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kasapres

This is a reprise of Dr. Macs original posting from August 2002.

TOP TIPS AND HOW TO's

Over many months, I've noticed the same "how do I do this ?" questions appear over and over again on the forum.

The following has been designed as a "ready reference" for some of those most commonly asked.

Please note : This is not a discussion thread, so replies can't be posted. To make comments please start a new thread in the usual way.

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A. Close down running programs using End It All

B. "The link in Clinic x doesn't work ... "

C. How to get to all the Computer Clinics

D. How to install a program correctly

E. How to UN-install a program correctly

F. Internet Explorer Repair - How to

G. Printing Computer Clinic pages

H. View ALL files, folders and extensions

I. 3 Ways to update your AVG anti-viral signature files

J. Update your AVG "SOS" Rescue Disk

K. Copy and Paste from Forum to Notepad etc.

L. System File Checker - SFC - Windows 98

M. Boot Disks - How to make for Win 98 and ME

N. Boot disks - critical info for Win 95

O. Defrag very slow or "sticks" at 10% etc.

P. How to get into Safe Mode

Q. Restore the Registry - Win 98 and ME

R. Outlook Express - "I can't SEND e-mail"

S. "How do I find ? ... In which Clinic is ... ?" .....................................................

A. Close down running programs using End It All

The End It All program can be downloaded from the link in Computer Clinic 5. Please note this will be the updated version 2 and will look different from the pictures shown in that Clinic.

* Double-click the End It All shortcut on your desktop
* A "warning box" will tell you this is a powerful program.
* On the top menu bar, click on "Action ... Close all"
* To make the program more powerful, you can RIGHT-click on any program in the list and on the pop-up menu select "Allow close"
* DO NOT DO THIS FOR ENDITALL itself, KERNEL32 or SYSTRAY.
* Again, click on Action ... Close all"

B. The link in Clinic x doesn't work

This usually happens if you try to use a link from a Clinic you saved onto your computer several weeks or months previously.

Download links DO change, and we try to update those links as soon as we are aware of a change. So ... always go to the appropriate Clinic (accessed from the Library) and use the link there.

C. How to find ALL of Dr Macs Computer Clinics

* You can get to the CURRENT Computer Clinic library by clicking here:

http://www.idf50.co.uk/techtipslibrary.htm

*At the bottom of EVERY Clinic is a link to the Library
* Scroll to the end of any Clinic and click on the Library link
* From the Library, you can access ALL the Clinics

D. How to install programs correctly

* Close down all running programs using End It All
* Double-click on the new programs installation file.
* This usually has an ".exe" extension
* Reboot your computer when the installation completes

E. How to UN-install programs correctly

There is a critical difference between DELETING and UNINSTALLING

* Close down all running programs using End It All
* Open up Control Panel
* Double-click the "Add/Remove" icon
* Scroll down the list until you find the program to be uninstalled
* Left-click once on that program to highlight it
* Click once on the Add/Remove button
* After the program has been uninstalled, reboot your computer

Users who want to make the uninstall even more complete can now use DiskCleaner and then RegCleaner.
In RegCleaner, make sure that there is no mention whatsoever of the program in the "Ignore" list. If there IS ... delete it.

F. Internet Explorer Repair

NOTE : This also repairs Outlook Express.

Method 1

* Open up Control Panel
* Double-click the Add/Remove icon
* Scroll down the list and fine "Microsoft Internet Explorer (number)"
* Click once on that to highlight it
* Now click the Add/Remove button
* A little box pops up. Select "Repair Internet Explorer"
* Your computer must be rebooted after the repair

Method 2

* Click on the big START button, then on RUN
* In the Run box, type : msinfo32 and click O.K.
* On the Microsoft Information box that comes up, look at the top menu bar
* Click on "Tools ... Internet Explorer Repair Tool"
* Follow instructions under Method 1

G. Printing Computer Clinic Pages

Sometimes the words on the right margin get "chopped off"

* With the Clinic web-page open in front of you on screen ...
* On the top menu bar click "File ... Print Preview"
* You can now see what the page will look like when it is printed
* If words are "chopped off" close Print Preview ... and ...
* Click on "File ... Page Setup"
* In most cases you need to DECREASE the size of the RIGHT margin
* Most people find decreasing it to about 5 mm does the trick
* Double check by clicking on "File ... Print Preview" again
* If things are still not correct, go to Page Setup again
* You may need to decrease the R. margin some more - or even adjust the L. margin
* Keep checking with Print Preview until the page looks correct
* Now, print it out

H. View all files, folders and extensions

This is a very important setting to make - especially useful when you are going to explore your hard drive,
make adjustments manually, delete certain files manually, back-up important data etc.

* Open up Windows Explorer
* On the top menu bar, click on "View ... Folder Options"
* On the box that pops up, click on the "View" tab.
* Look for the heading "Files and Folders - Hidden Files"
* Click a "dot" into the radio-button "Show all files"
* Just below that are the words "Hide file extensions for known file types"
* If there is a tick in that box ... UNTICK it
* That little box must be BLANK (NO tick there)
* NOW CLICK ON THE APPLY BUTTON.
* Close the box - you are now back in Windows Explorer

To make sure you can see all the details of all your folders and files, in Windows Explorer ...

* On the top menu bar, click on "View"
* Click on "as Web Page"
* Then, just below that, click on "Details"

I. Update your AVG Viral Signature File - 3 Ways

1. Use the "auto-update" feature. Set it to check AT LEAST every 7 days

2. Double-click the little AVG icon in your systray. The Control Centre pops up. Click on the "Updates Manager" tab. Click on "Update now" If there is a problem getting the update, try clicking on the little "down-arrow"
at the end of the line where the Grisift web address is and select the other address.

3. Go to the Grisoft web-site : http://www.grisoft.com/ - click the link for the free updates -
download the update file - make sure it goes into this folder :

C:\Program Files\Grisoft\Avg6\Update

Then, double-click the LARGE AVG shortcut on your desktop. Your update should be automatically installed.

If AVG does not automatically reboot your computer after the update is installed, you MUST do so yourself.

NOW ... update your AVG "SOS" Rescue Disk (what is called the No. 2 disk)

J. How to update your AVG "SOS" Rescue Disk

The first disk - what we call the "No 1" disk - is the disk used to boot your computer if you have to do a viral scan in DOS

Although convenient to have, you do NOT NEED this AVG boot disk in order to use the AVG Rescue Disk (what we call the No. 2 disk). You can use any Windows startup/boot disk. Full details are in Computer Clinic 12

As it is impossible to make an AVG boot disk with Windows ME, you have to use an ordinary Windows Boot disk, then use the AVG Rescue disk

After making the first AVG boot disk (if your computer allows you to) you never need to update that again.

HOWEVER, it is critically important to update your AVG Rescue Disk after EACH successful viral signature file update. To do so ...

* Pop your AVG SOS Rescue disk floppy into the drive. NO NEED to delete files on this floppy - just use the same floppy over and over again each time - AVG will do all the necessary work
* Open the MAIN AVG program
* On the top menu bar, click on "Service ... Create Rescue Disk"
* A box will pop up asking you to confirm the floppy will be made on Drive A
* The next box will give you 3 options - "Continue - Format - Cancel"
* CLICK ON CONTINUE
* This will now make and update the "No 2" AVG Rescue Disk
* For more details, please see Computer Clinic 21

Please note : Although we call it the "No 2" disk - if your computer is unable to make the "No 1" boot disk, then at no time will you have 2 floppies made on AVG. The one and only floppy you will make on AVG, will be the Rescue Disk - the "No 2" disk

When you click on "Continue" - ONLY the "No. 2" disk will be made - the Rescue Disk. At no time will you be invited to insert another floppy.

For emergency viral protection in DOS, and for Disaster Recovery purposes, it is CRITICAL to keep your AVG program AND your AVG Rescue floppy updated.

K. Copy and Paste from Forum to Notepad--and Vice Versa

Many members like to copy important tips and tricks from the forum onto a document they can keep - like a NotePad or WordPad (or even a Word) document.

Also, many members like to type out their contributions first (e.g. in NotePad) and THEN paste this into the forum.

From FORUM to NOTEPAD (or WordPad etc)

* Right-click any blank area of your desktop.
* On the pop-up menu, select "New ... Text Document"
* Right-click over that new document and click on "Rename"
* Call it something you want.
* N.B. With NotePad. it MUST end with the .txt extension
* Find the section of the forum you want to keep
* "Swipe" your mouse over the bits you want. You do NOT have to highlight everything - just the sections you want
* Hold your mouse anywhere within the highlighted text and RIGHT-click
* On the pop-up menu, click on "COPY" (NOT "cut" - COPY)
* Now, return to your desktop and open your NotePad document
* RIGHT-click your mouse inside that document
* On the same pop-up menu, click on PASTE

From NOTEPAD (or WordPad, or Word) TO the FORUM

* Type whatever it is you want to type
* Swipe your mouse over all of that to highlight it
* RIGHT-click and select COPY
* Open up the idf50 Forum
* Click on "New Topic" or "Post Reply" - whatever is appropriate
* In the blank message box, RIGHT-click your mouse
* On the pop-up menu, click on PASTE

This method can be used to "copy 'n paste" text from e-mails into the forum, from the forum into e-mails, from a web address in a text document into the Address bar of Internet Explorer, from the Address bar of Internet Explorer into an e-mail, or NotePad document etc. etc.

L. System File Checker (SFC) - Win 98

* Click the big START button ... Run
* In the Run box, type : sfc
* Click O.K.
* On the SFC box, click on the "Settings" button - bottom right
* Put a tick in the 2 boxes at the bottom - to check for changed files and deleted files. This makes SFC more powerful (and useful)
* If a file is found to be missing, corrupted etc, you will be asked to replace it
* SFC will ask you WHERE it has to look
* You need your original Windows CD - pop it into the CD-ROM drive
Click the little "down-arrow" and tell SFC to look on your "D" drive (or whatever your CD drive letter is)
* If the file is found, you continue
* If the file is NOT found, you either have to click on "Cancel" or give SFC another place to look
* A good second choice is to direct SFC to C:\Windows\Helpdesk\Sfc

M. BOOT DISKS - for Windows 98 and ME

* Open up Control Panel
* Double-click the Add/Remove icon
* On the box that pops up, click on the tab Windows Startup Disk
* Click on the "Create Disk ..." button

NOTE : If this is the first time you are making a Windows Startup/boot disk, you MAY (?) be asked to insert your Windows CD

N. BOOT DISKS - Windows 95

It is critically important for users of Windows 95 to take note of the following :

The bootdisk made in the usual way (see section above) by Windows 95 DOES NOT CONTAIN CD DRIVERS. Therefore, if you ever had and emergency and needed to use your Windows CD in DOS - you would NOT BE ABLE TO !

There is an excellent program you can download that will allow Windows 95 users to make a boot disk that DOES have CD drivers.

Windows 95 owners, please click here :

http://forums.spodnet.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5575

O. DEFRAG very slow, Restarts, Sticks at 10% etc

Please refer to Computer Clinic 20 f0r details on how to Defrag correctly.

Some additional tips that can help to get a successful defrag :

* Make absolutely sure you close down all running programs using End It All
* ALWAYS do a standard Scandisk FIRST. ALWAYS.
* Make absolutely sure you disable all of those damn Screen-savers!
* Look at your Systray (bottom, right - next to the clock) If there are any icons there (apart from, maybe, the loudspeaker) then CLOSE them down.
* Do this by RIGHT-clicking over the icon ... see if you can select "Close" or "Exit" or "Disable"
* Sometimes, an "always on lurking in the background" viral program can mess up a defrag - so would have to be temporarily disabled

Usually, this does the trick.

ADDITIONAL TRICKS :

* Go to the C:\Windows\Applog folder - click once on that folder, on the left side, and then delete all the files (if any) you see on the right.
* Do your Defrag in Safe Mode (see next section)

P. How to get into SAFE MODE

Depending on your make of Windows, this is EITHER done by pressing the key F8 on the very top row of your keyboard, or by holding down the Ctrl key.

Windows ME - it's always the Ctrl key (Note: apparently F8 works for some ME users as well)
Windows 95 - it's always the F8 key
Windows 98 - it's EITHER the F8 key OR the Ctrl key. If one doesn't work, try the other

* Shutdown and restart your computer
* As the computer restarts, look carefully for the "Starting Windows 95 .. or 98 ..." often accompanied by a "beep" sound
* The SPLIT SECOND that happens, press the F8 key
* You should arrive at the Windows Startup/Boot Menu (in DOS)

IF YOU DON'T ...

* Restart your computer
* HOLD DOWN the "Ctrl" key throughout the boot up.
* You should arrive at the Windows Startup/Boot menu (in DOS)

You cannot use your mouse here ... so use the little "down arrow" on your keyboard to "go down" to the option which says : Safe Mode

(N.B. NOT "Safe mode command prompt" - just SAFE MODE !)

When the words "Safe Mode" are highlighted, press the "enter" key (carriage-return key) on your keyboard.

From Safe Mode, you can launch your Defrag program.

N.B. You cannot do Scandisk in Safe Mode. So, make sure you do a standard Scandisk in "normal" Windows first (after closing everything down with End It All) THEN ... reboot ... and as your computer reboots, use either F8 or Ctrl to get to the Windows Startup/boot menu, and from there to Safe Mode

IF YOU GENUINELY, ABSOLUTELY, CANNOT MASTER THIS SIMPLE SKILL TO GET INTO SAFE MODE ...

* Shut down your computer (but make sure you have done a standard Scandisk FIRST)
* Pop in a BLANK floppy (NOT a startup/boot disk)
* Switch your computer on using the on/off switch
* Your computer will NOT be able to boot - you will be told you have an "invalid system disk"
* Take the floppy out
* Press F8
* Press it again ... and again ... until "something happens"
* What should happen is that you will get to the Windows Startup/boot menu, and can then select Safe Mode

NOTE : Chances are when you get back into normal Windows after Safe Mode, your desktop icons will be scattered all over the place! You will need to "drag" them back to where you want them.

Q. Restore the Windows Registry - Win 98 and ME

* Pop in your Windows startup/boot disk
* You do NOT need CD support - so start with or without it
* You will arrive at the "A" command prompt
* At the A command prompt, type C:
* Remember, that is a FULL colon, NOT a semi-colon!
* Press the "enter" key on your keyboard
* The command prompt will change to "C:\>"
* Now type : cd\windows\command and press the "enter" key
* You should now see C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND>
* Type : scanreg /restore
* That is ... the words "scanreg" - ONE space (and one space only) - a FORWARD slash - and immediately thereafter the word "restore"
* Press the "enter" key
* A list of dates will pop up.
* These are usually the "wrong way around" ! So, 29th March 2002 will appear as : 03 - 29 - 2002
* Use your up/down arrow to select the most recent date
* When the most recent date is selected, press the "enter" key
* Use left and right arrows to select options
* Options highlighted are always "put into action" when you press your "enter" key
* After your registry has been restored, press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart your computer.

R. Outlook Express - Can't SEND mail

This could be a problem with the server of your ISP. It could also be a setting that has come unstuck in Outlook Express. It can also happen when you connect to a DIFFERENT ISP that the e-mail address you are using - and you have NOT amended your settings accordingly.

* First thing to do is to simply close down Outlook Express. Then open it and try again.
* If not ... close down O.E. and reboot your computer.
* If this still doesn't work, connect to the internet and go to your ISP's web-page. Look for a section on their "System Status" - there MAY (?) be notification that they are experiencing problems.
* Too many ISP's only post this information days AFTER the problem (if at all) - but it's still worth a look.
* If your ISP has a discussion forum (and may of them do) take a look. If other customers are moaning about e-mail problems, then chances are it isn't you or your computer!
* Make absolutely sure your POP3 and SMTP settings are correct for the e-mail account you are using AND that this matches the ISP you are connecting to. Full details are in Computer Clinics 28 and 29.

S. How to find Information and Answers

* If you go to the Computer Clinic Library (link at the bottom of every Clinic web-page)
you will see a full list of all the Clinics published.
* By reading through the descriptions, you should be able to find the Clinic with the information you want.
* You can also use the "Search" facility.
* The link is at the top of all the Forum pages
* Type in the keywords you want to search for
* Make sure you select the Computer forum
* Make sure you select in the Subject and Message body
* Click on "Search"

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Hope you find this useful.

Again, may I remind you that this thread is "locked" - it is for reference purposes and cannot be used as a discussion thread.

If you wish to comment on this section I have compiled, then please start a New Topic and post in the usual way.