PC Problems

Susan is getting frustrated at Firefox crashing at the point of purchase repeatedly. A quick fix might be to update to the latest version of Firefox or even try another browser completely. Google Chrome is good and fast.

Jackie asks how can she connect to her office computer from her home laptop. Presuming work don’t have some kind of Virtual Private Network connection they can set you up with, I’d say the best option might be to use the FREE version of LogMeIn which allows you to see and control the desktop of another computer via the Internet.

Nouman gets the message “NTLDR is missing” on starting up the computer. NTLDR is the boot loader for Windows NT systems including your XP so if it’s missing or corrupt you computer can’t start properly. First, check all hard drive cables. You could try updating your PC’s BIOS or resetting to default values. Otherwise you’ll need to boot from the XP installation disk and select R to repair the installation. When you reach the Recovery Console type the following commands to replace your corrupt versions:

copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

Where “d” is the drive letter assigned to your DVD/CD drive. When complete, take out the XP CD and restart.

Roy installed an automatic update on Windows XP and now after every startup the PC shuts down again automatically. The obvious cause seems to be the update so I’d reccommend restoring your computer to an earlier time or starting up in safe mode (tap F8 on restart) and see if it stays on there. You might need to restore from safe mode if it does or perhaps try to uninstall the latest updates.

Matt’s laptop fan starts when he presses the power button but nothing else happens. Is there any way if you can tell if the battery is properly charged? Some of them have indicators on them. Perhaps your battery isn’t charging enough or there’s issues with your power supply. If you listenclose can you her any sounds other that the fan? If you can’t hear the whirring/spinning hard drive then this may have failed. The lights on the laptop can be a clue too. Check your manual or the makers website to see what each light indicates or doesn’t in your case.