Posts by TallCool1

hi i am haveing a problem with my Internet explorer. When I connect to the internet. the internet explorer. opens and says finding yahoo but it don't open i have to push the reset and when it starts up again then i could open the internet explorer. to my home page.can some body tell me what happening.

Wow. It's hard to say where to begin! You have so much bloatware and unneeded software, it's surprising that you have enough resources left to run the computer, let alone IE. Resources are precious with Win9x. Let's start with the most obvious.

* OSA & FindFast -- MS Office, unneeded.
* LoadQM -- MSN Messenger, unneeded, resource hog: http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist_l.htm
* TaskMon.exe -- Worthless MS "disk optimizer". Unneeded.
* PCHSchd.exe -- Change how often it runs: http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist_p.htm
* PTUDFAPP.EXE -- Prassi abCD packet-writing application. Old, semi-obsolete, probably not needed. Used mostly by Click 'n' Burn.

It's not clear from your post, but you may be running multiple instances of both virus software (Panda and Norton) and firewall (ZoneAlarm and Norton).

You have way too many browser helper objects (BHOs). Incredimail is adware, and not worth the benefit. Real is not needed.

Upgrade to IE 6 pronto. It's more secure and stable.

Run Spybot Search & Destroy to get rid of as much spyware/adware as possible. It also looks like you are running KaZaa or something similar. This is dangerous.

All-in-all, …

Yes, I've used other burning pgms too (Roxio6) and it burns slower than CloneCD. MusicMatch is not the problem. MM has always been good to me. It rips no problem. It's just when I burn burn-on-the-fly. What baffles me is, it never used to do this before.

It's acting like the CD-burner DMA settings are screwed up in either the BIOS or in the Device Manager. This also fits in with the error messages that you mentioned earlier.

My prefered ripper is EAC (Exact Audio Copy) from http://www.ExactAudioCopy.de -- it works wonders with scuffed CDs.

i just bought a new computer... i followed the manual and everuthing but my computer won't start... i get the folowing message "Radeon 9200 A165SE P/N133-A16501-3D BIOS" and a never ending beep sound
and when i am not getting that message i get
"serial_ch0 master : No Device" and
"serial_ch1 master : No Device" this is just frstrating.

It's not getting past the video card initialization -- it's freezing as soon as it gets to the main power-on self-test. Take it back.

http://www.bzboyz.com/store/product4439.html

Will this work with a AMD ANTLON XP 1800+ and 512 DDRAM 2100?

It looks pretty decent, but I would add an OEM SB Live! at about $30 to replace the crappy AC '97 audio. Also note that for $25 more you can get the ECS K7S5A with on-board LAN and slightly better performance; this will save a PCI slot as well.

When I visit certain sites I have noticed that certain things get changed on my computer. Usually its just a browser home page, but, lately I have seen these sites install software without my approval. THe one that I have problems with is a piece of software called nCase, it's spyware. I use spybot to detect most of the culprits.

Spybot - Search & Destroy has an "immunize" option. Use it; it works pretty well in deflecting many scumware installations. Make sure it's up-to-date.

Another useful thing is to look at IE's History function, accessed with the [Ctrl]+[H] keypress combo. By looking at where you have been, a pattern may emerge if the same malware keeps popping up.

Can somebody refresh me up on how to edit the registery to play dvds that can't be played in the dvd rom in the computer?? I've learned once but i forgot already the steps to edit the registry. There are some dvds that can be played in the dvd player but not in the dvd rom.

Are you having a problem with DVD region encoding? Which DVDs are/are not playing? Which player software are you using? Some DVD-ROM drives have hard-wired region coding, but sometimes their firmware can be flashed to correct or ignore this. Which drive model do you have?

Registry tweaks usually depend on the software -- and hardware -- involved. There are no hard-and-fast tweaks that I know of, but I don't know everything.

So my monitor was turning itself on and off, now it's just stretched horizontally (blurred)... I use the focus adjustments on the flyback and it will get crisp vertically, but still stretched horizontally. The repair shop told me it would cost a lot to find a new transformer and to have them put it in, AND it might just be the CRT. I can't find another place locally to get a 2nd opinion. Anyone have any ideas?

I'm speaking here in relatively general terms -- I have not seen your exact model of monitor.

Not likely CRT. Possible flyback. Most newer monitors have multiple focus controls, especially flat-screen style CRTs. Most have at least one static focus (on the flyback) and dynamic focus. Some, like the ViewSonic and related OptiQuest and Panasonic models may have three controls, sometimes two on the flyback, plus the dynamic on the video driver board or nearby.

With a flat screen the electron beam travels further for edges and corners than the middle; that's one reason why CRT faces used to be a nearly spherical section.

With dynamic focus, the deflection signal is used to modulate the focus for a sharper image edge-to-edge. In your case, it's more likely a power supply or microcontroller problem, based on your stated symptoms. Parts are hard to get for those sometimes. How well does it handle different resolutions?

I saw in a post that someone got one of these for $350 on eBay...

Could you elaborate on your explanation of "for +/- seeking within a file" as it relates to the need for the filesize to be signed? (I'm not a programmer by any means, so I'd appreciate the illumination).

I'm not a programmer, either, but here's how I understand it: a negative offset/signed integer range allows you to index forward or backward from an arbitrary position within a file, hence the need.

Which is the best (read fastest) type of hard drive for a new gaming PC? Are the Serial ATA's the best?

You will get more advantage spending the price differential between serial and parallel ATA on a better sound or graphics card. Those aspects are much more important to the gaming experience than the difference between 100/133 UDMA and SATA, in my opinion.

This is an area that I am not entirely familiar with, hence the following question.

I have a service customer some of whose problems can be traced to a bootleg Windows XP Pro install. When I apprised her of this, she "did the right thing" and obtained a legal OEM copy of XP Pro.

What I would like to do is an in-place reinstall to pick up the new, legal key and a new activation -- while losing as little of the current install as possible. Can anybody give me some quick pointers? Are there instructions somewhere for doing this?

As always, any help is appreciated.

On a windows machine using FAT32, the file size cannot exceed 2 gigs.

Despite DMR's reply, eveything that I have ever read agrees with your 2 GB file-size limit. My reading on this indicates that there's a 4 GB range, but it's signed (for +/- seeking within a file), so the limit is 1/2 the range, hence 2 GB total.

Motherboard - ECS K7S5A

PROBLEM
I have expericened random system restarts since installing the new hard drive, and also have ruled out a RAM problem.

There are a couple of possible problems and solutions here. A main one is the power supply. Adding a high-capacity hard drive can increase the power load. Any PS that is rated less than 300 watts is not suitable. Even higher-capacity supplies that are not rated for the Pentium 4 and/or Athlon XP may not be acceptable. Even if the PS ratings are up to snuff, other factors come into play including its age. If the PS internal fan is bound up, clogged, or spinning slowly, the internal temperature will rise, potentially causing thermal shutdown and component damage.

Another is that some samples of the ECS K7S5A motherboard (and its clone, the PCChips M830LR) are subject to an interesting problem, one which I have direct experience with: the chipset voltage runs a bit high. One of the main symptom of this is the occasional loss of CMOS settings, as though the battery had gone bad; it can also lead to mis-read DDR RAM configuration, hard drive corruption, and other wierd problems. Here's the best link that I have found on this: http://www.geocities.com/mrathlon2000/chipset.html

The power supply is the more likely cause of your problem, but I include the other just in case.

Guys how do you burn some graphics? My CD writer (BenQ) with a speed of 48*16*48 is mostly able to write data and audio.

What kind of graphics do you want to burn? There are ways of creating "slideshow" CDs that will play in DVD players, for example. Of course graphic files can be treated as data, too. What's your intended purpose?

Try degaussing the monitor, if a magnetic field or any kind of magnet was next to the monitor is can cause distortions on the screen and degaussing it will fix the problem.

Not if the distorting field is still present, likely if the problem affects two monitors in the same location. Shadows and off-color areas are usually caused by outside magnetic fields (especially if flickering or varying distortion is involved), often AC transformers. Typical sources include the ballast in a flourescent desk lamp, "wall wart" power cubes in a nearby power strip, small fans, and AC-operated desk clocks or radios. Many of these devices produce magnetic fields even when turned off; large-screen monitors are more susceptible to this.

Hi all,

I have a 21" Dell Ul;trascan monitor which recently leaving 'shadows' or 'stains' on screen. I called our IT guys to check it out and they pronounced it past it's sell by date.
Any ideas what could be wrong? Could it be the PC causing the problem?

If it's not the monitor (per your second post), it could be either the cable (did it change with the new monitor?) or the video card itself.

What you are describing is (I think) what a tech would call ringing, a series (often multiple) of fringes or lines to one side of sharp features on the screen such as the vertical edges of text letters or windows. This usually indicates one or more bad ground contacts (cable shield ground or video signal returns), hence the question about the cable. If the connector on the back of the video card has been stressed or was poorly soldered, one or more of the ground contacts may have pulled loose from the video-card printed circuit board (PCB), causing similar symptoms.

Also possible, though less likely, is a bad electrolytic capacitor on the vid-card or motherboard. These act as power filters -- when they go bad, you would see smearing or ringing in the video -- and are susceptible to drying out due to heat.

ever since msn was updated, i can't send any emails through my hotmail account!

Hotmail now uses JavaScript to access features (interesting, since Java is so deprecated at MS...). The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) in Windows is really badly broken and incomplete. Start by making sure that your Windows patches are up-to-date via Windows Update, then check my
Best-of-breed free software for Microsoft Windows page for the link to the Sun JVM. Download and install it. That should help.

Just in case there is any other poor soul on this board that is still running Win98 like me... I wonder if I'll be able to get those handy patches any more?

Note that it says Windows 98 and not Windows 98 SE. Anyone who hasn't updated to SE already should do an in-place upgrade now, even if from a borrowed disc.

For a long time, I have been telling folks to go to the Corporate Download Center and download everything they find for 98 and SE and burn it to a CD. Those patches, though, should still be available -- just none new after end-of-life.

I purchased a stick of 512k generic pc133 sdram put it in my computer and now my computer locks up. Why? Does the ram have to be the same brand?

Not usually. Does it lock up right away, or after a period of time?

Make sure the RAM is properly seated (even I get stung by this sometimes). Try running just the new DIMM by itself. Check the BIOS to ensure that the RAM timings have not been tweaked. Try putting the generic stick in the first slot, since the chipset gets its timings from the first DIMM it finds.

That's all I can think of for now...

lol, i have about 100 gigs of stuff, if I lost it all, I'd commit suicide :D

I know what you mean. Looks like some of us need to invest in a DVD burner... I can hardly wait for the 23 GB discs...

But can I run different ones on different machines on the same network?

Yes, and that actually might be a good idea. You can use one to cross-check another; if a virus is caught on one--but not the other, you would know that one virus checker was weak or not up-to-date. It would be slightly more maintenance (keeping 'em straight), but the network would be more secure as a result.

If the PCs on the network are similarly provisioned, it would also allow comparisons as to effectiveness and resource usage between programs.

Would you therefore suggest that I return the machine to the network? By the way, the screen of that machine keeps on flickering and looks like its shaking. Though at times its quite stable. Can you explain the erratic behaviour of the screen also

I think a network connection is OK. It has been in my case, anyway.

"Screen shaking" and flickering is usually caused by outside magnetic fields, usually AC transformers. Typical sources include the ballast in a flourescent desk lamp, "wall wart" power cubes, small fans, and AC-operated desk clocks or radios. Many of these devices produce magnetic fields even when turned off; large-screen monitors are more susceptible to this.

I have a machine that is on my network & internet. Some few minutes ago I realised that the automatic antivirus scan had gone off. When I launched the virus scan, I noticed that the automatic scan had gone off/was disabled. I tried enabling it but in vain. What's the cause of this? Might this still be another virus or trojan?

Almost certainly. You might want to try a full manual scan and the use of another virus checker like the free Grisoft AVG http://www.Grisoft.com to track it down. Also use Spybot - Search & Destroy from http://Security.Kolla.de and Ad-Aware 6.181 (or later) from http://www.LavaSoft.nu. Update all programs with the newest reference files before doing a scan.

Hi there,
I have worrying problem. Whenever I power on my machine, a light blue screen appears before loading windows. It then requests scan disk within a specified period but also requests that I press any key to load without scan disk.

I'm in the process of solving the same problem for a customer. I don't think it's a virus or Trojan; I'm 99% sure it's one or more corrupted files connected with the NT file system (NTFS). She has a bootleg install of XP Pro (she didn't know), so I had her buy a legal OEM copy on Ebay. As soon as I fix things, I'll report back.

Her system has been like this for months, with no other obvious problems, so I'm not too worried, but we gotta fix it soon.

Hi, my internet explorer is messed up right now. i have windows xp. whenever im on any site and i right click, theres this link thats right above properties and under print and refresh. the link leads me to a porn site. ive tried getting rid of it by going to add/remove programs and i tried using ad-aware, but the link is still there. i dont have the internet explorer cd so i cant reinstall it. please someone help me!

The right-click context menu list is maintained in the Registry. I have not checked this myself, but if you enter the text string into the search function in regedit as it appears in the menu, you may find it. Sorry I can't be more specific, but this info may help.

Have Win XP pro, when I go to the run menu and type in a letter it brings up a url. I have deleted my cookies, history and files for IE and Netscape. Does anyone know how to get rid of it?

That information is stored in the Registry, but there is a tool for it, TweakUI. I have not used it under XP, but if it's like all earlier versions of the utility, there's a tab labeled Paranoia which allows you to clear things like the Document History and the Run string-box. It's one of the Windows PowerToys and can be downloaded individually.

Basically I was listening to a song I'd just downloaded, and just as it finished - I mean the very second it finished - the screen flashed and went the shape that it is now. I restarted only to find I didn't have full control over the mouse. I restarted again and I could only go into safe mode.

That's sure a different scenario, but most of my suggestions above still apply. It sounds like your video-card driver was damaged somehow. What card do you have? Go into the Device Manager and look under Display Adapters to find out what you have. The easy way into the Device Manager is to press-and-hold the Windows logo key, then press the Pause/Break key.

You might also try to restore the Registry from a backup. Boot into a DOS screen and run scanreg /restore.

I had Kazza and got tons of popups so I reinstalled XP (cause KAZZA wouldn't go away). Now I can connect to the internet fine and everything appears OK, but after maybe five minute connected the modem starts sending and recieving data that I have no control over. I talked to my IPNS and they said there's no problems with the line at all. If you have any ideas at all or know of any software that would be useful.

One way to find out would be to download and install the free version of the ZoneAlarm firewall software from http://www.ZoneLabs.com. Running ZA would force programs to "ask permission" before going online, and you could find the culprit. The Task Manager can also help, by seeing what's running in the TaskList.

You also need to make sure that you have all your XP patches up-to-date and that you have UPnP and the Messenger service turned off. See http://www.GRC.com for more on these.

I've got some kind of virus from Kazaa and I'm wondering if anyone can help. Basically, the screen is squashed horizontally and stretched vertically, i.e. you can't see the top or bottom of the screen and there are big black borders on the sides. I've virus scanned with the latest Norton update and haven't found anything; I've tried reinstalling display drivers (monitor and graphics card), and I've fiddled around with the　monitor's display settings as much as I can.

I've managed to make it a little more navigable, but it's still nothing like what it should be. It seems to be affecting DOS as well, as before it even loads Windows the screen is distorted.

It's a hardware problem with the monitor. It was not caused by a virus--there's no way a virus could cause this. Fiddling with Windows settings will only be of slight help. Most likely, it's a power supply or microcontroller problem. The fact that it happens at the DOS screen is a clear indication--the Registry is not in effect at that point.

You could try different resolutions and refresh rates in an attempt to minimize the problem. An excellent utility for this purpose is MultiRes: http://www.EntechTaiwan.com. It allows you to switch resolutions and refresh rates on-the-fly, and it's free.

Everytime I try to open IE a message appears stating that IE has performed an illegal operation. When I close that message box another box appears with a message stating that I am restricted from from using the internet connection wizard contact the network administrator. I am running Win98 on my computer and it is not connected to any LAN.

The first thing that I would recommend is an update to IE 6. IE 4 is no longer supported, and is so riddled with bugs and security holes as to be a danger to yourself and others.

"But," you say "I can't get on the Internet to download it!" We've got that covered--the AOL 9.0 disk has IE 6 on it, since 9.0 requires it. Both versions (for Win98/ME and Win2K/XP) are found on the CD in the AOL9.0 directory as single executable files. I'm sure that you can dig up an AOL 9.0 disk somewhere... heh.

Be sure to download the patches, etc. as soon as possible from http://WindowsUpdate.Microsoft.com. Also scan for scumware.

Start by downloading Spybot - Search & Destroy via http://Security.Kolla.de and Ad-Aware 6.181 (or later) via http://www.LavaSoft.nu. Update both programs with the new reference files before doing a scan. It's not so much that you absolutely need both as it's a good cross-check; spyware authors are sneaky.

Can someone please help me determine what items I should eliminate, as they are likely responsible for my homepage being redirected to an unknown site .... as well as the abundance of pop-ups. I have Google toolbar with pop-up blocker but that does not prevent these new breed of pop-ups

Where do I start? You have been hijacked! CommonName is only the most obvious. There are also a plethora of Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), most of which are hijackers.

If you want to know about what's in your startup, see http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.php
For more details about hijacking scumware in general, the two best sources that I've found so far:
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm and http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

Start the repairs by downloading Spybot -Search & Destroy via http://Security.Kolla.de and Ad-Aware 6.181 (or later) via http://www.LavaSoft.nu. Update both programs with the new reference files before doing a scan. It's not so much that you absolutely need both as it's a good cross-check; spyware authors are sneaky.

Make sure that your Windows 2000 patches are up-to-date. You should also go to the Gibson Research website. There, you can download the utilities Shoot the Messenger and Unplug Plug 'n' Pray to further secure your system.

That should get you started.

howdy all, the old monk here, with a poser. My 'puter really wants a 350 watt p.s., but I've only got a 200. Is it possible to slave a second p.s. to get the extra, needed watts???

It's better just to replace the whole thing. You can buy a 400W power supply for as little as $30, and the replacement is easier than setting up a slave* PS, which can cause problems in some situations.

*This reply invalid in Los Angeles County...
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/master.asp

Just a poll ... where are all you linux gurus most comfortable? Where do you do most of your work? Where are you more efficient? ... Well, you get the idea.

Ahh... but which environment are you referring to? Physical or virtual? Hardware or software? Rec room or cubicle?

My computer dials the internet without any input from me. I have gone into internet options/connections/settings/properties/options/redial attempts and reconfigured redial and it still redials the internet. Why?

Likely it's a Trojan porn dialer or, possibly, spyware trying to "phone home". You should be able to find it with something like Codestuff Starter http://Codestuff.Mirrorz.com[/b] to look at what's running and what's in the Startup list; it will likely show up there. You should also run Spybot Search & Destroy http://Security.Kolla.de or Ad-aware http://www.Lavasoft.nu to scan and stomp scumware of all types, including dialers and keyloggers.

Thats the exact problem I am having BlakeZombie. I have changed the Memory and graphics card and my computer still freezes. I have also got a new heatsink to make sure it wasnt a heat problem

What motherboard do you have? How old? There is a problem with a component common to all motherboards--many MBs produced about 1-3 years ago have bad electrolytic capacitors around the CPU. These are used as power storage devices and filters. When they go bad, all kinds of problems ensue. This problem affects many brands: Abit and MSI are two that I have had experience with.

It seems that the electrolyte formula used in these some of these special caps left out a part of the formula that absorbs the hydrogen gas produced in normal operation. This causes swelling; the equivalent series resistance (ESR) rises, exacerbating the problem.

If these components are bad, it's usually visible. They are clustered around or near the CPU socket and are roughly the diameter of a cigarette and about an inch high. They are usually dark green or blue in color with gold lettering. If they are bad, they will have bulged tops and/or be leaking goo. I have written a detailed explanation of this problem and how to fix it on the PCStats forum; I will rewrite it and post it here, if there's interest.

Its been a few days that my internet explorer stopped working and i have no idea what went wrong. I am almost sick and tired of using MSN explorer and Mozilla.

What version of Mozilla? It's up to 1.5 now, it's good.

Have you checked the proxy settings or other LAN settings? Go to the menu: Tools -> Internet options -> Connections -> LAN Settings... Mouse-click on it to access--well, you know. Proxy and others are there.

HI! I have been having problems with MSN Messenger, Explorer, and Hotmail lately.

Do You have the latest version of the .NET Framework installed? There were recent changes to Passport that require the use of the newer software. Go to Windows Update and download it if it shows up as not installed yet.

I have found that an easy way to make sure that you are typing your password in correctly (damn those asterisks and my wandering fingers!) is to type it into something like NotePad (so you can see it) and then copy-and-paste it into the entry field.

if your not going to be using it to play games, go with a 17in CRT save you tons of cash

Not only that, but LCDs have serious drawbacks that keep them off my "recommended" list, including:

* High cost
* Backlight problems
* Dead pixels
* Inferior contrast ratios
* Slow response
* Fixed resolution
* Limited viewing angle

I'm waiting for the OLED displays to arrive...

A water drip sound plays every once and a while while the computer is in use. I do not know where it is coming from, I've checked sound preferences in control panel, as well as internet options (i see no sound prefs there). How do I get rid of it?

Are you running a pop-up blocker? Many of them produce audio cues when a pop-up is blocked.

I am running a pentium 4.1400.m.d.g I am thinking about getting norton ghost 2003 enterprise edition will the enterprise edition work on a home os.i know that the norton 2003 edition will.i dont know if the enterprise edition is a server based backup program or not any help will be appreciated.

Why Ghost? Why EE? Is there some particular function or tool that you get that way that you don't get otherwise? There are many really decent backup/imaging programs, some are even free. Please fill us in.

Pixels reduced to 640x480 week ago on 16 colors.
Since then have tried:
Download / install new drivers (NVidia Vanta LT) / Restore to month earlier, then a complete restore to factory settings / Switching monitor and cable / Wiggle and take out and replace video card / BIOS check - (AIDA 32 said over 2 yrs old but compaq has no updates on site). Full virus check (-ve)
Exclamation mark by display adaptor but refuses to be deleted. Is it time to give up and buy a new video card?

I don't think you installed the drivers correctly. Which version of Windows are you running? Are you downloading the Detonator drivers straight from nVidia? There's nothing wrong with the TNT2-series boards for basic video, unless you are running high-impact games or doing fancy graphics rendering.

The most recent versions of nV drivers must be removed via the Add/Remove Programs menu, or you will get version conflicts. If it does not show in the menu, earlier versions must be removed using a tool appropriate for your version of Windows. A good selection of drivers and tools are available at at http://www.Guru3D.com/download.

More information, please.

I am running Xp. Harddrives run all the time i think. All settings are set to what they are suppose to be. I run virus and spyware scans all the time, and are current.And i have AC97 but think i am running sound blaster 5.1.

Another possible diagnostic technique would be to use something like TinyResMeter or CPUCool (find using Google) to monitor CPU usage. You could also play an MP3 music file in the background to see if there's a glitch during the lag time. If the CPU usage meter goes to 100% (or close) or the MP3 playback breaks up, those are clues.

My computer has a hiccup. Acts like it lags out. I have MSI board with AMD2600+ processor, 2 harddrives, cdrw and dvd player. I`ve done disk scan, disk cleanup, and defrag, still has a pause when trying to do anything.

* Exactly which OS are you running?
* Are your hard drives set to power down after a time (in BIOS or Windows settings)?
* Are your IDE DMA settings correct in the BIOS?
* Is your hard drive encrypted?
* Have you run a virus and spyware scan? If so, are your data files current?
* Are you running AC '97 on-board sound? This can sometimes cause lagging due to interrupt/IRQ switching (admittedly, rarely--but I have seen it). A decent PCI sound card helps here.
* Go into the BIOS and turn S.M.A.R.T. on, then download a free utility like HDD Health from http://www.panterasoft.com to test the hard drive (there are others, as well).

S.M.A.R.T. is a self-monitor feature built into current hard drives. It can report hardware problems, including impending failure. There is some system overhead involved, which is why it is turned off by default--but it is useful in a case like this.

hey guys ive just d/loaded need for speed underground demo from download.com
when in the folder i d/loaded to it has next to the file name its icon is the white box with blue header to it unsted of the usual installer icon
when i click on it to install nothing happens i get the eggtimer icon for 5 seconds then nothing

What is the full filename, with extension?

you shouldnt need IE for your dsl to work fully

Not quite true, unfortunately. For example, in order to "officially" sign up for SBC/Yahoo!, Internet Explorer is required--in theory, Linux users are out of luck. There are work-arounds, though--and once set up, any browser will work.

As far as the AOL browser working and IE not, it would have to be some sort of configuration error, since the AOL browser is just a front end for IE. Most configuration options are handled in the Tools menu; it's likely something like a proxy or security setting error. Are you still using dial-up for AOL? Try using IE to browse on AOL--IE normally works fine for the internet under AOL, and if it works (or not), that's one more clue.

I have a Knoppix disk that I boot to and run from the CD, I haven't played with it that much, no time,was wondering can this same cd install on hard drive.

Knoppix can be used as an installer, though I would make sure to use the latest version (currently V3.3-2003-11-19). There's a script called knoppix-installer which automates most of the process; it takes roughly 30 minutes, including initial setup.

How complex the process is depends on what other OSs you have installed. If you are running Windows 2000 or XP, you may be running the NTFS file system, which Linux can read but can't write to directly (though there is now a "wrapper" so that Windows' own NTFS driver can be used indirectly).

In my case I have a separate hard drive with Linux installed (they are pretty cheap these days). All my partitions except Linux are vFAT, so I can read them from Windows or Linux. A utility on the Knoppix disc can also be used to re-size non-NTFS partitions without loss of data.

If I hear a BEEP!!! on power up The monitor will come on normally and I can see normal post info. If no beep on Pwr UP screen comes on black and all else seems to be pwr'd up ok eg.hdd, fans,cdrom.

When an IBM PC-compatible computer is first powered up, it goes through a procedure known as power-on self test (POST). If it passes, you hear a single beep. Errors produce what are known as beep codes (patterns). Things that produce beep codes are missing or bad RAM, no graphics card, etc. No beeps indicate it's not even getting that far. Typical causes for this include poor CPU seating (make sure that the CPU socket is properly latched), a loose power connector, or a stuck or misconnected reset switch. Other physical problems include a marginal power supply or (rarely) a bad keyboard. Your keyboard is USB, so that's out.

Since it POSTs OK sometimes, it could be a BIOS setting like CPU clock speed, multiplier, or voltage, or possibly RAM speed, timing, or voltage.

When it does boot, go to setup. Check the Hardware Monitor menu and look at the power supply voltages. Look at the CPU Frequency & Voltage menu and make sure that it matches your actual CPU speed/multiplier/voltage specs. Look at the menu containing the RAM timings and (possibly) voltages to see if they are correct. Note: Menu names may vary with the type of BIOS used.

Let us know what you find.

I have a Dell P4 running XP. I recently picked up a downloader.tooncom virus that is identified as an exploit in Windows Media Player. I have Norton Anti Virus Pro 2004 and Spybot and Pest Patrol, but none of them can remove this virus. Does anyone have any idea how I can get rid of it? It seems to reside in the boot sector somewhere. I have done numerous scans with System Restore OFF, but to no avail.
Thanks in advance for any advice---Aero96

It's actually a Trojan, not a virus, and nearly all current anti-virus software can deal with it, including Norton (as pointed out on the Symantec site via Google), as well as the free version of Grisoft AVG. Make sure that your virus definition files are up-to-date, as it's only about a month old.

when my computer starts up a get an error message that says error loading cmicnfg.cpl. I think that this may have something to do w/ my previous post. Please respond if you can help

This is a reference to the onboard sound, also known as AC '97 sound. Do you have a sound card plugged in? This can lead to confusion within Windows if the onboard sound is not turned off.

The biggest problem I had when I first did this was with the front panel wires and where they plug into the motherboard.

Good point, CJ. It's a good idea to make a diagram of the connectors before unplugging the wires; MBs are sometimes not marked too clearly, and even if they are, polarity markings may be hard to read. Quadrille paper is useful for clear diagrams.

Another tip (and one that just bit a friend) is to note what kind of battery is used for the clock and CMOS. They are known as "coin cells". This way, if it goes south, you can get the battery before you have to tear down the system. In fact, I would replace the cell on the PIII board before I put it in the case as a preventive measure. They are cheap, and widely available. Even Radio Shack has a good selection of them.

Knoppix is such a useful disc in and of itself; backup/restore tool (for Linux and Windows), Linux introduction and learning tool, Debian installer, and more--and free. It's the installer aspect that I'm so pleased with right now.

I recently reinstalled Linux to my system using the latest version, using the latest version of the install script. From start to finish, it took less than 30 minutes. After I answered a few questions, the rest continued unattended; the resulting install needed very little fine-tuning.

This was much better than my previous Knoppix install, from a June version. Though I was pleased with the eventual outcome, it took a lot more tweaking to get it to a useable state. Admittedly, I know a lot more about Linux now than I did then--and I hardly use Windows anymore--but the new installer script works great. I would dump Windows completely, if I didn't have to help the oldsters with it (I teach computers to senior citizens for a nearby city's recreation center) and answer questions for others (not that I mind--I'm here, ain't I?).

As much as anything, I did a scratch reinstall as a learning tool. I'm glad I did. Another good thing: using Knoppix, I was able to back up my old version in less than 15 minutes--I can always fall back if I have to.

In my opinion, with hard drives being so cheap these days, there's no reason for a serious/power user to not have a …