FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  516 (06/06/06)

Q. Is it possible to remove or uninstall the floppy disc drive from my 4-year-old Dell desktop? The reason I want to do this is that whenever I boot up the machine the floppy drive starts turning over and takes several seconds before it stops and the boot process continues. The same happens when I switch off.  It doesn’t seem to impact the performance. It is just rather annoying.

Tony Alves, via email

A. There is no need to physically remove the floppy drive, they don’t get a lot of use these days but you never know when you might need it. The reason the floppy drive churns at switch on is because it has been set to check it first for boot information. It’s a fail-safe measure; a throwback to earlier versions of Windows and the days of less reliable hard drives.

To switch this feature off you need to change settings in the PC’s Setup or BIOS program (Basic Input Output system), which tests and configures your computer before Windows is loaded. On most Dell machines (check your manual) you need to press the F2 or Delete key immediately after switch on and the BIOS menu will appear. You need to disable ‘Floppy Seek at Boot up’, though sometimes it’s listed as ‘Fast Boot’, which should be enabled, as this disabled the floppy drive ‘seek’ function. The second one is the ‘Boot Order Sequence’ and this should be changed  ‘C: drive’ first (or the drive containing Windows), then the CD/DVD drive with the floppy drive either disabled or set as the third drive in the sequence. Be careful not to touch anything else and remember to ‘Save Changes’ before you exit the BIOS program.

Q. I have been sent some photos as JPEG attachments and my computer refuses to open them. I get a message saying: ‘Unknown file type….  Go to File Options and associate a program with it’.  I go to Folder Options as instructed but the rest is gobbledegook. Help!

David Brown, via email

A. ‘File Association’ is the way Windows recognises file types and controls which programs are used to open them. It’s unusual for a File Association to change and by default Windows should open JPEGs using Internet Explorer, otherwise they will be opened by any image editing software you have on your PC. The easiest way to re-associate JPEGs with an image editing or viewer program on your PC is to re-install it. This action should be carried out automatically, or you will see a dialogue box asking you to tick boxes for the file types the program recognises. In case you haven’t got one have a look at freeware programs like Irfanview, The Gimp and Picasa in our Software Archive. Otherwise there’s a small utility called Win-XP Safe that will restore the JPEG association to the Windows default.

Q. I regularly update my XP PC from the Microsoft update website. However, recently, when I click the ‘Express’ button for updates, the whole system freezes and I have to switch off at the plug. I have tried disabling AVG but same problem.  Any ideas?

Brenda Bingham, via email

A. Unfortunately quite a lot of things can upset Windows Updates but you have eliminated a couple of common problems, namely a faulty Internet Connection and web monitoring programs and Firewalls. Security and Active X settings in Internet Explorer can also cause difficulties and there’s a simple procedure you should try on the Windows Live website. If that doesn’t work then there are some more suggestions on the site or go directly to the Microsoft Update Troubleshooter.

Q. Some years ago you told us how to switch off the list of recently visited web pages, which appears when the Google address bar is clicked. Now I have a new computer and I have forgotten the procedure. Could you remind me please?

Richard Jones, via email

A. Previously visited web pages are stored by your browser. If you are using Internet Explorer go to Tools > Internet Options, select the General tab and click the ‘Clear History button. To stop it storing web addresses in future set the ‘Days to keep pages…’ to zero and click OK to exit.

In Mozilla Firefox go to Tools > Options > Privacy > History, click the Clear button and set ‘ Remember visited pages…’ to zero. Your browser also stores Google searches, to clear those in IE go to Tools > Internet Options, select the Content tab then the Auto Complete button and click Clear Forms. To stop it storing information uncheck ‘Forms’. In Firefox it’s Tools > Options > Privacy > Saved Form information, click Clear and uncheck ‘Save Information’.

If you have installed the Google Toolbar, you can clear saved Search information by clicking the Google logo and select Clear Search History. To disable click the Options button on the toolbar.

Q. I have scanned my C: drive with FileScavenger and Davory, and both utilities find JPEGs and give the name and drive path as ‘Unknown file or folder’. In both cases they will restore these image files, which come from previously visited web sites.

Since these thumbnail images have neither a folder or name identification I assume that maybe they are contained within either a database or maybe .dat file somewhere although so far have been unable to locate them for removal. Have you any idea why these random web page images are being stored permanently and more to the point how to remove them?

John Wilkes

A. Davory and FileScavenger are data recovery programs and the files they have found are ones that you (or programs on your PC) have recently deleted. As I have warned on many occasions when you delete something on a PC it doesn’t go away. References are removed from the Windows filing system, and the hard space they occupy is marked as ‘free’ but the data remains on the disc until it is eventually overwritten. Your mystery images eventually disappear but the only secure way to permanently delete files is to use a ‘shredder’ program, which replaces the deleted files with random data. This is one of the facilities in a Windows Explorer add-on called RJH Extensions, which you will find in our Software Archive.

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© R. Maybury 2006, 3005