Questions & Answers: December 2008
BIOS Settings Keep Disappearing
I use a computer running an Intel Celeron 1.70 GHz processor with 384 MB of memory, an Intel i845GV-W83627 motherboard and a 160 GB HDD. It uses the Intel 82845G onboard graphics processor. I assembled this computer back in 2002. I have had a problem for quite some time now. When I boot my PC, it shows these errors:
CMOS checksum error – Defaults Loaded
Warning! CPU has been changed.
Please re-enter CPU settings in the CMOS setup and remember to save before quitting.
Even entering the BIOS settings and changing the system date and time does not help. When I boot it, the same warning message is displayed again. Due to this my system date and time is always displayed as Jan 01 ,2002 12:01AM. Can this problem be solved at all?
I have one more problem. With such a system configuration, I don’t find any good games working on my system. Can you suggest some good games which will run fine on my system? GTA San Andreas works with my system.
Amit Singh
The first thing to try is to get into the BIOS and then set the default settings and reboot. Next, set all the setting in BIOS as you wish, save them and reboot again. If the settings gets resettled, then the CMOS battery has most likely given up and it needs to be replaced. There are plenty of games that can be played on your system. If you like GTA San Andreas, then make sure you play the previous GTA titles. Games like Counter Strike, Quake 3 and Warcraft 3 should also run fine. Games like these have great multiplayer support and are played even today. You will need a decent internet connection for these to work well online. If you like playing lots of games, then you should seriously consider a new system. There have been plenty of improvements that have come in the past few years.
HD Trailers Don’t Play
The HD trailers that you provide are always superb. When I try to play them in Media Player Classic or Windows Media Player, my whole screen becomes black and some four to eight seconds screens later, an error occurs. Is there any solution for this. Please help me. Don’t make me sad!
My PC Configuration is as follows:
Processor: Intel Celeron D 2.40GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte 8I845GVMRZ
Hard Disk: Seagate 40GB ST340015A Ultra ATA
RAM: 760MB DDR1
OS: MS WINDOWS XP SP 2
LG DVD Writer & Samsung DVD ROM
I have no discrete graphic card.
M Girish N Pai
The problem you are facing might be due to the outdated graphics solution on your motherboard. For HDvideos of 720p resolutions and above to run smoothly, a low-end dual core system with sufficient amount of RAMis required. A graphics card with HDvideo decoding capabilities on a slower PCwill do as well. In your case, the onboard graphics solution isn’t able to run the videos and the rest of the configuration doesn’t help either. You can try updating the drivers for the motherboard from the manufacturer’s site or from Intel’s site. Also try using some players like VideoLAN (VLC) to see if they are able to run it without crashing. If you like to watch HDvideo content, you should seriously consider upgrading to a system with a superior configuration.
Incorrect Processor Speed Causes Problems With Games And Software
I have an Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 core (1.86 GHz) processor. My processor speed shows up as 1.40 GHz instead of 1.83 GHz. Due to this, I am unable to run the game Need for Speed Carbon. My CPU doesn’t even complete the minimum requirements for MS Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition. Please help me with my problem.
Almost all motherboards and processors come with features to automatically underclock the processor to save power and to help maintain lower temperatures when the total power of the processor is not required. This throttling can be disabled from the BIOS. Look for a feature called Intel SpeedStep or EIST. Disable this and the processor should run at its default speeds. The games and other software should install without any problems.
Flash Drive Loses Data
I have had a 1 GB Amkette Ergo S Series USB device pen drive since October 2006 which I’ve been using regularly. For sometime, I have been facing a problem with this pen drive. Whenever I insert it into into the USB port, I am told that the drives requires formatting. When I format it and copy data onto the pen drive, the data gets transferred into the drive successfully. When I eject it from the port and re-insert it, then the formatting error pops up again and I lose all my copied data.
My computer configuration is
Intel D101GGC motherboard
Intel Pentium 4 processor – 20 GHz
Symtronix 512 MB RAM
80 GB Seagate 7200 RPM HDD
Happy Deepawali to you and your team
Ritesh Kumar
The problem you are facing lies with the pen drive. Try doing a standard format instead of a Quick Format. You can try the flash drive on another computer to see if the problem occurs there. If you have been using your flash drive a lot, then there is a good chance that it is corrupted. Although repair or replacement seems impossible now, the good news is that prices for USBflash drives have crashed. A 4 GBpen drive for example can be bought for as little as Rs 500.
Odd regsvr.exe Error On Startup..
I went through your September issue of Digit magazine. I’m very eager to learn what’s causing this problem I have. After logging in to my Windows user account, in the desktop the following message box appears – “Windows cannot find regsvr.exe. Make sure you typed the name correctly and then try again. To search for a file click start button and then click start.” When I search for the file, it seems there is no such file is available in the system but regsvr32.exe is available
My system configuration is:
Intel Celeron CPU 1.70 GHz, 352 MB RAM
Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 2
K.R.Dhananjeyan
You have a virus on your computer. You will also find files AUTORUN.INF in the root of all partitions and drives. Folders will also be visible as executable files. The virus can also be removed manually be deleting the .INF files from the roots of the partitions and drives. Entries to the virus will also be removed from the Windows Registry. The executable files showing up with folder names will also have to be removed. The simplest way would be to install an antivirus such as Trend Micro Antivirus to clean out the virus.
Do All Processors Support 64-bit Processing?
Hi, I am a regular reader of Digit magazine and would like to ask you a very important set of questions.
1. In every issue you recommend a PC configuration for hardcore gamers or for 3D rendering purposes, like Core 2 Duo (3.0 GHz) or he Quad Core (2.4 GHz). Are these two processors 32-bit or 64-bit?
2. I want a configuration for 3D rendering and gaming purposes. Also suggest whether to use 32- or 64-bit processors and operating system. Budget is no problem, but it should be good in respect of performance and durability.
Kamlesh
All of the processors today are 64-bit. Intel processors are generally denoted as EM64T. Both the Core 2 Duo and the Core 2 Quad are 64-bit processors. For 3Drendering purposes, go for a quad core processor. For gaming, a higher core speed is more important than the number of cores.
A Q6600 is a really inexpensive processor these days and the Core 2 Duo E8400 or the E8500 are good dual-core processors to go for. 64-bit operating systems and 64-bit applications will be a little faster than 32-bit. The complete 4 GBof RAMwill only be used on 64-bit operating systems.
The ASUS P5Q-Emotherboard is a great Intel P45 based motherboard for most users. For games, a GeForce 9800GTX from ZOTAC will make good sense. The Palit Radeon 4850 card is also a good option in the same price bracket. A WD6400AAKS 640 GBhard drive will go well with your configuration.
Is Changing Application Priority In Task Manager Harmful?
When looking at the Windows Task Manager, in the process tab there is a column for Image Name. When I right-click on this column, I get the option of setting a priority. Is it okay to change the priority to High, Low or Mediun depending upon the application you are working on or will it corrupt my system? In case I’m using an application and at the same time there are other applications like download managers and antivirus, all running in the background. Can I set the Priority to high to the application I am currently working on? Will it hinder the working of the computer?
It will not hinder the performance of your computer. You can set a high priority to any application you wish.
Aditya (TECH QNA Expert)
Can Files In The System Recovery Folder Be Viruses?
My antivirus software recently scanned my computer and I got a pop-up warning saying that it had found a virus. I am not completely sure if it is a virus. Moreover, the antivirus did not mention what type of virus it is. This is the message it showed me:
Infected: riskware not-a-virus:PSWTool.Win32.RAS.g was found in “e:system volume information_restore{22ccb5ec-88b6-4a77-a851-c1f97848e111}rp11a0007660.exe”
The size of the file was 266 KB. Is this a virus and should I delete it? Or is it not a virus and something related to the operating system?
Yes it’s malware. Try to fix it it using an antivirus program, if possible. If it does not, then delete it. The VOLUMEINFORMATION folder is your Restore point folder, so there is nothing to worry about.
Danish Chopra (TECH QNA Expert)
Lost My Recovery Data, What DoI Do Now?
Hi, I am a student and I have been a regular reader of Digit. I want to know about the hidden partition used for recovery purposes found in laptops from Compaq, Lenovo and Acer. Manufacturers store a backup of Windows and all drivers in this partiton. I have a Lenovo laptop. When I installed XP on my system, I mistakely deleted a partition name EISA of size 13 GB. Can you tell me how to create this partition again? Please help!
Unfortunately you cannot recover this data properly. Once deleted, the data and the partition are gone. This partition contains the recovery information which is used for reinstalling Windows XP. Now that you have already installed XP using a CD, you do not need that partition. You should however download all the drivers from the Lenovo site and store them on some CDor DVDso you can then use the next time you need to reinstall or otherwise as required.
Ramik Sadana (TECH QNA Expert)
Compatibility Issues With .NET 2.0 And .NET 3.0?
I have developed one Windows application in .NET 3.5 using VB.Net. I am using MS Access as a backend for a database. I want to deploy the application on my customer’s system. The issue is that it is already running .NET Framework 2.0. The OS running on the customer machine is Windows XP Professional. The .NET Framework 2.0 is installed on the customer machine as the customer has another Web application using it. The customer says that he doesn’t want to uninstall the application and the framework. What do I have to do now? Please help me.
.NET 2.0 applications are compatible with .NET 3.5. As such, any new installation will simply build upon the existing installation, modifying the original libraries if need be or adding new ones. You just need to install the new framework on the machine. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ab99342f-5d1a-413d-8319-81da479ab0d7&displaylang=en
Alternatively, you could try writing the application again for .NET v2.0. Doing this maybe a little troublesome, but since you have your client’s request at your end, there’s nothing much you can do. I’m hoping that you’re not using too much functionality of version 3.5 which are not present in 2.0.
Is The File boot.com Corrupted?
Whenever I try accessing a partition on my hard drive using My Computer, an error appears “c:resycledboot.com is not a valid Win32 application”. What is this?
If you are familiar with DOS commands, then start a DOS command prompt. Locate and delete the Autorun.inf files from all the partitions on your hard drives. Restart the computer when done.
The other way is to press [Windows] [E] on the keyboard. This will open Windows Explorer with the left pane folder option. Select one of the partitions. If you see the hidden files, then just delete Autorun.inf file and restart your computer. If hidden files are disabled, click on Tools > Folder Options and enable Show hidden files. Check hidden system and protected hidden files and also uncheck the box to hide file extensions.
Jagdeep Virdi (TECH QNA Expert)
How Do I Enable Wi-Fi On My New P3400 Phone?
I bought a new HTC Gene P3400i running Windows Mobile 6. The default configuration shows that Wi-Fi is not there. Is it possible to download WiFi software and then try to connect wirelessly to hotspots? It is possible for me to connect a PDA to the internet using Wi-Fi connectivity by downloading software from the Internet, which will detect any Wireless Internet connections. Please reply.
Rohit Singh
Rohit, the HTCP3400i doesn’t have inbuilt WiFi. WiFi is not software so you can’t download it and run it from your mobile. There is one solution for you.
Wi-Fi SDmemory cards are available in the market. These have both memory as well as Wi-Fi built-in. You can put such cards into the SDslot provided and your mobile will be WiFi ready. More details can be found using Google.