Resources

Run CD Diagnostics for iTunes

Since your computer is having difficulty reading the CD in the disk drive, you might want to run CD Diagnostics. This utility will check your audio CD and optical drive and generate results and possible troubleshooting ideas for you.

Simply open your iTunes on your computer. Select “Run CD Diagnostics” from the Help menu. Place your CD in the drive and click on “OK.” In a few moments, you’ll see some results pop up in a new dialog box and hopefully, some troubleshooting tips will be there as well.

File Association Change for CD

In some cases, downloading iTunes will change the file associations on the computer. If this happens, then your computer won’t recognize the CD. This might be the case here. If you want to change the program that opens the CD, follow the directions listed here (for Windows Vista operating system):

• Open the “Control Panel.”
• Select “Programs.”
• Select “Make a file type always open in a specific program.”
• Wait for the list to generate.
• In order to change the default program that opens a specific file type, click on the file extension and select “Change Program.”

Uninstall iTunes and Reinstall iTunes

In case you had a faulty installation of iTunes, you should uninstall it and then reinstall it.

Update the Firmware

Occasionally, it is necessary to update the firmware (internal software) for the CD drive. To do so, check the website for the manufacturer of your computer first and then check the website for the manufacturer of the drive. Install any available updates using caution.

Repair iTunes Installation if Necessary

If you installed any CD burning software on your computer after you installed iTunes, then you need to repair your iTunes software. CD burning software includes Audible, Napster, and a variety of online music store software. Follow these steps to repair your iTunes installation:

• Close iTunes.
• Click “Start.”
• Select “Control Panel.”
• Select “Uninstall a Program” from beneath the heading “Programs” of you might need to click on “Programs and Features.”
• Select “iTunes.”
• Select “Repair.”
• Select “Repair” a second time.

Your granddaughter probably knows how to prevent it from running, but I’ll tell you the steps so that you will have the power too.

Stop MSN at Startup

The easiest way to stop MSN from running at startup without disabling MSN altogether is to do it in MSN itself. Launch MSN - although it sounds like you don’t have to do that manually - and go to Tools, then click on Options. Go to General and find the option that says “Allow automatic sign in when connected to the Internet”. Uncheck this option and exit MSN. Try starting the computer again and MSN should have disappeared.

Edit the Registry

There is another way to do this if you are comfortable with getting into the registry or if you know someone who is. The registry is where the program instructions are stored for your computer, so it is important that you back up your files and that you know what you are doing before you mess around in there. With that warning out of the way, go to Start and then Run. You will see a dialog box - type in regedit. Find: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. You will see a line that contains MSMSGS. Right click on that and choose Delete. This will stop MSN from running at start up but won’t disable it for good.

Sign Out

It sounds like she is accessing MSN from a shared computer. Please tell her that she should always log off of MSN rather than just shutting down the screen. If she doesn’t, MSN will save her information and other people can get into her account and change her password or send instant messages on her account so that it looks like she is sending them. She simply needs to go to File and then Sign Out. She should also make sure that she unchecks Remember Me, Remember my Password and Sign me in automatically. Make sure that if she uses MSN on someone else’s computer she also signs out and keeps her password under wraps. I’m sure you and the family aren’t going to do her any harm, but you never know who has access to other computers. It may sound far-fetched, but I’ve gotten more than one question relating to people who have had their MSN account hijacked.

DVD Players on the Toshiba

I too have a Toshiba with Windows Vista, so I’ll assume our computers are similarly equipped. My computer came with InterVideo WinDVD for Toshiba as the built-in DVD player, so I’ll use that as an example. Other DVD players should have similar controls, but the instructions may vary slightly.

Viewing DVDs in Full Screen Mode

First, look at your small window, in the upper right corner. Just as most windows, you should see a series of icons, with symbols that look like a dash, a box, and an X. The dash icon minimizes the screen to the Taskbar; the box icon makes the screen full size or restores it to its default setting; and the X icon closes the window completely. Try the maximize/box icon and see if this restores the screen to full size. If these icons are not visible, right-click anywhere on the DVD playback screen. A popup menu should appear with a variety of options including video playback controls, DVD information, and other settings. Find Player/Toolbar and click it. This will put the toolbars across the top and bottom of the screen where you’ll find these icons in the upper right corner.  

If this maximizes the screen, great! But, it may not be permanent. To make sure the WinDVD Player opens in full screen in the future, it’s time to make a few adjustments within the WinDVD software.

Setting the Default Screen Size for Viewing DVDs

Once again, right-click the DVD player’s screen so the menu appears. Before going into the Setup screen, I want you to experiment with the Display Type settings. Change the screen to Normal if it’s on Pan Scan, or Pan Scan if it’s on Normal. This will change how the video fills the available window. Choose the setting that you prefer. Now, look for Setup in the list and click it. Next, go to the Video tab and make sure that “Start up in Full Screen Mode” is enabled. Close the program and restart it. It should now start in Full Screen mode.

Why did this setting change? That’s hard to say. Perhaps it was never set or inadvertently changed. Hopefully, it will remain as it should from here on out.

Related Article:

Resizing Windows

In order to understand this problem more clearly, I am going to provide a few basics that these websites don’t generally advertise.

Why Movies Freeze on PCs

A variety of scenarios can lead to movies freezing while you are watching them on your computer. In some cases, the freezing is intermittent behavior and in other cases, the freezing is constant. In many cases, the sound is perfect or quite close to it, yet the video is choppy or completely frozen. In the worst case scenarios, both the video and the audio are messed up. All of the following factors play a part in the quality of the movie that you are attempting to view on the computer:

• Streaming
• The connection speed
• The popularity of the movie
• The computer resources that are available at the time

Streaming

Video Streaming is the term coined to describe the action that provides the sequence of the movie images as they are sent over the Internet for your personal viewing pleasure. This is affected by the availability of the bandwidth being used to transmit and receive the movie. If the required bandwidth is greater than the available bandwidth, then the movie is buffered and the result is a choppy presentation or freezing of the images that you see.

Connection Speed

In general, a dial up Internet connection is also going to lead to this type of freezing activity with the movie presentation. Even high speed and DSL Internet connections can still result in choppy movie presentations depending on the other factors as they are explained here.

Popularity of the Movie

The popularity of the movie at the time that you are viewing can also lead to a poor presentation. The more popular the movie is or the greater the demand for it is at the time that you are watching it, the more likely it is that you are going to experience problems viewing it. To remedy this, you can try to select a viewing time when the demand will be less.

Computer Resources

The computer resources that are available at the time can also negatively impact the viewing presentation of the movie. Whenever you intend to watch a movie on your computer, you should close out all other applications in order to have the best experience possible.

Several different scenarios might be leading to your difficulty with installing Adobe Flash. You might already have a version of Adobe Flash on the computer. You might not have enough memory to complete the installation. Your operating system might be incompatible with the installation. A few tips are presented below to help you troubleshoot for a solution. First, read through the entire list and then follow each strategy until you come up with a solution that works.

Uninstall Old Versions of Adobe Flash

Depending on how long you have had the computer, it is possible that you might already have an old version of Adobe Flash on your computer. Open your browser and look through your options to find out whether you already have a version of Adobe Flash. If you do see it listed, use the instructions (Uninstall Adobe) posted on Adobe’s website to uninstall it.

Reinstall a New Version of Adobe Flash

Once you have any old versions of Adobe Flash or incomplete installations of Adobe Flash, it is time to reinstall it using the directions on the Adobe website at Adobe Flash Player.

Check the System Requirements for Installing Adobe Flash

Before you do so, it is vital that you check the link listed on that web page for “System Requirements.” If your computer does not have the required specifications, then your attempted download of Adobe Flash will not work properly.

Instructions for Windows Vista

Users who have Windows Vista and have experienced problems with their installation or lack of installation for Adobe Flash should follow the directions on the Adobe website for uninstalling and reinstalling the application. It is possible that the installation began without completing.

If completing those steps does not work, then the following set of directions can be used:

1)      Open the “Search” function on the computer.

2)      Go to “C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\

3)      Right click on the file “FlashUtil9b.exe or FlashUtil9e.exe

4)      Restart the computer.

Opening DSC files

About DSC files

DSC files are image information files that are associated with pictures taken with Nikon CoolPix cameras and are stored on the memory card along with the image file. Unlike the image file that contains the photograph, the DSC files are only information file and do not contain images. It is also possible that the Nikon is saving photos with DSC in the file name but that have a JPEG extension following and are, in fact, image files.

How to Open DSC files

To open DSC files, you will need to use the Nikon digital camera software program for Nikon CoolPix, but opening these files will not get you any closer to any photos. If you want to view the information files, installing and updating the Nikon software on the computer on which you want to view the photos will allow the computer to open the files. If you don’t have the original software disks that came with the camera, you can visit the Nikon website and find the Nikon CoolPix software program and updates.

Camera and Memory Stick Compatibility

I hope that your PC is displaying only some DSC files in addition to your photo image files, or you might not have successfully captured photos. Most of the time photography experts recommend formatting digital camera memory cards before using them in other cameras. It is possible that the camera you used your memory stick in wasn’t compatible with it, or vice versa.

Nikon and Nikon CoolPix

You didn’t mention whether the camera and the memory stick are the same brand - in this case Nikon - but if they aren’t, then the incompatibility might account for the missing image files. It is possible that the DSC files stored on the memory stick are the camera’s attempt to record the images, but might mean it was only able to record information concerning the photos that you were trying to take. In addition to Nikon, in this case it seems that the files are specifically related to Nikon CoolPix, which might create a further incompatibility if, for example, the memory stick was made only for use in this camera model, or if the camera was made to use only a specific memory stick.