FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  430 (31/08/04)

Q

I read with interest the recent Boot Camp article on the new Service Pack (SP2) for Windows XP. I have a dial-up connection to the Internet so I imagine that it would be impossible to download such a large file. Do you have any more information on the CD-ROM version, which you suggested would be available soon?

Clive Summers, via email

A

The latest news from MS is that the CD version of SP2 will be available in September and it is currently preparing around one million discs for free distribution in the UK. They will be available from Microsoft, from the Windows Update website -- a link should appear on the page soon -- and they will also be given away with a number of leading computer magazines. Nevertheless, I repeat my earlier warnings that you should wait at least week or two until after SP2 is released, for the all of the bugs to be ironed out. Don’t worry, there’s no hurry and your PC’s security won’t be compromised, provided you continue to take all of the usual precautions.

Q

When I try to update my PC from the Microsoft web site I get the following message ‘Windows Update has encountered an error and cannot display the requested page…’. I have attempted to use MS on line help, but because my copy of XP Home is OEM, they state that I should contact my PC supplier, which I have done, but I am still awaiting a reply. Have you heard of this problem?

Alex Donalds, via email

A

Yes and it’s a fairly common glitch that can happen if you have reinstalled XP at some point or used System Restore to return your PC to a point before Service Pack 1 (SP1) was installed. There are two solutions, obtain SP1 on CD and reinstall it (it’s available free from: www.microsoft.com/uk/windowsxp/

servicepacks/sp1.mspx).

Alternatively, if you are feeling brave, know your way around the Windows Registry and how to make a backup try this workaround. Type ‘Regedit’ (without the quotes) in Run on the Start menu, navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\

CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows.

In the right hand pane double-click ‘CSDVersion’, in the Value data box type 0 (zero), click OK, exit the Registry Editor, reboot the PC and try Windows Update again.

Q

I am 53 years old, ex-army Royal Signals and therefore healthily suspicious of all things computerised. I am still coming to terms with my (first) personal computer bought 2 years ago for the specific purposes of letter writing and number crunching. I am using a two months free trial from AOL specifically to download updates and free security software as prescribed by Dr. Bootcamp. Somewhere along that line, however, I've switched on "Automatic Updates", now I can’t switch it off, as suggested by Boot Camp 339. I'm running on XP Home and going to Control Panel doesn't produce a ‘System’ icon, or any other way I can find to switch the damn thing off. Not that it is a real problem. I shall just revert to my own ultimate firewall - no phone connection to the machine! Could you get back to this ageing technophobe with a possible solution before my free two months runs out?

A. J.  S, via email

A

I suspect that you are viewing Control Panel in the simplified ‘Category View’ which only displays a limited set of configuration options -- basically to stop you tinkering… To reveal the System icon you need to click ‘Switch to Classic View’ in the right hand pane. Alternatively you can display the System Properties dialogue box by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Properties.

Q

As a way of relieving space on my hard drive I wish I could periodically transfer my emails from the drive onto a CD using my CD Writer. I am using Outlook Express on Windows XP platform. How do I go about it?

Joseph Chigwa, via email

A

The easiest way to do that would be to first move your OE message store into the root of your C:\ drive by going to Tools > Options, select the Maintenance tab, click Store Folder button, then the Change button, enter a new location by creating a new blank folder (i.e. C:\oestore), then click OK and OE will move all of your messages to the new folder. Now you can easily copy the whole folder from your hard disc to a CD-ROM, after that you can go back into Outlook Express and delete as many messages as necessary to free up some room. However, if you really are that hard up for disc space it would be better to add a second drive as a slave, or start over with a new and much bigger main drive. These days large capacity hard disc are so cheap it’s just not worth the bother of trying to save space. Details of how to do just that appeared in Boot Camp 315 (Spring Clan and Upgrade, part 4).

Q

I've bought all of the components suggested in the Boot Camp 'Build your own PC' articles and I am having the following problem: The PC starts to boot, the CPU fan runs, the green LED on the motherboard comes on, but the monitor stays blank. I've checked that the CPU is correctly installed; the motherboard is not too tightly screwed in etc. Any suggestions about what to do next?

Mahomed Hajat

A

The main suspects are the motherboard and CPU since we know the power supply is okay and the PC would still generate ‘bleep’ error messages if either or both the hard drive or memory modules were faulty or disconnected. My money is on the motherboard as it is comparatively easy to damage through mishandling but there’s no easy way of testing it without substituting it for another one. My advice would be to it send it back and ask for a replacement or refund on the grounds that it is faulty. If the problem persists then it's almost certainly the CPU.