IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I recently had problems with my computer. Have down loaded new virus scanners etc but my problem is now with Windows Media Played 9. When I run it I have sound but no picture…. has any one got a solution.. running windows 2000

The usual solution for this is to change the video acceleration setting. Open Windows Media Player, click Tools and Options.

In the Performance tab you’ll find the video acceleration settings, if it’s available click the Default Settings button. If it isn’t, slide the performance bar to none at the extreme left.

Click okay, shut down media player and restart your computer.

I have been using Pinnacle V 8 for video editing but I have edited program but due to a fault I am unable to render my final edit as the prog asks for prog to be reinstalled I have tried but there is an operating system fault which requires a re format of hd. I am not sure as to what I have to do to do this operation and not loosing any of my data and drivers
System Dual core 240g hdd XP with external hdd 500g.
Can you help?
I have orig discs and not copies

A reformat is the last resort and we certainly don’t recommend doing that lightly. In this case we’d recommend fully uninstalling the Pinnacle program, Click Start, Settings, Control Panel and open the Add/Remove Programs applet.

Double click Pinnacle 8 and choose the remove function. Follow the onscreen instructions and fully remove it.

When the uninstaller is finished, restart your computer the delete the program folder which will probably be “c:\program files\pinnacle”. If you have other Pinnacle products you may have to go further into the folder to delete the correct program.

Once you’ve done this, reinstall the program and see if the problems have gone away.

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.

We keep getting emails trying to sell us Viagra and also many wanting us to establish personal contact with the sender.
I have checked and discovered that it is useless trying to prevent them by entering the sender’s name on a “banned” list, because every sender uses a different “home” name every time.
Is there any way we can stop this useless lot of emails – we are both in our late 70′s and need Viagra like we need another hole in our heads.

To be quite honest I don’t think anyone needs the sort of quantities of Viagra these people try to sell.

Spam is a boring, tiresome thing which irritates many computer users. The problem is the spammers are pretty good at getting around most barriers. Once you’re on their lists, it can be pretty hard to get off.

The first defense is to turn on spam filtering on your computer. Most email programs have a built in spam checker. The exception to this is Outlook Express, the built in email program of Windows XP.

You aren’t limited to the built in spam checkers, there are many free and paid for spam filters your can add to your computer. One of our old favourites is Mailwasher which comes in both free and paid for versions.

The next step is to ask your ISP about spam filtering. Many will have a free service while others may charge an additional few dollars a month. Give them a call and ask.

In the extreme, you may want to consider getting another email account. Your ISP will offer multiple email addresses, again some are free while others charge. Or you could get a free email account through Gmail, Yahoo!or Hotmail, although some of these services have their own spam problems.

We have further details on spam avoidance on our PC Rescue website. Our experience is that you usually have to use a combination of tools to keep the spam levels down. Try experimenting with them to see what works for you.

My new computer has no sound. It has no external speakers but the built in speaker was fine to begin with. Then we intalled Adobe Shockplayer and Spybot, and the sound was gone. I has a “high definition sound device” installed which Windows says is working properly, but the sound icon at the bottom right corner of the screen has a cross next to it, and flashes “No Audio Output Device installed” when I move the mouse pointer to it. Can you help? I’m running Vista operating system.
Kindest regards, Chance.

Hi Chance,

The problem is probably not related to Shockwave or Spybot. Some device drivers have an irritating habit of just dropping off the system. Sometimes the Windows Update service messes up an upgrade.

The simplest way is to go back to an earlier restore point. We’ve described how to do this in an earlier post.

If this doesn’t work, you can use the Device Manager to repair the driver.

Click the Start button, click Control Panel, and then double-click System. In the system box, click the Device Manager tab. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.

In the Device Manager box, you’ll have a list of all the hardware connected to your computer. Click the “+” sign next to Sound, video, and game controllers and you’ll get details of the audio devices.

If it isn’t working properly, then there will probably be a yellow and black exclamation mark symbol next to the device.

Double-click the errent sound card, and then click the Driver tab. Click Update Driver Software button. Follow the Update Driver Software Wizard to update the sound card driver. You may be asked to insert the CD provided by the manufacturer.

Repairing these problems can be tricky and if you find yourself stuck, it’s best to call out a qualified computer tech to help you.

My son has a computer running Windows 2000 Professional. He created a user name and password to to prevent a minor from accessing the computer. On closing it down and rebooting it he was refused access to the computer. how can he bypass the password to get in?

There is no way of bypassing the login screen if it has been setup, luckily there’s a number of useful tools that allow you to reset passwords.

The best tool in my view is the free Offline NT Password & Registry Editor by Peter Nordahl.

Your son will need to download the tool on another computer and then either burn it to CD or extract it to a floppy disk.

Once he’s done that, the locked computer should be started with the floppy or CD. This will start a mini version of Linux that has allows you to reset the Administrator password.

Read the instructions carefully! and take your time with the tool.

You should also be aware that if there are encrypted files in the Administrator profile, they will be inaccessible after resetting the password. There are also some problems with more advanced functions on Windows servers.

Once the Admin password has been reset, remove the disk, restart the computer and login into Windows using the name Administrator with no password.

Once in Windows, go to the Control Panel, click Users and reset the passwords for all users to something secure.

With minors, it’s a good idea to setup each user with their own Limited User profile. We have instruction on doing this on the PC Rescue website.

This process requires a fairly high level of computer skill, so if you find it’s too complicated, it’s best to call a qualified technician.

Have updated to Norton 360 on main computer now can’t access this computer on my network places

Regards John

Hi John,

The problem is almost certainly firewall related. The Norton 360 is blocking access from other computers.

This is proper behaviour for a firewall, unless told otherwise the system will block anything that’s potentially a problem and other people trying to connect to the computer is certainly a problem.

To fix this, you’ll need to tell Norton 360 to trust your local network.

Open Norton 360, click Tasks and Settings then Advanced Settings and Firewall Protection Settings.

In the Firewall settings, click Network Location. In there your network will be listed under Limited Locations, highlight it and click the arrow to it the Trusted Locations box.

There are some other errors that can cause this with the network sharing in Vista and XP which can be fixed through changing file permissions and network locations in the Vista Network and Sharing Center.

I’ve been told to find my IP address. What is it and how do I find it?

IP stands for Internet Protocol, it’s the way computers talk to each other over the Internet. To do this, each computer has it’s own address on the network or Internet.

To find your computer’s IP address, open the Run (Windows XP) or Find (Windows Vista) and type CMD. A black screen will appear and you then type IPCONFIG (capitals don’t matter).

This will list all your IP addresses. IP addressed appear in the form of four groups of three separated by fulls stops (eg 192.168.100.203) disregard those that say “not connected” or have a number starting with 169.

One thing to be aware of is if your computer is connected to a home or office network then the IP address shown is that of the local network, the address on the Internet itself will be different and you can find that through online services like What is my IP.

If you require the IP address for something like Virtual Private Networking, it may be necessary to obtain a fixed IP address from your ISP. It may also be necessary to organise a computer tech to setup your service..

I have home networked 2 computers, both running Windows XP, with a router. The router (Netgear) has both cable and wireless capabilities. I use the cable networking.

I’ve read some information on the PC Rescue site about securing home wireless networking, but what I want to know is how do I now check whether or not my computer is safer from people using the wireless. How do they do it?

First, I hope your neighbour has told the kids to get off your network. If they use up your data allowance for the month you’ll end up footing the bill or putting up with a slow connection.

Worse, if another neighbour decides to do something illegal, it’s in their interests to do it through your unsecured wireless connection. That way, the police will be raiding your place rather than theirs.

So it’s absolutely essential you get the security settings right on your wireless network.

To do this you’ll have to log onto your router and change the wireless security settings. We suggest setting the wireless encryption to WPA and using a passkey of at least ten letters and numbers that isn’t immediately obvious to your neighbours, that means not using the dog’s or kid’s names.

Doing this varies with the model router you have, basically you have to log onto the management website built into the router and look for the wireless security settings.

This should be explained in your router’s manual. If you don’t understand it, then call for some assistance.

Securing your wireless network is absolutely essential. If you fail to do this you can be exposed to large bills and embarrassing accusations. Do it now.

Hi Paul, have read your article on buying a computer and noted the strong leaning towards MAC. What is the industry particularly your thoughts on purchasing a Sun entry level workstation equivalent to a standard Windows or MAC desktop. I have read that a Sun box is robust and less prone against viruses

I didn’t realise I was strongly leaning towards a Mac. The choice of the Mac versus a PC really comes down to two factors; what you are used to and what your colleagues, friends and relatives use.

For those reasons alone I’d steer you away from a Sun workstation. Other problems you’ll hit are the huge cost of support and the difficulty getting replacement parts not to mention you’ll get no help from friends, the local computer shop or your ISP.

I’d recommend going to the nearest computer superstore and Mac shop and having a play with their computers. See which computers you like and which stores have the best service.

While price is an important factor, it shouldn’t be the main selling point. If a better, faster computer is $200 more, buy it.

Don’t forget to get a three year warranty as well.

I have I Dantz Retrospect Backup Program and recently I receive the following message every day. I assume my back up is not working properly.

What can I do to get my back up working again properly? Thanks for your advice

There’s two basic ways to address Restrospect Express backup errors.

Option One: Remove restore points

The first thing to try is to delete restore points. On your Maxtor drive find the folder called “Retrospect Restore Points” and delete the file named RestorePoint.rbc

Reboot your computer, start a backup and Retrospect Express HD will recreate the RestorePoint.rbc file.

Delete configuration files

Retrospect cpp errors often refer to damaged configuration files. To do this, you’ll have to remove them.

Open My Computer and go to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data and rename the Retrospect folder to Retrospect.BAD. The restart your computer and Retrospect.

If you do this, you will have to reset all your backup settings as Retrospect won’t see the old ones.

We’d also recommend checking the EMC site for updates to your program. Retrospect Express also uses Microsoft’s .NET framework which sometimes gets itself in trouble and can be updated from the Windows Update website.