IT Queries: Computer problems answered

User Access Control is a function of Windows Vista to prevent unwanted programs damaging critical parts of the system.

Some older and poorly written programs don’t like being restricted in this way and will either irritate you with continuous prompts or the program simply won’t work at all.

To turn off User Access Control, click the Vista Button and select Control Panel.

In the Control Panel, click User Accounts and Family Safety, click User Accounts and select Turn User Account Control on or off. Then tick the Use User Account Control (UAC) box.

Then click Okay and restart your computer. UAC is now disabled.

As User Access Control is an important part of Windows Vista’s protection against malware we strongly recommend keeping UAC enabled unless it is causing serious problems or you need to carry out a maintenance task.

If you have a program that requires you to leave UAC turned off, then you should contract the vendor for an updated Vista compatible version.

In some situations programs require Administrator rights to do certain things in Windows. If you encounter those, you may have to logon as an Administrator.

To do this, click the Start Button, select All Programs and Accessories. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

You may be asked to type the Adminstrator password at this point.

In the black box that appears type net user administrator /active:yes in the command prompt and press Enter.

Restart your computer and at the logon screen type Administrator as the user name and leave the password if no password has been set up.

We don’t recommend running as an Administrator for day to day use of a computer so you should only logon in this profile for doing system maintenance tasks and for installing new software.

I am attempting to home network by ethernet cable my two desktop PCs – one running Vista and the other, XP.

The Vista PC has an existing broadband internet connection and a new DLink modem/router, both operational. The driver for the modem is installed only on the Vista PC.

I clicked through various prompts on both PCs to set up a network, and each PC now displays the twin computers icon at the right hand side of the taskbar. But when I view the network, neither PC shows an icon of the other. They are invisible to one another.

I haven’t acquired any internal or external NICs because I thought that an ethernet port is a NIC – perhaps I’m wrong? I’ve read the relevant section in PCs For Dummies, but obviously I have overlooked something essential.

I hope you can advise me.

Kind regards, Elizabeth.

Hi Elizabeth.

You’re absolutely right about the Ethernet port being an NIC, or Network Interface Card, all new computers come with them so you don’t need to buy another.

There’s a number of differences in the way XP and Vista handle networks and this can cause problems. 

The most common one is Vista’s use of the Link-Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) protocol which allows Vista computers to find each other on a network but isn’t part of Windows XP. 

If you want to get XP machines talking to Vista, the simplest way is to download and install the XP LLTD software from Microsoft.

Should this not work, Microsoft have futher troubleshooting tips, but you may need to call on the services of a computer tech to help you with what can be a complex and obscure problem.

We are trying to access a number of sites and recieve a message “replace index html file”

Index.htm is the front page of a website. The problem is the sites you are trying to access are not properly configured. This is beyond your control.

It is possible your computer has been hijacked with some malware and the web browser is being redirected to a site that has been disabled so you should check your computer isn’t infected with a Trojan.

We have just realised we used our last ‘regional code’ change for our DVD player to code 1 and we need code 4 (aus)(DVD installed inside the laptop). What is the best option for being able to use our DVD player again? ie. software (bought/free) or new external DVD player?

You could try another DVD playing program, but that can be hit and miss. A free DVD player is VLC Player and that may resolve the problem. 

Another option is to use a program like AnyDVD which overcomes the zoning settings before the player can read it.

It may be worthwhile doing contacting the laptop manufacturer to see if they have a workaround or an update. In some countries, such as Australia, DVD region coding isn’t legal and may be a breach of consumer rights.

For the past 3 weeks whenever I forward an email that has a GIP file on the front page it wont go. The error Number is 0x800CCC0F.

If the said email is auto forwarded thorugh the Message Rules then no problem… only when I manually forward the email that it wont go.

I have been in touch with and spent many hours with  my ISP (IINET), same with my modem maker and also with Microsoft.  Final advice is to delete OExp and use another mail program.

This problem happened at the same time on my PC, My laptop and my husbands laptop. I use Outlook express 6 and Int Explor. V7 on my laptop.  My husband has Int Expl V7 and Windows Web mail on his laptop.

None of these computer can now send Gif files if they are on the front page. (Attachments are OK)
I have bought and changed to a new modem.. Dlink. I removed my antivirus for 4 days (AVG) I haveswitched off firewalls.  I have spent hours fiddling with settings.

The only things that all computers have in common is that we use IINET yet they say that there is no way they can have anything to do with this problem.

The other thing that all computers have in common is that about 3 – 4 weeks ago we did a Registry cleanup … using the free CCleaner.  Have spoken to a computer wiz and he assures me that that could not have caused this.

I am not totally convinced that the Reg Cleaner hasnt caused a problem but I just dont know.

Hope you can help.

The 0x800CCC0F error message means something is interrupting the connection with your mail server.

Microsoft have a number of Outlook Express troubleshooting tips on their website including disabling firewalls and checking your mail server settings. It sounds like you’ve already covered those with your ISP.

It sounds like this could be an MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) problem. The Internet works on breaking down information into little parcels and the MTU is the biggest packet your computer will send.

The easiest way to reduce the MTU on a Windows machine is to use the free DrTCP program from DSL Reports. There are detailed instructions on using DrTCP on the DSLReports website.

A trap with DrTCP is you need to select the correct network adaptor that you are using to access the net. Once you’ve chosen the right connection, you’ll need to reduce the MaxMTU to a lower setting, say 1450. 

Reboot your computer and check that everything works, as you may find changing the setting could affect other applications.

Changing settings like this can cause problems and is best done by a qualified computer technician so you may want to contact your local computer tech to help you.

I have tried to install Microsoft XP Service Pack 3 at least 4 times.  

Each time towards the end of the process, a box comes up with the words “Access is Denied”, then it says it was only partially installed and I have to go through the process of of uninstalling it.  

I have turned off my firewall and other security, but it still has not helped.  What could be the problem?

The problem seems to be some security permissions in your registry. The registry is where Windows keeps a record of all its settings.

Microsoft have a knowledge base article on fixing this problem, but it isn’t simple. It’s best not to play with the Windows registry unless you really know what you are doing.

If you don’t have any experience in working on computers, particularly with things like .bat files and registry editing, then it’s probably best you get a computer tech to help you.

My anti virus program, AVG Free, is telling me the file sysaudio.sys is infected with the Trojan Horse downloader.Delf.BUY malware. What should I do?

At the time of writing, this appears to be a mistake by AVG which is the third time in recent months. You should not delete or put sysaudio.sys in the virus vault as you will disable your computer’s sound.

Grisoft should release a fix for this in the next few hours. In the meantime you should check your system for nasties by following our Removing a Trojan instructions.

You may also want to consider another anti virus such as Avast! or AntiVir.

I recently had Antivirus360 on my computer somehow. I had it removed, but everytime I try to access a website it says it is blocked and I get this message on a blank page: https error. I have nothing in my restricted/ blocked zone. I have no idea how to fix this. I appreciate any help

Antivirus 360 is one of these irritating rip off programs that worms its way onto a computer then nags you to buy it so you can remove, usually false, malware infections.

The really frustrating part with these programs is you almost certainly have an underlying malware infection that has come in with this program.

The problem sounds like the thing hasn’t been fully removed so it would be best to follow our instructions in our Removing a Trojan post.

One common way these programs get on your system is through Internet Explorer bugs. We’d also suggest using an alternative browser to reduce your chances of accidentally downloading the thing.

When I open Firefox it says “Firefox has encountered a problem and needs to close” and then shuts down. I can use Internet Explorer but my bookmarks are in Firefox. What should I do?

The first thing you should do is open Firefox in Safe Mode. To do this, click Start, Run and type in the box firefox -safe-mode.

If Firefox won’t start in Safe Mode you need to uninstall it, download a new copy and reinstall. See our post on uninstalling software.

Should it start in Safe Mode, you’ll get a screen asking about what options you’d like to disable. Ignore those for now and click the Continue in Safe Mode button.

Once you have the browser open, wipe the cache contents by clicking the Tools menu, select Clear Private Data, tick the Browsing History and Cache boxes then click Clear Private Data Now.

Shut down Mozilla and restart it to see if that has cleared the problem.

If not, restart again in Safe Mode and this time go to the box that appears when it starts. Select the Disable All Add-Ons box and click the Make Changes and Restart button.

If Firefox restarts, it was a damaged add-on. If it doesn’t repeat the Safe Mode process and try the other check boxes.