System: HP Pavilion t3200, Windows XP Home SP3

Q: I have recently encountered a Windows startup problem following my attempt to reduce the system’s start up time. In Msconfig having de-selected a program in the Startup list and clicked on Selective Startup in the General tab, Windows now starts but only shows about half of the icons I normally have in the task bar, but everything else appears to work normally. When I try to return to my previous set-up, by selecting normal start-up in Msconfig and then re-starting, it still starts with the reduced number of icons in the task bar.

I have tried System Restore, which restores my task bar icons and all seems to be well, until I restart, when again it starts with the reduced task bar. This suggests that future restores (for other reasons) may not hold. I am at a loss to know where to look next and hope that perhaps you can throw some light on the problem.

A: When you deselect an entry in Msconfig’s Startup tab that program will be prevented from launching when Windows boots. You don’t need to enable Selective Startup for this to happen. Selective Startup allows you to stop all or most of the startup items in order to diagnose problems.

Setting Startup back to Normal should launch everything except programs you’ve specifically excluded on the Startup tab. The fact that you can get your icons back with a System Restore but that they disappear again on reboot implies that changes to the registry aren’t being properly saved. Start the PC in Safe Mode – by tapping F8 as it boots – and run System Restore from there. Before rebooting check that Msconfig is set to Normal Startup and that only the specific programs you don’t want to run are deselected on the Startup tab.

If that still doesn’t fix the problem run Regedit and navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\state. Delete all sub-keys found within this folder. Then do the same for the following three keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\services

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupfolder

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg

Reboot the system after making any changes. If you don’t feel confident editing the registry, try downloading Taskbar Repair Tool Plus which should be able to fix the problem.

Msconfig’s selective startup allows you to diagnose problems when booting

Originally featured in PCU 137

System: Dell Precision T3500, Intel Xeon W3520, 4GB RAM, Windows 7 Professional

Q: I recently purchased a new Dell PC with Windows 7 Professional and once delivered I started putting my software from my old PC on to the new one. One application I tried to install was Iomega QuikSync 3, which was software I got approximately seven years ago when I purchased a Zip Drive. QuikSync 3 was a type of back up software which I found to be fantastic as every time I saved a document it automatically saved it on to an external hard drive, and would also have the last ten versions previously saved, this was a setting you could change.

I found this to be good software and it gave me great peace of mind when working on projects. After getting the new PC I discovered it won’t work and I can’t get a version that will work on Windows 7, nor can I find a software application like it anywhere. Could you give some advice on an alternative application please?

A: The one that springs immediately to mind is Dropbox. It saves to cloud storage and it only protects one folder, but otherwise it does exactly what you want in terms of automatically saving changes and tracking previous versions so that you can recover to an earlier copy if need be.

If you’d rather have something that backs up to a local drive try the free Yadis! Backup. This does backup on change and saves previous versions, it will also remember changes made when the backup destination is unavailable and catch up next time it’s connected. It’s also worth taking a look at ViceVersa Pro, this isn’t free but you can get a 30-day trial version.

Yadis! Backup saves when changes are made and keeps previous versions

Originally featured in PCU 136

Q: Is there any software for converting music from LP records into the computer from my turntable so the music can be listened to in digital form or burned to a CD? I’d appreciate any help.

A: Converting from vinyl to MP3 isn’t hard, it’s just time consuming because you’re constrained by the analogue format which means you have to record in real time. Which way you approach it really depends on how easy you want to make the process. Organising the hardware is usually the most difficult part. If you have a lot of old music and want an off-the-shelf solution that provides everything you need, including a cable to connect up your turntable, then MAGIX Rescue Your Vinyl and Tapes looks attractive at £49.99 (www.magix.com). There are also a number of USB turntables on the market from around £50 upwards depending on the number of features they offer (see the Ion Profile from www.firebox.com for example).

For a DIY solution you need a recording and editing tool such as Audacity. You’ll also need to get a cable to connect your turntable output to your soundcard’s Line In port. Getting the levels right on this connection usually calls for some degree of trial and error. Start with the turntable volume very low – especially if you’re connecting via an amplifier – and record a short portion to see how it sounds.

Once you’ve found a workable level the easiest way to proceed is to record one complete side of an LP in a single pass. You can then use the silences between tracks to split up the file into individual songs. You can also use Audacity’s editing functions to remove unwanted hiss and clicks from the recording. Save the individual tracks as MP3s, you can then employ a tagging tool such as TigoTago to label the tracks so that they show up correctly in media players.

USB turntables like the Ion Profile are designed to connect directly to your PC (Image courtesy of Firebox.com)

Originally featured in PCU 136

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 have all my past word processor correspondence on CDs  – much originating from 5.25 inch floppies – I have important documents relating to wills, house purchases, etc, many written with WordPerfect and AmiPro, and not all can be found in hard copy. Whilst I can open *.wp documents with my old Windows legacy functions, Lotus Ami Pro and *.sam is more of a problem because viewing it via DOS requires tediously combing though many function settings to separate out the meaningful data. I have looked at the abundance of websites offering conversion packages for almost everything, many times but these either seem to have some ‘catch’ when you get down to it, or are costly when you are only likely to use them when searching for half a dozen documents or so, from a particular time in question.

Could you offer any advice on reading legacy word processor documents, with pointers to reliable, genuine, low cost solutions? These would need to be run from any of  DOS, XP, Vista or Windows 7, or as an add-on conversion function for a Windows word processor.

A: For WordPerfect documents your best bet is to install OpenOffice.org as this will quite happily cope with opening WordPerfect files, though you’ll need to save them out in a different format.

Ami Pro is a bit tricky. It was one of the first Windows word processors, released in 1988, pre-dating MS Word, but there have been no new releases since the mid ’90s. Even the free Lotus Symphony suite  doesn’t support the .sam format – though there are several requests for this on the support forum so it may do so in future.  If you have a version of MS Word there is a converter plug-in available free from the Microsoft website. If you’re willing to spend a bit of money then rather than look at converters, which may be expensive for occasional use, you can buy an old version of Lotus SmartSuite – Amazon Marketplace sellers have these for under £15. SmartSuite includes Word Pro, Ami Pro’s replacement, which is able to read the earlier program’s files.

You can open Ami Pro files with lotus SmartSuite which is still available via Amazon Marketplace

Originally featured in PCU 135

Q: Does Linux have a registry like Windows 7 or is it solely the kernel that one deals with? The reason why I’m asking is that when we install a program in Windows it writes it to the registry and when it is uninstalled sometimes the uninstaller of the program does remove all entries from the registry and therefore one uses Wise Registry Cleaner or CCleaner to clean-up after the uninstaller. Do Linux systems have that same problem?

A: Linux doesn’t have a centralised registry file in the same way that Windows does. Instead the settings for individual programs are stored as text files, usually within the /etc directory. These will often have a .conf (for configuration) extension. Each program is responsible for its own configuration rather than these being centrally managed by the OS.

Because the configuration for each application is stored separately – rather than all together as in the Windows registry – there’s no performance lag as the system can go to the file it needs for a given program rather than having to search through a single large file for information. Even if configuration files are left behind when something is uninstalled it doesn’t really matter as without the program they belong to the system won’t try to access them.

Configuration files for Linux programs are usually stored in the /etc directory

Originally featured in PCU 135

Q: When I boot up a flag comes up saying I am missing a Sis_Lib.dll file. In top left-hand corner it says SiSUSBrg.exe. I have tried updating all of my drivers but still no solution. It also says if I reinstall program it might cure the problem, but I don’t know what the program is.

A: The SiSUSBrg.exe file is part of the Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) chipset drivers for your motherboard. Go to the downloads section of the SiS website and agree to the licence terms. Over on the right-hand side of the next page you’ll see a Product Identification link. Click on this and the website will run a chipset identification routine. This will tell you which SiS chips your system has and point you towards the drivers you need to install to support them. Reinstalling these drivers should reinstate the missing .dll file on your system.

The SiS website has a tool to help you identify your PC’s chipset

Originally featured in PCU 135

Q: I am constantly receiving junk email from senders that are advertising online pharmaceutical products and sex enhancements. These are appearing in my Junk Mail folder. I am forever blocking their email addresses, but they repeatedly send me messages daily. I have set up filters on my Hotmail address, but they still filter through. What do you suggest I do to remedy this ongoing issue?

A: Spam is, unfortunately, a fact of Internet life. If the messages are going into your Junk Mail folder then Hotmail’s filtering is doing its job. No spam filtering system is perfect and you’re always going to get the odd message that slips through the net to your normal inbox. It’s not generally worth going to the trouble of blocking addresses since they’re mostly spoofed anyway.

You can adjust Hotmail’s sensitivity to spam. From the navigation bar select Options then click Hotmail on the left-hand menu and select Filters and Reporting under Junk E-mail. In most cases the Standard setting is sufficient. If you select Exclusive all messages that aren’t from trusted sources – that is people in your address book – will be moved to junk. However, this will lead to more false positives so you’ll have to check the folder regularly. If you really feel the need to fight back try reporting unwanted emails at www.spamcop.net.

You can change the sensitivity of Hotmail’s junk mail filtering

Originally featured in PCU134

Q: I’m using Outlook for my emails and everything has been plain sailing, but just recently while reading a lengthy email Outlook disappeared and I was left looking at my desktop. I opened Outlook again and all was OK. Now it seems as if I have a time limit, go over it and Outlook closes down.

A: This isn’t something we’ve encountered before and it doesn’t appear to be a common problem. Most issues with Outlook closing unexpectedly are down to faulty add-ins. If you have any additional toolbars installed, such as an anti-spam program or a PDF creator, one of them may be causing the problem. Go to the Tools menu, click Options, select the Other tab and click the Advanced Options button. Click COM Add-ins and clear the tick boxes next to any that show up in order to disable them. Click OK to close the dialog then close and reopen Outlook. If the problem has gone away you can try re-enabling add-ins one-by-one until you find the cause of the fault.

If this doesn’t work, or if no add-ins are active, make sure you have the latest service pack (SP3) for Office 2003 . You can check if SP3 is installed from within Outlook by clicking Help and selecting About Microsoft Office Outlook.

You can tell which Office service pack is installed from the About menu

Originally featured in PCU134

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