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Home→Published 2010 → November

Monthly Archives: November 2010

Migrating from Microsoft Outlook to Outlook 2010 on Windows 7

Computer Aid Posted on 30 November, 2010 by Luigi Martin30 November, 2010

Ah, the joys of an “improved” (ie rearranged) file system.

I recently transferred data (documents etc) from a Vista system to windows 7.

It was easy, and W7 was even smart enough to notice that I was copying pictures and videos, and offered to copy then to the “new and improved” pictures and videos folders.

But with outlook, I needed to do a bit more digging.

Usually, its quite simple:

On XP, I get the file:

C:Documents and Settings{user account}Local SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftOutlookOutlook.pst

or on Vista I get:

c:Users{user account}DocumentsOutlookOutlook.pst

and then I copy them to the correct place on the destination PC.

But now Office 2010 (and the associated Outlook 2010) has decided to change folders again (and to change the name of the PST file as well…)

So, for Outlook 2010, I need to copy the PST file to the following location:

C:Users{user account}DocumentsOutlook Filesuser@domain.com.pst

Note how the pst file now reflects the emails address of the user account… it seems strange at first, then I think: maybe it makes some sense… but then I think: if someone changes their email address, will the file name change accordingly? I suspect not.

Posted in Technical | Tagged outlook 2010, pst, windows 7

Outlook Express generates error 0x800c013b

Computer Aid Posted on 28 November, 2010 by Luigi Martin28 November, 2010

This PC suddenly couldn’t access emails via Outlook Express.

When trying to run Outlook Express, it would immediately crash with the error: 0x800c013b

I take a look at the outlook DBX files, and they are all there.

I search for a solution on the net, and find that often, the sent items.dbx file gets corrupted (usually if the PC loses power during a folder compact operation).

So I rename sent items.dbx to sent items.dbx.old

But I still get the error.

I start to suspect that the problem is inbox.dbx, so I rename it, and now Outlook Express starts normally (minus emails that were in Inbox and Sent Items.

I shutdown and rename sent items back to its original name, and restarting OE shows that sent items is now back to normal.

Luckily the customer had already copied the emails from inbox, so there was no need to recover the emails… otherwise I would have needed to look for something like DBXtract to recover “lost” emails from inbox.

Posted in Technical | Tagged 0x800c013b, outlook express

WoW: failed to find suitable display device

Computer Aid Posted on 21 November, 2010 by Luigi Martin21 November, 2010

This customer had a PC running Windows XP, a core2 duo CPU, a high-end ATI video card, and 2 Gb RAM.

But he cannot run World of Warcraft (which is what the PC is mainly used for). It did run WoW for a few years, but after moving house, it seemed to stop working.

Whenever WoW is run, is gives the error message: Failed to find suitable display device.

After a bit of research, it seems that the prevailing wisdom on the net is that the ATI driver and Catalyst Control Center need to be re-installed.

So I try the standard add/remove; download the latest driver from the ATI website, and install the latest ATI driver and CCC.

But WOW will still give the same error after the latest driver is installed.

I make sure I have the latest version of DirectX… but the problem persists.

The next step is to uninstall the ATI software again, but this time make sure all ATI files are removed from the system (including program files, windowssystem32drivers, etc) and remove all ATI entries from the registry.

Reboot, make sure XP is using its generic video drivers, then re-install ATI drivers and CCC.

But the WoW problem is still there!

I run some intensive stress-tests of the CPU, RAM, and video card, but find no problem with the hardware.

A virus/spyware scan finds nothing wrong with the PC.

In the end, the only options is either a mammoth re-install of WoW, or a slightly more mammoth fresh install of Windows XP, and then an install of WoW.

Due to time constraints, the customer decides to reinstall XP and WoW himself… after which, the PC works normally again.

Looks like this is one of those rare situations where a re-format and re-install is the only solution.

Posted in Technical | Tagged display device, WoW

mouse lockup

Computer Aid Posted on 18 November, 2010 by Luigi Martin18 November, 2010

As often happens, a customer tells me that the computer locks up, but can’t quite give me a good indication of how, or under what circumstances.

After some probing, it appears that its the mouse that is actually locking up (customer is not sure, as they use the mouse for most things, and the keyboard is only used for obvious things like emails and documents).

Since the problem is intermittent, I cannot see the problem first-hand.

So I resume asking more questions, and I find out that it only locks up at “startup”… and to fix it, the computer is reset… Occasionally, the PC needs a second reset, before the mouse starts working properly.

I also find out that once the PC starts correctly, and the mouse is working, it never freezes during that session…

The next day, I was in the same office (for a different problem), when I had the same problem.

XP starts correctly, the keyboard works, but the mouse doesn’t.

It feels like the mouse isn’t plugged it, yet I can see the LED light underneath.

So I start tracing the mouse cord, and I find it goes into a green USB to PS2 adapter.

The mouse is USB & its plugged into the PS2 plug via the adapter.

I’ve never liked using these green adapters, unless there just isn’t enough USB ports.

So I plug the mouse directly into a USB port (there were 3 empty USB ports), and the problem never happened again.

Posted in Technical | Tagged mouse lockup, usb to ps2

Cannot start Dell inspiron 1526 laptop

Computer Aid Posted on 14 November, 2010 by Luigi Martin14 November, 2010

This laptop was behaving strangely.

It normally gets switched off overnight.

But in the mornings, it would normally take 2 – 10 attempts to start, before it finally started properly.

Often, it would just flash some lights, and then go off after a few seconds.

Once it did start, it would complain about the CMOS time being wrong.

And the customer also found the laptop to be running quite slow.

Since the Dell Inspiron 1526 is always plugged into mains power, the battery should be in good shape, so the CMOS battery should also be in good shape… but even so, a faulty CMOS battery shouldn’t prevent the laptop from starting!

Anyway, I do the obvious first: check for infections, plus some system tuning on Vista. I also adjust the date/time to be correct, before I do any Windows updates.

I find no infections, so all is good on that front.

I shutdown the laptop, leave it off for about 2 minutes, and there is no problem with starting it.

I then shutdown, remove the power cord and the main battery, press the power button a few times, wait a minute, then plug everything back, and there is still no problem starting.

So I leave, asking the owner to keep an eye on it & let me know if the problem re-occurs.

About 3 days later, I get a call saying its still not working properly.

I do some research, and find that this model laptop has a known problem when the CMOS battery runs flat: it becomes difficult to start, and it keeps forgetting the date and time…

Now, I was under the impression (because I thought it was logical), that the CMOS data & the internal clock was kept running by a rechargeable battery. This battery would get recharged by the main battery, so that it was unlikely to go flat unless the laptop was left “unpowered” for a many months.

Anyway, I returned, with instructions on how to dismantle the entire laptop… just so I could replace the 3V lithium coin battery.

Internally, the laptop is quite flimsy, but I managed to dismantle the 1526, replace the CMOS battery, and re-assemble the whole laptop in 1.5 hours!

But once it started, I found about 8 keyboard keys wouldn’t work… grrr

Since I was running low on time, I just plugged in an external USB keyboard, and told the customer that if it was a problem, I would come back and re-seat the keyboard plug, as its most likely some dust on a contact.

Posted in Technical | Tagged inspiron 1526, startup

Tips For Resolving PC Issues When Using Mobile Devices

Computer Aid Posted on 11 November, 2010 by DEI11 November, 2010

Tips For Resolving PC Issues When Using Mobile Devices

Do you receive frequent errors, such as .3gp file type error when you try to connect a mobile device to your computer?

Mobile devices provide great utility; we can connect them to our computer to transfer data, such as music, audio, photo files. Although, connecting a mobile device to a computer is mostly a seamless process, at times you may receive an irritiating file type error when you attempt to transfer data between your mobile device and Windows computer.

The question we take up in this article is – how to resolve file extension errors pertaining to the files associated with popular mobile devices?

Before we dig deeper into the solution, first let us be clear that different mobile devices use different file extensions. For instance, .ipd file type is associated with BlackBerry phone devices. Similarly, the .m4v file type is used exclusively by the mobile devices developed by Apple, such as iPod.

Shared below are the steps you can perform to resolve file extension errors that may erupt when using mobile devices:

  • Use a file extension repair tool – A large number of file extension errors occur due to damaged file or file openers on the Windows system. You can fix this issue by using a reliable and easy-to-use file extension repair tool. A file extension repair tool will diagnose and fix any problem with the file or file openers and provide you quick access to the file type that you are trying to view.
  • Run a malware scan – File extension errors may also occur if your computer or mobile device is infected. That is why it is necessary that you ensure that both your mobile device and computer stay malware-free. You can deploy the same protective software on your computer as well as the mobile device, if possible, otherwise use a separate protective tool for each entity.

Perform a thorough malware scan on both your mobile device and computer to ensure that no malware programs has stealthily entered and infected your files. Before you conduct a malware scan on your Windows computer, complete the following tasks:

  1. Update your security tool with the latest malware definitions and security updates.
  2. Disconnect your PC from the Internet.
  3. Disconnect your PC from any network share that it is attached.

After you have completed the above steps, restart your computer in the Safe Mode and perform a malware scan. To restart Windows in the Safe Mode, follow the steps illustrated below:

  1. Close any open applications, click the Start menu and click Restart.
  2. Press and hold the F8 key as Window reboots.
  3. In the Windows Advanced Boot Options Menu, select Safe Mode using arrow keys and press Enter.
  • Clean your registry – One essential PC maintenance activity that very few Window users perform regularly is cleaning the registry. As registry grows old, it gets filled with all kind of junk information, become cluttered and fragmented. Deteriorating registry’s health may, in turn, slow down your PC and cause various errors, including file type errors.

If the file type error still persists, the culprit might be your registry’s poor health. Use a reliable registry cleaning tool to clean your registry and fix various errors that are being caused due to issues in registry.

Posted in Technical

downloading files using Prestashop

Computer Aid Posted on 7 November, 2010 by Luigi Martin7 November, 2010

I’m in the process of creating an online shop for Computer Aid.

I’m looking at selling software and at some point, also selling hardware.

Hostgator gives me a very large choice of online shop software.

Lets see, I can choose:

  • os commerce
  • prestashop
  • zen cart
  • cubecart
  • opencart
  • magento
  • tomatocart
  • phpcoin

After reading some reviews, it seems that Prestashop V1.3.1 is the easiest to setup.

At this stage, I don’t want to waste time evaluating 8 different shop apps.

I make a big assumption: most shop apps have similar features & they are all stable… its just the user interfaces that will be different (with some being more complex than others).

Boy was I wrong!

After spending some time setting up Prestashop (change currency to Australian Dollar, upload my logo, etc), I create a “product” to sell: I upload the “Complete Keyfinder” file that I currently have for sale in my software section, setup a price, setup some payment options, then do a test purchase.

Everything goes well until I try downloading CompleteKeyfinder…

I get prompted to download it as a text file… I proceed with the download, and I end up with a file called “CompleteKeyfinder.txt”.

By renaming it to CompleteKeyfinder.exe, I find it works normally, but its not what a customer would want.

I try a few variations, and find that this problem only happens with Firefox, and only with .exe files.

I try a different online shop, and there is no problem downloading .exe files.

So it looks like a fault with PrestaShop, and no short-term solution, without modifying php files.

I’m not interested in customising an unfamiliar application… I’d much prefer to install something that works without having to jump through hoops.

So the next shop software that I’ll be trying is: Tomatocart. Its based on the very popular OS Commerce, so it should be a lot more stable.

To be continued…

Posted in Browser, Technical | Tagged prestashop

What You Should Know about Windows File Extensions and Issues Related to Them

Computer Aid Posted on 4 November, 2010 by DEI4 November, 2010

What You Should Know about Windows File Extensions and Issues Related to Them

While some parts of a Windows system are well understood, others are not. For instance, there is a lot of awareness about the various types of viruses and the ways to prevent infection, but not much is known about the different types of files on a computer and errors related to them. Therefore, this article will provide a short introduction to the various types of Windows file extensions, as well as the errors that can be encountered.

What is a file extension?

A file extension is the three-letter part of a filename. It is usually preceded by a dot, and is used by the operating system for a variety of purposes. For instance, text files are named in the following manner, ‘mycontacts.txt’, in which case the ‘.txt’ part of the filename is the file extension, which says that this file will comprise plain text and can be worked on by a text editor like Notepad.

Can you provide some more interesting examples of file extensions?

Sure, and there are many types of file extensions, perhaps even innumerable. Most likely you are familiar with MS-Word files or PDF files because there is a good chance that you work with these files on a daily basis.  However, there are a large number of file types that you may not be familiar with.  We will now discuss some of the lesser known file extensions:

  • .bup file extension – This file extension is related to DVDs. A .bup file is generated by a DVD player, and it is the backup file for another type of file created by the DVD player, called the IFO file.
  • .mui file extension – This file is used by the Windows to define the language settings for the interface. The acronym stands for MultiLanguage User Interface, and provides the ability to customise the language according to the user.
  • .dat file extension – This extension serves two purposes: sometimes it works as a binary file for storing data in the most basic format, and is also the format for some videos on the Windows platform.

What causes file extension errors?

There can be many reasons, some of which are listed below:

  • The registry might be corrupt.
  • The filesystem may be corrupt.
  • There might be malware infection.
  • The platform might be wrong for the file.
  • The required application might be missing.

What do I do to avoid such errors in the future?

There are many things you can do, and we describe them below:

  • Registry cleanup – The registry stores a lot of information on file types, and so it is important to ensure that it is not suffering from any problems. Therefore, you should purchase a good registry cleaner and scan your registry periodically to avoid file type errors.
  • Malware scan – Many times, malware are responsible for various types of errors. Therefore, you should have all the required protective software installed on your system and update it regularly by connecting it to the internet.
Posted in Technical

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