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 had Vista Ultimate for three months now and the temp files folder is filling up with temp\RAC.tmp files which Windows Disk Cleanup or EasyCleaner will not delete.

When I track them down and open them they open up I Tunes. Can I delete them? Also some called tracing\RASMAN.OLD and other old files. I have AVG,Spybot S&D and AdAware.

Thanks for your site,  James.

Hi James,

This problem sounds like there’s an errant Virtual Private Network or dial up connection on your system.

The first step would be to look in the Network control panel and remove any connections that are not being used. If you are using a VPN then it’s probably best to talk to your system administrator about why these errors are being generated.

With removing these files, it’s best to start in Safe Mode and run the disk clean up utilities from there.

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.

System: Windows XP.  On start up I’m getting a message “C:\WINDOWS\system32\igghxjtd.dll

The specified module could not be found”.

This is since my PC was cleaned up after being infected by PC Cleaner. On the other hand it is also after my son removed some old games.

The problem is some remains of the spyware is still around on your system. In this case, the reference to some of it in the startup processes. When the computer starts it looks for the igghxjtd.dll file, can’t find it and so warns you.

To fix this, you need to run the Microsoft System Configuration tool (msconfig), choose the startup tab and take the tick off the igghxjtd item.

It’s worthwhile also giving the system another scan for viruses and Trojans as well.

i have error message stop:- c0000218 (registry file failure) the registry cannot load the hive stystemroot\system32\config\software or its log or alternative, it is currupt, absent or not rewritable. Physical memory dump complete. i cannot start in safe mode as the keyboard does not work until the blue screen with the above error message appears. thank you

You have a corrupt registry file. The four registry files; security, system, sam and software, are essential to the computer and Windows cannot load if any of them are damaged.

The fix for this is relatively simple but requires an experienced tech to do it. It involves booting the computer off a boot disk such as BartPE or the Windows install disk then accessing the registry backup files in the System Volume Information folder as Microsoft describe here.

Those files need to be copied to the %windir%/system32/config folder, the old software file needs to be renamed and the recovered file named to software.

Once this is done, the computer needs to be checked for disk errors, virus infections and anything else that could damage the registry.

This is a job we’d strongly recommend you get done by a qualified computer technician.

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.

We are a seniors club with 6 networked computers. All XP. Now have new computer with ability to change from XP to Vista via Bios. The computer networked with other computers and printers without problems but when we switch to Vista the HP printer prints in mirror image.  Does this mean we need a driver for the printer or is there some other setting?

It certainly does sound like a problem with the printer driver. HP generally haven’t been updating drivers for printers that are supported in Vista so you might have trouble finding a new driver for that model.

The best bet is to try experimenting with other HP printer drivers. A number are compatible with each other and you may find one of the compatible versions will not have this problem. A search on HP’s support website will give you a list of which printers will match.

Hi
I have Toshiba A100 with Dual Mode Pad. I have been using the touch pad as a mouse and sometimes it gets stuck in the 6 button mode and I’m unable to use the mouse. I can’t find any notes in the manual of how the dual pad switches between mouse touchpad and multi function and once it’s in this mode I have to turn off the computer in order to use the mouse again.

Needless to say I have no idea how to use the button functions.

Thank you in advance

Wendy

The dual mode touchpads are funny beasts designed to be both a mouse and a “launch and control center”. I can’t say the idea excites me.

The problem with these touchpads is they have a habit of switching modes when you least expect it. According to Synaptics FAQ on the product you can switch modes by tapping on the top right hand corner and you are probably doing that accidentally.

To turn the feature off, click the Start button and go to the Control Panel. Under the Hardware Settings heading, click Mouse Settings.

In the Mouse Settings, select the Device Settings tab and then Settings. Open the tapping tab then click the tap zones module and uncheck the Enable Tap Zones checkbox.

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.).