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Q&A / Patrick Marshall
Road back to health may mean reinstalling all software

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Q: I am completely frustrated with the Norton Antivirus 2004 supplied with my computer. Yesterday I had to perform operating-system repair on my computer to get my computer to boot. I have everything working except Norton Antivirus, which continually flashes a message it can't start Norton Internet Messenger Scanner. And when I try to use the LiveUpdate feature, as recommended by Symantec, it says it can't finish getting the updates. Also, when I try to uninstall the program, the computer says there is some later version of Norton Antivirus and refuses to uninstall. I can't find any later version and Symantec won't give me any more advice without paying them.

— WAYBOY11@aol.com

A: I wouldn't be too hard on Symantec. It sounds to me like the real culprit is whatever caused your computer to need "operating system repair." My guess is that the repair made changes in the Windows registry that bollixed up things with Norton.

The first thing to try would be to reinstall Norton from scratch. If that doesn't work, you may have to reinstall Windows — preferably after reformatting your hard drive. Unfortunately, that means you'd also have to reinstall all your applications. Just make sure to backup any data you care about first, including your Web browser's favorites or bookmarks, as well as any e-mails you care about.

Q: I have a question on something my computer doesn't do. Often, when I try to shut down, I get a "not responding" error message. Sometimes, I have to turn the computer off to get it to shut down. I suspect it is something running in the background in Explorer.

— Frank Lippman

 
A: Without more information or a hands-on look I can't get very specific about what your problem is. I can tell you it is important to have Windows shut down properly. If it doesn't and you have to shut the power off, data and configuration information could be lost or damaged.

The only solution short of reinstalling Windows and your applications is to find which application is misbehaving.

Q: Is there any way to uninstall Windows Messenger, the instant messaging program that came with Windows XP? Windows Messenger automatically signs in anytime my daughter goes online, which means she has to open the program and sign out of it before she can go on to MSN Messenger, which she downloaded herself. When we tried to uninstall Windows Messenger, we uninstalled Windows Explorer instead.

— Dave Billings

A: Have you installed Windows XP Service Pack 1 yet?

Microsoft didn't include any way to prevent Windows Messenger from installing, but with Service Pack 1 there's a new feature named "Set Program Access and Defaults." You'll find this by loading the Add or Remove Programs tool in Control Panel. You can use this new feature to remove Windows Messenger from the Start menu and the desktop and to keep it from launching when you go online.

Q: Can you tell me the best DVD burner in the market compatible with my Windows 98 SE? Also, where is the best Web site to find answers similar to this without subscribing to Consumer Reports?

— bd865@scn.org

A: These things change so quickly that if I tested the dozen or so products with the most recognizable names and wrote the results up today, things could easily have changed before the column appeared in the newspaper. The best way to get current results is simply to search the Internet for DVD burner compare and see which publication has done the most recent comparison.

Even then, you'll need to get a clearer idea about what you mean by "best." Do you mean the best performing drive or the one that offers the best value? Those generally are two different things. If the comparison you find doesn't make that distinction, treat it with skepticism.

Questions for Patrick Marshall may be sent by e-mail to pmarshall@seattletimes.com or pgmarshall@pgmarshall.net, or by mail at Q&A/Technology, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists.