FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  511 (02/05/06)

Q. I have some non-copyright training DVDs that I would like to have backup copies of. I have a CD-Writer but no DVD burner. Is there software (preferably freeware) that would backup the DVD on a CD?
Sue Sanchez, via email

A. I feel duty bound to point out that copying or ‘ripping’ copyright material on DVD is illegal; that said there are plenty of DVD to VCD (Video CD) converter programs that will do the job, which involves opening and extracting the MPEG2 files on the DVD and recoding them as MPEG1 data, which can be read by most DVD players. One of the simplest freeware options is EazyVCD, which, as the name implies, is really easy to use and does the job with just a couple of clicks. The only provisos are that you must be able to play DVDs on your PC, have at least 10Gb of free hard disc space and use Windows XP (it should also run on fast Windows 98 PCs but it’s not a supported feature). You will also need a CD burning application like Easy CD Creator, Nero etc and a fair amount of patience as at the highest quality setting (XVCD) copying a 120-minute to CD can take up to 6 hours.

Q. My Windows XP Home WordPad print preview is corrupted! Instead of the usual toolbar indicators and menu items I get strange symbols. I can't find any solution on the MS database and nobody seems to know where or what is corrupted. 

I believe WordPad is a very early MS program based on Word but I don't have access to the program on any other computer to copy the .exe from. In all other ways WordPad is working and now I know what the preview symbols mean so it is not too serious a problem, just annoying.  Do you have any suggestions for restoring the program? 

Ian Gordon, Batemans Bay, Australia

A. WordPad has almost certainly become corrupted and the only solution is to delete it and install a fresh copy. This is easier said than done as Windows XP hides the WordPad uninstaller, but there is a workaround. Open Windows Explorer and go to C:\Windows\inf, double-click the file ‘sysoc.inf’ and this will open Notepad. Locate the line

‘MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7’. Delete the word ‘HIDE’ and Save the file. You will now find that you can uninstall WordPad from Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs, click Add/Remove Windows Components then double-click Accessories. WordPad should now be displayed at the bottom of the list; uncheck the box and click OK to uninstall the old copy then go back and re-check the box to reinstall it from your Windows CD or installation files on your hard drive. 

Q. I recently had an error message and was asked if I wanted to report it or not. I did report it, but now friends said I made a mistake to do so because I gave information on my software programs to Microsoft.  Are they right, what type of information did I send to them and how will it be used?

Robert Davis, via email

A. Windows Error Reporting (WER) was developed with the best of intentions, namely to help Microsoft and software engineers sort out bugs in XP and third-party programs. However, if you look carefully at the Privacy Statement you will see that Microsoft are clear that the error report doesn’t deliberately include any personal information but that some may be collected inadvertently from the memory ‘stack’, which can contain parts of a document, data recently submitted to a website (credit card details or a password), personal data, recent actions and so on. In other words you could be revealing all sorts of things about you and your PC so if you are at all concerned about your privacy switch it off. The procedure is outlined in this Boot Camp Top Tip, which you will find in the Archive.

Q. I am having difficulty in getting my Windows 98 computer to recognise a 256Mb flash drive. I have downloaded the driver from manufacturers web site and installed it on my computer. However computer still does not recognise the USB device as it cannot find the driver. I have tried via Device Manager to navigate to driver file and install but have not been successful with this action. Any information or advice would be appreciated.

Gerald Alexander

A. It sounds as though you’ve been doing all of the right things but some USB devices can be tricky to install in Windows 98. First check the obvious, that your USB ports are working properly with other devices. Some USB drives do not work on unpowered hubs, so if you are using one try plugging the drive into the USB socket on the motherboard. Check that the driver file you have downloaded is the right one. If it is in the form of  ‘zip’ file it will have to be decompressed and extracted to a folder before it can be used by Windows. Check the contents of the driver file and that it contains a file with the extension ‘.inf’; if not then you’ve probably downloaded the wrong file. Finally, check that the flash drive is actually working on a Windows XP computer, which should recognise it immediately, without the need for any extra drivers. 

Q. I am using AVG Free anti virus and for a number of days I have had a message on start-up telling me ‘Internal virus database is out of date’. When I try and update it via the AVG Control Centre a message appears ‘Update was unsuccessful’.  I have tried the AVG helpline but cannot find the solution, can you help?

Brian Parratt, via email

A. Rather than waste time trying to fix it uninstall the program and re-install the latest version, after which it will download the current virus database.

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© R. Maybury 2006, 2504