Narasimha Murthy: I have a Compaq PC with Pentium IV 1.8 GHz processor, 845 GE chipset motherboard, 128 MB DDR RAM and 40 GB HDD. I have a Compaq EVO D320 monitor and Windows 98 Operating System. The colour setting is ?16 colours? and screen area is ?640x480 pixels?. When I try to change these settings through right click>properties> settings, nothing happens. I have misplaced the driver CD of the motherboard. Is there a remedy or should I go for a new motherboard?

TechTalk: You need to instal the driver software for your graphics card. Don?t worry if the motherboard CD is lost. Latest drivers and other utility software can be downloaded for free from the hardware manufacturer?s website or from sites like www.driverfind.com. In your case, go to http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/CS-009236.htm, download the graphics driver and software for Intel 845 GE chipset and instal them. Do check the Operating System specifications before you download. Restart the computer and your problem should be solved.

Bharat Raimagia: I have a Pentium III 1 GHz processor with 128 MB SD RAM and Windows XP Professional. For the past few days, during booting, my PC hangs for three-four minutes, after which everything becomes normal. When I disable Norton Antivirus 2003 from MSCONFIG, the computer bots comparatively quickly.

TechTalk: Chances are that some programs you installed recently are being activated on startup and having a conflict with Norton Antivirus. It could also be due to faulty device driver. Check the startup list in MSCONFIG and disable all unnecessary items by clearing the checkbox, but keep the Norton Antivirus related items activated. Download and instal the latest drivers for motherboard chipset, graphics and sound. Also, instal the latest service pack for Windows XP Professional. If the problem persists, try uninstalling and then reinstalling Norton Antivirus. You can also try some other anti-virus software.

Swati Ghosh: At the time of booting, my PC displays the message: ?CMOS setting is wrong. CMOS checksum is bad. Press F1 to Run Setup. Press F2 to load default values and continue.? When F1 is pressed, setup runs and after exiting setup (without making any change) the PC boots as usual. But the wrong date and time is shown in the CMOS setting. When F2 is pressed, the PC boots up but desktop remains blank.

TechTalk: Most likely, your motherboard battery needs to be replaced. You have to open the outer casing of the CPU to do this. If you do not feel confident, ask a hardware expert to do it for you.