FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  195 (20/01/00)

GETTING CONNECTED

I am middle-aged and barely on the threshold of modern technology, though I do now have a Windows 95 PC, a mobile phone and a widescreen TV. Can you advise on how I access the Internet, World Wide Web or whatever in plain English?  I am tempted to subscribe to Sky Digital because they offer an e-mail facility. Presumably if I took up one of the 'free' Internet suppliers I won’t need the Sky e-mail facility. Do I need a modem and who installs it? What advantages are there in updating the PC myself?
Patricia Ford, Thorpe Constantine, Tamworth

You would be better off using your PC, rather than subscribing to Sky Digital, which offers a fairly limited on-line service at the moment. Getting connected to the Internet is not difficult but you might want to have a knowledgeable friend on standby. Yes, you will need a modem, ‘external’ models are the easiest to install, though they are a little dearer, costing between £50 and £70 from most PC suppliers. Make sure you get a ‘56kbps’ model, which will give you the fastest connection. Obtain your freebie Internet disc; it’s a good idea to get it from one of the big high street Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like FreeServe, Tesco Net, Virgin Net, W.H.Smiths etc. Before you start read the modem and installation disc instructions, they may not make much sense first time around but they should give you a good idea of where the bits and pieces go, and how the installation process works.

With the PC switched off use the supplied cable to connect the modem to the PC’s ‘serial port’ on the back of your machine (don’t worry, you can’t mix up cables). The outfit will also include a telephone cable, which plugs between the modem and your phone socket (get a two-into-one adaptor for your existing telephone if you only have one socket) and a plug in the mains power supply. Switch on the modem and the PC, Windows should automatically detect the new modem during the boot-up sequence and start the Modem Installation ‘Wizard’ or helper program that tells you what to do. If not got to Start > Settings > Control Panel and click on the Add new Hardware icon. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen, you will be asked to insert the driver disc -- which comes with the modem – and enter a few simple details.

When installation is complete insert your chosen ISP’s installation CD-ROM and follow the instructions. You will be asked a few more questions, your PC will then dial up the Internet service provider’s web site and you can choose a password and an email address; don’t forget to write them down on a piece of paper. The whole thing usually takes between five and ten minutes and nine times out of ten it all goes quite smoothly, good luck, and have fun!

ACTING STRANGE

I was really looking forward to despatching my Office Assistant to his proper resting place (Boot Camp, 6th January) but in my Microsoft Office/Office folders
there is no Actors folder.  Is it hidden somewhere?
Alan Ruffhead

It sounds as though you are using Office 2000 or Word 2000, which has a different version of Office Assistant. We have found that unlike Office /Word 97, if you disable the Office 2000 Assistant it won’t usually bother you again. The option to switch it off can be found in Word Help, Click on ‘Show the Office Assistant’, when it appears select the Options button, then the Options Tab and uncheck the item ’Use the Office Assistant’, all being well Mr Paperclip rides off into the distance and you won’t see him again.

SILENT BELL

The sound has largely disappeared from my Packard Bell PC. It plays music CDs and one game CD, which suggests speakers and connections are OK, but other games CDs, games on the C: drive and music videos are silent. The cheery sound of Windows 98 opening and closing is also now missing. As far as I am aware no one has changed any Windows settings recently. What can be done to restore the sound?
Bernard Twyman

Check the Volume Control Panel to make sure that the ‘wave’ input hasn’t been turned right down or muted. If you have a small yellow speaker icon in the System Tray (next to the clock display on the Task Bar) double click on it, and the panel will appear. Otherwise got to Start > Programs > Accessories > Entertainment (on Win 98) > CD Player and click Volume Control on the View menu.

ZOOM WITH A VIEW

I have a 400MHz Pentium PC with Window 98 and Word 97. The zoom size always opens at 114% and have to alter this zoom setting each time to 75%, the size I prefer. Can you tell me if there is a way of ensuring pages always open at 75% without me having to change the setting?
Lionel Leek

Start Word and open a blank ‘Normal’ document, set the zoom size on the toolbar to 75% and press Return, now go to Font on the Format menu and click on the Default button, when asked to confirm the change, click Yes. Close Word (without saving changes to the document), open Word and the new zoom setting should now be the default.

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN…

In your book ‘Boot Up’ in the chapter ‘Going on Line and the Internet’, it states, "…when you delete files and data from your PC, you’re only removing the entry in a contents listing, the actual information remains on your hard disk and can still be read until it is over written by new data"
                                   

I found this really fascinating. But how can one access this information? I would like to know since on a new computer, after loading a simple programme for a joystick, I found everything had gone haywire, and I had to delete a lot of information just to get back to square one so to speak.
John Grubb

A file utility like Disc Snoop will enable you to delve deep into the data held on your hard disc. It will allow you to find and recover erased files or permanently delete data so that it cannot be read by anyone else, you can also tidy up your disc filing system, look at raw data and get rid of old file names. Shareware versions of the program are available from numerous sites on the Internet, including the Tucows (www.tucows.com). It’s quite small (just over 500kb) and should only take two or three minutes to download using a 56kbs modem

LOST LETTERS

Can anyone tell me where I might obtain the New Nelson font?
Ian R. Witham

Sorry, we drew a complete blank on this one, can anyone help?

KEY NOTES

A while ago you showed how enable an audible warning for the Caps Lock key. Unfortunately I have lost the instructions. Could you please refresh my memory?

Tony fisher

You’ll find it in Accessibility Options in Control Panel, select the Keyboard tab and put a tick in the check box under Toggle Keys. If Accessibility Options isn’t listed you will have to install it from your Windows installation disc, select it from the Windows tab on Add/Remove New Programs in Control Panel.