A screenshot of www.hotpop.com

q+a I have Windows XP and a Dataone broadband connection. How do I configure my MS Outlook so that I can access emails from my Hotmail account?

       — Abhishek Kumar

First let me inform you that POP3 access is not given for free by either Hotmail or Yahoo. POP3 is the abbreviation for Post Office Protocol — a data format for delivery of emails across the Internet. Only paid accounts in Hotmail and Yahoo can receive their mails in email clients like Outlook and Outlook Express. But there is a way out whereby you can read your mails from Hotmail and Yahoo in Outlook.

Go to www.hotpop.com and register. Set up your Hotmail to forward a copy of your messages to HotPOP.com. Now set up Outlook with the incoming mail server as pop.hotpop.com and the outgoing mail server as smtp.hotpop.com. That’s it. You are ready to use your email client. You can also forward HotPOP mail to upto three alternate email addresses. I find HotPOP great for PDAs, Internet-ready cellphones, older browsers and slow connections.

Linking Mac to mobile

q+a Recently I bought a MacBook Pro and I already have full GPRS connection in my Nokia E61i handset. How do I configure the two to surf the Net on the Mac?

       — Pranab Bose

You need to pair your Mac and phone using Bluetooth. Make sure your phone’s Bluetooth is on and is set to “discoverable”. Next go to your Mac and click on the Bluetooth icon. Select “Set up a New Device” and follow the wizard. You will be asked to enter a number into your phone. After you do this, your phone and Mac will be recognised by each other. Now you need to set up your Net connection. Go to www.taniwha.org.uk and download the script for your phone. Unzip the file and put it into Library/Modem Scripts. You can get there by clicking on your Mac’s hard disk icon. Now set up PPP. Open Network Preferences and select the PPP tab; select “Show: ‘Bluetooth Modem Port’”; enter the name of your phone’s service provider in “Service Provider”. Enter the APN provided by your network in “Telephone Number”. Enter the Account name and Password as “guest”. Ask your phone’s service provider for the APN. For example, Airtel’s is airtelgprs.com.

Press the “PPP Options” button. Make sure “Send PPP echo packets” is not selected. Otherwise you will not be able to connect. Now open Internet Connect and select Bluetooth Modem tab. Click on Connect. I have laid out the instructions here for OS X Tiger. It is not too different for OS X Leopard. In fact, it is easier. Instead off tabs you will find the options in drop down boxes.

Inaccessible program

q+a My Operating system is Windows XP Service Pack 2. Whenever I click on Add/remove program, date and time, display or system in the Control Panel, a message box appears saying “Windows cannot find ‘c:\windows\system32\rundll 32.exe’. Make sure you typed the name correctly and then try again”. The program never opens.

       —Arka Das

You have been infected by a Trojan called Hako. A Trojan is a computer program that is hidden in a useful software application and actually used to gain access to your PC. It then performs malicious actions such as displaying messages or erasing files. Trojans may be found in a hacked legitimate program or in free software. You could either download True Sword or use Ad Aware to clean your PC. The link for True Sword is http://www.securitystronghold.com/gates/solution_link.php?v=26&=2& url=http://www.securitystronghold.com/download/gates/TrueSword4.exe.

You will get Ad Aware from www.lava soft.de. I prefer the latter.

Error message

q+a I have a PC with Windows 98. After a few minutes of starting with IE an error message pops up saying “Internet Explorer has performed an illegal operation and will close. If the problem persists then contact the program vendor.” Please help. Also, I cannot find a USB driver for my pen drive.

       — Shamsudin Ahmed

Windows 98 has become completely outdated. Even Microsoft has stopped supporting it. I suggest you change your operating system to Windows XP Service Pack 3. Ensure that you get a licensed copy. Also, you need to upgrade the RAM in your PC to at least 1 GB.

Send in your computer-related problems to askdoss@abpmail.com. The solutions will appear soon.