Multi-Session VCDs?

Also, when a video file is on the hard drive, a certain size is displayed, say 630 MB. But when I add this to Nero for writing in the VCD format, it shows a much smaller size (like 580 MB). Why?
Chatendra Dev

It is possible to create multi-session VCDs or even DVDs using Nero. The problem is that the VCD created may not be playable on your VCD player, since it will not be compliant to the standards set by the VCD industry. You will still be able to play it on your computer.

Most standalone VCD players can read only the first session of a VCD-the remaining sessions will remain inaccessible to the player. Some new VCD players support multi-session VCDs, but since you haven’t specified what VCD player you have, you’d do best to burn a VCD in a single session.

MPEG-1, used in VCDs, provides 352 x 240 at 30 fps, 15-bit colour, and CD-quality sound. So your video files get converted to MPEG-1. If you’re burning, say, an uncompressed video file, the size may reduce to as much as 10 per cent of the original! Similarly, if you’re burning a DivX movie, it gets upsampled since it’s more compressed than MPEG-1, and you’ll see a larger file size in Nero.

There are two other things to consider here: first, a VCD is burnt in Mode 2/XA instead of ordinary data mode. This mode has less error correction than data mode, so some of the space reserved on the CD for error correction can be used to store data. Second, a larger DAT file on the hard disk appears lower-sized on a VCD because some of the data is stored in the sub-channel area of the CD.

Mad At My Modem
Q. I recently bought a v.92 56.6 kbps Krypton internal modem for my AMD Athlon64 3000 based PC with Windows XP SP2. The modem only generates noise and never connects, whereas it works fine on other PCs.
Abhishek

Read the modem manual and set the appropriate modem initialisation string and also the country setting. Sometimes, the country setting might not be “India”; you might have to use trial and error to figure the correct country setting. If that doesn’t work, uninstall the drivers and install the latest drivers from the manufacturer’s Web site. You can also try to lower the baud rate of the modem to, say, 33.6 kbps and then try to connect. If it does connect, there’s surely a noise problem with your telephone line, and you’ll need to contact your phone company to find a solution. Also try plugging the modem into a different PCI slot.

DD:MM:YY/HH:MM:SS
Q. When writing files to CD using Windows Explorer in XP, the date and time of the files change to the current date and time. Is there a setting that can prevent this change so that the original values are retained?
Dr Kiran K Kalra

When you copy a file to CD, a new file is created on the CD, so the “Created” date and time is set to the current date and time. Bear in mind that the “Modified” date and time remain the same as in the original. This cannot be changed using just XP.

You might want to use Nero Burning ROM for burning CDs: you have three options-to retain the original date and time, to set them to the current values, or even to set custom values!

My Music’s Running Away!
Q. I have an Intel 845GL chipset-based motherboard with a Celeron 2.4 GHz processor and an AC’97 supported audio device. I’m running Windows 98. My problem is that is the speed of the audio-the tempo-is faster than normal. What can I do?
Sanjay

The problem of audio playback at a higher tempo is caused if you install the audio drivers for AC’97 audio devices before you install the chipset drivers for your Intel motherboard, or if you have not installed the chipset drivers at all. Download the latest drivers for your audio and motherboard chipset from the manufacturer’s Web site. We recommend that you download the latest chipset drivers for your motherboard from www.intel.com, which is mentioned as an INF Update utility. The current version is 6.3.0.1007.

Uninstall the audio driver you’ve installed. Install the motherboard chipset driver you downloaded. Then install the audio driver, and your problem should be solved.

An Obscure Error Message
Q. I recently installed Internet Information Server. The problem is that whenever I click on Default Web Site, I get the 0x8ffe2740 error. What does this error mean, and how can it be resolved?
Nitika Raturi

This error occurs if a port conflict exists on the system. IIS uses port 80 for communication by default. If an application other than IIS is using the same port and IP address, and then when you try to open a Web site using IIS manager, you get the above error.

Change the port number for the Web site in IIS

The error can be resolved in either of two ways. Stop the application that is using port 80 and then start the Web site using IIS manager. Or, you can change the port bindings for that Web site to a port other than 80 in the IIS manager. To do this, open Internet Services Manager; right-click Default Web Site and view its Properties. On the Web Site tab, change the TCP port number from 80 to a port number of your choice.

Driving Sound
Q. I have a Sound Blaster Live! Value sound card. I recently installed XP, and it doesn’t have inbuilt drivers for the sound. They aren’t there at Creative’s site. Where can I find them?
Anirban Ghosh

The Windows XP/2000 drivers for the Sound Blaster Live! Value card can be downloaded from www.fileshack.com/ file.x?fid=544. It’s a 27 MB download.

Covering Your Tracks
Is it possible to clear the Run dialog box history?
Nishant Joshi

Assuming you’re using XP, right-click on the Taskbar and choose Properties. Navigate to the Start Menu tab and then click Customize. Another pop-up window will appear with two tabs-General and Advanced. Click on the Advanced tab and then on the Clear List button. This will clear all recently opened files and commands, and it will also erase records of Web sites visited through Internet Explorer.

If you just want to clear the entries from the Run dialog box, open the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftware MicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerRunMRU. Delete the value corresponding to the command you want to remove, or remove all the entries to clear the list entirely.

Do one or more of the following to address this issue:
Solution 1: Uninstall fonts using the CorelDraw 6.0 font utility if you have installed CorelDraw 6.0. Use the bundled font utility to uninstall the fonts it installed. The FontMaster 6.0 utility installs fonts incorrectly and causes the issue you’re facing. To remove fonts using FontMaster 6.0:
1. Close all applications and start FontMaster by choosing Start > Programs > Corel Graphics > Corel FontMaster 6.
2. Select all the fonts in the “Permanently Installed” section of the Corel FontMaster window and choose Edit > Delete. You need not delete fonts from the other sections in this dialog box.
3. Open the Fonts folder by choosing Start > Settings > Control Panel, and then double-click Fonts.
4. Select the fonts that need to be removed and choose File > Delete.
Solution 2: Temporarily remove TrueType fonts in the Fonts folder until you have a hundred or fewer, and then restart your computer. Don’t remove Windows standard fonts, which are required by various applications. For a list of these fonts, see Additional Information. If PageMaker starts without an error, read the fonts a few at a time, starting PageMaker after you add each set of fonts to determine which fonts cause the error, or how many fonts you can have installed without errors.

Solution 3: Remove and reinstall PageMaker Aldfont*.fon files:
1. Locate the PageMaker application folder. Open the folder and select each of the Aldfont*.fon files (Aldfonta.fon, Aldfontb.fon, Aldfonte.fon, and Aldfontf.fon), and choose File > Delete.
3. Reinstall the Aldfont*.fon files by performing a Custom Install of PageMaker from the installation CD (that is, select only PageMaker from the list of items to install). Make sure you install PageMaker to the same location on the disk.
Solution 4: Delete and re-create the ttfCache file by exiting all applications, locating and deleting the file, and then restarting Windows in Safe Mode to create a new file.

Pretty Darn Funny
Q. I use Windows XP Professional, and I am not able to download PDF files. When I try to open a PDF file, a message appears: “An internal error has occurred.”
Sarabjeet Singh

This problem can be caused by a variety of reasons. Sometimes, it occurs if you don’t have enough memory installed. The error can also occur if you have an older version of Acrobat Reader installed or if you have more than one version installed at the same time-in which case you should uninstall both versions and reinstall the latest version. Another reason could be that your firewall or proxy server is corrupting PDFs while they download. The solution here is to download the PDF to your hard drive and then view it rather than viewing it in your browser.

TV-Tuner Trouble
Q. I use Windows XP Media Center Edition. Recently, I installed a Pinnacle PCTV 50i TV-Tuner card. It works fine with the Pinnacle Media Center software, but whenever I start the Windows XP Media Center TV application, it shows an error: “Your TV card is not compatible with Windows or is not configured properly…” Does this mean that I can’t use the TV card with Windows XP Media Center?
Siddhartha Biswas

We would like to bring to your notice that you can only install and use Windows XP Media Center Edition OS if you had bought a Media Center PC. Windows XP Media Center Edition is not available off the shelf and only comes bundled with Media Center PCs. If you obtained from elsewhere, it is pirated, and we cannot help you.

If you have a Media Center PC and are trying to replace the TV-Tuner with the Pinnacle PCTV 50i, then we must tell you that there are a limited number of TV-Tuners that are compatible with Windows XP Media Center Edition. Your TV-Tuner is not supported by this operating system-hence the error message. You can still use this TV-Tuner with the OS by installing the required drivers and using third-party PVR software as in other flavours of Windows XP, but it does not fulfil the TV-Tuner hardware requirements of this OS-and hence cannot be used with the Windows XP Media Center TV application.

You can find out about TV-Tuners supported by or compatible with Windows XP Media Center Edition from www.microsoft.com/ windowsxp/mediacenter/partners/dfw/tvtunercardsreq.mspx.

500 Per Cent Indeed! 
Q. I use Windows XP Pro and IE 6. I have installed Internet Download Accelerator. But the download speeds are more or less the same, when people say it can increase download speeds up to 500 per cent. I use a 128 kbps connection. What other download accelerators would you recommend? Also, I use Opera 8.5. I can’t incorporate any download manager into Opera. What do I do?
Saurabh Sood

Download managers try to give you the highest download speeds from your Internet connection by splitting the file being downloaded into multiple segments and then downloading the segments simultaneously. The highest download speed you can get is limited by the speed of your Internet connection which in your case is 128 kbps. Then again, the Web site from which you are downloading files also is a factor in the maximum download speed you can get. The 500 per cent claim is almost rubbish; it does say “up to 500 per cent,” which can be as little as 5 or 10 per cent!

A good download manager we can suggest is FlashGet, from www.amazesoft.com. The FlashGet plug-in for Opera can also be downloaded from the same site.

The Registry To The Rescue
Q. I own a cyber café. People come and download files, and I want to change the download location of the files to a location of my choice. How do I do this?
Abhishek Yadav

You can set the download path using the Registry Editor. Browse to HKEY_ CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet Explorer and find the String “Download Directory” in the right pane. Double-click on this and change it to a valid location of your choice. This is where files will get downloaded the next time someone clicks a download link.

However, this location can be changed if a new location is specified. To prevent the user from doing this, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwarePoliciesMic osoftInternet ExplorerRestrictions. If this value is not present, you can create it. In the right pane, create a new DWORD called “NoSelectDownloadDir” and set its value to 1.