Our list of Frequently Asked Questions has grown too long to be easily read in this format. To make it easier to find the questions and answers you're looking for, we've split them into the following categories:

1. CD's that I burn will not run on my old 1994 Sound Blaster CD-ROM drive. All commercially made software and music CD's appear to work OK. What is wrong and how can this be fixed?

2. Is there any place nearby (to Crystal Lake, IL) that repairs electronic equipment including scanners and other computer equipment?

3. Does anyone have any experience with an optical mouse?

4. What is ATA 100?

5. Can you explain the different types of modems (fax, telephony, winmodem)?

6. Please explain the difference between USB & USB2?

7. How do you turn off write-protect on a CD-R or CD-RW?

8. I want to buy a CD-writer. What do I need to look at on the specs?

9. How do I tell that I am getting the fastest speed possible with my modem? (my 56k modem connects at 21.6.)

10. I have a problem with USB shutting down my computer.

11. My keyboard has a calculator key. How do I use it?

12. What CD Burner make & model is compatible with Windows 2000?

13. How do you remove dust from the inside of a computer?

14. My printer makes loud clicking sounds when printing.

15. What is the difference in CD-RW format or erase? Can I use my CD-RW as a mega-floppy?

16. I installed a PCI printer port and it shows up as a comm port instead of a printer port.

17. I could install a new (larger) hard drive, but I assume that would be more difficult than fixing the existing hard drive? New larger hard drives are not that expensive anymore. In that case, should I go with 5400 or 7200 RPM? Could my system handle it? How can I find the speed of my present hard drive?

18. When buying a new or used laptop, what are some features to look for?

19. I have a USB hard drive. If I power up with it attached and powered up, I get an error message "While initializing device SHELL, Cannot find or load required file KRNL386.EXE. The path was not found."

20. McAfee First Aid reports my new modem has a problem. I removed an old ISA modem that was on Com2 and installed a PCI modem that installed on Com4. It works just fine.

21. My Canon scanner is not working. I purchased a newVisioneer scanner, but it doesn't seem to be as good as the Canon. This was the second Canon to go bad. Do Canon scanners have a high failure rate? Should I have the Canon fixed?

22. Where can I buy contact paint? (needed for a Sony Remote control.)

23. Has anyone in our club had good success in having a fax machine (adaptor) co-exist on a voice line without having received voice calls squeal in the caller’s ear?

24. Some games require OpenGL and some DirectX8, which can be downloaded. A new game I have wants a 3D Accelerator, where do I download that?

25. My PC has a CD-ROM player, but not a burner. Can I add an external burner?

26. My Gateway has been giving me trouble for 2 years and Gateway has not been able to fix it.

27. How does one buy a late model laptop with Windows 98?

28. Why can’t I delete a letter from a CD-RW? I get the red X telling me to make sure the disk is not full (it is far from full) or it is write-protected and the file is not currently in use. Also I can’t move files to a CD-RW using cut/paste. It tells me “have to get permission from the author” - I am the author.

29. Does anyone have any info on the “Fritz” chip?

30. How do I copy data to a CD-R from Microsoft Excel? It doesn’t seem to give me that option.

31. What is the best way to convert analog VHS home video format to digital format?

32. I want to change my hard drive with a bigger one , how do I copy all the files?

33. What is the best way to clean an LCD screen?

34. Is there software to download to the CD without a CD rewriter.

35. I have a gamepad that connected to may computer via USB, but my games are not seeing it.

36. I have on older notebook running DOS 6.0 and want to install a PCMICA card.

37. I need to purchase a high quality color scanner and don't know which specs are more important than others.

38. Is there a device to hook up your phone,computer, fax w/o dropping any unit off line?

39. I have my computers hooked up through Ethernet cards and a four port wired router for sharing the DSL.I want to share files and printers between computers. What do I need to do this?

40. When buying a new hard drive, what difference does the cache made?
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1. For some of the older CD-ROM's, and yours does fall into this category, it is possible that the speed that the CD is writ- ten at, does make a difference. One way to get around this problem, is to make sure that you write the CD at single speed. Will this increase the time that it takes to write the CD, yes it will, but it does stand a better chance of it working on your older CD ROM drive. Even then it may not work. Some older CD-ROM drives are not capable of reading a CD made this way. Also, you can record information on a CDR and later record more information. This second, and subsequent sessions, make it a multi- session CD. Many 4x or slower CD-ROM drives do not have the software internally to read anything except the first recording session on a multi-session CD.

2. Radio Shack is one place that can do some repairs to such equipment. You have to give them a call, and they can tell you whether your equipment is on the list. They will give you an estimate on the cost; the repair typically takes about two weeks. One suggestion I would have is that after the unit is repaired, see whether you can test this in the store to make sure that it really works. This is just a caution and does not reflect on Radio Shack. Another note on this subject. What does a new unit cost and what is the cost of the repair? The general rule of thumb in the business is that if the cost to repair is more that 50% of the cost of a new unit, buy the new one instead. With a new unit, you get the factory warranty. On repairs, you get 30 to 90 days and only for the parts they replaced. With a new unit, you generally get a better unit, since any- thing electronic usually gets better, faster, cheaper over time.

3. There are two basic kinds, the corded and the wireless. The way they generally work is to use optical lines to move the mouse. These mice don’t actually have a mouse ball. They move the cursor or pointer by reading which way the mouse is moved.

4. ATA100 is part of the specification of how your hard drive talks to the motherboard when using IDE hard drives. The 100 specifies the speed of the ATA interface. If you have an ATA100 hard drive, it may not work with an older motherboard that doesn’t support that hard drive. The symptoms will be that your Bios will recognize your hard drive, but you can’t boot from it or the information just written will appear to be garbled when read back. Most hard drive manufacturers will provide a downloadable utility to down speed your hard drive so that it will work with your older motherboard. Otherwise, you can purchase a high speed addon IDE card that can support ATA100.

5. That's a big question. Almost every modem made today is fax capable, and they usually come with a simple fax program.
Winmodems used to be a bad word when they first came out. At that time, the modem companies tried to push some of the smarts for the modem into the computer and not put it in the modem. It didn't work then. They’ve gotten smarter and the new Winmodems work well; however, they won't work in older systems that require the modem to be on a 'standard' com port.
Telephony provides the ability to use the modem as a hands-free phone or Internet phone service. These require addi- tional hardware (headphone/mic) and the Internet phone service works, but it is not as good as regular phone service.

6. Very simply, USB2 will be faster and it's a newer interface, so attachments using this interface are scarce yet.

7. When creating a CD-R(write once) or a CD-RW (rewritable), there is a function called Session(at least that's what the Adaptec CD software calls it). If you want to write to a CD-R or CD-RW again (called creating a multi-session), you must leave the Session Open. If you close a Session, you can't write again to a CD-R. If you close a Session on a CD-RW, you have to reformat the CD-RW, if you want to reuse it. Remember that each session on a multi- session takes more overhead leaving less room for data on your CD-R or CD-RW.

8. Be here for the CD burner demo (June). Besides that, look at the buffer size. That's the amount of memory inside the CD writer. The more memory here the better. The faster the drive, the faster it will burn CD’s (or create coasters...) One of my biggest recommendations is to always copy the source CD to the local hard drive, when duplicating CD's. This is faster and more reliable than trying to read and write on the fly at the same time. And when you first get the unit, create CD-RW's first until you get used to using the burner and then switch to the cheaper write once CDR blanks.

9. There are several things you can do by yourself. Disconnect all other phones and any external ringers and answering machines and try again. If that improves speed, you have a defective piece of telephone equipment. If that doesn't help, listen carefully when making a voice call. Do you hear faint static or distortion? If yes, try again from the phone interface box (if you have one). Most newer installs have a point of interface equipped with a phone jack you can plug into. If you still have the static or distortion or if you don't have one of those interface boxes, call repair service for your phone provider.
You might have a defective or cheap modem. Take your modem to a friend's house to try it out there or try a different modem. Do you know someone with a laptop with a 56K modem? Have them bring it over and try it out on your phone line.

10. Two things, you may have a defective USB port on your computer or you may have a defective USB device. USB can furnish power to USB peripherals. If one or the other is defective, the power in the com- puter can be sucked up by the device and turn off your computer.
The other thing about USB is that you want to have your computer turned on and the peripheral turned on when inserting it. This is the opposite of any other peripheral on computers! I had a friend that was plug- ging in a USB camera, then turning on the camera; he wondered why it didn't work. He turned on the camera and then plugged it into the computer and all was well.

11. That is a special key/function and is not recognized by the OS, until you load a special device driver for it. You should have a driver disk or CD for it or you need to download the driver from the company's website

12. It's not so much the hardware, but the software that is bundled with the CD burner. The burner software needs to be compatible with the hardware and the operating systems and then all will be ok.

13. Buy a can of compressed air for cleaning computers. Take the cover off and dust it outside

14. This could be normal operation. I could be a dirty sensor for detecting when the head is in the "home" position. Check for excessive dust. It could also be just normal noise or a missing rubber bumper for when the head gets to the "home" position.

15. Formatting a CD-RW disk allows Windows to use it as a big floppy drive. Erasing is what you need to do to reuse a CD-RW with Ghost. In Easy CD-Creator v5, use DirectCD Format Utility and select Erase CD to make it Ghost ready.

16. That's a problem with the drivers for the PCI card. Remove the new comm port and any references to this card in Device Manager in System Properties in the Control Panel. Turn off your computer. Remove the new card. Restart the computer without the card and then shut it down. Put the card back in and start the install process over as if it's a new card; also check to see if the manufacturer has newer drivers for this card, and re-read the install instructions for it.

17. There are tools that can copy the whole contents of the old drive to the new one. However if there is a problem with the Windows install on the old one, those errors will be copied to the new one. The speed of rotation should not matter to your computer. The speed of the IDE interface may. Some of the newer drives are UDMA100 (fast) and may not work with your motherboard. Some hard drive companies also have available software to slow down the IDE interface to match your motherboard. To find the speed of your present hard drive, get the make and model number of it and visit the website for that company. Sometimes going into the system setup (CMOS) utility (before Windows loads) can tell you the make and model, but on other computers, you have to take the cover off and read this information off the hard drive

18. What are you going to use the laptop for and what features do you need to use all the time? For instance, I can't stand that stick mouse in the middle of the keyboard and have gotten very used to a touchpad instead.(This is personal preference only!) For my work, I use a floppies a lot. Having a lighter laptop with an external floppy is not convenient for me. I want the floppy internal and available all the time. Are you going to use the laptop outdoors? Then you need a brighter screen. So really defining what you are going to use the laptop for will determine the features you need. One more example is using map software for directions while traveling. Is your map software on CD or DVD? Then you will need the proper drive to use the mapping software on the laptop.

19. Your computer has decided to try to boot from the USB hard drive before the internal hard drive. There may be a BIOS setting to change that behavior; otherwise, contact the manufacturer with this.

20. This is a problem only with McAfee First Aid as far as I can tell. I am betting that the change in hardware configuration confused First Aid and it's reporting it as such. Either ignore it or remove and reinstall First Aid. I am not that familiar with First Aid. There may also be a way to tell it that the hardware has changed

21. We don't know that Canon scanners have a high failure rate. You may have just been unlucky. The most common failure point for a scanner is the light used in the scanner. If you don't power it down or use the system utilities to turn off the lamp, they will burn out. If all that's wrong with your old scanner is a bad bulb, it may be worthwhile to have it fixed.

22. Radio Shack used to carry it, but otherwise, check on the Internet and with other electronic part dealers.

23.If you want a fax machine to receive faxes all the time, you really need a dedicated phone line for it. If you just want it to send faxes only, turn off auto-answer on the fax machine and when you need to receive a fax, just turn on auto answer, have the other person send it and then turn it off.

24. You don’t. OpenGL and DirectX are software interfaces for high performance video games. 3D Accelerators is a type of video card. There is more electronics that can decipher advanced instructions. You may need a new video card.

25. Yes, they do make parallel port and USB port external models. The USB models are faster. Though an Internal one would be best, I realize that’s not always possible. Any model compatible with your version of windows will do fine.

26. One thing we did not mention at the meeting was that I have on more than one occasion found a bad image. This is how Gateway loads the computer in the first place and at times, there can be problems in those images. And it can only affect certain programs or hardware combinations. It might be worth the effort to load from a Microsoft Windows CD instead of the Gateway factory load.

27. Look at E-bay. Also, most of the computer manufacturers sell refurbished laptops. Look at their sites for their online store selling used or refurbished equipment.

28. When writing to CD-R’s or CD-RW’s, there is a function to close the CD. In the case of a CD-R, you can never write to it again. In the case, of a CD-RW, it has to be formatted to remove that flag.

29. Check this web site: http://209.157.64.200/focus/news/707684/posts

30. It’s best to do this outside of any Office product (i.e., with CD-Creator or Windows Explorer). When an Office product tries to write its data out, it will also create files that it wants to read & write to on the same device and directory. In the case of a CD-R, you can only create Read-Only files and Office products don’t like that.

31. You need a video card or TV card with S video input and a VCR with S video output.You need a relatively fast computer to keep up with frame rate and enough hard drive space to hold the capture .S video will give you better video that either video or TV output.

32. Ghost. Hook up both hard drives and ghost (or image )the old drive and the new one.Or use a CDRW to record the image and restore it later

 33.Purchase those kits with two wipes,a wet one and a dry one.Open the dry one first,but dont't use it. Open the wet one and clean the screen gently.Do not press hard against the screen.Immediately dry the screen with the wipe to prevent wet streaks from the drying liquid from the wet wipe.These same wipes can be used on a regular monitor. However I strongly recommend turning off the monitor before using them.Not that you will damage the monitor ,but your fingers will thank you for not zapping them with static.

34. As long as you have a CD recorder and once the CD is formatted,it will act just like a big floppy.

35. The gamepads or joysticks used to plug into the joystick ports.I would assume that these are older games that still expect to find a joystick on the joystick port and do not see gamepads on the USB bus

36. You will need a set of drivers for the PCMCIA chipset in the laptop and the drivers for the card itself. Because support for DOS has dissappeared, good luck finding these drivers for the card itself. Some card companies (like 3COM) made point drivers for their cards. These inabled the card without needing the PCMCIA chipset drivers.

37. The number of bits is important. The more bits in the scan the better quality. This is a measure of how much definition is available in close color matches to provide more information. Also the other very important spec is the optical resolution. Scanners may push their interpolated resolution. But you don't want to use interpolated resloutions, only optical resolutions. Optical resolution is the measure of the dots per inch the scanner is capable of seeing. Interpolated resolution is the measure of how many dots per inch the scan will present. The electronics will guess at the dots that are not actually scanned and this is not a perfect process and you lose quality.

38. They used to make devices that would be guesses on incoming calls and re-direct the incoming call to a fax , answering machine and lock out the other devices when then computer was using the phone line. You still have the limitation of only using one device at a time and call waiting causes huge problems with incoming faxes. With then price of a single phone line today, those devices have fallen out of favor and are very hard to find. Most people have a second phone line that can be shared for faxes and the computer and the first line is then 'reserved' for voice calls.

39. If you are running Win95, or WinNT3.50 or newer (basically any Windows newer than 3.1x) you have all you need. Just turn on sharing and then right click on the resources you want to share and click on Properties and then set the sharing properties as needed.

40. The cache memory on the hard drive is a way for the hard drive to cache or temporarily store data coming from or going to the hard drive surface. If you are reading data coming off the hard drive, it tries to guess what you are going to need next and read ahead. When writing data to the hard drive, the cache is used to buffer data while the hard drive is trying to find where to put it. So cache and more cache helps with the apparent speed of the hard drive.