IT Queries: Computer problems answered

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;

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 are free only for personal use; if you want to use them in a business you have to shell out for the paid versions.

I notice you advertise companies that provide registry cleaners on your site. I used a uniblue registry cleaner on my small notebook and it completely destroyed the operation of windows. I was able to recover normal operation through system restore. I would like to keep my computers running quickly and efficiently. Do you recommend the use of registry cleaners. I have Windows XP on both our laptops, Dell and Fujitsu.

The short answer is that we don’t recommend any registry cleaners as most are snake oil and the benefits of running a registry cleaner are not that great for the majority of Windows computers.

We discuss this in more detail, along with why we don’t recommend registry cleaners on our registry repair tools page.

Overall, save your money and time.

In regards to the adverts on the site, they are provided by third party companies and we unfortunately don’t control every advert that appears.

I can’t determine whether I have usb 2.o. When I plug any usb device in I get message  “device could operate faster using high speed port…” When I go to “Device Manager” It shows a list of USB controllers and one is -SiS PCI to USB Enhanced Host controller. I’ve tried changing ports but nothing changes. All devices seem to work OK but I always get the “slow speed message” when I plug anything in.

I am using windows XP service pack 3, Pentium 4. 2.53ghz 1.75gb ram

The underlying cause for this are the different USB standards; there’s USB 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 and 3.0 with each one being faster than the previous number. Windows tries to help by telling you when you’ve plugged a device capable of the higher speeds into a slower port but it’s often incorrect about the problem as the Laptop Junction website describes.

It is possible your USB cable is damaged or only capable of the lower speeds so you can replace your USB cable with one certified for the higher speeds. However you’ll probably find either the system’s USB ports are only the 1.1 standard or Windows is misreporting the problem.

Should you not need the higher speed, you can turn off the error messages by clicking on the Advanced properties of USB controller in the Device Manager. This will only get rid of the warnings.

If you do want the higher speeds, you should ask your local computer shop or support tech about adding a USB3.0 expansion card to your system which should cost around $100 excluding installation.

Hi, I need to reinstall my Win XP OS to get rid of all the junk I’ve accumulated;  I’ve burnt a DVD with my documents on it, but will my emails be there as well ?  if not, how do I preserve them ?

Your emails probably won’t be in My Documents unless you’ve specifically told your system to save them there.

Finding your emails on a Windows system is particularly irritating as the different programs dump them into different folders. In Outlook Express and Windows Mail the address books are also saved in a completely different location.

The best thing is to back up your entire profile, this sits in the Documents and Settings folder on your C: drive and the profile will be either your log in name or something close to it.

By backing up this entire folder, you’ll save your My Documents folder, desktop, web browser bookmarks, address books and email. Just take care that your email folder isn’t so big it won’t fit on a single DVD.

I have received a fraudulent email from a bogus UPS parcel delivery site. As I have been expecting a delivery, I mistakenly opened the email and clicked on the attachment.

My AVG 9 program promptly detected 2 viruses which I thought I had then successfully removed. However now, when I boot up, I get the following 2 error messages:
C:\\WINDOWS\\rhstap.dll – Specified module could not be found
C:WINDOWS\\olamobel.dll -Specified module could not be found

1. Does this mean the registry is damaged?

2. How can I repair the registry and avoid getting these error messages … can you recommend a safe registry repair tool?

It’s good your antivirus picked up the problem and removed the malware. Just to be safe, we’d recommend following our Removing a Trojan instructions as well.

Once you’re happy you’ve cleaned the computer out, you can fix the missing .dll issues. The registry itself isn’t damaged, it’s just trying to find the files the malware installed and told it to run on startup.

The best tool for cleaning out the errant registry entries is CCleaner and running that after making sure you are free of viruses should give your computer a significant performance boost.

I’m told my copy of Windows Vista is “at the end of support”. What does that mean?

Being at the end of support is Microsoft’s way of saying they won’t help you with that version of Windows any more and other people will probably stop writing programs for it. Microsoft explain it in a bit more detail on their website.

If your system is legitimate and working well, you can upgrade Vista or Windows XP to their latest Service Packs through the Windows Update site.

For most people though it doesn’t mean much. As long as your system is working fine, there should be few problems and experience has shown Microsoft will still provide important updates over time.

You should ask your computer tech to upgrade your system to the latest Windows service pack though at the first opportunity.

Hi, I’m using Windows XP. I’ve been trying to access iTunes store and create an account but every time I try it tells me I’m not connected to the internet which I know I am. I have tried everything Apple have suggested on their website – removed and reinstalled iTunes & Quicktime, and various other things- but I noted today that I should be sure to be logged on as “Administrator” before I download iTunes.

I don’t know what that means and could that be the problem. If that isn’t the problem can you please suggest what I should do to access the store.It’s driving me crazy!!! Thank you.

iTunes is being blocked by a firewall or Windows XP’s security settings. The role of these tools is stop potentially nasty programs from connecting to the Internet. Sometime during iTunes’ installation the system has decided iTunes is untrustworthy shouldn’t be allowed to access the Internet.

To change this, you’ll have to tell the firewall or security program that you want iTunes to access the net. If you are using the built in firewall then Microsoft have instructions on changing the settings on their website.

Hi. I am using Windows XP. Once in a while after turning on my computer and then open up files, my computer would go blank (black screen) for about 3 secs. This happens when I any file inluding when I am on the web and I open a new tab or go to another website. I don’t know what’s wrong with it and it really bothers me.

This could either be a problem with your monitor, video card or the display settings.

To change your display settings, right-click the background of your desktop and select properties. The Display Properties box will appear.

In the Display Properties, click the settings tab. In the bottom left hand corner of the box you’ll find Screen Resolution and a sliding bar below it. NOTE THE CURRENT SETTING then move the bar to the left and try the 800×600 or 640×480 resolutions to see if the problem goes away.

Should you have a wide screen monitor the dimensions will be different and keep in mind changing the resolution will affect the size and appearance of the screen.

You may have to call a technician to figure out which is the best resolution for your system.

For the other two possiblities — the graphics card or monitor, these are both hardware related and it’s best to have your local computer store have a look at the problem and give you quote for replacing them if necessary.

Would it be possible for me to install a new video card in desktop pentium 4 cpu 2.66ghz windows XP? The system shuts down then shows message thread stuck in device driver.The video card is nvidia gforce.Thanks.

It would be if you could find the right card, which in the case of this machine is probably an AGP card. The problem you will hit is finding a card is going to be expensive as these aren’t common any more.

You may find replacing the card isn’t necessary and it’s a software driver problem. This can be fixed by booting the computer into Safe Mode, deleting the existing video card drivers and copying the latest software across.

This isn’t a simple task though and it’s best done by a computer technician. You might want to speak with your local tech or computer store to see what the options are. It may be replacing the computer is a more cost effective option.