IT Queries: Computer problems answered

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.

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.).

“Everytime I open my computer before I log in there is error message “a duplicate name exist on the network”. I already change the computer name on the properties then change computer name. then when I re-start my Computer nothing happen. still the error appears before I log in.

You should check you are actually changing the name. Open the Control Panel by clicking Start, Settings, Control Panel and then click System.

In the System properties click the Computer Name tab. This is where you may be being misled as the “Computer Description” box is different to the computer’s name. The actual name is below under the “Full Computer Name” heading.

To change this, click the “Change” button. Choose a name different to all the other computers on the network and put this in the Computer name box. Keep clicking okay until the computer says it needs to restart and let the computer reboot.

This should clear the problem. If it doesn’t click Start, Run and type ipconfig /flushdns. This should wipe the computer’s memory of other addresses and should get rid of the message on restart.

Hi everyone..I’m using Windows XP Home Edition and I don’t know whether I’ve already asked about this but a few days ago something happened!! let me see if I can explain ( novice that I am!)what’s going on..the size of my fonts became bigger and when I use IE to search, everything (including welcome screen info) becomes giants size. I’d like to restore my computer to an earlier date (like 2-3 weeks ago when I had no problems and a stress free user friendly operating system)..it must be something that I’m doing because this is the 3rd time this has happened..I’ve called out a tech two times at $100 a callout and it’s now becoming an expensive mess/hobby..can anyone help in simple language?.I hate being a computer dodo!…thanks Elly in Oz

It sounds like there’s a specific website you are going to that is causing this.

The first thing we’d suggest is to quit using Internet Explorer and switch to Firefox. You can still use Internet Explorer for sites that require it.

Should it continue to happen, there are two places where these settings can change. First is in the screen resolution. Click Start, Control Panel and Display.

In the Display settings, click the Advanced tab. Towards the bottom left hand corner is a slider marked Screen Resolution. If you move this to the right, it will make the screen and icons smaller.

Try experimenting with those resolutions to find the ones that are best for you. You’ll find many of them won’t suit your screen. If you don’t like them, just wait 15 seconds and it will go back to the previous settings.

It is possible your Windows schemes are being changed. To fix this, you open the Display settings as we described above and click on the Themes tab. In the themes box, click the drop down menu and select the Windows XP option. Click save and you’ll return to the Windows standard setup.

You may also want to check what your computer tech has been doing. They should have noted what they did on your job sheet or invoice. If they didn’t, call them and ask.

I uninstalled Zone Alarm Free but it appears that some remants are left. I try to use RegEdit to delete Zone Labs
(MiniLog, TrueVector, Zone Alarm) but get a message saying “Cannot delete Zone Labs: Error while deleting key.” I get the same message if I try to individually delete items.
How can I get rid of Zone Labs?

The first thing to check is that  you are logged on as an administrator. To check, right click on the start button and if “Open All Users” is an option, then you are an administrator. If not, log off and back on as an administrator.

Next, check you have removed Zone Alarm using the Add/Remove Programs function. If not then do so, if you have and it appears not to have fully uninstalled, it’s best to reinstall Zone Alarm, reboot and remove it again.

It isn’t unusual to find remnants of registry keys from old programs, some developers don’t do a good job of writing uninstall routines. Generally these won’t hurt the computer and shouldn’t detract from performance.

Should you want to remove these keys then first check all the Zone Alarm files have been deleted from the computer after uninstalling. Once you’ve confirmed this, run a registry cleaner.

WARNING: The following paragraph is for advanced users only. Do not edit the registry unless you have a backup and understand what you are doing.

If the registry keys still remain, you may be able to delete them by booting into safe mode running Regedit, right clicking the errant registry key and selecting Permissions. In the permissions screen, give yourself full control. If it doesn’t you’ll need to click on Advanced, Owner and make yourself the owner of that registry key.

Generally though, we strongly recommend leaving the registry alone unless there is a serious problem that needs to be resolved.

I have recently changed to broadband from a dialup connection and each time I go into Outlook (2007) it tries to connect using my old dialup connection instead of the new broadband connection. I have removed all the links to the dialup connection as far as I can see, but still the problem persists. I am using Vista home premium and Outlook 2007

The problem is in Outlook. It thinks the dial up setting is still there and tries to connect through it.

To fix this, click on the Tools menu and choose email settings. Select your email account and choose view or change existing settings, if you have more than one email account you’ll have to do this for each one.

Once in the the change account screen, click the More Settings button and then the Connections Tab. You’ll find the rogue dial up connection sitting there.

If you are connecting over broadband, then choose the Connect using my local area network.

Every time I try to install messenger so i can chat on computer by typing it says something is interrupting it from connecting

If you can connect to the Internet through your web browser or email program then it is almost certainly your firewall blocking Messenger.

To fix this, you’ll have to tell your firewall that Messenger is a legitimate program. To do this with the Windows firewall, click on Start, Control Panel, Windows Firewall.

In the Windows Firewall control panel, click the Exceptions tab. If Messenger is listed, tick the box beside it. If it isn’t listed, then click “Add Program” and select it from the list.

If you have a different firewall then you’ll have to go through a similar process. Unfortunately there are dozens of different firewall programs so we don’t have space to go through them here.

I have a file called “thumbs.db” on my desktop. I’ve deleted it a number of times but it keeps reappearing. Do I have a virus?

Thumbs.db is a system file. It tracks the thumbnail views of the files on your desktop. Thumbnails are the little previews of your files Windows sometimes shows depending on the folder view.

The file itself is harmless and if you delete it Windows will recreate it next time you restart. So deleting thumbs.db is really quite pointless.

Other system files though are not so happy if you delete them. Erasing a critical file can mean an expensive repair bill, so we generally like to hide them.

To hide them from daily view, open My Computer and click the Tools toolbar, then select the Folder Options.

In the Folder Options screen, select the View tab and tick the buttons next to “Do not show hidden files or folders” and “Hide protected operating system files”.

Click okay and you won’t see thumbs.db or any other important file again

How do I empty my Recycle Bin?

It’s a good idea to empty the bin on a regular basis as it can clog up your machine.

To do this, right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop. Then click “Empty Recycle Bin” and this will empty the bin.

Be warned, if any important files were in the bin it may be difficult and expensive to recover them after emptying it.