Ray Shaw's  Questions  &  Answers  ---  Page 29 21-12-08: Question: I would appreciate your help as to how I can uninstall Windows 98 and replace it with Windows XP. Answer: XP can be installed either as an upgrade (you need the upgrade version to do this) which preserves all the Windows 98 settings or as a clean install (you use the full retail version or the OEM disk for this: the latter requires a freshly formatted hard disk to work). There are instructions at www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html. One problem is that you will need all the XP drivers for the motherboard, sound card, video card and LAN. These may be available from the manufacturers' websites. If not, then please do not try to install XP. Question: I wish to transfer 15 videotapes I recorded many years ago to DVDs. I have already edited a few tapes, playing them on a VCR and recording them to DVD but this is very time-consuming. I have been told it would be much easier to transfer a videotape to a DVD without editing, downloading this DVD to a computer hard drive (I am running Windows XP with Nero Express installed), then editing the file with Windows MovieMaker and burning a new, edited DVD. Would I need to buy another device to carry out this operation and would it be too difficult for someone with my limited IT experience? Answer: The VCR outputs an analogue video and sound signal which can be directly captured to a PC if it has an analogue video capture card and a line-in sound jack. These cards and USB cables are still available and details of how to do it are at http://dvr.about.com/od/tvcapturemethods/ht/ht4.htm. Search Google for "analogue video capture" for more information. Belkin makes a USB capture cable. Question: I run Windows XP and had a Panafax OF-E1 Super G3 fax machine that sends faxes via email which I don't use. Now, each time I open a Word document I get a window entitled: Microsoft Visual Basic and the message: "Compile error in hidden module: in FaxPrint And Merge." Answer: You will need to remove the Panafax program using Add/ Remove programs. If that does not work, you may need to search the registry for Panafax or similar terms and remove these items. The easiest way to search is to use the free Regseeker from www.hoverdesk.net and use its registry search facility. Question: I have Word 2000 Professional (Home), Word Office XP Professional and Word Office Professional Edition 2003 at work. My Word 2000 files are not recognised by Office XP professional. Answer: Office 2000 files are written in .rtf (rich text) and Word XP/ 2003 use .doc. The fix is to save Word 2000 files as .doc files. See http://support.microsoft.com/?id=824424for details. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15-1-09: Question: I have a four year old Asus/Intel Pentium 4 computer, 17" CRT monitor with Win XP Pro and Office 2003. I use it for email, internet and some photo editing. It has done well but of late it has slowed down and I wonder if its time to get a new one? What should I buy? Answer: In tough economic times you may be better simply going down the path of reuse, recycle and repair (the ecologically responsible three R's) - there is probably nothing fundamentally wrong with the PC and a little tune up should get it back to speed. First step is a complete clean install of XP to remove any of the clutter from the operating system. You need to back up all your data to another drive (you would have had to do this anyway if buying a new PC) and simply insert the XP CD and select new install on C:. Once that is done it's a matter of reinstalling your drivers (disks that will have come with your PC and accessories) and software. Windows will automatically update itself with all service packs and patches. You can inexpensively add more memory (about $25 per GB) - simply take your existing memory to a computer shop to get the same type. I would recommend a new energy friendly 19-22" LCD monitor (these have dropped to about $300-400) instead of the old toxic CRT - but dispose of it via a IT recycling system to stop toxins getting into the rubbish stream (some local computer stores will do this for you). A new PC to replace exactly what you have will cost closer to $1500-2000 and will come with Vista which may take some getting used to. Your revised PC should have a new useful life of another 3 to 5 years and the next upgrade will skip Vista for Windows 7 due out in 2010. Reader Comment: Not being technical I was wary of doing what you suggested but it all went very well and I now have lots more confidence in my abilities to maintain my PC. I also bought a new 320GB hard drive (under $100), keyboard and mouse (under $50) and the total bill was under $500. The PC is faster than before, I am very comfortable with XP and did not have to upgrade my accounting and other programs as I would have to have done if I went to Vista. I have saved at least $1,000 on a new PC. Thanks for the "Three R" tip. Rays comment: In good times PCs are turned over regularly for the latest tech but there is no compelling reason to do so especially if you want to stick to XP. If your old PC has at least a 2GHz processor, around 512MB-1GB of memory and an 80GB hard disk you will save lots of money by doing a refurbishment. If you need more speed you can replace the motherboard, CPU and memory for about $250-300 (depending on the speed required). Question: I have Win XP and automatic update is trying to install service pack 3, but it keeps failing. Is it necessary to install this service pack? Answer: SP3 updates XP and removes more internet vulnerabilities so it is better to install it. There are many known problems that can stop SP3 installing - these are listed http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950717 but your issue is not amongst those listed. If a problem occurs it probably means that XP's registry is damaged and the best alternative is to do a clean install, then install SP2 and let auto-update install SP3. Question: I have been successfully using a boot up CD created from True Image 7 to mirror my Win XP computer hard disk (from primary to secondary). But it has stopped and no back up can be performed. I know the primary HDD is corrupted but it still runs. I got 2 new WD 160G HDDs and Installed Win XP SP2 on the Primary, using the said computer, and tried to mirror this to the Secondary, but it also failed. Answer: I suspect the issue is to do with the IDE controller on the motherboard and a motherboard replacement may be the only cure. I doubt the disks are at fault. A firmware update from the manufacturer's web site may help but this is not easy to do and you need to follow the instructions very carefully. The big problem will be that the motherboard will no longer be available and you will be forced to update to a later model that will probably also require a clean install of XP and new drivers to function. Question: I am on dial-up internet, with Windows XP and sometimes when I am on line, a bell rings and a message appears - "ISP does not support modem on hold. If you accept incoming call, your internet connection will be terminated". The line just drops out. Answer: It means someone is voice calling you and your ISP does not support you suspending your modem session (to be able to go back to it later) to take the voice call. There is nothing you can do at your end except switch to an ISP that does support modem on hold or upgrade to a low cost ADSL connection that allows both voice and modem to coexist. Question: I use Win XP with AVG 8 (free). I have installed the latest Spybot 1.6 (free from www.spybot.info).  Should I use both programs? Which is the better or should I run both together? Should I run a separate firewall? Answer: AVG free provides good basic antivirus and spyware protection but Spybot has the edge on detecting and controlling spyware and you can run both together. XP has a firewall and it is sufficient for most needs but you should update to SP3 to close a few more security loopholes. Question: I have just had my computer checked and it was recommended that I delete all my anti-spyware programs and do a re-install. You mention the free Spybot but I seem to have loaded a different program and its certainly not free, they will do a scan but you have to pay for the product. Also what has happened to Steven Gould's excellent free service? Answer: Spybot is free from www.spybot.info and unless you have been tricked into downloading a rogue program with a similar name it is still the best free program around to control spyware. www.stevengould.org has a great hard disk clean up program called Cleanup and its free but it does not protect against spyware. Question: Over the years my husband and I have taken movies/videos on Super 8 movie camera and video cameras.  We have been able to put most of the tapes onto DVD's. Is it possible to load these DVD's onto a DVD Recorder with a hard disk and then take out small sections from the different DVD's to make another DVD. My PC is several years old and does not have a DVD burner Answer: In order to edit DVD's you need a PC with a DVD editing program - as far as I am aware DVD recorders with hard disks cannot do this. DVD editing programs can be as simple as Microsoft Movie Maker (but this has drawbacks as the final result cannot be easily played in a DVD player) or something like ULead's Video Studio software. You will also need a DVD recorder in the PC. The program and DVD recorder take more memory and CPU power so your PC may need to be upgraded. I do caution you however that editing DVD's is not easy and you might be better getting a local DVD editor (your photo shop can usually do this) to do the work for you. Question: I prefer to use the web browser called Firefox but some web pages don't display as well or simply not at all compared to MS Internet Explorer. Answer: Welcome to the lack of standards on the internet. Many pages will only display correctly in IE so you will need to have both browsers installed. Google is working on its browser called Chrome which has specifically addressed the IE compatibility issues but it is still not perfect. Reader Comment: Region Locked DVD's. With regards to the question as to how to play a non region 4 DVD, I use the free VLC player www.videolan.org/vlc. It is available for Windows, Mac, Linux and other operating systems. It is a good idea to change the default player from Windows Media Player to VLC otherwise when WMP tries to play a non region 4 disk it will ask you to change the DVD drive to that region. Question: I have a Aspire 3623WXCi with Win XP. I am having trouble connecting it our home network. (Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network check box is shaded). Answer: It could be that the Acer wi-fi adaptor is not compatible with the newer wi-fi router - older adaptors frequently do not support later wi-fi security protocols. The solution would be to buy a PCMCIA or USB wi-fi adaptor that does support later versions of encryption. You could also try to download a driver update from Acer's web site. Question: I have purchased a new EEE PC Netbook. The netbook does not have a DVD and I need to install Microsoft Office. I do not want to buy an external DVD drive. Answer: You could buy a 4 or 8GB UDSB drive and copy the program over. Or you could set up a home network with a router (easiest way) or a crossover Ethernet cable and copy the Office CD over. Once it is in a folder click on autorun or setup.exe and it should install. Please be aware that the netbook uses a low power processor and it may be fairly slow with Office running. Question: I have for some years been using a small Canon inkjet for printing B&W text while reserving a larger, more upmarket printer for colour work. I re-inked the black cartridge scores of times; the sole motive being economy. The small Canon has finally died and I am keen to replace it with another. Is there an inkjet on the market (not multifunction) which will allow me to print B&W by default ie by bypassing the colour function? Answer: Most printer drivers allow you to select greyscale to print any document in mono. If yours does not then check with a local ink refiller to see if they have any recommendations on a low cost printer that has a cartridge that can be refilled. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to: HOME       Back to: Computers      Back to: Ray Shaw (28)       Forward to: Ray Shaw (30)