The
support doctor is in! 
SPC Computers Technicians will offer end users of
computers and networking equipment online technical support. From time to time
our technicians will
post support information on this site to help you with your
problem. Below are some helpful hints and software programs that you can
download for free from our site from other vendors.
If you came to this page without looking at our Support Agreement Page first you
can look at it here by clicking on the stop sign
 Question
#1 |
I Just
Upgraded To
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 Answer: |
Most of the Internet connectivity problems arise out of corrupt Winsock settings. Windows sockets settings may get corrupted due to a networking software installation, spyware or remnants of it. You may notice errors such as "Page cannot be displayed" or similar, in Internet Explorer. You will be able to get connected to the Internet, but the packets won't transfer back and forth. One of the main cause for these problems is the corruption of Winsock settings. In any case, you may use these methods to repair/reset the Windows Sockets settings to defaults. Winsock now has the ability to self-heal after a user uninstalls such an LSP. Two new Netsh commands are available in Windows XP Service Pack 2. • netsh winsock reset catalog This command resets the Winsock catalog to the default configuration. This can be useful if a malformed LSP is installed that results in loss of network connectivity. While use of this command can restore network connectivity, it should be used with care because any previously-installed LSPs will need to be re-installed. • netsh winsock show catalog This command displays the list of Winsock LSPs that are installed on the computer. To output the results to a file type this in Command Prompt (CMD.EXE) netsh winsock show catalog >C:\lsp.txt
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Question
#2 |
What is Microsoft
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Answer: |
A service pack is an update to a software
application that provides fixes and enhancements to the product. Service
packs can either be downloaded or ordered directly from the company.
Windows XP Service Pack 2 is mostly about security. It will give you tools to easily view, understand, and control the security aspects of your computer. It includes changes in the operating system to nearly every area related to computer and network security. |
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Question
#3 |
What to Do Before You Download
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Answer: |
You will need to follow some easy steps to
prepare your Dell computer before you download and install Windows XP
Service Pack 2.
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Question
#4 |
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Answer: |
The term spyware refers to
software that gathers personal information from your computer, sometimes
without your knowledge. The information is often used for advertising
purposes. Spyware may cause your computer to slow down or encounter
errors. Spyware has also been known to cause unwanted pop-up
advertisements, an inability to connect to the Internet, and problems
printing. Spyware applications can be bundled as a hidden component of free programs downloaded from the Internet. Once installed, spyware can monitor your activity on the Internet and transmit that information to a third party. Some forms of spyware can gather information about e-mail addresses, passwords, and even credit card numbers. A common way to get spyware is through the installation of file-swapping programs that are used to download music and movies from the Internet. |
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Question
#5 |
What is Spam And How Can You Avoid It ? |
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Answer: |
Internet Spam by
definition is unsolicited commercial email sent to a large number of
addresses. Spam has become a major problem throughout the Internet. The individuals that send spam have a variety of utilities they use to harvest or guess email addresses. Most spam is generated outside of this country and presently there are no international laws regulating it. There are a few states that have laws regarding spam but these laws, as they are set up presently, are difficult if not impossible to enforce. These are some things you can keep in mind regarding your email address to help you avoid becoming a target for spammers and their mailing lists: 1. Avoid using your email address in chat rooms and bulletin board sites. Many marketers use utility programs that harvest email addresses of individuals posting to these kinds of sites. If you must use an email address, get a secondary email with another ISP and then use it for these sites. Any spam would then be sent to that account instead of your account. 2. Don't reply to unsolicited junk email, even if the message tells you to in order to be removed from their list. Replying to it only validates your email address, leaving you open to be added to even more spammer lists. 3. Treat spam as you would a telemarketing phone call or mail solicitation. Don't believe their wild promises, just delete it. 4. If a website, business, or individual asks for your email address, treat it like you would your telephone number. Don't give it out without asking who will use it and whether they will share it. Ok, now that you know what to do to help yourself avoid spam it is also important that you realize, there is no way for you to evade it 100%. Spammers have utility programs that can generate or guess email addresses for particular domain names and send to them. If your email address happens to be one that they generate or guess, you've just received their spam. This is why its also important to setup filters or Anti-Spam blockers to help ward off a majority of your spam mail. |
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Question
#6 |
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Answer: |
SPC Computers offers spyware removal software to download such as Ad-Aware 2008 or SuperAntiSpyware which have received favorable reviews in many computer industry trade publications and other related web sites. To find or learn more about these applications, simply search the Internet using your favorite search engine. Alternatively, spyware removal software may be added as an upgrade to the anti-virus application that came with your system. NOTE: Support for spyware removal applications is provided by the manufacturers of the applications themselves and Not SPC Computers. |
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Question
#7 |
What is a Virus ? |
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Answer: |
Viruses are self-executing, self-replicating programs. They alter the way a computer operates without the knowledge or permission of the user. When activated, viruses may damage files, cause erratic system behavior, or display annoying messages. The ability to self-replicate differentiates viruses from Trojan horses, worms, and other virus-like programs. |
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Question
#8 |
What is a Worm ? |
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Answer: |
A worm is a self-replicating virus that does not alter files but resides in active memory and duplicates itself. Worms use parts of an operating system that are automatic and usually invisible to the user. It is common for worms to be noticed only when their uncontrolled replication consumes system resources, slowing or halting other tasks. |
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Question
#9 |
What is a Trojan Horse ? |
| Answer: |
Trojan horses are malicious programs disguised as something
benign. They've been known to pose as games, utilities, and email
attachments. Once opened, Trojan horses act much differently than you
expect. Some merely annoy, sending emails to everyone in your address
book. Others do serious damage, to the point of stealing passwords and
data files. Unlike viruses, Trojan horses are not self-replicating.
Active Trojan horses are an advanced type of Trojan horse. They use unprotected ports to open lines of communication with your computer, and they can ultimately give hackers control over your machine. Active Trojan horses are also called Remote Access Trojans. |
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Question
#10 |
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Answer: |
A BIOS upgrade will usually contain one or more of the following: additional BIOS features, fixes for various bugs and/or compatibility problems, and additional CPU support. The newest BIOS upgrade will always contain the fixes from earlier revisions (so you do not need to flash every BIOS revision between your current revision and the latest revision). However, if your system is working without problems or conflicts, then it isn't recommended that you flash your BIOS. If it isn't broke, don't fix it! Trying to fix a working system might result in a non-working one! Please note, BIOS update is only recommended when experiencing technical difficulties with your system, And is not recommended to be performed regularly. Moreover, due to the nature of BIOS update, there is certain level of dangers involved. BIOS update must be performed with extreme caution . During BIOS update process, your system must be maintained without interference or power loss to prevent unexpected damage. In case of BIOS update failure, please follow instructions in your User's Manual for guidelines on BIOS recovery via CrashFree BIOS. In the event that BIOS recovery is not recoverable via CrashFree BIOS, please contact your place of purchase for further assistance on BIOS recovery. |
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Question
#11 |
How Do I Find The IP Address Of My Computer ? |
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Answer: |
Windows 9x Windows 2000 Linux |
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Question
#12 |
What Is The Difference Between A Hub And A Switch ? |
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Answer: |
Generally, a switch is much faster than a hub and reduces collisions/retransmissions. Switches send traffic only to the destination device/port, while hubs broadcast the data to all ports. If you have a choice, a switch will provide more reliable and faster transfers of data. Typically it is hard to notice a difference between hub and switch transfer speeds in small LANs (2 to 3 devices), however the more devices you introduce to the network, the greater advantage of using a switch. |
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Question
#13 |
How Do You Disable CD AutoPlay When Windows Scanned For A Newly Inserted CD ? |
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Answer: |
Disabling this feature let’s the CPU do other things besides looking for a CD every second 1. Right Click My Computer. |
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Question
#14 |
What
is
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Answer: |
Windows Experience (Windows
XP) is the name for the next version of Windows 2000 (formerly known as
Whistler). Technically, Windows XP isn't the huge jump that Win2K was from
Windows NT 4.0, but Windows XP does realize Microsoft's long-term plan of
one code base. Starting with Windows XP, there will be no more Windows
Millennium Edition (Windows Me) or Windows 9x.
The differences between Windows XP Personal and Windows XP Professional are minor. Windows XP Personal supports only one processor; Windows XP Pro supports two. In addition, Windows XP Personal doesn't support RDP, but Windows XP Pro does. In fact, with Windows XP Pro, even local sessions use RDP, which means that you can log off your machine, someone else can log on to your machine then log off, and you can log on again with all your programs still running! Windows XP also adds support for the 64-bit processor, Itanium, which will ship in Windows XP Pro and Windows XP Server. Microsoft is adding some of the neat Windows Me features to Windows XP, including the Video Editor software. Windows XP also has an updated UI, although the older style UI is still available for those who prefer it. |
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Question
#15 |
When Powering Up The System, The Power Supply Comes On But There Is No Video, What Should I Check First? |
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Answer: |
Possible
Solutions: |
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Question
#16 |
I have a Super Socket 7 Motherboard And Am Loading Windows 95/98/98SE And Can't Get The AGP Video Driver To Work. It Only Comes Up With 4 or 16 Colors. What Is The Problem ? |
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Answer: |
Possible Solutions: Super
Socket 7 motherboards with AGP require a special driver in order for
Windows 95/98 to activate the port. You will still get standard VGA from
the system, but until the driver is loaded the port can not be manipulated
by Windows 95/98. |
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Question
#17 |
I Always Was Told That Viruses Could Not Damage My Hardware. Now I Am Told That A Virus Has Destroyed My BIOS. How Can This Happen ? |
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Answer: |
Just
a few years ago, motherboard BIOS information was stored on an EPROM
(Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory). The EPROM contents can only be
erased or programmed using special equipment, because of this it was
difficult to upgrade the BIOS to fix problems. |
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Question
#18 |
How Do I Get My Computer Out Of Standby Mode ? |
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Answer: |
On all SPC Computer Systems, the computer will come back from standby with mouse movement or by depressing the spacebar on your keyboard. On some systems, it is necessary to momentarily press the power button to bring the system out of standby. Most systems monitors has energy saving feature that puts the monitor to sleep. Windows also has a feature that does this as well. You should never try and run them both together because you might have conflicts fighting each other and might never wake up your system up, only by rebooting your system again which can be a pain at times. |
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Question
#19 |
My Computer is Turning On By itself At Night. I Have A Gigabyte GA5AX Motherboard And Windows 98/98SE. What Is The Problem ? |
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Answer: |
You might have gremlins in your computer. "No not really" This is a known problem with Gigabyte motherboards. In order to fix this problem, Gigabyte has released BIOS Version F4 for this motherboard.
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Question
#20 |
I Have Installed A New Hard Drive In An Older System And It Is Only Detecting 8 Gigabytes Of The Drive. What Is The Problem ? |
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Answer: |
Hard drive size is determined by your system’s BIOS. If you are installing a hard drive over 8GB into an older machine, make sure you have installed the most updated BIOS for the motherboard. BIOS updates can be found on this page or the motherboards manufacture and sometimes after you updated your motherboards BIOS to the latest revision and it detects more hard drive space but, not all the space on the hard drive is because the motherboard manufacture has not come out with a BIOS revision large enough to support the larger hard drive. You might want to check back with your motherboards manufacture for yet another updated revision. If there is no current or never will be another updated for your motherboards BIOS, then you can still use the larger hard drive with no damage to the hard drive or motherboard. You can also change the mother to another type or manufacture. Check the specs on the motherboard before purchasing it to suit your needs. |
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Question
#21 |
How Do I Know What Type Of Computer I Should Get ? |
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Answer: |
Computers come in all sizes, speeds and styles. The kind of computer you should get depends on what you want to use it for. Keeping your books, inventory control and graphic design are just a few of the business functions that can be done using a computer. SPC Computer Systems is committed to spending the time to get to know your business, so we can advise you as your value added reseller on the best and most cost-effective computer system for your needs. |
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Question
#22 |
I Have Noticed That The Pentium® 4 Processor-Based Systems Have A Different Type Of Case And Power Supply, Are These Necessary ? Can I Use My Existing Case And Power Supply ? |
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Answer: |
An Intel® Pentium® 4
processor-based PC requires a minimum of 250 watt ATX12V power supply, and a
chassis that mechanically supports the processor heat sink assembly. A 300
watt power supply would be minimal and the idea one to get if you were
think about a Pentium 4 processor would be a 300 to 350 watt power supply.
AMD64 requires a 300 watt power supply minimal but, ideal would a 300 to
350 watt power supply. |
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Question
#23 |
Why Does My System Keep Locking Up ? |
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Answer: |
Determining the cause of a lock up can be very frustrating. Attempt to determine if your situation is caused by a software problem, a hardware problem, or due to something external to your machine. It is always best to make one change at a time until you discover the cause. Software: Application specific - Is the machine only locking up under one application?
Hardware:
External Causes:
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Question
#24 |
Problem Running ScanDisk And Defrag ? |
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Answer: |
Many people have problems running ScanDisk
and/or Defrag, with the program running 10% or 30% and then stalling.
Often with a message that Windows is trying to write to the drive. To run
ScanDisk/Defrag successfully:
(If you use Windows 95, restart your system, when you see the Starting Windows 95... text on your screen, quickly press the F8 key. From the menu that follows, choose Safe mode, and run ScanDisk & Defrag. When ready, reboot.) |
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Question
#25 |
The system's fan is whining loudly ? |
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Answer: |
A loud fan can be the result of a number of minor problems. The common cause is dirt. A dirty fan, clogged with dust, is highly inefficient and works harder to handle its cooling duties. As the fan struggles to cool the system, it produces the whirring sound. A quick cleaning should do the trick. If the fan is new and you're still hearing a loud whirring, your problem may be "ambient heat." You need to operate your PC in a cool environment. Many PCs get louder as they get hotter, with the fans spinning faster to keep the system cool. Don't put your computer on the floor next to your desk, this is where it get's dirty because dirt in the air falls on the ground and if you have carpet it get's kicked around when you walk around the desk and computer and your computer fans from your power supply and CPU fans or any other extra fans that might be on in your computer will stuck all that dirty right into your computer and you don't even know it. That's where the problem starts. Be certain your PC is clean and cool and you'll run trouble-free. |
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Question
#26 |
Your PC spontaneously reboots ? |
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Answer: |
A long-standing mystery solved! If rebooting occurs in a PC
that you've just built, try re-seating your CPU's heat sink. Make sure you're
using the proper thermal gel and spread it evenly between the heat sink and the
processor. If inadequate amounts of gel have been applied or low-quality gel has
been used, the system will reboot as the CPU heats up---and builds in the uneven
"pockets" created by the uneven gel. Also: check to see if you've removed the
protective sticker on the bottom of the heat sink (don't laugh---it happens!).
And by all means, make sure your motherboard supports the CPU you're installing.
If these steps check out and you're still experiencing spontaneous reboots, your
problem may be one of the following: Overclocking: We do not recommend
Overclocking. Memory Timing: The fix? Go into your BIOS and set your memory on
"Auto" or at a more conservative setting and see if the reboot problem goes
away. Outdated BIOS: Make sure you have the latest BIOS for your board. You can
determine if your CPU is supported by browsing the BIOS updates of the
motherboard's manufacturer. If you're running a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition and
notice that it's only supported with the latest BIOS updates, you may have
located the problem! Inadequate Power: If you've made significant component
upgrades---with the exception of the power supply---your power supply may be
overstressed or failing due to heat or age. Finally, if you've migrated your OS
and other files from machine to machine to machine, it may be time for a clean
install. |
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Question
#27 |
Your Optical Drive (CD or DVD) Runs Slower and Slower....? |
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Answer: |
Again, the villain may be dirt, since optical drives rarely "slow down" on their own. Optical drives either work---or they don't, so a mechanical problem is ruled out. What most likely has happened is that your dive has accumulated a layer of dirt or dust. Here's the fix: You'll need a can of "spray air" (available everywhere). Eject the disc tray and spray into the drive with short bursts---and be sure to spray at an angle so the dust will be expelled out of the drive. Do not spray continuously or turn the spray can upside down (doing so could introduce moisture into the drive. Repeat this process a few times, then try test the drive. |
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Question
#28 |
I Hear A Loud Noise in My Computer What Might That Be ? |
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Answer: |
Many people having that same problems with
that same noise is from not cleaning the CPU cooling fan or case fans or
for that matter your power supply cooling fan. If you leave your
computer on all the time 24/7 on the floor beside you or under your desk
you are inviting dirty and dust to be sucked into you computer 24/7.
Even if you think that your house or office is clean and dusted, you are
still sucking all that dirty into your computer. You people that smoke
when you are on the computer or around it is even worst! Remember all
that smoke plugs up your lungs is also going into your computer along
with the dirt and your wonder why? Does your computer make noises and
does not work very fast and you wonder why your power supply burned up! Make a
small investment and buy some compressed air and open the computer side
panel and, blow out all the dirt that is robbing your computers life! Do
this like once a month to keep your computer working for many year to
come. Depending on how dirty your computer is you can use your vacuum to
clean it (But remember to unplug) your computer before attempting to use
a vacuum. We have seen many computers come to our shop from bad power
supplies and burned up CPU and motherboards. We have took pictures of a
system that came into our shop one day and thought that we would share it with you.
Just click on the pictures below to view them close up! This what we saw
in the shop that day. Pictures are close up snap shot and are very large and depending on your internet connect and computer speed it will take longer to view them on line. Please be patient for them to download for you to view them. If this does not make you think about taking care of your computer we, don't know what will.
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Question
#29 |
I have four pieces of RAM installed and I'm pretty sure that at least one is
bad. What's the best way to test RAM for errors? |
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Answer: |
Since you have four pieces of RAM, you can install just one DIMM
in your motherboard at a time and run the machine until it crashes. This isn't a
completely reliable way to test RAM, though. As an alternative, download
Memtest86 (www.memtest86.com) and create a bootable CD. Memtest86 does a fair
job. It runs several test patterns through the RAM. If a piece of RAM passes
these tests, swap it with another DIMM and continue your tests. Even better than
Memtest86 is Ultra-X's RAM Stress Test Pro 2, which is a self-booting diagnostic
plug-in card. This card uses a comprehensive set of test patterns to assess your
memory, and we've found that it finds bad pieces of RAM that other testers miss.
Keep in mind that it may not actually be a stick of RAM that's bad. The problem
may in fact be a bad DIMM slot. If all four pieces of RAM pass the test, you may
have to rerun them in each individual slot on your motherboard. Finally, your
motherboard's BIOS usually sets RAM timing by reading the SPD setting on the
module. If the SPDs are set too aggressively (we've seen this), it may cause
problems. You should consider going into the BIOS and manually tweaking settings
such as your CAS latency to a more conservative setting. |
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Question
#30 |
Sometimes when I play games for a long time, my computer just randomly crashes to the desktop why? |
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Answer: |
Random crashes in games can
be the result of a few different problems. Typically, it's a heat issue, a
driver issue, or a problem with the game. The first thing you should do is check
for a patch for any of your games that are crashing. It seems like common sense,
but frequently we receive complaints from people trying to run games that have
been patched three or four times. Once you've updated your games, you need to
update your video card and chipset drivers. Get you video card driver from the
company that manufactured your card's chipset, either ATI or nVidia. You should
also check for newer drivers for your motherboard's chipset whenever you update
your video card drivers. Outdated motherboard chipset drivers are one of the
main causes of general system instability. If you've updated all your hardware,
but are still having problems, you may have a heat issue. Open your case and
look at your AGP card. Is there another card right below it? If there is, you
should consider moving that card to another slot. A card directly below a
high-end video card can disrupt airflow enough to cause overheating issues with
today's top-of-the-line video cards. If freeing the neighboring slot doesn't
alleviate your problem, try adding a fan that fits into one of your PCI slots
and exhausts hot air from the bottom of your PC. |
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Question
#31 |
My new Athlon XP system is telling me that my brand-new Athlon XP 3200+ is only any Athlon 2200+! |
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Answer: |
It sounds like your motherboard's bus speed is set incorrectly. You see, you probably bought and Athlon XP 3200+ that runs on a 400MHz bus (which is actually a double-pumped 200Mhz bus). For the motherboard to recognize the CPU as a 3200+, the CPU has to run at 2.2GHz, or 2,200MHz. The CPU reaches that speed only if the motherboard is set to an 11 multiplier and with a 200MHz bus. So, 11x200=2200. If your motherboard's front side bus is set to run at 166MHz, the CPU would boot at 1833MHz. It's no coincidence that this is the same speed at an Athlon XP 2200+. To correct this, reboot your machine and go into the BIOS by hitting DEL or F2 during boot. Look for the section that lets you change the bus speed. Hopefully we're right and it's set for 166MHz. Increase it to 400MHz, save the settings, reboot and you should have a 3200+. |
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Question
#32 |
My optical drive has suddenly slowed to a crawl reading discs, and it refuses to read some discs why? |
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Answer: |
Optical drives usually don't
expire gradually; most simply stop working without so much as a death rattle.
It's much more likely you drive's lens has accumulated a layer of dust.
Get yourself a can of compressed air at the local geek emporium, and eject the
disc tray. Spray into the drive with quick, short bursts at an angle (so the
dust is more likely to be expelled from the drive). Do not spray continuously or
with the can upside down, because that could introduce moisture into the drive.
Give the dust a minute to settle, and spray the innards again. |
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Question
#33 |
I just bought a new PC, and now my PocketPC refuses to connect via the USB port why? |
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Answer: |
This is a common issue. You'll have to buy a new PocketPC. Just kidding. This problem occurs if you plug your PocketPC in before installing ActiveSync. Check the Device Manager by right-clicking My Computer, selecting Properties, clicking the Hardware tab, and then selecting Device Manager. If you see an Unknown Device entry, delete it by right-clicking it and selecting Uninstall. Restart you PC, install your PocketPCs drivers from the manufacturer's disc, and plug it in again. |
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Question
#34 |
I'm only getting sound out of one speaker why? |
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Answer: |
This usually happens when the mini-jack coming out of your speakers us not fully plugged into the soundcard input slot. Reversed polarity of a speaker can cause some of the weirdness as well, so make sure the positive terminal on the actual speaker is connected to the positive terminal on the subwoofer (or wherever the speakers connect to the amplifier), and vice versa for the negative terminals. One final possibility: Pet owners should routinely check speaker cables for teeth marks and replace the cables when Mr. Bigglesworth eats through the outer layer. |
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Question
#35 |
The remote control for my PC speakers suddenly stopped working the other day. I installed new batteries but it still won't work. Is it dead why? |
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Answer: |
Probably not. It sounds more like a sleeping remote. To wake it up, simply remove the batteries and press every button on the remote in a sequential order. Then just replace the batteries and your remote should work again. |
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Question
#36 |
Sometimes I'll rip a worn CD, only to find later that some tracks have skips in them why? |
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Answer: |
This is a common problem, and can be easily fixed. Go to http://www.exactaudiocopy.de (don't worry-the site is in English). We've brayed about Exact Audio Copy before, and here's why: When Exact Audio Copy rips audio it double-checks that data for accuracy, and if it detects any discrepancies between the original and the rip, it will extract the data again and again until it has determined that the result precisely matches what's on the disc. If the error correction is unable to compensate for a flaw in the disc and the data is irretrievable, Exact Audio Copy will let you know, sparing you from unpleasant surprises later. Oh, and did we mention Exact Audio Copy is free? Life is good. |
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Question
#37 |
My Creative Labs Jukebox Zen Xtra keeps crashing. Is it broken? |
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Answer: |
If a single bit in an MP3 file is out of place or errant for any reason, it can make many MP3 players lock up or crash. You'll know this is the case if your player crashes on the same track every time. If so, you'll have to remove or re-encode the track. If an errant track is not the problem-you'll know this is the case because it won't crash on the same song/s-you may be able to rehabilitate your player be reformatting the drive. You'll find instructions at the Creative Labs web site. Go to Support, click Portable Audio, and select "Troubleshooting the Nomad Jukebox 3 as a Standalone Unit" (also known as Solution ID #7392). Reformatting will delete the contents of your player, of course, so make sure you have all your music backed up before you go for it. |
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Question
#38 |
I can burn audio CDs and listen to them on my PC, but my portable CD player and car stereo can't recognize them why? |
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Answer: |
Commercial CDs are literally stamped from extruded masters, creating pits and lands that CD players have been designed to read. Burned CD, however, create darkened areas that mimic the pits and lands of commercial CDs. As you've noticed, not all players-especially older ones-can deal with these kinds of discs. But all is not lost. Your best bet is to burn at a slower speed, 4x or below. This creates slightly more prominent differences between the burned and non-burned areas. If you have a Plextor burner, though, you have an even better option. The bundled plex Tools includes VariRec, which allows you to subtly alter the burning strength of your optical drives laser. By experimenting with various discs and burning strengths, you will almost certainly find the right combination for your CD player. VariRec is supported by both Nero and Easy CD Creator. We've used it to make audio CDs playable on otherwise uncooperative boom boxes. |
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Question
#39 |
I just built a new machine and am experiencing totally random crashes. What are the possible culprits? |
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Answer: |
Random crashes are always hard to diagnose, so let's cover all the bases. The first area to check is your drivers. Make sure you have the latest drivers for all your hardware, especially the motherboard chipset drivers. You should also make sure you've downloaded all Windows Updates. Next, consider your power supply. If you're running a midsize 300-watt PSU, and upgraded to a late model Pentium 4 CPU or Athlon FX, or are just running several hard drives and PCI add-in cards, you should upgrade your power supply to a 400 watt or thereabouts model. Inadequate power to your components can cause the entire system to lock up at worst, or just cause certain components to malfunction or stop working. The final consideration is cooling. Ideally, you should have a decent size fan in the lower front of your case sucking in cool air from the ouside, and a large exhaust fan above your AGP card pull air out of the case. |
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Question
#40 |
I'm building a new PC and have the motherboard mounted inside the case. When I push the AGP card all the way down in the slot, the end of the metal tab on the slot cover hits the bottom of the case, preventing me from inserting the AGP edge connector all the way why? |
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Answer: |
Even though every ATX motherboard and ATX case should be exactly the same dimensions, there are still small variances that can create problems when transplanting your hardware into a new environment. It's fairly common for the video card to not quite fit, and when this happens the solution is to simply bend the end of the metal slot cover away from the board ever so slightly. This will afford it the extra millimeter or so of clearance the card needs to fit all the way down into the slot. But be careful! |
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Question #41 |
My wireless laptop will not connect to my wireless router. It can't even see it why? |
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Answer: |
Usually Wi-Fi connection
problems are the result of configuration errors, incompatible firmware, or
interference with another router. It's easy to fix firmware issues-all you need
to do is download the latest firmware for your wireless router manufacturer's
web site. If you've installed the firmware update and still can't connect, your
next step is to temporarily disable WEP or WPA. If you can connect to the router
when security is disabled, check all your WEP settings. You need to use exactly
the same key on your router and any machines that connect to it wirelessly. Also
make sure the Authentication Type on each of the PCs matches the setting on the
router. Troubleshooting interference issues is more complex. First, you should
move your router off of the default channel. Most routers shipped today are set
at channel 6 be default, and the sheer traffic can create a lot of interference.
You should also uncheck the field that says, "Automatically connect to
non-preferred networks"-there is no advantage to the feature and it can cause
your computer to behave erratically if you're in the proximity of the other
networks. If you're still having problems connecting, there may be a hardware
problem on your laptop. Check Device Manager and make sure there isn't an
exclamation point beside your Wi-Fi card. You should also try connection to
another router that you know works properly. Finally, try connecting to your
network using the same settings, but a different brand of Wi-Fi card.
If all else fails, contact your router manufacturer's tech support line. You may
actually have a faulty router. |
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Question #42 |
My broadband connection feels like it's downloading really slow why? |
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Answer: |
Sadly, there isn't much you
can do to improve your broadband connection's performance without spending more
money to upgrade your existing service. Sure, there are a whole lot of products
out there that claim to "improve your broadband speed" but we don't know of
anything that actually works.
If your performance is significantly slower than the advertised claims of your
provider, you should complain to your ISP. For services advertised as
full-speed, we expect a minimum of 50kB/s download speeds and prefer to see our
speeds top out over 100kBs. If you are paying for a high-speed broadband
connection, but are seeing less than 50kB/s downloads, you should switch ISPs! |
|
Question #43 |
I can't see the other computers on my home network from my laptop. What can I do to make it work right? |
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Answer: |
First, you need to make sure
that each computer you want to connect to belongs to the same workgroup. Open
the Start Menu and right-click My Computer. Go to Properties, then Computer
Name. If your workgroup name doesn't match, you can change it by clicking the
Change button. Some versions of Windows only show the computers that actually
have shared folders or printers, so make sure you have at least one folder
shared on every computer you're trying to connect to. The next step is to
disable your firewall. By default, most firewalls block the ports used by
Windows networking, keeping even legitimate users-like you-from connecting to
your machine. If all your machines use the same workgroup and your firewalls are
disabled, and you're using a wireless router, your problem could be the router.
If your wired machines can all see each other, but a wired machine can't see a
wireless machine, it's almost certainly the router's fault. Barring a firmware
update that fixes the problem, there's no easy way top connect your machines if
this is the case. Check with your router manufacturer for a newer version of the
firmware. If that doesn't work, you may need to get newer hardware. Here's one
last tip: You can try to connect to your computer's specific IP address instead
of its name. To find the IP address, go to the Network Connections control
panel, right-click your network card, and select Status. The IP address is on
the Support tab. Once you have the IP, you can go back to your other computer
and put //IP.address.here/ into Explorer. If you have shared folders on the PC
you're trying to connect to, they should pop up immediately. |
|
Question #44 |
I just got a new Serial ATA hard drive, but when I try to load the image of my current drive onto it, the drive-imaging software doesn't recognize my new hard drive why? |
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Answer: |
This is a problem that has vexed us as well, and it comes down to the fact that most drive-imaging software programs don't recognize Serial ATA controllers and therefore won't let you image the drives connected to it. We've tested practically every imaging program on the market in the Lab, and the only one that successfully moved an image to a SATA drive and made it bootable was Symantec's (formerly Powerquest) Drive Image 2002. There are many other software that will do the same. |
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Question #45 |
I just plugged in a brand-new hard drive but it's not showing up in Windows XP why? |
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Answer: |
All brand-new hard drives are sold unformatted and thus don't show up in Windows until they've gone through the formatting process. To get up and running, connect the drive, boot your PC, and at the Windows desktop right-click the My Computer icon and select Manage. Click Disk Management in the left-hand tree, and every drive connected to your system will show up. Simply right-click your new drive and select New Partition. Then follow the steps to get your drive up and running. |
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Question #46 |
My system crashed, and when I rebooted, my RAID array was no longer working properly why? |
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Answer: |
RAID arrays can stop functioning for several reasons, but it's usually a case of a cable coming loose or something in the BIOS being reset. Serial ATA cables easily come out of their drives, so check them first. If everything is connected properly, you should also check to make sure that the ports your array is plugged into are set to "RAID" rather then "IDE." Because these ports often double as either standard IDE ports or RAID ports, they must be set in the BIOS to one or the other. Be sure to check here first if your array suddenly disappears. |
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Question #47 |
My computer is acting odd. Loads of windows open all the time, and I'm getting a bunch of popup windows that don't look like Internet Explorer windows why? |
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Answer: |
Your problem is most likely
caused be incoming Messenger service messages. In a networked corporate
environment, Messenger is used to send time sensitive messages about server
outages, and software updates, but there's really no reason to leave Messenger
running at home. To disable it, go to Start, Control Panel, Administrative
Tools, and then Services. Scroll down to Messenger, right-click it, and select
Properties. Change the Setup Type to Disabled and then press OK. Note that this Messenger service is different from Windows Messenger. You can disable this service and still receive instant messages! |
|
Question #48 |
A couple of days ago, my computer began behaving very oddly. The disk runs a lot, even when I'm not using the computer, and my browser home page is reset to a site I've never been to before why? |
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Answer: |
This sounds like a classic case of spyware infection. There are two apps we recommend for combating spyware: Ad-Aware or Super Anti Spyware You can download both applications from our website below on this page and scan your hard drive for potential spyware and will help you remove it if detected. We recommend using both apps, because sometimes one application will detect a new spyware program that the other won't. If one of the applications detects spyware on your PC, it will either automatically remove it, or give you instructions that allow you to remove it. |
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Question #49 |
My e-mail frequently stops working-it often stalls when receiving and sending. And no matter how many times I change the e-mail settings, it reverts o "localhost" why? |
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Answer: |
There's an outside change the problem could be a virus, but the most likely culprit is your antivirus program or your spam filtering program. These apps work by situating themselves between your mail program and your e-mail server, then taking a look at every piece of mail you receive. But if one of these programs crashes or needs input from you, it will hold up the e-mail download and your mail program will think the connection has died. If this happens, just restart your antivirus program and spam filtering program and try downloading messages again. Make sure that you virus program is up to date and working with your e-mail client. |
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Question #50 |
I keep losing menu options in Microsoft Word why? |
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Answer: |
Our bet is that you really like to use em-dashes. The default keyboard shortcut for an em-dash is Ctrl+Alt+the numpad Dash, but people often mistakenly press Ctrl+Alt+ the Dash on the primary keyboard, which is the default keyboard shortcut for "Remove item from the menu." After you call up that shortcut, your cursor will change to bold minus sign and the next menu or shortcut you click will disappear from Word. The solution? Don't use so many em-dashes! Alternately, you can remap the em-dash shortcut to something a little more convenient. Go to Tools, Customize, Commands, and then click the Keyboard button. Then, under Categories, scroll down to Common Symbols and click Em-dash in the right pane. Change the hotkey to whatever you'd like. We like Ctrl+M. To get back the menu items that you've lost, go to Tools, Customize, Commands, and drag the elusive commands back into place. |
|
Question
#51 |
I keep accidentally e-mailing my friend at her old address because the program created a shortcut for me why? |
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Answer: |
This is an easy fix. When you're typing the name into your To: field, scroll up and down until you get to the one you want to delete. When it's highlighted press the Delete key and it will be gone forever! |
|
Question
#52 |
I get a ton of spam every day and want to get rid of it, how can I do that? |
|
Answer: |
There are a couple of really
good, free anti-spam utilities available today-SpamPal (www.spampal.org) and
Popfile (popfile.sourceforge.net). They use slightly different approaches, but
each can reduce your spam intake by up to 99 percent. SpamPal analyzes every
e-mail you receive and compares the path it took across the Internet with the
servers and IP addresses of known spammers. It's very effective right out of the
box, but if you frequently receive e-mail from countries where spam is known to
originate, such as China, Russia, and Taiwan, or from webmail services like
Yahoo, which are frequently abused by spammers, you may see a lot of false
positives. On the other hand, Popfile uses a technique called Bayesian filtering to determine which letters are spam based on the content of your e-mails. Every time you mark a message as spam, the contents of the message are added to the database. This is highly effective once the filters are fully trained, but it can take several weeks of flagging each incoming message as spam before you start seeing greater than 90 percent accuracy. Also if you have anti-virus program the integrates itself with your mail client you can set it up so, all of your spam go's right into a folder call spam and you can delete them from that folder or set it up when you exit the program to delete them automatically. We recommended Norton Internet Security the latest version. |
Mozilla Fire Fox
The wait is over. Firefox 3.0 empowers you to browse faster, more safely and more efficiently than with any other browser. Join more than 8 million others and make the switch today. Firefox imports your Favorites, settings and other information, so you have nothing to lose.
Stop annoying popup ads in their tracks with Firefox's built in popup blocker.
View more than one web page in a single window with this time saving feature. Open links in the background so that they're ready for viewing when you're ready to read them.
Built with your security in mind, Firefox keeps your computer safe from malicious spyware by not loading harmful ActiveX controls. A comprehensive set of privacy tools keep your online activity your business.
Google Search is built right into the toolbar, and there are a plethora of other search tools including Smart Keywords (type "dict <word>" in the Location bar), and the new Find bar (which finds text as you type without covering up anything).
RSS integration lets you read the latest news headlines and read updates to your favorite sites that are syndicated.
Files you download are automatically saved to your Desktop so they're easy to find. Fewer prompts mean files download quicker.
Simple and intuitive, yet fully featured, Firefox has all the functions you're used to - Bookmarks, History, Full Screen, Text Zooming to make pages with small text easier to read, etc.
Firefox is the most customizable browser on the planet. Customize your toolbars to add additional buttons, install new Extensions that add new features, add new Themes to browse with style, and use the adaptive search system to allow you to search an infinite number of engines. Firefox is as big or small as you want.
At only 4.7MB (Windows), Firefox takes just a few minutes to download over a slow connection and seconds over a fast connection. The installer gets you set up quickly, and the new Easy Transition system imports all of your settings - Favorites, passwords and other data from Internet Explorer and other browsers - so you can start surfing right away.
Firefox comes with a standard set of developer tools including a powerful JavaScript and CSS error/warning console, and an optional Document Inspector that gives detailed insight about your pages.
|
|
Version 3.8 |
OS/ Windows 95,98/SE/ME/NT/2000/2003/XP/Vista |
7.16MB 7,512.064 KB |
Norton™ Internet Security 2009
Trial Version 30 Days
You can purchase Norton Internet Security 2009 after the 30-Day Expires click on the Norton logo arrow below
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New Version 16.5.0.135 |
OS/ Windows XP Professional, Home with SP2,Home XP Pro, XP Media Center Edition/Vista Home, Premium Business Ultimate 32-bit. | 109,048,440Bytes 103 MB |
Norton™ Internet Security 2003-2009
Removal Tool
Norton
Removal Tool was designed to be a program that can remove some Norton software
from your computer.
Norton Removal Tool runs on Windows. Norton Removal Tool should be used only if
you have tried to uninstall the Norton program using Windows Add/Remove Programs
and that did not work.
|
|
OS Windows 2000,Me,XP,Vista |
Norton 2009/2008/2007/2006/2005/2004/2003 product or Norton 360 | 2,428,928Bytes 2.31 MB |
AD-Aware Edition 2009 Anniversary Edition
At Lavasoft we believe that every individual, regardless of economic status or geographic location, should have the power to control their individual privacy and security. Lavasoft is the original anti-spyware company, and we are still delivering the best protection today. After all, over 300 million computer users around the world can’t be wrong!
Ad-Aware 2009 Anniversary Edition Free is available for personal home use only. Ad-Aware 2009 Anniversary Edition is absolutely FREE! Commercial use is prohibited.
Ad-Aware 2009 Anniversary Edition Free remains the most popular anti-spyware product for computer users around the world, with nearly one million downloads every week. Our free anti-spyware version provides you with advanced protection against spyware that secretly attaches and takes control of your computer, resulting in aggressive advertising pop-ups, sluggish computer activity, even identity theft through stolen bank details, passwords, and credit card account numbers. If you want real-time scanning capabilities, consider upgrading to Ad-Aware 2009 Anniversary Edition for real-time protection against spyware, all the time!
Redesigned Engine – Benefit from superior program flexibility and more accurate scanning methods with all-new program architecture.
Improved Code Sequence Identification (CSI) Technology – Boost your privacy protection with precise detection of embedded malware, including known and emerging threats.
Incremental Definition File Updates – Save precious time and resources with smaller update files resulting in faster download times.
TrackSweep - Control privacy by erasing tracks left behind while surfing the Web on Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera, with one easy click.
Multiple Browser Support – Choose Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Opera with expanded browser support.
New Straightforward User Interface – Effortlessly maneuver the complexities of malware detection and removal with our new user-friendly interface.
User-Controlled Spyware Removal - Decide for yourself what to delete from your system and what to keep.
Extensive Detection Database – Stay protected with regular updates from the extensive library of identified and analyzed spyware.
System Restore Point – Easily revert to your clean system to recover from a spyware attack.
|
Lava Soft Ad-Aware |
New Version 8.0.2 |
OS/ Windows 95,98/98SE/ME/2000/2003/NT/XP/Vista | 34,543,112 KB 32.9 MB |
NOTE: Support for Spyware removal applications is provided by the manufacturers of the applications themselves and Not SPC Computers.
Download WinZip Evaluation Version 12.0
|
|
New Version 12.0 Build 8252 |
OS/ Windows 2000/XP/Vista | 10,514,432 KB 13.9 MB |
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Glary Utilities offers numerous powerful and easy-to-use system tools and utilities to fix, speed up, maintain and protect your PC.
It allows you to clean common system junk files, as well as invalid registry entries and Internet traces. You can manage and delete browser add-ons, analyze disk space usage and find duplicate files. You can also view and manage installed shell extensions, encrypt your files from unauthorized access and use, split large files into smaller manageable files and then rejoin them. Furthermore, Glary Utilities includes the options to optimize memory, find, fix, or remove broken Windows shortcuts, manage the programs that start at Windows startup and uninstall software. Other features include secure file deletion, an Empty Folder finder and more.
Glary Utilities is absolutely FREE!
|
|
New Version 2.13.0.689 |
OS/ Windows 2000/2003/SE/ME/NT/XP/Vista/32-bit, 64-bit dual core CPU support | 5,6009,840Bytes 5.73 MB |
NOTE: Support for Utilities removal applications is provided by the manufacturers of the applications themselves and Not SPC Computers.
SuperAntiSpyware
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SuperAntiSpyware is absolutely FREE!
|
Super Anti Spyware |
New Version 1.5.0.0 |
OS/ Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000/XP/Win 2003/Vista/32-bit, 64-bit dual core CPU support | 6,467,069 KB 6.16 MB |
NOTE: Support for Spyware removal applications is provided by the manufacturers of the applications themselves and Not SPC Computers.
Auslogics Disk Defrag
Disk fragmentation leads to system slowdowns, PC crashes, slow startups and shutdowns. Auslogics Disk Defrag is designed for fast optimization of modern hard disks. to get the top performance out of your expensive hardware.
Why Defragment Disks?
Besides causing slowdowns, fragmentation makes the disk drive heads move too much when reading files which leads to freeze-ups and system crashes. It is important to keep your disks defragmented and optimized as much as possible.
Fragmentation is caused by creating and deleting files and folders, installing new software, and downloading files from the Internet. Computers do not necessarily save an entire file or folder in a single space on a disk; they're saved in the first available space. After a large portion of a disk has been used, most of the subsequent files and folders are saved in pieces across the volume.
Defragmentation is the process of rewriting non-contiguous parts of a file to contiguous sectors on a disk for the purpose of increasing data access and retrieval speeds. Because FAT and NTFS disks can deteriorate and become badly fragmented over time, defragmentation is vital for optimal system performance.
In June 1999 the ABR Corporation of Irvine, California, performed a fragmentation analysis and found that, out of 100 corporate offices that were not using a defragmenter, 50 percent of the respondents had server files with 2,000 to 10,000 fragments. In all cases the results were the same: Servers and workstations experienced a significant degradation in performance.
Disk Defrag is absolutely FREE!
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Auslogics Disk Defrag |
New Version 1.5.0.0 |
OS/ Windows 2000/2003/SE/ME/NT/XP/Vista/32-bit, 64-bit dual core CPU support | 1,715,376 KB 1.6 MB |
NOTE: Support for Defragment applications is provided by the manufacturers of the applications themselves and Not SPC Computers.
Auslogics Registry Defrag
The Registry is very much like hard disk drives. Programs on your computer access the Registry thousands of times per second. That means that the Registry, just like disk drives, gets bloated and fragmented with time.
Most of you already know that a fragmented registry slows down computer speed (same as hard disks). But few are aware that the registry is fully kept in the memory when your PC is running. Memory on your PC is much smaller than disk space and the more bloated the Registry becomes, the less space there is for other programs to run. Knowing that, it should not come as a surprise to you that Windows Vista or XP runs noticeably slower after a few months of work.
Registry Defrag is absolutely
FREE!
|
Auslogics Registry Defrag |
New Version 5.0.17.440 | OS/ Windows 2000/2003/SE/ME/NT/XP/Vista/32-bit, 64-bit dual core CPU support | 2,336,896 KB 2.23 MB |
NOTE: Support for Defragment applications is provided by the manufacturers of the applications themselves and Not SPC Computers.
Hard Drive Indicator
You shouldn't have to become a contortionist to check your hard drive LED. This utility places an icon in your system tray that does what your hard drive LED does--but you don't have to crawl under your desk to see it. You can monitor up to five hard drives with it. Change the color and time delay of the flash to make it really work for you.
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Hard Drive Indicator |
 HDI |
Version 1.3 |
OS/ Windows 95,98/98SE/ME/2000/2003/NT/XP/Vista | 148
KB 148,548MB |
NOTE: Support for applications is provided by the manufacturers of the applications themselves and Not SPC Computers.
CPU-Z
CPU-Z is a freeware that provides some information on your system:
Processor name and vendor
Core stepping and process
Processor package
Processor current core voltage
Internal and external clocks, clock multiplier
Partial over clock detection
Processor features, including supported instructions sets.
L1 to L3 cache information : location, size, speed, technology.
Motherboard information : name, vendor, BIOS, chipset, memory, AGP.
Memory information : size, type, timings, specifications.
CPU-Z also provides several tools:
A complete html report.
Several raw outputs : CPUID, PCI device list, PCI dump.
A memory modules SPD (Serial Presence Detect) report.
A cache latency calculation tool
This tool computes the
real latency of each cache memory level. Notice that the reported sizes may not
be the correct ones on CPUs that use an exclusive L2 (for example a Duron will
report a 128Kb L2 cache size instead of 64Kb, because the L1 size in included).
Moreover, notice that using this tool if the CPUs is heavy loaded can provide
bad results. Please use the "Refresh" button to restart the calculation.
Intel i430TX, i440LX, i440FX, i440BX/ZX, i810/E, i815/E/EP/EM, i845, i845E, i845G, i850/E, i845PE/GE, E7205 (Granite Bay), E7500, i852, i855, i865P/PE/G (Springdale), i875P (Canterwood).
VIA Apollo VP3, Apollo Pro, Apollo Pro +, Apollo Pro 266, KX133, KT133(&A), KT266(&A), KT400, P4X266(&A).
AMD 751, 761, 762 (760MP).
SiS 645, 648, 735.
nVidia nForce 1&2 series.
Other chipsets may be partially supported (no AGP or
memory information).
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CPU-Z |
Version 1.50 |
OS/ Windows 95,98/98SE/ME/2000/2003/NT4/XP/Visa |
595KB 609,459Bytes |
NOTE: Support for applications is provided by the manufacturers of the applications themselves and Not SPC Computers.
WS -FTP Limited Edition
WS_FTP LE (Limited Edition) is a standard FTP client for Winsock. It has an easy-to-use graphical interface and advanced features. It contains profiles that can be set up to toggle between commonly visited FTP sites. Newer features included corrections to FTP servers for year 2000 compliance; a default transfer mode option in session parameters; auto re-get; prompts for file overwrites and preserving file date and time; support for new firewall and host types; and other minor corrections. This version is available free to government employees, noncommercial home users, and students and staff of educational institutions. Corporate users or those who do not qualify for free use of WS_FTP LE must use WS_FTP Pro.
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WS FTP Limited Edition |
Version 5.08 |
OS/ Windows 95,98/SE/ME/2000/2003/NT/XP/Vista | 691KB |
NOTE: Support for applications is provided by the manufacturers of the applications themselves and Not SPC Computers.
Adobe
Reader 9.1
The leading rich client for Internet content and applications across the broadest range of platforms.
Adobe Reader Download Center
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Adobe
Flash Player 10
The leading rich client for Internet content and applications across the broadest range of platforms.
Adobe Flash Player Download Center
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Adobe
Shockwave Player 11.5
With Adobe Shockwave Player, you can enjoy multimedia games, learning applications, and product demonstrations on the Web, using
exciting new 3D technology.
Adobe Shockwave Player Download Center
|
To Create a Restore Point in
Windows XP and Vista
Access the System Restore Wizard through Help and Support Center.
Click Create a restore point, and then click Next.
In the Restore point description box, type a name to identify this restore point. System Restore automatically adds to this name the date and time that this Restore Point is created.
To finish creating this restore point, click Create.
To cancel restore point creation and return to the Welcome to System Restore screen, click Back.
To cancel restore point creation and exit the System Restore Wizard, click Cancel.
Note:
Creating a restore point can be useful any time you anticipate making changes to your computer that are risky or might make your computer unstable.
To view or to return to this restore point, from the Welcome to System Restore screen of the System Restore Wizard select Restore my computer to an earlier time. Then select the date when the restore point was created from the calendar in the Select a Restore Point screen. All of the restore points that were created on the selected date are listed by name in the list box to the right of the calendar.
Using the System Restore Wizard
Computer experts all agree that junk files can kill a computer. Not literally, of course. We found that a very large number of junk files will eventually grind your computer to a halt. The more junk files you have, the slower your computer, Internet browser and other programs become. They can even cause “out of memory” and other errors. So what exactly is a junk file?
A junk file is a file that a program left behind. Programs typically create hundreds of temporary files a day. Some programs "forget" to remove these files and they clog up the system preventing your PC from performing even the simplest of tasks. Your PC ends up with thousands of junk files slowing your computer indefinitely.
Whenever a program creates a file or deletes a file into a Recycle Bin, your computer looks for a unique file name. The more junk files you have the longer the system takes to find that unique file name. Internet browsers keep downloaded images and pages in the cache in order to quickly show them the next time you visit the same page. However it’s a double edged sword. Too many cached files will also slow down the Internet browser.
Finally, if you do have a lot of junk files, then your disk defragmentation, antivirus or antispyware programs have to deal with a much greater number of files. This of course makes them work much slower.
But that's not half of it. You will find that trying to locate, open or save the necessary document takes longer. Even the time your PC takes to start up or shut down may increase from several seconds to minutes.
Scandisk and Defrag are important utilities that come with Windows, to help you tune up your Windows file system and make sure it's running properly. Scandisk checks your drive to make sure there aren't any problems with it, and Defrag (short for Disk Defragmenter) organizes your file system to help Windows read files faster.
You can usually find Scandisk and Defrag on your Start menu under "Programs" then "Accessories" and "System Tools". Another easy way to access both programs is to open "My Computer", and right-click on the drive you want to tune up. On the context menu choose "Properties" and then select the "Tools" tab. If you use this second method to start Scandisk and Defrag, you should see a window like this:
As you can see, this window tells you how long it's been since you last ran Scandisk or Defrag on this drive. If you see a message like "Windows was unable to determine when you last checked this drive for errors", or "Windows was unable to determine when you last defragmented this drive", then you probably haven't done it since Windows was installed.
Just like you periodically get your oil changed in your car, you should run Scandisk and Defrag now and then, to keep everything running smoothly. You should run Scandisk and Defrag at least once a month. Later versions of Windows (Windows 95B a/k/a OSR2 and later) will automatically run the DOS version of Scandisk before starting up, if the computer was not shut down properly before this boot. On these systems running Scandisk regularly is not as important, although there are some problems that the DOS version of Scandisk will not repair.
It should be noted that running Scandisk and Defrag more than once a month is still helpful. Also, the more often you run Defrag, the less time it will take, because there is less work to do.
At the top you will find a box that lets you select which drives you would like to check for errors. If you want to have Scandisk check multiple drives, you can hold down the Ctrl key while selecting them. Usually you will just select the one drive you are interested in.
Moving downwards, there are two radio buttons, called Standard and Thorough. A standard test completes fairly quickly, but only checks the FAT tables and directory entries. The Thorough test can take a long time, but performs a test on each sector of a drive. This test is similar to the one performed when formatting the drive.
Almost all of the time, I would recommend using the Standard option. Any errors that are not due to a failure of the hardware can be detected with a Standard scandisk. On the other hand, if you suspect the hardware is having problems, or sectors on the drive are going bad, choose the Thorough option.
The checkbox near the bottom named "Automatically fix errors" is controls the behavior of Scandisk when a problem is found. If you leave this box unchecked, Scandisk will stop and ask you what course of action to take, for each error it finds. Scandisk's default actions are pretty safe, so it's okay to leave this checked.
The image to the left shows the dialogue box presented after clicking the Advanced button. The default settings are shown here, and there is little reason to change them.
Most of the settings are self-explanatory. "Check host drive first" applies only to compressed drives. A compressed drive must be contained within an uncompressed drive, and checking this option tells Scandisk the uncompressed drive first. For a description of what "Lost file fragments" and "Cross-linked files".
The image to the right shows the Scandisk results window. "KB total disk space" is the usable size of your disk, left over after the FAT file system overhead. "KB available on disk" is the total free space left. "Bytes in each allocation unit" is the cluster size of this file system. "Allocation units on disk" and "available allocation units" are the same as "KB total disk space" and "KB available on disk", respectively, except expressed in units of clusters instead of kilobytes. To convert from clusters to kilobytes, you can multiply by the "bytes in each allocation unit" field, then divide by 1024.
"Bytes in bad sectors" shows the number of bytes used up by clusters that have been marked bad (unusable). A small number of bytes in bad sectors (less than 100000) is normal, as is finding a new one now and then. On the other hand, if your drive regularly finds new bad sectors, it is probably time to think about replacing the drive.
The other fields are self-explanatory, and just show the number of bytes taken up by different types of files on your system.
After starting Defrag, you will see a window similar
to this, asking which drive you would like to defragment. Unlike Scandisk, there
is no way to select multiple drives simultaneously. In Windows 98, the
defragmentation process will start as soon as you hit the `OK' button, so the
`Settings' button is also on this window.
To the right is the main Defrag window. Under Windows 95, you will usually just click the `Start' button. Under Windows 98, Defrag will automatically start working, so there is no need. The `Advanced' button here takes you to Defrag's settings.
After Defrag has started working, it will display a percentage bar showing how much of the drive has been defragmented already. At this time you can click the `Show Details' button if you wish to watch Defrag moving the blocks of data around your drive. It isn't a very useful option, but it can be fun to watch, especially if you're bored waiting for your Defrag to finish. If you have a slower computer, using this option may slow Defrag down noticeably, but anything faster than a Pentium 166 with a decent video card won't experience a significant slowdown.
On the left
you can see a screenshot of Defrag in action, when Show Details mode is on.
Hitting the Legend button will show a chart detailing what the different colored
blocks mean. The Pause button will halt Defrag temporarily, and Stop will cancel
your defragmentation.
Here is a screenshot of the Defrag settings under Windows 95. The default options are shown here. There are 3 choices for the Defragmentation Method. The first is `Full', which is the best choice. It moves files so that they occupy continuous ranges of clusters, and Windows can read them faster. It also tries to make the space not used up by files into one large block. The second choice is `Files only'. With this option you will get the benefits of defragmenting the file system, but since the free space may still be scattered around the disk, new information written to the disk will more easily become fragmented again. The third option, `Free space only', doesn't optimize any of your current files, but will help make sure new ones do not fragment.
You should leave the "Check drive for errors" option checked. It doesn't take much time to do a quick check of your drive before the Defrag, and you risk losing data if you try to defragment a corrupted file system.
The Windows 98 Defrag has fewer settings. Again there is an option to check the drive for errors, and one to tell Windows to rearrange your files so that they load quicker. I don't know of any downside to that option, and it does improve performance, so leave it checked.
When Defrag is done, it will present you with this window. Just hit `Yes' unless you want to defragment another drive.
Scandisk and Defrag have some command-line options that you can use to customize their behavior. But, since they are hard to remember, it makes sense to start them with a custom shortcut. Below I will present step-by-step instructions on creating these shortcuts.
Right-click on a blank area of your desktop (somewhere without an icon). A context menu should appear. Choose `New', then `Shortcut'.
A window will pop up asking what command to run for this shortcut. Type "scandskw /A /N /P".
Click Next.
Windows will ask to confirm the name of your shortcut. Since "Scandskw" is not very friendly, type "Scandisk", "Scan All My Hard Drives", or something else meaningful to you.
Click Finish.
The /A switch in the example above tells Scandisk to scan all the non-removable drives in the machine. The /N tells Scandisk to start automatically. The /P tells Scandisk not to automatically correct errors.
Once again, right-click on a blank area of your desktop (somewhere without an icon). A context menu should appear. Choose `New', then `Shortcut'.
A window will pop up asking what command to run for this shortcut. Type "defrag /all /F /no prompt /detailed".
Click Next.
Windows will ask to confirm the name of your shortcut. You can type a new name here or just go with the default of "Defrag".
Click Finish.
The /all switch tells Defrag to defragment all the local fixed disks. The /F tells it to do a full defragmentation. With /no prompt, Defrag will start automatically. The /detailed switch is optional, and just tells Defrag to run in the `Show details' mode.
You can now automatically scan or defragment all of your drives, in one easy step. Just double-click on one of the two new icons on your desktop. It can be a good idea, just before you go to bed, to double-click the Defrag shortcut and leave it running during the night. Just don't use your shortcuts to launch both Scandisk and Defrag at the same time. :-)
Problems With Writes To The Drive:
Both Scandisk and Defrag allow you to continue working with your computer while they run. Since they need to manipulate the drive at a low level, they will restart to re-read the file system information when a drive they are working with is written to. This can especially pose a problem when the Windows swap file used for virtual memory is on that drive. Windows may read and write the swap file even though you are not saving any files to that drive.
The dialogue box to the left shows a warning you may receive after Scandisk was forced to restart 10 times. If you want Scandisk to finish faster, it's probably a good idea not to continue running other programs during the scan. You may even want to quit some programs, or do a full reboot before you scan.
Note that even if it looks like you aren't running any other programs, memory could be being used up by the Windows disk cache, programs that are running in the system tray, and device drivers, leading to swap file usage.
Another common problem is screensavers that trigger during a Scandisk or Defrag. An easy way to prevent this is to click on the Start menu, but leave it open. Windows will not trigger your screensaver while the Start menu is displayed.
If you still have constant problems with Scandisk and Defrag restarting, try the following steps:
Do a search for *.TMP files and delete them all. (Windows will not allow you to delete files that are currently open by other applications.)
Delete your cached web browser files. (This is browser-specific, but in IE 4 and 5 you should be able to delete the `Temporary Internet files' from the General tab of the Internet control panel.)
Try running Scandisk or Defrag from within the Windows Safe Mode.
Read the following FIRST! 
WARNING!
If you encounter problems while updating the new bios,
DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR SYSTEM! since this might prevent your system from booting up. Just repeat
the process, and if the problem still persists, update the original BIOS file
you saved to disk above. If the Flash Memory Writer utility was not able to
successfully update a complete BIOS file, your system may not be able to boot
up. If this happens, your system will need service and will have to be taken to
your local computer store. SPC Computers is Not Responsible! in
the event the something goes wrong when updating your computers BIOS. Make
sure that you have the correct BIOS version for your motherboard before updating
your BIOS.
IMPORTANT
! If "unknown" is displayed after Flash
Memory:, the memory chip is either not programmable or is not supported
by the ACPI BIOS and therefore, cannot be programmed by the Flash Memory Write
utility.
Check
Your BIOS On Your Computer With This BIOS Utility
This utility will tell your what type of BIOS you have on your motherboard.
|
BIOS Utility |
Version |
OS/ Windows98/98SE/ME/2000/2003 | 35.0KB |
EXAMPLE:
Type C:\ ctbios.exe At the command prompt in DOS.
(Example Below:)
Computer ID: FC,Type:AT
BIOS Date: 07-25-01
Award BIOS Found: Award Modular BIOS V6.0
Award ID-String: 07/25/200-VT6942Z-CUV4X
Board/BIOS-Version: ASUS CUV4X ACDI BIOS Revision 1006
OEM: ASUSTeK
AMI BIOS
Utility
This utility is designed to assist users in determining the manufacturer of a motherboard using AMIBIOS. While this utility will work with most any BIOS vendor, AMIMBID can only reliably determine the motherboard vendor on an AMIBIOS-based system.
|
AMI BIOS Utility |
Version |
OS/ Windows98/98SE/ME/2000/2003 | 40.5KB |
American
Megatrends BIOS Technical Support
Are you looking for a way to control Internet advertisements that pop-up in new windows while you're browsing online? There are controls included with Internet Explorer 6 in Windows XP Professional that can help.
The issue arises when you visit some Web sites, and a new Internet Explorer window (or in some cases, multiple new browser windows) opens on your computer. These windows often contain advertisements, and in some cases, offensive content.
Pop-up advertisements occur when the administrator of a Web site adds code to the page you are visiting, making the ads open on your machine when you first visit the site, or at other times while you view the site.
One step you can take is to contact the administrators for the Web site and ask them to remove the pop-up ads from the site, or prevent them from opening on your machine.
A more general approach to prevent most pop-up windows from opening on your computer is to disable Active Scripting in Internet Explorer.
To disable Active Scripting for a particular Web site, you can add that site to the Restricted Sites zone, and then disable Active Scripting and other content for the Restricted Sites zone. This prevents most pop-ups from working, but only for the sites that you add to the Restricted Sites zone.
To add a site to the Restricted
Sites zone in Internet Explorer:
Start Internet Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
Click the Security tab.
Click Restricted Sites, and then click Sites.
In the Add this Web site to the zone box, type the Web address for the site that you want to restrict, and then click Add. Repeat this step if you want to add other sites to the zone.
Click OK.
Click Default Level to set the Restricted Sites zone to the recommended level, which disables Active Scripting. Click OK.
You can also disable Active Scripting in Internet Explorer for all sites. You might not want to use this method, because it prevents other scripts from running. This might cause many Web sites to be displayed incorrectly.
There are many non-Microsoft programs designed to prevent pop-up and pop-under advertisements from opening on your computer. These programs may cause side effects, such as preventing a Web site from opening a new window or other script-related problems. Microsoft does not provide product support for these programs.
BIOS Recovering
A Corrupt AMI BIOS
With motherboards that use "Boot Block Bios" it is possible to recover a corrupted bios because the boot block section of the bios, which is responsible for booting the computer remains unmodified. When an AMI bios becomes corrupt the system will appear to start, but nothing will appear on the screen, the floppy drive light will come on and the system will access the floppy drive repeatedly. If your motherboard has an ISA slot and you have an old ISA video card lying around, put he ISA video card in your system and connect the monitor. The boot block section of the bios only supports ISA video cards, so if you don't have an ISA video card or your motherboard does not have ISA slots, you will have to restore your bios blind, with no monitor to show you what's going on.
AMI has integrated a recovery routine into the boot block of the bios, which in the event the bios becomes corrupt can be used to restore the bios to a working state. The routine is called when the system block of the bios s empty.
The restore routine will access the floppy drive looking for a bios file named AMIBOOT.ROM, this is why the floppy drive light comes on and the drive spins. If the file is found it is loaded into the system block of the bios to replace the missing information.
To restore your bios simply copy a working bios file to a floppy disk and rename it AMIBOOT.ROM, then insert it into the computer while the power is on. The disk does not need to be bootable or contain a flash utility. After about four minutes the system will beep four times. Remove the floppy disk from the drive and reboot the computer.
The bios should now be restored.
Award BIOS
Error Messages
Beep Codes
The only Award BIOS beep code indicates that a video error has occurred and the BIOS cannot initialize the video screen to display any additional information. This beep code consists of a single long beep followed by two short beeps. Any other beeps are probably a RAM (Random Access Memory) problems.
Screen Error Messages
The following messages are examples of messages including errors detected by the BIOS during POST and a description of what they mean and/or what you may do to correct the error.
BIOS ROM checksum error - System halted: The checksum of the BIOS code in the BIOS chip is incorrect, indicating the BIOS code may have become corrupt. Contact your system dealer to replace the BIOS.
CMOS battery failed: The CMOS battery is no longer functional. Contact your system dealer for a replacement battery.
CMOS checksum error - Defaults loaded: Checksum of CMOS is incorrect, so the system loads the default equipment configuration. A checksum error may indicate that CMOS has become corrupt. This error may have been caused by a weak battery. Check the battery and replace if necessary.
CPU at nnnn: Displays the running speed of the CPU.
Display switch is set incorrectly: The display switch on the motherboard can be set to either monochrome or color. This message indicates the switch is set to a different setting than indicated in Setup. Determine which setting is correct, and then either turn off the system and change the jumper, or enter Setup and change the VIDEO selection.
Press ESC to skip memory test: The user may press Esc to skip the full memory test.
Floppy disk(s) fail: Cannot find or initialize the floppy drive controller or the drive. Make sure the controller is installed correctly. If no floppy drives are installed, be sure the Diskette Drive selection in Setup is set to NONE or AUTO.
Hard Disk Initializing
Please wait a moment: Some hard drives require extra time to initialize.
Hard Disk Install Failure: Cannot find or initialize the hard drive controller or the drive. Make sure the controller is installed correctly. If no hard drives are installed, be sure the Hard Drive selection in Setup is set to NONE.
Hard disk(s) diagnosis fail: The system may run specific disk diagnostic routines. This message appears if one or more hard disks return an error when the diagnostics run.
Keyboard error or no keyboard present: Cannot initialize the keyboard. Make sure the keyboard is attached correctly and no keys are pressed during POST. To purposely configure the system without a keyboard, set the error halt condition in Setup to HALT ON ALL, BUT KEYBOARD. The BIOS then ignores the missing keyboard during POST.
Keyboard is locked out - Unlock the key: This message usually indicates that one or more keys have been pressed during the keyboard tests. Be sure no objects are resting on the keyboard.
Memory Test: This message displays during a full memory test, counting down the memory areas being tested.
Memory test fail: f POST detects an error during memory testing, additional information appears giving specifics about the type and location of the memory error.
Override enabled - Defaults loaded: f the system cannot boot using the current CMOS configuration, the BIOS can override the current configuration with a set of BIOS defaults designed for the most stable, minimal-performance system operations.
Press TAB to show POST screen: System OEMs may replace the Phoenix Technologies' Award BIOS POST display with their own proprietary display. Including this message in the OEM display permits the operator to switch between the OEM display and the default POST display.
Primary master hard disk fail: POST detects an error in the primary master IDE hard drive.
Primary slave hard disk fail: POST detects an error in the secondary master IDE hard drive.
Secondary master hard disk fail: POST detects an error in the primary slave IDE hard drive.
Secondary slave hard disk fail: POST detects an error in the secondary slave IDE hard drive.
Resuming from disk, Press TAB to show POST screen: Phoenix Technologies offers a save-to-disk feature for notebook computers. This message may appear when the operator re-starts the system after a save-to-disk shut-down. See the Press Tab & message above for a description of this feature.
Master, Slave, or Cable Select -
Which jumper settings should I use?
Master/Slave
Under most conditions the standard Master or Slave setting should work just
fine. Maxtor ATA drives ship directly from the factory configured as a Master
device. If the drive is going to be installed as the only device on the ribbon
cable, or is going to be installed as the boot drive, then the default Master
setting can probably be used without any problems. Just keep in mind that the
Master device should always be attached to the end (black) connector on the
Ultra ATA (UDMA) ribbon cable.
If the drive is going to be installed as a secondary device to another hard
drive, then use the Slave setting outlined in the jumper diagram. A Slave device
should always be attached to the middle (gray) connector on the ribbon cable.
Note: Hard drives should never be configured as a Slave device to a
CD-ROM or DVD drive.
Cable Select
Cable Select (CS) is an alternative - plug and play - method for configuring ATA
or ATAPI devices. In this configuration both the master and slave drives utilize
the same jumper configuration (that is, both devices are set to Cable Select).
The drive's master or slave status will be determined by which connector the
drive is attached to on the cable (black connector for master, gray connector
for slave). Many ATAPI devices such as CD-ROM and DVD drives, or ATA hard drives
from other manufacturers, may come pre-configured as Cable Select. This option
should be taken into consideration when installing a new Maxtor ATA with any
existing ATAPI or ATA devices that may employ Cable Select as their default
setting.
Award
Software BIOS Technical Support
1. (beep Refresh failure)
2. (beeps Parity error)
3. (beeps Base 64K memory failure)
4. (beeps Timer not operational)
5. (beeps Processor error)
6. (beeps 8042 - gate A20 failure)
7. (beeps Processor exception interrupt error)
8. (beeps Display memory read/write failure)
9. (beeps ROM checksum error)
10. (beeps CMOS shutdown register read/write error)
11. (beeps Cache memory bad)
What you should try to fix
your problem.
For 1 beep, 2 beeps, or 3 beeps try reseating the memory first. If the error still occurs, replace the memory with known good chips.
For 4 beeps, 5 beeps, 7 beeps, or 10 beeps the system board must be sent in for repair.
For 6 beeps try reseating the keyboard controller chip. If the error still occurs, replace the keyboard chip. If the error persists, check parts of the system relating to the keyboard, e.g. try another keyboard, check to see if the system has a keyboard fuse.
8 beeps indicates a memory error on the video adapter. Replace the video card or the memory on the video card.
9 beeps indicates faulty BIOS chip(s). It is not likely that this error can be corrected by reseating the chips. Consult the motherboard supplier or an AMI product distributor for replacement part(s).
If no beeps are heard and no display is on the screen, The first thing to check is the power supply. Connect a LED to the POWER LED connection on the motherboard. If this LED lights and the drive(s) spin up then the power supply will usually be good. Also you can check the voltage on the power supply with a power supply test that you can purchase from SPC Computers.
Next, inspect the motherboard for loose components. A loose or missing CPU, BIOS chip, Crystal Oscillator, or Chipset chip will cause the motherboard not to function.
Next, eliminate the possibility of interference by a bad or improperly set up I/O card by removing all card except the video adapter. The system should at least power up and wait for a drive time-out. Insert the cards back into the system one at a time until the problem happens again. When the system does nothing, the problem will be with the last expansion card that was put in.
If the above suggestions fail to cause any change in the dysfunction of the system, the motherboard must be returned for repair.
For 1 beep, 2 beeps, or 3 beeps try reseating the memory first. If the error still occurs, replace the memory with known good chips.
For 4 beeps, 5 beeps, 7 beeps, or 10 beeps the system board must be sent in for repair.
For 6 beeps try reseating the keyboard controller chip. If the error still occurs, replace the keyboard chip. If the error persists, check parts of the system relating to the keyboard, e.g. try another keyboard, check to see if the system has a keyboard fuse.
8 beeps indicates a memory error on the video adapter. Replace the video card or the memory on the video card.
9 beeps indicates faulty BIOS chip(s). It is not likely that this error can be corrected by reseating the chips. Consult the motherboard supplier or an AMI product distributor for replacement part(s).
If none of these steps works and you have tried everything to repair the computer. You should not invest the time and money anymore into the computer that you are trying to repair. We would recommend to buy a new computer.
Windows95/98/98SE
Knowledge Base Exception & General Protection Fault Errors
Windows Tip: Quick Reboot
If your Windows operating system crashes, don't press the reset button on the front of your computer just yet. Instead, try this trick to restart your computer: Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete.If you press Ctrl + Alt + Delete once, Windows displays a dialog box listing your open applications. If you see a "Not Responding" next to an open application or process, just highlight and click "End Task." Be patient while the application or process is being ended because it may take some time.
If you press Ctrl + Alt + Delete twice, your computer will reboot.
Forget the Windows
Password
Does your computer at home ask for your user identification every time you start it up? If you are the single user of a home computer, you probably don't need to see the logon screen every time you boot up.
Open the Network Control Panel.
Make sure the Windows logon is selected, not the Microsoft network logon.
Restart your computer.
When the logon window comes up, enter a name (it doesn't matter what name you pick), leave the password blank, and hit return.
When it asks you to confirm that blank password, hit return again.
After that, you should never see the logon screen again.
Enable Hard Drive DMA
Direct
memory access (DMA) gives your hard drive the ability to read information from
memory without using the CPU. It can help speed up tasks that are disk
intensive, such as accessing databases.
To Active DMA In Windows 98:
Right-click My Computer and select Properties.
Click on the Device Manager tab.
Click on Disk drives. Then select your hard drive and click on the
Properties button.
Click on the Settings tab. Check the DMA check box if it is not checked. If the check box is grayed out, your motherboard chipset doesn't support
the bus master interface. If you have problems booting, reboot in safe mode
and turn off DMA.
To Activate DMA in Windows 2000:
Right-click My Computer and select Properties.
Click on the Hardware tab, then select Device Manager.
Click on IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Right-click an IDE channel and select Properties (your hard drive is
probably on the primary IDE channel).
Select the Advanced Settings tab.
For Device 0 and Device 1 under Transfer Mode, select "DMA if
available." Click OK.
Click OK and restart Windows.
In some cases, you do not want to have DMA turned on if you are using an extremely old hard drive or if you're using a CD-R or CD-RW drive. You want to stick with the PIO mode 4 or the default setting. DMA can cause data buffer problems when used in conjunction with a CD-RW or CD-R.
Outlook Rules Wizard
What's in your Inbox? Spam, spam, spam, real email, and spam? Don't admit defeat just yet. Use the Microsoft Outlook Rules Wizard to cut down on fake email.
By default, Outlook 2000 funnels all your email into one central Inbox. Let's create a rule that sends spam email to a different mailbox.
Click Tools in the Outlook 2000 menu, and then select the Rules Wizard.
Click the New button, which brings up the Rules Wizard. Select "Check messages when they arrive" and click Next. This checks every incoming email against your rule.
What conditions do you want to check? Scroll down and check the box beside "Suspected to be junk email or from junk senders."
In the bottom window of the Rules Wizard, click on "Junk senders." Add the email address of the offending spammer and click OK. After you add the addresses of all the offenders, click Next.
What do you want to do with the offending message? You can permanently delete spam email before it ever gets to your Inbox. However, if your rule mistakenly blocks email from your friends, you won't see it. Instead, check the box beside "Move it to a specified folder."
In the bottom window of the Rules Wizard, click "Specified folder" and tell the Rules Wizard where you want to store email from this spammer. Click OK and then Next.
Check the boxes beside any exceptions you want added to your rule (e.g. "except if sent directly to me"), and then click Next.
Your rule appears as a sentence in the bottom pane of the Rules Wizard. If it looks okay, check the box to turn on your new email rule and click Finish.
Change the OEM Information
All
PCs using Windows display OEM information. You can change this information and
personalize it to suit your personality.
To see the OEM information, just right-click on My Computer and select
Properties. The window that opens defaults to the General tab, which shows the
OEM information. (No OEM information in there? You can create your own.)
To change this information, follow these
steps:
You want to find a file called "oeminfo.ini". You can do this
by performing a Find File for "oeminfo.ini". The file is in
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder. Make a backup of this file and save a copy
in a safe place.
If your computer doesn't have this file, you can create a new one. Just
follow the example below. Open the oeminfo.ini file by double-clicking on it. You'll see a list of
items that looks something like this: [general]
Manufacturer= Pat-O-Matic Computer Mfg.
Model= Pat-O-Matic 4000
[support information]
Line1 = "Support Information Here" Line3 = Seriously. You can change the information after the = sign.
Perform a Save As, and save the file as a .ini file (replace the
oeminfo.ini file in the system folder).
Check the OEM info by right-clicking on My Computer and select Properties.
Your changes should be in effect. You can also add an image to the OEM info box. To do this: Create a bitmap image with the dimensions of 175x100 pixels.
Save the file as a bitmap and name it "oemlogo.bmp".
Place the file in the system folder along with the oeminfo.ini.
Line2 = Call somebody other than us. Tech Support is expensive!
Line4 = We mean it!
All About Network
Cabling
The two most popular types of network cabling are twisted-pair
(also known as 10BaseT) and thin coax (also known as 10Base2).
10BaseT cabling looks like
ordinary telephone wire, except that it has 8 wires inside instead of 4. Thin
coax looks like the copper coaxial cabling that's often used to connect a VCR
to a TV set.
10BaseT Cabling
When 10BaseT cabling is used, a strand of cabling is
inserted between each computer and a hub. If you have 5 computers, you'll need
5 cables. Each cable
cannot exceed 325 feet in length. Because the cables from all of the PCs
converge at a common point, a 10BaseT network forms a star configuration,
or geometric design, when viewed from above. In the figure below, three computers
are connected together with 10BaseT cabling and a hub.
A 10BaseT hub is basically a box with a row of 10BaseT jacks. Most hubs have 5, 8, 12, or 16 jacks, but some may have more. Most hubs also have an uplink port, which is a special 10BaseT or thin coax port that allows the hub to be connected to either (1) other hubs, or (2) a thin coax backbone (see below for information on backbones). By unlinking multiple hubs together, you can add additional computers to your network whenever you need to.
10BaseT cabling is available in different grades or categories. Some grades, or "cats", are required for Fast Ethernet networks, while others are perfectly acceptable for standard 10Mbps networks--and less expensive, too. About 85% of the networks in the U.S. use standard unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) Category 5 10BaseT cabling because it offers a performance advantage over lower grades. If you are using a 10Mbps network, category 3 is fine. If you plan on building a Fast Ethernet network at some time in the future, it's best to install Category 5 cabling.
10BaseT Category What It's Used For ------------------------------------------------------ 5 Fast Ethernet (and everything below) 4 Networks other than Ethernet 3 10Mbps 10BaseT 2 Alarms, telephone voice lines 1 Unknown (not rated for anything specific)
If possible, decide whether you'll be using standard Ethernet or Fast Ethernet technology before you begin building your network. If you're not sure which technology you'll eventually use, choose to install Category 5 cabling. Remember, Fast Ethernet network adapters and hubs are not directly compatible with each other. It is possible to have both 10Mbps and 100Mbps segments on the same network, provided you have a switching hub between them that allows them to communicate.
Thin Coax Cabling
The geometric design that is formed when thin coax cabling is used is called a linear or backbone configuration. The reason for this is that thin coax is always arranged in a straight line of PCs, hubs, or other devices. Thin coax networks always require termination, which is the act of "plugging up" both ends of the network. Instead of inserting an incoming thin coax cable directly into a PC, a T-connector is inserted instead, splitting the network adapter's input port into two separate ports. One port receives an incoming network cable; the other receives an outgoing network cable. If the PC is at the end of the network chain, a terminator plug is inserted into the empty hole of the T-connector.
Thin coax is only used with 10Mbps Ethernet networks. Fast Ethernet networks, which are 10 times faster than standard Ethernet, use category 5 10BaseT cabling.
The figure below shows three PCs connected together in a
backbone configuration. Note that
the backbone has termination at both ends, and each "T" connector
plugs directly into a PC, where it allows for an incoming and outgoing
connection. The maximum length for any thin coax segment is 607 feet.
Mixing 10BaseT & Coax
Finally, thin coax backbones and 10BaseT cabling &
hubs can be connected together to allow for a wide variety of expansion
options. In the more complex example
below, a thin coax backbone connects two 10BaseT hubs together, along with a
computer in-between. Each hub, in turn, branches off to still more computers
with 10BaseT cabling. Note that the ends of the thin coax backbone are
properly terminated.
How to Pick Cabling
There are two things to consider when deciding on the
type of cable to use for your network.
1. How many PCs do
you want to link together?
2. How long (in feet) is your network going to be?
The answers to these two questions will determine the
cabling that's best for you, and whether or not you'll need a hub.
Use thin coax cabling if you...
have fewer than 10 PCs,
don't have any portable computers,
and don't plan to expand
Use 10BaseT cabling with a hub if you...
have 16 or fewer PCs within a 325 foot radius of each
other,
have portable computers,
and/or you plan to expand
Use both thin coax and 10BaseT together if...
you have more than 16 computers,
or the radius of your workgroup is more than
300 feet
Common Problems & Solutions
Avoid Interference
Network cabling can be run under floors, around office dividers, or over
dropped ceilings. When planning your wiring layout, try to keep cables
away from power outlets, florescent lighting fixtures, uninterruptible power supplies, and other sources of strong electromagnetic interference.
Coiling up cables can also cause interference.
Thin Coax Cabling
When using thin coax cabling, you must always use a T-connector at
each PC and termination at both ends of the network, even if you're only
connecting a couple of computers together.
10BaseT Cabling
When using 10BaseT cabling, you must use a hub--even if you're only
networking 2 PCs together. Many first time net workers forego a hub and
simply plug a 10BaseT cable between two PCs' network cards. Such an
installation is guaranteed to either (1) not work, or (2) be unreliable.
Set
Up & Installation Hard Drive Partition And Formatting Procedure
This procedure describes how to set up a new, empty hard disk so that it is ready for an operating system to be installed on it. This process includes partitioning and formatting and results in a bootable hard disk. The procedure covers configuring the hard disk as a single large partition or splitting into multiple, smaller partitions. The procedure provides specific instructions fore using the FISK program and is based on the Windows95 OEM SR2 (Windows95B) FDISK version with FAT32 support.
Procedure Overview:
Difficulty Level: 2 (Low).
Risk Factor: 1 (Very Low). This assumes that the hard disk has no data on it.
Hardware Required: None
Software Required: Boot disk containing the FISK.EXE and FORMAT.COM programs.
Time to Perform: 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the size and speed of the hard disks.
Preparation/Warnings:
To be safe, always run FDISK from DOS only.
Be extremely careful when using the FDISK program, as one incorrect keystroke can result in major data loss. In particular, in a system with multiple hard disk drives be careful to make sure you are working on the right physical disk or you may accidentally end up disturbing the contents of the wrong drive. Beware that DOS drive letters can change after creating or deleting partitions, and that with multiple hard disks the partitions may be lettered in an unexpected sequence.
Do not perform this procedure until the system is in good working order. Resolve any hardware conflicts or other issues before commencing.
I assume that the system has been turned on and booted from the floppy disk. FDISK uses binary megabytes when displaying drive and partition sizes, not decimal megabytes.
All commands in DOS or within FDISK require you to press {Enter} to select them.
Procedure Steps:
1. Check Version Number: At the DOS prompt, enter the following command: "ver". The system will respond with the version of DOS/Windows you have booted. Make sure that this matches whatever you want to install on the hard disk. For Windows95 OEM SR2 the version number will "4.00.1111".
2. Plan Partitions: Decide how you wan to partition your hard disk. In particular, for large hard disk under Windows995 OSR2, decide if you want to set up your hard disk with a single large FAT32 partition, or several smaller FAT16 partitions. (You can of course mix these). I provide instructions for doing either of these, but cannot tell you how to set up your system. You must decide based on what makes sense for you. For assistance in making this decision and more general information on partitioning, cluster size and related issues. Most people today to set up anew system using a single FAT32 partition.
3. Run FDISK.EXE: From the command prompt, enter the command "FDISK". If you have a disk large enough to warrant use of FAT32, you will be asked if you want to enable "large disk support". Enter "Y" if you want to enable FAT32, or "N" if you do not want to enable FAT32. If you do enable this, any partition over 500MB that you create will be FAT32. Note that if you do not enable FAT32, you will not be able to put your entire hard disk into one partition if it is greater than 2GB in size.
If you decided to place your entire hard disk into a single partition, then follow this step:
4. Partition Hard Disk (Single Partition): Follow these steps up to your hard disk:
A: Select from the FDISK menu "1. create DOS partition". or Logical DOS Drive".
B: Select "1 Create Primary DOS Partition". FDISK will verify drive integrity. Then it will ask if you want to use the maximum available size of the disk for primary partition and set it active. Enter "Y". The system will allocate the whole disk to the partition, and that's that.
C. Press {Esc} to exit FDISK.
If instead you want to set up your hard disk with multiple partition (or if you don't have WIndows95 OEM SR2), follow this step. In order to make the process easier to follow, I am going to use an example below. In the example, a 3100 (binary) MB hard disk is being partitioned into four partitions of 1000 MB, 800 MB, 700 MB and 600 MB respectively.
4. Partition Hard Disk (Multiple Partition): Follow these steps to set your hard disk:
A: Select from the FDISK menu "1. Create DOS partition or logical DOS Drive".
B: Select from the FDISK menu "1. Create Primary DOS Partition". FDISK will verify drive integrity. Then it will ask if you want to use the maximum available size of the disk for the primary partition and set it active. Enter "N". The system will show the size of the entire disk in MB.
C: Enter the size of the primary DOS Partition". In our example, this would mean entering "1000". The system will tell you that it has created the primary partition and will assign it the drive letter "C".
D: Press {Esc} to return to the FDISK menu.
E: Select "2. Set active partition". Select partition 1. FDISK will report that it has set partition 1 active.
F: Press {Esc} to return to the FDISK menu.
G: Select from the FDISK menu "1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive".
H: Select "2. Create Extended DOS Partition".
I. When Prompted, press {Enter} to select the entire remaining area of the disk for the extended DOS partition. FDISK will automatically prompt you to create your first logical DOS volume within the extended DOS partition.
K: Enter the size of the first logical partition (the second partition overall). In our example you would enter "800". FDISK will create the partition, label it D:", and then say "Logical DOS Drive created, drive letters changed or added". Don't touch anything, just wait and FDISK will prompt you for the next volume.
L: Repeat the previous step for the remaining partitions (In our example there would be two more partitions to create, the 700MB and 600MB ones). When all of the partitions have been created, FDISK will report "All available space in the Extended DOS Partition is assigned to logical drives".
M. Press {Esc} to exit FDISK.
Continue with the procedure:
5. Reboot: Reboot the system using either the reset button or the "three-fingered salute" ({Ctrl}+{Alt}+{Delete}). Make sure the floppy disk is in its drive, since you still need it. Note that you may get "invalid media type reading drive C" error while rebooting. This is normal this stage.
6. Format Primary Partition: From the "A". DOS Prompt, issue the following command: "format c:/s". Don not forget the "/s", as this is what will make your C: drive bootable. You will get a "scary" warning message such as "WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST. Proceed with format (Y/N)?'. Since of course there is no data presently on drive C:, just enter "Y" and the system will format the hard disk. The program will show it's progress as it formats and at the end will prompt you for a volume label. Enter one if you wish.
7. Format Additional Partitions (if necessary): If you set up multiple partition, format the additional partition now. This is done in almost the same way as formatting the primary DOS partition, except that you leave off the "s/". So normally you would be entering "format d:"/ "format e:" and so on, until all the partition have been formatted. The prompts should be the same as in the proceeding step.
Warning: If you have a second hard disk in the system and it has a primary DOS partition, that partition is probable assigned D: because DOS assigns letters to all primary partition before any logical partition. Be careful of what you format.
8. Remove Boot Floppy: Eject the boot floppy from the disk.
9. Reboot: Reboot the system using either the reset button or {Crtl+}+{Alt}+{Delete}. The system should boot up from the hard disk this time and stop at the "C" prompt. Note that if you get an error such as "NO ROM BASIC, SYSTEM HALTED" or "No boot device found" at this stage, this means you forgot to set primary DOS partition "active". Reboot form the floppy, run FDISK again and use option 2 to set the primary active, then reboot. If you get an error like "No operating system", this means you probably forgot the "/s" parameter when formatting the C: drive. Put the floppy disk back in the drive and then return to step 5.
If you follow these rules you should not have any problems
setting up your hard disk.
Error Message Appears
When You Try to Start Internet Explorer
When you start
Internet Explorer (IE), you may receive the following error message:
Page cannot be displayed
This behavior
can occur if the following registry key is corrupted:
You
have a Winsock Error
(Winsock
needs to be re-Installed again)
WARNING:
Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require
you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that
problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved.
Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys
and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add
and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry
Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the
registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000,
you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).
To resolve this behavior, import a clean copy of the WinSock2 key into
the registry:
1.
Go to run on your start button.
2.
Type Regedit and click ok.
3.
Locate the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\EM\Network
(Delete
MSTCP Folder)
To delete the existing MSTCP key, click the key, and then on
the Edit menu, click Delete.
1.
Go back to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE from where you started.
2. Locate the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
(Delete WINSOCK and WINSOCK2 Folders)
To
delete the existing WINSOCK and WINSOCK2 key, click the key, and then
on the Edit menu, click Delete.
3. Quit Registry Editor.
4. Restart your computer.
1.When your computer is booting up you will see
it finding new hardware and asking you to install it. Click cancel on each
prompt window until the computer is back up.
2. Go to your start button.
3. Go into your control panel.
4. Located network Icon and click on it.
5. It will tell you that your network is
incomplete do you want to continue? (Click YES).
6. Click on ADD.
7. Locate Protocol Icons.
7. You want to ADD a Protocol.
8. On the left column scroll down until you see Microsoft
and click on.
9. On the right column you want TCP\IP
only.
10. Click ok and close the network icon.
11. It will then ask you to restart your
computer. If it does not ask you, then go to your start button click on
shutdown then restart.
12. After the computer is back up then you should
be able to go on line.
13. If for some reason that these steps didn’t
help you then you didn’t have a Winsock problem.
WARNING:
SPC Computers is not responsible in any way
shape or form in trying these steps might or might not fix your problem. And
might crash your system. You are fully responsible! Use these steps at your
own risk! (We have tried this on many of our systems that we repaired for our
customers and have had no problems!)
CMI Audio Chip
Drivers
WARNING:
CMI Audio Chip Drivers are OEM customers in their products. SPC
Computers itself does not manufacture end-user products, such as PC or
sound cards, so it can not fully control the drivers provided to consumers.
Drivers provided at this site, therefore, MAY NOT BE
APPLICABLE! to all sound cards. Drivers you download from this site may
function well at certain situation, but SPC Computers
does not give any guarantee or assurances. Please be aware that these drivers
might cause some technical difficulties when installed. In the event that you
install the wrong driver, this will not damage your sound card. It just will
not work and you can try another sound card driver until you find the
correct one that will work.
It is highly recommended that you consult your sound card dealers before downloading drivers from this site.
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Version 2001/04/26 |
OS/ Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000 | |
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Version 2001/12/04 |
OS/ Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000 | |
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Version 2001/12/04 |
OS/ Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000 | |
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Version 2001/03/03 |
OS/ Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000 | |
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Version 2001/03/03 |
OS/ Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000 |
Promise Controller Drivers
|
Promise ATA 66 Driver |
Version 1.44 |
OS/
Windows /95/98/98SE/2000/2003/ME/NT4 |
106KB | |
|
Promise ATA 100 Driver |
promise_100_160 |
Version 1.60 |
OS/
Windows 95/98/98SE/2000/2003/ME/NT4 |
271KB |
|
Promise RAID Driver & Utility |
promise_raid_130 |
Version 1.3-60 1.3-45 |
OS/
Windows 95/98/98SE/2000/2003/ME/NT4 |
2.29MB |
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SPC Computers Technicians will offer end users of computers and networking equipment online technical support. From time to time our technicians will post support information on this site to help you with you problem. If you don't fine what you are looking for on this support page, you can e-mail support@spccomputers.com and someone will contact via e-mail and help you with your problem.
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