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Press F1: Where's the power?

We answer your questions.

By PC World Staff / Wednesday, July 28 2010

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Failed backup app
When I try to start the Backup & Restore utility on my new hard drive I get the error message: ‘The backup application could not start due to an internal error – Server execution failed (0x800800005)’.
Thomas Milne

Your Windows user account doesn’t have the privileges it needs to run the task, Thomas. Go to Start, right-click Computer, then choose Manage•Local Users and Groups•Groups. Right-click Administrators and click Add to group•Add•Advanced•Find Now. Double-click Local Service and press OK.

You should now see the entry ‘NT Authority\Local Service’ in the list. Click OK and reboot the PC.

Missing hard drive drivers
I backed up my Windows XP PC to a portable hard drive. This drive appears in Device Manager and Disk Management, but not in My Computer. My Creative sound system failed at the same time. The Hardware Wizard was unable to locate new drivers for the hard drive, USB ports or sound entries in Device Manager.
Ken Robinson



Start by updating the BIOS and motherboard drivers, a process that can often fix bugs and even add extra features. The motherboard manufacturer’s website will offer any new versions.

It’s possible that Windows is trying to allocate a drive letter that’s already in use to your external drive. Plug in the drive, then click Start•Run and enter compmgmt.msc. Click Disk Management, then right-click the USB drive and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths. Click Change, then click on the Assign the following drive letter drop-down menu. Choose a drive letter you’re sure is not in use. Click OK•Yes, then reboot the PC.

If you’re still experiencing problems, your USB ports may be malfunctioning or not getting enough power. An external USB card costs between $20 and $40 and will function independently of your built-in ports. You can instead install an internal USB card – just remember to power down the machine and earth yourself first.

Invalid web address warning
When clicking on a hyperlink in Firefox I often get a warning that the ‘URL is not valid and cannot be loaded’, even when I know it’s genuine. My PC runs Norton Internet Security 2010 and A-Squared Anti-Malware, but I can’t find any settings to adjust to prevent this happening.
Martin Perry

You shouldn’t be running both Norton and A-Squared, Martin. Running two security products that provide the same function simultaneously can cause them to clash, producing random behaviour problems.

If you’re unable to uninstall A-Squared using Add/Remove Programs, you may need to boot the PC into Safe mode first.

The error message you’re receiving is likely to be caused by a Firefox browser add-on (although the Google Toolbar is often wrongly blamed). In Firefox go to Tools•Add-ons and disable all entries. If all is well after restarting the browser, enable each add-on in turn to identify the culprit.