Monday, November 6, 2000		Dr Tribune

I have a Intel Celeron 433 MHz processor with 32 MB RAM. My problem is that when I switch on the system my computer frequently gives me the message — Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter. When I switch it off and reboot, it opens correctly most of the time. Secondly, Windows ’98 OS that I use takes almost 2 minutes to boot although I am using only half of my 6.4 GB disk space.

— P.S. Sethi

Dr Tribune: It appears that in your system settings, you have chosen the option to boot from drive A: only. Therefore, your system searches for a bootable disk in the drive A: and prompts you for Disk boot failure. Please change the settings to boot from drive C: first. You can do this by pressing "Del" key immediately after your computer completes memory test. This will open the System bios setup window. Choose the second option on the left side of this window and then choose the boot sequence option. Now choose the option with drive C first by using the page up and page down keys. Then close this window and save the settings before exit. This will take care of your problem.

Longer booting time is primarily due to the unduly large system.ini file that is due to frequent installation and uninstallation of programs. Using a disk cleaning utility, which is capable of removing unwanted system files from your computer.

Can I configure my Outlook Express to receive my nettaddress.com mails directly? And how can it be done?

—Manav Saini

Dr Tribune: Web mails like netaddress, rediff etc. cannot be configured in the Outlook Express as they do not offer SMTP and POP address for free. In case of netaddress, the POP mail is a premium service and is thus charged for. However, there are software like @nymail, in which you can configure all such Web mail accounts and access them very conveniently. This software, along with others has been discussed in detail in the Login… Tribune issue dated October 23.

I have a Pentium II at 400 MHz with 5.99 GB hard disk and 64 MB RAM running on Windows ’98. Whenever I start defragmenting the disk, the defragmentation process never completes, as it is very slow. It reaches 2 or 3 per cent and then restarts the process. Moreover, the system often hangs during the process.

— Guntas Malhotra

Dr Tribune: Please run scandisk, before running defrag. Sometime cross-links are formed, which hinder defragging. Running scandisk solves not just this problem but also several other problems that may affect the PC. In 99 per cent cases running scandisk may solve the problem. If it does not, then try running scandisk from the DOS prompt. You can select to run the computer in the DOS prompt while booting and before starting Windows.

I have a Pentium II, 350 MHz, and 64 MB RAM with 17 GB hard disk and Win ’98. I have recently upgraded my hard disk from 4.2 GB to 17 GB .The problem with the new disk is when I switch on my system, after completing the check up, Windows main screen hangs up for nearly 2 to 3 minutes. Also the graphics become poor. It used to be much better on 4.2 GB hard disk. Another problem is that most of the latest games can be loaded on the system but after installing when I run the games they get stuck. I have direct-x 7.0. Sometimes the games, which require directx 6.0, fail to run.

— Harman Sidhu

Dr Tribune: From your mail it is not clear, whether you have AGP card inbuilt on your motherboard. If you have a separate AGP card installed on your motherboard, kindly install it properly using the drivers, which came with the card. However, if the AGP card is inbuilt on the motherboard, then you will have to install the drivers of each component on the motherboard, including the AGP card. You will find the driver for all these components on the drivers CD of motherboard, which you must have received from your hardware vendor. In short, your problem is either due to non-installation or mismatch of Graphic card driver. So, for solving this problem, you will have install the correct version of the Driver.

Regarding your second problem, I would like to tell you that Windows does not hang, though it takes a lot of time due to unduly large system files. Either you have got your hard disk data swapped to a new hard disk or you tried to install too many software in your new hard disk. In either of these cases, the Windows takes a lot of time to load. You may clean your hard disk with some disk cleaning utility to solve this problem. Also the use of correct versions of drivers will help you get rid of the problem. The use of correct versions of drivers will solve the other problem of direct X drivers.

I recently learnt that Linux could run on low-end 386/486 machines and still perform like a high-end workstation. Since, I own a PC AT 386 SX with 4 MB RAM and 260 MB hard disk. I would like to install Red Hat Linux 5.2. Can you tell me how to do this? I have procured a Linux CD. Also, what hardware changes would be required to make the computer multimedia and Internet ready?

— Gurpartap Singh

Dr Tribune: Yes! Linux operating system uses very little system resources compared to Windows resulting in higher efficiency on a low-end machine (Refer to our article on Linux in Login of October 16). It is advisable to install all peripherals like CD ROM, sound card and modem before installing Linux. Installing the CD ROM, sound card and modem will make your computer both multimedia and Internet ready. To install Red Hat Linux, simply insert the CD and follow the instructions on your monitor.

I recently bought a Compaq computer. Whenever I try to download something from the Internet, the computer asks "are you sure you want to download". Please tell me if there is any harm in downloading the programmes from the Internet? Is there any risk involved in doing so?

— G.K Chopra

Dr Tribune: The message you receive is normal. The computer gives you an opportunity to confirm or cancel your decision. There are terabytes of freeware, shareware and trail versions of software on the Internet, available for download. Web sites of most known companies like Microsoft, IBM, etc generally have strong anti-virus protection. Which means that all software on these sites is scanned and free of virus and you can safely download software from there without any worry. But you should be cautious of hundreds of other sites that offer pirated or illegal software. Games and adult sites are notorious for spreading computer viruses. Besides, you can install an anti-virus programme on your machine and scan all downloaded software before using it.