Q: I own a CD writer that does not work. It will still read CDs but is unable
to write them properly due to different errors (I think one of them was a buffer
underrun). Can you help?
A: Ah yes, the buffer underrun error. We see this all the time. It happens
when the computer is not supplying data fast enough to the CD writer for it to
write the data properly. Here are several things you can do to avoid this
problem. Try them in order and you're bound to have success.
Defragment your hard drive. Copy the data to a local hard drive first.
It's best to create an image of your source data first. This feature is found on
most CD-writer applications. Don't try to burn a CD over a network. Clean
the CD before you try to use it. Beware of cheap CD-R disks. We like the
Mitsui disks the best. Last, try recording at a slower speed, such as 2x.
Q: I went to the Internet and brought up Bloomberg and SmartMoney. On three
occasions the screen froze; neither hitting any keys nor clicking the mouse would
work. I had to turn the computer off, which is improper exit for Windows 95. When
I turned on the computer, I got a message that I lost a certain amount of disk
space. I would appreciate any advice.
A: There could be a million reasons why your computer crashed, but if it
makes you feel any better, my Thinkpad (Win95) still crashes every once in a
while. It's just one of those things. As for the message upon rebooting about
lost disk space, I too get this error--99.9 percent of the time, you can ignore
the message and tell the computer to delete this information.
The message refers to lost clusters. A cluster is a group of disk sectors.
Occasionally, the operating system marks a cluster as being used even though it
is not assigned to any file. This is called a lost cluster. I have never found
useful data in a lost cluster. However, the only time I would ever recommend that
you save these files instead of deleting them is if you happened to be working on
a document or file and had not yet saved it to disk when the computer crashed.
It's not likely, but in this instance, you may be able to recover parts of that
file in the lost clusters. Otherwise, you can always choose delete when presented
with this option.
Q: I used to have to enter my username to log on to my Windows computer. Now
I don't. What happened?
A: Some application modified the registry that tells the computer to
automatically log on to the system. This can be a pain if more than one person
uses the computer. Follow these steps to fix it: (Caution! We'll be asking you to
edit the registry, so unless you know what you are doing, stop here. You risk
completely screwing up your system.)
Go into the Registry Editor. If you don't know how, you probably should not
proceed. Perform a search for autolog (one word). When you find this entry (there
will be only one), then delete it. Then close the Registry editor. Close all open
applications, then restart the computer.
Q: I just got DSL at my home. I am networked into the office from there, but
it's a real pain to switch from the office network to my home network. I have to
change the IP address, workgroup name, DHCP settings, etc. Is there an easier
way?
A: Yes, and it's a little program called NetSwitcher. It creates multiple
network profiles for you and automates the process of switching between networks.
It costs $9, and it's available from the NetSwitcher Web site. You can even try it free for 30 days before paying for it.
Got a problem? e-mail Robert
Stephens, the geek squad's chief inspector.
