IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I don’t seem to be able to open my email attachments. I am using Vista. Thanks!

This is a long standing problem with Windows Mail and Outlook Express. To protect you from potentially infected files coming in on your email account, the program simply blocks most attachments.

To fix this, open Windows Mail, click Tools then Options and take the tick off the box next to Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus.

Click Okay and the problem’s fixed.

Update: If you’re using AVG then you may need to change your email plugin settings. We have instructions on doing that in a later entry.

When i turn on my PC an errors appear on the screen, “The system has recovered from a serious error. A log of this error has been created ….”

What is the problem? do I need to reformat my PC? or this is a virus?

It could be a number of things. Something is causing an error when your computer shuts down.
First, you should check your hard drive is free of errors. Be warned that this can take some hours to run. We find it best to leave it overnight.

Once the chkdsk has finished make sure your computer doesn’t have a virus or spyware infection.

Once that is finished, uninstall any programs you don’t use.

Then, clean up your computer.

If the problem is still continuing you’ll need to consider reformatting or calling a tech to investigate further. We’d suggest the latter as it actually could be something benign.

Remember though to backup your data as these sort of messages are often an indication something may be going badly wrong.

I would like to use windows mail , and have a yahoo email address. It was working but somehow I’ve messed it up . I now read all mail on the Yahoo server, but would like it to download to MS Mail.

The reason for it stopping is Yahoo! Mail has been through some changes in the way it handles POP (Post Office Protocol) mail which Outlook Express and Windows Mail use.

To enable it, go into your Yahoo! mail folder and click Options on the top right hand corner of the screen.

Select POP Access and Forwarding and click the button next to I want to receive all messages, including those that SpamGuard thinks are spam.

You’ll need then to run the account setup wizard in Windows Mail, fill in your own details and enter pop.mail.yahoo.com.au as your incoming mail server and  smtp.mail.yahoo.com.au as your outgoing mail server.

While in the Options page you can export your Yahoo! address book by clicking  Address book then Import/Export then choose to export your addresses as a Comma Separated Value (CSV).

You can then import the addresses into your Windows Mail.

When opening any application such as Internet explorer and even add or remove programs in control panel my computer says “The file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Please create an association in the folder options control panel”

Even when i try to run command prompt, it is asking to choose the program in which we want to open. What is the problem with my system?

This error message is the computer telling you it doesn’t know what to do with a particular type of file. Normally this is a simple fix of either installing the correct program or opening My Computer, clicking Tools, Folder Options and File Types where you can change the settings.

In your case the computer no longer knows what to do with .exe files so you can’t run programs.

Fixing this is a fiddly problem luckily Doug Knox has provided the answer and you can download the .EXE registry fix from his page.

It is probably that you’ll have trouble running the regedit tool or the zip functions because they are damaged as well. Doug explains what to do about this at the top of the page. It is essential you read and understand his instructions.

Once you’ve fixed the problem, scan your computer for viruses or spyware. It’s highly likely this problem is due to such an infection.

If you still have problems with your systems

I have just got a new notebook bundled with Vista Home Premium. This comes with Windows Media Centre. When I rip my music to the hard drive from cd Media Player cannot connect to the internet to download the cd information.

I have set up the internet connection successfully in Media Centre a few times but when the system attempts to connect it cannot, the error being no internet connection. So off i go again, following the prompts with the same outcome. V

ery frustrating and I don’t understand why a notebook would come wiht such a extensive system as Media Centre. if i knew what it was when i ordered the machine I would have got the basic Vista. Help please it is driving me crazy

The problem sounds like Media Center is being stopped by a firewall. Check your firewall settings that mcrmgr.exe is trusted to go onto the Internet.

If you continue to have problems, we’d suggest using another CD burning program like Nero.

I’m running Vista Premium on a Dell Dimension 9200 using Adobe Reader 8.1.1.It will not install updates or uninstall Adobe Reader–Error 1402 Could not open key. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwareclasses\CLSID\(D38064DA). Adobe will not provide tech help as it was a free download except for a lengthy instruction which involves fiddling with the Registry–which I dare not do.I could not find any reference in your archives.Thanks.

It sounds like something is tying up your Adobe installation. You may want to try starting the computer in Safe Mode and seeing if it is possible to uninstall Adobe that way.

If it isn’t possible, then disabling any Adobe products that are starting with the computer is the next step. You’ll need to open the System Configuration Tool and take the ticks off anything referring to Adobe in the Startup tab.

Finally, you could try creating a different administrative user and seeing if this repairs the problem.

If none of these work, you’ll have to call in a technician to fix the registry problem.

Sometimes it’s necessary to create a new user profile on your computer. To do this, click Start, Settings and Control Panel. Then choose User Accounts. In Windows Vista, choose Users.

Choose Create a new Account and follow the wizard which will include giving the account a name.

When you are asked if you want the account to be an Administrator or Limited User, we recommend Limited User for day-to-day use and Administrator for running maintenance tasks such as installing software and removing viruses.

However it’s best to first allow the new user to be an Administrator while you set up their profile.

Once you’ve set up their email accounts, Microsoft Office preferences and the like you can then change to Limited Users.

I am running my new Toshiba Satellite A210 laptop on the same dial-up phone line as my old Compaq PC with windows xp. My PC now seems to have same start window as the laptop with vista, all old icons have gone and the PC needs much prompting to start. What have I done with windows XP?

The problem sounds like your user profile has been damaged. Given your system is having trouble starting our first thought is the hard drive is failing.

You need to get this computer to a technician as soon as possible to check the drive and recover any data.

I am facing a problem at the time of start up of my Laptop. Ut is showing messages like “windows cannot find Winsafe in a particular location, type the name correctly & search it again”

Can you please tell me the solution, so that this message should not come afterwards .

The problem is due to Windows looking for a program that no longer exists. To stop the message appearing, run the MSConfig utility, go through the start up list and take the tick off Winsafe.

When you reboot the message will be gone.

I cannot access administrator account. I think it got happened while i was playing with computer management.

Not having a Administrator account can cause all manner of problems with Windows. So you’ll need to get this back.

First check if the Administrator account still exists. To do this, click Start, Run and type  Control userpasswords2. This will get you into the User Accounts screen.

If Administrator exists there, click change password and that should reset it. You may have to re-enable the account.

The next step is to do a System Restore.  We have instructions on a previous post.

Should these not clear it then the Windows Vista Forums have a detailed post on how to fix the problem. The instructions are quite complex and involve some knowledge of using the Windows Registry.

If you don’t have this knowledge then we’d strongly suggest contacting your local computer tech.