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FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 604 (18/03/08)
Q. My problem is that when I switch my PC
on it will run the first time to the Windows logo and then freeze. Eventually
it will progress until I have the desktop, after which it usually okay.
Sometimes it freezes completely and I have to boot up 4 or 5 times until it is
running properly.
Don Styles, via email
A.
It could be almost anything, from a rogue start-up program to a dodgy hard
drive but when faced with problems of this type I reach for a shareware utility
called Boot Log XP (free trial version available from: http://www.greatis.com/utilities/bootlogxp/).
After installation
select ‘Test at reboot’, restart the PC and when Windows has finished loading
and is ready to use click the Stop button. The program will then generates a
detailed report showing exactly what went on during the boot up. A simple to
understand timeline lists every service and component that’s loaded, and how
long each one takes, so you should be able to identify the one(s) that are
gumming up the works.
Q. I successfully built the DT Mk2 PC last
year and I am very happy with it. However I have been thinking about upgrading
it to a dual core-processor. Is it just a question of taking out the Celeron
D351 and replacing it with a dual core processor? If I do this will it double
processing speed?
Jon Everett, via email
A.
If only things were that simple… Unfortunately dual-core processors don't work
like that and they definitely can't work miracles. The only way you are going
to see any significant performance gains is if you are using programs that have
been specially written for dual-core processors and at the moment they are
mostly confined to high-end games and graphics applications. A few
processor-intensive applications, like video editors may run a bit quicker, and
dual-core systems tend to be better at multi-tasking, where you are running
several resource-hungry programs at the same time, but for normal day to day
use – i.e. word processing, web surfing, emailing and so on -- I doubt very
much that you will notice any difference.
Q. I have a very annoying problem, which
started very recently. If I press caps lock twice, which is quite a normal thing
to do -- once to turn it on, once to
turn it off – my Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop closes down. Have you heard of this
happening before and, if so, is there a cure?
Pip Terrington
A.
That’s a new one on me. I can find no record of it as a known fault on this
model. I have also been through the manual and it’s definitely not an official
factory-fitted system shutdown shortcut. The closest thing I can find is Fn +
F1, which puts the machine into Hibernation mode.
This leaves several
possibilities. There could be an intermittent connection just below the caps
lock key and repeatedly pressing the keyboard at that point causes a short or
open circuit, forcing the machine to shutdown. Alternatively there might be
problem with the keyboard, or the keyboard controller chip and this is
misinterpreting the keystrokes as a shutdown command. Otherwise you or someone
else with access to your PC has written a shutdown script, like the one on the
PCTopTips website (http://tinyurl.com/yrar33) and
assigned it a keyboard shortcut. Maybe you have created one using one of the
many keyboard utilities that are available?
I have
to say none of them sound very likely and I think you would have remembered if
you had made a shortcut so if a search for forgotten or surreptitious software
proves fruitless I’m afraid you will have to have it looked at. Meanwhile, if
anyone has any more plausible theories I would be pleased to hear from you.
Q. Having recently bought my first
camcorder (Sony MiniDV model), I followed Boot
Camps 464 to 469 and loaded footage from the tape onto my PC, to do some
basic editing, and create a DVD. Beforehand I upgraded my PC with a second
160Gb ‘scratch’ drive and an extra 2GB of memory (taking it up to 3Gb).
I used Windows Movie to do the editing and
this went well but when I tried to use DVD Maker to save to the DVD, I couldn’t
get the software to run. After much messing about, I used Nero to save the
movie to a DVD. My question is why is the sharpness and colour significantly
poorer when played on our TV compared to how it looks when played directly from
the camcorder?
Mark Alston
A.
The data on a Mini DV recording is uncompressed so replaying from your
camcorder directly to the TV is about as good as it gets. As soon as you
download a video recording onto a PC the data goes through the digital mill of
compression and processing. At each stage there will be small losses in the
amount of fine detail in the image plus a reduction in contrast and colour
depth, and where there is a lot of rapid movement in the image there’s a risk
of adding digital ‘artefacts’ (block noise etc.) to the recording.
The extent of the
quality losses is dependent on the performance of your PC and the compression,
quality and processing settings in the editing and DVD authoring software.
Under ideal conditions the reduction in quality can be minimised to the point
where it is barely noticeable and an edited DVD of your home movies can look
almost as good as the original recording. This suggests that you should go back
and try some higher quality and lower compression settings, though I suspect
that at some point you will run up against the limitations of your PC’s
processor and memory, resulting in jittery or jumpy video. If at this point the
results are still disappointing then take it as a sign that you need to upgrade
to better hardware and probably more sophisticated software as well.
If you have a computer
problem write to: fff@telegraph.co.uk
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© R. Maybury 2008 1202
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