IT Queries: Computer problems answered

The Canadian Pharmacy keeps sending me ads for viagra. They are sent with a different sender name each time, to get past the “Block Sender”.

How else can I stop them?

Is it illegal for them to do do?

HOW do they get in? Have I checked something out of curiouslity and become exposed?

As my provider, is Bigpond required to give every assistance in this matter? I subscribed to Bigpond Security: Does this mean they definitely have a duty to assist?

It’s unlikely the spam is a result of you visiting somewhere untoward, it’s more likely someone you know is infected with a Trojan and their computer is pumping out spam email to everyone who’s address it can find.

Unfortunately, once your address starts moving in these circles you’ll find this rubbish keeps coming in.

You can set up Mail Rules to delete this stuff automatically, but the nature of the people sending this stuff means they will keep changing the keywords and addresses to get around the rules.

Generally we’d recommend you get your Internet provider to block spam in the first instance, but you appear to have done this already by subscribing to the Bigpond security package. It may be that there is a configuration problem at their end that is letting this stuff through. You should contact them to discuss this.

If you aren’t getting any satisfaction from your ISP, you can get a third party filtering service like Mailguard or get a filtering program that sits on your computer. One of our favourites is Mailwasher which comes in a free and paid for pro version.

Every time I try to install messenger so i can chat on computer by typing it says something is interrupting it from connecting

If you can connect to the Internet through your web browser or email program then it is almost certainly your firewall blocking Messenger.

To fix this, you’ll have to tell your firewall that Messenger is a legitimate program. To do this with the Windows firewall, click on Start, Control Panel, Windows Firewall.

In the Windows Firewall control panel, click the Exceptions tab. If Messenger is listed, tick the box beside it. If it isn’t listed, then click “Add Program” and select it from the list.

If you have a different firewall then you’ll have to go through a similar process. Unfortunately there are dozens of different firewall programs so we don’t have space to go through them here.

how do I transfer documents from floppy disc to computer file?

Floppy disks!?! Now that’s old stuff. I’ll assume what you mean is you have a floppy disk with data on it but no floppy drive on a newer computer.

The easiest thing to do is to buy an external USB floppy drive which are easily available for under $50. Simply plug it in. Modern Macs and PCs will automatically detect the drive when you connect it.

Once connected open the drive, which normally appears as the A: drive on a PC, and you can copy the disk onto your hard drive.

If you have a lot of information on floppies then we’d strongly recommend copying them onto flash or external hard drives. Floppy disks are prone to failing over time.

I have a file called “thumbs.db” on my desktop. I’ve deleted it a number of times but it keeps reappearing. Do I have a virus?

Thumbs.db is a system file. It tracks the thumbnail views of the files on your desktop. Thumbnails are the little previews of your files Windows sometimes shows depending on the folder view.

The file itself is harmless and if you delete it Windows will recreate it next time you restart. So deleting thumbs.db is really quite pointless.

Other system files though are not so happy if you delete them. Erasing a critical file can mean an expensive repair bill, so we generally like to hide them.

To hide them from daily view, open My Computer and click the Tools toolbar, then select the Folder Options.

In the Folder Options screen, select the View tab and tick the buttons next to “Do not show hidden files or folders” and “Hide protected operating system files”.

Click okay and you won’t see thumbs.db or any other important file again

How do I empty my Recycle Bin?

It’s a good idea to empty the bin on a regular basis as it can clog up your machine.

To do this, right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop. Then click “Empty Recycle Bin” and this will empty the bin.

Be warned, if any important files were in the bin it may be difficult and expensive to recover them after emptying it.

O.S. is XP SP2. I have a problem with Java(TM)6 update 3. When I go to some sites, I cant get in as it tells me I need to install plug ins,I download Java then it tells me my pc alrady has Java installed, I click yes to reinstall,error message internal error 2753 comes up, then fatal error during installation. Have tried to uninstall Java through add/remove programs, but get the same error message internal error 2753.

When i go to start,run,control, there is no Java showing there at all. Windows installer has started turning itself off, so I go to start,control panel, Administrative tools,services,make sure windows installer is on auto and right click on it then start. I am sorry I cannot explain it any better, hope you will understand,thank you.

Hi Desperate Nana,

The problem is with your Windows Installer function. To fix it, download and install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.

When you run it, it will refer to Microsoft Office. Don’t worry about this.

Once its finished, reboot and the problem should be clear.

Hi, I have a brand new Dell Vostro that is really slow when I’m typing. The letters appear on the screen several seconds after I type. The computer is almost unusable.

The reason for this keyboard lag is the MediaDirect feature Dell have in their Vostro systems. It appears the program loads up your Outlook contact list so the more contacts you have, the slower your computer becomes.

It’s easily turned off by opening MS Config, clicking on the Startup tab and taking the tick off the PCMService item.

Click Okay then restart your computer and the problem will be over.

I want to configure Outlook Express what are the steps I have to follow?

First you will need your Internet provider’s mail server settings, your email address, user name and password. If you don’t know these, you will have to call your provider.

To set up your mail accounts, open Outlook Express, click the Tools menu and select Accounts.

In the Accounts, click Add then click Mail. The Internet Connection Wizard will start.

The first box is the Your Name box, type the name you’d like to appear on your emails when they are received. Generally we recommend using your full name and perhaps add your business name as well (eg; Paul Wallbank, PC Rescue).

In the next screen, type your email address. This should be exactly how your ISP described it. A mistake will mean replies and returned emails won’t get to you and it may upset spam filters.

The next screen is the email server settings. Type your outgoing and incoming mail server addresses in the boxes. Normally the POP3 setting should be set as the server type.

In the final box you’ll be asked for your Account Name and password. Enter your user name into the first box and the password into the second. Tick the box “remember password” unless you want to be nagged about it every time you check your mail.

That’s it! Send a few emails to friends or relatives and see if they are returned. If they are, you are up and running.

Hello there i am currently in the process of compiling some new order documents for our Company but i am having trouble finding out how to lock the document but still make certain amendments to it for example:  on this order i want the company details and despatch address locked so they cant be amended but then i want people to be able to fill out the order form too

You don’t mention the program you’re using so I’ll assume it’s Microsoft Word.

To create a form in Word, open a new document, click the View menu and select Toolbars. The form toolbar is one of the options available.

Once you have the forms toolbar up you can then start building your form. To get text and layouts from your existing documents, just copy and paste from the old to the new.

When you are finished, protect the document by clicking the padlock icon on the forms toolbar and then save the document as a template.

You may want to save the template onto a shared drive on your network so it can be used by the right staff. See our post on how to setup a shared templates folder.

How do I share Microsoft Office templates on my network?

It’s a good idea to share standard documents and layouts across the entire business network. It avoids having too many versions being sent out to customers and suppliers.

To do this, first create the standard documents and make sure they are correct. Then save them as templates (.dot or .xlt in Word and Excel).

Then create a folder on one of your shared network folders. Make sure this folder or drive is marked read only for most people as you only want authorised staff to change the documents.

Once you’ve set this up, copy the templates to that folder.

Then on each machine, you will have to open Word click on the Tools menu, choose Options and File Locations.

Highlight the Workgroup Templates item, click modify and enter the network address of the template folder (eg \\server\data\templates).

Save and restart Word. You’ll have to repeat the process on Excel.

The result of this is when staff go to create a new document or spreadsheet from a template, all the standard templates will now appear under the general tab.