Whenever I switch on my PC, it makes some loud sounds till it completely ends the entire booting process, but this sound gets even worse when it’s the winter season and during early mornings.

I am not sure of what type of noises are emanating from the PC, but all I can think of is the noise from the internal fans. The noises can be possibly coming from the power supply fans, cabinet fans or the processor cooling fan. Open the computer case power on the PC. 

Locate the noisy area and pinpoint the exact fan which is making the sounds. Now turn off the PC and remove/disconnect that fan. If it is the power supply fan, disconnect and remove the power supply unit and open it carefully. 

Be careful as the power supply unit deals with high power voltages and can even injure you when it is powered off. This is because the large capacitors inside the PSU still retain high voltages for a while. Let the power supply unit lie for around 15 minutes before you open it. You should then clean the fans thoroughly using a brush and a blower. 

If the fans are still making noise after cleaning, you could remove the fans, dismantle the fan blades and add a few drops of machine oil on the shafts and between the magnet and coil assembly. But this practice is usually not recommended as the fans will work only for a few days or weeks and the problem will arise again. You should replace the fans with the right specifications to be safe. 

The noises could be coming from the power supply fans, cabinet fans or the processor cooling fan.

When I power on my PC, I receive an error message stating “Please select a proper boot drive and continue”.

Problem details: Dual Core E2180 2 GHz processor, 1.87 GB of RAM and a 250 GB HDD on my PC, before my present 250 GB HDD, I had a 180 GB hard drive and with that too I had the same problem. I have a temporary solution for this — I disconnect the SATA cable and then plug it back in and also check the RAM slots subsequently. The first boot drive is set to the SATA hard drive in the BIOS. I need a permanent solution for this problem.

There can be a few possible reasons for the problem with your PC. Either the CMOS battery of your motherboard is weak or it might be dead, or there is an issue with the hard drive data or power cable. There can also be a problem with your motherboard. A virus infection could also be wiping the boot area of your hard drive. You will need to do a step-by-step analysis of your PC by changing the cables and battery and scanning for viruses.

If the CMOS battery on the motherboard is weak or dead, the BIOS settings are reset to defaults.

During windows update, laptop restarted and later it went to a BSOD. The error code is: ‘IRQL_LESS_ OR_NOT_EQUAL_TO_ZERO’.

The only reason I can think of for this issue is a possible viral attack when surfing the Internet. As your PC is old, it could be possible that bundled/installed antivirus might have expired. PC manufacturers generally bundle an antivirus with the PC for free, but they are usually either valid for three months or a trial version. Hence, your antivirus might not have been securing the PC and a virus or Trojan might have entered/attacked your PC. Depending on the type of Trojan or virus, the PC might misbehave, throw up errors, underperform, or randomly crash. These activities are usually blocked by antivirus utilities and firewalls, which might not have been active in your case. Henceforth, use a good antivirus (either free or paid) and always keep both the antivirus and the operating system updated to prevent viruses and Trojans. Make sure to backup your important data at least once a week.

BSOD can be caused due to virus, faulty RAM, bad hard drive, loose cabling, corrupt software, etc.

Is there a way to view TV channels from the DTH set-top box directly on the PC?

Is there a way to view TV channels from the DTH set-top box directly on the PC? If yes, what are the requirements and are there any cables that need to be attached to the ports of the PC and connected to the STB? 

The Dish TV set-top box is nothing but a bypass between your computer and monitor. You need to connect the computer VGA out to the Dish TV STB and the monitor will be connected to the STB. Now you can watch TV on your computer monitor even if your computer is off. You cannot record anything though. The unit works just like a TV tuner box, which converts your VGA monitor into a TV unit because a monitor cannot accept composite video signals. The set-top box converts these composite signals into VGA, which the monitor can use. If you have a set-top box for your TV already, it makes no sense buying this set-top box as you can do the same by implementing any external TV tuner box and attaching the composite video out from any DTH or CAS set-top box to the TV tuner box. These signals will be converted to VGA and you can watch it on your monitor.  

Regular set top boxes do not feature a D-Sub in/out port where you can route a computer via the STB.

Whenever I play a game, the graphics card gets extremely hot (within 10 to 15 minutes). But when the PC is in idle mode, the card runs cooler.

Whenever I play a game, the graphics card gets extremely hot (within 10 to 15 minutes). But when the PC is in idle mode, the card runs cooler. When a game is running, the card gets so hot that it smells like something is burning inside the cabinet. 

If there is a burning smell when the graphics card is running at full load, either the graphics card is not getting enough cooling from the internal fan or the cabinet’s cooling fan, or the graphics card itself is faulty. Make sure that you have a dust-free cabinet. Clean the cabinet using a good blower and ensure that the graphics card fan is completely clean. Also make sure that the case ventilation fans are working and the cabinet is not placed in an area that has insufficient air-fl ow around it. If the burning smell continues, you might want to have the card inspected by the dealer.

Remove dust from the cabinet and ensure that the graphics card fan is completely clean.

DVD writer icon is not displayed in the ‘My Computer’ window. At times when it is displayed, I can’t access it.

DVD writer icon is not displayed in the ‘My Computer’ window. At times when it is displayed, I can’t access it. If I try to explore any CD/DVD, the computer hangs up or freezes. This also happens when writing a DVD. In short, the DVD writer is nearly useless but I need to use it quite often. 

Either your DVD writer is faulty or the cables connecting the DVD writer to the motherboard need to be replaced. Try changing the cable to check if it works. There could also be a problem with your operating system. Use a Live Linux operating system such as Ubuntu or Knoppix to find out. Boot from the live CD/DVD and check if it works properly. If the drive works in Linux, then your Windows operating system needs to be repaired. If Windows is fun, your writer needs to be repaired or replaced. To be sure, you can also try using the writer on another computer to find out if the fault is in the writer, operating system, motherboard, or the cables.

The IDE cables connecting the DVD writer to the motherboard should be checked for damage.

Getting an error ‘Generic Host Win32 encountered a problem’ in the midst of some programs.

Getting an error ‘Generic Host Win32 encountered a problem’ in the midst of some programs. Also the registry has been blocked and I cannot edit the registry using the ‘regedit’ command. When I run the ‘regedit.exe’ utility, a message comes up stating ‘The Registry editing has been disabled by Administrator’. 

The reason you are facing such errors is due to a Trojan, which has infected your operating system. You will need to install an antivirus, update it and scan/clean your entire hard drive. To enable registry editing you can try this trick:

• Open the Group Policy Editor by typing ‘gpedit.msc’ in the ‘Start | Run’ dialog box. Scroll down to the ‘User Configuration’   in the Local Group Policy Editor window. Expand the ‘Administrative Templates’   in the following branch in the left pane. 
• Click on ‘System’ under the   ‘Administrative Templates’ branch. 
• Search for ‘Prevent access to the   registry editing tools’ in the right pane and double-click it. 
• Now you should switch the status   of the entry by clicking either ‘Not Configured’ or ‘Disabled’ using the radio buttons.
• Click on ‘OK’ and exit the Group Policy Editor Tool. Reboot and check if the registry editor works.

Switch the status of the entry by clicking ‘Not Configured’ or ‘Disabled’ using the radio buttons.