IT Queries: Computer problems answered

MY PC IS SAYING \”VIRUS FOUND JS/DOWNLOAD AGENT\”
WHAT DO I DO?

I AM RUNNING WINDOWS XP HOME EDITION.

First, you turn off your caps lock key. Writing messages in capitals is not good form. Some tips for writing emails and Internet messages can be found at our PC Rescue website.

The message indicates a web site has attempted a “drive by download”, that is it’s tried to install some malware while a user was visiting the site.

The virus checker should have a “fix” or “delete” option. Do it.

If the message continues, it indicates you have a malware infection that keeps re-installing the agent. To remove this, follow our Removing a Trojan instructions.

Removing a persistent spyware infection can be a difficult, irritating job. You may need a computer tech to clean this for you. Make sure you back up all your important data before the tech arrives.

My hard disk crashed and I had to reinstall Windows XP. After that I could not get my screen saver to operate. I reloaded Windows but to no effect.

It sounds like a driver problem. Either the video drivers or chipset drivers aren’t installed or up to date.

To fix this, run the motherboard utilities CD and video card CD that came with the system.

If you don’t have them, you can identify what you have on your system through the excellent Unknown Device Identifier tool and then find the relevant drivers on the Internet.

I get the following error whenever I close a page down from Internet Explorer. I press OK and close down “google”. When I open it up it continues OK.

DDE Server Window: iexplore.exe -
Application Error
The instruction at \”0x749860b0\” referenced memory at \”0×00000000\”. The memory could not be \”read\”.
Click on OK to terminate the program

Again this sounds like a spyware problem. You need to scan for an infection.

It is also possible Internet Explorer is damaged. To fix this, visit our Fixing Damaged Windows Files page.

“When attempting to download images from some websites, I am asked to download a program “Video ActiveX”. Do you know if it is safe to allow this program to my PC?

Also, when I try to cancel the image download, I am not able to without accessing Task Manager and closing Internet Explorer. Can you advise an alternate method?”

Both of these problems indicate a spyware infection. Active X downloads are the favourite methods of spyware writers. Firefox and Opera don’t have built in support for Active X and this is why we recommend them over Internet Explorer.

You must check your computer for spyware. We’ve previously posted the instructions to do this. We’d also strongly recommend you stop using Internet Explorer and start using an alternative browser.

Toshiba SAt A100. Finger Logger (recently replaced) still unreliable. Toshiba Technician claims its related to error message that comes up on logging on.

Carol

A program on your computer has been deleted but the computer is still looking for it on start up. To clear this, you need to use the System Configuration Utility to turn off the start up message.

The Windows System configuration utility is a very useful tool that comes with Windows 98, ME and XP. It allows you to stop programs from starting with just a tick of a box. The quickest way to open it is to click start, run and type msconfig, the Startup tab will show you what starts with the system. You should take the tick off the One Touch Application.

This however will probably not repair the problem with the finger logger. If it doesn’t you’ll need to reinstall the one touch program. The one touch application is either a keyboard or external hard drive program.

If you have a Maxtor external hard drive the One Touch program was designed to let you run a backup by simply pressing the button on the hard drive. If you do have a Maxtor external drive then re-run the software that came with it.

One touch application access is a feature many laptops come with. It’s a way of setting up the keyboard with fast short cuts for frequently used programs. It is possible your computer has come with this. To fix that, you’ll have to reinstall the software that came with the computer.

Be careful when doing this, the system disks provided by Toshiba can wipe the hard drive which will destroy all the data on it. We’d strongly suggest you call another computer tech to diagnose and repair this problem.

I intend to use WinFastPVR to capture my analog video tapes to the hard drive before editing. Which Capture Format should I select so that the various tapes can be edited to create a single DVD.

MPEG-2 is the format to use when burning DVDs. An excellent advice is available on the Sign Video site. This advice includes using a camcorder rather than a capture card like you are doing, but the result is the same.

Best of luck with it. In our experience, it takes a few attempts to get it right but it’s worthwhile.

I keep in touch with a friend in the U.K through Windows Live Messenger. For some reason, when connected, he can see me but I cannot see him although we can both hear each other.

It does not appear to be a fault with the Webcam as I also have Skype and have no problem with Video or Audio with that.

The fact it is working in Skype, says the problem is with Windows Live Messenger. It may well be your firewall or router is stopping some Windows Live Messenger traffic as Messenger uses different ports to Skype.

Microsoft have a knowledge base article about this on their website. It appears you need to setup a rule allowing incoming UDP traffic on all ports between 5004 through 65535.

You may have to consult your router or firewall instructions for setting up port forwarding or call a computer tech to do this for you.

Whenever I try to open my photos in iPhoto I get a “file null cannot be found” error.

This sounds like a problem with the iPhoto library. You can fix the libraries by following the Rebuilding the iPhoto Library instructions from the Apple website.

If this doesn’t work, you might need to repair the system using the iPhoto Library Manager tool by Fat Cat Software. Failing that, you can try wiping the settings by deleting com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that hides in your User/Library/Preferences folder. This will wipe your existing library.

I have a Dell OptiPlex GX620 running Windows XP Professional and have been using a 200GB Maxtor 3200 external USB drive for backup for over a year. At least four times in recent months, with increasing frequency, apparently at random, and without any error message (on one occasion I think it may have been associated with a \”blue screen\” error), the system stops recognising the Maxtor — it stops appearing in My Computer as drive E:\\.

Rebooting does nothing. Disk Management shows the Maxtor as Not Initialized and Unallocated. In order to get it back I have had to disconnect/re-connect the Maxtor from the power then re-initialize and re-format via Disk Management, which of course means I lose my backup data.

It sounds like the hard drive or your computer’s USB port has a problem. It might be be best to unplug the unit when it’s not in use and only plugging it in when you need it. You may also want to experiment with using different ports or plugging it into a powered USB hub.

If it is the hard drive, then it’s on the way out. Check whether the unit is still under warranty and, if not, start considering a replacement.

I am running XP and one of my programs when I try to pen it comes up with the Message 429: ActiveX component can’t create object. Can you tell me how to fix it

ActiveX is part of the Windows Scripting function. Many programs rely on Windows Scripting for basic functions. In your case the program relies it for printing.

Fixing ActiveX can be a nuisance, the first thing to do is download the latest Microsoft Data Access Components. A lot of database type programs require this to work properly. Reboot your computer after installing it.

The next step, should the first one fail, is to install the latest Windows Scripting Host. This will update all the scripting functions and is something we recommend if you’ve had a spyware infection.

We’d also recommend you complain to the software company about their program relying on these function. We’ve found MDAC and the Scripting Host to be somewhat unreliable and they tie the program, and it’s user, too deeply into the Windows operating system.

So if Windows goes wrong, such as with a serious spyware infection, the entire system goes down.