A friend has a Pentium 300MHz with Windows 98 and a 56K V.90 SVD modem. Windows Media Player 6 and RealPlayer 7 are installed. When attempting to play the video a window comes up asking you if you want to use Windows Media Player or RealPlayer. When anything other than ‘RealPlayer SureStream’ is selected, an error message appears indicating that ‘RealPlayer SureStream’ has to be selected. Selecting ‘RealPlayer SureStream’ as the video player just gives the ‘Contacting host: activate…’ window but no video or any indication that data is being transferred. Then clicking on ‘Options’ (under the link to the interview on the website) shows the video player selection box with all player options active. Selecting RealPlayer 56k or Windows Media Player 56k both lead back to the error message. He was using Internet Explorer 4 and has upgraded to IE5 but the problem has remained the same. Can you suggest any way to play these videos? (more…)

I am currently running Windows 98 and Office Suite 2000 Premium on an IBM Aptiva E 25 A Computer. Since purchasing the computer about eight months ago I have had a persistent problem when using any Office 2000 program. Approximately every 10 minutes when using any Office 2000 program, the Computer freezes (Mouse Pointer will not move) for about 5 seconds. I have closed all Task Scheduler programs, Norton Anti Virus Protect, Config Safe Auto Check and Power Management programs to no effect. Could you advise if you have had any similar complaints to mine or any suggestions on how to fix the problem? (more…)

I have a 33.6k modem and I am thinking of getting a 56k modem. My only concern is that my PC won’t be able to handle the bytes I would be receiving (for games use mainly). I have a Pentium II 233mhz with 32MB RAM and a 3.2GB HD (with about 600MB free space). I have Windows 98 and my ISP is Optus and Telstra. My friend told me that it is the bytes you receive and your hard drives free space that matters. Is this true? If so, could my PC handle it? Thanks. (more…)

I am considering getting connected to the Internet and have been looking briefly at modems. I note that prices in shops seem to range from $150 to several times as much, yet prices in Sunday computer fairs in Canberra seem to start at less than $50 - all 56K and V.90 compliant (whatever that is). Working on the premise that one does not get what one does not pay for, what is it that the cheaper units lack (other than fancy packaging)? (more…)

I run Windows 98 from my C drive. I installed Windows 2000 onto my D drive. I had problems with Windows 2000 and had to reinstall it. Now unfortunately, due to some weird phenomenon, it installed on C:. I promptly deleted it and got the space back. The problem is that when I boot I am offered Windows 98 and two options for Windows 2000. The first Windows 2000 in the list won’t function as it points to a non existent copy (the one which was on C but is now deleted). The second option works fine. I just want to delete the middle non working entry for Windows 2000. I have been into the Windows 2000 multi-boot manager but all it seems to let you do is select the default and specify the time to wait before invoking the default selection. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. (more…)