FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  241 (07/12/00)

ON GOOD FORM

Your advice to Norman Tomson (F!F!F!, 23 November) is somewhat more complicated than is really necessary. The completion of forms prior to printing is extremely easy within a program called PaperPort de luxe from ScanSoft.

Frederick Loft

The software bundled with my Black Widow scanner allows a scanned form to be filled-in on the computer. It's Presto! PageType from NewSoft Technology Corp.

A.W. Neil

I operate a paperless office and for some time have been using Pagis Scan Suite for forms (www.pagis.com). This is very simple to operate and allows you to scan a form, then automatically detects the fields (any extra fields can be deleted and new ones added).

Geoffrey Mullen

I have been using OmniForm for a number of years. It operates in two modes - the quick mode that simply takes the scanned image of your form and superimposes (mostly automatically) fields to be filled over the top. The other mode allows you to take an existing form design and amend it before filling/printing it.
Richard Kelly

There is a rather neat software package called HotDocs Pro, which enables you to scan in forms and designate field areas that you can type into. You can also link the form to data in your database. It's quick and easy to use, although a bit pricey at £399. For more info see www.capsoft.co.uk 

Alison Stockwell

Before embarking on the process of scanning it would be simpler to ask the local authority if it is able to supply the blank forms either as an email attachment or on disc. Government policy is to encourage councils to deliver services electronically and they should be happy to oblige.

John Eldred

Thanks to everyone who wrote in with suggestions

Q.

Volunteers are needed in the Swanley New Ash Green area of Kent to assist groups of folk in retirement and residential centres become familiar with the benefits of e-mail to keep in touch with their families around the world. If anyone can spare some time could they let me know - as I am involved with the local Volunteer Bureau I can co-ordinate any offers received.

There are a number of other initiatives including the '2001 Year of Volunteers' about to be launched and if any of your readers outside of the Swanley area are also interested I would be prepared to liase where appropriate.

Roy McLeod, Business Liaison - NW Kent CVS

A.

All offers of assistance gratefully received

Q.

My PC at home now displays the message "CMOS checksum error - load defaults?" when booting up after being switched off for more than 2-3 hours. Give us a clue!
J. Marshall Cumming

A.

The backup battery that powers your PC’s internal clock has expired; they generally last between 3 and 5 years. If you know your way around the inside of a PC you may be able to replace it yourself, if in doubt ask an expert.

Q

I am in a state of shock! The battery in my three year-old 2100 Solo Gateway laptop started to fail so I thought it was about time to get a new one. The only source is Gateway. They are out of stock, and have no plans to replace! I therefore bought a new laptop, an "all-singing-and-all-dancing Sony Vaio model with Windows 2000. I am now in a state of even deeper shock! I cannot go on-line! No ISP software has the sophistication to configure Internet and Email applications. My usual ISP Globalnet says it may be six months to a year before they are able to help me! They said I was unlikely to find one who can! So far, they are right! FreeServe cannot, BT cannot. I do not know who else to try.  Help!
Fay

A

Things are not as shocking as they seem. Firstly, whilst Gateway may not be able to supply you with a replacement battery, plenty of other firms can, try: www.gmkbatteries.co.uk, or an Internet search, using keywords ‘laptop batteries uk’. The age of the laptop is not a barrier and several companies, like www.battery.co.uk specialise in refurbishing old battery packs.

There is no reason why you cannot configure the Internet and email connections on your new laptop manually, in fact Globalnet has all of the information you need on its own Technical Support pages (http://www.global.net.uk). It’s not difficult, you need to have a few items of information to hand, like your Dial-Up Connection password, everything else can be found in Dial Up Networking in My Computer and Accounts in Outlook and Outlook Express on your existing PC. Have a look at the simple tutorial on the Microsoft web site at, it covers the Windows 2000 setup for MSN but it’s applicable to most other Internet service providers: http://support.microsoft.com/

support/kb/articles/Q238/5/10.ASP

Q

I bought a scanner just over a year ago - and recently the lamp has blown rendering all my scans useless and dark. To my astonishment, not only does the shop who sold it to me fail to stock any replacement lamps, but now the manufacturers say they can't sell me one either. They actually told the scanner is a disposable item and I should buy a new one. It might be disposable to them, but at £70 I expect it to last a little longer. As it's just over a year old it's beyond warranty. Is there anything I can do about this?
Lloyd Stedman

A

Your annoyance is understandable and you have been very unlucky, but disposability is the price we pay for cheap peripherals. The life expectancy of the cold cathode tubes used in most scanners is several thousand hours. That translates to four or five years of use under normal conditions. Proportionately the replacement cost of tubes in budget scanners is very high (up to half of the original selling price) moreover they are often built into sealed modules, which pushes up the price even further. With some scanners now selling for £40 or less, it would indeed be cheaper to buy a new one!

CAPITAL IDEAS

I solved the dreaded "caps-lock" problem (F!F!F! November 22nd) quite simply. I took a strip of stiff aluminium sheet, half an inch wide, and made a small clip, which fits on the side of the keyboard, and has a projecting piece, which covers the caps-lock key, thereby protecting it from operation by the wandering little finger. Simple and effective.
V.J. Phillips, Swansea, Wales

I saw your correspondence, about correcting inadvertent use of Caps Lock,with interest. I suffered constantly but found the simplest solution was to prise off the Caps Lock key from the keyboard so there is less chance of hitting it by mistake. The button then revealed is easily useable if needed. Chris Rogers, Kingsbridge, Devon

I cannot count the number of hours, accumulated over several years of using the QWERTY keyboard, wasted because I happened to accidentally press Caps Lock. Should we not relieve our frustration by finding and shooting the man who designed the keyboard thus? I say man because, as my old mum would point out, only a man could come up with a design where this key is placed in a position most likely to be accidentally pressed and so cause
maximum damage.
John Barber

Some rather drastic solutions, but thanks anyway…

THE L@ST WORD…

My friends and I use a word which I coined some years ago to refer to the "@" sign, namely an epinota. The etymology of this word is: "epi" is Greek for "at", and "nota" is Latin for "sign", so epinota literally means "at sign".
Immanuel Burton