Log in ....Tribune-- Dr Tribune

Monday, January 8, 2001		Dr Tribune

I have mail accounts on Yahoo and Hotmail. With the help of Log in...Tribune I have configured Outlook Express to download the mail of my Yahoo Account. But I am still unable to configure the Outlook Express for downloading the mail from the Hotmail account. What is the SMTP servers address to use for the Hotmail account? Can I send mail through the Outlook Express from my Hotmail account? If so, how?

—Sukhdeep Singh

The settings for Hotmail are built into the Outlook Express and you do not need to source the POP and SMTP address. When you start configuring a new identity in the Outlook Express, it gives you the option in the third step to either select a new account or to configure a Hotmail account. All you need to do is fill up the necessary information like your name, password etc. and it will be configured in a few steps.

How do I configure USA.net and Hotmail account in Eudora? Also, I want to know the difference between Windows ME and Windows 98 Me. Do I have to format a hard disk before installing Windows Me or can it be installed directly on to Windows 98. I use a PIII 450 MHz with 128 MB RAM.

—Anand

The POP service of USA.net is a premium services and is not free, so we cannot give you the POP and SMTP address. As mentioned earlier, you can use all your e-mail accounts with e-mail client @nymail, which is practically the same as any other e-mail client like Eudora or Outlook.

Regarding your second query, Windows Me is built on Windows 98 platform, but it is different from Windows 98 on features. For details on features of Windows Me, please refer our previous issues of Login… Tribune. As far as your enquiry about Windows 98 Me is concerned, it appears that you have mistaken Windows 98 SE or second edition as Me. For installing Windows Me on your computer, it is always better that you install the operating system on a formatted hard disk or formatted partition. However, you can also upgrade your present operating system to Windows Me. If you have more than one partition on your hard disk, you can install two or even more operating systems on one computer.

I am regular reader of Login...Tribune. I have assembled PC with the following configuration: Intel 810 motherboard with 64 MB RAM, 8.4 GB hard disk, Celeron 466 MHz processor. My computer often hangs without giving any message and does not respond to any key. When I press the CTRL+ALT+DEL keys, I get the message "system is busy, press any key to enter your window or restart your computer and you will loose any unsaved information. On pressing the Enter key, I get a blank screen with only the cursor showing. I have to finally restart my computer by switching it off. After running scandisk, the scandisk log file shows that free space was reported incorrectly and that the scandisk fixed it.

— Munish

Your problem appears to be hardware related and you must run Scandisk in thorough mode. Look at the result of the scan disk very clearly, if you find any bad sectors, then you can associate your problem with a bad hard disk. However, if you did not find any problem on your hard disk, then you can suspect the errors to be linked with the motherboard. Normally such problems are related to hardware and are liable to corrupt your operating system.

I recently installed a number of utility programs from Symantec. When I try to open a definite utility the computer freezes forcing me to restart the computer. What is the solution to this problem?

—Abhimanyu

You must mention, which utility you are talking about. However, the possible reasons could be incorrect version of software, which is not meant for you operating system.

I have a PII 333 MHz processor based PC working on Windows 98. Recently, the hard disk developed some bad sectors, which were indicated while running scandisk. Does this happen due to a virus? Secondly, the maintenance wizard failed to defrag the hard drives after 76%. What could be the reason behind this and how can it be corrected. The hard drive is 4.3 GB.

—Amit Vikram

The bad sector in your hard disk is the root cause of all your problems. If your hard disk develops bad sectors, then you will experience a number of related problems including hanging. When you get bad sectors, the defrag exercise will not be completed. Few bad sectors can be fixed, but the hard disk then does not remain reliable. Bad sector may be caused due to manufacturing fault, mishandling or with use, it is not possible for a virus to cause a physical damage to a hard disk.

I want to install Linux operating system on my computer. I would like to ask you the following questions 1) Which is better SuSe or the Redhat in terms of the compatibility of all hardware components and reliability? I have three partitions on the 8.4 GB hard drive, one of 4.2 GB capacity and the other two of 2.2 GB each. Will I have to make another partition?

—Kshitij

The Linux operating system is rated as one of the best and also a very stable system. Now regarding the Suse and RedHat versions of Linux. I feel that RedHat is better as it is more comprehensive. Regarding the installation of Linux on your computer, you must take care about a few points. For example note down the details of all cards like VGA, Sound etc and keep their drivers ready. The installation of Linux operating system is a bit complicated as compared to the Windows operating system. However, Linux has the beauty that it can co-exist with any operating system and will also work properly. To install Linux on your system you need 500-MB free space. However, if you have a separate partition its all the more better. In your case you can choose any partition for the installation of Linux operating system. The best way to install Linux is to buy its bootable CDs, which are transferable and you can buy it at a very low cost. On booting from Linux, the system will automatically take you through the installation process. You are however advised to buy a handbook on Linux first, which can serve as a step-by-step guide.

Recently, on booting the computer, I got the following message "DRIVER MEMORY ERROR". This however, does not affect the running of the computer. I use a P III, 450MHz with 32 MB RAM on Windows 98. I have not installed any software recently.

—Sunny

You have not mentioned at what stage of booting you get this message. However, try to boot your system command by command after pressing F8 after the computer shows the configuration window but before loading the operating system. Now as you proceed step by step, you can jot down the program, which is giving you this error and thus you can take corrective action. Moreover, you can also try to boot your computer in safe mode. If this error is not displayed, then also you can pinpoint your error for a solution.

After a virus attack, I had to get Windows 98 and other software reloaded on my computer. Now everything is working fine, except the ‘Sound recorder’. When I click the record button the slider starts moving, but there is no response to the microphone. No sound is heard on clicking ‘Play’ button. There is no alarm message? Please help.

— J P Singh

This normally happens because of two problems. 1) Your microphone is set to mute in sound properties therefore it is not recording any voice. Normally, this is the case in a majority of the cases. As a default setting, the computer does not show the microphone in the icon for sound properties, which stays in your system tray. Check this out first, if by clicking on the icon in the system tray you do not see the column for microphone in the Audio mixer, then you must add it first from properties. However, if it is already there, check it out that it is not check marked for mute. 2) The second possibility is that the correct version of your sound card is not installed on your computer. However, you must try to solve your problem according to the first solution, if you do not succeed this way, then you can opt for the second solution.