IT Queries: Computer problems answered

When i switch my computer on all I get is a message saying user interface failure rtlgina.dll i have tried the restart and pressing F8 to no avail and I can not find my recover backup disc. Have you any answers or solutions to this problem?

This problem is caused by poorly designed for Netgear and Linksys wireles network cards. The setup program has replaced the Windows msgina.dll with its own rtlgina.dll.

To fix this, on another computer download Doug Knox’s XP Fix Logon script and save it to a CD, thumb drive or floppy disk.

On the damaged computer, start the computer in Safe Mode and run the script.

If you can’t start in Safe Mode then you’ll need to call a computer tech to help you fix the problem, luckily you won’t need the installation disks and a comptent technician won’t lose any data.

I just purchased a Canon PIXMA MX310 multifunction printer.  I have an HP slimline desktop computer.  I installed it but the printer doesn’t print.  I think it has something to do with how I identify my port.  Also there are so many usb places to plug in – I don’t know which one to use.

Can you help me please?

It shouldn’t matter which USB port you use, normally they will sort themselves out.

However sometimes ports will malfunction so you may want to try each port until you find one that works.

If none of them work, it may be the sofware isn’t properly installed. You may need to reinstall it by unplugging the printer and putting the installation CD back in.

Should the installation program only give you an uninstall option, do that then restart the computer and run the install software again.

When asked, plug the printer back into the USB port.

If the software doesn’t detect it, try another USB cable and if that fails return the printer to the supplier.

OS Windows XP. My outlook express last week suddenly removed/hid? my e-mails from 28 Aug 08 and any incoming e-mails are counted ie., the number in the inbox increases but are either deleted or hidden?? Ones previous to 28/8/08 are still in the inbox. I have checked all the folders under the inbox & there are many, no new mail in them.  I think the total e-mails amounted to near 3,700 before this happened.  What have I done to make this happen or change the settings, in any case how do I fix it please?

Unfortunately your inbox has been damaged. This is an ongoing problem with Outlook Express.

A simple fix is to rename the inbox.

To do this first create a new mail box and copy all the old inbox emails into the new one.

Then find the mail store by opening Outlook Express clicking tools, then Options followed by the Store Folders option.

Copy the store folders location and close Outlook Express.

Click Start, then Run and paste the store folders location into the run box. Click Okay and the store folder will open.

Rename the inbox.dbx to inbox.old.

Restart and Outlook Express and a new inbox will be created.

We have currently changed providers from optus to bigpond.  Everything has installed ok.  However, when people send us an email they get an error message refering to the optus account.  This account has been cancelled and I have checked this again to make sure.  The email still gets through to the bigpond address.  I have removed and reinstalled Outlook 2003 and the problem still persists.  Is there anything I can do?

Unfortunately the problem is at the senders’ ends, they are sending a mail to the Optus account. 

You can check this by sending an email to yourself.

You’ll need to confirm with them they are sending only to the @bigpond.com address and not including the @optusnet.com.au

If they are only sending to the Bigpond address then you’ll have to check with them that email forwarding isn’t setup and trying to send the message onto the old Optus account.

I have a fairly new HP Pavillion with Vista Home Premium – It regularly ( once a day at least ) “crash dumps” I have not added any hardware since purchace except more memory- now 3gig – what could be causing this?

It sounds like something is wrong with the memory. 

The first thing to do is take the memory out and see if the crash dumps go away. If they don’t then some more troubleshooting is in order.

If the crashing does go away, try reinstalling the memory. Some motherboards are little fiddly with the memory slots and it’s not unusual to find one or more of the memory modules aren’t quite fitted correctly which will cause this random crashing.

It is also possible the memory needs to be installed in a certain order. You’ll need to check in the manual that the modules are in the right slots.

Finally, if the problems reappear when the memory is installed correctly then the RAM modules are either incompatible with the system or defective and they should be returned to the supplier.

My computer crashed (ouch!) so I reloaded XP then while replacing my desktop settings must have clicked on some elusive weird button and now I only have a black screen with icons.  

If I right click to try and restore the settings I can’t see anything because it’s all black but I know the screen has changed because the icons have.

What did I do and can I undo it.  I have reloaded XP in the hope that it will restore the default settings but it comes up the same. Thank you so much. Kind regards, Alanna

The problem, Alanna, seems to be the color scheme you’ve chosen. It sounds like you have to reset your desktop to the default Windows XP scheme.

To do this, click Start, Settings, Control Panel. In the Control Panel choose Appearence and Themes and then Change the Computer’s theme.

In the Themes tabs, click on the drop down box and choose the Windows XP option. Click OK and that should clear the problem.

Is there a way I can get Microsoft Word document on to my computer without having to pay about £60 that includes software i will never use? A friend told me she bought a disk that had Microsoft Word on it and you could only use it once.

The short answer is no. It sounds like your friend is talking about pirate software which isn’t a good idea for a number of reasons.

If you want to be able to read Microsoft Word documents you can download Microsoft’s free Word Viewer. This allows you to read and print Word documents but you can’t edit them.

Should you want to create or edit documents in Word format, there are a number of free options. The best two are downloading Open Office and going online with Zoho or Google Docs.

I have bought a new computer – Dell inspiron with Vista home basic already installed. I could not get the email up and running (my fault), so i put microsoft office 2003 as i knew how to set up this email. now i am learning how to use Vista i do no need 2003 office. HOWEVER i cannot find 2007 email program.

I do not want to uninstall outlook 2003 until i find outlook 2007. Cannot uninstall individual programs in office either, so i asuming I can’t re-install just 2007 outlook.

The program you are looking for is Windows Mail, this is Vista’s successor to Outlook Express, the email program that was part of earlier versions of Windows. You’ll find this by clicking the Start Button and selecting All Programs.

A more important question is exactly what are you looking for. Windows Mail is a very different program to Outlook 2003 or 2007.

If you want to run Outlook with its calendar and scheduling features then you’ll need to install Office 2003 or 2007. Likewise if you want to use other Microsoft Office tools like Word and Excel.

To enter a certain website, it asks me to “Click here to download Plugin” which I do. In the “Plugin Finder Service” Box - after failing to find plugin it tells me ”No suitable plugins were found. Unknown Plugin (application/x-nppgwrap)”

What should I do? I have Windows XP and use Firefox 3.0.1

Thanks Diane

The problem is the website you want to access is designed for Internet Explorer and uses Microsoft Active X.

The main reason for recommending Firefox is precisely because it won’t run Active X controls.

Over the years, the combination of Active X and Internet Explorer has been responsible for many virus and spyware infections. This is why we recommend not using Internet Explorer for casual web surfing.

The downside with that is the odd websites, including some bank and government websites, won’t work when you access them.

If you trust the website you are trying to access then you should use Internet Explorer. Open IE and type the address into the address bar. It should then run fine.

The last 2 days I keep getting a message from Microsoft telling me I am not protected from Viruses. I have Norton 360 anti virus software and when I click on that icon it raeds “you are being protected”.

Microsoft’s message does say it can’t detect all anti virus software but you would think Norton would be one they could. Have there been any similar problems with this software and microsoft you know of ?

If not then I have probably done something I shouldn’t have and will clearly need your help. Thanks, Alexis

Hi Alexis,

It sounds like the problem is an update either from Norton or Microsoft.  The best thing to do is open Norton 360 and run the Live Update function. To do this, open Norton 360 by clicking on the yellow circle with an arrow in it.Once in Norton 360 click Tasks & Settings and then check for updates.

We’d recommend running this a number of times until it says there are no more updates available as Symantec software tends not to update itself properly unless you manually run these functions.

If the problem persists, call your local computer tech.