Thanks to the following for information supplied
; Keith, Elaine, Wayne, Jabe, Chris, Carlista, Christy, Conniesue,
Cora, Fred, John, Jean Payton,
If you are not afraid to open the hood and
can read and follow instructions, its not that difficult to add a second
drive. Especially if this is to be the slave drive as opposed to
the master. With the new drive as a slave, all that is necessary
is to set the jumper on the back to slave and connect power and the jack
thats in the middle of the cable. This is all called out in the instructions
for most drives. If you want to do a little ground work, you can
go to http://maxtor.com/MaxtorHome.htm
or to http://www.wdc.com/service/
(possibly the better for installation).
Backups
- for individual programmes, check programme link on this page
http://www.cdrfaq.org/
This site has all the answers, to questions you probably didn't know to
ask.
The way that I remove cookies is as follows;
go to windows exployer....
click on it to open..
go down to where it says my computer.
click on that....
then go to where it says c drive
click on that...
then go down to windows.. click
on that...
then go to where it says cookies
click on that...
click on one of the cookies in the file
then go to edit...
hit select all..
then to file and hit delete..
It will clean out all cookies but will leave
the master in there.
Copy means to put a copy of the original in
a seperate location, and leave the original where it was.
Paste is the act of putting the copy onto
its new location.
Cut takes the original and moves it to a new
location, leaving no trace of the original behind.
Q. How do I copy and paste text?
A. If you want to copy all the text on a page
you can do it in two ways.
Method 1) Click on Edit/Select All
then go to the new location and go Edit/Paste.
If you want to copy
just part of the text, you need to highlight the stuff you want then go
Edit/Copy and then Edit/Paste at the new location.
(To highlight text, put mouse cursor at beginning of wanted text then hold
down mouse button as you drag the cursor over the text to highlight it)
Method 2) Highlight text as described above,
then hold Ctrl down as you push C, to paste that
text involves going to the new location and using Ctrl + V.
Q. How do I Cut text?
A. If you mean take out of one place and move
to another, then highlight the text you want to move and either Edit/Cut
or Ctrl + X then go to new location
and Edit/Paste or Ctrl + V
Q. When I start my pc. I get a message saying
a required DLL file cant be found. it is C:\windows\system\CRTDLL.DLL
I have windows 98. Can anyone help me with
this? also not having this file I cant run my scanner. Thank you in advance.
A. That is a standard windows file available
in Win98_30.cab. With Win98, you can go to Start, Run, SFC and press
enter. One of the options will be to
extract a given file. In all likelyhood,
you have the .cab files on your hard drive in a folder under Windows.
Usually, its Windows\Options\Cabs for the location. If not, then
you should have a Full Windows CD (not a recovery cd). Either way,
point the source for the file to the appropriate location, and it will
extract the proper file and put it in the Windows\System folder.
When Defrag gives an error, it means that ScanDisk
MUST be run first and preferably in the complete mode. To do this,
go to Start, Run and enter Scandisk, then press enter. When it comes
up, be sure to mark the Thorough button (Default is Standard). Also,
you need to have your screen saver shut off and any other program
that writes to the disk needs to be stopped. One of the best ways
to do this is to run the ScanDisk while in the Safe mode
(get to this by holding down the Control Key while booting and selecting
#3 from the menu (Safe Mode). Now you can do the scandisk without
any interference.
Q. When I run defrag, I get a message that
this can't be completed as the hard drive contains errors.
A. In order to take care of the errors, 1)
be sure that any screen savers are turned off. 2) Press Ctl, Alt,
Del to bring up the window where you can turn off any programs running.
The only thing that should show in that window will be Systray and Explorer.
All others, hightlight and End Task.
Now go to Start, Run and enter Scandisk in
the open line, then press enter.
Before starting the Scandisk, click on the
thorough and auto repair (or fix). Start it and step back.
Don't move the mouse or any other disturbance as anytime windows writes
to the disk, scandisk will start over. If you cannot get through
a full scandisk this way, reboot windows and hold down the Control key.
Select option 3 (Safe mode) and bring up windows in that mode. Now
do the same for scandisk as above, except, there shouldn't be anything
addition running in the CTL,ALT,Del window. If there is (other than
the required two), end those and then go to start and do as above.
Also see http://www.fsscci.com/newsletter/vol1_2.html for a good article of defrag and scan disk.
I did a little more looking and found this
site about defragging problems.
It might have the answer to getting defrag
to run. http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/troub-29.shtml
A guide about downloading is located here:
http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/easyguide/index.html
Missing .dll files are one of the most common error messages received by computer users. (dll stands for dynamic link library, and it is a way by which several programmes share one file - instead of that file being replicated in each programme. Saves some space, but causes big problems if the .dll becomes corrupt)
DLL files are always kept in C:\windows\system and this is the directory (folder) you must direct your downloaded dll to. If you download a dll from one of the links below, I recommend that you initially download it to the Desktop then move it from there. Many files are downloaded in zipped format, so it is easier to download to Desktop and then unpack to C:\windows\system. If you need help with zipped files click here.
In response to those searching for .dll replacements, try the following sites....
http://dll.yaroslavl.ru/ The best, lots of dll's
http://www.internet-help.net/DLL_Files/
EXCELLENT HELP SITE!
http://www.1reviews.com/dll/dsound.shtml
MAIN PAGE
http://www.dll-files.com/index.shtml
To change which program starts when you open a file - two methods described.
METHOD 1. Right-click on the programme icon, and choose 'open with. Scroll down the list until you find the programme you want to open the file with. Highlight that programme and then click on OK. (tick 'always use this program' if that's what you want)
METHOD 2. In My Computer
or Windows Explorer, on the View menu, click Folder Options.
Click the File Types tab.
In the list of file types, click the one you want to change.
Click Edit.
In Actions, click Open.
Click Edit.
In Application used to perform action, enter the program you want to use
to open files that have this extension, and then click OK.
Note; The settings for selected file types are shown in File type details.
Q. I use Netscape Navigator 4.75 in Windows 95 but by default some of my files, such as any images/graphics, are set up to open with Internet Explorer. How can I change this?
A. Find a file with the extension (graphic)
that you want to open with Netscape. HOld down the shift key and
RIGHT click. There will be a menu pop up that has an entry "Open
with". Select this and your association window will open. Scroll
down until you find netscape (or if not there use the more to browse to
the location of netscape) and make sure the box in the lower left is checked.
Next time you click on that type of graphic file, Netscape will open it.
You will have to do this with all the types of graphic files that you want
to use.
Download Zone Alarm from http://www.zonelabs.com/zonealarm.htm
Here's how to configure Zone alarm.
It's icon should be on your task bar, but if not go Start/Programs and open Zone Alarm.
You now see ALERTS LOCK SECURITY PROGRAMS CONFIGURE so I will go through those in turn.
Click on ALERTS - if you want to keep track
of alerts you can tick the 'log alerts' box, but this isn't really necessary.
If you want to be notified every time there
is an attempt to access your computer, you can tick the alert popup box
- though it can get annoying when
there are lots of alerts.
Click on LOCK - Click by 'Disable' so that circle is dotted.
Click on SECURITY - slide both sliders to High, and tick the 'Enable Mailsafe' box.
Click on CONFIGURE - tick 'Load ZoneAlarm at startup' and 'on top during internet activity' boxes. Also tick the 'check automatic updates' box.
The PROGRAMS is where you can allow or disallow
programs to access the internet, but you will only need this if you want
to change a programs clearance level at
a later stage.
Allow me to give you a brief rundown on how ZoneAlarm works.
Because you have now set ZoneAlarm to load at startup, it will always be running. When you are on the Internet and a hacker, website or whatever attempts to access your computer it will be blocked. if the popup alert is activated you will see the address where the attempt came from.
Some programmes on your computer need to access
the Internet (e.g. Internet Explorer). When you first use IE there
will be a box which asks if you want IE
to access the net, so you allow permission
by doing two things - tick the 'don't ask again' box and also the Allow.
You have now granted IE access to the net
permanently, and you won't be asked next time you use it. If you
decide to change your mind and disallow access,
then you use the PROGRAMS as mentioned above,
and scroll down to IE and change the setting.
This is the process for all programmes that
might need to, or want to, access the Internet - first time of use you
get asked, and the choices you have are NO
NEVER, NO THIS TIME, YES ALWAYS, and YES THIS
TIME - these choices by use of Allow, Disallow, Don't Ask Again.
After about a week, you will probably have
had all relevant programmes asking and being given permanent permission
by you - and if popup alert is turned off
you will never notice Zonealarm.
Occasionally a programme will ask for permission
to access the Internet, and you will be unsure why. This is a judgement
call then, but I usually disallow unless I can reason why access might
be needed.
[common]
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
device=c:\windows\Emm386.exe noems
dos=high,umb
If you don't have them in the first part of
the config.sys, you will not be able to load the drivers, etc that win9x
requires. Windows is still based on a DOS operating system and these
entries are crucial to proper use of the memory. Once you have entered
these lines into your config.sys, you can close the sysedit window.
It will ask if you want to save. Answer yes. Now go through
a stanard reboot and check for operation of the scandisk, etc. If
you still cannot run them or install as you want, you may have to re-install
windows. You can do this right over the current version (Be sure
that you set the folder for the re-installation to C:\windows as it may
want to install to C:\windows.001 or similar). By doing this, you
will retain all of your current settings and links but it will repair any
missing or corrupt files that is causing the failure of your printer, etc.
-- Here is a list of hoax sites:
http://datafellows.com/
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
http://www.urbanlegends.com/
Q. HELP! My modem makes a squealing noise.
A. Go to Control Panel, open System properties,
Device Manager and click on the "+" beside the Modem icon.
Click on the modem shown and the select Properties,
now select Connection, then the Advanced Button. In the line
for Extra settings, enter the command, ATM0 (thats ATM and a Zero).
This is the standard command to silence the modem speaker. As such,
you will have no response for busy or operator intervention, but the speaker
will be turned off.
Q. My mouse pointer doesn't move smoothly.
A. Time to clean the ball and rollers. Unscrew
the plate that holds the ball in place, remove the ball and examine the
rollers inside the mouse. Many times the lint can be carefully
removed with a small screwdriver, pin etc. but sometimes the whole base
of the mouse needs to be removed and the rollers cleaned with alcohol wipe
or similar.
Q. My mouse isn't working. When I start the
computer I get this message, " This device is not working properly because
windows cannot load
the file (vmouse.vxd)
that loads the drivers for this device (Code 8)."
A. Heres one suggestion... apparently the
mouse driver is corrupt. If you will go to the Device manager, open
it to the mouse and remove the
mouse. Now use Alt F4 to close everything
including windows. Boot back up, let windows find your mouse and reinstall
the driver. This should
clear up the problem.
Keith
I was able to backup everything that
I could find that was important on the computer while in safe mode, however
I cannot access the zip drive in
safe mode, and that is where the majority
of the files I need are.
Is there a way to restore the registry or do a system restore back to yesterday? I am running Windows 95 at work.
Is there a way to access CD Rom, zip
drive, printer and modem in safe mode?
A. 1. Boot to Dos (hold the ESC key while
booting and select 5 from the menu), the use the scanreg command.
This will check your registry and
allow you to replace with an earlier version
that may not be corrupt, or use Scanreg /fix to try to repair the registry.
2. If you received a recovery disk and did
not get a full windows cd, there will be a set of files on your machine
including the setup.exe that will
allow you to reinstall windows right over
your existing version which will possibly repair corrupt or replace missing
files. This will be in
C:\Windows\Options\Cabs . Using the
command from that folder (you have to change directories to get to the
setup.exe by using cd
\Windows\Options\Cabs and press enter ), setup
and press enter, you can start the installation process of Windows from
the C: that you can get to
from the startup floppy.
Second would be a corrupt registry. Windows
backsup the registry every day and sometimes twice in a day if you have
installed and then reboot.
You can replace the current registry with
an older one by booting up and holding down the ESC key (if its win98).
When the menu comes up, pick
option 5, Prompt only. Now enter the
command scanreg and press return.
The program will check the registry for errors.
In your case, you may want to ignore the ok message that comes back and
now you have the
option of viewing the registry backups.
Pick the oldest one in the list and ask it to restore that one. This
may fix the problem. If not, get
back to me and we'll go from there.
When (if) you get back running, scandisk and defrag.
Q. How do I get into Safe Mode?
A. In ME, you go to start
and when the screen first turns dark, press F8 continuously until the computer
sort of pings and then arrow down to "safe".
In most computers, holding down Ctrl key as you reboot will bring up the
options menu from which you can choose 'Safe Mode' but if Ctrl doesn't
work on your computer try F5 or F8 key.
Some computers just WILL NOT scan disk or defrag
unless they are in Safe Mode.
Q. When I run defrag, I get a message that
this can't be completed as the hard drive contains errors.
A. In order to take care of the errors, 1)
be sure that any screen savers are turned off. 2) Press Ctl, Alt,
Del to bring up the window where you can turn off any programs running.
The only thing that should show in that window will be Systray and Explorer.
All others, hightlight and End Task.
Now go to Start, Run and enter Scandisk in
the open line, then press enter.
Before starting the Scandisk, click on the
thorough and auto repair (or fix). Start it and step back.
Don't move the mouse or any other disturbance as anytime windows writes
to the disk, scandisk will start over. If you cannot get through
a full scandisk this way, reboot windows and hold down the Control key.
Select option 3 (Safe mode) and bring up windows in
that mode. Now do the same for scandisk as above, except, there shouldn't
be anything addition running in the CTL,ALT,Del window. If there
is (other than the required two), end those and then go to start and do
as above.
Also see http://www.fsscci.com/newsletter/vol1_2.html
for a good article on scandisk and defrag.
Q. When I scan a picture and send it e-mail
it looks fine, but if I do the same with text it arrives a gibberish -
random shapes & letters. Why?
A. It makes no difference if you are scanning
a photo or text page, both are IMAGES and not text. If you change
the extension of the scanned text to something that a word processor or
text editor will recognize, you will see nothing but gibberish in the editor.
Keep the extension as a graphic and send it just as you would a photo and
they will be able to bring it up in the same program that they view the
photo. The format that is most compact and most readable in browsers
is a .jpg form.
Scanning tips. http://www.infomedia.net/scan/
http://www.hsdesign.com/scanning/
http://www.scantips.com/
http://www.pgacon.com/tips_on_scanning.htm
The Shell32.dll error is quite common when
you reinstall over the old installation . First, try the find under
Start to see if it might be stored in the backup section of your windows
tree. If not there, you may have to run sfc and extract it from the
CAB's on your Windows disk. Got to Start, Run and type in SFC.
Now click on the lower section for extracting a given file. Enter
the Shel32.dll in the first line and Windows\System in the second.
Start the program and it should go to your disk and extract the Shell32.
If you cannot run in full windows, you may have to run in SAFE mode to
get to the SFC program. As last resort, email me privately and I'll
locate which CAB contains the program. There is an extract command
to get it directly from the CAB.
Q. Can someone help me with this computer error:
"There are no spare stack pages. It
may be necessary to increase the setting of 'MinSPs' in SYSTEM.INI to prevent
possible stack faults. There are currently 3 SPs allocated."
A. Go to Start, Run, and enter SYSEDIT.
This will bring up a number of windows, one of which is the System.ini.
You can use the find to see if
there is a MINSP entry. When you find
it, it will look something like this :
minSPs=3
Change the 3 to an 8 and close. It will
ask if you want to save. Answer yes, then go through a normal shutdown
and boot and you shouldn't
run into that problem again.
Keith
Another Stack Pages answer ;
You need to go to Start, Run and enter SYSEDIT.
You will get a number of windows, one of which is entitled System.ini.
It should start with
[386Enh]. It this section where you
want to insert the line
minSPs=12
You need to make space for this line by going
to one of the lines below the header ([386Enh]) and go to the end of that
line. Press enter to
make an open line. Now paste or type the line
above. When you click on the X to exit, it will ask if you want to
save. Answer yes and then
close down and reboot. This should fix
your error.
Keith Thompson
DISABLING STARTUP PROGRAMS. On a number
of occasions we've discussed the reasons why it's good to minimize the
number of programs that start up when you boot your computer. An
excellent refresher tutorial on this subject is at http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm
It is very simple baby steps. Also,
at the bottom of the page there is an alphabetical list of just about every
program in the World!
Your computer *can* do all sorts of things
at night - but only if you (or a programme) tell it to.
Some programmes are now defaulted to contact
the net periodically, but these default settings are also under human control
and you can set up for a day or nighttime operation.
By using the Scheduled Tasks function on Windows,
you can set your computer to perform whatever housekeeping you wish.
Some people have their computers set to scandisk,defrag,update
AVsigs, etc. at a set time each week, day, or period of days.
If you're interested, go to Scheduled Tasks
(Start*Progs*Accessories*System Tools) and have a look.
Q. How do I remove the Task Scheduler
from tray on the bottom right? I clicked on the folder to learn
more about it and now it is stuck in my tray.
A. Go to start, run, type in msconfig, click
on startup tab, there are two things to uncheck, Task Monitor and Scheduling
Agent. It will ask if you want to restart computer click ok.
Q. How do I turn a theme off?
A. 1) Click Start-Settings-Control
Panel
2) Double-click
Desktop Themes
3) In
the theme drop-down list, choose another theme (if you don't want any themes,
choose "Windows Default")
4) Click
OK
VXD
files - (vxd = virtual device driver)
To add to your Send-To menu:
[the Send to menu is what you get when you right-click on a file or folder and you have the option to Send To......with a list of files and folders > from which to choose...]
For an example, let's make a Send To option for a Photo folder which is in My Documents.
Is the one there already?
If not, go into My Documents and right-click and select New Folder.
Name it My Photos.
Now, right-click on My Photos folder and choose the option Send to Desktop [create shortcut]
When the shortcut to My Photos is on the Desktop, right-click on it and choose the option CUT.
Now, go to My Computer,
click on your C Drive icon, then click
on Windows then click on Show Files
[proceed with caution but not
fear.
then click on the Send To folder.
Anywhere blank in the Send To folder, right-click and choose PASTE.
Close down any open folders or files.
Now, any time you have a photo file or
folder you want stored in the My Photos folder in My Documents, all you
need to do is right-click on the
file or folder and choose the
Send To ......My Photos folder.
Run and have a look, to see if it worked!
This method can be used for all kinds
of options. I have a Burn folder for things I want to burn, on the CD RW.
Another folder for My Music,
one for Gedcoms,
one for Miscellaneous. Makes saving and sorting very easy.
Juliette