EXPERT PROFESSIONAL HELP ▲

Professionalhelp Our technical experts come together to solve all your computer problems

GAVIN BURRELL

●Windows ●Office software ● Utility software

IAN BARKER

●Hardware ●Networking ● Operating systems

DAVID NIELD

●Sound & audio ●Windows ● Digital imaging

IAIN WARDE

●Utility software ●Networking ● Digital video

DAVE CUSICK

●Operating systems ●Hardware ● Programming

Mystery files I discovered two files that are

taking a huge amount of space

on my computer’s c: drive,

called hiberfil.sys and pagefile.sys. Can

you tell me what are they for and is it

safe for me to delete them? SSaammnnaanngg

Both of these are control files

generated by Windows. The

hiberfil.sys file is created

when the machine goes into

hibernation mode. It stores all the

settings in use so that the computer

can quickly recover when it’s woken up.

If you don’t use hibernation, turn the

option off by going to the Control Panel

and opening the Power Options applet.

Click the Hibernate tab and remove the

tick next to Enable Hibernation. Once

you’ve done this you should be able to

delete the file.

The pagefil.sys file is rather trickier.

This is a virtual memory file and should

typically be around 1.5 times the value

of your system’s physical memory. So on

a PC with 512MB of RAM, pagefil.sys

should be 768MB. Unless you really

need the space it’s best to leave this

alone as it’s used in the day-to-day

▲

Changing the virtual memory settings can affect Windows’ performance

Turn off Hibernate from the Power Options applet before deleting hiberfil.sys ▲

operations of Windows. If you do want

make the page file smaller or remove it

all together, click Start, right-click on My

Computer and select Properties. Click

on the Advanced tab and select the

Settings option under the Performance

heading. At the bottom of the Advanced

tab you’ll see a box marked Virtual

Memory, click the Change button to

either reduce the size of file used or

select No Paging File to switch it off

altogether. You should be aware that

shrinking or turning off the page file can

lead to reduced PC performance,

especially when shutting down.

Lost key Windows XP

Professional with

Service Pack 2

In Issue 88 ofPC UtilitiesI

was interested in the

directions you gave in the

Professional Help column on how to

remove the little white arrows

associated with shortcuts. I have tried

to follow these but without success. Can

you help me?

When I look in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

in the Registry Editor, I cannot find any

key labelled Inkfile. Nor does a general

search through the computer files

www.pc-utilities.co.uk issue 90 76

▲

You can remove shortcut arrows from icons with a simple registry edit ▲

reveal anything with this name. Can

the IsShortcut registry value be

hidden elsewhere?

TToomm PP MMccLLeeaann

We suspect you’re looking in

the wrong part of the registry.

The key in question is lnkfile

starting with a lowercase L, not with a

capital I as you had it in your email.

Scroll a little further down the list of

keys and you should find it.

If you’re still having trouble, try

installing the Tweak UI PowerToy from

the Microsoft site (wwwwww..mmiiccrroossoofftt..ccoomm).

This enables you to remove shortcut

arrows by checking a box on its

interface.

Lack of Impact 2.8GHz processor, 512MB

RAM, 60GB primary hard drive,

120GB secondary hard drive,

320GB external hard drive, Windows XP

Home Edition with Service Pack 2

QUICK TIP

It’s possible to add an item to the top part of the Start menu above the separator line so it never drops off the list. To do this, right-click on the program’s .exe file in Windows Explorer and select Pin To Start Menu. To remove an item simply right-click on it and choose Unpin From Start Menu.
PROFESSIONAL HELP ▲

EXPERT

If PhotoImpact finds corrupt files in your My Pictures folder it may crash ▲

I recently installed Ulead

PhotoImpact 12, having spent

hours reading over the manual.

The installation went along fine, but

when I come to start the application, a

window pops up and tells me that I have

to close the application as it has

encountered a problem.

I have uninstalled it and reinstalled it

PhotoImpact repeatedly but I still get

the same problem. My PC offered to

“debug” the application but that had

the same result. I wonder if you might

know the cause of this problem.

RRoobbbb WWJJ EElllliiss

When PhotoImpact starts it

checks the contents of your

My Pictures folder for new

files. If there’s a corrupt .tif image file in

this folder the program will crash with

an error referencing uliblzw.dll. To get

around this glitch and enable the

program to launch, create a new folder

outside of the My Pictures folder and

move all your .tif files into it.

S-Video output Pentium 4 3.5GHz,

1GB RAM, ATI 32MB PCI

graphics card

My PC’s video card has a TV

out function. Is it possible to

connect the S-Video socket

on the card to a set-top DVD

recorder? I have a SCART adaptor

which has an S-video input along with

inputs for two phono plugs. Also how

would I monitor this? NNiicckk AAsshhbbyy

S-Video, short for Separate

Video, is an analogue standard

that carries video as two

separate signals – brightness and colour –

unlike composite video which carries all

the signals on one line. The most common

connector for S-Video is a circular 4-pin

plug on which each signal is paired with a

ground. Some later equipment has 7-pin

connectors, though these are backwards

compatible. In North America, Australia

and Japan it’s common to find S-Video

You should be able to use Catalyst Control Center to set up multiple video streams ▲

Digital Director

wwwwww..vviiddeeooffoorruummss..ccoo..uukk

If you’re interested in finding out more about any aspect of

digital video then the Digital Director site is well worth a

visit. It includes news and guides on a wide range of topics

from planning and shooting your footage to editing the

finished result and creating a DVD. There’s advice on the

technical aspects, including using different compression

formats, setting up effective lighting and much more. You’ll

find hardware and software reviews too and links to

download links for free and trial software.

The most useful part of the site though is its vibrant

forum section, which boasts over 14,000 members posting

information and answering questions. It’s possible to post

your own videos for assessment and get advice on the most

popular editing packages. You can look for help with

hardware problems too, whether they relate to your PC or

to your camcorder. There’s also a section for professional

users, with advice on taking videos of weddings and events.

▲S-Video cables typically use a circular 4-pin connector

connectors on TVs, DVD players and VCRs.

However, in Europe it’s less common (with

the exception of camcorders) due to the

higher quality video offered by SCART.

It should be possible to connect your

S-Video output to your DVD recorder

using your SCART adaptor. Sound isn’t

carried by the S-Video connection so

you’ll need to make arrangements to

connect this aspect separately using

the phono plugs. Don’t expect to get

high quality results though – the

output is likely to be of VHS rather

than DVD standard.

CREATE A DISC WITH WINDOWS DVD MAKER

1

▲Open Windows DVD Maker from Vista’s Start/ All Programs menu. The initial screen you’re presented with will be largely blank. To get started click the Add Items button on the toolbar. This opens an Explorer window, enabling you to drag over video clips or photographs to include in your DVD project.

▲ When you’ve assembled all your media clickNext and choose the style of menu to use for your disc. Select a style from the pane to the right of the screen. The program inserts a slide or a scene from one of your clips into the menu to personalise the way it looks. 2 ▲ Click on the File button and select Save so youcan return to edit your project later. When you’ve completed setting up the DVD the way you want it, click the Burn button. The program will prompt you to insert a blank disc and will then burn your movie straight to the DVD. 3

issue 90 www.pc-utilities.co.uk 77

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