Monday, November 5, 2001		Dr Tribune

Q. I have Windows Me version 4.90 (Build 3000). DOS version is 8.0. The configuration of my PC is — Processor AMD K6 (3D) 450 Mhz, 13 GB Samsung hard disk, 32 MB ASUS, AGP V3800 Magic card with TNT Reva 2 chipset, 128 MB RAM. My motherboard is Azza that has a VIA chipset. The problem is that when I start my PC it freezes at the screen that has Windows Me splash screen. The blue strip at the bottom stops. After sometime, it starts moving and the light of the hard disk also lights. Then the screen changes and it goes black with a cursor blinking at the topmost left corner. Again the light of the hard disk lights for a few seconds and then again stops. Then the system freezes for some time. This condition stays for a long time and after that the screen changes and my PC starts then it functions normally. When I first installed Win Me it functioned normally. The start up time was very less but when I formatted my hard disk this problem came up. After that I reinstalled Win Me many times but the problem still persists.

A. This problem could be due to the many reasons. First of all it could be because of any program or entry in Autoexec.bat file that is hindering the proper loading of your system. Most likely this could be because of any outdated anti-virus program installed on your system. So, as the first solution, first of all uninstall any anti-virus program installed on your PC. Most likely, this will solve your problem. However, if it does not solve your problem, the you must run scan disk in through mode and check for the possibility of any bad sectors in your hard disk as this could also be a stumbling block in the normal performance of your PC. If there are any bad sectors, then you can relate this problem with the bad sectors in your hard disk. However, even if this is also not the problem, then clean boot your system with a virus free bootable CD ROM or floppy and then check the hard disk for any possibility of virus. Hopefully all this exercise will solve sort out the things However, if the problem still persists then you can get your hardware checked as this problem could also be because of error in motherboard or RAM.

Q. I want to change the screen after shutting down "it’s now safe to shut down your computer". I want some text of my choice to appear instead of the above phrase. Please tell me how to do it.

A. Please refer to the page 2 of Login… Tribune, October 22, 2001, edition, for detailed explanation to your query.

Q. I have two computers in my office. Both are connected with Ethernet cards. The first one is Intel Celron 766 Mhz, 20 GB, Intex 10/100 Ethernet Card, 128 MB RAM, TIGA 810 +ES Motherboard. The second one is Intel Celeron 333 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 20 GB HDD, Intex 10/100 Ethernet Card. Both systems have Windows ’98 SE. The problem is that my Net connection and Internet sharing settings is okay but whenever I install the IP address on server my networking does not work. When I remove the IP address on the server then it gets OK. But for the Internet sharing, the IP address should be on the server (192.168.0.1 & subnet mask is 255.255.255.0). Please tell me how to solve this problem.

A. This problem is probably because you are using the TCP/IP protocol both for networking as well as sharing the Internet connection. You should use NetBeu protocol for the LAN connection instead of TCP/IP protocol and configure it for your LAN setting that is for the LAN card adapter and use TCP/IP protocol for Internet sharing. This will solve your problem.

Q. I have a few questions:1.How can I configure my Microsoft Outlook Express for my Rediff and Yahoo! accounts?

2.How can I find the POP3 / IMAP/ HTTP address of a site providing e-mail service?

3.What is SMTP server and how can we find it?

4.How can I open any file in any application. Like in Windows Me if you right click there is an option Open with.... that I am unable to find in Windows ’98 SE. How can I get that option in Windows ’98 SE?

A. Regarding your first question, you can configure Yahoo! e-mail account in your Microsoft Outlook Express and the procedure for setting up Yahoo! e-mail account has been mentioned in previous issues on many occasions. However, since the pop3 and SMTP server addresses of Rediff mail are not known, thus it can cannot be configured in the Outlook Express. Regarding your second question, you can find the details of POP3, SMTP, IMAP address etc. of a site providing e-mail service only on that particular site. For example, the details of pop 3 and SMTP service of Yahoo! e-mail can be found at Yahoo! e-mail page. Regarding your third question, SMTP or Simple mail transfer protocol is a TCP/IP protocol used in sending and receiving e-mail. However, since it’s limited in its ability to queue messages at the receiving end, it’s usually used with one of two other protocols, POP3 or Internet Message Access Protocol that let the user save messages in a server mailbox and download them periodically from the server. You can see the SMTP address from your ISP or from any other e-mail service provided like Yahoo!

Q. I own a Wipro Acer Entra 4000 PC with Windows ’95 operating system, 16 MB RAM, 166 MHz Pentium I processor, AW 3 is 5/pro PNP audio card and Kapson 56 k voice/data/fax internal modem. I use Internet explorer 5 Web browser and posses connect 35-hour Internet connection. My problem is that whenever I connect to the Internet, the computer shows connection speed of 40,000 to 46,000 bps but few minutes later it displays connection speed of 9,600 or 1,200 or even 4,600 BPS. Often the data transfer stops and modem properties dialogue box shows message "negotiating a connection " even after successfully connecting to the Internet. Also, the driver CD that came with the modem contained drivers of ambient, Motorola and Conexant internal modems. Out of
this I installed Motorola SM56 PCI internal modem driver. Kindly tell me, is this connection speed normal? If not please suggest me how to boost up the connection speed.

A. There is a basic difference between the connection speed and the downloading speed of your Internet connection. The connection speed is the speed at which your PC negotiates with the server while the connection speed is the speed at which the data traffic takes place. So what’s more important is that you have good Internet speed or download speed and the connection speed at which a computer connects does not matter much. If you are satisfied with the Internet experience in terms of browsing and downloading speed then you need not bother much. However if your browsing speed is low then you can think of measures for boosting the performance of the Internet connection. One thing that is important for getting the maximum from your modem is the use of correct version of driver. I’m not sure which driver will work best with your modem. Please go through the manual of your modem for instructions about the driver. We have discussed the issues related to improving the performance of Internet connection in detail in previous issues of Login… Tribune. Please refer to the earlier editions for detailed instructions for improving the Internet performance.

Q. I am having Intel Celeron 500, 810 Azza Motherboard 20 GB HDD, 64 MB RAM, Motorola 56 KBS Internal Modem, BSNL Connection, Windows ’98 SE and Windows 2000 as Operating System. Whenever I try to download mails from My Yahoo! Account through Outlook Express, it always demands password and never downloads mails (password is saved and is correct). The same password works well on Website but my ISP mails (mails on Sancharnet.in server) are downloaded without any problem. Secondly it doesn’t download folders and e-mails from Hotmail.com. Thirdly since past few days, my Win ‘98 has been working very slowly although I regularly clean registry with RegCleaner, but Win 2000 works well. I can’t format or reinstall fresh copy of Win ’98 because there are a lots of software installed and I don’t have installers.

A. The e-mail password are normally case sensitive thus if you do not use the password correctly, then this kind of problem may come. In some other cases, the users while configuring Yahoo! e-mail account in Outlook Express use the e-mail ID incorrectly and often confuse it with the profile name. In this case also, even if you’re using the password correctly, you will not be able to access your e-mail account because your e-mail ID is entered wrongly. Basically the error lies in either wrong e-mail ID or incorrect password. In order to solve your problem, please check the details of your profile including your e-mail ID and password and also ensure that you have use the correct form (case). I hope this will solve your problem. Regarding your Hotmail account problem please follow the same procedure for the solution of your problem. Regarding the slowing down of the Windows ’98 operating system, please run scandisk and then run Defrag. Also clear your cache memory and disk memory in the browser along with other junk files present in your system. If there is not much of hard disk space left in your system, then free up some more hard disk space. You can also change the typical role of the computer to "Network Server" instead of desktop system. I hope this will boost the performance of your system. However, if it does not solve your problem, then kindly send me more details of the system like the hard disk space partitions, presence of bad sectors etc.

Q. I have an assembled P III, 800 MHz, 128 MB RAM, Azza 815 TM-mainboard, Seagate -20 GB HDD, 17" Samsung -75e Colour monitor, LG CD ROM, Samsung -FDD, ATX cabinet, TVSE gold key board, Datavision 500va UPS. My problem is that sometime when I start or restart my computer tracking lines appear on the monitor screen starting from top and move downwards and energy sign are not displayed (i.e. jump to the next screen without showing the energy screen). The colours of these lines are white, blue, and yellow. This problem occurs almost every time when I restart my computer and some time when I start the computer. Please tell me the solution of this problem.

A. Bypassing of the energy sign in case of restarting your system is a common thing and does not represent a problem. Normally, in case of Windows restarting without hard booting, this could happen. Some persons do it deliberately by pressing and holding down the Shift key while pressing the restart option. This bypasses the normal booting process and reboots the system quite fast. So you may ignore it unless it causes some problem. Regarding the problem of colourful lines on your system, please get your VGA card checked and if it is built in on your motherboard, then you must get it checked with your hardware vendor. As another possible cause of problem, please check the monitor cord for proper connection and also ensure that there is no short-circuit in your PC and its power supply as these lines may come up, if there is some kind of loose connection or short circuit in your system.

Q. I have an assembled PC PII, 350 MHz, 128 MB RAM, Riva TNT graphic card, SB live, OS Win Me, 6 GB HDD, Dlink 56 KBPS modem (serial). Is it possible to attach two parallel port devices (scanner and printer) on one computer having one parallel port? Also kindly tell me what is the speed of accessing when I am connected to my computer through PCanywhere software.

A. You can easily connect two parallel port devices namely Scanner and printer on one parallel port of your PC. Simply connect your scanner directly in the parallel port of your PC and then connect the printer in the parallel port provided in the scanner. This way you can connect two parallel port devices on one parallel port of your PC. Regarding your second problem, the speed would depend upon the mode of connecting the PC. Normally the rate of transfer in case of direct cable connection would be maximum up to 1,15,200 BPS, whereas in case of dial up connection, the data accessing rate would depend upon your telephone lines. But in normal condition it will not be more than 33.6 Kbps.