Whenever you first connect a new LCD or TFT flat panel monitor, the first thing you should always check is for any dead-pixels. Dead-pixels are defective pixels on the monitor which do not display correctly (for a more detailed explanation, visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_pixels). There is an excellent free utility called Dead Pixel Buddy which will allow you to identify if there are any dead-pixels on the monitor. Should you find there are dead pixels, you may be able to get a replacement monitor (before buying your new monitor, you should check the manufacturer’s dead pixel and monitor replacement policy). You can download Dead Pixel Buddy from www.laptopshowcase.co.uk/downloads.php?id=1. (more…)

Recently my original cordless mouse (which plugged into the PS/2 port) ceased to operate so I replaced it with a Microsoft Optical Corded Mouse, which is also plugged into the PS/2 port. However, a low battery warning related to the original cordless mouse appears in the upper right hand corner of the screen every few minutes. I have tried connecting the new mouse to a USB port instead (using the included PS/2 to USB adapter) but the low battery warning still appears. How do I stop the low battery warning from appearing? The computer is running Windows XP Home Edition. (more…)

Our computer is running Windows 98 and Netscape 4.7. Netscape Mail is used as the email client, with two different mail accounts. When closing Netscape, to change the active mail account, Netscape often hangs. Using CTRL-ALT-DEL reveals a process called ‘Internat’ which I have noticed is only present when Netscape is running or freezing on shut down. When I attempt to terminate this process, using the ‘End Task’ button, a message appears saying the program is ‘Not Responding’ and this allows us to kill the process. I can then re-open Netscape in the different account. What is Internat, and why is this causing Netscape to hang? Also, is there a way to switch between Netscape accounts without closing the program? (more…)

In a recent tip of the week you recommended using Process Library (www.processlibrary.com) for identifying unknown processes running in the Windows background. This has been a fantastic resource, but there are still some processes I cannot identify: lcmon, lmonitor, Cap3sw (twice), Cap3rs, KB891711, and Cap31a. Can you help in identifying these processes. Also, there are two processes running which Process Library identified as adware: wintaskad and winsched. I updated and ran a full scan using Spybot, but on the completion of the scan the items were both still running. Then, I tried to delete the files from the Program Files directory, but because they were still running Windows denied me access. How can I delete these files? The computer is running Windows 98. (more…)

When completing a virus scan with AVG antivirus, two virus infected files were detected but could not be removed: VerifierBug.class and BlackBox.class. These viruses are located in the ‘C:WINDOWSApplication DataSunJavaDeploymentcachejavapiv1.0jardemo.jar-30f1f1ac-6cb78770.zip’ archive file. The comment at the bottom of the scan results is ‘Some of the selected objects are located inside the archive and cannot be healed’. The computer is running Windows 98. (more…)