Welcome to the WTOV Cyber HotSpot with George Borden of The Ridgefield Group, Inc.

If you have questions about computers and the Internet, you've come to the right place! Each week, George will answer your technology-related questions and post them right here at the WTOV Cyber HotSpot.

Email your questions to hotspot@wtov.com. Questions will be answered in the order they are received, and we will strive to answer all questions that are submitted.

George Borden is vice president of The Ridgefield Group, Inc. in Steubenville, OH, and Ridgefield Technology Group in Ridgefield, CT. They specialize in website creation, e-commerce development, computer networks and other technology-related services. George is also the vice president of PC Express Computer Repair Centers, specializing in residential computer repair and support. George has over 25 years of computer and technology-related experience.

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Hi George, I have 2 harmful or potentially unwanted items according to Windows Defender. Windows Defender can not get rid of them, I think it is because of System Restore being in force. What are the ramifications,if I were temporary disable System Restore to try to get rid of the 2 items? I know that I would loose all my System restore points, what other results should I consider ? Please advise. --- Thank You, Leonard

Hello Leonard,

First of all, please exercise caution prior to removing any 'potentially' unwanted items. I always find it useful to search for these items (i.e. google.com or alltheweb.com) to find out what they are and what they're doing on my computer. If they wind up being malware, then I go ahead and start attacking them! I'm not sure that System Restore would cause an item to be difficult to remove. I think it is sometimes recommended to turn off System Restore to prevent the same infection to be saved into a restore point. Best to leave that one alone if at all possible. I'm not aware of a specific problem in turning off System Restore temporarily in order to safely and completely remove viruses and other malware though.

There are other tools available to scan and remove malware - I'd suggest visiting lavasoft.com for a free anti-spyware tool to try (AdAware). There are some that suggest that these tools are spyware themselves - I really don't know. I suppose we take our chances every time we open a browser on our computers. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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Hi! Thank you for taking the time to read and attempt to answer my question. I was wondering, is there a way to block someone from seeing your IP Address when sending email? I'm not concerned about my email address, but when or if I want to correspond with new people via email I sometimes do not feel particularly safe knowing that they can get my IP addy, enter it on a web site to track my location, not just state but city as well. I think it's unsafe for teenagers as well as others who may not be aware that their IP address is attached to every email they send.

Thanks in advance, Jennifer, Wheeling WV

Hello Jennifer,

When we use an email client such as Outlook Express or Netscape, a lot of information is included in what is called 'header information' when we send an email out. We can modify this information, but it is certainly a chore to say the least. Even when we set up our account with fictitious information, our computer name and other odd information is included in the email we send out.

And even if we were to research and remove all personal information from our headers, the email still has to come from an ip address that is at least in our locale. Normally, the IP address assigned to us by our internet provider changes over time, but it is still from a 'pool' of addresses that is assigned to the area in which we reside.

If you're concerned about revealing your identity, I'd suggest using a hotmail or other web based email service for talking to acquaintances. Hotmail may know the IP that you're using, but this is normally hidden from the person receiving email from you. If you're very much concerned, there are services called 'proxy connections' where all your internet surfing is done through an anonymous proxy server so that your identity is always seen to others as the address and information of the proxy server to the person on the other end. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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hello and thank you for your time. I am on my internet quite a bit and am hoping you know a good website for watching cable tv shows via the internet. I have found sites like nbc.com ect but am looking for a website that has several chanells and shows. The ones I have found with several choices I am not sure how legal or what quality they have.

Tracy

Hi Tracy,

I can honestly tell you that I don't watch much television...but when I do, you can bet I'm watching WTOV9!

Sorry folks, a shameless plug for my sponsor never hurts! ;-)

There are websites that carry "video streams" of television content. But these video streams are usually public access channels and free programming from other countries that are not under any licensing restrictions. If you see a website broadcasting WTOV9 or any other broadcast television, other than the station itself, it is most likely illegal.

But I do have a legal alternative for your situation. There is a fantastic device on the market called a SlingBox (www.slingmedia.com). SlingBox will take your home cable feed and broadcast that feed to your computer over the internet. Since your sending the signal you are paying for to your own personal computer, for your own personal viewing your not breaking the law. So go get yourself a SlingBox, book your vacation, bring your laptop and watch WTOV9 at the beach. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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Hi,

How can I interface with the computer at my business from my home.

Thank you, Ann

Hello Ann,

There are several ways in which you can access your work PC from home. First it would be advisable for both locations to have high-speed internet access i.e....DSL, Cable modem. Second step would be asking your employer for permission to set-up remote access. Third step is selecting a service provider.

My preference is www.logmein.com. There are other companies that offer similar services like www.gotomypc.com but they can be more expensive.

Take your pick...

www.gotomypc.com $19.95/mo. or $179.40/yr. (Offer's a 30-day free trial)

www.logmein.com $12.95 /mo. or $69.95/yr. (Offer's an unlimited free trial)

Remote PC access offers benefits to both employers and employees.

Employers can reduce "in-house" employees by having them work from home, thus lowering corporate overhead. And employees can benefit by eliminating their morning and evening commutes to the office saving valuable family time and reducing gas expense.

I'm a fan of Remote Access technology and also a user. Our company specializes in remote access and IP telephone technology.

Ann, thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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George:

I use Outlook Express for my email. After I am finished reading my emails and I close OE6 I always get the following warning, "To free up disk space, outlook express can compact messages. This may take a few minutes." My options at that point are to click on OK or CANCEL. I always click on chances as I do not want them to be compacted. Is there a way to get rid of this annoying warning.

I enjoy reading your column.

Thanks Jim

Hi Jim,

Compacting a database is not a bad thing to do. And compacting a database periodically is advisable if your a heavy e-mail user. If you can remember to manually compact the database based on your usage, and would like to get rid of that message perform the following steps:

1. Go to the Tools menu
2. Select Options
3. Select Maintenance
4. Uncheck Compact Messages in Background

And when your database is compacting leave the computer alone while it performs the compact. A system crash or program conflict could damage the database during the process. Always make back-up copies of your data. Thanks for the compliment and your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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George-

As a grand father with 5 grand children, I've taken quite a few videos of the kids using two different camcorders that produce an .asf file, and an .avi file, but my kids bought me a new camera which is miniDV for Christmas.

I've been searching the net for software which will allow me to "enhance" my videos with titles, transitions and effects.

I'm currently using Photo story 3 and Windows Movie Maker, but I'm hoping to find something which will give me an " all around " solution to making interesting family videos. While there are many available, and at a reasonable price, I was hoping that you could recommend one that has more features , including the ability to convert VOB to either .avi or wmv.

I'm also interested in a program that will convert .swf to .avi or .wmv format.

Thanks Mike

Hello Mike,

I appreciate your e-mail because I too have dozen's of family video to convert to digital and edit. I did a bit of homework on this question and discovered that Cyberlink's Power Director 5 has the best features, ease of use, built-in templates for a very reasonable cost. This software really pack's in the features. Please visit them at http://www.cyberlink.com. And thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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George

Can I and am I permitted to use my "desktop" Windows XP Professional operating system disk to load it on my work laptop? Will I be prompted to call Microsoft and either register or re-register it?

Tony

Tony,

No. Windows XP is only licensed to the computer the operating system is installed on. You will have to purchase another license in order to use it on another computer. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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If i trade, sell,or give my computer to someone, how can i erase all my personal information that has been stored in the computer? Like any credit card data, SSN#, phone number, address,etc. i would like the computer to be as it was when new, before i entered any personal info.

Michael,

You will need to "re-format" your computer hard drive. Depending on the operating system in stalled on your computer there are various way in which to perform this function.

Another suggestion would be to fine the "factory restore" CD that came with your computer. This will also erase your data and set your computer back to it's factory default settings. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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Hi George:

I would like to install a Seagate ST150176LC hard drive in my HP 4445 Pavilion. Is this possible?

TIA

Hawkeye

Hello Hawkeye,

From my research is looks as if the HP 4445 Pavilion (Circa 1999) came with a IDE Hard Drive interface. It looks as if the Seagate ST150176LC is a SCSI Hard drive. In order for this to work you will need to add a SCSI hard drive controller. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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George,

What's the best way to find out if there's a key logging program on my home PC ?

Thanks,

Mike

Hello Mike,

Most anti-virus and spyware search tools can detect "key loggers". Key loggers are really nasty spyware threats that record every keystroke on your keyboard. This can be really bad for the person using the computer if they input and username and password information. The person that placed the "keylogger" on the victims computer can then access personal information and financial information by reading the key stroke logs from the computer.

I would recommend a program called "spyware search and destroy" to find out if you have any threats on your PC.

You can download the program by clicking on the link below. Thank you for your question. http://www.safer-networking.org/

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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Thanks so much for giving us out here a chance to ask questions! My question is: Is there always a way to delete addresses when forwarding a message? I am especialy wondering about e-mails that are forwarded with attachments. thanks, Bob...

Hello Bob,

If your referring to the "TO' and the "CC" fields in your e-mail the answer is no. There must be an address in either of those 2 fields for the e-mail to get to it's destination. If your talking about the e-mail addresses in the body of the e-mail you can delete these but only when forwarding or replying. You cannot delete copy when your only reading the e-mail.

If you want to send an attachment or e-mail but don't want others to see the addresses you sent them to place your e-mail address in the "TO" field and the others you want to send to in the "BCC" field. "BCC" means (Blind Carbon Copy). The folks in the "BCC" field will get the e-mail they just won't know who else got it. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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Hi George I dont know if this e mail will go thru but I will try. This is my problem Recently I changed from netscape which was wal mart connect to People pc.com. Now every time I click in to my e mail and try to forward or reply a letter I get thrown off limne and I have to connect again. Every time. I am an older woman and I dont know to much about hte comp talk. Hope you can help. Thanks

Hello Winona,

I would suggest to see what the new e-mail settings are with your new internet service provider. If you were on another service (Netscape) and now are on a new one (People PC) your e-mail settings are most likely reflecting the old service. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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George,

Although I have deleted an old email address from my address book, I continue to receive ( and cannot delete ) rejected error messages to that address. It appears that whenever I send mail my computer still try's to deliver to the deleted email address resulting in a long list of delivery failures.

I have tried the help tab, windows for dummies etc., but just cannot find anything pertaining to my problem.

Thanks for your service and possible fix.

Ed

Thank you Ed,

I would suggest that you contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and check if your e-mail client settings are correct. Most high-speed internet services make customers authenticate outgoing e-mail through their servers. In this case it would be called the SMTP server. Please contact them and make sure your outgoing SMTP settings are correct. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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I have windows XP & have been prompted to install IE7 which I have heard from other sources that it has caused problems since they installed the new IE7. I have been browser highjacked a few times with IE6. Also been told to use "firefox" for browser as they are more secure with less holes. What are your thoughts about these two browsers? And, which one would you suggest that I install. Thank you. Les

Hello Leslie,

I would agree that "Firefox" is a more stable and user friendly web browser. I have not used the Microsoft browser for years. They are a bit behind the times regarding features and security. My personal favorite is the Avant Browser http://www.avantbrowser.com/. But I have used "Firefox" http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ and have had a great experience with it as well. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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Hello! I have a Compaq Presario sr1900nx computer with windows xp on it. We just bought this computer in August 2006 and it came with a trial version of Microsoft office 2003 on it. Well it ran out and I do not want to buy another office program being as I already have Microsoft office 2000. Is there a way I can safely take office 2003 off here without messing up the computer and install my office 2000 on here instead? Thanks for any help!! Sincerely, Sarah V

Hello Sarah,

Yes there is. Go to the "Start" button in the lower left corner of your computer desktop. Look for a selection called "Control Panel" and click on it. Once there select "Add or Remove Programs" (should be the 3rd icon from the upper left). Scroll down and look for the trial version of MS Office 2003. Click once on it then select the "Remove" button to the right. Follow the instructions step-by-step and you should be in good shape once removed to install your MS Office 2000 software. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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my screensaver keeps freezing up, and the only way to make everything work again is to restart the computer. any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you.

Hello rmdoolan,

I'm not sure what model of computer your using and what operating system you have installed but here are a couple suggestions.

Make sure you don't have too many programs opened at once before leaving your computer for an extended time. A screen saver, like all computer software programs use Random Access Memory (RAM) to run properly. The more RAM a computer has the more programs you can have running at the same time.

Another remedy would be to upgrade the amount of RAM you have in your computer. If your computer is running Microsoft Windows XP you will need at least 256MB RAM. I would suggest having 512MB or better yet 1GB of RAM or more.

If you don't have enough RAM and leave many programs running at the same time the computer accesses an item called Virtual Memory. This happens when the computer runs out of physical RAM and utilizes the Hard Disk for additional memory. This can further compound the issue by slowing down the computer and eventually freezing. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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Hi George:

I have a four year old Dell. i just bought the Microsoft game Flight Simulator X, but it will not install. I have reentered the windows disc without success. What can I do? Thank You

Hello bmow55,

It is possible that your computer may be too old, or need upgraded in order to run this software program. Here are the specs that Microsoft requires for successful use of this software.

MFSX System Requirements Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista Processor: 1.0 Ghz RAM: Windows XP SP2 - 256MB, Windows Vista – 512MB Hard Drive: 14GB Video Card: 32MB DirectX 9 compatible Other: DX9 hardware compatibility and audio board with speakers and/or headphones Online/Multiplayer Requirements: 56.6 kbps or better for online play

Please double check these requirements and make sure you have all of these elements in place.

As a rule of thumb anyone purchasing new software should always read the requirements of the software box to make sure you are compatible. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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How do I clean up old internet file that I have viewed from internet explorer.

Hello jdesander,

At the top of Internet Explorer go to "Tools" then down to the last selection called "Internet Options".

You will see a section called "Temporary Internet Files". Select the button called "Delete Files...".

Click on the checkbox to delete all offline files as well and that should do it. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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I have a Compaq Presario 5152 with Windows 98 and Norton Systems 2002 on it. I have been using Speed Disk to Defragment my hard drive, but even though I run it for 24 hours, it does not finish. It seems to be restarting all the time. I think this may be because some other program is running and interfering with Speed Disk. How do I find what programs are running on my computer and which ones I don't need to be running all the time?

Paul in Moundsville

Hello Paul,

There is definitely something running in the background that is stopping this function from completing. I would suggest turning off all programs, including your anti-virus software (Make sure your not online) and run the Disk Defragment Utility that is built into WIN 98.

Use the old "Three Finger Salute" and press and hold the keyboard keys "Ctrl" "Alt" and "Delete". When the window opens showing the active programs, click on a program, and then press the "End Task" button to close the program. Repeat this process until all programs are closed except "Systray" and "Explorer".

Exit out of this window and Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.

You should now be able to run a full defrag on your system.

Note of advice: There are differences in opinion when a user should defrag their computer. Some say twice a month and others say twice a year. I suggest that you should check the preliminary defrag scan once a month. Your computer will tell you if you need to perform the full defrag process. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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Hello George,

I have a HP 6730 desktop and lately I cannot get it to boot up. It sounds like it is trying to bootup, but it makes a loud grinding noise. I really can't explain the sound, but was wondering if this could be the hard drive? Is there anything else it could be? I need my desktop back for my husbands reports. I am using a neighbors pc, and it isn't convenient. We cannot afford to buy a new computer, or pay for a technician. Please help!

Jennifer S. Wheeling, WV

Thank you Jennifer,

There are a few factors that can be the issue here but based on your e-mail and our experience in fixing computers I can agree that it may be the hard drive. Other than the hard drive there are 2 other components that can make noise in your computer. One is the cooling fan on the central processing unit (CPU) and the other is the cooling fan in the power supply. But rarely have I heard these 2 devices make a "grinding noise". I'm sorry to say in your case that you will have to engage a computer repair technician to assist you with this problem.

Hard drive replacements are not nearly as expensive as buying a new computer. Another option that many folks don't consider is buying a newer "used computer" instead of a brand new one. There are companies out there, including mine, that sell computers that are a couple years old that have been "refurbished" back to factory spec that will work just fine for your situation. This way you can get back to work and save some money in the meantime.

Considering that your computer, the HP Pavilion PC Model 6730 is over 6 years old this may be an option that you should consider. Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

George Borden, The Ridgefield Group, Inc./ WTOV Cyber Hotspot

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