IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I have AVG anti-virus on my computer. A week or so ago it stopped updating and now I get a “computer not protected” warning. What’s gone wrong?

You are probably running AVG7.5 which Grisoft stopped updating at the end of April, 2009. You have to update to the newer AVG 8.0.

If you are running Windows ME 95 or 98, you’ll find AVG 8.0 won’t work on your system so you’ll need to follow our instructions on replacing AVG with Avast!.

Some people have had problems with AVG 8 so you may want to consider Anti Vir or Avast as an alternative.

You need to do this upgrade immediately as you aren’t currently protected from Internet nasties and remember to uninstall the old AVG 7.5 before updating to the new version.

My free AVG does not work for my windows 98 Second Edition computer anymore. Can you suggest another free anti virus?

Grisoft stopped support for Windows 98 when they released AVG Free 8.0. As of the end of April 2009 Grisoft have stopped updating the older version 7.5 so there now is no free AVG product that protects Windows 98.

Avast! is the only free Windows 98 compatible virus checker we know of so you should download that, uninstall AVG then install Avast!

Each time I restart my pc – old emails come back into my inbox in OE. How do I stop this?

A long standing quirk in Outlook Express and its Vista equivalent, Windows Mail, is when it thinks it hasn’t downloaded a message properly it will start downloading everything again. 

For instance, if there are a hundred messages waiting for you at your Internet provider and Outlook Express decided message 83 wasn’t received, even though it was along with the other message, it will assume all 100 messages need to be downloaded again. 

And again, and again, and again.

The only way around this is to flush the mailbox so the offending message stops messing with OE.

You can do this two ways; the first is to log onto your ISP’s webmail page and delete all the pending messages in your inbox while the other is to install Mozilla Thunderbird and download the messages there.

Of the two, the webmail option is the best as you can be sure the mailbox is cleared out.

Recenty my computer is behaving very oddly.. i am gettieng lot of error messages while browsing on inetrnet.
the most important and annoying message that i am getting is– “ Svchost.exe error” and asks me to debug after which the whole system hangs up.

Plz tel me why i am getting this kind of error message and plz help me in fixing this problem.

Comp specification- compaq presario d290mt., 512mbram,winxp,2.66ghz,p4. I am using ca antivirus on my system.

SVCHOST errors are a fairly generic warning. They really could mean anything as we’ve explained in a previous post. 

In your case this sounds like a serious malware  infection and it really would be a good idea to check your system for viruses or Trojan horses.

While removing unused software I deleted the MIDI and Realtek stuff and no longer have sound. How can I get it back?

The simple answer is to reinstall the Realtek software, however the problem lies in identifying which version of the Realtek drivers suits your machine.

While you could plow through your computer manuals or the manufacturer’s website, the simplest thing is to download the Unknown Device Identifier tool, then run it to find the Realtek model.

With that information, you can then visit the Realtek website to download and install the correct software for your system.

This can be a bit fiddly, if so then it may be best to contact your local computer specialist to help you.

Is it worth updating to ie8 yet?

Our general rule is to leave major product releases for three months to let the early adopters deal with the problems. Given Internet Explorer 8 was released in mid-March 2009 it’s probably a bit early to recommend an upgrade at the beginning of May 2009.

That said, we haven’t heard of major problems with IE8 so it may be worth trying. The only concern is some sitesand computer programs designed for IE6 and 7 may have problems, so you should check any business critical programs before upgrading.

A good testing strategy is to install Firefox, Opera or Safari, set them as the default browser and see if this affects the websites and programs you use.

So it may be worthwhile giving it a go. Just remember to back up your important data before starting the upgrade.

My JetFlash TS4GJFV30 USB Device, of $GB capacity, and currently having 2GB of data is neither displaying the folders and files inside. It shows them as hidden objects. What could be the problem and how do I solve it. Please help. Thanks a ton.

First you should try to show hidden object on the drive. To do this, follow our instructions in the Finding Hidden Files and Folders page.

You should copy the files off your USB stick so you have a safe copy somewhere else.

If you are still having trouble accessing the files, you may need to run the Restoration freeware program to recover your files.

Good luck.

My computer says I am not protected . I just got this 2 months ago. I have never had this come up before.

When I go into all programs it does not show McAfee. Please help.

If you’ve had antivirus onyour computer previously then this is a concern. The first thing you need to do is follow our removing a Trojan instructions to make sure your computer isn’t infected.

When you’re happy the computer is clear, you’ll need to install a new anti virus program. There are three free programs we recommend; Avast! Home, AVG Free and AntiVir.

All three of these will protect you, however as free versions you won’t get any assistance and they aren’t licensed for use in small business and other commercial environments. If you want to buy an antivirus program, we’d recommend the above three along with Kasperski.

My computer says “says out of range input1: dvi-55.9khz/46hz”

What is the problem?

For some reason your screen resolution has changed and the monitor can’t handle the signal.

To fix this, you’ll need to start your computer in Safe Mode and then change the screen resolution.

In Windows XP, you’ll need to click Start, Control Panel and Display.

Once in the display screen, click on the Settings tab and move the sliding Screen resolution setting to the left.

Click okay and restart the computer.

I recently bought a dell inspiron 530s. I am not very computer literate. My old computer (compaq) was old and slow thats why I updated.

On the old computer I was connected to the internet via dial up. I had not connected to the internet with the new computer as I was looking around for a reasonable deal. My son came home one weekend and connected the computer to the internet via wireless dodo prepaid and google is now the home page.

I find the new computer is slower than I expected on the internet and sometimes stops working (similar to when I used dial up on the old computer and the connection would drop out). I occassionally get a McAfee pop up telling me my computer is not protected.

How do I make sure I have good virus software or if there is virus software at all?  

First, the McAfee telling you the computer is not infected is a typical message from this software. It’s one reason why we don’t recommend it and prefer Avast! and AVG.

Another reason we aren’t keen on McAfee and it’s main competitor Norton is they have a tendency to slow computers down. So removing the software is the first good point.

You’re experience with Wireless Broadband is pretty typical and it’s the reason we tend to steer people towards Cable or ADSL connections. Wireless simply isn’t as fast or as reliable compared to the alternatives.

So uninstall McAfee and try one of the alternatives. This may resolve the problems.

If not, try an alternative to the Wireless Broadband.