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PC troubleshooter Extracts from Jack Schofield of The Guardian newspapers

Send your questions and comments to zarubar@iamyourlocal.com If we don't know the answer, we'll find someone that does... Q:How do you know if a hacker has control of your PC? A:The attack usually involves getting you to run a Trojan program such as Sub-Seven. Someone could send it to you as an email, or it can be downloaded from the net with a game attachement. Once installed the Trojan opens a back door to the net, which a hacker can exploit. There are several ways to detect a Trojan virus. It may be spotted by a firewall such as Zone Alarm (www.zonelabs.com) when it tries to connect to the net. It may be found by an antivirus program such as McAfee or an anti-Trojan program such as Trojan Trap (www.tinysoftware.com/home/tiny?pg=trap_home). Or you may find it by looking for it. The quickest way is sometimes to open the DOS window and type netstat-a. For a list of Trojans and detection rates, see www.hackfix.org/miscfix/icons-av.shtml If you don't have up-to-date anti-virus or anti-Trojan software, go to Trend Micro's Housecall Page (http://www.housecall.antivirus.com/), for a free online check. For more information on Trojan, see http://www.antivirus.about.com/cs/trojans/ Q: None of the normal navigational tools work for my 15in monitor. What can I do? A:The problem may be your resolution setting rather than the size of your screen. Generally, sites are designed for screens with 800x 600 pixels, so try to set this. Go to the Control Panel|Display|Settings. Drag the slider (bottom right) from 640x480 (which is probably your current setting) to 800x600. Displaying more pixel on the same size screen will make everything look smaller. This setting should be OK for most web sites. Q: When I am typing text in the address bar in Windows, a menu appears below it with options for me to choose from. I do I get rid of it? A:What you are seeing is Microsoft's AutoComplete in action, and many users find it useful. To get rid of it in Internet Explorer, go to Tools|Options, click the tab for Content, then click the button marked AutoComplete. There you can select the features you want. Q: I run Windows 98. When i start the computer a message appears:"MSISDN Configuration Wizard. No ISDN devices were found. Please install an ISDN device and run the configuration wizard again". Why is this message appearing? A:This spurious error message can be produced if your PC is infected with the W32/Magistr-A virus. See http://www.the-it-mercenary.com/forums/Help/post/679.html for a discussion and links. If your PC has this virus, you can use Trend's tool to remove it. See www.antivirus.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=PE_MAGISTR.A Q: After starting Windows, there are two DOS files on the taskbar, both called Finished Wininit. When maximised, both read: "WININIT.EXE cannot be run from within Windows". Why does this happen? A:Wininit.exe runs initialisation files when you start Windows. That is what is happening when, for example, it says your settings are being updated. The instructions are held in a file called wininit.ini, which usually you would not have. But if a virus writer wants to run a program every time your PC starts, he can do it using this file, so search for Wininit.ini and see what it contains. You may find your PC has a virus such as W95.MTX (see www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w95.mtx.html). LOOK AT YOUR FONTS....Adrian Greeman from Tooting says: you can see what you have using a free program, akFont Viewer at www.aksoft.net/progs/akfontviewer/ ONE MORE BOOK ON COMPUTER MAINTENANCE....Sylvia Taylor says:"Try the Which? Computer Troubleshooter, by Will Garside - a survival guide in plain English." Send your questions and comments to zarubar@iamyourlocal.com If we don't know the answer, we'll find someone that does...

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