IT Queries: Computer problems answered

This post is a follow up our earlier answer on Windows XP won’t install

I’ve run the Dell diagnostic CD and no problems were found. I’ve loaded a different version of XP from another CD with similar results. When I try another reload, you receive a message that there is already an operating system on the hard drive do you want it deleted.

This suggests that XP is being loaded but can’t be booted/activated. I now have a variation on the earlier results in that when the computer attempts to boot into XP it requests that the Service Pack 2 CD be inserted then press Enter. Doing this had absolutely no effect.

What you’re describing is consistent with what we suggested in our previous post. If anything, it indicates the problem is with your hard drive.

The Dell Diagnostic CD doesn’t run a disk surface check unless you choose Extended Test and this is what you’ll need to do. Note that Dell advise this may take an hour, however if errors are found it can take substantially longer.

Dell have more details on their Diagnostic programs on their website. If your system is still under a Dell warranty, you should note any errors reported by the Diagnostic routines and call Dell support for further assistance.

I have a Laptop running Vista Home premium 32 bit and keep getting this message when i try to load a new program There is another installation occuring, please finish the existing before continuing.

For some reason the Windows Installer function has become confused, probably by an incomplete installation of another program.

The first thing to do is check your Add/Remove programs function and remove any programs you aren’t using or are giving you problems. If you have the replacement disks, then removing and reinstalling Microsoft Office is a good idea.

If that doesn’t work, then downloading and running the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility may well fix the problem. Note that while Microsoft discuss Office in the linked article, the clean up utility works for all programs.

After running the installer clean up, you may want to clean up your hard drive to flush out any left over nasties before attempting to install the new software.

I can’t reload Windows XP into my Dell Computer. The first attempt was rejected Error Code 7 – couldn’t find a file. Now it loads all the data from the the XP CD then when it goes to boot into Windows there appears to be nothing there. The response is “A disk read error occurred. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart”. If you press Ctrl+Alt+Del you get the same response.

There could be three problems here, either the hard drive is corrupt, the XP installation disk is damaged or the computer’s CD/DVD drive isn’t reading the disk properly.

The first part is easy, just follow our instructions on the CD not reading disks post. Giving the drive a clean probably won’t hurt at all even if it isn’t the problem.

Checking the XP disk for damage is also simple, shine a light onto the disk and tilt it to see if there are any scratches, dirt or smudges. If the disk isn’t excessively scratched, you can clean it up with a chamois or a commercial CD or DVD cleaning kit which retails from $5 upwards.

Finally there is checking your hard drive for errors. To do this, boot the computer off your XP installation disk and follow Microsoft’s instructions for using the Windows XP Recovery Mode. Once in recovery mode, check your hard drive for bad blocks. Keep in mind this can take several hours to run.

Experience shows a faulty XP installation is often due to errors on the hard drive, so be prepared to buy a new hard drive or system if chkdsk shows excessive bad blocks.

I have a new computer running Windows 7 and I can’t figure out how to copy the addresses in Outlook Express on my old computer to the new system.

You’ll have to export the old address book into a Comma Separated Value file (.csv) on the old computer, copy the CSV file across to the new computer and then import it into Windows Live Mail. It isn’t complex, but it is a bit fiddly.

First, open Outlook Express on your old Windows XP, ME, 98 or 95 computer and choose Addresses on the tool bar as show below;

Once you are in the Windows Address Book choose File then Export and Other Address Book.

In the Address Book Export Tool, select Text File (Comma Separated Values) and click Export;

The program will then ask you where you want to save the CSV file, choose an external drive which you can plug into the new Windows 7 computer or, if both the computers are networked, a location where the Windows 7 machine can find the exported file.

Once you’ve saved the file go to the Windows 7 system and plug in the external drive if you’ve used that to save the CSV file.

In the Windows Live Mail screen, select the contacts button and show menu, then choose import and Comma Separated Values. The program will ask where the CSV file is, and you’ll need to tell it where the file has been saved.

Click continueand the import process will start. During the process, the program might ask you about field mapping, this is where the computer isn’t sure which part of the file belongs where, so you may have to tell the system which part is the email address, which part the surname, etc.

Once you’ve completed, you should find all your addresses have come across. Keep in mind if you have multiple address books or groups within the address book, you’ll have to recreate these.

When i try to log in into my system, it is showing a dialog box with a countdown timer stating that “windows could not log on in user profile but has logged in the default profile”.Then it entered through the default log in and not in my log in. pls help me out………..

Your user profile is damaged. We’ve partly addressed this in a previous post, as it is usually is caused by a failing hard drive.

Some good news is that, assuming the drive isn’t badly damaged, your data can be recovered from the defective profile.

There are a number of ways to recover the profile, but all of them involve serious registry editing or renaming important directories.

The simplest way is to rename the old profile folder. When you log in the next time, a new profile is created and then data can be copied from the old profile.

However doing this can be time consuming and the data is often deeply hidden so we recommend getting an experienced computer technician in to determine the problema and the best course of action to recover the profile.

I’ve been told some of my software won’t run on my new computer because it is running 64 bit Windows. How do I find out which version of Windows I am running?

To find out if your computer is running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows in Windows 7 or Windows Vista, click the Start button , right-click Computer, and then click Properties.

Under the System tab, you’ll see which version you are running.

If your computer is running Windows XP, click Start, right-click My Computer, and click Properties. If “x64 Edition” is listed under System, you’re running the 64-bit version of Windows XP, if there is no mention of “x64″ then you’re running 32 bit Windows XP.

When ever I try to open anything in windows media player it freezes the computer and the only way to do make it respond is to shut down computer with power button on computer.

The first thing to do is clean up your computer as it may well be something lurking in your temporary files which is upsetting Media Player.

Should the problem continue, you may have to reinstall Windows Media Player. Open the Control Panel and click Add/Remove Programs, or Programs in Windows Vista, and select Internet Explorer.

To right of the selection there are two buttons; change and remove. Click the Change button and follow the wizard to repair the existing installation.

I forgot my password to my computer and I have no way of accessing it so now I do not know how to log on is there anyway to unlock my computer?

There are a couple of programs that will reset your password, Peter Nordhal’s NT Password reset and The Emergency Boot CD. Both of these work by creating a Linux boot disk that can access and reset the relevant Windows settings.

They are difficult tools to use though and not recommended for inexperienced users. We’d recommend you call an experienced computer technician to do this for you.

Also keep in mind if you have an encrypted files you’ll almost certainly be unable to open them so be very careful before using these tools.