Tips will be updated on a regular basis
Professional Problem
Solving Secret!
Many, many computer problems, especially software problems, can be solved by typing your error message, exactly as it appears, into a good Internet search engine, such as Google! Usually, there will be a response from someone that has already had that problem, with a solution!
Rule Number One: Keeping Windows Behaved.
There are three steps to keeping your computer well mannered, these are presented in order of importance.
Step One: Anytime your system locks up, or reboots suddenly, or is not shut down properly by clicking START, SHUT DOWN, SHUT DOWN, run SCANDISK. If you suspect your system is having problems, run SCANDISK. If you think about it, and haven't run it in a while, run SCANDISK.
Why?? Let's examine what scandisk does. The principal function of scandisk is to scan the hard drive for lost clusters. What are lost clusters? Everything on your hard drive is stored in groups of information called clusters. A cluster may be anywhere from 4000 characters to 32000 characters, depending on what version of Windows you have, and how large your hard drive is. A very small file will occupy 4000 characters. A very large file may comprise many clusters. Suffice to say if the computer is not shut down properly, the operating system may not have an accurate count of the exact number of clusters a file SHOULD occupy, and some clusters may get LOST. Once this gets started, it can have a snowball effect, causing more files to have lost clusters. The advanced case of lost clusters causes different files to think they actually occupy the same space - these are called cross-linked files. SCANDISK will find lost clusters and report them back to you - in 99.9% of the cases, these files are worthless and should be DELETED. CROSS-LINKED files, should you be unlucky enough to ever have any, should be given copies of the same information. Remember, when in doubt, run SCANDISK!
Step Two: Temporary file
cleanup. In the old days of desktop computers, and software we used had to fit
in the small amount of memory (RAM) we had available. Today's modern computer
uses both RAM and hard disk space to run our software. When hard disk space is
used, temporary files are created for this, usually in the \WINDOWS\TEMP
folder. If you shut down your computer properly, the temporary files are
removed. If not, they remain, and worse can have lost clusters. (See above)
Periodically, you should check the \WINDOWS\TEMP folder for temporary files,
and remove them.
The easiest
way to remove files in Windows 98 or later versions is to start by opening MY
COMPUTER (find the MY COMPUTER icon on your desktop and double click on the
icon.) Move your mouse cursor over the icon for the “C” drive, then using the
right button of your mouse, right click on the “C” drive icon. This should open
a menu. The last item on the menu should be “PROPERTIES”, left click on
“PROPERTIES”. Look in the lower right hand section of the window that pops up,
you should see a button “Disk Cleanup”. Click this button. You will see a list
of various files that can be removed, and how much space (MB) those files
occupy. Be sure that each box is checked if there are files. The click the OK
button to remove the files.
This will help, but will not remove all of the temporary files!
This is best done from a DOS prompt, in the following steps:
1) Click on START, PROGRAMS, DOS PROMPT This should get you to a black screen with a C:> prompt, or perhaps some folder. Don't panic!!!
2) Type the following: CD\WINDOWS\TEMP and press the enter key. You should see the prompt change to C:\WINDOWS\TEMP > Then type the command DEL *.TMP and press the enter key. This will remove all the temp files! Then type the word EXIT and press the enter key, and you will return to Windows again. Simple, huh!!
Step Three: Keeping our files
"organized". Without going into a lot of detail, as we use our
computer, files that we use on a daily basis can become fragmented, or broken
up into parts. It is a natural process of the Windows operating system and
cannot be avoided. When a file gets broken into parts, sometimes the computer
has to hunt all over the hard drive to find all the parts of a file, and that
can become a rather tedious process, right? (It's like looking all over the
house for that thingy you just set down a minute ago!) There is a program
designed to find all those parts, and assemble them back into one piece, so the
computer has an easier time of finding them when you need them! It's called
DEFRAG, and it is found by clicking on START, ACCESSORIES, SYSTEM TOOLS,
DEFRAG. If defrag has not been run in some time, it may take hours to complete
its task, but the overall result is a computer that will run a little faster
for you, and will not have to work as hard!
TIP:
Sometimes
you may receive an error message to the effect of “Windows has restarted this
program 10 times…” and SCANDISK, or DEFRAG never seem to complete. This is
usually due to services running in the background that are writing to your hard
drive while it is being scanned or defragged. These could include firewalls,
anti-virus, screen savers, etc. You might need to start Windows in what is called
“Safe Mode”. Safe Mode is a very simple mode of Windows, used for some
“debugging” purposes. Your screen will look funny, and you won’t have access to
peripherals, such as printers, modems, CDROM drives, etc. But you WILL be able
to complete Scandisk or Defrag!
To start your computer in “Safe Mode”, you will need to either: (1) Repeatedly tap the Function Key labeled F8 when you first start to see text appear on the screen (if you see a graphic image, such as “Starting Windows…” you are too late – retstart and try again) or, (2) Try holding down the CTRL (Control) key while the system starts up. In either case, you should get a Start-up Menu, and you can then select “Safe Mode” from this menu. Once you have finished Scandisk and/or Defrag you can restart your computer normally. [top]
The most
common method of transmitting viruses today is by email attachments. NEVER,
NEVER open an attachment if you are suspicious! I always will first send an
email letting a recipient know I am sending an attachment in a following email,
just as courtesy. I suspect any email with a suspicious subject line or text,
and will delete the message immediately, even if it comes from a well known
source. They can always resend the attachment if it was genuine!
Today’s
viruses can use your address book to send out emails containing the virus, this
is a very popular way of distribution. You won’t know this is happening. They
may even pick an address at random, and use this for the RETURN ADDRESS, so it
looks like the virus comes from someone else!!
The latest
variants can spread a virus if you simply display the message – it does not use
an attachment!! This method exploits known vulnerabilities in Outlook Express,
the email software provided by Microsoft as part of your Windows package. There
are two ways to avoid this: 1)
Download from Microsoft the latest updates or service patches for Outlook
Express or Outlook. 2) Quit using
Outlook/Outlook Express as your email client, and use a third party email
client such as Netscape, Eudora, or even Calypso. There are free versions of
these clients available off the Internet, just use a search engine to find
them. They look and work similar to Outlook, but are not subject to the virus
attacks.
Use one of the
popular anti-virus tools available from Symantec, McAfee, TrendMicro, or
PandaSoftware. Our choice is PandaSoftware – they have been the best at
detecting and removing viruses! Symantec and McAfee have both been problematic with other software. MOST
IMPORTANT –you need to keep the VIRUS DATABASE current!! Otherwise, it’s like
trying to prevent this years flu bug with last years flu vaccine – it just
doesn’t happen!
If you suspect
your computer might be infected, contact us immediately! Some viruses are just
a nuisance, but there are a few that can completely disable your computer!
For lots more
information, try this link to Trend
Micro
VIRUS HOAXES: Unfortunately there are many hoaxes concerned with viruses. 99% of the emails that warn about “such and such” a Virus, are usually a hoax. Before you perform the actions recommended in the email, such as deleting files, etc, find out more information first. Type the name of the so-called virus into a search engine, such as Google, and you will soon find out the truth![top]
Nothing on the screen:
1) Is the computer on? (Really, not kidding here) and seem to boot up properly?
2) Do you have a power light on the monitor?
3) Check the cable that leads from the monitor to the computer and reseat it if necessary
4) Do you hear a series of beeps when you turn on the computer? The video card may be loose inside the system. Open the case and reseat the card.
5) If you have access to another system, swap parts and see if the failed item stays failed.
6) Bring the
box/monitor in for check out.
Wavy stuff on the screen, screen parts are repeated in other places on the screen, usually caused by your video card's refresh rate is too high for your monitor.
1) Boot the system in safe mode (Win 95, F8 key, Win98, Control key)
2) Click START, SETTINGS, CONTROL PANEL, DISPLAY, PROPERTIES
3) Goto settings, and advanced. Somewhere in there (depends on display driver) will be a section on refresh, set that to DEFAULT and OK your way out
4) Reboot to normal mode. [top]
If the system won't boot
1) Check for a "ticking noise" you turn on the computer - this may indicate hard drive FAILURE
2) Check to see if you left a floppy in the floppy drive, remove it and reboot.
3) Bring the system in for check out. [top]
Managing your messages: Here's a great tip to organize your incoming e-mail into manageable folders, especially if you belong to several list servers and receive lots of mail every day. It is easy to set up "guidelines" for your messages so that they are placed in separate folders when they arrive, according to subject matter. Messages pertaining to subject "A" will be placed in the "A" folder, subject "B" in the "B" folder, and so forth.
In NETSCAPE, open Communicator, then click on Edit/Message Filters. Clicking NEW will allow you to set up a new filter of your preference, and to move designated messages into a new folder. The same task can be done in Internet Explorer by clicking Tools/Message Rules/Mail.
Contrary to what some people might have you think, it is POSSIBLE to transmit a virus to another computer strictly through e-mail! A virus CAN BE transmitted via an attachment you receive with an e-mail, if you receive an attachment, and are suspicious, do not open the attachment!!! Delete the e-mail message, and carry on....
Recently, some users
have received a message to the effect of "CERTIFICATE of AUTHORIZATION has
EXPIRED" This has appeared on some older versions of browsers. It is not
harmful, but the recommendation is to upgrade the version of the Internet
browser you are using. More information can be found on Netscape's home page. [top]
