On the show we once again covered what you shouldn't open to avoid viruses. Any e-mail with an attachment should be considered suspicious , more so if the subject line seems to be out of character for the sender or has a strange icon. Never open an attachment from someone you don't know, it could be a trojan.

Computer Locking up

Ray in Parkes, Ross and Keith all had problems with their systems locking. This is a very common problem that can often be fixed by carrying out our optimise procedure. Because we had three questions on the same topic we decided to make it the problem of the week.

Can't load Windows 98

Damien cannot load Windows 98 on his machine. It sounds like there is a video card driver problem. Windows will try to use it's built-in drivers to install if you choose the standard setup option. If it will not start then it is best to obtain the latest drivers for the video card, install Windows using the custom option and install the specific drivers when asked. It is also possible there is a hardware problem that might be fixed by changing the video card.

Monitor not starting

Barry from Shellharbour was finding his Pentium II computer was taking several attempts to start. This is almost certainly a video card problem and the easiest solution is to replace the video card. As the card is probably integrated into the motherboard it will mean disabling the inbuilt card or even replacing the motherboard. This is a job best done by someone with experience.

Monitor jumping when connecting to the Internet.

Klaus from Sutherland has a very unusual problem: His screen flickers on connecting to the net. Like everyone else he has asked, we have never heard of this problem. A search on the net also revealed few answers.

The best possible guess is that there is a resource conflict between the video card and the modem. If the computer has a winmodem or PC Card modem this is almost certainly the case, if it is a USB external modem there may be conflict between the USB hub and the video card. The best solution may be to install another modem, preferably an external serial modem, and seeing if the problem goes away when connecting with the external modem.

Hybris Virus

Every week we have some virus questions and this week Laurie from Como had an attack of the hybris, or Snow White virus. The hybris virus keeps popping up, we receive it probably twice a day and after the show we received an e-mail from Barry at Simplex ISP telling us that they detect over 200 Snow Whites a week trying to pass through their system. To keep Snow White and other viruses at bay, have an up to date anti-virus program and keep it up to date.

Shiela suggested using keyword blocks in the e-mail program to automatically delete incoming viruses. This a good idea but it depends upon you knowing the details of the virus so you can tell your e-mail program to delete any mails from certain senders or containing certain attachments. You should be careful using keyword blocks as you may well block out mail you want as well as the spam.

Thank You

To everyone who called in and to everybody who listened. Next month we'll cover another area of personal computing and look forward to hearing your questions on ABC local radio.