if you delete it Windows will recreate it next time you restart. So deleting thumbs.db is really quite pointless.

Other system files though are not so happy if you delete them. Erasing a critical file can mean an expensive repair bill, so we generally like to hide them.

To hide them from daily view, open My Computer and click the Tools toolbar, then select the Folder Options.

In the Folder Options screen, select the View tab and tick the buttons next to “Do not show hidden files or folders” and “Hide protected operating system files”.

Click okay and you won’t see thumbs.db or any other important file again

How do I empty my Recycle Bin?

It’s a good idea to empty the bin on a regular basis as it can clog up your machine.

To do this, right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop. Then click “Empty Recycle Bin” and this will empty the bin.

Be warned, if any important files were in the bin it may be difficult and expensive to recover them after emptying it.

O.S. is XP SP2. I have a problem with Java(TM)6 update 3. When I go to some sites, I cant get in as it tells me I need to install plug ins,I download Java then it tells me my pc alrady has Java installed, I click yes to reinstall,error message internal error 2753 comes up, then fatal error during installation. Have tried to uninstall Java through add/remove programs, but get the same error message internal error 2753.

When i go to start,run,control, there is no Java showing there at all. Windows installer has started turning itself off, so I go to start,control panel, Administrative tools,services,make sure windows installer is on auto and right click on it then start. I am sorry I cannot explain it any better, hope you will understand,thank you.

Hi Desperate Nana,

The problem is with your Windows Installer function. To fix it, download and install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.

When you run it, it will refer to Microsoft Office. Don’t worry about this.

Once its finished, reboot and the problem should be clear.