PCinfospace

Did you ever send an e-mail to somebody that had an attachment they couldn’t read?  Did you ever get an auto response that got stuck in the outbox?  It would be real surprising if you haven’t had at least some kind of e-mail issue.

If you get an attachment that will not open the chances are that either you don’t have the version of the software that they are sending you or you don’t have the program at all.  Well! Here’s the deal. You MUST have the same version or higher of the program the person saved the attachment in.  To solve this one you will either have to get the latest version of the software or you can tell the person to send it again in an earlier version.  You can also send it in text format right inside the e-mail.  This can be a problem with pictures.

Another problem, which seems to be growing, is they can’t send from their e-mail program.  This mostly happens with earlier versions of Outlook and Outlook Express.  Normally auto responses are the problem.  Go to your out box and delete them and usually you have solved the problem.  Why!  Because the “old” programs are not compatible.  That is to say they don’t know what to do with them.  These new features either didn’t exist or they have been upgraded.  Thus the reason they won’t send.  What is worse is that it will freeze up your outbox.  If somebody sends you an auto-response do not accept it.  If you do accept it you will need to go to your outbox and delete it.  Needless to say you could update the e-mail program.  This would also solve that problem. You could have a problem with your SMTP setting also. Call your service provider if need be.
If you do upgrade your old e-mail program be sure to back it up first.  You may need to import the old file which contains all your contacts and old e-mail folders.  If you do not know how to do that simply push the F1 key when the program is open and ask it.   If you go to a search engine they can offer advice also.

Another issue you may run into (I hate this) is that you need to have everything inside the contacts folder in order for it to show up when you click To: when you are sending an e-mail from you address book.  If you want to copy or move addresses to the contacts folder here is what to do.  First click on the folder that contains the address (es) you want to have in the contacts folder.  You MUST highlight any contact that you want to move or copy.  RIGHT click and drag the name to the contact folder and let go of the mouse.  A menu will come up that says move or copy.  Click on your choice.  Personally I like to copy it until I am sure everything is where I want it.  You can always go back and delete what you want to.   You can not delete a folder until you have it completely empty in Outlook 2007.

Online e-mail is not affected by the above rules.  Other e-mail programs may have different rules and different problems.

Top Ten Deals of the Week!

The quick answer is no.

The power supply unit in your computer is the square metal box normally found in the top rear of the computer case and is easily identifiable by the cooling fan and power cord receptacle within the box. A power supply is the component that supplies power to the computer. It converts the high voltage alternating current (AC) electric power supply to a usable low direct current (DC) power for the internal parts of the computer.

One of the main problems that a computer faces is the power supply. The power supply heats the computer and the components within it every time the computer is turned on. The overheated components can create a power supply failure and can be indicated by a stalled cooling fan located in the power supply. The burning smell normally noticed before the computer shuts down is usually due to failure of the power supply unit. Other symptoms of failure are random rebooting of the computer which causes stoppages in the operating system. It may also be possible that the computer will not start at all.

If you want to test the computer’s power supply, then follow the instructions below.

WARNING!! DO NOT take the power supply apart or try to repair it. Trying to repair a power supply could get you electrocuted due to the high voltage that is present in a capacitor inside the unit.

Obtain a tester from an electronic supply store.
Carefully remove all the cables from the power supply unit and unscrew it from the computer case. Care must be taken not to damage any cables or the component they are attached to.

Plug in the tester to the cords of the power supply as per the instructions supplied for the tester. They vary to some degree.

Connect the electrical cord to the unit and be sure the power is on. You may need to flip the switch in back of the unit if it has one.

This should tell you if it is good or bad. If the supply is bad replace it. DO NOT take it apart. Dispose of it according to you local ordinances.

If the unit is good you need to find out what else may be wrong. This is where you may need an expert if you don’t know what to do next. There could be numerous reasons in this case.

One other thing you can do, and is recommended, is to replace the power supply with one you know is good.This is the best fastest way to do it.

Although it is possible to check the power supply at home or in the lab, it is not logical to repair it. The cost would be too high even if you were to repair it. Replacing the supply is the only thing that makes sense if it is bad.

Unfortunately no! It is not possible to record one program and watch another if you have a single converter box. The best option is to get one box for each device.  It is also ideal to have one antenna for each device.  See antennaweb.org for the best antenna for your area. If the antenna signal is strong enough, an antenna splitter can be used.  If you have more than one converter box in one room or close to each other it best to get them from different manufacturers so that each uses a different remote. That way if somebody changes a channel on their box it doesn’t affect you.  Instead of purchasing a converter box you could buy a Digital TV.  They have their own tuners so you will not need the converter box.

COST SAVING NOTE !!
You can keep you cost down by trying the equipment you have before you buy anything.  Don’t let people talk you into anything.  Your old antenna may be good enough.  If you have have Cable or Satellite TV you don’t have to do anything. This is only for those that still want to use antenna along with the old TVs.  You do not need a converter box in that case.

Suggestion
If you don’t understand any of this ask around.  Many people have already made the switch including me.  You shouldn’t have to call any experts here.  There should be somebody that will help you get set up. FREE !! or pretty much so.

This can be difficult to answer.  You have to know:

What operating system you have.
What motherboard you have.
If the particular PCI or other card is compatible to the board.

If you have an older system things can get tough.  Mostly I have found very few people have their original restore disk.  In this case, if you do ever have to reload your system for any reason, you will need to have a WIN98, WIN-ME (or other system) disk and hope that you have the KEY CODE that came with it.  This is the license you need to be “legal”.  If you don’t I would suggest to take it to a professional to figure it out. DO NOT use a copy of any operating system for any reason.  This can only get you in trouble.  It could be defective and carry viruses or worse also.

MOTHER BOARDS

These have been changing at the speed of light.  I will not go into all the changes. I don’t have enough room on this web site for that.  I will say that most of the newer boards are much much faster and have far different connections for interface cards.  PCI express is only one example. The newer boards have  integrated LAN cards, Sound, and Graphics and others.  Years ago they were all separate cards.  Now if you need to find drivers you MUST know what motherboard you have.  Here’s how: Look at the board very close.  Normally the brand (such as Intel) is stamped on the board along with the model number.  You can try going to the board manufacturers web site.  See if you can find all the drivers and download them to any computer and put them on a disk.  Since you probably do not have any LAN card driver  running you may have to use a different computer.  I normally load them on a USB drive or in the case of WIN98 or ME I normally cut them to a disk.  Why? because the USB drive needs a WIN98 or ME driver to load and work.  Yup! Hay! this is some old stuff.  If you have Windows XP or later  you usually just let it load the driver by itself.  Normally the second you plug in the Thumb drive into a USB port on an Windows XP machine it will start loading the driver immediately.  Most of the drivers will normally load.   If one doesn’t you need to download it from the board manufacturers web site. If it is a major manufacturer such as Dell, Gateway etc. go to their site and download the drivers from there.

TIP

If you have a Dell or any other major manufacturer you go to their site.  All the drivers for that particular computer are there.  Do NOT go through the pain of finding a separate driver for sound, Video etc.  You will wear yourself out.  If you added a different Graphics card than originally came with the computer you need to get the driver off the install disk for that card, get it from the web site or try to figure it out by reading the very small  writing on the chip that is on the Graphics or other card. In other words: don’t lose your original driver disk.  I can’t believe how many people don’t have the disks they need when they need to reload their computer.

Why would I need to reload my computer in the first place?
Although there are more reasons than can be listed here, it is normally because they get really slow.  This is normally caused by Viruses, Spy-ware or other nasty things that get in your computer (on your hard drive) over time.

What if I can’t find a driver?

This happens a lot when you have to reload a Windows 98 or ME computer.

Here is were the work comes in.  You need to remove the separate PCI (or other) card from your computer.  Now get a magnifying glass (seriously) to see the very small numbers on the chip. (picture above)  WRITE THEM DOWN.  Do not trust your memory and you don’t want to do this over.  Now you need to go to a driver site.  Here are some of them:

driverguide
driversearch
driveragent
driverheadquarters
mrdriver
and more. Use a search engine if necessary.

Find the driver you need and load it to a disk and then load it on the computer that needs it.  If you just can’t make things work you need to find a technician that can help you.

WOW! now there’s a subject!

• Printer does not print:
  This is the most common problem I see with Printer repair.  First and foremost be SURE you have ink in the cartridge or cartridges.  If you just put a new cartridge in be sure you removed the seal that covers the jets.

1. Double check to be sure your USB cable or Parallel cable is “really” plugged in. Try another cable if need be. Some have been known to be bad.  Parallel cables are close to obsolete but some printers can use either one.
2. Check to see that the power plug is plugged in.  While your at it, check to see if the surge protector or power plug is turned on.  I have seen bad surge protectors also.  If lightning hits it or a large surge it may need to be replaced.  Some have fuses also.  The fuse could be blown.  You can plug the printer directly into the wall if you want to be sure.
3. Is the power light on? Most surge protectors have power lights.
4. Are there any error messages either on the printer or your computer?  Mostly any error that appears on the printer will also appear on the computer.
5. Is there a paper jam?  This is common especially on top loading models such as Lexmark printers.
6. Reboot the computer and try again if all of this checks out.
7. Each printer has a self test.  You need to check documentation that came with your printer to see what key or keys to push.  This is the only way to be sure there is nothing wrong with the printer itself.  If the self test is successful the problem is either the cable or the computer.
8. Here is a link that may help if you still can’t resolve the problem.  There is a lot of on line help available (Example: Error for HP Officejet 5510v)
9. Google it.  YA! I know some of you hate that.  You can also use other search engines or a catalog site such as Yahoo.  Actually ask.com is a very good search engine also.  I found it most effective if I put a question mark after a question.  Why would that make sense?  A lot of people on line like to take short cuts.  This is not one of those times.

• Other possibilities
  Computer issue.  It could be possible that the particular version of the operating system will not see the particular printer.  Be sure that the driver  you pick is the right one for your version of the  operating system. (Win98, Win-ME,XP, Vista etc.)  Most drivers can be downloaded from the Internet.The driver (software that allows the printer to work) can be called Firmware also.

READ THIS !!! Is it under warranty? If so PLEASE check with the store you bought it from or call the manufacturer.  Store warranties vary.  I have seen some that are only 10 days and some that have been as long as 30 days. Most Manufacturer warranties are one year long unless you purchased a longer warranty.   If all else fails I would suggest to buy a new printer.  To find a technician in your area that can solve the problem will be way to expensive.  Printer are considered as throw away.  Many things are that way now days.  It will probably more expensive to fix it than to buy a new one. If you decide to dispose of it please check you local area recycling laws.  You may get fined if you do it wrong.