When starting up Windows, every now and then I get the error message ‘Em_exec has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL. Em_exec will now close’. What is this about and can it be fixed? I run Windows ME. (more…)

When running Disk Defragmenter on Windows 98 it always restarts after completing 89% of defragmentation. I have not interrupted the task and there is no screen saver in the background. However, it appears that something else on my computer is interrupting the defragment routine as it falls over at 89% each time it is run. Can you help? (more…)

1 - 2 minutes after being online I am disconnected. Is this a fault of my ISP or my computer? (more…)

After installing a bunch of new software and trying to troubleshoot some problems absolutely nothing shows up on my screen when I attempt to boot up. I installed a 3DFX Voodoo3 2000 card in my P200 MMX PC and recently bought a cheapie $2 CD that had various utilities and demos. After installing the latest Windows Media Player and DirectX 8, nothing displayed on my monitor upon reboot until it opened up Windows…not even DOS! I uninstalled Media Player but couldn’t find DirectX 8 to uninstall. Then, foolishly, I decided to uninstall the 3DFX drivers and reinstall from the CD. However, in the process of doing so the computer crashed and I had to reboot again but this time absolutely nothing shows up because I deleted the drivers! Not even Windows! How can I fix it if I can’t see anything? What can I do? (more…)

I am having a problem with the power on one of my computers. It is a Pentium II 266mhz on a Aopen AX6B motherboard (Intel 440BX) with 64MB RAM and 6.4GB hard drive running Windows 98SE. Before Christmas it was playing up, switching off by itself and then switching on at odd hours (no pattern). Even when shutdown correctly, it was prone to turning itself back on. This PC was set up on a home network but since the problems started I haven’t been able to get Internet Sharing to work at all. Furthermore, the data transfer between this PC and another is dreadfully slow (it takes up to 12hrs to copy 70MB!). Some advice I have been given about the power problem is, firstly, it is probably a sensor on the motherboard. In this case it is probably more economical to buy new motherboard as it will cost up to a $100 to have it checked it out and that money could be used to buy a new motherboard. Secondly, it may be the power switch on the case. To test this theory, I was instructed to disconnect the power switch from the motherboard and then short the two jumpers to see what happens. Thirdly, it may be the power unit. Buy a new one ($30 - $40) and see if that fixes the problem. Finally, try reinstalling Windows 98SE. Do you have any advice? (more…)