IT Queries: Computer problems answered

When I open an email in Outlook, I find there’s a big red cross where images should be. How do I show the images?

Warning: This solution involves editing the Windows registry. Doing this incorrectly can damage your system. If you are not an experienced computer user, call for a computer technician.

First backup your important data and then restart your computer. Do not open Outlook.

Once your computer is running, open the registry editor by clicking Start, Run (or Find in Vista) and type regedit and click okay.

Go down the list on the left hand side of the Registry Editor screen to HKEY_CURRENT_USER click the plus on the left of the key to expand it and click the plus next to Software.

Continue down the tree by clicking the plus next to Microsoft then Office then 11.0, Outlook, Security and finally highlight OutlookSecureTempFolder.

On the right hand side of the screen you will see  %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK3D\ . Note the %USERPROFILE% may be the user’s name instead.

Highlight and delete %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK3D\

Close the Registry Editor, reboot your computer and Outlook 2003 should work fine.

Is it yet advisable to install SP3 on Windows XP ?Absolutely. We’ve had few problems with SP3 and the roll up of all the security patches makes it a must have on Windows XP systems.One word of caution, before you do it back up all your important data just in case something goes wrong.

My staff and kids are spending too much time on facebook and myspace. How can I block these sites without buying some expensive security software?

The quickest and easiest way is to edit the hosts file. This file is loaded when you start the computer and is used to direct Internet requests. You can direct requests for certain domains not to go beyond your computer.

In Windows, the hosts file lurks in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. Open this file using Notepad and add the lines 127.0.0.1 facebook.com and 127.0.0.1 myspace.com.

On the Apple Mac the hosts file is in /private/etc/hosts.

Keep in mind this will block all access to those domains, so if you block a certain domain  you won’t be able to receive anything from that address.

Also remember this method, like all methods of blocking Internet access, is not foolproof. Determined little fingers will find ways to get around this block so it’s no substitute for proper supervision.

I stupidly opened an e-card sent to my box.When I opened it the script was in an unrecognisable format.I deleted it.Since then I have a box which continually comes onto the screen saying: Windows-no disk. I have done a virus scan and there were nil virus found. Can you help me solve this problem?

It sounds like the card probably wasn’t malicious, it was just in a format your computer couldn’t read.

The first step would be to clean up your computer as we describe in a previous post.

If that doesn’t clear it, then run a registry cleaner to flush any nonsense out of the system. Before running these programs make sure you’ve backed up your system.

I’m using a 150Gb external hard drive to backup my data. The software, Retrospect Express, keeps telling me there isn’t enough space on the hard drive.

When I check the drive there’s 100Gb of space available. I’ve reinstalled the software but the problem keeps happening.

Almost certainly the problem is how the hard drive has been formatted. Most external drives come with the FAT32 system format. This limits file sizes to 4Gb. Your backup file has gone over that limit.

When Microsoft starting using the FAT32 system in 1995 it was rare to find a 4Gb hard drive, let alone a single file that big. Today that system struggles; particularly when faced with backup files that easily go over the 4Gb limit.

Windows XP, Vista and Mac OS support the older file system but Windows systems today use the NTFS file system that supports bigger files and has better security features.

You need to convert your hard drive to NTFS by running the convert.exe program which is included in Windows XP. Microsoft have instructions on using it at their website.

When using it, make sure you do not turn the drive or computer off while it’s converting. Usually the program will take around 20 minutes to convert a 100Gb hard drive.

Once it’s converted, restart both the computer and drive. You may have to also rerun your backup program’s setup routine.

Why would the computer not let you play  solitaire on it?  It just flickers on and off and says something is not responding?

Contrary to popular belief  Solitaire isn’t just a time waster. For techs, it’s a quick and easy way to test your graphics hardware is behaving itself.

In your case it could be the graphics card is misbehaving and if that is the case you’ll need to take it to your local computer store to get it checked.

It is possible this is caused by a virus or defective software. Before lugging it down to the store you should give the computer a clean up and check for viruses.

If you have the Windows disk, you should also check there aren’t any damaged files in the system by running the System File Checker tool. This will repair any problems with the Windows files including the solitaire program.

I am regularly getting this message “Windows – Virtual Memory Minimum Too Low
Your system is low on virtual memory.  Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file.  During this process, memory requests for some applications may be denied. For more information, see Help.”

I don’t find “Help” very helpful and would like to know what is virtual memory and what I need to do to remedy this situation?

Sadly the help files aren’t much assistance for problems like these.

All computers use memory to store what you are using on the computer. When you’re finished using a document or web page or whatever you can save it to the hard drive or just shut it down and lose it.

The built in memory is known as RAM or physical memory and they are computer chips that plug into the main board of your computer. This is what the system uses most of the time.

If the computer finds it’s running out of physical memory it falls back on virtual memory which is a file on the hard drive. This is saves the machine from simply crashing when it runs out of physical memory.

In your case Windows has for some reason set the virtual memory level too low. To fix this, click Start, Settings, Control Panel and select the System icon.

In the System applet, choose Advanced and click the Settings button in the Performance section of the screen.

The click the Advanced tab and Change under the Virtual Memory section. Set the initial size under the Custom heading to at least 500Mb and the maximum to 4000 which is the highest Windows XP and earlier can go. Click Set and then keep clicking okay until you get back to the desktop where you’ll be asked to reboot the computer.

Cannot access any web page even though modem is dialed up properly. Typical page not available message.

Running Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP sp2 on Dell 2400.  I use dial up with Eartlink.  Access internet modem connects up properly — hear dialing and handshake and then message pops up that it is connected and I can see a IP address(I have even checked this by using a brand new USB modem and get the same result, so it is not modem). I have tried Earthlink and Dell help lines with no success.  I reloaded Internet Explorer 7 with no effect.   Am unable to use recover utility.  Anyone out there have any ideas?

The first thing to do is uninstall any firewall programs. Before going on the net, make sure your dial up connection has the Windows Firewall enabled so you don’t get any worms wriggling their way onto your system.

If you still have the problem, then try repairing your TCP/IP stack by clicking start then run and typing CMD in the box.

You’ll find yourself at the DOS prompt and there you should type the following command.

netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

Press enter and this will reinstall the basic TCP/IP stack.

One thing to note with this problem is that it can be spyware related so it is essential you check your computer for spyware and viruses.

You may also have to completely remove Internet Explorer 7 and then reinstall it. This may be an opportunity to check out alternatives like Firefox, Opera or Safari.

Hi, I have a compaq lap top and would like to know how to put the battery option setting on, so I know how much power i have left. Thank you.

To disable it click Start then Run and type Control Panel. In the Control Panel double click on Power Options.

In the Power Options applet click on advanced and tick the box beside Always show icon on the taskbar.

A battery icon should now appear near the time in the bottom left hand corner of your screen telling you how much battery life is left.

Some laptops have their own specialist power management software that disables this. If this is the case with your laptop, you’ll need to contact the manufacturer to find how to enable it.

 I file a lot of my emails using Folders and sub-folders. When I file something all the sub-folders open up. Is there any way of stopping this?

This is called auto expanding and it irritates a lot of people. To disable it click Start then Run and type Control Panel. In the Control Panel double click on Folder Options.

Select the View tab and in the Advanced Settings box take the tick off Display Simple folder view in Explorers folder list and click OK.