Q. I have Windows XP Home edition and my problem is when I want to save a photo off the Internet, I can only save one or two as jpeg files. They start coming in as Bitmap files. I clean out the temporary Internet files, and I get the same result.
I hope there is an easy fix.
— Donald McMillion Chesapeake, Va.
A. This kidnapping of the public domain jpg format by Microsoft’s own bmp format takes in ever more victims as Internet use grows and ever more temporary files get downloaded to handle bells and whistles such as animations, sounds and forms. Deleting usually fixes this.
But we now know that sometimes the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser starts saving files posted on Internet sites as jpgs in bmp format if an encryption setting isn’t right.
It’s rare, but you’ve got it and I can fix it.
Click Tools and then Internet Options in the browser and then open the Advanced tab. Go to the Security section and click to clear the “Do not save encrypted pages to disk” check box. Then click View in the browser toolbar and select Refresh.
Most readers should know that they likely need just the first fix of going to the General tab on the Internet Options menu and clicking on the button to clear out the cached downloaded files. Details can be found by going to http://support.microsoft.com and using the search term 260650.
This has gone on for years now, thus making one wonder why a fix hasn’t been included in one of those incessant security patches.
Q. Lately, while trying to burn music CDs, the computer never completes the process no matter how many times I try (and no matter how many blank CDs I toss away like mini-Frisbees).
I’ve tried all the basic things, including keeping other applications closed, downloading software updates, lowering the speed all the way down to 8X (from 48X), trying a different brand of discs, cleaning off the disc drive, rebooting and trying again.
I suspect that I have too many things running in the background that interrupt the process but I’m at a loss as to which ones are safe to disable.
— Jeff Rapp, Kalamazoo, Mich.
A. Turning blank CDs into cocktail coasters gets mighty old for far too many people and there are a lot of possible fixes, including your idea of shutting down as many background tasks as possible.
As you indicate, other fixes include trying different brands of discs, checking the recording software settings and acquiring new firmware at the CD drivemaker’s Web site.
The quick answer to your question is that you need very few, if any, start-up programs at all. To view most stuff running in the background, click on Start and Run and then type in msconfig and click OK. In the display that appears open the tab called Startup.
You will find a list of most background software and buttons to enable or disable all of them. Very rarely problems set in when all are disabled, but I’d try disabling all of them anyway. You can always reboot the computer holding down the F8 key to bring it up in Safe Mode where you can restore things.
If this runs chills up and down the spine, it also is pretty easy to find out what each item in the list does just by using the name as a search term in Google, MSN, Yahoo or whatever. Remove the check alongside each you feel comfortable with stopping for the test.
Another fix can be to maximize the priority the computer assigns to your CD burner. So run whatever program you use to record CDs and then tap Control + Alt + Delete. In the pop-up box, open the tab for Processes, find your software and give it a right click.
In the pop-up menu this summons, click on Set Priority and change it from Normal to a higher setting. Start with “Above Normal” and then “High” and, if all else fails, “Real Time.” This forces the computer to give your CD software priority over most background processes.
As a last resort you should restore the entire operating system using the system recovery discs that came with your computer. Be careful that you set the restore so that it leaves all of your data files intact and merely reinstalls all of the code for Windows XP. Sad to say, a lot of folks posting on tech support blogs and newsgroups say that was the only fix for them.
But at the very beginning you need to get yourself some new CD-R discs and give several brands a try because faulty blanks are pretty common. Besides, when one gets in trouble, blaming the media is a time-honored fix.
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Got a question on personal technology? Send a note to Jim Coates at askjimcoates@gmail.com. Questions can be answered only through this column.
