IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I am having problems accessing my Yahoo mail. It was all OK until about a week ago. I installed Nortons 360 about a month ago but it worked OK with that for a while. I now get a bland screen coming up with just blue text and no pictures or boxes etc.  I have 3 computers linked and it is happening on all 3. I am with Bigpond. It is most frustrating as I am running a project and all my operating files are stored in the emails.

I have Windows and am using Internet Explorer as my browser. I am wondering if ther is anything in the properties which may have been unchecked with regard to the Yahoo website. I can access all other websites OK. The problem sometimes fixes itself for a few hours then it seems to freeze and I have to restart it and it comes back as only text. PLEASE HELP!

We’ve had a  few reports of Yahoo! Mail having these problems recently. It appears there’s been some changes to their system which causes these problems.

The first thing we would suggest is to install the latest version of Java. Before doing it, it’s worthwhile uninstalling the earlier versions.

It’s also a good opportunity to update your Flash Player and Windows Scripting Host.

If the problem continues you could try using Mozilla Firefox, this will show if the problem is with Internet explorer or deeper in the system.

The final suggestion is to exclude the Yahoo! domains from the Norton 360 firewall. To fix this open Norton 360, click Tasks and Settings then Advanced Settings and Firewall Protection Settings, Symantec have full instructions on doing this at their website.  You may need to ask Yahoo! what addresses should be added to the trusted list.

My daughter recently saved a year 12 project on to a memory stick and unfortunately she is now unable to access the saved data as the memory stick seems to be faulty. Do you know of anyone who may be able to assist with the recovery of the data if at all possible.

There’s a number of data recovery services available but all of them are going to take your drive for some weeks. You can contact your local computer tech for more details.

If the drive has format or partition problems, then you can recover data using programs like the free Restoration program or more user friendly commercial programs like Recover My Files.

I have outlook express 6. When I open outlook express I cannot receive messages in the inbox. It comes up saying that an unknown error has occurred. Account:’mail.optusnet.com.au’,
Protocol:POP3,Port:110,Secure

(SSL):No,ErrorNumber:0x800C0131
(I don’t understand any of that!)
It then says i folder could not be displayed
Outlook Express could not open this folder
Possible causes are:
*low disk space
*low memory

I have 260 emails but I can’t open them in outlook express.
Can you please help me?

You have two separate problems. The first error is Outlook Express telling you it can’t connect to Optus and collect your email. You’ll have to check your firewall and Internet connection.

The second problem is more serious. This indicates the folder is damaged or your hard drive is full.

The fix for this is somewhat complex, if you have a basic understanding of computers, we’d recommend contacting a computer tech to assist you.

First you need to clean up your hard drive. We recommend the free Cleanup! tool, but make sure you’ve backed up your important data before using it.

Once you’ve cleaned up your computer, check to see if the problem has gone away. If it hasn’t, then the problem is a corrupted Outlook Express folder.

The simplest way to fix this problem is to download Mozilla Thunderbird and import the mailboxes from Outlook Express. The import process often overcomes smaller corruption problems.

A longer way is to create a new folder in Outook Express by clicking the Local Folders icon on the left then from the menu at the top of the screen select File, Folder and New. Name the new folder BadInbox.

Now we need to find where Outlook Express has saved your data. Click the Tools menu and select Options. In the options box click Maintenance and Store Folder.

The store folder is where Outlook Express keeps the email folders. Copy the location shown, be aware that the address probably scrolls across to the right as it doesn’t fit in the box.

Shut down Outlook Express, then click Start, Run and type or paste the store folder location in the Run box. Click Okay and the store folder will open.

Rename the BadInbox file to OldInbox and rename the Inbox file to BadInbox.

Restart Outlook Express, the Inbox will re-create itself without the old emails and hopefully the BadInbox on the right will now contain all your old emails.

I have been using discounted ink cartridges for a while without problems, but suddenly my computer is telling me to install a genuine cartridge only, and won’t finish the ink cartridge installation with the cheaper version. Can I get around this in any way?  My printer is an Epson CX5900.  I have Windows XP.

An important revenue stream for printer vendors is the sale of replacement cartridges. Like razor blade manufacturers, they make more money from the replacement consumables; the ink cartridge or blades, than the original razor or printer.

To make sure you buy their cartridges, Epson have introduced what their marketing people call the “Epson Intellidge™”. While it may ensure quality control (and good margins), it also locks you into using their products.

It sounds like the discount cartridges have changed design or supplier and they are no longer compatible with the printer. We’d suggest taking the cartridges back to the supplier for a refund and to discuss what other alternatives to the Epson branded cartridges are available.

Hi everyone..I’m using Windows XP Home Edition and I don’t know whether I’ve already asked about this but a few days ago something happened!! let me see if I can explain ( novice that I am!)what’s going on..the size of my fonts became bigger and when I use IE to search, everything (including welcome screen info) becomes giants size. I’d like to restore my computer to an earlier date (like 2-3 weeks ago when I had no problems and a stress free user friendly operating system)..it must be something that I’m doing because this is the 3rd time this has happened..I’ve called out a tech two times at $100 a callout and it’s now becoming an expensive mess/hobby..can anyone help in simple language?.I hate being a computer dodo!…thanks Elly in Oz

It sounds like there’s a specific website you are going to that is causing this.

The first thing we’d suggest is to quit using Internet Explorer and switch to Firefox. You can still use Internet Explorer for sites that require it.

Should it continue to happen, there are two places where these settings can change. First is in the screen resolution. Click Start, Control Panel and Display.

In the Display settings, click the Advanced tab. Towards the bottom left hand corner is a slider marked Screen Resolution. If you move this to the right, it will make the screen and icons smaller.

Try experimenting with those resolutions to find the ones that are best for you. You’ll find many of them won’t suit your screen. If you don’t like them, just wait 15 seconds and it will go back to the previous settings.

It is possible your Windows schemes are being changed. To fix this, you open the Display settings as we described above and click on the Themes tab. In the themes box, click the drop down menu and select the Windows XP option. Click save and you’ll return to the Windows standard setup.

You may also want to check what your computer tech has been doing. They should have noted what they did on your job sheet or invoice. If they didn’t, call them and ask.

Since I’ve upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 I’ve lost the padlock icon that tells me when I’m on a secured site. Am I protected when I go to my bank’s website?

With the new release of Internet Explorer, Microsoft have changed the location of where the padlock icon is shown. Rather than put it in the bottom right hand corner where every browser, including previous versions of Internet Explorer, have placed it, they’ve put it next to the address bar near the top right hand corner.

I uninstalled Zone Alarm Free but it appears that some remants are left. I try to use RegEdit to delete Zone Labs
(MiniLog, TrueVector, Zone Alarm) but get a message saying “Cannot delete Zone Labs: Error while deleting key.” I get the same message if I try to individually delete items.
How can I get rid of Zone Labs?

The first thing to check is that  you are logged on as an administrator. To check, right click on the start button and if “Open All Users” is an option, then you are an administrator. If not, log off and back on as an administrator.

Next, check you have removed Zone Alarm using the Add/Remove Programs function. If not then do so, if you have and it appears not to have fully uninstalled, it’s best to reinstall Zone Alarm, reboot and remove it again.

It isn’t unusual to find remnants of registry keys from old programs, some developers don’t do a good job of writing uninstall routines. Generally these won’t hurt the computer and shouldn’t detract from performance.

Should you want to remove these keys then first check all the Zone Alarm files have been deleted from the computer after uninstalling. Once you’ve confirmed this, run a registry cleaner.

WARNING: The following paragraph is for advanced users only. Do not edit the registry unless you have a backup and understand what you are doing.

If the registry keys still remain, you may be able to delete them by booting into safe mode running Regedit, right clicking the errant registry key and selecting Permissions. In the permissions screen, give yourself full control. If it doesn’t you’ll need to click on Advanced, Owner and make yourself the owner of that registry key.

Generally though, we strongly recommend leaving the registry alone unless there is a serious problem that needs to be resolved.

My husband has recently learnt how to use our computer(prevoiusly my domain)
he has discovered Ebay (aka Aladins cave) and our 1500mb quota blew out to over 3000mb,is there a simple inexpensive (free) program to measure downloads as the day goes on not just the end of day that my provider (Bordernet)shows.We run xp, recently put IE 7 on.
So we can pinpoint which programs & processes chew up the most mb.
Thanks Regards Veronika.

Good to see your husband has discovered the net. It’s a worry your usage has blown out as Ebay shouldn’t be causing this and we’d strongly suggest you check your computer for viruses. It would also be a good idea to setup a limited user profile for your husband as we explain on our PC Rescue site.

As far as Internet monitoring programs go, we’d recommend the excellent Netlimiter. The free version lets you monitor usage while the paid for versions allow you to control how much data specific programs can use.

It may also be worthwhile seeing about increasing your data quota as well given many families will struggle to keep under a 1500mb limit.

The whole idea of the Internet is to use the information so don’t let restrictive limits cramp your usage.

I have recently changed to broadband from a dialup connection and each time I go into Outlook (2007) it tries to connect using my old dialup connection instead of the new broadband connection. I have removed all the links to the dialup connection as far as I can see, but still the problem persists. I am using Vista home premium and Outlook 2007

The problem is in Outlook. It thinks the dial up setting is still there and tries to connect through it.

To fix this, click on the Tools menu and choose email settings. Select your email account and choose view or change existing settings, if you have more than one email account you’ll have to do this for each one.

Once in the the change account screen, click the More Settings button and then the Connections Tab. You’ll find the rogue dial up connection sitting there.

If you are connecting over broadband, then choose the Connect using my local area network.

I am running vista Home Premium and MS Office 2003 and for the last couple of months, I have been unable to open any pps attachments. The logo has changed to that of internet explorer and when I click on it, a internet exlporer page appears with option to open/save/cancel the particular pps file. When I click on open, it flashes back to the original email and then back to the internet explorer page and I could continue doing this all day if i desired.
I have found that I can save the file to desktop and opne the file this way, but there must be a reason that this problem has occurred.

What has happened is your computer is associating powerpoint files with the wrong program, in this case Internet Explorer.

To fix it,  go to the Control Panel and choose Default Programs. In this screen, select “Associate a file type or protocol with a program”.

In there, you will get a list of file extensions. Go down the list and choose the PPT extension and click “Change Program”.

You’ll get the Open With dialog, Powerpoint will be one of the listed programs, choose it and click “Okay”.

Exit out of this screen and it should be working.