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Jewish World Review Jan 30, 2001 / 7 Shevat, 5761

The Computer Maven by James Derk

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Consumer Reports


Used computers... picture.exe
...other problems

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Q. I have the opportunity to purchase a used computer from work. I would like to do this; however, it is full of files and programs I neither need or want. What I need to know is, what should I do to get all the programs and files taken off this computer and can I get an upgrade to the Microsoft Office and Explorer which is on the computer now? Any ballpark figure as to how much this would cost?

A. Most businesses that sell used computers to employees clear off the files before they are released for sale. If yours does not, you can wipe off all of the files and start over. You will need a complete version of Windows (95, 98 or Me) if you want to wipe the computer completely clean. Any small computer shop will do this cleaning and install for a nominal fee, or ask a local computer nerd or neighborhood kid.

Internet Explorer is free for the download; you can get a cheap version of Office (a version or two old) from a site like eBay.

Q. I have been having a problem. When I try to get my files of pictures it comes up and says cannot find PICTURE.EXE.

A. The program you used to use to view photos has been uninstalled or damaged. (Several I know of use the name "picture.exe" for the executable file.) You should reinstall your viewing program, or download a good one like PaintShop Pro, LviewPro, Acdsee or Ccviewer from a shareware site such as Download.com or files.com.

Q. I have a quick question: when I sign on to my computer I only have a system resource percentage of around 50. I have deleted most of my startup programs but it doesn't seem to work. The computer is only a year old and I have 128 megs of RAM with a Windows 95 platform.

A. Not an easy thing to find out. (To check your resource level, right-click on MY COMPUTER, hit PROPERTIES and then PERFORMANCE.

My system starts the day with about 65 percent free, so don't panic. If you upgrade to Win 98 (and I would) you can use MSCONFIG (hit START, RUN then in the box type MSCONFIG and hit OK.) You can choose a "selective startup" and choose what is loaded into memory at boot. You are on the right track...another great step is to disable the automatic loading of programs in your Startup group. (Hit START, then SETTINGS, then START MENU PROGRAMS, then REMOVE.

Open the Startup group and remove everything you don't need, especially Microsoft Office's "fast find" and other Office startup tools.

Q. I am writing this on a backup 486 computer using Windows 3.1 and 64Mb of memory. For the most part, it works very well on the Net. The graphics are as good as any I have seen. How does a 16 bit machine survive in the 32 bit world?

A. I admire you. Of course, you are right. Our 486 computers never got obsolete. They still will do exactly what we bought them to do as well as they did the day we bought them. What changes was us...we wanted the latest and greatest programs and everything faster and faster. You are wrong about graphics...today's 3D graphics cards are stunning, but only if you are a gamer (which if you own a 486, you are not.) But stick with it, you are completely correct.

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James Derk is computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. Comment by clicking here.

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01/23/00: Cool computer tricks

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