IT Queries: Computer problems answered

My AVG Free has suddenly developed a fault when it tries to download Updates, the connection to the server always fails. Does this signify that it has detected a virus but AVG cannot deal with it?

The error message says that the connection to the server has failed.

The problem seems to be with the AVG update server. It appears the server is being overwhelmed which is hardly surprising due to the popularity of the free program.

Manually updating is the best solution for this. Once the computer has started, right-click the yellow, black, red and green icon near the time in the bottom right hand corner of the screen and click Update now, this should force a manual update.

You may have to do this a number of times before it successfully connects.

If you are getting the message “Invalid update control CTF file” then we have the resolution to that problem in another post.

Hi, My pc has the following:

Norton Internet Security 2008
Spyware Doctor 6.0.0.386
ThreatFire 4.0.0.8
SpywareBlaster 4.1
MalwareBytes’ Anti-Malware

My question is: is KIS 2009 compatible with ThreatFire 4.0.0.8 as I want to continue with ThreatFire as it is a very good program?

I intend to keep Spyware Doctor.

It sounds like you are very much on the ball when it comes to protecting your system against malware and certainly your choices of sofware make sense.

However I’m concerned your system’s going to struggle with both Kaspersky and Threatfire on your system. Generally it’s not a good idea to be running two scanners at the same time.

While I’m not familiar with Threatfire, it’s likely it will cause problems with Kasperski or any other anti virus simply because Threatfire will identify the anti virus program as acting suspiciously.

It’s good practice not to have more than one malware scanner running at once and I think it would be best to leave one or the other’s automatic protection off and manually run a scan every few days or weeks.

Malwarebytes and Spyware Blaster are good programs as well and it won’t hurt to reguarly run a manual scan using those programs as well.

If you are really concerned about malware then it may be better to be a Limited User for your day-to-day computing. This will stop most nasties getting on to your machine.

My HP laptop has an 80GB hard drive.  With photos etc it is getting very full,

I have ordered a 160GB 2.5in PATA drive to replace however I do not want to reload the world.

Is it possible to mirror the existing hard drive (using XP pro Backup), remove and install the new C drive and reload the software??

I have a 500GB USB external hard drive I can use for this.

If this will not work; what are my options without having to reload everything.

Thanks Howard.

Hi Howard,

There’s a couple of utilities that will mirror the old drive entirely to the new drive, but they aren’t for inexperienced players. Probably the best product is Acronis True Image.

The advantage with this is, if everything works, the new hard drive is identical to the old one except you have more space. It saves hours of reloading software and remembering settings.

You’d use the drive cloning software to create a file on the external drive, then install the new drive, run the cloning software again and recreate the system on the new, bigger drive.

Another option is to simply copy your profiles (a folder like c:\documents and settings\howard or c:\users\howard) to the new hard drive and then you can nstall windows. It’s possible to get all your settings across that way.

Another way is to use the built in Windows Backup (NTBackup) to create a full backup of your computer on the external drive, reinstall Windows on the new drive and then restore your system using NT Backup off the external drive.

All of these are time consuming and you will find the local computer shop should be able to do if for you for a couple of hundred dollars.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO OPEN A FILE THAT WAS CREATED IN A NEWER VERSION OF WINDOWS ON OLDER VERSION OF WORD?

First, don’t type in caps, it’s the Internet equivalent of shouting. See our email etiquette guide for more information on this. 

Yes, it is and we’ve discussed it previously when answering the I can’t read Office 2007 documents query.

One thing to keep in mind is that really old versions of Word may not work with the Office compatibility kit so you may have to install the Microsoft Word reader instead.

Whenever I type the letter C I get the copyright symbol appear. How do I turn this off?

This is a Microsoft Word autocorrect feature. To fix this you’ll have to go into the Auto Correct settings of Word.

In Word 2003, open Word and click Tools on the top toolbar. In Word 2007 click the Word button and go down to Word Options and proofing.

In the tools screen, select AutoCorrect options and click the Autocorrect tab. Towards the bottom of the screen, take the tick off correct text as you type, click okay and this will clear the problem.

Microsoft word puts a capital letter at the beginning of each line, how do I stop this?

First, don’t start new lines by pressing the “enter” key. That key has a slightly different function to the “return” key on a typewriter and Word, along with most other modern computer programs, will deal with the end of a line automatically.

Sometimes though, Word does get a bit confused and wants to put the capital letter in the wrong place. To fix this you’ll need to change the auto correct options.

In Word 2003, open Word and click Tools on the top toolbar. In Word 2007 click the Word button and go down to Word Options and proofing.

In the tools screen, select AutoCorrect options and click the Autocorrect tab. Then take the tick off Capitalize first letter of sentences.

Click okay and this will fix the problem.

I have set up a home wireless network with a main Dell desktop and a Dell notebook both running Vista home premium and Live Mail.

Is there a way the laptop can receive emails please?

I have tried forwarding them without success and thought I had configured everything to share emails,but apparently not.The laptop will operate email on its own but messages that come thru to our email address stop at the desktop.

If you are using Windows Live Mail it’s probably easiest to simply use the web based service by just logging on through the web browser on both machines. That way you’ll have a common address book and sent items.

The downside with doing that is you can’t use it while you’re offline.

If you want to use an email client like Windows Mail or Outlook you’ll have to change the advanced settings of the email program to leave a copy of the messages on the server as we’ve shown in an earlier query.

Should you do this, make sure you tick the option to delete the mail after a certain number of days or eventually your email will clog up.

This 89 yr old must be a slow learner. My Vista home prem has picked up “about:blank”.  Please point me to a  s i m p l e  way to delete. 

The about:blank page is the opening page for Internet Explorer when there’s no start page set.

Usually this is easily fixed by opening Internet Explorer, clicking Tools, Internet Options and select the General tab.

Once you are in the General settings, you can type the page you’d like to start with in home page box or click the Use Default button.

If Internet explorer keeps going back to the about:blank page then you probably have a spyware infection and you should follow our Removing a Trojan instructions.

When I open my incoming emails from Outlook Express, any photo or image has been removed from it’s box and I’m left with a cross which doesn”t open when I click on it. Also if a link or web address is included in an email, I can’t click on this to open. Hope you can help this computer novice.

The problem is Outlook Express’ security settings. You can fix this by opening Outlook Express, click the Tools menu then Options.

In the Outlook Express settings box, click the Security tab and take the tick off the setting that reads Block Images and other external content in HTML email.

Be warned though that older versions of Windows are prone to viruses with this setting to turned off so it’s essential you keep your computer up to date with security updates.

I have Windows XP and I use google as my default search engine.
I recently downloaded a new version of Bear share and ever since then several times a day a window appears that says;-
DEFAULT SEARCH ENGINE PROTECTION
An unknown application is trying to change your default search engine.
Changing these settings controls the way Internet Explorer treats search queries.
What would you like to do
1. Keep my current search engine (Recommended)
2. Replace my default search engine with the one from the unknown application.

The first option is checked so I leave it that way and I just close the window. How can I stop this window appearing all the time. I have removed Bear Share.

A program is trying to change your browser’s search engine. This is known as “browser hijacking” and it’s common trick by software distributors to make a few more dollars.

The software might have been bundled with Bear Share or it’s come through the same website. Often these programs claim to be download accelerators.

You’ll need to uninstall the program trying to hijack your computer. The best thing to do would be to follow our “removing a Trojan” instructions which should pick up and remove the hijacking program.