Computer Quandaries - September 2006

Let’s start off with a warning this month: Go right this minute and download and install ALL the critical updates from www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com. Don’t take for granted that your Automatic Updates settings are taking care of this task for you; every now and then, you should go to the website and scan manually to be sure you’re up-to-date.

There’s a particularly nasty problem with the Server function, just recently discovered and fixed. I recommend to everyone that they turn off the Server service using MSCONFIG. However, I read the Microsoft Knowledge Base write-up, and I can’t tell if that will protect you from this latest fault; I’ll assume not and recommend you apply the fix anyway.

(BTW, if you are running Server on a computer that doesn’t actually act as a file or print server to other computers on your network, WHY IS THAT? Go into MSCONFIG » Services and disable it, NOW!)

On to the questions. . .

DaLe,

For the past couple of months, I’ve been getting this error message on my screen:

[The feature you are trying to use is on a CD-ROM or other removable disk that is not available. Insert the TrayApp disk and click OK.]

I don’t have any TrayApp disk and I don’t know what it is. When I click 'OK', I receive an error message, when I click 'Cancel' nothing happens. I cannot get rid of that message. Since I have it on my screen I cannot shut off or restart my computer the usual way; I must cut off the power and put it back to restart.

Thanks for your help.

Marc

Marc,

I did a Google search for TrayApp; the first hit I got seems to be your problem. Do you have an HP printer? Did you recently try to install or upgrade it? If so, that's it. Put the HP printer driver CD in the drive and reboot your computer. If it doesn't finish the install and never give you the problem again, email me again and we'll dig deeper.

And if your printer isn’t HP, do you maybe have any graphics or imaging software from HP, like Image Zone? If so, either insert the install CD to complete the installation, or use Control Panel » Add/Remove Programs to uninstall. Either way, the error message should go away.

DaLe

(He found four unfinished installs of HP imaging software, removed them, problem solved. Once again, props to Google.)

Hi, DaLe.

Can you tell me (in the simplest possible language) how to cut and paste? I keep getting requests to cut and paste items and have no idea how to do that. The help file assumes that one knows more than I.

Best regards, and thank you.

Charlie

Charlie,

Put the mouse cursor just before the item(s) you want to Copy or Cut, press and hold the left mouse button, and move it across the stuff you want, then let go of the button - the text or pictures will highlighted.
Click on Edit » Copy if you want to leave the original text or pictures where they were, or click on Edit » Cut if you want to remove the items from their original locations at the same time as you put them somewhere else. (What you just did was put the data on the 'clipboard', a special piece of memory Windows has set aside just for Cut/Copy/Paste operations.)
Put the cursor where you want the data to be, and click Edit » Paste. The pictures or text should magically appear.

Please let me know if this isn't clear; I'll find a better explanation, steal it, and send it to you, just like it was my own.

DaLe

Dale,

I made this banner up and I sent a copy to a friend to see if he wants me to add more names to it. Unfortunately, he can't open it.

What must I do to make it work?

Ray

[Attached file: Miracles.pdb]

Ray,

I couldn't open it either. From the extension, .pdb, I figure it was made with Print Shop Deluxe.

You need to open it in the program that made it, then click on File » Save As, and see if you can't save it as a JPEG or PDF file; everyone can read those. If Save As isn't available, try Export - I know Print Shop can export to JPEG.

And send me a copy of the JPEG, too. I'd like to see it.

DaLe

Dale,

I purchased and installed the Norton AntiVirus 2006 package when my 2005 subscription ran out. It's been working fine. But now, in the last two days, when I try to sign in to Word, I get a warning:

[Norton AntiVirus 2006 does not support the Repair feature, please uninstall & reinstall.]

What causes this, and how do I fix it?

Thanks,

Terrie

Terrie,

I Google’d your error message and got this link to the Norton page about your problem.

Apparently, you have to create (or create again) a directory tree that Norton should have created for you; either Norton didn’t do it right the first time, or the folders have been deleted. Specifically, you need to ensure that the folders
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Symantec\Norton AntiVirus\Quarantine\Incoming
and
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Symantec\Norton AntiVirus\Quarantine\Portal
exist.

Then, still according to Norton’s web page, you need to reinstall Norton Anti-Virus. And if the problem still doesn’t go away, you can download an AutoFix Tool from the same web page. (Why wouldn't they just tell you to use the Autofix tool first? I don't know. . .)

IMHO, a much better fix would be to uninstall all Norton products from your computer, and install the free programs listed below; between them, they do a much better job of protecting your computer than Norton does, and without the loss of performance. (Norton is a resource hog. In my experience, it slows your computer, and it causes problems with other programs, as you now well know. I remove it from the computers of all my clients who will allow it.)

Go to my Downloads page, and download and install . . .

AVG FREE AntiVirus, version 7.5,

LavaSoft Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition version 1.06,

Spybot Search & Destroy, version 1.4, and

WinPatrol 10.

After you click each of the links, just click on Save, point your browser to your desktop, and click on Save again. After you've saved all four files, double-click them - one at a time - to install the programs. This all takes a little while, but it's relatively easy and very much worth the time and effort. If you're a TBCS member, you can take your computer to the Resource Center on a Wednesday or Friday morning, and they'll do all this for you. If you don't want to disconnect your computer and lug it around town, email me by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page, and I'll come do it for you, cheap.

DaLe

BTW, please don't let anyone push you into installing Microsoft Defender. It's another free anti-spyware program, and it's not awful, but it is still in 'beta', and it doesn't protect any better than the two anti-spyware programs listed above. And it’s ‘real-time protection’ doesn’t stop and ask you whether it’s okay to allow changes to your startup files, it just pops up a notice telling you what changes it already allowed (without asking for your permission!). In my opinion, WinPatrol does a much better job in this respect.

I feel the need to throw in this disclaimer: All opinions expressed in my columns are mine alone. If Norton or Microsoft want to get upset with me for speaking frankly about their products, so be it. I give credit where credit is due, but I also don’t mind pointing a finger or two, if I feel it’s warranted.
(Just wanted to get that off my chest.)

Till next month, y’all keep emailing me your computer questions, and I’ll respond with the best advice I can dream up or steal.

I’m still giving away my free Utilities CD. It includes all the free software I recommend to all my clients and in these monthly columns. Just send me an email, and we’ll figger out where and when to drop you off a copy, at no charge, in the Clearwater area. If you aren't in these environs, I can mail you a CD, but there will be a $4 charge - paid via Money Order only - to cover postage, materials, and bother. Let me know if you’re running Windows 95, 98, or ME, and I’ll make the CD bootable, so that you can scan a FAT-16 or FAT-32 hard drive for viruses, even if it won’t start Windows or DOS.

I found a program from Germany that will let you scan an NTFS disk from a Win98 bootable CD, but they haven’t responded to my request for permission to distribute it, so I can't include it on the CD. However, I will include a link to the software, and detailed instructions on how to make your own NTFS boot floppy, all in strict accordance with their license.

Thanks.

Computer Quandaries - September 2006

by Dale Atchison

Thanks for asking!