IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I use two User Accounts, one as a Computer Administrator and one as a Limited Account. Recently a ran the programme Easy Cleaner to do a Registry check on the Limited Account.

It came back with 581 entries to be considered for deletion. Not surprisingly, I could not remove those entries while in the Limited Account mode. I then changed that account to a Computer Administrator and ran Easy Cleaner again.

It then only found one possible entry for deletion. When I changed it back to a Limited Account and ran Easy Cleaner again, surprise surprise, 581 entries once again.

I find that a bit of a puzzle.

It’s a good question and not a puzzle at all.

The registry checker looks at your computer’s settings then checks the files referred to in the registry actually exist.

As a Limited User you can’t access critical system files so the registry checker reports errors as can’t find the files shown in the registry.

The is the reason we like Limited User mode for Windows users, it makes life harder for viruses and other malware.

Running the registry checker is good, but make sure you’ve made a backup before making changes to your registry as you can lock yourself out of your system if the program makes a mistake.

After updating internet explorer 8, some sites are not opening. How do I remove internet explorer?

The first thing to try is uninstalling Internet Explorer from Add/Remove Programs. Follow our instructions for uninstalling software and choose Window Internet Explorer 8.

If you can’t remove it, Microsoft have a removal tool and further instructions on their website.

Before running the removal tool, we’d strongly recommend backing up your data as a damaged Internet Explorer installation can cause problems for a Windows computers.

I recently bought a mobile broadband modem which connects on every machine but the one I need it too. I have a Dell Inspiron 1720 running Vista.

The software loads, there are no conflicts but when I try to connect to the net, I get “connection terminated”.

I have removed and re-installed the software several times and rebooted the machine.

As it works on other computers, I would think the mode is not faulty. Any suggestions?

The modem isn’t faulty. As you’ve gathered, if it’s working on other machines then it isn’t the hardware.

This problem is almost certainly a Vista driver problem. The solution will be to download the latest software for the modem from the manufacturer’s website.

When you do this, make sure you uninstall all the old software and reboot before setting up the modem using the new drivers.

There may also be some quirks with the telco’s setup having one of your other computers handy will allow you to check your settings to make sure you are accessing the right access point and have the right login details.

Hi , problem is that since a few days back I was using Windows XP on my laptop and I had some encrypted and compressed (locked) folders in d: in which i kept all my important and private data in .

Now yesterday I formatted my c: to install the new version of windows vista home basic but now whenever I am trying to open those folders or files inside them ,its showing errors saying “access to the folder is denied” or you need permission to access this folder . Plz help me coz the data is really important & I literally can’t afford to lose it .

Thanks .Take care .

Normally this is an easy to fix as this Microsoft advice page explains.

However, you’ve encrypted the drive and I’m sorry to say but it’s unlikely you’ll get the data back.

Microsoft’s encryption is fairly powerful and if you lose your passwords or reinstall Windows you will get locked out.

For this reason our recommendation is to keep a secure, unencrypted backup of encrypted data unless you have serious security requirements.

I’d like to give you better news but in this case I suspect recovery is close to impossible.

I posted this question before – please help. In Vista – when I open Help – I get little red crosses – how can I get rid of these please?

This is an irritating Windows problems we’ve covered previously. The solution is probably the second one listed which involves reinstalling the Windows Scripting Shell.

It may be you’ve uninstalled something that’s damaged your system. We’d also suggest following our Removing a Trojan instructions.

I have been trying to install Sygate Personal Firewall, as per your excellent “internet protection kit” but am being told that it is incompatible with my Vista SP1.  Should I be comfortable using the “Before you Download” tab which directs me to “Uniblue Registry Booster”?  Is this a safe site?

Many thanks

We don’t know much about Avira, but it seems to be a fine anti-virus. If it seems to be working, and your ISP will support it, then it’s probably worth sticking with.

As far as firewalls go, Sygate is unfortunately no longer being supported, which means there won’t be a version that works with Vista.

Some free alternatives to Sygate are Comodo Internet Security and PC Tools Firewall Plus. Both of these products are basic, but working versions. If you want assistance with them though you’ll need to buy the professional editions.

My son attempted to uninstall limewire, my computer is now misty and wiil not switch off and simply refuses to do anything, help.

You’ll need to go back to a system restore point as we describe in previous question. 

However to do that you’ll have to turn off and restart the computer. The easiest way to do this is to hold the on/off button in for ten seconds and it will turn off.

Once the system’s running again follow the instructions on how to reset to a previous point.

It may be this is not Limewire’s or your son’s fault. It could be a different hardware problem as screens “going misty” usually indicates something like a video card problem.

See how it goes and post another query if the system restore doesn’t work

I was sent some jpeg and text under each pic. What I received was all the pics in subject line and text randomly scattered in main body of the e-mail. I looked at all HTML setting but to no avail.
I have Vista, IE7 and Outlook 2007.
please help

The problem is your computer is not associating JPEG files properly. It’s trying to open them as a text file rather than as a picture.

File associations are a long standing problem, we’ve previously covered fixing this in Windows XP, but Vista is slightly different.

First click the Windows button, select Control Panel then Default Programs and Set Associations.

You’ll get a list of all the suffixes Windows recognises. Scroll down to JPEG, click the Change Program button in the top right hand corner and there will be a list of programs that your computer can use. We’d suggest using Photogallery or Paint.

Click Close and reboot your computer.

Many important files are hidden in Windows XP and Vista. The reason for this is to protect critical system files from being accidentally deleted.

Unfortunately many data files such as address books are also tucked away in hidden folders, which means it can be difficult to find them.

To view these hidden files and folders, there’s a few settings to change in Windows. We recommend only doing this when you need to, such as when you are looking for Outlook Express data files or Windows Address Books. When you are finished, you should turn the settings back on.

Windows XP

Open My Computer, select the Tools menu and click Folder Options.

In the Folder Options windows select the View tab. Click the Show hidden files and folders button and below that take the tick off the Hide protected operating system files box.

A box may appear explaining what you are doing and asking if you are happy with this, click Yes.

Click the Apply button and then the OK button and shutdown My Computer.

Now your computer is configured to show all hidden files.

Windows Vista

Click on the Start button and select the Control Panel, click on the Appearance and Personalization link and click on Show Hidden Files or Folders.

In the Hidden files and folders section select the button labeled Show hidden files and folders and remove the tick  from Hide extensions for known file types below this, remove the tick from Hide protected operating system files.

Click the Apply button and then the OK button and Windows Vista is configured to show all hidden files.

Remember that it’s best practice not to be able to see these files as this reduces the risk of accidentally damaging or deleting important system components, so once you’ve found the hidden or system files turn the hide setting back on again.

I have a lenovo laptop running Windows XP that shows a blue screen when it is turned on. The message reads “STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error} The windows Logon process system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0×00000000 (0×00000000 0×00000000). The system has been shut down.”

many thanks for your help.

Windows is trying to do something like rename or update a file on starting and failing. Microsoft explain the process here. As result the computer won’t start.

This isn’t simple to fix and we wouldn’t recommend Microsoft’s solution. Instead we would use a Knoppix or BartPE disk to repair the problem which may involve moving system files from a repair directory back to their correct location.

Using recovery disks such as Bart or Knoppix is not something we would recommend to inexperienced users. If you aren’t sure about any of this you should call a computer tech to do this for you.

It’s also possible your hard drive is damaged and you should get your computer tech to check this and make sure your important data is backed up.