Q. I recently purchased a computer at Best Buy, which advertised in-store for a free RAM upgrade from 356 megabytes to 512 megabytes. Is there any way I can tweak the computer to reveal how much RAM it actually has?
Nan Biter@earthlink.net
A. There are two ways to read the actual random access memory offered by the chips plugged into the sockets on any given PC. The easiest is to right-click on the My Computer icon and select Properties in the drop-down menu. There you will see a report showing both the amount of memory on board and something to identify the microprocessor on your machine, such as Pentium II or Pentium III or such. Yours should say 512 or thereabouts for RAM.
If you don’t trust this sign, you can also use the DOS part of the operating system to read memory a little closer to the machine’s internal software.
Click on the Start button and then Run. Type the word command in the Run box. This will bring up the DOS command window. There you can type mem/c at the command line prompt. Hit Return and you will get a readout of RAM as well as how the machine has earmarked it for use running the operating system and the programs you have.
Q. I really need help. Many knowledgeable friends have tried to fix this problem. My CD burner used to work fine until about two months ago. I use Easy CD Creator; it does everything fine till the end, when a sign pops up that says, “Could not complete the burn.”
I thought that my blank CDs must be too old, so I purchased many new CDs and all brought up the same error message.
So I purchased a new Sony 16X/10X/40X burner, which also does great till the end, when I get the same message. Is there anything in your vast memory to help this senior citizen?
Bee Klipper@adnc.com
A. I sure wish you had written before shelling out for a new burner. It’s almost a mortal lock that your settings in that Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 software are set to burn discs faster than even your new 16X drive can handle. Pop in a disc and pick the Data CD option in Easy CD Creator and move some files onto a test disc. Now hit the red record button and look in the center of the display window that comes up next.
First make sure the “buffer underrun” box has a check mark. You also will see a click box offering a number of choices for the burning speed. I’ll bet yours says 32X. Click on the little downward-pointing arrow and move it way back down to 4x and try that.
I’d bet you a stack of blank CDs that your machine will burn like a new book of matches. Afterward you can crank up the setting higher until you start getting the error message again.
Q. We have somehow lost a Windows 98 file called WKWBL.DLL and can’t seem to get it back. I tried to find a copy of this DLL file without luck on our Windows 98 CD.
This DLL file doesn’t seem to affect anything that this computer is used for, but the error message appears each time we boot up … and it really bugs my wife. I’d sure appreciate any thoughts you may have.
Dick Bravo, Boulder City, Nev.
A. Right church; wrong pew, Mr. B. That DLL (dynamic link library) file WKWBL.DLL isn’t part of Windows 98; it’s part of the spreadsheet module in Microsoft Works, the low-cost suite of office programs bundled with a great many PCs.
You just need to fish out the Microsoft Works CD that came with the machine and reinstall Works. This is the easiest fix of all.
You could also borrow a copy of the library from a friend with a Windows computer running Works, put it on a floppy disk and then move it onto your PC. To do this, however, you must know exactly which directory and subdirectory holds the DLL on your own PC. A simple Works reinstall is much neater.
Q. Recognizing your bout with carpal tunnel syndrome and feeling discomfort myself, I have recently put my mouse up on a footstool on my desk. This eliminates the dangerous angle in my wrist. Could you pass this suggestion along?
Chuck Sorensen, Villa Park
A. I’m sitting here punching the keyboard with my remaining good hand and smiling broadly as I picture you sitting there in front of your monitor with your mouse perched on a 3-legged milking stool, Mr. S.
It cannot be argued, however, that you have solved the problem so many feckless computer users encounter when they place the mouse at the edge of a desk, where they need to bend the wrist against the tendons to move it about. May I suggest that one can also fix the problem simply by clearing off enough of the desktop so the mouse is maybe 18 inches away from the edge of the desk?
In this setting you are forced to place your upper arm on the desktop to reach the rodent. Since it is laid out flat, your arm will force the wrist into the correct mouse-use position and free up that footstool for holding magazines, as nature intended footstools to do.
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Contact Jim Coates via e-mail at jcoates@tribune.com or via snail mail at the Chicago Tribune, Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60611. Questions can be answered only through this column. Add your point of view at chicagotribune .com/askjim.
