I am using a Pentium II 350 with 128 Mb Ram. After about 5 hours of internet surfing and downloading, it becomes unstable, with error messages (”GDI failure”) reported. With Netscape, the advice is to clear the cache memory. “Stability” returns when I restart the computer, but it means I have to go temporarily offline. Will it help if I get more RAM, or is there any other way? I tried System Tool’s Disk Cleanup while still online but that does not appear to help. What is cable modem and will telephone lines in ACT support this or do I have to have a special line? What is the speed? Is it useful if the ISP, news server or website is slow? (more…)

I am running a small network of three PCs all running Windows 98 Second Edition, configured for Internet sharing, using the Internet sharing wizard on the gateway computer. Netscape is the default browser on each of the computers. The default dial-up is via FunnelWeb in Canberra, the only dial-up that is set up. The Connection tab in Internet Options (Control Panel) is set to dial whenever a connection is required. The system works fine other than when launching email or Netscape from one of the client computers, the dial-up usually takes longer than the time-out period on the relevant application. This is not a problem as the application can simply be re-started when the dial-up is completed. The problem is that the gateway computer now dials a connection randomly, without a request from a resident application or from an application on one of the client computers. There is no rhyme or reason to the timing. Can you help me with a setting change or some other solution to this problem? (more…)

I have a problem with the date on my PC, which is a 486 (a bit aged like me) and run Windows 98 operating system. Each time I start up the computer I get a warning ‘Nsched32 This program has performed an illegal operation and will shut down’ I then cancel this warning and go into ‘My Computer’ date and year, which shows the correct day and month, but the year is always 2094. I correct this to 2000 and select Apply and OK. However, each time I shut down and later restart the PC the date has reverted to the appropriate day and month, but the year has reverted to 2094. By the way this problem started on 1 Jan this year. Can this be fixed? (more…)

I have a 10X Pioneer DVD-ROM. I have heard that these drives can play DVDs. But when I put in a DVD, it would not play it. The software for the DVD (Matrox DVD player) will not start the movie on the DVD. I have reinstalled drivers and switched discs. Could this be a drive problem? (more…)

I am currently using a large internet service provider (ISP) and since moving to my current address I haven’t been able to complete a large download. Previously I experienced dropouts but not to the extent that I am now. This is extremely annoying and I am thinking of changing to another ISP. I originally chose my current provider on the basis that they would be able to provide me with a global roaming service but this is no longer a requirement. What questions should I ask in order to ascertain which ISP would perform best for me. (more…)