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FAQS! FACTS! FAX!
224 (10/08/00)
A
WORD TO THE WISE
I
use Word 6 at home and like many people I cannot justify the cost and
inconvenience of upgrading my home computer, as Word 6 is more than adequate
for my requirements. The only problem is that I sometimes receive forms
or documents in Word 97 format and as e-mail attachments. It is possible to
open such a document on a machine with Word 97 (or later) - save it in Word 6
format - and transfer it back to my computer. This works perfectly every
time, and proves that it is normally possible to convert Word 97 to Word 6
format. But it is irritating and can be extremely inconvenient.
Do you know of any software patch or program, ideally freeware, for
converting Word files to an earlier format (or to Rich Text Format)?
Neil Campbell
Try Microsoft Word Viewer, it lets you open Word 97 documents so you can
copy and paste the information into Word 6. It’s free and can be downloaded
from: http://officeupdate.microsoft.com
/2000/downloadDetails/wd97vwr32.htm
It’s a fair size (3.8Mb) so you might be better off tracking down a copy
of the September edition of PC Direct magazine, which has Word Viewer on its
cover-mount CD-ROM.
IN
SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAY
When
I was at work, I had the Castaway screensaver on my PC. Now that I have retired
and use a PC at home, I would be grateful if you, or any of your readers, can
advise if it is possible to download this from the Internet for free, if
possible.
Simon Dunckley
Are
you referring to Johnny Castaway, a cartoon character marooned on a desert
island? If so you’ll find links to a free download and much more besides at
Johnny Castaway’s home page:
http://www.personal.u-net.com
/~newdawn/johnny/home.html
Just
make sure you don’t spend too much of your well-earned retirement watching
screensavers…
WORRY LINES
As a graduate currently looking for a job, I am
keen to take advantage of the facility that enables applicants to e-mail
prospective employers with their CV's, enclosed as attachments. However,
because my CV uses tables (created in Microsoft Word) to facilitate alignment,
I was wondering if there was a way that would enable recipients to view my CV
without the shadow outlines of the tables appearing on the page.
Andrew Johnston
This looks like one for F!F!F! readers! It’s easy enough
to make the lines disappear on the page, by selecting ‘None’ in Borders and
Shading and using Hide Gridlines on the Table menu but no matter what we tried
– and that included saving the document in various file formats and as a web
page -- when the file was sent as an email the lines either reappeared, or the
table lost its structure. If anyone has any bright ideas we’d like to hear from
them. Alternatively create your pages manually, using Word’s column facility,
or modify one of word’s ‘Resume’ templates.
LOCK
OUT THE LUDDITE
My
business partner is a computer Luddite and frequently messes up his PC
settings. Is there a way of locking Widows settings, or fixing it so that they
are restored on re booting?
John Wright
The
simplest way to stop your partner’s tinkering is to hide or restrict access to
the Windows Control Panel. If you are using Windows 98 (version 1) then install
Tweak Ui; it’s on the Win 98 CD-ROM, Tools > Reskit > Powertoy,
right-click on tweakui.inf and select Install. The Tweak UI icon appears in
Control Panel, select the Control Panel tab and disable all of the components,
or just the ones your partner interferes with. (Unfortunately this facility is
only on the Windows 98 version of Tweak Ui). There are also a number of
utilities that will restrict access to programs and Windows components,
including Control Panel. Have a look at Sentry 98 and Security Administrator,
shareware/trial versions can be downloaded from: http://www.sentry98.com/ and http://www.softheap.com/secagent.html
If you are an advanced Windows user you can also use
System Policies to control access to your PC’s critical settings, look out for
a Boot Camp on that very topic in a few weeks time.
FREE AND EASY?
I have unmetered phone access on my Internet
connection and access to my ISP is via a Freephone number. Is there any reason
why I could not attach my modem to the input/output socket on my mobile phone,
provided for a hands free attachment? I
suspect this would require a custom made cable unless a proprietary product is
available. Would this connection damage the phone, modem or PC? Maybe an
additional piece of hardware is required. If so where can I get one? Would the
software be able to dial out through the PC in the way that happens with a
wired connection or would I need to dial from the mobile handset keypad? I am
assuming that if such a connection were possible I would not get charged for
the calls as Freephone numbers are also free on my mobile.
Martin Swinford
Nice idea… Unfortunately you cannot treat a digital
mobile phone as though it was a fixed landline. When you connect your computer
to the Internet the modem’s job is to turn digital data from your PC into
audible tones (and vice-versa) that can be sent down an ordinary analogue phone
line. In a digital cellphone analogue information is converted directly into
digital data; the system can handle relatively simple sounds, like your voice,
but it cannot cope with the rapidly changing audible tones generated by a
modem. The GSM and PCN digital cellphone systems we use in the UK were designed
some time ago and have a relatively low data rate. The only way to send data
over a mobile phone link is to bypass the analogue stage completely and send data
direct from the PC to the phone. There are several ways of doing this, by using
a data card (a sort of digital modem) or a ‘soft modem’, which is a program
that translates PC data into cellphone data. The PC has to be connected to the
phone by a specially designed cable, or an IrDA infra red link. The maximum
data rate is a paltry 9600bps – on a good day – or between five and six times
slower than a landline connection. Improvements are on the way but you will
have to buy a new phone.
TIME FOR CHANGE
I have Windows 98 and I need to adjust the time on
screen. The buttons at the side of the clock on the Date/Time
properties box are not enabled -- can you tell me if I'm missing something
obvious?
Geoff Peters
The
buttons only work when you click on one of the hours, minutes or seconds number
fields.
EXPLORER
IN PRINT
Is there a way of printing a listing of files in a directory from within
Windows 98 without copying and printing screens from Explorer or My Computer? I
can print a directory listing from DOS by using 'DIR>PRN' but so far
haven't cracked it in Windows.
Les Hooper
The simplest method is to create a ‘batchfile’. Open Notepad and type:
DIR %1>LPT1
(where LPT1 is your printer port), and save it as ‘foldprint.bat’ in the
root of your C: drive. Go to Run on the start menu and type C:\foldprint.bat
C:\myfolder, where myfolder is the directory you want to print out. For details
of other methods have a look at the F!F!F! for January 7th 1999.
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