FAQ about the Internet and Computing
This section has surprising received one of the most, if not the most number of responses and I'm indeed flattered.
- Increase speed of download of pages from browsers without spending a cent.
- Inability to access foreign web sites (ie can only access local web sites)
Internet
Answer: As the Internet is gradually being used to provide more ambitious services such as real-time video conferences and telephony services, there has been an unprecedented spurt for the improvement on the speed of data transfers. Another way to reduce the World Wide Wait is to get a ISDN or other better cables which provide high capacity for data transfers. However, the popularity for such high end data transfer technology is still poor as far as the general population is concerned, hence the rates for such services are considered high unless you are using it for professional purposes.
There is, however still hope for the
leisure surfers to speed up data transfers, but do not expect to download your 20 MB file
in 1 minute like what those high-end cables do. The secret lie in the memory cache of the
browser you used to surf the net. However, it seems that Microsoft Explorer does not
provide such a function to configure the memory cache, but Netscape Navigator does. In
Navigator, go to Edit, then select Preferences and then double-click on Advance, then
select cache. Here, by increasing the memory cache to more than 20000 KB will
significantly improve the speed of download. Note that such tweaking of the browser could
cause the browser to crash if the system does not have enough RAM (32 MB or more is
adequate) or if the system is already running several programs simultaneous to your
browser. So, experiment with your system to find out the optimum configuration for your
browser.
IE users, listen up! Although there is no such function in IE, but the new ver 5 is already by nature fast enough (as compared to the slower IE 3), hence the absence of such a function is not really disadvantageous. I ran a tweaked up Communicator and IE 5 and found that both run at about the same speed. So, if you are a Microsoft lover, then get IE 5 to reduce that World Wide Wait!
Answer: This is probably a problem with the proxy server. First of all, you must ensure that your browser is using a proxy server, with the correct proxy address and port to access the webpages. This is because your ISP requires the use of proxy servers to restrict its users from accessing undesirable web sites. (This is the purpose of using a proxy server. The ISP is willing to risk reducing access speed by screening all web sites requests against its list of banned web sites)
For Communicator, go to 'View', then 'Preferences', then to 'Advanced' to check your your proxy server and port. For Internet Explorer, go to 'View', then to 'Options' to check.
Computing
Question: I am having problems with my isset_se when I try to install programs into Windows 95 OS computers.
Answer: The problems lies with Norton Anti Virus' AutoProtect feature. Disable it and then install your software. There should not be any problems after this.
Question:I have a new computer (Micro
400 mHz K-2, 4 gb hd, 64 mb RAM), and now that I have all my software and data loaded
onto it, it sometimes "locks up." The cursor is still present, but the
mouse and keyboard don't work and I can't reboot with "CNTL, ALT, DEL." I
offloaded some seldom-used software and that seemed to fix the problem for a few days, but
then it started doing it again. I offloaded some more software, and again it seems
to be fixed but I fear it'll do it again. Could this be a software conflict that I haven't
found yet, or perhaps a hardware problem? Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Carl
Answer: Well, I strongly suspect its a software problems since it all started up with
your installation of software with no physical manipulation of the hardware on your part.
(provided the computer was working fine before you dumped in that load of software)
I strongly suggest that you try to find out if
installation of any particular software caused this problem. Are your software pirated?
What software did you install? Sensitive software are those that alter the running of the
OS itself, such as Norton Utilities, Norton AntiVirus and other similar software, though
I'm not aiming at Symantec products. (Hope
I'm not misunderstood).
Try uninstalling all that new bunch of
software, ensure its now working fine then start reinstalling the software one by one to
find out which is the one causing problems. Worse come to worse, reformat harddisk and
reinstall everything one by one to play safe. (in case you reintroduce the rogue software
again)
Question:Hi there, I'm facing the following
problem:
Initially, errors with FAT of harddisk(this was what was diagnosed by scandisk(i'm using
win 95)
When i tried setup again, i cannot even get to the "Starting windows..."
1) Is this a so called harddisk crash?
2) What are the possible problems? Suggested solutions?
More info...anyway, testing ram was ok, followed by initializing of cd-rom...then its just
stops....dun even see the table that usually follows...
Answer: From the sound of it, it does seem like a harddisk crash. I just experienced this
last year. Real sorry about this, but there is no way you can salvage anything unless
you've done backup to your harddisk.
The only solution is to replace the harddisk
with a totally new one. Go to www.cnet.com to get info
on how to install harddisk and OS.
To avoid a recurrence, do scandisk once a
month. Avoid subjecting your harddisk or your CPU unit to unnecessary movments. I
recommend Norton Utilities as it has a Disk Doctor which can run background checks on your
harddisk periodically. It is more effective than Windows' ScanDisk. I began to use Norton
to keep my harddisk in shape after my first contact with harddisk failure. Of course,
heavy usage of harddisk such as frequent use on 3D imaging and imaging work would increase
the chance of harddisk failure after 3 or more years use. I advise backups when you think
you have too much to lose if the harddisk crash on you at this moment. This kind of
thinking is the best gauge on when you should do backup. When your harddisk starts making
strange noises when it reads, beware- it is about to crash on you.
Answer: It does not matter it is Excel that is causing problems now or Word later or maybe even anything else. You are right to rule out the printer's physical faults, so doesn't that leaves us with the plausibility of a faulty printer driver?
Go to Control Panel, double-click the Printer icon and remove the Printer driver which is causing you problem (if you are using more than 1 printer on the same computer) and then reinstall the driver again by clicking Add. This should solve the problem. Otherwise, contact your authorised dealer or printer manufacturer if the Printer's troubleshooting manual is of no help.
Question: How can I get my website to show up on Search Engines, such as Yahoo and Lycos?
Answer: You have to register yourself with the Search Engines you want to
be associated with. Look carefully at Lycos, Yahoo or even those meta search engines
(search services which harness the capabilities of several
search engines) and you will discover this option of 'Suggest a site' or other similar
options. Click on it and follow the instructions, where they will request for details
about your website's address, keywords, contents and such.
You can also use Search
Engines to search for 'Search Engines' or such to look for web sites which provide the
service of adding your web site to several search engines at 1 time. Such services can be
free of
charge or may charge you a certain fee. It all depends on the quality of service they are
providing. Some of these services even help websites to climb on top of search engines
lists (which means with the same keyword,
your website will appear higher up on the list than other websites, thus increasing chance
that your website to be noticed and visited by surfers), but such a service usually
demands a fee.