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AFTER my
computer starts up, I get an error message about an
“Illegal System DLL Relocation.” It says: “The
relocation occurred because the DLL C:\Windows\System
32\HHCTRL.OCX occupied an address range reserved for
Windows system DLLs.” Huh?
The only
way most people can hope to make sense out of that
jargon eruption is to hit Microsoft’s tech-support site
(support.microsoft.com) and try searching for the
symptoms reported.
Don’t
look for the entire error message, just the key elements
of it—the noun and verb that you haven’t seen before. In
this case, “HHCTRL.OCX” and “relocated” jump out as
unusual, and a search for those two words yields the
right tech-support article (support.microsoft.com/kb/935448/).
That
document explains that two security patches can conflict
with such third-party programs as Grisoft’s AVG
antivirus software and Realtek’s sound-card control
panel. It also points to a downloadable fix, “update
935448.” (If you are curious: “HHCTRL.OCX” assists in
displaying help files, and “DLL” stands for “dynamic
link library,” a bit of code that programs can share.)
*****
I’ve
read that I should copy my CDs to the computer in a
lossless format instead of MP3. Wouldn’t that get me the
best possible audio quality?
It
would, but you might need a new hard drive first.
Higher-quality lossless formats such as FLAC (Free
Lossless Audio Codec), Apple Lossless and Windows Media
Audio Lossless don’t discard any sonic details. But they
need a lot more disc space—300 megabytes or more per CD,
about three times as much space as “lossy” MP3, AAC and
Windows Media Audio formats.
This may
not matter on a desktop computer with hundreds of
gigabytes free, but it will on laptops or portable music
players (which may not accept a lossless format in the
first place). An iPod that can store 1,000 MP3s or AACs
will max out at 300 or so lossless files.
On a
cheap stereo, much less an iPod in a crowded train,
nonaudiophiles may not even hear a difference between
lossy and a lossless file. For more discriminating
listening, try raising the “bit rate” of a lossy format
from the usual 128 kilobits per second to 160 or 192
kbps.
To
adjust the bit rate in iTunes, open its Preferences
window (via the Edit menu on Windows, the iTunes menu on
a Mac), click the Advanced tab and then the Importing
tab. In Windows Media Player 11, click the “Rip”
heading’s drop-down menu.
Storing
your music in a lossless format can make sense, however,
if you want to keep a master copy of a song for archival
purposes—which you can then copy into whatever lossy
format works for you.
*****
I can’t
get the Flash plug-in to work in Windows Vista. Is there another way to get this running?
Your Web
browser should install this plug-in, which is needed to
view animations at many sites, automatically. But if
that doesn’t work, you can download an old-fashioned
installer. Visit Adobe’s download page (www.adobe.coom/shockwave/download/alternates/)
and pick the right version for your browser.
*****
How do I
hide the icons on my iBook’s desktop? I’m new to the
Apple world, and this task is beyond me.
While a
Mac’s desktop isn’t subject to being littered by
shortcut icons for every new program you install—the
most common form of visual pollution in Windows—it can
still get untidy.
Mac OS X
is set up to display icons for storage devices, such as
hard drives, USB flash drives, CDs and iPods
automatically. A Mac desktop can also accumulate files
you’ve put there yourself.
To hide
the drive and disk icons, click on your desktop
background to bring the Finder to the forefront. Then go
to the Finder menu at the top left of the screen and
select Preferences. Then you can select what kind of
items, if any, should appear on the desktop.
For
everything else, just delete it if you don’t want it. If
Safari is saving downloaded files to the desktop, you
can set it to store them elsewhere. Select Preferences
from the Safari menu, then click the drop-down menu next
to “Save downloaded files to” and select “Other...” to
choose a different spot (for example, create a Downloads
folder in your home directory). |
