FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  600 (19/02/08)

Q. Lately Word and Excel files (Windows XP+SP2, Office 2000) take 7 or 8 seconds to open. The other day I read that the answer might be to delete the Normal.dot document template file. This I have done and now a blank Excel file opens in a flash! However, Word files whether blank or existing and existing Excel files still take a while and show 'requesting virus scan' in the bottom left screen. I very much doubt that my PC has been infected because I'm careful on the internet and use AVG, Windows Defender, Spybot, Spyware Blaster and Comodo firewall. If you could suggest a course of action to get back to normal rapid opening of Word and Excel files I should be delighted.

Ken Christie, via email

A. The ‘Requesting Virus Scan’ message can slow things down a bit and it’s due to a component in AVG called the Office Plug-in, which scans documents for Macro viruses. These are a genuine threat for those who exchange or handle a lot of MS Office files, but if you feel the risk to your machine is low or negligible then it can be switched off. There easiest way to do that is download the latest version of AVG, run the installation program. When you get to the Add or Remove components stage uncheck ‘Plugin for Office’ and continue the installation.

Incidentally, the same problem can arise with other antivirus programs and the cause is normally the same. The procedure to switch off or disable the Office Plugin varies, but you will usually find the answer in the program’s Help files or on the publisher’s support website.

Q. I am running Vista Home Premium on a new Dell laptop and have recently started getting the following error message: ‘wsst_engine mfc Application has stopped working’. I can get rid of the message by hitting the Esc key and it does not appear to affect any programs but it keeps on popping up several times in a working session. I have looked on the Microsoft Knowledgebase but a search yields no results. Do you have any ideas as to what is going on, if it is important or not and how to stop the message appearing?

Michael Gunn, via email

A. This file belongs to a screensaver program developed by a company called West, which is also marketed under the name Auralis and include such visual delights as Bikini Girls, Snakes, BackStreet Boys and World Wrestling Federation Stars. Anyway, if you have installed a screensaver of this type on your laptop, get rid of it and the problem will go away. It should appear on the list in Programs and Features in Control Panel.

Q. I upgraded my PC to Vista Home Premium and bought a new Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ3 digital camera, my other camera was stolen. Every time I boot up I have a message about a missing driver that is required for mass storage devices. I have let the automatic search for a driver run both offline and online but it always fails. I have discovered many forums where this seems to be a common problem. Windows Update suggests downloading the 32-bit windows\system32\ file again but I get a report saying it is not suitable for my system. I also have no access to my USB digital card reader

Dennis Talbott, via email

A. As you say quite a few people have been getting this type error message when using new USB hardware and it occurs most often on home build PCs or XP to Vista upgrades. It is usually caused by old or non-Vista compliant motherboard USB drivers. You might be lucky; visit the motherboard (or PC) manufacturer’s website and download the latest Vista drivers for your model. However, if it is more than two or three years old then it is possible there aren’t any, or are ever likely to be, in which case you are stuck and the only alternatives are to replace the motherboard or revert back to XP.  As I have said on many occasions, upgrading to Vista is asking for trouble, if you want it buy a new PC that was designed for the job.

Q. We have just bought a 37-inch plasma TV and we would like to look at family photos taken on our digital camera, which are on our PC, on the TV. What cable do we need to connect the laptop and the TV? We get different advice in different shops and none seem to have the cable they tell us we require. Eventually we were sold a 15-pin male-to-male cable but this seems to be for connecting the PC to a monitor. We were told this would work, it did fit but there was no picture. What do we need?

Mrs. Toni V. Howells, via email

A. It all depends on the laptop, but by the sound of it you have the correct type of ‘VGA’ cable. The other possibility is a composite video cable, but without knowing if your PC or laptop has a video output it’s hard to say what sort of plug it needs. But let’s stick with the VGA cable, and pretty well all plasma and LCD TVs can operate as PC monitors and have the requisite VGA input socket, but there’s a bit more to it than just plugging the cable into the back of the TV and the PC.

Most laptops need to be told to switch the from the built in screen to an external display, the method varies but usually it is in Display Properties> Right click desktop and select Properties then the Settings tab (or Graphics Properties if you are using Vista) or look for a graphics or display icon in Control Panel. There may also be a ‘hotkey’ or Function Key assignment for switching the monitor output, check the instruction manual for details. You may also need to tell the TV to switch to the PC or VGA input; again this will be explained in the instructions.

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

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© R. Maybury 2008 1501