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BOOT CAMP 180 (21/06//01)
TOP TEN TRAUMAS -- Part 1
From the thousands of emails letters and faxes sent to us
every year we are able to get a fairly good idea of the kind of PC maladies
troubling Dotcom readers. For the second year running we've compiled a list of
the Top Ten Traumas along with the best solutions that we, and our knowledgeable
correspondents have come up with.
Before we get down to business with this week's batch (five
more next week), we have noticed a couple of trends. There has been a big
reduction in the number of problems concerned with hard disc space (or rather
the lack of it) and running heavyweight applications, reflecting big increases
in PC speed, memory and storage capacity, which for the first time in a long
while has outpaced developments in software. Not so welcome has been a jump in
the number of virus-related problems, and judging by the number of infected
emails we receive, many people are not taking even basic precautions. Finally,
on a positive note we are seeing far fewer problems related to improperly
installed and uninstalled software, which suggests that instruction manuals are
getting better, more people are reading them, or PC software is becoming less
flaky; we live in hope…
1. DEFRAG HANGS
Some things never change though, and the number one problem
for the second year running is the Windows disc defragmenter or 'Defrag' system
tool hanging of freezing when it has only processed a few percent the disc
drive's contents. This is almost always caused by programs running in the
background or problems with the hard disc file structure so always run Scandisk
first and in Windows 98 use Disc Cleanup, which you will find in Start >
Programs > Accessories > System Tools. Before you try again switch off the
screensaver and disable any virus scanner or firewall programs you may have then
press Ctrl + Alt + Del to bring up a
list of running programs. Use the End Task button to closedown everything except
Explorer and Systray. If that doesn't work try deleting the Applog folder in
C:\Windows, which stores information about the programs you use (don't worry, it
will be recreated). Failing that try running Defrag from Windows Safe Mode
(Press F8 at start-up).
2. WINDOWS ME
Windows Millennium Edition has been a bit of a mixed
blessing. Generally speaking it's worth having on a fast new PC where it mostly
lives up to its reputation for being more stable than its predecessors and we're
suitably impressed with new features, like System Restore and the new Media
Player. On the other hand a lot of people upgrading to ME from 95 or 98 have
suffered a fair number of problems, mostly concerned with software and hardware
incompatibility. To be fair the number of complaints and tales of woe have been
dropping off recently, which suggests problems are being slowly resolved.
Nevertheless, our advice is not to bother upgrading to Windows ME, especially if
your present PC is slower than 600MHz and give it a miss if you depend on
software that's more than a year or two old, that's not verified as being ME
compliant, and it's not very DOS friendly.
3. SHUT DOWN
A
PC that refuses to shutdown can drive you potty! You do everything by the book
and close all running applications before clicking Shutdown, and it hangs! The
only way out is to switch the PC off then when it restarts it runs Scandisk and
Windows has the nerve to tell you off for not shutting down properly…
There
are lots of reasons why Windows won't do as it's told and go away – Windows 98
SE in particular – and there's far too many to list here, however Microsoft has
compiled a set of guides for troubleshooting shutdown problems and they can be
found on the following web sites.
Windows
95:
http://support.microsoft.com/
support/kb/articles/Q145/9/26.asp
Windows
98: http://support.microsoft.com/
support/kb/articles/Q202/6/33.ASP
Windows
98 SE: http://support.microsoft.com/
support/kb/articles/Q238/0/96.ASP
Windows
ME: http://support.microsoft.com/
support/kb/articles/Q273/7/46.ASP
Shutdown
problems on Microsoft applications: http://support.microsoft.com/support/
tshoot/default.asp
4. STACK OVERFLOW
This year we've had a flurry of requests to sort out a
problem that begins with a very specific error message during start up: ‘There are no spare stack pages. It may be necessary to
increase the setting of 'MinSPs' in system.ini to prevent possible stack
faults'… It often happens after a new item of software has been installed,
though sometimes it appears for no apparent reason. It's all to do with
4-kilobyte chunks of memory, called Stack Pages that Windows allocates for
emergencies, when loading files called device drivers. Normally Windows creates
just 2 Stack Pages, and when they get used up the error message appears. The
solution is simple, open Notepad then look for the System.ini file, which you
will find in the Windows folder. (You may have to change the 'Files of Type'
setting to 'All Files', in order to find it). When it is open scroll down the
list to find the heading [386Enh], at the end of that section type in the
following command 'MinSps=4' (without the quotes), click Save and restart the
PC. If the message reappears you can increase the number of Stack Pages, but it
must be in multiples of 4 (i.e. MinSPs=8, MinSPs=12 etc.).
5. PASSWORD NOT SAVED
This one just won't go away. A steady stream of readers still
write in to complain that Windows Dial Up Connection stubbornly refuses to
remember their password, no matter how many times they click the 'Remember
Password' box. Over the years we have come up with various solutions, and the
list keeps on growing. There's nowhere near enough room to list them all here,
so if your dial up connection is suffering from amnesia have a look at the
Microsoft Knowledgebase article, which covers all 9x, ME and 2000 versions of
Windows.
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q148/9/25.ASP
Next week – Top Ten Traumas -- Part 2
JARGON FILTER
DEFRAG
Over time the files on a PC's hard disc drive become
disorganized - 'defragging' the drive restores order and speeds up reading and
writing data. To defrag your PC click on Start then Programs > Accessories
>System Tools
DIAL UP CONNECTION
Utility in Windows responsible for connecting a PC, via a
modem, to the Internet
SCANDISK
Windows utility that checks the integrity of data stored on a
hard disc drive, identifies problems, and where possible, puts them right.
(Click Start > Programs > Accessories >System Tools)
TOP TIP
Here's a quick and simple little timesaver that will help you
to make more efficient use of Windows Explorer. If you are looking for a file or
folder in a large directory, rather than spend time scrolling through the list
simply click into the Explorer window and type the first letter of the name of
the file or folder and hey-presto, Explorer immediately whisks you down to the
first file starting with that letter.
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