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Reinstalling Windows XP Upgrade On An Old Computer

June 10, 2010 By

Subscriber Louis Zarowin wrote this week to ask for some guidance. Louis needs to reinstall Windows XP on an old computer that had been upgraded to Windows XP.

At a time like that, we always worry about whether we’ve found all the needed disks and files, so we can make sure that all our software and hardware works again.

Terry:

I have a somewhat older computer I still use (Dell Optiplex GX-110) and I recently was told by “Dell Tech. Suport” who was on line screen sharing with me that I need to re-install the operating system on it all over again.

It originally had a “Windows 98 S. E. on it” then before I actually got it, it was upgraded somehow to “Windows XP Professional” but the problem with just going ahead and re-installing the “Windows XP Professional” all over again is that the “Drivers/Drives” aren’t directly there, so I was advised that if I can re-install the “Windows 98 S. E. again” then “Upgrade to Windows XP Professional” this would be fine as the “Drivers/Drives” for that older operating system can simply be downloaded from the “Dell Website” as they still have them for that older operating system, but they don’t have them for “XP Professional” from what they told me already.

Microsoft will be sending me the “Disc to Upgrade to XP Professional” shortly but I need the “Windows 98 S. E. Original Disc” and that may be difficult to find right now.

Do you have any further information and/or possible suggestions that can help me?

I trust that you will reply to me about this issue when you have a chance and thanks for the assistance in this.

Yours Very Truly,

Louis R. Zarowin

I wrote back to Louis to suggest that he try to get a replacement Windows 98 SE cdrom from Dell. That’s his best bet if he can’t find his original Windows 98 SE cdrom..

Whether you have to install Win98 before installing WinXP or not…

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Filed Under: Operating System, Software, System, System Repair, Terry's Computer Tips, Usability, Windows Updates, Windows XP

Wireless Problems Solved with New Router

June 7, 2010 By

Readers of my online newsletter will remember Bev’s problems of several weeks ago. Bev upgraded to Windows 7 Home. However, she was no longer able to get to Pogo.com to play games…

I had corresponded with Bev and made sure she had updated to the latest verison of Java (from www.java.com). But, Bev continued to have problems.

My last request to Bev had been that she write to tell me how she ultimately solved the proble.

This week, she wrote back to report that the problem was solved — and in a way that was quite surprising to me:

Hi Terry, Just wanted to update you on my Pogo.com issue that I wrote you about.

I ended up talking to Microsoft and they remotely assisted but after two days they couldn’t resolve the problem, called Linksys who wasn’t any help as router is outdated, called Pogo and they didn’t have any answer and called my ISP.

I finally called my friend who is super busy as computer tech and he did a few things like trying to download update firmware for my router of which wasn’t available any longer and his last fix worked, buy a new router as Windows 7 did not like my old router. So he had me buy a Netgear WNR2000-100NAS.

I did the switch and setup all by myself as their setup disc is so simple and by golly everything is working great besides being fast router for desktop as well. Thank you Terry for all your help, you are a trooper for sure. Happy Thanksgiving early.

The solution was surprising, but perhaps should not have been. Linksys has had a lot of versions upgrading and improving their WRT54G router that Bev used. Her’s was about …

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Filed Under: Communications, Networking, System Repair, Terry's Computer Tips, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Wireless

ReImage for Windows XP

June 8, 2009 By

I received a question from Adam, a Terry’s Computer Tips web site visitor recently, who was having problems with two of his computers:

Hey Terry, just read your XP SP3 woes, got another one two for you. i have a small home network running with shared internet connection. When SP3 came out both computers immidiately downloaded the update. on PC1 the same happen to as did to your previous writer with the dvd-rom issue (gave up and bought another) on PC2 my onboard network adaptor, uh, mulfunctioned and my computer no longer registers any outside computers from my network port. i do not want to use system restore point. is there a way of repairing online? SP2 cd does not work

I wrote back to Adam to tell that there is a new online service about which I have been reading, that might be what he was looking for. InformationWeek, NetworkWorld and eWeek had very interesting articles about it. I also advised him that I have not tried ReImage yet.

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Filed Under: Driver Corruption, Operating System, System, System Repair, Terry's Computer Tips, Windows XP

Internet Explorer 8 Beta problem

April 20, 2009 By

Reader Herman Barnes wrote to comment and ask about problems with the beta version of Internet Explorer 8:

Thanks for a great site. Ihave IE8 beta on winXP. My favorites star button won’t open. Star depresses like it’s going to to something but nothing happens. Recent activity were uninstall Norton Security and install AVG. Any ideas? Thanks..

I wrote back to Herman to tell him that I’m not using the IE8 beta and can’t provide any help on it. I seldomly use beta software, whether Microsoft’s o r from other companies.

Remember that beta software is software that is released in the hopes that users will find and report bugs. It is not perfect, is not a "release candidate" nor final version, and often has known bugs that simply haven’t been fixed yet.

Whether from Microsoft or other companies, you should not have any expectation that beta software’s known bugs have been fixed — whether they are functional or security bugs. There’s a reason that beta software licenses are even more emphatic in their disclaimer of any warranty and disclaimer of any damages that they may cause to your data or your system.

If it doesn’t work correctly, report it. If it bothers you, uninstall the beta software and go back to the current version.

Now, of course, IE 8 has been released as a regular download — it’s no longer a beta. The next rumors are that Microsoft will issue Internet Explorer 8 as a Critical Update for Windows XP and as an Important Update for Windows Vista.

Filed Under: IE, Terry's Computer Tips, Web browsing, Windows Vista, Windows XP

Home Networking — Wired + Wireless Connections

February 17, 2009 By

The simplest way to set up a home network, including both computers with wired connections and computers with wireless connections, is to set up a wireless router immediately following your DSL modem or Cable modem. Sometimes, a DSL modem even has the router built into it.

In this setup, all the computers are assigned their IP addresses by the DHCP server that is built into the router. All are on the same logical network. However, their ability to share files, printers, and otherwise communicate between each other will depend on your settings in each computer.

In order to share files, you have to tell Windows (or Linux, etc.) to enable file and printer sharing, identify which directories should be shared, and have the computers on the same Windows Workgroup (or Windows domain, if you’re a very advanced user running a Windows domain controller). You’ll also have to tell the firewall programs on each computer to allow the sharing with the other computers — or the firewall will block the data.

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Filed Under: Networking, Performance Tweaks, Security, Security Issues, Terry's Computer Tips, Vista, Windows Vista, Windows XP

OpenOffice 3.0 Installation Issues

January 28, 2009 By

Subscriber and friend Ron Spruell wrote about a problem he had with the new OpenOffice 3.0. The problem occurred with one of the free antivirus programs, so this may be of particular interest to many readers:

OpenOffice 3.0 Problems: Terry — I tried Oo 3.O. I did not uninstall 2.4 first. Oo 3.O increased my CPU usage to 80% to 100%. My computer would barely run. I had to uninstall and go back to 2.4. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Would a clean install solve my problems. BTW, I love Oo. I find Writer much easier that MSWord. Calc has a few short comings. I use Impress for all presentations. I never did learn how to use Power Point. Ron Spruell

I wrote back to Ron to tell him that I had not heard or read about any problem before seeing his email. I asked if he used Process Explorer or Task Manager to see which application was bouncing to 100%.

Continue reading OpenOffice 3.0 Installation Issues

Filed Under: Anti-virus, Performance Tweaks, Software, Terry's Computer Tips, Windows XP

Acronis Releases New Acronis True Image Home 2009

January 21, 2009 By

Acronis has now released their latest version of their hard drive backup utility — Acronis True Image Home 2009. We had some hints that something was coming. The new version is here…but do we need it?

First, what’s an image backup and why should I use one?

Tech Tip
An “image backup” is effectively your own “recovery disk” or “recovery partition”, complete with all your installed programs and data files, too. You can back up onto DVD’s, to external hard drives, to other computers, to another partition on the same hard drive, or to another hard drive in the same computers. Of course, not all of these destinations provide the same level of reliability — if you back up to another partition on the same hard drive, it can save you from a “brain freeze” problem, but not from a hard drive failure!

Some image backup programs can work only with the entire partition, either backing up or restoring the whole partition. Other programs can back up entire partitions, and can also back up only the files that changed since the last full backup. Similarly, some can restore entire partitions, and are also able to restore individual files and folders of files from the backup file.

I’ve used disk imaging for system backups for my computers since about 1995, starting with DriveImage 2 from the former PowerQuest. Ultimately PowerQuest Corporation was purchased by Symantec in 2003, who used Drive Image 7 as the basis of its next Norton Ghost version.

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Filed Under: Backups, Hard Drive Recovery, Terry's Computer Tips, Vista, Windows Vista, Windows XP

HOWTO: Open a Program in a Maximized Window

January 17, 2009 By

With some programs, we always may want to open them in maximized (full-screen), or even minimized (hidden), mode. Windows allows us to accomplish this via a setting in a program’s shortcut.

Continue reading HOWTO: Open a Program in a Maximized Window

Filed Under: Operating System, Performance Tweaks, System, Terry's Computer Tips, Usability, Windows XP

New articles at Terry’s Computer Tips

December 30, 2008 By

There are a bunch of new articles at Terry’s Computer Tips:

Filed Under: Communications, Hard Drive Recovery, Hard Drives, Networking, Software, Terry's Computer Tips, Windows Vista, Windows XP

Making the Quick Launch Bar Accessible

December 14, 2008 By

Subscriber Helen Day wrote to ask about the Quick Launch bar:

How to keep the “quick launch” bar exposed when I’m using different programs. Regardless of what I open I have to minimize to find the bar and some programs won’t let me do that. I tried changing the resolution but that didn’t work.

The Quick Launch bar is a portion of the Windows Task Bar that is used as a mini-menu. If you put a program icon in the Quick Launch bar, you can start the program with one click. Although many programs want to install their icons in the Quick Launch bar, it’s real use if to make your favorite programs easily accessible.

Continue reading Making the Quick Launch Bar Accessible;

Filed Under: Operating System, System, Terry's Computer Tips, Windows XP
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