FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  577 (07/08/07)

Q. I recently purchased an MP3 player and one of the features that caught my attention was movie playback on its 2–inch LCD screen. This would be ideal for me as I do a lot of travelling and I was hoping to be able to use it to watch DVDs. The only trouble is I can’t work out how to transfer a DVD to the player in .avi format; the instructions are hopeless and all attempts to track down the manufacturer’s website for help or support have proved fruitless. Have you any ideas? 

Jemma Harwood, via email

A. There’s been a flood of these cute little devices coming into the UK for the past couple of years and there are thousands of them on ebay but be careful, some of them are not what they seem. The stated storage capacities are sometimes bogus and players that claim to have 4Gb or 8Gb flash memory can turn out to have ‘compressed 1 or 2Gb memories that corrupt the files stored on them as soon as they exceed the player’s true capacity. 

Their ability to play .avi and other popular video file formats is also questionable. On several of the models I’ve seen you have to run the .avi file through a converter program that’s supplied on the player’s utility disc. However, the biggest hurdle, that the instructions fail to mention, is how to convert a DVD into .avi file. Putting aside the legality and copyright issues for a moment the real problem is that most DVDs carry copy protection, which makes it extremely difficult to copy and convert discs on-the-fly.

It’s quite a business, especially if try to do it using freeware programs. The actual steps would be to first copy the DVD to your hard drive and strip out the copy protection using a program like DVDFab HD Decrypter (http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm). The DVD audio and video files then have to be converted to .avi format using another program, like aviNET (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/avi.NET). Finally the resulting file can be converted into the player’s native format using the supplied utility. All of this takes time as well, and the DVD copy and DVD to .avi conversion processes can each take several hours, possibly overnight on less than sprightly machine.

Q. I am unable to launch System Information in Windows XP. There are no error messages and the file msinfo32.exe is still present. Any help would be appreciated.

George Watson, via email

A. It was useful to know that the msinfo32 file was present and correct as this can be removed by some of the more dubious malware cleaners being touted on the web. That points to a simpler cause and since this utility’s job is to collect information about your PC the first place to look are the ‘Services’ that it uses to collect this data. The chances are one or all of them have been switched off, which can happen if you, or a piece of software has been doing a bit of serious spring cleaning. To switch the relevant Services back on go to Administrative Tools in Control Panel and double click the Services. Now scroll down the list and make sure that Event Log, Remote Procedure Call and Windows Management Instrumentation are all set to Automatic by right-clicking on each one in turn. If the Services isn’t running click the Start button and when you have finished reboot the PC.

Q. Every time I boot up my PC I get an error message that says ‘Memory access violation in module kernel 32’, followed by a code, that changes each time. I click to cancel the message and Windows boots normally. Does this mean there’s a problem with my computer’s memory cards and would replacing them fix the problem?

Malcolm Bewley, via email

A. This is definitely not a hardware fault. This type of error message was quite common a year or so ago but it crops up again every so often and it’s almost always caused by a Worm or malware infection. If you haven’t already done so run AdAware and SpyBot malware cleaners (both free), and for good measure try A-Squared Free, which is turning out to be very effective and managed to find a couple of dodgy files on my office PC that the other scanners had overlooked. You’ll find links to all of them in the Software section of PCTopTips. I would also try a more specific cleaner tool, designed to root out this type of threat, called McAfee Stinger

Q. My Linksys ADSL modem and Wi-Fi router has been acting strangely for the past two weeks. The wireless signal strength meter on my laptop is showing 50 percent, a drop from 100 percent and the connection is very unreliable. Just moving the laptop a few centimetres can make the signal disappear. My desktop PC, which connects to the router by LAN cable, also loses the Internet every few hours.

I haven’t altered anything that I’m aware of. The other thing I’ve noticed is that the router gets quite warm, though it has been running 24/7, for the past 6 months, so I don’t know if this is normal or not. 

Peter King, via email

A. Devices that are left on all of the time do get warm but unless it becomes hot to the touch, starts smelling or smoking, then I wouldn’t worry too much. Unless there has been a change in the location of the router (or laptop), or any metal structures or items of furniture (radiators, filing cabinets and so on) have been installed nearby then a hardware fault is the most likely explanation for the sudden drop in signal strength. Of course it could be the wireless adaptor on the laptop, but the fact that the Internet connection on the LAN connected PC is becoming unreliable points the finger at the router.

---end---

© R. Maybury 2007 1707