IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I have Outlook 2003 which I’ve just installed on my new Vista computer. I’m finding doing anything in Outlook is incredibly slow

The problem is due to the indexing service. Vista automatically includes the Outlook folders in the list of locations the system monitors and this process slows Outlook down dramatically.

To disable it, open Outlook then click Tools, Options, Preferences and Search Options and take off all the ticks in the “index messages in these data files” box.

You can also disable the Indexing Service features by clicking the Start button, Control Panel and System and Maintenance.

Click on Indexing Options and click on the Modify button, and then untick the boxes Outlook folders under the “Change selected locations” box.

You may also want to take the ticks off everything except the Start Menu box as we’ve found that can speed up the computer as well.

Every time I try to access Hotmail or Windows Update I get the message “An error has occurred in the script on this page.”

Internet Explorer is damaged. First, check your system for spyware as malware infections are a common cause for the problem.

Once you’re happy the computer is clean restart your computer. Once it is fully running click the start button, click run and type the following command;

regsvr32 msxml3.dll

Click okay and you should get a message saying registration completed.

Then click Start and Run and type the following;

regsvr32 urlmon.dll

Restart your computer and the problem should be clear.

On Christmas Day my house nearly burnt down. The problem was that a can opener caught alight. Toxic soot went into everythink in the house including my computer.

I have been advised that this toxic smoke will shorten the life of the computer and will need to be replaced. The computor is a dell 3100/E310 amd all is covered by insurance.

Can the computer be cleaned or does it need to be replaced and i have also been advised that all electrical items like the TV and radios need to be replaced.

Sorry to hear about the fire. Our advice is that electrical equipment that has been damaged by water, smoke or power surges should be replaced. Even if they work for some time afterward, their life will be reduced.

Given everything is covered by insurance it would be best for you to make a claim for full replacement.

If you have valuable data on the hard drives a good computer tech should be able to recover it from the damaged hard drive.

I’ve recently installed McAfee Internet Security Suite and now I find I can’t log onto Hotmail. I keep getting “incorrect password” errors. It happens in both Internet Explorer and Firefox.

The password is correct as I can log on from other computers and other computers in my home seem to work fine.

We’ve seen this problem at a couple of places, it appears the Personal Security function interferes with the way Hotmail receives passwords.

It should be possible to disable these functions or add the Live.com website to the trusted list, but none of these seem to work.

The only solution to this we currently have is to uninstall McAfee through the add/remove programs and use a different antivirus package.

I am running Vista Business on an LG Laptop. On booting I am presented with the logon screen which shows 2 pictures (the same) for each user. How do I get rid of the duplicates?

Log in as one of the users. Once the computer has started click on the start button, open the Search box and type “user”. Click on User Accounts when it appears in the list.

Once in the User Accounts screen click on the Change your picture link.

A list will appear of the built in pictures, click on the picture you want to use from those displayed. If you want a different picture, click on the Browse for more pictures link and find the picture you want to use.

Click the Change Picture button and the new picture will be associated with that profile.

I have a SCSI drive that wont boot to xp pro. Just keeps rebooting. Tried repair from install disc I get x00000024 STOP error. I have xp on other disc plug drive in and it will find it if I go to device manager but then chashes the system and reboots. So can\’t get to it as slave.
Have tried seatools no go, others too.

The  stop error indicates a problem with the hard disk drive, usually it means a damaged ntfs.sys file but can mean a corrupted file system.

Given you can’t access this drive as a slave, it almost certainly appears to be the latter.

The drive needs to be tested for physical errors and if it isn’t damaged then a reformat and reinstall. Of course you’ll need to get any data off the computer.

The best way to do this is to start your computer from a boot disk, either a Windows 2000, XP or Vista disk or a specialist disk like Bart PE or Knoppix. You will be asked to install the SCSI drivers. From there you should be able to access the drive and recover the information.

If you can’t, try using a different SCSI card to see if that resolves the problem. If not, then you will have to contact a professional data recovery company.

I’ve been waiting for the Windows Vista service pack to be released before buying a computer. Now that it’s out, should I start looking?

At this stage, no.

The release is only to the manufacturers like Dell and Hewlett Packard so it will take a few weeks, or days in Dell’s case, for these to appear on the market. For the next few months, a lot of computers will still be sold with the original Vista.

The other point to keep in mind is that we don’t know if the service pack will change things much for users. What we do know is some software and drivers that do work in the original Vista are broken by the changes in the service pack.

Our advice at the time of writing on February 5, 2008 is to wait a few weeks so we can get up to speed on what changes and improvements Vista SP1 delivers.

Can internet explorer version 6 be upgraded to internet explorer version 7

You certainly can, just visit the Internet Explorer website, download it and run the update.

We would recommend backing up your computer and checking the system for spyware before installing IE 7.

Generally we’ve found IE7 to be a big improvement in security and browsing over 6. However there are some bugs with websites and software that relies on functions in IE6. We have seen some situations where people have had to go back to IE6 for this reason.

My internet explorer is missing. I can’t see it on the Start, Programs list.

First of all, we recommend using Firefox or Opera for day to day web surfing, as today’s Facebook bug shows.

That said, there are some sites you need to run Internet Explorer. If you need to start it quickly, then you can open it by clicking Start, then Run and typing iexplore. In Vista, click on Search and type iexplore.
To get the icon back, right click the desktop, choose properties and in the desktop properties click on the Desktop tab.

In the Desktop tab, click Customize Desktop and tick the Internet Explorer box under Desktop icons.

This will bring up Internet Explorer on the desktop, you can then copy the shortcut to your taskbar and into the Programs list.

 I have a D-Link router networking my 2 PCs. It was great while they were linked using the cable but I have moved one PC and the wireless connection keeps breaking.
Is there a better product?
I am about to buy a laptop which I would need to add to the network, will this change things?

Wireless connections can be unreliable. Often the cause is the construction of your building or interference from other networks nad electronic devices. Sometimes the device is simply set up poorly.

The first thing to check is the location of your router or wireless base station, change the directions of the antennae and move the device away from windows, concrete and stone walls.

It is also possible the router simply isn’t up to it. Some routers do better than others in certain circumstances. Sometimes the wireless network card doesn’t play well with the rest of the network.

It’s best to start with testing where in your house the signal is good and where it isn’t. Then, experiment with the location of the router and the antennae directions.

Once you’ve found what works and doesn’t you may need to call in a computer tech. Sometimes a newer and better router doesn’t always fix wireless network problems and a tech will be best placed to deal with it.