IT Queries: Computer problems answered

When i turn on my PC an errors appear on the screen, “The system has recovered from a serious error. A log of this error has been created ….”

What is the problem? do I need to reformat my PC? or this is a virus?

It could be a number of things. Something is causing an error when your computer shuts down.
First, you should check your hard drive is free of errors. Be warned that this can take some hours to run. We find it best to leave it overnight.

Once the chkdsk has finished make sure your computer doesn’t have a virus or spyware infection.

Once that is finished, uninstall any programs you don’t use.

Then, clean up your computer.

If the problem is still continuing you’ll need to consider reformatting or calling a tech to investigate further. We’d suggest the latter as it actually could be something benign.

Remember though to backup your data as these sort of messages are often an indication something may be going badly wrong.

My free AVG has been bugging me for weeks that it’s going to be upgraded and now it’s telling me I have until May 31.

When I click on the links I can’t figure out where the AVG Free version is. What should I do?

If you’re using AVG 7.5 you’ll have been nagged for the last month about the end of support for the product. Updates will finish this week. Following the websites AVG directs you to a website that pushes the paid for version and makes it difficult to find the free version.

We don’t mind the paid for version as it still represents good value compared to some of the overpriced products but there is a free version still available.

To get it, go to the Free AVG page. Click the “Get it now” tab on the LEFT side of the page under the heading “Free basic protection”.

This will take you to a comparison page will shows the differences between the free and paid for products. Go to the bottom of the page and click “Continue to AVG Free download.”

The next page explains the limitations of the free AVG, note you get NO SUPPORT for it, that’s why it’s free. If you are happy with this, click “Continue to AVG Free download” again.

Finally you’re at the last AVG page. Click the Download AVG free button and you’ll be directed to the download.com website. Click the Download now button and it will download to your computer.

When it’s finished, you can run the installer. It will ask you to remove previous versions of AVG Free and you should let it do that.

Generally we’ve had no problems with the upgrade, but you can never be too sure. So you should backup your data before running the program and check everything is working afterwards.

I would like to use windows mail , and have a yahoo email address. It was working but somehow I’ve messed it up . I now read all mail on the Yahoo server, but would like it to download to MS Mail.

The reason for it stopping is Yahoo! Mail has been through some changes in the way it handles POP (Post Office Protocol) mail which Outlook Express and Windows Mail use.

To enable it, go into your Yahoo! mail folder and click Options on the top right hand corner of the screen.

Select POP Access and Forwarding and click the button next to I want to receive all messages, including those that SpamGuard thinks are spam.

You’ll need then to run the account setup wizard in Windows Mail, fill in your own details and enter pop.mail.yahoo.com.au as your incoming mail server and  smtp.mail.yahoo.com.au as your outgoing mail server.

While in the Options page you can export your Yahoo! address book by clicking  Address book then Import/Export then choose to export your addresses as a Comma Separated Value (CSV).

You can then import the addresses into your Windows Mail.

I’m a pensioner just coming to learn PCs. I’ve enrolled in a computers for seniors course and require microsoft office. Too expensive is opal a viable alternative?

We’re not aware of an Opal Office package. However an web search shows there has been an outfit repackaging the free Open Office suite and selling it under the name “Opal”.

While this is strictly speaking not illegal, we don’t see where there’s any value in paying for the Opal Office when you can download the identical Open Office for free.

There are a number of free online Office alternatives such as Google Docs, Think Free and Zoho. These require an Internet connection to use.

If you want to pay there are some cheap alternatives as well. 602 Office is popular and WordPerfect suite is still available for less than MS Office.

Keep in mind that not having Office may be a problem when you do the course as the materials and lessons will be based on Office and the presenter will assume everyone is using the same package.

You may want to consider using Microsoft’s free 60 day trial of Office while you do the course. Also keep in mind Microsoft offer a cheaper version of Office for students and households.

My sister has Windows XP and MS Office2003. With some Word documents when she goes to Print Preview she gets a blank page,no writing of the document saved, and receives a blank page when printed. Excel docs and emails can be printed.

We have tried System restore, and have reinstalled Office 2003. What needs to be unchecked or what can be done to enable the print preview to show the document wording?

It’s almost a certainly a printer driver problem. The best solution is to make sure Office is fully installed, then download the latest printer drivers, fully uninstall the printer, reboot and then reinstall the printer with the new software.

Microsoft have a full troubleshooting guide for Word on their website.

I purchased a Toshiba M200 notebook to use as a means of connection to internet while travelling around Australia.

I have Bigpond ADSL connected via land line at home.
I have a next G mobile phone (Telstra LG phone)

The important thing is the NextG service, this is Telstra’s branding of the 3.5G mobile phone services. 3.5G allows you to connect to the Internet at broadband speeds while on the road. Most countries have such services.

Depending on your phone and the software included with it you should be able to connect your phone as a wireless broadband modem to the laptop.

Australian broadband pricing is mind bogglingly complex and expensive if you choose the wrong plan so you need to be careful. Some of the cheaper plans have massive charges if you go over miniscule monthly data allowances.
The Telstra mobile plans we’d recommend are their $89 or $119 a month Mobile As a  Modem Browsing Packs. Given the excess usage charges, you shouldn’t consider anything less than 1Gb of data a month.

I upgraded my AVG Security software to the latest version. I have a canon fax/scanner/printer a HP laser printer and a Xerox colour printer. My desktop is the server for printing.

After the update I have no problems printing with the HP and the Xerox but I am unable to print from the Canon printer. If I print it comes up with the frame “Collecting Printer Status” and then nothing else is happening. I am able to scan there is no problem there. The printer is online.

Not sure what caused this, any ideas?

The problem is the upgraded AVG firewall has blocked the Canon printer software from communicating over the network.  It’s necessary to force AVG to redetect the Canon software and allow it access to the network.

The simplest way to do this is to download the latest software for your Canon printer. Then uninstall the existing software, reboot and install the new software. The first time you print with the new software AVG will ask if you want to grant permission to the Canon application and the printer spooler.

You should choose to Allow full access to the network for these applications.

AVG also allows you to grant access to individual applications. To do this, right click the colored AVG square in your taskbar (usually in the bottom right hand corner of your screen) and click  Launch AVG Control Center.

In the Control Center, highlight AVG Firewall and click Configure. Select the Applications tab and scroll down until you find the Canon software, click edit and change the action to Allow. Repeat this for the Print Spooler application.

Firefox have a graphical example of how to fix AVG 8 problems for their browser. These instructions will work for the printer as well, just change the Firefox to the print spooler and Canon applications.

I have XP Pro that has suddenly stopped . When i try to start it , an audio error about my memory may have a problem comes out. I haven’t changed anything so what can be happening?

This is almost certainly a hardware error. A number of things can go wrong with your computer’s memory from silly trivial things like one of the chips has worked loose right through to a part failing.

In this case you’re going to have to take the system to a computer shop to check what the problem is. Memory problems are notoriously erratic so to allow them to diagnose it properly, leave the computer at the depot for at least 24 and preferably 72 hours so they can run a proper test on it.

When opening any application such as Internet explorer and even add or remove programs in control panel my computer says “The file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Please create an association in the folder options control panel”

Even when i try to run command prompt, it is asking to choose the program in which we want to open. What is the problem with my system?

This error message is the computer telling you it doesn’t know what to do with a particular type of file. Normally this is a simple fix of either installing the correct program or opening My Computer, clicking Tools, Folder Options and File Types where you can change the settings.

In your case the computer no longer knows what to do with .exe files so you can’t run programs.

Fixing this is a fiddly problem luckily Doug Knox has provided the answer and you can download the .EXE registry fix from his page.

It is probably that you’ll have trouble running the regedit tool or the zip functions because they are damaged as well. Doug explains what to do about this at the top of the page. It is essential you read and understand his instructions.

Once you’ve fixed the problem, scan your computer for viruses or spyware. It’s highly likely this problem is due to such an infection.

If you still have problems with your systems

We are running Windows XP and are unable to watch videos with Quick Time. We have downloaded the latest version, please can you help.

The first thing to do is remove all old versions of QuickTime. Follow our instructions on unistalling old software.

Once you’ve done that, restart the computer and download the latest version of Quick Time. Once you’ve downloaded it, run the installation and you should resolve the problem.

If it doesn’t work, you may have to remove QT manually.

Restart your computer and delete the Quick Time program folder which will probably be “C:\Program Files\Apple\QuickTime”.  Once you’ve done this, reinstall the program and see if the problems have gone away. If so, it may be a good idea to run a registry cleaner.

If the Add/Remove function is not working properly, Microsoft have a repair tool for the function. This is a free download and you can run it to remove errant programs.

There are some more advanced things you can do to repair these problems, but these require a higher level of computer expertise and we’d recommend calling a computer tech to assist you with this.