IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I love my new iPhone but when I type on it, it makes a clicking noise that really bugs me. How do I turn this off?

When you’re typing, the default setting on the iPhone is to make a noise something like a typewriter which can be incredibily irritating for everyone near you.

To turn it off, click the Settings icon (the grey one with gears) on your iPhone, select Sounds then scroll to the bottom of the Sound settings where you’ll find keyboard clicks. Slide the switch to off and the problem will go away.

Outlook 2003 keeps freezing.  Mainly when I am in the calendar or contact pages.

It souds like you have a rogue add-in such as mobile phone synchronisation package that’s gumming up the works.

The first step is to disable Outlook Add-Ins to see if that clears the problem.

In Outlook 2003 click Tools then Options. Once you’re in the the Options screen click the Other tab and the Advanced button.

In the Advanced settings, click the Add-Ins button and you will have a list of Outlook Add-Ins installed, the ones that are operational have ticks beside them.

Take the ticks off ones you aren’t using, restart Windows and see if the problem goes away. If it continues, take the ticks off other add-ins one at a time and see if any of those clear the problem.

My operating system is Windows XP and my ISP is Chariot/Picknowl dialup. When I try to use dial-up connection I receive “Error 720″ message.

A friend of mine said it could be something to do with loss of a registry key? It seems to have occurred since I turned on Windows Update to automatically download updates.

Do I have to re format drive by saving my files and inserting Windows XP disc, or is there an easier way.

Any suggestions?

Your problem has come from a moden driver upgrade that’s messed up your network settings. Thankfully you won’t have to reinstall anything.

To fix it, click Start, Run and type CMD.

At the command box type netsh winsock reset catalog

This will reset your network settings back to normal and your dial up connection should work.

Note if you have a firewall or all in one security program this command might cause some problems and if that’s the case, you should call for some IT assistance.

I have Windows Vista Home Premium I am trying to tidy up my PC before passing it on to a friend. I am unable to clear certain websites I have visited. I am using Internet Options, Delete Browser History etc and it is leaving certain visited sites in the history.  Can you help please.

The simplest thing is to create a new user account then delete yours.

We have the instructions on creating a new account in our Creating a New User post.

So create a new user profile for your friend, back up anything important from your old profile, log on in the Administrator profile and delete your user profile.

With your profile deleted, all your old settings and history will have been wiped.

I have a Toshiba laptop with Vista installed and had trouble finding the location of the product key prior to the grace period end.

I now have limited access to Vista (word and excel)and the product key is not being accepted. The system is inadequate for our uses with out these programmes.

Can you help?

I think by “Vista” you mean “Microsoft Office”.

The problem is many new systems such as your Toshiba come with trial editions of MS Office 2007 and this is what has caught you out. It sounds like you are trying to use the system’s Vista registration key for the Office activation.

An obvious solution is to buy an Office 2007 license. You can do that by following the instructions that appear when you open a Word or Excel document.

If you choose not to, you can install an older version of Office or go for a free program such as Open Office or an online program such as Google Docs and Zoho.

Should you decide ot install an older version of Office or go with a new program then you should backup any important documents and spreadsheets before uninstalling Office 2007.

It is very important you uninstall Office 2007 if you aren’t using it as it makes some serious changes to your system and will interfere with earlier versions of Office and other productivity programs.

Similarly, if you decide to buy a boxed version of Office 2007 then you should uninstall all the trial versions before installing the boxed product.

I recently installed my new graphics card which is nVidia Geforce 9500 GT 1GB DVI HDMI PCI-E went ok first time i ran up the PC but after turning off everytime i turn it on and load into windows it now blue screens me and restarts computer could this be happening because the Power supply i have cant supply this card with enough juice?

That sounds right. It’s likely the first time you booted the system after the upgrade you didn’t have all your peripherals plugged in, with all your printers, phones and cameras connected the system simply can’t supply enough power.

A quick read of the GeForce specifications shows the minimum power requirement is 350W which is a problem as most systems come with 200-250W power supplies.

A 400W power supply is reasonably cheap for most systems however it’s worthwhile reviewing what you have connected to your system as it may be you need more than that to run your accessories and the new card.

I’ve just bought a new iPhone and set it up. It’s working fine but somehow I have hundreds of contacts I’ve never seen before.

Where have they come from and how can I get rid of them?

The problem is iTunes has detected an old email account or contact list on your computer and decided to use that. Usually if it finds some Outlook Address Books it will use those.

To fix this, open iTunes and click on your iPhone under the Devices heading on the left. This will open your phone details on the right hand side.

In the phone details screen click the Info tab and go down the screen until you get to Contacts.

The setting Synch contacts with…. will be ticked and next to that is a drop down box that lists your various address book options. Choose the program you want to use and the phone will start synchronising the right address book

To avoid copying all the unwanted contacts into your preferred address book, you may want to reset your iPhone before doing this by clicking on the Restore button in the Summary tab. Just note you’ll lose all your applications and settings from the phone and you may have to re-enter some of your settings.

Is it safe to pack a laptop with checked-in luggage instead of with the cabin luggage?

The short answer is “no”. Once that checked baggage leaves your sight, anything can happen and even baggage marked “fragile” can be thrown around and otherwise manhandled.

Along with the risk of being damaged, it could also get lost somewhere in the trip.

Then there’s the risks of the baggage carousel. Our guess is anything that looks vaguely like a portable computer would be picked up by someone else in seconds.

So play it safe and take anything valuable in cabin baggage. Even if you are with an airline that will charge extra for more than one piece of baggage, it’s money well spent.

As you recommended in your checking a disk for errors column, I ran Check Disk and it said I have “Bad Clusters”.

What does this mean?

Basically your hard drive is dying. Bad blocks mean there is damage to the surface of the disks and its a matter of time before your system stops working.

The first thing you must do is backup your data. Make sure everything valuable is off your computer.

When you’re happy everything important has been saved, get the computer to your local computer shop. They’ll be able to tell you whether the computer is worth repairing or if the costs are better spent on a new system.

Windows explorer crashes on start up with Win XP Pro SP3 also crashes Dr Watson then PC freezes – restart usually same except PC doesn’t freeze. All ok with safe mode then crashes on normal reboot.

The problem is something problematic is loading when the computer starts normally.

While in Safe Mode, uninstall any old software you don’t use and clean up your hard drive using Disk Manager by clicking Start, Programs, System Tools and Disk Manager.

Once disk manager scans your drive, tick all the boxes and allow it to run.

When that’s finished check your disk for errors, this will require a reboot.

If serious errors are found on the disk, or the problem still persists, it may be necessary to access to drive from an emergency disk to repair any virus or remove data from a dying drive. This is best done by a technician.