Aunty Virus 14th June 2010
Mary via email asks:
Dear Aunty, I have a Netbook laptop and find that it is very slow in responding to my actions. My daughter who recently came over from the UK commented on this and did a 'clean-up' but it is still slow. Could you give me some advice on what to do?
Aunty Says:
The problem here Mary is that computers have got so complicated that there is no simple and easy way to do this. For the same reason most of us will enlist the expertise of a qualified mechanic to fix the car, I would strongly recommend using a professional for this kind of work. I know eNET Computers will do a MOT type service, and they take great pride in guaranteeing it will be faster than when it was new.
Linda from La Marina asks:
Good morning Aunty, can you please help? I use Gmail but every time I try to print an email it crashes IE7, it just stops responding and I have to start task manager to get out of it. Do you know why this is happening, I have no problem printing anything else.
Aunty Says:
This is more than likely one of the IE7 add-ons you have installed Linda. Got to ‘tools’ ‘manage add-ons; ‘Enable or disable add-ons’ and disable any Google related ones. You could also try updating to IE8 from the Microsoft update website www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads
Michael via email asks:
Hi Aunty, I have just installed a new HP Deskjet 2400 printer and I can copy docs, photos etc but the print icon has disappeared from the screen so cannot print emails and attachments.
Aunty Says:
Hello Michael. If you installed the printer software from the CD you should have the HP Director or HP Solution Center software icon on your desktop. If it is not there then look under ‘start’ ‘all programs’ for an HP entry in the list. If you plugged your printer in and let Windows automatically load the software then you will need to re-install it from the original CD or better still, download the latest drivers from the HP website here.
John from Alcalalí asks:
Dear Aunty, do you advise leaving the router switched on all the time or just when online? I have just signed-up for an ADSL service and have been told to keep my router switched on 24/7. However, conscious of my global footprint not to mention my bank balance, I was horrified to find how warm both the router and the transformer got. We are constantly harangued to switch off all our electrical appliances at the wall socket over night and not to leave them always on standby, is the router the exception?
Aunty Says:
Hi John. There is no problem switching the router off whenever you’re not using the Internet for any great length of time. The only possible problem is that if your telephone is running via IP over your ADSL service (Skype, Telitec & Europa wireless etc.) it will not work without the router. You can try this by testing the phone after the router is switched off.
Sue from Villa Martin asks:
Hello Aunty. I have a problem with my Dell Inspiron 2500. When I try to put in my password it will not accept the y u h j n m or 6 and 7 keys. Please can you advise me?
Aunty Says:
Well the first thing I noticed about this Sue is that all those keys are in the same group around the middle of your keyboard and this is usually a symptom of a faulty keyboard from a spillage or just simply old age. What puzzled me is how you managed to type the email if those keys aren’t working! Maybe give eNET Computers a call on 687 362 844 as I know they fix all kind of laptops problems and they’re very cheap.
Fred from the UK asks:
Hi there Aunty. Although I returned to the UK in 2008 after 5 years of living on the Costa Blanca, I still read the RTN on-line every week and I especially look forward to your very informative column. My problem is that, as soon as I open any programme I get the task manager saying that my CPU usage is at 100%. I use XP and have 1.5GB memory. I also use AVG, Spybot S&D and Malwarebytes. I use Gmail via Outlook and Google Chrome as my browser. I also use Skype with Skypemate for VOIP phone calls. I have Automatic updates set in Windows and AVG. I have run scans in each of the security programmes with zero results shown.
Aunty Says:
Hi Fred. It’s great that you keep in touch with the RTN online. As you’re familiar with Task Manager you will easily be able to identify the application or process that is hogging your valuable CPU resources. After you start Task Manager go to the ‘processes’ tab and click on the ‘CPU’ column title (twice to get it in reverse order). This will list the percentage that each process is using under the ‘image name’ column. On a healthy system with no programs running you should see the ‘system idle process’ at around 90 something %. Once identified you can either uninstall the application or at very least we will know the next course of action.
Dear Aunty, I have a Netbook laptop and find that it is very slow in responding to my actions. My daughter who recently came over from the UK commented on this and did a 'clean-up' but it is still slow. Could you give me some advice on what to do?
Aunty Says:
The problem here Mary is that computers have got so complicated that there is no simple and easy way to do this. For the same reason most of us will enlist the expertise of a qualified mechanic to fix the car, I would strongly recommend using a professional for this kind of work. I know eNET Computers will do a MOT type service, and they take great pride in guaranteeing it will be faster than when it was new.
Linda from La Marina asks:
Good morning Aunty, can you please help? I use Gmail but every time I try to print an email it crashes IE7, it just stops responding and I have to start task manager to get out of it. Do you know why this is happening, I have no problem printing anything else.
Aunty Says:
This is more than likely one of the IE7 add-ons you have installed Linda. Got to ‘tools’ ‘manage add-ons; ‘Enable or disable add-ons’ and disable any Google related ones. You could also try updating to IE8 from the Microsoft update website www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads
Michael via email asks:
Hi Aunty, I have just installed a new HP Deskjet 2400 printer and I can copy docs, photos etc but the print icon has disappeared from the screen so cannot print emails and attachments.
Aunty Says:
Hello Michael. If you installed the printer software from the CD you should have the HP Director or HP Solution Center software icon on your desktop. If it is not there then look under ‘start’ ‘all programs’ for an HP entry in the list. If you plugged your printer in and let Windows automatically load the software then you will need to re-install it from the original CD or better still, download the latest drivers from the HP website here.
John from Alcalalí asks:
Dear Aunty, do you advise leaving the router switched on all the time or just when online? I have just signed-up for an ADSL service and have been told to keep my router switched on 24/7. However, conscious of my global footprint not to mention my bank balance, I was horrified to find how warm both the router and the transformer got. We are constantly harangued to switch off all our electrical appliances at the wall socket over night and not to leave them always on standby, is the router the exception?
Aunty Says:
Hi John. There is no problem switching the router off whenever you’re not using the Internet for any great length of time. The only possible problem is that if your telephone is running via IP over your ADSL service (Skype, Telitec & Europa wireless etc.) it will not work without the router. You can try this by testing the phone after the router is switched off.
Sue from Villa Martin asks:
Hello Aunty. I have a problem with my Dell Inspiron 2500. When I try to put in my password it will not accept the y u h j n m or 6 and 7 keys. Please can you advise me?
Aunty Says:
Well the first thing I noticed about this Sue is that all those keys are in the same group around the middle of your keyboard and this is usually a symptom of a faulty keyboard from a spillage or just simply old age. What puzzled me is how you managed to type the email if those keys aren’t working! Maybe give eNET Computers a call on 687 362 844 as I know they fix all kind of laptops problems and they’re very cheap.
Fred from the UK asks:
Hi there Aunty. Although I returned to the UK in 2008 after 5 years of living on the Costa Blanca, I still read the RTN on-line every week and I especially look forward to your very informative column. My problem is that, as soon as I open any programme I get the task manager saying that my CPU usage is at 100%. I use XP and have 1.5GB memory. I also use AVG, Spybot S&D and Malwarebytes. I use Gmail via Outlook and Google Chrome as my browser. I also use Skype with Skypemate for VOIP phone calls. I have Automatic updates set in Windows and AVG. I have run scans in each of the security programmes with zero results shown.
Aunty Says:
Hi Fred. It’s great that you keep in touch with the RTN online. As you’re familiar with Task Manager you will easily be able to identify the application or process that is hogging your valuable CPU resources. After you start Task Manager go to the ‘processes’ tab and click on the ‘CPU’ column title (twice to get it in reverse order). This will list the percentage that each process is using under the ‘image name’ column. On a healthy system with no programs running you should see the ‘system idle process’ at around 90 something %. Once identified you can either uninstall the application or at very least we will know the next course of action.