IT Queries: Computer problems answered

When I open my CPU there is no message on the monitor and it is all blank. and the red signal lights on the CPU which is the red light is not blinking. is my motherboard or my monitor? thanks.

It sounds like a motherboard problem. The quickest way to find out is to plug another monitor onto the computer and see what happens.

The culprit could be something as simple as a video card, memory module or expansion card has worked itself a little loose on the board and simply needs reseating.

Either way, it is a job for a qualified technician and we’d suggest contacting your local computer repairer.

everytime I open my internet explorer there is an error appear on the lower right corner of my monitor saying”System Messaged click here for details”. then when I click the message it automatically go to one site. what is the problem? is this a virus? thanks.

Unfortunately you probably are infected with something, follow our Removing a Trojan advice. If you have clicked for details and paid any money to these people then you should contact your credit card company. We’d also strongly recommend changing banking and other important passwords after your computer has been cleaned.

After doing a backup, I get an error message: SVCHOST.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program. An error log is being created.  This message comes up each time I log in.

I have searched and found the icon svchost.exe but it is not in capital letters as in the error message. I tried to run it but nothing happens.

Svchost is part of Windows that controls how different programs work with the Windows operating system. Svchost itself doesn’t do much as far as you, the computer user is concerned. So an error with svchost usually indicates there’s something wrong with a program.

Given the problem is happening after you run the backup software, the backup software is probably the villain. The simplest solution would be to uninstall and reinstall the software.

It will also be worthwhile checking the backup software’s website to see if there are any problems with your setup (clashes with antivirus programs, etc) and if there are any updates to the program.

Svchost errors can be a symptom of a spyware infection as well. So it’s a very good idea to check your computer for viruses.

I have four messages in my outbox. One of them won’t display because an error message appears saying low memory or low disk drive. Because of this error message, it won’t send any of these four messages.

The first thing to check is you have enough hard drive space. If the drive is full then the computer will choke. We’ve covered freeing up space on your hard drive previously.

If you do have enough hard drive space then one of those outgoing emails is damaged and it’s blocking the others from leaving.

To fix it, turn off the auto-preview screen by clicking View and then Autoview in Outlook. If you are using Outlook Express or Windows Mail click View, Layout and take the tick off the Show Preview Pane box.

Once you’ve done that, go into your Outbox folder and drag all four of the emails into your drafts folder. Delete any you don’t need to send then open the ones you do want to resend and click the resend button.

Using Vista and after shutting down unable to turn computer on again using on/off switch on tower.  Have to turn of at switch on wall and turn on again.  Can anyone help?

The problem is with your hardware. It’s probably just the switch but it could be the power supply or motherboard. You’ll need to take it to a computer store for repairs.

Be prepared for a fairly large bill. A lot of these switches are built into the computer case so the entire case needs to be replaced. This involves dismantling the computer.

The power supply is the cheapest and easiest component to replace. If it is the power supply, ask for a good quality 400W supply as many systems come with underpowered and nasty cheap supplies.

If it is a motherboard then you may want to consider a new system given that you’ll probably end up paying for a CPU and memory as well.

Given it’s a Vista system it may well be still under warranty. This sort of problem is why we recommend a three year warranty for all new systems.

About 8 months ago our computer crashed , we recently sent it to a reputable data recovery company and they said it had a severe head crash and could not recover any data.. Should I try another company or am I wasting my time. I heard in America the technology is more advanced and a higher success rate. I am so stressed as I’ve lost nearly all the pictures and videos  of my 2 boys from newborn till then as I thought my husband backed everything up..I desperately need some advice..can you recommended any other company?

Unfortunately we can’t recommend any specific company but there are companies that will recover data from even the most catastrophic failure.

This is a very specialised business so the services don’t come cheap for the equipment and skilled staff to operate it. Expect to pay several thousand dollars if it is a head crash as they will have to dismantle the drive and build it up again.

The best thing we can suggest is to contact your local computer shops and ask who they use for such work. Don’t trust the shops themselves as none will have the equipment to do this sort of recovery.

Best of luck in recovering those baby photos.

when i visit a website address, within 2 seconds of being in the homepage I am directed to another webpage full of advertising.

I cannot seem to visit the web address i actually want to view.

Why is this and what is causing this to happen? How can I prevent this happening in the future?

You have been infected with spyware. The specific type that’s causing this problem is known as a page hijacker.

Unfortunately a page hijacker indicates you are almost certainly infected with other spyware.

We have instructions on removing spyware but keep in mind your infection is probably quite severe and may require expert assistance and possibly even reformatting your computer.

We would urge to change any PINs and passwords you have used on this computer as they may have been compromised. Do not do this on the infected computer.

Microsoft Word disappeared from computer & so no word files would open. Had Office 2000 premium installed but original disk packed in storage shed. Uninstalled premium and installed professional (loan from friend),although it says it has installed on hard drive it keeps asking for cd rom and even if I put the cd in I am told no program is responding.

What’s almost certainly happened is a Word add-in has caused this problem. The best thing to do is to start Microsoft Word in Safe Mode.

To do this, click Start then Run and type winword /a note there is a space before the /a. This will start Word without any macros or add-ins.

You may still be asked to insert the installation disk and you should do so to finish the process.

To disable add-ins, while in Word click the Tools menu, select Template and Addins. In the COM Add-Ins dialog box, the add-ins that are available (loaded) in Microsoft Word are listed.

To turn off a COM add-in, click to clear the COM Add-In check box, and then click OK. When you restart Microsoft Word, Word will start without loading the add-in.

Should the problem continue, you may have something autoloading with Word. Click Start, Run and type “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Startup”, you should include the quotation marks.  Move anything in this folder to another location.

We’d strongly urge you to find your own disks as you’re currently in breach of the Office license and could be accused of software piracy.

When you do find those disks, uninstall all versions of Office before reinstalling yours.

I am operating Vista, with a Bigpond account.  I continue to have problems with my e-mail account.  Bigpond instruct me to have no firewall, so it is turned off.  I am not comfortable with this solution, however they say the firewall interfers with the e-mail.

Can you give me some advice on this please?

It sounds like the firewall or anti-virus program is blocking access to the mail server. You’ll need to make sure your email program is trusted by the firewall and the email server is trusted, in Bigpond’s case this is mail.bigpond.com.

In the Windows firewall,  you should add your email program to the trusted applications list by Start, Control Panel and Network Connections. Select your Internet connection, the name will vary with your computer.

In the General tab of the Internet connection properties, click the Properties button and the Advanced tab. Click Settings under the Firewall heading and click Exceptions.

In the Exceptions list, select your email program by ticking the box beside or clicking the Add Program if it isn’t listed.

There are some settings in Norton Antivirus where you can make similar exceptions. In recent versions, this has been under the heading of Internet Worm Protection.  The location of these settings varies between programs.

We are a seniors club with 6 networked computers. All XP. Now have new computer with ability to change from XP to Vista via Bios. The computer networked with other computers and printers without problems but when we switch to Vista the HP printer prints in mirror image.  Does this mean we need a driver for the printer or is there some other setting?

It certainly does sound like a problem with the printer driver. HP generally haven’t been updating drivers for printers that are supported in Vista so you might have trouble finding a new driver for that model.

The best bet is to try experimenting with other HP printer drivers. A number are compatible with each other and you may find one of the compatible versions will not have this problem. A search on HP’s support website will give you a list of which printers will match.