FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  555 (06/03/07)

Q. I am trying to add an internal sound function to my colleague’s desktop PC. It is only a year old and seems to have all the correct codecs installed and phono ports for external speakers, however it does not have an internal speaker. I have a spare speaker, removed from an old PC and I fitted it to the Internal Speaker port inside the PC, but No sound. Do you know what I am doing wrong? I thought that the computer would have automatically recognised a simple piece of hardware like a speaker.

Jo Cogbill, by email

A. The internal speaker is a throwback to the earliest days of the IBM PC specification, when it was the computer’s only audio device. Then and now is only used to emit a bleep during the Power On Self Test (POST) check, which occurs immediately after you switch a PC on. The speaker functions independently of the operating system; it is driven directly from the motherboard so it has nothing to do with Windows or codecs. On some recent motherboards the facility is disabled or not present, even though the speaker connecting pins are still there. If the facility has only been disabled there may be a switch in the BIOS program, which configures the PC immediately after the POST check, or there may be a ‘jumper’ on the motherboard. If so all you need to do is connect a ‘link’ between a pair of pins. These options, if available, should be explained in the PC’s motherboard manual. An internal speaker driver is available for Windows 98 computers and this allow system sounds to be heard, but the volume is very low and it is of little use. If you want to add sound to your colleague’s computer why not just do what everyone else does and plug in a pair of PC speakers?

Q.I am a computer-illiterate pensioner who would like to transfer photographs from an old computer to a new laptop. Sometime ago I read about a device that would put the photographs onto a memory stick, which I could then plug into the laptop. However, my enquiries have drawn a blank.

Isobel Dickson, by email

A. There are many ways to move picture files, or any type of file for that matter, from one PC to another. Which would be the best for you depends on the specification and operating systems of the computers concerned but the most popular options are to copy files to a CD or DVD, use a USB drive (and this can be anything from a simple Pen Drive, to the memory cards used in digital cameras, MP3 players and so on). PCs can also be connected together by a cable or a network, or at a pinch, you can email small files (no more than a megabyte, say,) to yourself.

It sounds as though a USB Pen Drive would be your best bet and these are widely available from computer suppliers and electronic gadget shops. Prices start at around £5, but I would go for one with a 1-gigabyte capacity and these cost from around £15. On XP computers you simply plug the drive into a spare USB socket (on the front or back of the computer) the PC recognises it as a 'Removable Drive' and you simply copy and paste or drag and drop the files you want to move onto its icon in My Computer or Windows Explorer. Whip it out and plug it into a USB socket the second computer and you can then copy and paste or drag and drop the files from the Pen Drive into a folder on the second PC's hard disc drive

Q. Later this year we are going to have a late ‘gap year’. (I am 64). It is our intention to do the Grande Tour and see Europe using a yet to be purchased motor home. I would like to take my computer to record with pictures and text our big adventure. I also intend to take my flat screen TV, a small printer, and speakers as my computer is a Media Centre type. My question is please: What is the best or least costly way of staying connected so that I can remain in touch with friends and family by E-mail, and to use the internet. I can’t afford a two grand satellite system either.

Terry M Hunt, via email

A. For very light use you could just about get away with using a mobile phone. This works like a dial-up modem and connects to your PC via a data cable or BlueTooth link. However this could work out quite expensive if you have to call your UK ISP. You could switch to an ISP that has European access numbers and buy pay-as-you-go SIM cards in the countries you are visiting to reduce the costs. The cheaper alternative is Wi-Fi and you should be able to find a selection of free ‘hot-spots’ almost everywhere you go. The trick is to prepare a list before you go, by visiting free-hotspot.com.

Q. Can you tell me why my Windows XP installation fails to boot following complete shutdown, or interruption to the power supply? If I restart Windows from the shutdown menu, and choose Standby mode or Restart, it boots up normally. But if I completely turn the PC off and restart later, then Windows "hangs" at the splash screen.

It will also hang after an interruption to the power supply, and even connecting to an Uninterruptible power supply doesn't solve the problem if the power outage is longer than 15 minutes and the battery runs down - and living in rural Spain where the power supply is poor at best, this happens more frequently than I would like.

The odd thing is, that even installing another operating system (Linux Ubuntu) and using a dual boot system doesn't solve the problem. If, when the computer reboots after any of the scenarios outlined above, and I choose to boot into Windows XP, it will still hang at the splash screen. But if I elect to load Linux Ubuntu, it loads perfectly normally!

On numerous occasions I have formatted the hard drive and installed different versions of Windows and the problem persists. It will not boot from a last known good configuration or a repair install, only a clean install will do the trick.

Bob Taylor

A. I am not surprised that Ubuntu boots okay and this just confirms that something is being loaded that disagrees with Windows. A rogue driver would be at the top of my list of suspects and since it has happened after successive re-installations it’s probably a hardware device, like your video or audio adaptor. You should be able to confirm this is the problem by booting into Safe Mode (press F8 at Startup) as this only loads basic drivers. Once in Safe Mode you can start to narrow the field by disabling items on the Startup menu (type ‘msconfig’ in Run on the Start menu), and devices (sound card, USB ports etc. from Device Manager).

If that still doesn’t help then modify the Boot.ini file, which controls how Windows loads. The changes disable the splash screen and create a log file that will tell you at what point it is hanging.

Open Boot.ini in Windows Notepad and at the very end add the following: ‘/noguiboot /sos /bootlog’ (without the quotes and note that there are spaces before each forward slash). If Windows fails repeatedly a the same point you can find out the name of the errant driver or file by checking the ‘Bootlog’ in C: \Windows\ntbtlog.txt.

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© R. Maybury 2007 1902