|
BOOT CAMP 249 (27/10/02)
TOP TEN TAUMAS, part 1
It’s time once again for our annual round up of Connected
readers top ten computer woes. The list is compiled from the thousands of emails
and letters we receive each year. Naturally the problems change, reflecting
advances in hardware and software design but as in previous years the majority
of them are concerned with word processing, email and web browsing. So here,
without further ado is this year’s selection.
1. CHANGING PCs & TRANSFERRING FILES
Sooner or later you are going to buy a new PC or replace an
ageing machine and once you’ve loaded all of your favourite programs you will
want to copy across your data files, documents, pictures, email messages and
address and Internet favourites. You can transfer smaller files like an address
book or Favourites folder using floppy discs but this method is impractical, not
to say very time consuming for anything files than 10Mb or so. If your old PC
has a CD-Writer or Zip drive you can easily copy file folders to a removable
disc but even this can be hard work.
The fastest way to move files is to temporarily ‘slave’ the
hard disc from your old PC to the hard disc on the new machine. Obviously this
involves tinkering with both PCs innards so it’s not something novices should
attempt. However, it is quite straightforward and once you’ve removed the old
drive simply change its ‘jumpers’ to the slave setting then connect it to the
new PC’s spare data and power leads. When it boots up it should automatically
recognise the second drive and you can copy and paste folders and files directly
to the new drive.
The alternative is to ‘network’ the two PCs together. There
are a variety of methods, Windows has a built in utility called Direct Cable
Connection of DCC and all you need is the right cable and some patience. We
dealt with this in some detail in Boot Camps 67 and 68. There are also a number of file transfer
systems on the market, including the venerable Laplink (http://www.laplink.com/) and several new
low-cost systems like LinQ (www.bafo.com),
which uses specially tailored USB cables. For advice on how to transfer email
messages and ISP accounts have a look at Boot Camps 196 and 198.
2. MS WORD ERROR MESSAGES
Microsoft Word is generally quite reliable but every so often
it refuses to start or files open with a variety of bewildering error messages.
In a lot of cases it’s due to a corrupt document template file called
‘Normal.Dot’. This file is constantly rewritten and the occasional glitch creeps
in. The trick is to rename it, which has the effect of resetting Word to its
default condition. All you have to do is close Word, track down normal.dot using
Search/Find on the Start menu right click on it and change it to 'normal.old'
then launch Word. You will loose all of your preferences, macros etc. so it’s a
good idea to make a copy of normal.dot when Word is working normally and keep it
in a separate folder so you can easily restore it if Word subsequently
misbehaves.
3. DREFRAG/SCANDISK HANGS
A perennial favourite, you run the Scandisk or defrag
utilities to tidy up your hard disc drive and after the progress bar has reached
a few percent it restarts, and keeps restarting until it eventually gives up.
Nine times out of ten it’s caused by a program or some operation running in the
background, such as a screensaver, virus checker, firewall, pop-up stopper and
so on. Before you start make sure they’re all disabled, disconnect from the
Internet or your network and right click on any icons in the System Tray (next
to the clock on the Start menu) and select Exit or Close then press Ctrl +Alt +
Delete to open the Close Program dialogue box and ‘End Task’ everything on the
list except Explorer and Sys Tray and try again. If that doesn’t work in Windows
95/98/ME & SE try deleting the Applog folder in C:\Windows. As a last resort
try running Defrag in Safe Mode, by pressing F8 at Startup.
4. POP UP ADVERTS
From being a minor irritation the rapid proliferation of ‘pop
up’ advertising on Internet web pages has escalated into a major nuisance and is
in real danger of alienating a lot of users. It’s bad enough having to cancel
the accursed things without the added horror of ads that either won’t go away,
or spawn yet more browser windows. Fortunately there are several excellent
shareware and freeware utilities that prevent them from opening in the first
place. Two worth that are definitely trying are PopUp Stopper (http://www.panicware.com/) and my own
personal favourite, FreeSurfer. (http://www.kolumbus.fi/eero.muhonen/FS/mail/).
5. HOME PAGE HIJACKING
A great many readers have been angered by web sites that
change your Internet Explorer home page, usually to an advert, sometimes to a
pornographic web site. You don’t have to do anything, simply visiting a web site
or clicking a fake dialogue box or pop-up ad (see above), is all it takes.
Hopefully you can change it back by re-visiting your home page, go to Internet
Options on the Tools menu and in the Home Page box click the Use Current button.
If that doesn’t work it’s possible the hijacker has created a registry entry,
which must be removed with a utility like AdAware (http://www.lsfileserv.com/) or Spybot (http://security.kolla.de/). There are a
number of ways to stop it happening again, including utilities like
StartPageGuard http://www.pjwalczak.com/spguard/index.php,
which won’t allow it to be changed without your permission, or, as a last
resort, change to another browser that isn’t vulnerable to attack.
Next week – Top Ten Traumas, part 2
JARGON FILTER
DEFRAG
Over time the files on a PC's hard disc drive become
disorganized - 'defragging' the drive restores order and speeds up reading and
writing data. To defrag your PC click on Start then Programs > Accessories
>System Tools
JUMPERS
Rows of contacts on peripheral devices, plug in cards and
motherboards used to configure the device using removable ‘shorting links’
SCANDISK
Windows utility that checks the integrity of data stored on a
hard disc drive, identifies problems, and where possible, puts them right.
(Click Start > Programs > Accessories >System Tools)
TOP TIP
Here’s a quick tip to improve Outlook Express functionality.
If you find that you are constantly having to re-write the same email, or maybe
repeat the same paragraph or block of text you can save yourself a lot of time
and trouble by writing it out just once and saving it in the body of a blank
email message in the Drafts folder. The next time you need it just go to Drafts,
open the message, highlight the block of text press Ctrl + C to copy it to the
clipboard, open the new message window and press Ctrl + V to paste it.
|