Q: I have three questions, firstly I have just downloaded a file entitled: perldoc.tar.gz and would like to know if 7-Zip can open this file. I know Windows 7 64-bit cannot.

Second I have friend who downloads books in ePub format and needs uTorrent as well could you explain why one has to use uTorrent? Can you name any trusted torrent websites that allows free downloads of books for computers and general books.

Finally is there any way one could capture music from a website? The website contains a song and I would like to record it/capture it, but I do not know how. The version I am looking is not available in iTunes and I did request it, but unfortunately it is a difficult song to get.

A: The .tar file extension is used for what are known as tarball files created by the open source Tar program. These are software archives usually containing the source code as well as executable for a program. Originally for Linux systems there’s now a version of Tar for Windows.  The .tar.gz format is simply a compressed tarball. You should be able to extract the contents using 7-Zip.

The ePub format is an open source standard for creating and reading eBooks. Many of the latest generation book readers can handle ePub files and it doesn’t contain DRM as do the Kindle and Adobe Digital Editions formats. BitTorrent is simply a transport mechanism used to share large files over the Internet. Torrents make for faster peer-to-peer file sharing by splitting the original file up into small segments so that you can simultaneously download different sections at the same time from a range of locations. The point about torrents is that the downloads aren’t hosted in a single location, they’re spread across the Web. Torrent search engines merely provide an index to help you find what you want. In order to download from a torrent and reassemble the parts of the file you need a client, uTorrent is one such but you’ll also find that some of the latest browsers, Opera for example, have torrent support built-in.

You should always approach the torrent world with caution as it tends to be awash with illegally uploaded copyright material. This is as true for books as it is for music, games and video. Whilst there are plenty of out of copyright eBooks available for free, if you’re looking for a current publication you should expect to have to pay for it.

Capturing music from a website depends on how it’s been placed there in the first place. If it’s simply there as a link you can right-click and use Save As just as you would with a picture. If it’s embedded via a Flash player or similar you may be able to capture it using a browser plug-in such as DownloadHelper for Firefox. Alternatively use an audio recording application such as Audacity to capture the data passing through your soundcard. If the song is on YouTube you can extract it using something like xVideoServiceThief.

There are plenty of out of copyright books available free in the ePub format

Originally featured in PCU 135

Q: I moved my computer from the floor to an elevated position on the desk. The move necessitated removing and reinstalling all of the connections. When I next attempted to go online, I could not load any pages. I am hooked up through a Linksys router and I am showing an excellent connection.

My Avast virus detection system updates automatically and I can send and receive mail through Outlook Express/Yahoo.com. I have run a full virus detection scan on the computer with no viruses shown. I tried shutting down Zone Alarm and Avast but I had the same results. No page loading, just an error message saying Problem Loading Page. I have tried resetting the router by using a paper clip in the hole at the rear and holding it depressed for 30 seconds.

A: If your email is working OK and you can update your antivirus program then it suggests that there’s a problem with your browser settings. First of all try running a Winsock repair tool such as WinSock XP Fix. You could also try clearing the DNS cache to make sure that the computer is selecting the server correctly. Go to Start/ Run, type in cmd then in the command window type ipconfig/ flushdns and press Enter.

If the above doesn’t work make sure that your DNS settings are correct. Open Control Panel and choose Network and Internet Connections/ Network Connections, right-click your network connection and select Properties. Click on Internet Protocol and click Properties, verify that Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically is checked. This ensures your PC gets the address from the router.

Since you’ve reset the router back to its factory settings, if it’s a router/modem you also need to check that all of your ISP connection information has been re-entered correctly. The addresses of your ISP’s DNS servers often need to be entered on the router itself. Linksys routers come with a setup wizard on CD which will walk you through the process of doing this.

If connected via a router Windows should be set to obtain DNS addresses automatically

Originally featured in PCU 135

System: Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz, 1GB DDR RAM, Windows XP Home (SP3)

Q: On a friend’s PC, a hyperlink in Outlook Express when clicked does nothing – hovering the mouse over it does not result in the cursor turning to a hand as it should. A URL shortcut on the desktop when double-clicked, instead of opening Internet Explorer, just opens the Open With dialog with Internet Explorer highlighted and the Always use the selected program to open this kind of file box not ticked. If this box is then ticked and OK clicked, Internet Explorer then opens the website.

However, the next time the shortcut is double-clicked, the same thing happens. There is some type of file association problem with Windows. Attempting to manually edit the settings for HTM and HTML file types to open with Internet Explorer also fails to solve the issue.

This issue may have been caused by the following sequence of events. The computer crashed and would not boot. A repair reinstallation of Windows XP SP 3 failed and it was necessary to do a full reinstall. Internet Explorer was then updated to IE 8. After this Outlook Express wouldn’t work with the ISP, but wouldn’t reinstall due to IE 8. Uninstalling IE 8 and reinstalling Outlook Express and then reinstalling IE 8 allowed Outlook Express to work with the ISP settings. Everything appeared to be working correctly, but then a couple of weeks later with this issue arose.

Hope you can come up with a solution, otherwise I’ll have to do a format and start again.

A: This is a relatively common problem as Outlook Express and Internet Explorer share may of their settings, but the fix isn’t always straightforward. The first thing to do is make sure IE and OE are both closed, go to Control Panel and open the Internet Options applet. Click on the Programs tab and tick the Internet Explorer Should Check to see Whether it is the Default Browser box. Next open My Computer from the Start menu, click Tools/ Folder Options and go to the File Types tab. Locate and highlight (NONE) URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol click Advanced, highlight Open, click Remove, then Yes and OK. Now launch Internet Explorer.

If that doesn’t solve things you may need to re-register IE’s .dll files. Click Start/ Run and type in iexplore /rereg. If it still doesn’t work after that go to Start/ Run again and type the following, pressing Enter after each regsvr32 urlmon.dll – regsvr32 shdocvw.dll – regsvr32 mshtml.dll and finally regsvr32 browseui.dll then try IE again.

If that still doesn’t solve things take a look at this Microsoft Knowledgebase article and try the Fix It link.

The other approach is to try installing a different browser such as Firefox or Chrome as this is an issue which usually only afflicts Internet Explorer.

Making Internet Explorer the default browser should ensure that it opens links from Outlook Express

Originally featured in PCU134

Q: My computer crashed with error Bccode;100008e BCP1;C000001d BCP2;845B1609 BCP3:844D6BC8 BCP4:00000000  05Ver:5_1_2600   SP:3_0 Product: 768_1. On running a scan I found Trojan AGENT/GEN and Trojan AGENT DROPPER/CCOC.

I ran SUPERAntiSpyware through in Safe Mode and normal mode and deleted restore points as suggested in your magazine. I also deleted all temp folders as instructed. But computer remained unusable so I did a recover from the hidden partion. I ran SUPERAntiSpyware again and it still picked up AGENT/GEN. Norton Internet Security 2010 keeps getting turned off and I can only turn it back on by rebooting, I have no other programs installed. Should I have reinstalled using the four recovery disks?

A: Agent/Gen is a generic detection for a Trojan program that drops a malicious payload on the PC. It will usually place a .exe file in the Startup folder and a .dll in the Windows\System32 folder, it will also add registry entries to enable it to run when Windows starts and will try to shut down security programs.

The problem with tracking down malware like this is that it uses randomly generated file names so it’s hard to spot if you’re trying to delete the files manually. Running a malware scan in Safe Mode should ensure that the files aren’t in use and can therefore be removed by the scan program. Removing restore points and temporary files should also be carried out in Safe Mode to ensure that the Trojan can’t sneak back in at a restart. It’s worth running an online scan using something like TrendMicro HouseCall to get a second opinion when you reboot to normal mode after removal.

Restoring the system from a hidden recovery partition probably doesn’t so a complete reinstall, so there is a chance that the malware may still be lurking on your PC. Using the recovery discs should do a complete reinstall and format the disc, but you will need to reinstall any other software and make sure you have a backup of your important files.

You can use an online scanner such as HouseCall to verify virus detections

Originally featured in PCU134

Q: I recently downloaded some software that appeared to install some malware on my computer. I installed some additional security software from issue 132 and scanned my computer with Avast and also several malware checkers having first disabled the system restore. I seem to have cleaned the computer, as the scans picked up two infections and subsequent scans show nothing.

However, recently when I try to log on to a website I sometimes get Firefox cannot load a page, or it seems to be redirected through google-analytics.com delaying the page from loading. Do you know if this is part of the previous infection I may have had or something that has been introduced by Google through the recent Firefox update? Either way it is very annoying. Can I get rid of it or should I just change my browser?

A: Most likely you’ll find that the browser is trying to redirect via a spoofed page. This is because the virus has poisoned your machine’s DNS (Domain Name Server) cache. So when the browser gets a legitimate request for Google Analytics – which is used by many websites to track visitors – it tries to redirect to another page which then attempts to run a script to re-infect the machine. Hence the fact that Firefox hangs as the site will probably have been reported and taken down by now.

You should be able to cure it by flushing out the DNS cache. Close all browser sessions, then click Start/ Run – or use the Start menu Search box in Windows 7 – type in ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter. When you next run your browser the cache will be empty so you shouldn’t get the problem. If it persists and you have a router, check that the DNS settings on there haven’t been corrupted too.

To stop this from happening in future you can download NoScript a Firefox add-on which prevents webpage scripts from running without permission.

You can clear out the DNS cache using the ipconfig command

Originally featured in PCU134

Q: Perhaps you can explain what is a mystery to me and appears to be a mystery
to the telephone help people at both BT and TalkTalk? For the past five years I have been a customer of Tiscali, and fairly satisfied, the speed did fluctuate from time to time, but for the past eighteen months has been a steady 2.0Mbps. Then in June 2010 it dropped to 1.5Mbps and stayed there. Tiscali is now owned by TalkTalk and their telephone help said that there was nothing to be done. So, I looked around on the Internet, trying various speed tests and concluded that BT’s suggestion of 2.5Mbps would suit me. I then changed (with a MAC number) to BT. However, as soon as I connected with BT  I found my speed was now 900Kbps and my line was configured at 1Mbps, I waited ten days as requested for the line to settle down; no change. BT’s telephone help listened to my tale but could not provide an answer. The supervisor professed to have arranged for an engineer to visit the exchange but said it would take two weeks.

I waited and then checked my speed, to find that it was configured at
500Kbps and my speed was 490Kbps. BT’s speed check program gave a contact number for help, which now took me to India. The person I spoke to tried to take me through their test but having been caught in it once I now refuse to do it, on the basis that if nothing has changed between the telephone point and my computer, then the problem is somewhere outside. No one I have spoken to at BT seems to understand this. When I refused to go through this procedure I was informed again that an engineer would be sent to the exchange.

Again nothing changed. After about 3-weeks I phoned them again, and spoke to the Indian office who again wanted to start from scratch with their test, which was again refused and again I was told an engineer would be sent to the exchange. That was during the last week in August. I tested my speed today (using BT’s test program) and found that it was now configured at 1Mbps and my download speed was 406Kbps.

The mystery is why nobody can or will explain why my line was configured at 2.0Mbps and I was achieving 2.0Mbps download speed, but now my configuration has changed and my download speed is abysmal. Perhaps you can explain it? From conversations with TalkTalk’s people, I believe that the configuration is something set by their engineers at the exchange, but BT will not admit it. Now when ever I carry out a speed test with other ISP’s their speed recommendation is the same as I am now getting, whereas previously they would all give me 2.0Mbps. At one stage I found an Internet map of my locality showing the speeds around me, and one, located approximately quarter to half a mile further from the exchange, showed a speed of 2.0Mbps. When I mentioned this BT tried to convince me that it was nearer to the exchange than I. I feel that a confidence trick is being perpetrated and I would be glad of any illumination you can throw on the matter.

A: The postcode checker at Top10 Broadband says that you should be able to get up to 2Mbps. However, the speed you can actually achieve is determined by a number of factors. These include, as you suggest, the configuration of the exchange equipment but also your distance from the exchange, the quality of the intervening line and the contention ratio – the number of other people using broadband on the same provider in your locality. A large number of exchanges – including yours – are now enabled for ADSL2+ it’s worth checking whether you’re paying for this or standard broadband as it affects the way the router needs to be configured. Some older routers will need a firmware upgrade to work properly on ADSL2+ circuits. You can see speeds for other users in your locality by running a speed test at http://top10.com/broadband/speedtest/.

During the ten-day bedding in period for a new broadband connection you should turn the router off for a few minutes each day to force it to renegotiate the line speed, this will help ensure that you get the fastest connection your circuit can support. Broadband helpdesks can be frustrating, particularly if you have some technical knowledge, as they operate on a lowest common denominator basis. The operators therefore try to work through a series of standard tests, regardless of whether you’ve already performed them. It’s further complicated by the fact that, due to local loop unbundling, ISPs other than BT have to get BT engineers involved if the fault is outside your premises – which they pay for. They are therefore reluctant to get engineers involved unless they absolutely have to and in some cases may seek to pass on the cost if no fault is found.

According to the BT website your exchange is due to be upgraded to fibre optic broadband in late December, so it’s possible this sudden change could be down to engineering work having disturbed existing installations. The fibre optic roll out involves laying fibre to street cabinets, the signal to individual properties being carried by existing copper cables. Nevertheless, this should see a significant increase in available speeds.

The Top 10 Broadband site lets you see the line speeds your neighbours are getting

Originally featured in PCU133

Q: There has been much in the media about ISPs overstating broadband speeds (News item PCU130). Indeed, when my ‘up to 8Mbps’ BT contract ran out recently, I signed up to a new BT contract at ‘up to 20MBps’. Whereas I previously got about 3.6MBps at best I now get 4.7Mbps at best – as reported by my new BT Hub 2 Router software – and suspect that this improvement is due to the BT broadband accelerator I installed in my telephone master socket. However, the elephant in the room is that real life Internet traffic speeds are much less than this. I frequently use an on-line broadband speed tester and get at best 3.5Mbps reported but more usually around half this speed. Several times recently I have seen less than 250KBps and on one occasion a week or so ago, a 1.8MB driver download from a renowned international electronics company took an unconscionable time due to the 75KBps download speed, abysmal! I remain to be convinced that BT’s roll out of fibre optic links will in real life use deliver anything like the 40MBps promised. Is there a campaign waiting to emerge on the subject?

A: Lots of things influence broadband connection speeds, not least your distance from the exchange and the quality of the line to your property. There’s also the issue of contention – the number of people you’re sharing the connection with. When more people are online the slower it will be for each individual so you may find your line is faster at certain times of day. The advertising of ‘up to 20MBps’ speeds has come in for widespread criticism as these are seldom achievable in real life. There is an Ofcom code of practice covering broadband but it’s currently only voluntary, you can find out more about this at http://bit.ly/buD8mK.

Fibre optic networks do offer significantly better performance as they don’t suffer from the same losses over distance as copper. This is why Virgin Media are able to offer achievable speeds of up to 50MBps and are one of the only providers to advertise average rather than ‘up to’ speeds. It’s worth noting that both this and BT’s ongoing rollout are not Fibre to the Home (FTTH), but Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC). In other words the fibre will run to a local junction box and the signal will then be carried to individual premises by the existing copper cables. Even so properties in FTTC areas should see realistic speeds of around 40MBps. New build areas served by FTTH – such as the 2012 Olympic village – should see 100MBps with 1GBps or more theoretically possible.

BT currently has 463 exchanges set for fibre rollout which should cover four million homes by the end of 2010 and 10 million by 2012. It aims to cover two-thirds of the country by 2015 in a programme costing £2.5bn. You can check the availability of fibre, known as BT Infinity online.

Real life download speeds are harder to predict because they depend on the location of the server and its local connections as well as the route the packets of data take around the Internet. Some servers deliberately throttle download speeds in order to stay within their own ISP quotas. Speeds will also vary depending on how many requests the server is receiving at one time. What this means in practice is that downloads from some locations will always be slow regardless of the speed at which you’re connected to the Net.

Virgin Media are able to offer faster connection speeds thanks to the use of fibre optics

Originally featured in PCU132

Q: My desktop PC with XP Home opens a PDF file from an Internet site with no problem. However my laptop with XP Professional fails to find Adobe Reader 9.0, so no download. I think I had such a problem before and managed to fix it by fiddling but no such luck this time. What must I do?

A: This is quite a common problem. Run Adobe Reader and go to Edit/ Preferences/ Internet. Look for the field marked Display PDF in Browser, if it’s not checked then tick it and close the program. If it’s checked already, clear it, close the program, reopen it and tick it again. This is a little odd but it seems to work.

If you’re using Internet Explorer, go to Tools/ Internet Options, click on the Programs tab, select Manage Add-ons and make sure Adobe Reader is enabled. In Firefox go to Tools/ Options, select the Applications tab and choose an action for opening PDF documents. Alternatively you could try a different PDF program such as Nuance Reader.

Your preferred PDF reader needs to be enabled as an add-on in your browser

Originally featured in PCU129

Q: Having stuck with Internet Explorer for a long time I now wish to use a different browser. Can I or should I delete Internet Explorer 8 when switching to an alternative?

A: Browser programs don’t interfere with one another, so it’s possible to have several installed on your PC at any one time. As part of the installation process most will offer to import your bookmarks and other settings from your current default browser so you won’t lose anything important. When you run a browser for the first time it will generally ask if you want to make it the default so that it’s used when you click a website link in a document or email for example.

Although it’s possible, it’s not easy to remove Internet Explorer, neither is it advisable. Even if you’re not using it to browse the Web, its features are used by Windows Update and some antivirus programs use it for updates too. Plus you still encounter the odd website that only works properly in IE so it’s good to have as a fallback.

If you have a particular dislike of Internet Explorer 8, uninstalling it from the Add or Remove programs applet in Control Panel will revert to the previous version you had installed with all of your bookmarks, etc intact. However, in XP if you installed IE8 before you installed Service Pack 3 the browser is set to non-removable and you’ll need to remove the Service Pack in order to get rid of it. In Windows & it is possible to remove Internet Explorer using the Turn Windows features on or off function.

Using Turn Windows features on or off it is possible to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 7

Originally featured in PCU127

Q: I have a Samsung R519 notebook computer. The operating system is Windows 7 and it came preinstalled with Atheros AR9285 wireless adaptor. The problem is that the wireless adaptor detects my wireless modem (Livebox-2CC0) which I purchased from Orange and it has an ‘excellent’ signal, however it will not allow me to make a wireless connection to it in order to access the Internet. The only way I can access the Internet is through a wired connection. Could you please give me some advice on how I can create a wireless connection?

A: The Orange Livebox is essentially a wireless router. Since you can access the Net via a cable connection then the Livebox is evidently connecting to the Internet correctly. And as your PC can ‘see’ it and detect the wireless strength it’s also broadcasting a wireless signal.

The important thing here is what happens when you try to connect. From Windows 7’s Network and Sharing Center select Connect to a network, you should see a pop-up in the bottom right corner of the display showing the wireless networks that are in range. Before going any further you need to put the Livebox into pairing mode. Depending on the model you have this involves pressing button 1 (on the older Livebox) or the Wi-Fi button (on the Livebox Mini). Having pressed the button go back to the PC, select the Livebox in the networks list and click the Connect button. You should now be asked to provide a security key – Liveboxes come with preconfigured security and this key should be on a label on the bottom of the device. Once you’ve entered the key the PC should connect.

If it doesn’t then you need to check the router settings. Via your wired connection open a Web browser and type 192.168.1.1 into the address bar, you’ll see a page showing you the Livebox ADSL status. Click the Access to the Configuration Pages link, you’ll be asked for an ID and password at this point which will be ‘admin’, ‘admin’ provided you haven’t changed them. Once you’re logged in, under Network and Services/ Livebox check the Wi-Fi settings to make sure connection is always enabled.

You can connect to a new network from the Windows Network and Sharing Center

Originally featured in PCU127