Monday, February 10, 2003		Dr Tribune

Q. I have a system with the following configuration: P III, 800 processor with 40 GB HD, 128 RAM, 17" monitor LG with operating system Win XP. Please solve my problem as whenever I work on my system the screen goes black for nearly two or three seconds. Since the problem involves the screen, no data is lost. It blinks randomly and is not program specifically. Please solve my problem.

A. You have not mentioned when this happens. Does it happen at the time of booting your system or it occurs, when your system is running. This information is needed in solving your problem. However, you should also check your screensaver, as this could be cause of your problem.

Q. My PC configuration is P4, 845 Motherboard chipset, Yamaha speakers, Microtek 17" screen, LG 52x CD ROM and Samsung CD-writer. My questions are as follows:

1. I want to change my startup LOGO of Win ’98, but I am not able to find my LOGO.sys file in the Windows directory. Please tell me how to find this?

2. How can I change my MS DOS screen in Win ’98?

3. How can I disable fast shut down in Win ’98?

4. I have two OS. Win ’98 on C: drive and Win XP on D: drive. Now, due to some problem, I had to format C: drive. Now again on installing Win ’98, the option for choosing OS did not come. Sir, shall I have to reinstall Win XP also?

A. The file you are mentioning is LOGOS.SYS and LOGOW.SYS. You can find these files in Windows directory. For disabling fast shutdown, you can do it by effecting some changes in the registry. However, before you edit registry I strongly recommend that you take a back up of registry, which could be restored in case of any problems. Once you are through with the backup, then change the FastReboot data value from 1 to 0 in the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\ Shutdown. This will solve your problem. Regarding your other query related to two operating systems, if by any reason you have formatted C drive, i.e. the active primary DOS partition, where the information related to other operating system is also being written, you will have to reinstall all operating systems installed on your computer again for trouble free working as formatting the C drive must would disturb other operating systems also.

Q.I have Windows ‘95 and Windows ‘98 node. During booting, network logon window where we enter username and password does not appear. But when I click logon to different user tab in shutdown window, the logon window appears. I want the login window to appear at booting time (the normal setting, that is). Please help me as soon as possible.

A. The reason for not coming up of the Windows Logon screen is the fact that there is no user defined in your system. Thus to have a Logon screen come up, when the Windows starts you must create a user under Control Panel>Users and Passwords. Now after defining a user, when you restart Windows, you will find the log on screen.

Q. How can I assign a new username & password in Windows NT 4.00. I mean how can I assign multiple usernames. Can I assign separate areas of memory that can only be accessed by a particular user?

Mandeep, Chandigarh

A. You can assign multiple users in Windows NT from the users and passwords option under the control panel and can also define their access too. In the capacity of administrator, you can administer their access to the system.

Q. My Vintron PC configuration is P III processor, 866 MHz,184 MB SDRAM, 20 GB Ultra DMA HDD,17" monitor, 2 USB, 2 Serial, 1 Parallel and 1 Mouse Port, 1.44 MB FDD, AGP Shared, 109 keys Multimedia keyboard, Vintron roller mouse, 52x CD-ROM, 56 KBPS internal modem, C: loaded with Win ‘98. I tried to install Windows XP home edition by Win NT.exe while booting in DOS. After running set up at first it asked the source location and then it displayed: "Smartdrive is not installed on your computer. Install smartdrive after exit. Read DOS documentation for details. Press F3 to exit or press enter to continue without smartdrive." But the same setup does not ask this and installs XP easily after booting in DOS on my friends computer. Why can’t I install XP from DOS though my friend can?

A. You need not worry about this as this refers to a small basic setting. Basically SMARTDrive is a hard drive cache, which takes information from the CD ROM and places it on the hard drive. This utility improves the performance of your CD ROM and also the whole system. Normally DOS installs this utility in the Autoexec.bat file. Now you should check whether the entry for SMARTDRV is there in the Autoexec.bat File. If it is there check out that it does not have the words REM before it. If these words are there, just remove it and save. But if it is not there, then you can add the command Smartdrv to your Autoexec.bat file. You can also do it by typing Smartdrv at the DOS prompt to load it temporarily to load the operating system.

Q. I have P III HCL busybee, 750 MHz, 192 MB RAM PC. Since last few days, my PC hard disk is making a lot of noise. After booting it shows the following error: For Realtek RTL8139(X) PCI fast Ethernet controller V2.00(991019) PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable. When I restart, the error doesn’t crop up again and the PC functions normally. Please solve my problem.

Gyanesh Dutt, Chandigarh

A. Probably this error is triggered by an electrical surge or sudden closure of the machine. Now the best solution to resolve this error is to clear all CMOS setting by setting it to default and then shutdown and restart. I have tested exactly the same problem in Windows 2000 and this solution has solved my problem.

Q. I have HCL Busybee 2000, Windows ‘98 PC. Most of the time when I switch on the machine, it boots properly but then all of a sudden it shuts of. Then when I switch it on again it usually works well. Please help me correct the malady. I have been using this PC for the last two years but it lasts just for 10 days. Then it again starts giving trouble.

A.P Verma, Chandigarh

A. The problem in your case seems to be of the power source at the first instance. Normally, when the battery of the UPS runs low, the output voltage also gets low. Therefore, when you start gadgets like monitor, it draws a lot of current from the power source, which cause a small switching in the system, which in turn boots the computer. Now, once the monitor is on the current requirement it comes back to normal and therefore when you restart your computer it works well. I would suggest you get your UPS or any other power source, which you might be using, checked again.

Q. I have a PC with configuration P III, 1.11 GHz, Asus Tusi-M Socket 370 Motherboard, 128 MB RAM, Windows ‘98 SE operating system. I am not able to install my modem which is" ADCOM’S MOTOROLA CHIPSET" internal modem (ITU V90 56 kbps, K56 flex V90 as written on modem box). Whenever I try to install with CD that came with modem it shows that " Motorola 56STH-PI data fax voice modem " is installed on COM 4 and then window search for " wave driver for modem." and does not find it either on CD or HDD. On seeing modem properties, it shows that the modem is installed with resource setting as IO range 02EB-02EF & IRQ10. Whenever I try to connect, no sound comes from the modem. After 2-3 attempts, the system starts hanging. Previously, it was installed from the same CD given by my PC vendor. But I faced this problem since I formatted my HDD. Please also tell the site from where I can get drivers for Windows XP as it is not present on its Website. Please solve my problem.

Inderjeet Singh, Bathinda

A. Your modem is actually installed on the COM port 4 and is functional for browsing and surfing. However, its value-added features, which involves voice are non functional. You may try your sound driver CD (motherboard CD if it is onboard) for installing the driver you mentioned. Regarding your Windows XP problem related to Driver, please visit www.vee90.net/xp, you can find solution to your problem. Since this is a common problem plaguing the users using Windows XP, this site has detailed solution to this problem.

Q. I recently bought a system having configuration as Pentium-4, 1.7 GHz, Intel motherboard 845 chipset, 40 GB HDD with Windows ‘98 and Windows 2000 as OS. This configuration is what the manufacturer has told me. How can I check whether I have a genuine Intel Pentium-4 processor? When I boot the system, the main processor is indicated as Intel Pentium (R)- 4. Kindly oblige.

Harpreet Singh, Ludhiana

A. The information you mentioned at the first instance reveals that the processor is genuine. Normally, this can be verified by the serial number of processor, which is being mentioned at the box of the processor. If you have bought a box packed genuine Intel processor, with all documents, your vendor must have issued you the bill mentioning the serial number of the processor. This is the first proof of the genuinity of your product. Otherwise you can also find the information about the processor in the system properties under the General Tab. To check this, right click mouse button on My Computer and then click on Properties from the drop down menu. Now this will open the System Properties Window. By default the General Tab would be opened and near the bottom of this Window you can find the information about this product.

Q. I have a Compaq PC PIII, 192 MB RAM, 20GB HDD, 16X DVD-ROM with WIN ME. I had a problem with the folder, ‘Window’ in Local Disk[C:]. The problem is that whenever I open this folder by the following path : - My Computer > Local Disc [C:] > WINDOWS, it automatically hides all contents of the folder & also hides ‘Show Files’ on the left side of that folder. After refreshing, ‘Show File’ appears & all contents of Windows folder are viewed after selecting ‘Show Files.’ Is it due to any missing file or are there chances of virus. Please suggest a proper remedy.

A. There is no problem with the system, as normally in branded computers like Compaq, this is being done by customising windows to avoid accidental or deliberate deletion or changing of critical system files. Not only the Windows folder but some other folders under Document and settings are also hidden and if you wish to change them you have to unhide them first. So this is not being done by virus or missing files.