Slow connection

I have a 3.3GHz Pentium 4 with Windows XP, 80 GB hard drive and 512 MB of memory. Most of the drives are practically empty. The computer starts up very fast, but slows down when opening programs or using my broadband connection.

Mohie Tikari

Which is currently the best complete security package?

S. Mukherjee.

A computer can slow down for a variety of reasons. To avoid this you need to take a few basic precautions so that your computer is not exposed to every virus, worm, Trojan Horse and spyware lurking on the Internet. Get yourself a good Internet security suite. I would recommend ZoneAlarm Security Suite 6.0. It can be downloaded from www.zonelabs.com . This one-in-all program will protect you from viruses, spammers and spyware. You will see a marked improvement in the speed of your computer after you clean up your machine with this.

Insufficient memory

After installing Windows XP Service Pack 2 (a pirated version) my computer has become sluggish. I have a Pentium 3 with 128MB RAM and 40 GB hard disk. My friends have suggested that I increase my RAM. How much RAM should I buy? Also, I have got over 2000 songs on my computer. Would you recommend that I increase my hard disk size? Is there a newer and faster version of Internet Explorer and where can I download it from?

Kaushik Belani

First, 128 MB RAM is not enough to run Windows XP. You need at least 256 MB RAM, but 512 is even better. Since you keep downloading songs a 80 GB hard disk will serve you well. A beta version of Internet Explorer 7 is currently available and it can be downloaded from www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/default.mspx . Two of the features are particularly good. One is tabbed browsing where you can view several sites in a single browser window. You can quickly switch from one site to the other through tabs present at the top of the browser. The other is printing where web pages are automatically scaled to fit into the paper you are printing on.

Free antivirus

What is your idea about Avast! antivirus? Can Mozilla Firefox browser and Internet Explorer be used simultaneously?

Biswajit Das

Avast anti-virus software is a pretty good program that is free for home use. It can be dowloaded from www.avast.com . The company even provides support through email for the free version. There is also a standalone free virus cleaner in case you do not want to load the entire program. The tool will help you get rid of certain worm infections. Sure, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer can be used simultaneously without any problem.

16 bit program

Whenever I switch on my computer a message pops up saying, ‘Insufficient memory to run this application. Quit one or more windows application and then try again.’ Please suggest a way to fix it.

Ved Prakash Roy

A 16-bit program that was designed to run on Windows 3.1 is trying to run on startup in Windows XP. Such files are sometimes inserted by Trojans or worms. You need to identify the program and remove it. Go to Start and Run and type in ‘msconfig’. Next click on the ‘Startup’ tab. Here you will get a list of programs that are trying to run on startup. If you can spot the file uncheck it. If you can’t, you have to figure out by a process of trial and error by unchecking and checking files one at a time and restarting your machine. Once you have identified the program you can easily remove it.

Seeing red

Recently after servicing my Compaq monitor in Guwahati, I found that the colour red is not being displayed properly. How can I rectify this?

Dr N.N. Chowdhury

Most probably, the plug that goes into your computer from your monitor has a bent pin. Put off your computer and take out the plug. If one of the 20 or so pins is bent you should be able to see it clearly. This needs to be straightened out. Be very careful while trying to set it right; it can snap very easily. If you are not sure send your monitor back to the service centre immediately. Do not attempt to fix it yourself.

Genuine or cracked

My vendor has convinced me that there is no basic difference between a cracked version and a genuine version Windows XP as it can download all available patches, hotfixes, security updates and malicious software removal tools from Microsoft's official site.

Shibnath Mukherjee

Most vendors will usually tell you this so that they can quote you a lower price for the PC. A higher price usually scares away customers and they do not get business. In a cracked version of Windows the system files are tampered with to bypass the Windows activation process. When this happens you are unlikely to ever get a problem-free computer. Programs will not load properly and, if they do load, they will not run smoothly. It is true you can download security updates from the Microsoft site with a pirated version, but for other non-security downloads you will have to go through an online validation process that confirms your software’s legitimacy. A genuine version of WIndows is available with all reputable computer dealers in the Chandni Chowk area of Calcutta.