Q. How do I go about saving my "Favorites" list, just in case my system ever crashes and I want to restore all the things I've bookmarked?
A. Favorites--or bookmarks in Netscape speak--are like a speed-dial button to a Web page. The method for backing them up differs for Netscape and Internet Explorer. If you use Internet Explorer (IE) for Windows: Open Windows Explorer in your Start menu; scroll down to the Windows folder, expand it, then scroll down until you see the Favorites folder. Right-click on the folder and scroll down to Copy; right-click on where you would like to put it (e.g. My Documents, Desktop) and scroll down to paste. Macintosh IE users, click Favorites; click Organize Favorites; click on File; scroll to Save As; name it bookmarks.html, and then specify the location. Netscape users in Windows or Macintosh need to open their browser windows; click the Bookmarks button and scroll to Edit Bookmarks; click on File and scroll down to Save As; another window will open up so you can specify where to save it. After saving the bookmarks to your hard drive, just transfer them to a floppy or any other removable media.
Q. OK, I read that article about the ptsnoop.exe file. Is there a way to get the file back? Because my antivirus software detected a virus on it, I deleted the file. Now I get an error message, but instead of just editing the win.ini, like someone suggested in a previous article, is there away to get that file back?
A. There seems to be a lot of confusion about this famous ptsnoop.exe file. The ptsnoop.exe file is installed with certain modems. The file watches the COM ports for activity and allocates system resources to open the port.
It is a Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) program that uses roughly 1 MB of resources to run. The problem here is that Norton Antivirus misdiagnoses this file to have a Trojan virus in it. This has caused many people to become frightened of this file, as if it were the Black Plague itself. It isn't a virus. The file is safe, and if you deleted it, you can reinstall the drivers that came with your modem to restore it.
Q. I have been having trouble running disk utilities in Windows. When I try to run Scandisk, the PC keeps restarting. I eventually get an error message that says, "Scandisk has restarted 10 times due to disk activity." I closed all my programs and I still got the error, even after rebooting. The disk defragmenter keeps saying that there are errors on the disk, which I can't repair because scandisk won't run.
A. I see this problem a lot and I battled with it on my home computer for some time. Since Scandisk checks file structure and integrity, any change to the contents of the drive will force it to restart. Even with all programs closed, there could still be disk activity from a TSR. Some of these programs can be seen in the System tray on the lower right-hand side of the task bar, while others will not.
The best way to do this is to close all your programs with the so-called "Windows Bully Close Method." First close all open program windows so that your taskbar is empty. Then hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete, and a window listing a bunch of programs should pop up; highlight the program you want to close and click End Task; the window will close. Do this to all the programs in the list, except Explorer and systray; closing these two will shut down Windows. Then run Scandisk.
Robert Stephens tech@geeksquad.com is chief inspector of the Geek Squad.
