FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  599 (12/02/08)

Q. I used Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel to uninstall McAfee VirusScan but parts of it remain and resist uninstallation. I downloaded a freebie uninstaller but of course as usual the end result was ‘pay up now to uninstall fully’.

Ray Jackson, via email

A. Anti virus and security software has become increasing complex and nowadays most programs half a dozen or more background ‘Services’ that constantly monitor the Internet, incoming and outgoing emails and regularly call home to check for updates. Unless they are all switched off before the program is uninstalled these components can be left behind. To get rid of them I suggest you use McAfee’s MCPR utility (McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool).

By the way, I’m not surprised that uninstaller program didn’t work. Most of them are rubbish, a scam or just duplicate the functions of Windows Add or Remove Programs. The only way an uninstaller program can possibly work is if it is on your PC from day one, monitoring new installations, keeping a log of all the files loaded onto your PC and recording changes to the Registry and Windows configuration.

Q. I name my photograph and graphics files carefully so that I can identify and sort them. However, when I open any folder under My Pictures in Windows Explorer (XP), the files are shown as Thumbnails. I have tried to set the folders to show the files in a List view, but each time I open the folder it reverts to Thumbnails. Is there a way to ensure the files are listed by filename?

John Hart, via email

A. When you change a folder’s ‘View’ it should be remembered the next time you open it but it’s possible that this setting has been changed, or it just decided to stop working. Either way you should be able to switch it back on again by opening Windows Explorer, go to Tools > Folder Options and select the View tab. Scroll down the list of Advanced Settings to ‘Remember each folder’s View settings’ and make sure it is ticked.

If that doesn’t work here’s a couple of other things to try. Windows stores individual settings for up to 400 folders, so if you’ve been customising a lot of folder views you can start over by clicking the ‘Reset All Folders button on the View tab. I have also seen a number of Registry tweaks to fix this problem, I’m not convinced but there’s a Registry update file on the normally very reliable Kelly’s Korner website that increases the folder view size limit to 8000 (http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm, it’s number 2 on the list).

Q. I have a Canon camcorder that records onto 30 minute 1.4Gb DVDs. I am trying to amalgamate 3 of these small DVDs onto a larger 4.7GB DVD but cannot find a program, freeware preferably, that will allow me to do this. Can you suggest anything?

Brendan O'Connor, Solihull

A. Windows Movie Maker – included with XP and Vista -- will allow you to combine your recordings into a single movie, however this program is fairly basic and lacks any DVD burning facilities. You will need some extra software and there’s any number of commercial programs on the market but decent freeware utilities are thin on the ground. However, there is one that I featured recently in the Boot Camp series on creating a DVD slideshow disc (Boot Camps 504 – 508), called GUI for DVD Author, and used in conjunction with Nero Burning or the excellent freeware burner program ImgBurn you can create really professional-looking DVDs.

Q. Putting a 3.5 floppy disc into my A: drive I get the message ‘Disc not formatted’. The data on the disc is mostly documents and they were written using the same PC. I have tried the disc on other PCs but I get the same message. Have I lost this data for ever?

Mike Crouch, via email

A. Floppies were never very reliable at the best of times and they were always going to be a poor prospect for long-term storage. In common with all magnetic media the data degrades over time, and this will be hastened if discs are not stored properly. In fact they can become unreadable in a matter of days or weeks if they are kept anywhere near a magnetic field. It’s worth trying a data recovery program, PC Inspector is a good place to start as it is free. Otherwise there are plenty of commercial programs on the market. Most of them are available on a trial basis and they tell you if there’s any recoverable data, in which case you will have pay for the full version to retrieve the files.

Q. We have a Freeview digibox and use a cheap AV ‘Sender’ to supply a signal to a TV in the kitchen. To date this has worked well, until we installed a Wanadoo Livebox router to allow my wife’s PC to connect to the Internet. Since then the kitchen TV has suffered constant interference with lines scrolling down the screen and oft-times a continuous half-second click that appears to go with the scrolling. It is making life difficult for my good lady and I have been told that if I don’t get it fixed shortly, the washing-up will be left to me…

Ian Cawley, via email

A. Heaven forbid that you should do a bit of washing up, but I’ll try to help, on the assumption that you do your fair share of housework. The problem is due to the wireless router and the AV Sender sharing the same frequency band. If the sender has a channel switch try changing that. You can also alter the channel the router uses though unless you know what you are doing I would leave that alone. Moving the sender’s transmitter module and aerial might help but in the end I suspect that upgrading to a more sophisticated Sender with better interference rejection may be the only solution.

If you have a computer problem write to: fff@telegraph.co.uk

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© R. Maybury 2008 1501