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Houston We Have
a Problem… 003 23/09/06
Windows XP CD
Writing Problems
My problem
appears simple, but is baffling. I have Windows XP and I want to copy documents
from the My Documents folder on to CD. I right click on the file then select
Send To and the CD Drive. After following the instructions I get a message
saying that the recording cannot be completed as the CD may be damaged and
unusable!
Norman Allen, by
email
A. If your PC’s
CD writing facility has only recently stopped working try switching to another
brand of blank CD and give the drive a run through with a good quality CD
Cleaning Kit. If it has never worked (but the drive can read discs) make sure
that Windows XP Service
Pack 2 is installed on your computer, as this fixed several CD writing
bugs. If SP2 is present then right-click on your CD writer drive icon in My
Computer or Windows Explorer, select Properties then the Recording Tab. Make
sure that ‘Enable CD Recording on this drive’ is checked, select a slower
recording speed from the drop-down menu and try again.
Smaller Screens
and High Definition
I'm looking to
buy a new widescreen flat-panel Digital TV.
I want all of the latest bells and whistles including full 1080i
resolution and twin Freeview tuners. It sounds easy doesn't it - except that I
want all that in a set that doesn't take over the whole room, with a picture
size no greater than 26-inches?
However, all I
get offered are 30, 40, 50 or even 60-inch monsters, or smaller sets with
compromised performance. Is there any manufacturer who's not totally in thrall
to the 'biggest is best' mentality?
John Wainwright,
Wakefield
A. Patience
please! The technology and the market are still in their infancy. Smaller 1080i
screens will eventually become available -- probably within a year or so -- but
whilst the picture will look noticeably sharper and clearer there’s not the
‘wow’ factor of a larger display, which is one reason why manufacturers are not
rushing to get them into the shops. Besides, there’s comparatively little to
watch at the moment and the hardware needed to receive and replay HDTV
transmission and recordings is still in a state of flux so there’s a fair
chance you could get stuck with obsolete equipment.
Copying Video
Tapes to DVD
I'd like to transfer a number of old videotapes onto
either CD or DVD. Is this possible using my home computer, which runs Windows
XP? If so, what hardware and software would I need?
Alastair Duff, Newbury
A. Hopefully your PC has a 2GHz or faster processor,
at least 512Mb of RAM (1Gb is better), 100Gb or more free hard disc space and a
DVD writer drive. If so then the only other thing you’ll need is a video and
audio capture device, which plugs into your PC’s USB port and connects to your
VCR or camcorder’s AV outputs. Have a look at the Belkin
DVD Creator, or Terratec
Grabster; they sell for around £50 and come with basic recording, editing
and DVD authoring software.
Trouble Starting PC Following Upgrade
I have had consistent trouble starting my
Windows XP Pro computer since it was upgraded with a second hard disc, a DVD
Writer and additional RAM. Every attempt to start it after that resulted in
either a freeze up, or a black screen telling me it had not started properly. I
would welcome any thoughts, as the firm who carried out the upgrade, are
baffled.
Andrew Griffin, by email
A. I am equally baffled why this company
hasn’t been more helpful. It would be an easy matter for them to selectively
remove the components they’ve fitted, to see if any of them are responsible for
the fault; an iffy memory module would be high on my list of suspects.
Otherwise it could be due to some recently installed software, in which case
try uninstalling it, or use XP’s System Restore facility (Start > Programs.
Accessories > System Tools), to reset the PC to a date prior to when the
problem started.
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© R. Maybury 2006 1109
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