Here are the questions for: 11-20-1999

The MS Logo Store has IE T-shirts. Try:
http://www.zebrahill.com/vs/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=10
Option #2 would be to get a customized t from http://www.t-shirts.com or from someother local dealer... Granted, it won't be official, but it'll work.. - John Collins onejdc@hotmail.com

Hello.
Using the option "Optimize programs so they start faster" ,
in the Disk Defragmenter, should you close all the programs
that run in the system tray, (NortonAV - Scheduler etc.)
Programs that run on start-up of Windows, before
defragmenting the hard drive, or doesn't it matter?
Thankyou
okreins@netins.net

Howdy,
When you run Disk Defragmenter or any system utility for that matter, it's a good idea to close down all running programs so that those files are not in use. Windows can't move files that are in use, and also when any of these programs access the hard drive, it will cause the disk optimization to restart. Hope this helps, - Dave Hampson webmaster@towerdave.com

I would say that you do not have to necessarily have to close all programs, but it's a good idea to do so. Everytime a program will have to write to the HD, the defragmentation process will restart. - Guillaume Hebert kag@i-web.net

To whom it may concern. I am having a problem with opening some email that I recieve. When i try to open it a message tells me that the application is not there. How can I fix this problem. I use outlook express and I really would like to read my email. Can you please help me? Is there something that I need to install or download in able to view my mail? Thanks for your help. Jacqueline

Try re-installing Outlook Express, if you can, I would recommend you purchase Outlook 2000 and just switch over, I think it is so much better than Outlook Express and it works better than Outlook Express. - Mike Pelletier mikepelchy@yahoo.com

I have recently installed a DVD drive in my PC. I was keen to check that it was
functioning correctly, and borrowed a DVD movie (MPEG2 format I understand).
However it would not play, even with the latest version of Microsoft's Windows
Media player installed, and I have not been able to find any other freeware /
shareware MPEG2 decoder / player software which I can install to run it.
I know that, for optimum performance, I should install a hardware MPEG2 card,
but as I have no long term intention of playing DVD movies, can anyone advise me
how I can confirm the DVD player is functioning correctly.
As I am new to this particular part of the PC game, I would also appreciate any
simple, concise snippets of advice about DVD, MPEG2 etc. on PC's.
Thanks,
Geoff

DVD Movies don't usually run in MPEG 2 format (Some game DVD's use that, but not movies). The best thing for you to do is to purchase a DVD player such as XingDVD (http://www.xing.com) so you can run DVD movies. Depending on the power of your PC and your graphics card it is very unlikely that if you have a PII 400 or above that you would need to purchase a seperate DVD Decoder card. - Byron Hinson byron@activeie.com

Someone asked you about the startup delay in Win98 SE. When I start my
computer and all the programs have loaded, the hourglass comes up for about 5
to 10 seconds. What is meant by TSRQuery and is there any way to keep it from
happening. It gets frustrating. The original Win98 never does this, even with
all the updates installed. Thanks
Chuck

One of our readers has mentioned that he used Mijenix Powerdesk and hence load a "toolbar" at startup. Windows did not like loading the toolbar AND Systray.exe simultaneously. Since I don't need that yellow speaker to control my audio (I use the SoundBlaster Live! control panel instead), I disabled it from loading using the MSCONFIG thingy located in Accessories/System Info. This cured all probs.Systray.exe may be the culprit for others as well. - Byron Hinson byron@activeie.com

Hi,
I inaugurate your new section. So here's my pb, Acrobat 4.0 isn't compliant
at all with Office 2000, it's a known adobe bug. But when Adobe will release
a patch for this annoying problem ??
Also why Microsoft ( and when eventually ) hasn't released a new SideWinder
Software Controller 4 for all its SideWinder devices, not only for the
gamepad pro and the dualstrike ?
Regards,
Julien JAY

We don't know about the patch date, but Microsoft has decided to dedicate SideWinder Controller Software 4 only to new USB devices that are being released now and in the near future (Force Feedback Joystick USB for example). There has been no news as to whether a new release of the controller software for older devices...but as usual, keep a check on our front page for any news on that. - Byron Hinson byron@activeie.com

I have two questions, and I am hoping that either you can answer them or someone will see them on your site, I am having trouble getting my zip drive installed un Windows2000, it detected it but it doesn't work, and it also detected my SoundBlaster Live, but I can't install the software that takes advantage of the card, I'll take any help I can get at the moment
Thanks
Mike Hart

Hi Mike,
our problem with your zip drive is probably that the drivers are not yet compatible with Win2000, I check to see if there were any 2000 drivers but found this note at the bottom of the drivers page

"Iomega currently does not offer software support for some operating systems, such as Linux, and for operating systems in Beta testing cycles, such as Windows® 2000.<!-- /CONTENT SECTION 4 --> "

As for your SoundBlaster Live!, I have had the same problem and I have not gotten the surround sound to work in win2000. Though I didn't try LiveWare 3.0. You might want to check out www.soundblaster.com to see if they have any updated software. - Mike Pelletier mikepelchy@yahoo.com

How do i activate active desktop in Win NT?
Thanks

Howdy,
Active Desktop is installed with IE4.x. That's the only way to get it as far as I know. If you installed IE5 directly, without installing IE4, you are pretty well stuck with no Active Desktop. You could try uninstalling IE5 and get a copy of IE4 to install, but I would not recommend that. Uninstalling IE5 is an iffy proposition.Hope this helps. - Dave Hampson webmaster@towerdave.com

After using my computer for about 6 months, I've had problems with Windows, and had to reinstall it. But, I didn't want to do a complete wipe of my hard drive, and when I tried to do a windows uninstall, it said it had no uninstall record. So, I resorted to copying the options directory out of the windows directory, did a tree delete to the windows directory, then preceded to reinstall Windows through the copied options directory (with setup.exe and the .cab files, etc.). Anyways, after it got done and got completely installed, it ran through the routine checks, found all the hardware, and did updated system settings. Then rebooted. When it came back up, it'd do a very short updating system settings (about 5 seconds or so), then that window would close, and the system would freeze before loading anything else (all you see is the aqua-green background on screen for the window desktop). Alt-Ctrl-Del wouldn't reboot it, and the mouse won't move. But, after awhile (about 30 seconds to a minute), it reboots, does the short system update, freezes, and repeats.
Anyways, if you have any idea on how I could fix this without a formatting of the hard-drive, it would be much appreciated (I have alot of work that is not backed up on it.) If this is not enough detail, just respond with whatever questions need to be answered, and thanks in advance.
Kevin Armstrong
vassago@erinet.com

Howdy,
I would suggest booting into Safe Mode, and see if it finishes setting itself up there. To do this:
Hit the F8 key when booting up to get the Startup Menu. Choose Safe Mode, Hit Enter.
If it boots completely into Safe mode, then reboot into regular mode. Hope this helps. - Dave Hampson webmaster@towerdave.com

I have a question pertaining to Internet Explorer 5. Everytime you start IE and open a webpage in a new window, it defaults to a strange size and must be manually adjusted. Once you fix the window size, every new window after it will default to the adjusted size. The problem is when you close IE down completely. Next time you start it up, the same problem arises. I know I am not the only person with this problem, so perhaps you have a solution...

Gantry Zettler
gantry@cfbinc.com

Howdy,
Try this:
1. Right click on the shortcut for IE that you use to open it. (This won't work with the one that IE puts on your desktop)
2. Click Properties.
3. If you are in the Properties for a shortcut to IE, you will see an option that says Run: and in the drop down list, it says Normal Window.
4. Change that to Maximize.
5. Click Ok.
Give that a try. If you open IE from the Icon that it puts on your desktop, going to Properties will take you to the Internet Options. To get around that, Right click on that icon and click Create Shortcut. Then use the shortcut to open IE, and follow the steps above to get it to open maximized. Hope this helps.- Dave Hampson webmaster@towerdave.com

i have win98 , my lpt1 port is gone and when i install new hardware it does not pick it up.how can i recover that port

THE FOLLOWING SHOULD ONLY BE DONE BY ADVANCED USERS & AT YOUR OWN RISK:

Howdy,
Generally, if Windows won't detect the port, then something has gone wrong physically with the port. However, you can try adding the port manually.
1. Open Add New Hardware.
2. Let Windows98 search for devices.
3. When it doesn't find any, it should give you the option to select it from a list.
4. Choose Ports(COM and LPT)
5. Choose Printer Port or ECP Printer Port depending on your hardware.
6. Click Next.
7. It will then ask you the address of your Printer Port. If you don't know this, then you are kinda stuck. You can get this information out of your system BIOS setup, but I wouldn't recommend going in there unless you know what you are doing. You can goof things up in a big fashion if you change things in there. :)
8. Once you pick the I/O address, click Next, and it should reinstall it.
9. If it doesn't work, you might want to go in to the BIOS Setup with someone that knows what's going on in there to see if somehow the printer port got disabled. BE SURE THAT YOU DON'T MAKE ANY CHANGES IN THERE UNLESS YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope this helps.- Dave Hampson webmaster@towerdave.com

Hi,
I am getting an error box when I boot-up,right before my desktop finishes coming up. the box has this in it.
ERROR STARTING PROGRAM- then it has the yellow warning sign- then, A REQUIRED .DLL FILE WAS NOT FOUND --- C:\windows\System\msvcrt40.dll
It has an OK button. I click on it,and the box goes away and everything seems to operate properly.
This started happening after I deleted Encarta 97. I reinstalled it from the Encarta CD but it still is appearing
Thank You,
Ed

Howdy,
That file that it is looking for is used by almost ANY Microsoft program out there, and also many non-MS programs. It would be a good idea to get it back. Here's the easy way to get it back:
1. Click on Start, Find, Files or Folders
2. In the Named box, type msvcrt40.dll
3. In the Look In box, make sure it says C:
4. Click Find Now.
5. Hopefully, it comes up with one or two copies, stored somewhere on your system.
6. Right click on the newest one (Check the date listed there) and choose Copy.
7. Open Windows Explorer.
8. Open the Windows folder on your main hard drive.
9. Open the System folder under Windows.
10. Right click somewhere in the list of files and choose Paste, which should put a copy of that file back in the Windows\System folder.
11. Reboot your system.
If you can't find another copy of it on your hard drive, then repeat the steps above, but search on any CD-ROMs that you might have. Usually this file will be uncompressed, so it will be easy to find.
I do find it strange that Reinstalling Encarta didn't put the file back on your system, but maybe you can find the file on that CD if it's not on your system.
This brings up an excellent point though. When you remove a program, sometimes it asks you if you want to removed Shared Files. Generally, that's not a good idea, as you found out. :) Hope this helps.- Dave Hampson webmaster@towerdave.com

Hello
In the course of me buying a new computer I want to be able to transfer my settings for Internet explorer and (If you can also answer this one) the settings for word 97 under Microsoft Office 97.
The user settings are kept within a few files but haven't yet seen where these are kept, any light you could shed unto this would be of great help.
If you have any further suggestions as to migrating from one computer to another I would be tremendously grateful.
Stephen Banner banner@powernet.com

Howdy,
Unfortunately, most of the "settings" are kept in the registry. There are ways to extract this information, but I would not recommend doing so unless you've made a LOT of changes to the settings of the respective programs. Messing around in the registry can cause all kinds of problems.

If you want to save your Favorites in IE, that's easy though.
1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Open the Windows folder under C:\ (Or whatever drive Windows is on)
3. You will see a Favorites folder. Copy that to a floppy disk. Unless you have have a TON of favorites, it will fit fine on a floppy.
4. On the new machine, copy the Contents of that folder on the Floppy to the Favorites folder under Windows.

If you want to save any Word docs that you have on your machine:
1. Click on Start, Find, Files or Folders.
2. In the Named box, type *.doc.
3. In the Look In box, make sure it says C:
4. Click Find Now.
5. There are all of your Word Docs (And some that might have come with other programs)
6. Those won't necessarily fit on a floppy, but if you have a Zip drive, you can put them on one or a few zip disks. I hope this helps. .- Dave Hampson webmaster@towerdave.com

I upgraded to IE5 and can't bookmark anything. I click the button for Favorites and nothing happens. If I delete IE5 and revert back to IE4, my Favorites reappear. What's wrong?

Howdy,
One very useful tool present in IE5 that's not in IE4 is the Repair tool. We find that it fixes most problems in IE5.
1. Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel.
2. Open Add/Remove Programs.
3. Click on Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 and Internet Tools.
4. Click the Add/Remove Button.
5. Put a dot next to Repair IE5 and click OK.
6. It will do it's thing, then may restart your machine.
Hope this helps..- Dave Hampson webmaster@towerdave.com

I was wondering if you knew why the C:\ folder keeps opening everytime I start Windows 98. I've set up users and this problem only occurs when signing onto my profile. Any ideas? Thanks!

-Joe

Howdy,
If a folder is open when you shut down Windows, it will be opened when you restart Windows. Make sure when you Shut Down, that no folders are open. Also, make sure that the C:\ folder doesn't have a shortcut in your StartUp folder in Start, Programs, StartUp. The StartUp group is part of your profile.
Hope this helps. - Dave Hampson webmaster@towerdave.com

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