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Q: I am regular reader of it@tt and learn a lot about computers in every edition. I recently installed loaded Windows NT but am unable to load drivers for the DAX internal modem. Can you help
Srinivas Pharshy
via e-mail

A: Its possible there are no NT-compatible drivers available for your modem. Instead, try using a generic driver instead. You'll get a lower speed, but the system won't lock-up.

Q: Recently I installed Norton Utilities. Since then whenever I shut down the computer hangs. Please help.
Supratim Haldar
via e-mail

A: That there is a delay or lockup during shutdown means that some service is not closing. It's possible that some Norton Utilities process continues to run even after you decide to terminate Windows. Close all running process by right clicking its icon in the System Tray.

Q: When switching on the computer, I get a message "The windows registry or SYSTEM.INI file refers to this file, but the device file no longer exists....vnetsup.vxd. Press any key to continue. " Why is this happening and how can I resolve it.
Patrick Gomes
via e-mail

A: You may have inadvertently deleted a file. From Start|Run \Windows\System\sysedit command, open WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI and search for any references to vnetsup.vxd. And delete these entries. Save the .INI and restart Windows.

Q: I intend purchasing a PC for use at home. The primary purpose is to surf the Internet. Should I buy a Celeron or a Pentium III. Will it make any difference in terms of processing speed and login time.
Rahul Dutta
via e-mail

A: If your budget can be stretched to accommodate a Pentium III, consider it. There are many advantages a Pentium has over a Celeron including faster processing. Login time depends on the response by the ISP to your modem's request.

Q: You got a great thing going. Keep it up. One it@tt reader, Hassan Modan wanted to know of websites which will allow him to post computer-related queries. He should try www.qsupport.com

Shrenik Jain has complained that when sending and receiving mail on his Hotmail account using OE 5 it performed "offline tasks" which takes a long time. I too use OE5 for my Hotmail account and find the same thing. To get around this problem, delete mails only after going online.
Santanu Ghose
via e-mail

A: Thanks for the tip. And the tech support for other readers. Keep it up.

Q: I would like to know if its possible to have Windows and Linux in a single hard disk, but on different drives? Will my system crash?

I installed IE 5.5 and sometimes get an error that IE caused an error to the USER.EXE file. Can I make phone calls from India to the USA using MSN Messenger. When I try I get an error that I am behind a firewall
Rajiv Ramesh Rupani
via e-mail

A: Yes you can have both on a single HDD in different partitions. Just make sure Windows is on the primary drive, i.e. C:. But you can't load both OS simultaneously. However. you can run Windows from within Linux.

The IE error is caused by a lack of available system resources. You haven't mentioned your PC configuration. VoIP is still illegal (but we're waiting for an official notification allowing its use). And its possible your ISP has specifically blocked the service.

Q: I have Win98SE and Win2k Pro loaded in C: and E: drives respectively. When I use Win98 the CD-ROM drive is shown as E. But when I start Win2k, this changes to F. Recently I was having a problem with C drive so I formatted it and reloaded Win98SE. But now I my E drive is hidden and I only can use Win98. Please help as I cannot use win2k. Will storing movie files with .dat extension on my hard disk cause any problem
Javed Golder
via e-mail

A: Bad news! When you re-formatted C drive, you have also deleted the Win2K Boot loader file. The only way to restore this file is to re-install Win2K and choose the Repair option. If that doesn't work, you will have to re-install the whole OS. You can't view the Win2K drive because its presumably on an NTFS partition; a format Win98 does not support. This also accounts for the CD-ROM drive letter changing from F: to E:. There is no problem with storing .DAT files on your drive. However, these may not run without other, linked files on the original VCD.

Q: I'm doing a 2-year course at NIIT. I have completed 18 months. After completion I'm getting a job opportunity from my institute. Shall I complete the course first or along with the course shall do a job? Will I be able to get nice jobs after completing the course.
Rajan
via e-mail

A: Why make such a radical change in times of economic slowdown. Complete your course first and let the institute help you get a job. The downside of working and studying is that one will suffer. Or you will manage both and have a nervous breakdown instead. "Nice jobs" depend on "nice marks" :-) Don't expect the universe to be at your feet. You have to prove yourself first. And being first in class definitely helps.

Q: I am regular reader and appreciate the efforts taken by you to answer all the queries. Should I take a course on "Computer Hardware and Networking."
Nilesh
via e-mail

A: You need to decide first why you are taking the course. Do you plan to change jobs? You will be working with people nearly half-your age. But whatever course you finally opt for ensure that there is a lot of hands-on training esp. in hardware and networking. Once you have the theory in place, consider getting a few e-certifications (www.ecertifications.com & www.brainbench.com) as well.

Q: Thanks for the useful information in your column. I have a problem that also affects my friends. Recently when I loaded Norton Antivirus, after rebooting my machine I got a kernel32.dll error. What is the cause
Sanjit Rao
via e-mail

A: This problem is most often caused by insufficient RAM leading to a lack of available system resources. Norton Antivirus (NAV) is a known memory hog. It likes to have lots of background applications running, that constantly consume system resources. You can get more RAM, use a utility like MemTurbo (see TechTalk, it@tt, 6 March 2001) and also consider disabling some of NAVs services.

Q: I am an avid reader of your IT articles. I, along with a software engineer, have developed "Connection Initiation Protocol". CIP is a new protocol for streaming data(voice/image) transmission between multiple points in a network. Can you please suggest few journals (with names & addresses) where we can publish our research paper ?
Kaniska Mandal
via e-mail

A: Sorry, you will have to check out academic sites. I recommend searching for the information using your keywords on a site like northernlight.com. Perhaps you could also send us a copy for publishing in it@tt.

Q: What are the best sound-cards and graphics-cards available. I would also like to know how should I go about if I want to increase my RAM to 256MB or higher.
Manish Golder
via e-mail

A: There are no "best" sound or graphics cards; it's what you can afford. The most expensive is not necessarily the best. Also add-in graphics cards available today support AGP. Unfortunately motherboards, especially the Intel 810 series and its clones, don't have an on-board AGP slot. You could get a Yamaha sound card. Its quite cheap but delivers great quality. To boost the available RAM, just buy an additional SIMM. For more information and buying details check out the Fabmart.com Computer Shop.

Q: I want to contact Indranil Mazumdar whose enquiry appeared in Mailbox (it@tt, 3 April 2001). Can U provide me with his e-mail? I have recently loaded Yahoo Messenger. Now in IE there's a Yahoo bar below the address bar. I want to remove this but keep Yahoo Messenger. Help!
Viks
via e-mail

A: Sorry, we can't provide readers addresses to avoid spam and other legal hassles. However, email us your request and we can pass it on. Yahoo Messenger and Yahoo IE Toolbar are usually separate. Why not uninstall Yahoo from the Control Panel. And then download Yahoo Messenger from the Web and re-install it.

Q: I'm an avid reader of Mailbox and find the solutions very useful. When I play audio CDs the output is totally distorted. But there are no problems with a video CD or a CD-ROM. I also cannot play MIDI files. I've a VSNL and Yahoo mail account but I can't receive/send any mails. I've also installed Norton Antivirus. When I protect my mail accounts with the antivirus, the POP3 servers of both are changed to 127.0.0.1. How do I resolve the problem?
Nitin Trivedi
via e-mail

A: To fully resolve your audio problems I suggest a visit to windowstroubles.com as also Windows-help.net's Support BBS. The email servers IDs for Yahoo are correct. I'm not sure what VSNL's are. Your email receive problem is possibly caused by the inward POP server ID being changed 127.0.1.1 (localhost). I too have the same problem on Win98SE. And have just given up Since every time I start Windows the settings change. You could try finding the IP addresses and using those instead. Also if you have a UPS consider not powering off the PC; just suspending/ hibernating the PC instead and then seeing if the settings change (now why didn't I think of that before?)

Q: For the past one month I am unable to access the source code of web pages from View- Source. Earlier it worked fine. Do I need to re-install MSIE software? Please help me out.
Simi Sahay
via e-mail

A: It's possible some app you've installed has blocked this. Try the IE repair option before reinstalling. And if you do consider updating to IE 6 Preview.

Q: I read it@tt and like it very much. I feel it should be distributed to all territories and not just Kolkata. It would be of great help if such measures are taken
Soumya Chatterjee
via e-mail

A: Thank you for the compliments. Actually it@tt is available all over the world; we are online at http://www.careermosaicindia.com/itattt. So no matter where you are, you won't miss your weekly dose of IT-related information

Q: I did not get any reply from you. This is my second mail. Is it possible to put my name on the Win98SE Start button. I also want to know the outgoing and incoming mail server for Yahoo and Hotmail.
Sudipta Mukherjee
via e-mail

A: We are flooded with reader email and it takes us a while to clear the backlog. You can't change the start button, but only the look 'n feel of windows using X-Teq's free utility (www.xteq.com) to 'tweak' the GUI. Or downloading Windows Blinds to modify the overall look and feel. Yahoo's email server is pop.mail.yahoo.com and smtp.mail.yahoo.com. For Hotmail, use OE's Wizard. In any case this information is also available in the Web mail service's Help files.

Q: I have a Pentium III with 64 MB RAM and am thinking of adding 128 MB more. I have a 440ZX motherboard with two RAM slots. Can I add 128 MB to the other slot and have a total of 192MB. Is this possible without decrease in system speed and IRQ problems.
Suvojit Mukhuti
via e-mail

A: Per se there shouldn't be any problems. However Windows seems to dislike these odd RAM configurations. Consider trading in your existing 64 MB SIMM and getting a single 128 or 256 MB SIMM in exchange plus some change.

Q: I have a PIII/600, 128 MB and Win98SE. When I play VCDs using Media player, the PC hangs after running 70-80% of the total time span. My friend also has the same problem.
Swapan Kumar Roy
via e-mail

A: You have to give more information such as the build of Media Player used before we can help troubleshoot the problem. From experience (we too have a similar configuration) the most probable cause is lack of resources. You need a memory manager like Memturbo.

Q: I have a P-166 with 48 MB RAM. I downloaded Gozilla. After installing it whenever I try to download anything the screen goes black and I cannot do anything but shutdown. But when I uninstall Gozilla, there are no problems. Please suggest a remedy.
PK Deb
via e-mail

A: It could be that the downloaded file is corrupted. Instead use GetRight, FlashGet, Download Manager, the free LeechFTP.

Answers by G Menon
[email protected]

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