Monday, October 1, 2001		Dr Tribune

Q. At our educational institute, we are having computers with P III, 933 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 20 GB HDD configurations running on Windows NT platform. In recent past, our machines are behaving unpredictably. On switching on the machine, it displays the message, "NT Detect Failed." Even if we try to copy the above files to the hard disk, the error persists. This problem comes only after NT is reinstalled on the machine. Appears the time of NT installation, we made hard disk bootable and only then NT installation is done. The menu shows MS DOS option from boot.ini file. But on selecting the MS DOS option from that menu, the system simply hangs or the menu is displayed again and again. Please send us solution for these problems.

Ajay Gandhi, For NIIT Hoshiarpur Centre

A. First of all try to start your system with the last successful boot option. Using this feature, Windows NT will try to boot your system with the previous successful setting. If there is any problem in the settings then this option will solve the problem. However if you are not able to boot your PC even with this option then the only solution left is clean boot your system with bootable floppy or CD and then reinstall the Windows NT all over again. By reinstalling Windows NT your problem will be solved. However if the problem still persists, then you can assume that there is some problem in your hardware, which could be associated with your motherboard or hard disk. You may have to get the hardware thoroughly checked for any possibilities of errors. You have written in your mail that you tried to copy some files to the systems I would like to mention here that this would simply not solve the problem.

Q. I have a Vintron elixir @home 3000 computer, powered with Intel Pentium 3 processor 700 MHz, 64 MB SDRAM, 1 serial, 1 parallel and 1 Mouse Port, 1.44MB FDD, AGP shared,15 GB ultra DMA HDD, 15" Vintron colour monitor, 50X CD ROM drive, 56 KBPS internal modem and Windows ‘98 as Operating System. My problem is that I am unable to run the disk defragmenter to its completion. I always run the disk defrag after running the scandisk in the DOS mode as advised by you as it is a faster way to do it. Scan disk takes an hour and 20 minutes but when I run the disk defrag after that defragmentation is hardly 17 per cent complete even after running it continuously for 3 hours at a stretch. Mostly, I run it for one and a half hour and it shows that it is only 3 per cent complete. I want to ask why I am not able to complete the disk defrag. Secondly, my computer opens some programs like Internet explorer, Microsoft Word etc. slowly. I will be grateful if you please solve my problems.

Harinder Singh

A. You may run scandisk in Windows only in thorough mode to check the possibility of bad sectors on your hard disk. If bad sectors are found on the hard disk then you’ll have to contact your hardware vendor. But in case no bad sectors are discovered then before running defrag, you must disable any screen saver or any desktop wallpaper that involves moving graphics, animations or video clippings. Moreover you should also disable the find fast option for the possible solution to the problem. Normally, if the screen saver is on, then the disk defrag is not completed and comes back to a particular point. I hope disabling the screen saver will solve your problem. Regarding the problem of slow opening of Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word there could be many reasons for it. And the most probable reason could be that your system is low on resources. In order to solve this problem please clean the PC of all temporary files and other junk files including memory cache and disk cache and all other .gif and .jpg files which might be unnecessarily cluttering your computer. Also remove all unnecessary programs, fonts, games and all other drivers that are no longer in use or which you don’t intend to use. You can also add more RAM to system to boost the performance. Furthermore depending upon the availability of space on your hard disk you can also increase the size of the swap files. This will solve your problem.

Q. I have a system with triple boot of Windows ’98, Windows NT and Windows 2000. My system configuration is Pentium 450 MHz., Samsung 52x CD ROM drive, Yamaha sound card, via bx99 motherboard, 128 MB RAM, GVC Modem, 8GB hard disk. My problem is sometime ago my CD ROM stopped working so I bought a new one. After installing CD ROM, my sound card does not work. Even when it is successfully installed by its driver, it doesn’t play any sound. I have checked my speakers and the icon on the task bar is shown every time. I have checked it in some other port also but the same thing happens. Please solve my problem. Do I have to buy a new sound card or is their anything wrong with my system?

Kapil Kumar

A. From your e-mail it appears that you have not connected the sound cable properly. The sound cable is a small cable that creates the link between your sound card and the CD-ROM. If this cable is not connected then you cannot play any audio files from the CD. But you will be able to play the sound files from your hard disk. In order solve this problem please ensure that you have connected the sound cable properly. For more information on connecting this cable, please refer to the users manual of the sound card. Another factor responsible for this problem could be that the speakers are muted in the volume control in Windows.

Q. I have a Vintron PC, Celeron 600 Mhz with 20 GB hard disk and Windows ’98 SE 4.10. CD ROM 50x FDD 3.5" multimedia desktop speaker. My problem is that whenever I start my Internet explorer, I get a message from content advisor about it’s setting. On setting through tools, Internet options, contents, the Internet Explorer works for sometime but after sometime and on rebooting the system, the same problem persists. Tell me where the problem is?

Next my speakers are balanced but sometimes, the sound output is not there. On checking volume control, the volume goes in off/mute phase whereas sometimes it is on but no sound emanates from speaker. It worked well until about a month ago.

Sanjay Sharma,
Jalandhar

A. In order to help us solve your problem, please mention the problem correctly and exactly. In the absence of exact error message it will not be possible for us to troubleshoot your problem. Regarding the problem related to your speakers, please check the default Windows volume tuner (volume control) and correct the setting.

Q. I have some problems in my computer. My question is that I am using Outlook Express for my Hotmail account. If I want to remove my account from Outlook Express what do I have to do? I tried it once but when I clicked on add or remove identities (in file menu), it represented a dialogue box before me in which I could see my identity name as default identity. When I tried to remove it, the remove button was not active. This means that Outlook Express cannot remove my identity till I add a new identity there. Tell me the solution for this. Secondly, there is some problem regarding my computer or maybe, my keyboard. When I work in Excel document, the default cursor is always on A1. When I press enter to shift it to A2 it automatically prints "F" in A1 cell. Sometimes when I type some document in MS-Word, by typing "D" "5" automatically prints. And if I press "C" from keyboard it opens "Find and Replace " dialogue box. Please tell me the solution.

Venus Sharma,
Chandigarh

A. It is true that you cannot delete the default identity in the Outlook Express. Since your Hotmail account is being configured as default identity, therefore it is not possible to delete it by the remove button in manage identity section. The best way is to make some other e-mail account as the default identity and then remove your account from the Outlook Express. However, if you do not have any other account, then add another identity and make it default identity. Then delete the Hotmail account from Outlook Express. Regarding your next question please mention whether you come across this problem in other programs also or is it specific to MS Office only. If this problem occurs in all other programs also then you can associate it with the keyboard. However if this problem does not occur in other programs then I don’t think that this is a problem of your keyboard. Sometimes under the auto-correct function of MS Word and MS Excel, some keys wrongly get defined. This could happen accidentally or maybe done by someone. So please check out the auto-correct function under the MS Word and MS Excel for these errors. If you find any such error, then you must set it to default or delete that entry altogether. However if it doesn’t solve the problem then you may try another keyboard.

Q. My system is an assembled Pentium(r) Celeron MMX, 266 MHz, base memory 640 KB, extended memory 1300 48K, cache memory none, 128 MB RAM, modem Motorola sm56 PCI, Windows ‘98 operating system. My problems are: 1. After surfing the Net, the history pages of IE5 shows the names of pages visited day wise but does not open. How do I make sure the history pages open offline?

2.Though I have recently installed a 56 KBPS internal modem, the Internet connection speed does not go beyond 36 KBPS. Please suggest measures to optimise the Internet connection speed. I have recently run scandisk and defrag. I have a VSNL connection.

Rajiv Arora

A. For viewing a page offline you must first enable the setting "make available offline". This can be done by right clicking on the page in the history folder and then selecting the option "add to favourites". This will open a window called add favourite. Now, check the box adjoining make available offline and then click OK. This page will be available for viewing offline. Similarly you can enable this setting for viewing any number of pages offline. Regarding the second problem, the actual surfing speed does not go above 33 KBPS though your Internet connection may show a much higher connection speed. You need not worry about this part, as this is quite normal. However if you’re not satisfied with the performance of Internet connection in terms of speed and overall browsing experience then you can refer to various tips & tricks that we have discussed in the previous editions of Login...Tribune.