Ask A Geek

Q: I have a Dell Latitude laptop that is a couple of years old. When I open the lid any further than 90 degrees, gravity takes over and it falls flat backwards. Is there anything I can do to tighten it up?

A: You should have a gray bar above the keyboard on the laptop that has two little slats. If you use a screwdriver and carefully pry that open you should see a couple screws on each side. If you tighten these screws then it should fix your screen from flopping. Once you tighten them the gray section you removed should pop back into place.

Q: I have a Dell Inspiron 1520 with vista premium and my WiFi card isn’t working. When I try to refresh my available networks it doesn’t refresh it does nothing so I cannot connect to my home network please help!!

A: If you Press the Alt button while you double click on the Computer icon on your desktop you should have a window appear that has a link for the device manager. Click on the device manager and select your Network Adapter by double clicking your device.

Make sure that under the General tab that the device status shows it is working properly.

Next select the Driver tab and choose Update driver or visit the manufacturer of the card to see if there is a more current driver.

If a new driver does not help then I would suggest trying to delete the device and reinstall and see if that helps. If it does not we need the following information:

Who is the card manufacturer?

What driver version do you have? (This is all available through the Driver tab in the steps above.)

Has this card ever worked or is it new?

Does it show that it is properly working in the device manager?

Do you receive any error messages?

Did you uninstall and reinstall the device?

Q: I received an IM from yahoo and when i got ‘buzzed’ a virus took over and pretty much messed up my laptop. It disables the task manager when I try to end any tasks and it does not let me go into Symantec, the system32 folder, and I cannot open Mozilla Firefox. It also disrupts file download when I am downloading anti-virus softwares.

I am thinking of restoring the whole system, but [as dumb as it sounds] I do not know what they mean by restore to factory condition. Does this mean, the condition where I first purchase the computer? Along with the OS, and softwares restored?

Please help. I will be forever grateful.

A: I would recommend trying an online scan, perhaps Trend Micro HouseCall and see if you can remove the virus. I have found that sometimes a new program can eliminate a problem that another could not.

As far as restoring your computer, if you choose to use the restoration CD that will restore to the factory defaults, meaning it will be exactly as it was when you first brought the computer home, therefore your data will be gone, all programs you installed will be gone, and the virus would be gone so you can start over from scratch.

Q: I have an Acer Aspire T160 with 512 MB RAM currently made up of 2 256 MB modules. I was planning on adding just 1 GB RAM and I am wondering if that is okay.

A: For some computers you do need to add modules in pairs but for your computer you do not. However, adding two modules versus 1 module will increase your performance but it is not necessary. The affect on the performance of the machine also depends on what types of programs you are running. Since you have the one module all ready I would install it and see if it performs as you would like and if not you can consider buying another.

Q: I have a very old CPU Unit and it does not have a USB port but it does have parallel port. The new printers do not have a parallel port though they only have USB ports. Is there a cable that has a parallel port that can connect to a USB printer?

A: Yes they do make a cable that would connect from the parallel port of your computer on one end and then connect to the USB port on your printer on the other end. I am sure that you would be able to find one by visiting your local Best Buy, Circuit City, RadioShack store, or online at Amazon.com. You will want to ask for a Parallel to USB printer cable.

Q: How do I enable and use a hidden partition on Windows XP?

A: In order to see and use the hidden partition you will need to do the following:

1. Select Start > Control Panel.

2. Choose Folder Options.

3. Click View > Advanced Settings.

Verify that “Show hidden files and folders” is checked.

Verify that “Hide Protected Operating system files” unchecked.

You should now be able to open My Computer and see the previously hidden partition therefore also allowing you access.

Q: I am running Windows XP Media Edition and connect to the internet using Road Runner. Recently I added their wireless networking feature to connect with my laptop as well as my desktop, which is wired. About a month ago, I started seeing IE6 Refuse to recognize the connection after about 30 min of inactivity. The only way to get it to recognize the connection is to log-off, and log back on. Throughout this time, the laptop can connect without issue. After running a full suite of virus and spyware checks, now IE won’t work at all. I can log on with Netscape, but after 30 min of inactivity, it flakes out as well. Any thoughts?

A: There are a couple things that I would try. The first is to run a free program called HijackThis.

If this does not help I would try shutting down both machines and rebooting your cable modem and router making sure to leave them off for 30 seconds so that they reset properly and then bring them back up and start your computers.

If neither of these options work for you it might be time to ask Road Runner technical support to help but first please provide answers to the following and we will see if we can help you resolve it first.

Did this just start happening when you added the wireless network?

What brand and model of modem and router are you using?

What type of network card is installed on the desktop machine?

Sounds as if there is a setting in one of the pieces of equipment that might be causing the problem.

Q: I am helping a friend clean up her picture files on her Windows XP computer and so far it is looking good. We do have an issue though where when we are looking at the folders the names of the folders no longer appear below the folder. If we mouse over the folder we can see the name but that is the only way we can see it. How can we make the names of the folders appear below the folders again?

A: More than likely you are viewing these pictures in the thumbnail view. To fix this select a different view from thumbnail (see directions below on how to change your view). Then press the Shift key while clicking Thumbnails and that should make the file names reappear.

The steps below should assist you in changing the view of a folder in Windows XP:

1. Open the folder containing the files that you want to change the view for.

2. Select View from the toolbar and when that menu expands you will see the options to view that folder such as, thumbnails, tiles, icons, list, and details.

You just need to select another view and it will apply the setting to the files in that folder.

Q: My friend used my AOL and AIM for a number of indecent activities, including sending personal photos. I’d like to find out exactly what they did by recovering deleted AOL email and AIM messages, received files, etc. Is there a free way to do so or maybe some software you recommend to purchase? I’ve got a PC operating on Windows XP.

A: You would have to purchase a program to restore your old emails. AOL only keeps your email messages on their server for 24 hours. I would recommend a program called Recover My Email because you can download and run the scan and it will give you a list of deleted email before you purchase so that you would be assured it had found what you were looking for before purchasing the program. I wasn’t able to find a reputable and functional free program to do this.

As far as the Instant Messaging there is no way to recover those. When the conversation is closed those messages are gone. However, I would recommend at this point that you add a program to your computer that runs in the background (so that the person does not know it is there) and it will record the instant messaging conversations for you. I was able to find a free program that does this called Record Instant Messages. I tried it out and it works well.

Q: I have a Windows XP SP2 machine and I am wondering if there is any software equivalent to Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard. Free software would be best but not necessary.

A: I researched Time Machine for Macs and the best I could find for the PC is a program called SyncBackSE. It does cost but you can download a fully functioning trial to see if it does what you would like. It appears that there are very few options to match the Time Machine equivalent. You have to go in and setup your profile and then it will automatically backup your files.