FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  248 (01/02/01)

Q

When I open a new Word 2000 blank document, the "blank" page is covered in lines. When I print the document the lines are not visible. Any idea how I can get rid of the lines when I open a blank document?

Keith Nixon

A

It sounds as though you may have inadvertently enabled the 'gridlines' feature, which generates a set of non-printing guidelines to assist alignment when Word is in page design mode. To make them disappear call up the Drawing toolbar (if it is not already on show) by right clicking into an empty area next to the existing toolbars and select Drawing. Click on the Draw menu and select Grid and uncheck the item 'Display Gridlines on screen'.

Q

An annoying feature in MS Windows 98 (or at least my copy) seems to be that it adds folders and files to the start menus in the order that they were created, rather than in alphabetical order. I have looked everywhere, but I can't seem to turn this off, please help, as this is VERY annoying!

Robert Govier

In Windows 98 and ME you can re-order your Program list alphabetically by clicking on the Start button, then Programs, move the mouse pointer to highlight the first item on the list then right click and on the menu that appears select Sort by Name. There are also several utilities that will allow you to customise your Start menu, have a look at Eicons and Winboost; shareware versions can be downloaded from www.tucows.com.

Q

My computer (450mHz, PIII, 64meg RAM etc) sometimes changes the way I compose documents using Word from Office 2000. As I type everything is fine. When I want to add something afterwards, I click into the sentence and as I type, it deletes the letter in front of it forcing you to retype the entire following text! This is really annoying especially if it is a big document.This seems to suddenly start occurring and seems only to be cured by re-booting. Any ideas?
Trevor Gardiner

A

It's a real pain and it happens when you accidentally press the Insert key or click on OVR on the status bar at the bottom of the screen and Word goes into Overtype mode. To cancel it just press Insert.

Q

The query about large e-mails in F!F!F! (January 18th)  was very timely.Some time ago I set a limit to message size, but what I didn't appreciate was that I would not get any information to tell me when there was a large message waiting for me. Then I forgot that I had made the setting and couldn't understand why messages sent to me a couple of days ago didn't arrive.  But my ISP has an excellent helpline and they advised me to use Twigger (www.twigger.co.uk), which solves the problem. (I even discovered a Christmas Greeting that I didn't know about)
Ted Sedman

Like your writer Henry Bristow (18 January) I too experienced the same problem and went through the remedies suggested.  But I also found, with the help of one of my servers, an alternative method of looking at what was in the pipeline before downloading.  This was to use one of the web-based mail services wherein I just entered my e-mail address and password and it then accessed all my outstanding mail on that particular address.  I was then able to view each individual item, which is displayed with its venue and size, and decide whether to delete it there and then or go for a download or print it from that access point.  The site I use is http://webmail.minx.net.uk 

H R Owen

A

Many thanks for those suggestions. Web-based email services can indeed let you review the contents of your inbox, though you should familiarise yourself with the site's privacy policies before parting with your address and email password, and read the small print!

Q

I had a similar problem with my computer unexpectedly switching itself on (F!F!F! January 18th) and eventually discovered the reason. A number of computer maintenance tasks had been pre-set on my computer to take place at 1.30 in the morning. One of the pre-set instructions was to wake the computer up if necessary to carry out the maintenance. Hence the computer booting up automatically at the designated time in the middle of the night. I discovered these maintenance instructions under Scheduled Tasks in My Computer. To solve the problem I changed the schedule settings under Scheduled Tasks so that the maintenance is carried out at a more civilised hour during the day. I no longer wake up to find that the computer has turned itself on spookily during the night!

Perhaps this may be the cause of Mr Blunt’s problem? Just a thought.

Vincent Williams

My problem is the opposite. I have Windows ME and when I select 'Shut Down' from the start menu, the monitor goes off, but the processor unit stays on. I have to disconnect it from the mains. Any suggestions please?

Roger Chambers

A

Thanks to Vincent for that tip, though for many users 1.30 in the morning is a very convenient time to carry out an hour long defrag session... As for as Windows ME not switching itself off, this is almost certainly a Power Management problem. Try this, right click on My Computer and select Properties then the Device Manager tab. Scroll down the list and click on the plus sign next to System Devices, click and highlight Advanced Power Management, then Properties and the Settings tab and check the item 'Force APM mode'. If that doesn't help there's a comprehensive Windows ME shutdown 'trouble-shooter' article on the Microsoft web site at: http://support.microsoft.com/ support/kb/articles/Q273/7/46.ASP

Q

In response to Judy Oliver's query on the "E" in Excel, it stands for Exponent.  2.5E+08 means 2.5 times 10 raised to the power 8; mathematically, the 8 would be written as a superscript to represent the exponent.  Excel uses this format when it cannot display the number in the cell size allowed.  If you widen the appropriate column, it will show the number in full.

Regarding Barbara Heard's query on the behaviour of the Tab key in Excel, it is possible that she has activated the Lotus 1-2-3 transition navigation keys, which makes Excel work like 1-2-3.  To switch these off, go to Tools, Options, Transition and clear the check box.  (This works for Excel 2000, I guess there is something similar for earlier versions).

Chris Stokes

Two for the price of one, thanks to Chris and the many, many other readers who wrote in, now here's another one for all you Excel experts to mull over:

Q

Does anyone know how in Excel one centre aligns (horizontally) numbers within cells? The 'align center' command treats numbers as words and literally centres irrespective of length; which may look attractive but ensures that 100s, 10s, 1s and decimal places do not align correctly, particularly when a mixture of positive and negative numbers of unequal length are involved.

Brian Pimlott