IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I installed deepfreeze on my computer.

My problem is I don’t know how to uninstall. a friend of mine said that if i want to uninstall the program i must click the installer file. but a message appears.

“Deep Freeze 6 Standard must be disabled before any Install/Uninstall can proceed.”

How can i disable the deepfreeze where can i find the program? is not in the control panel add remove program menu.

thanks.

The problem is Deepfreeze is running in the background.

Unfortunately Deepfreeze isn’t a trivial program. It has some tricks to uninstalling. Before doing anything you should ensure all your data is backed up.

Once you’ve backed up your date, follow the instructions on the Deep Freeze website.

If you are still stuck, you’ll need to call a computer tech. This program is very secure and shouldn’t be messed with unless you know what you are doing.

I want to replace my 250GB IDE drive with a 500GB drive, but they are only available with the SATA interface.  What is my best option – a SATA/IDE adapter/converter, or a PCI card (more expensive) that does the same thing? Is there a performance difference?

Thanks, Steve.

It’s a very good question, Steve. IDE is the older hard drive standard that’s gradually being phased out. In fact, if it wasn’t for the relative scarcity of SATA CD and DVD drives, it probably would have died a few years ago.

SATA’s the faster and newer standard and most high capacity drives, say over 250Mb, don’t come in an IDE version.

You can get a SATA to IDE adapter that plugs onto the hard drive or motherboard interface but usually you’ll find these are the most crowded areas inside a computer and it’s difficult to fit them in.

Another issue with these adaptors is they slow the data transfer down as the conversion from SATA to IDE takes some time.

 Finally, you’ll find the adapters aren’t that much cheaper than a PCI SATA card.

So overall, we’d go with the PCI card option. If the budget allows, spend an extra couple of dollars to buy a card with an eSATA connector that allows you to plug in external SATA devices.

Before you buy the card, it’s worthwhile having a poke around your motherboard. Most motherboards released in the last five years come with SATA and IDE connectors, so you may find the SATA option is already there.

Overall,

Since installing AVG 8 I’ve found my email won’t display HTML emails. All my email appears in plain text. How do I fix this?

This is a weird bug in AVG 8. To fix it, open the AVG Control panel by double clicking the AVG icon, the multi-coloured square in the bottom corner of your screen.

In the AVG Control Panel click Tools, Advanced Settings and select E-mail scanner. Take the tick off  Certify incoming email.

This is a bug with AVG and we expect it will be fixed in the near future.

Since installing AVG all my attachments have disappeared. What should I do?

This is probably due to the wrong email scanner being installed. You’ll need to reinstall the program.

If you don’t have the file you installed AVG with, visit the AVG website and download the installation file.

Run the installation file and choose Add/Remove components. Co through the Wizard until you get to Email Scanning then choose the Advanced Configuration option.

In the Email Scanner screen choose the email program you use. If you have no choice, or you use more than one email program, choose Personal Email Scanner for all other applications.

Continue through the wizard until it finishes. Reboot your computer and it should resolve the problem.

My Internet provider has told me my mail box is full and messages will be rejected. How do I fix this?

The problem is your email program is set to save the emails on the Internet provider’s server. Over time, the mailbox fills up and the ISP rejects all new messages.

To clear it, you have to change your email settings. In Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail click Tools, E-Mail Accounts, in Outlook select View or Change Existing Mail accounts while in Outlook Express and Windows Mail select the Mail tab.

You’ll now have a list of your email accounts, select the account you want to share and click Change, then click More Settings and then the More Settings.

In the Internet email settings box, click the Advanced tab. Under the delivery heading take the tick off the box that reads Leave a copy of messages on the server if you don’t want to share your email with another computer.

If you do want to share it leave the tick on and in section that reads Remove from server after xx days reduce the number of days. Also tick the box that reads Remove from server when deleted from deleted items.

You’ll need to watch the email account closely to see how many days is best for you. If the problem is because you receive massive emails then you’ll need to either tell your correspondents to reduce the size of their emails or get an Internet provider with larger email storage.

If the server fills up, your emails will be returned to sender with an error message. If this happens, drop the number of days the server keeps your email.

My wife and I have our own computers but we only have one email address. How do we set up our system so we can both receive the same emails? Currently, if one computer gets the email the other won’t. We’re both using Outlook Express on Windows XP.

You can set the computer to leave email on your ISPs server. To do this, open Outlook, Outlook Express or Windows Mail.

Click Tools, E-Mail Accounts, in Outlook select View or Change Existing Mail accounts while in Outlook Express and Windows Mail select the Mail tab.

You’ll now have a list of your email accounts, select the account you want to share and click Change, then click More Settings and then the More Settings.

In the Internet email settings box, click the Advanced tab. Under the delivery heading click the box that reads Leave a copy of messages on the server. Below that, tick the box that reads Remove from server after xx days because you don’t want the server to fill up.

If the server fills up, your emails will be returned to sender with an error message. If this happens, drop the number of days the server keeps your email.

I have Windows XP and Office 2003. I can’t open tif. documents when sent via email, unless I buy Winzip which I don’t particularly want to do….is there another option please?

 Winzip probably won’t help you with this either. You need an image viewing progam that can handle .tif programs.

The built in graphics editing program on Windows XP, MS Paint, will do this. When opening the file, right click it and choose Open With. In the list of programs that appears, choose Paint.

Some email programs require you to save the attachment before doing this, if that happens save the file to a location you’ll remember then open it through the Paint program.

If you’re prompted to always open with this program, click yes and you shouldn’t have this problem again.

I am want to get Broadband, so as to use VOIP to make video calls to family members, overseas.

I understand that I will be charged by my Internet Provider for the data downloaded & uploaded while making these calls.
However, I have no idea of the amount of data involved.  As such, I am finding it difficult to determine the plan size that I will need.

Could you please provide the information that I will need to take into consideration to do this?

The answer depends on what standard your Voice over IP provider users.

The most popular standard, G729, uses around 14Mb per hour of talk time each way. Some of the higher quality standards use up to 40Mb. Skype varies between 10Mb and 60Mb per hour.

Note that these data rates are each way. If you have an Internet account that counts both uploads and downloads, such as Telstra or Optus (I’m assuming you’re an Australian user) then you’ll use double these amounts.

It’s best to ask potential VoIP providers and then look at your ISP account. As a rule, we’d recommend a minimum 1500kb/s service with a 10Gb download allowance before considering using VoIP.

I don’t seem to be able to open my email attachments. I am using Vista. Thanks!

This is a long standing problem with Windows Mail and Outlook Express. To protect you from potentially infected files coming in on your email account, the program simply blocks most attachments.

To fix this, open Windows Mail, click Tools then Options and take the tick off the box next to Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus.

Click Okay and the problem’s fixed.

Update: If you’re using AVG then you may need to change your email plugin settings. We have instructions on doing that in a later entry.

I am using Vista on my Laptop and now i want to change back to XP.

Please help on to how to install XP on laptops already running vista

The problem isn’t XP or Vista, it’s the type of hard drive you have. Windows XP doesn’t recognize SATA drives. You have to tell it what it is and supply the disk with those drivers on it.

Early in the Windows XP installation routine you’ll be asked to press F6 to add mass storage controller drivers. Unfortunately Windows XP will only do this from floppy disk. This presents two problems.

First, these drivers usually come on CD, you’ll have to copy them to a floppy disk. To figure out which drivers you need, you’ll have to look at the specifications of your computer. It’s probably a good idea to download the latest drivers.

The second problem is many Vista machines don’t include hard drives. You can buy a cheap USB floppy drive for under $50 and use that.

It’s often simpler to use a slipstreamed version of Windows XP which includes all the drivers and up to date service packs for your system.

If this is all to hard, you may want to take the system to your local  computer shop and let them do it for you.