Monday, August 25, 2003		Dr Tribune

Q. I have a P III, 1 GHz, 40 GB HDD, 256 MB RAM with Me as OS. My problem is my computer never shows correct time. Every time I correct it, it gets slow after some time. Another thing is that it doesn’t show power buttons on power management properties when I display properties. Please guide.

Sandeep,
Narnaul, Haryana

A. Your problem is primarily due to worn-out motherboard battery. The time is stored in a little chip on the motherboard and that chip is powered by a small battery so it can hold the stored settings even if you turn your PC off. When that battery gets low, the first sign is usually a slow clock. Try replacing the battery with a new one of the same specification and your problem would be solved. However, before changing the battery, you can also try to load default BIOS settings in BIOS feature setup and see whether this solves your problem.

Q. My PC configuration is Celeron 566 MHz, 128 MB, 40 GB, C:(Win Me), D:(Win XP). I can’t use my other fonts for MS Word 2000 except Times New Roman. I have many fonts in my fonts folder and have reinstalled Office many times but in vain. Please solve my problem.

Aseem,
Yamunanagar

A. It appears there is no printer installed on your system that is the main cause of this problem. Just add a dummy printer to solve your problem. To add a printer, close Microsoft Office completely then go to Control Panel - add Printer - and click the name of any latest printer. After installing the driver for printer, open word and you will find all your fonts available in Microsoft Word.

Q. I have P IV with I845 GL S-748 pepper motherboard, 128 MB DDR RAM and other basic features. My problem is sometime ago my modem HP 56 micromodem (internal) stopped responding on Windows. I had Windows XP professional and Windows ’98 and both didn’t pick up the modem. My modem works fine on a friend’s machine. So I formatted HDD to get the problem rectified. After that when I reinstalled Windows, Win ’98 reinstalled correctly but Win XP refused to install as the screen went blue and said: "there is some ACPI error and BIOS needs to be upgraded although earlier it didn’t have this problem as Win XP installed easily." Kindly help.

Aman,
Ludhiana

A. For effective solution of your problem please write the exact error message, as based on the exact only the solution is worked out. However, from the description of your problem, it appears that by loading fail safe settings in BIOS, your problem might get solved. Try it out and if this problem still persist, then you can write back to us with exact error message.

Q. I have P IV, Zenith PC with 128 MB DDR RAM, 17" monitor and Win ‘98 as my operating system. A couple of days ago, I downloaded some free upgrades from MSN site that updated my Win ’98 system and the Internet Explorer version and Microsoft Outlook Express. I have e-mail ID on Sify and configured Microsoft Outlook Express to receive and send mails. Earlier, I had no problem with my mails but now I’m facing a new problem probably after the updates. Whenever, I receive a fresh mail with attachment (mostly AutoCAD drawings from customers), it says OE removed following unsafe attachments in your mail and I don’t receive any attachment. But earlier I used to receive all mails in perfect order. Then I tried to open the mails on my Sify Inbox directly. Here I could open my mail attachment and save on to my computer. Kindly suggest what to do.

Deepak Verma

A. There is actually no problem in your system. It is only some settings in your mail account, which has been upgraded for security purposes to prevent the system from hackers and viruses. Normally, some file extensions like .exe, .scr, .doc, .xls and a lot more carry viruses, thus under the upgrade and option of highest security these attachments are deleted on arrival to prevent your system from virus. If you wish to receive a particular files as attachment from a known source, then you can adjust your mail settings by going to Tools>Message Rules> Mails and define the rule. This will solve your problem. As an option you can also choose to use any other e-mail client like Eudora, Netscape Mail, Pegasus mail and many others, which are available free on the Internet. This will certainly solve your problem.

Q. I have AMD Athlon XP 1800+, with 40 GB hard disk, 128 MB RAM (but shows 96 MB RAM), with five partitions named C, D, E, F and G. In C: that is active partition, I have Win Me and on D: drive which is logical, I have Win XP (Pro). I want to install Linux Red Hat 8.0. I plan to create a new partition with the help of Acronis partition expert. I want to ask which file system should I use so that I read write data on that partition with Windows. Should I use Ext3 or ResizerFS? And which boot loader should I use? GRUB or LILO. I had read in Red Hat manual that I should make Swap (32 MB), boot (75 MB) and root (1.5 GB) partition. Also how can I create them with their recommended size? During set up, I have to enter my RAM size manually, which is 128 MB. But Windows shows only 96 MB. Please explain so that can install Linux.

Mohit Kochhar,
Chandigarh

A. Your first problem of 96 MB RAM, it is due to shared video RAM of 32 MB of AGP, which the AGP derives from the RAM only. Therefore 32 MB RAM blocked by AGP leaves only 96 MB RAM for your system. Regarding your next query, I have not used the software mentioned by you for altering partitions. You may try it at your own risk. I am clarifying this because altering partitions is a risky business and a single mistake could put you in trouble by wiping out all your data.

Now since you have so many partitions, you can easily install Linux on any of these partitions. If you are serious about Linux then, then you will need good amount of space for Linux also as normal Red Hat Installation takes 1.5 GB. However, if you install all the features the space requirement could go well above 2 GB. Regarding your next query, you should use Ext3 partition for installing Red Hat Linux on your system. As far as boot loader is concerned, GRUB is better, however there is no problem with LILO also. LILO also works fine. Regarding your query related to Swap, boot and root, you will get the option for creating them, when you format your partition with disk druid on Ext3 file system. When you are asked for mount points, you can then define the space mentioned above.

Q. I have a P III (750 MHz), Intel 810, 192 MB RAM, Win XP Pro PC without a 3D card. I have UT2003 installed. I am somehow able to play the game with the default details in 640 x 480 settings. Some maps run in full screen and others in Windows only. Still while playing, either the PC hangs or a blue screen warning appears (quite often) concerning i81xdnt5.dll. It says if the message has appeared for the first time, restart. If it appears again, try changing the video adapter. Please comment. Is there a way by which I can put a 3D card into my 810? It seems the only option left to get a better performance is to increase the RAM. Should I put another 256 MB chip or 128?

Rohan,
Panchkula.

A. From the description of your problem, it appears that the file i81xdnt5.dll is corrupt or missing. You can download this file from the Internet and replace. This should solve your problem. But if it does not solve your problem, then you would need a driver for Intel 810 Graphics Controller Hub.

Q. I have Windows ’98 SE operating system having 1.44 floppy and CD RW drive. Several persons have access to my system. I don’t want that anyone should be able to copy any data from my computer’s hard disk to floppy or CD. Is there any software to password protect the access to crucial folders, floppy drive and CD-RW drive? What measures can be taken to prevent any unauthorised users to use my computer? Secondly, are the transactions made through credit cards over the Internet from the sites like bazee.com safe and secure?

Rattandeep Ghuman,
Jalandhar.

A. There are some software, like Magic Folder, which can hide all your data and makes it unavailable for anyone who does not have the password. You can hide all data, which you wish to keep secret. Also you can remove CD or floppy under various user accounts in order to prevent them from using it. You can also use some third party software to block the access of users to CD RW etc. You can prevent your system from unauthorised access by allowing limited access only. Regarding your query on credit card transactions, you should always check the certification of the site before doing any credit card transaction. If the site has a standard certification, which you can always check on the internet, then using credit card does not create any problem.

Q. I want to download songs (both, video and audio) from the Internet. I have tried a lot, used Google search engine also but am unable to find a site from where I can download any video or audio song of my choice. Kindly suggest me the names of some good sites from where I can get a video or audio song just by giving the song or the singer’s name.

Jatinder Singh,
Patti Bains, Jalandhar.

A. Try www.punjabonline. com. You can find some songs and videos on this site.

Q. I have a PC with following configuration: P 3, 1.1 GHz, ASUS TUSI- M Socket 370, Micro ATX motherboard, Samsung 40 GB HDD, LG 52x CD ROM, Windows ’98 and XP as operating system. My problem is whenever I run Window XP, it takes almost two minutes to start. A few days ago, I removed my LG’s CD ROM and attached ASUS CD Writer. Then Window XP took only half a minute to start my PC. Again I connected LG CD ROM. Then again Window XP took almost two minutes to get ready. Someone has told me this is due to faulty jumper setting of CD ROM. My BIOS features are also set to default. Is this correct? Please solve my problem.

Inderjit Singh,
Bathinda.

A. This problem seems to be due to old driver of your hardware – CD RW. You can always check out if the CD RW is connected properly. It should be set to work as Secondary IDE. If it is set correctly then you should upgrade the driver of CD RW with the latest to solve your problem.

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