Follow up on a previous item: I also have run across the problem of Windows not shutting down when you tell it to do so. I have found that if you have mapped network drives active, Windows may not shut down because it still thinks the drives are active. The way to eliminate this is to use Windows Explorer / Tools / Disconnect Network Drive. Moderators note: I checked this on a clients notebook
machine that was notorious for not shutting down. Sure enough,
when we disconnected the mapped network drives, the machine shut
down properly. We removed the drive mappings permanently from
his system, and created a batch file (and associated icon) that
he now runs when he connects the notebook to the LAN. The batch
file Q. (AskDacs) My machine has been working fine for several months, but now I can no longer defrag the C: drive. The other partitions defrag nicely. What is preventing me from defragging C:? A. Windows will not defrag a drive if it detects that an application is writing to the drive. Be sure that you have temporarily turned off Norton Utilities (such as System Monitor, Crash Guard, Speed Start,) screen savers, anti-virus software and personal firewalls. If defrag still wont run, then boot in safe mode, turn the above off again, and try again. If this still fails, then boot to command prompt only and run the defrag utility - it is usually found as C:\windows\defrag.exe Q. I am not satisfied with the scanning results on my HP 5100 series ScanJet scanner. Can someone recommend a software package that has better OCR performance? A. A member with a similar problem reported
that the software bundled with the software (Caere OmniPage Lite)
worked much better once new drivers were downloaded from HPs
site. Start at Q. Does Windows 2000 have a DOS Window? A. Yes. Q. Is there any way to prove or disprove the availability of a parallel port? A. CheckIt
for Windows, Norton Utilities 2000, and OnTrack System Suite 2000 all have hardware
diagnostics. Some make use of a loopback plug which
replaces the printer cable and sends data sent to the printer
back to the printer adapter where the utility can read it after
the round-trip. A simple printer test that works for most printers
is to boot to the command prompt (not a command window) and then
type DIR *.* >LPT1: which will send plain ASCII
text to the specified printer ports. Almost all printers will
accept plain ASCII text and print it in the default font, usually
Courier. This will While we are on the topic of testing
printers, here are other things to look for: In the system BIOS
(i.e. SETUP before the machine boots), check to see that the
printer port type matches the type required by the printer. Most
require ECP or EPP ports (Extended Capabilities Port and/or Enhanced
Parallel Port, respectively.) If you are still having problems,
try the following: a) Q. My printer doesnt print yellow. How can I check it? A. First, run the stand-alone self test. Usually,
this is initiated by turning off the printer, disconnecting the
data cable, and then holding the Form Feed button while turning
the printer on. (See your manual to see if this the method for
your particular printer.) If it doesnt print yellow during
the self test, then you know that it is the printer or print
head/cartridge. If you know that the cartridge has yellow ink
(Yellow, Cyan, and Magenta are the three colors used to create
the others), then run the Q. I bought a used computer - whenever I install software, it wants to register the software to the previous owners name. How do I fix this? A. Windows 3.x built the core component during
installation and embedded the registration information within
- you had to re-install. With Windows 9x and later, it is in
the registry, in several places. Microsoft puts the registration
for the operating system in the key: My Computer\HKEY Q. Every time I boot the machine, it finds the printer port and insists upon re-installing it. The HP OfficeJet 600 (a combination fax, copier, printer, scanner, etc.) wants to override the port definition completely. How do I get it to install correctly, once and for all? A. Another member solved the problem by first letting Windows install the Windows drivers. He then went into Device Manager, and marked the ports as disable in this hardware configuration. This will keep Windows from trying to re-install them. Then install the HP drivers as per the HP instructions. Q. I have a machine with an internal IBM 56K modem - on a machine running Windows 98 SE. It shows up properly on device manager, and claims that it is functioning properly. However, if I go into Control Panel, then Modems, and select it, it appears as associated with COM2. In Diagnostics - More Info, it complains that the device cant be found or is already open. Needless to say, the modem doesnt work. Suggestions? A. Most motherboards come with two com ports,
which default to being COM1 and COM2. The modem card is an ISA
card, and Plug n Play but is not a PCI card.
We suspect that the machine is getting confused - that it actually
has one of the motherboard comm ports also on COM2. Go into the
CMOS settings via the machine SETUP (available during power-up)
and see if either of the com ports is set up as COM2 - address
02F8 and IRQ 3. If so, change the com port on the motherboard
to disabled. Another possibility is that you have
software that has already claimed control of the modem - such
as an answering machine software, fax software, etc. Check to
make sure that they Q. Is there a way to delete recent Internet Explorer visits? A. Go to VIEW / INTERNET OPTIONS
and go to the CONTENT page, Personal Information, AUTO COMPLETE
and change settings there. You might want to take a look at X-SETUP,
which is a super-set of the popular TweakUI utility - this free
utility fine-tunes all of your windows settings. Go to www.xteq.com and download x-setup v5.6. By
the way, if you are going out to web sites via a Q. I downloaded Windows Media Player 7.0 onto my Windows 2000 Pro machine. It seemed to work just fine until I rebooted, Now it crashes. Any suggestions? A. See if it works better with Windows 2000
Service Pack 1 - which has just been released. Go to Q. Microsoft Outlook 2000 seems to crash a lot. Any suggestions? A. Compact your message stores. (This is usually found associated with your mail profile.) Use Qualcomms Eudora Pro. |
Bruce Preston is president of West Mountain Systems, a consultancy in Ridgefield, CT, specializing in database applications. A DACS director and moderator of the Random Access segment at the monthly general meetings, Bruce also leads the Access SIG. Members may send tech queries to Bruce at askdacs@aol.com. Responses will be published in the next issue of dacs.doc. |