FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  252 (01/03/01)

Q

When one buys or inherits a computer from someone else, which has been used extensively by them, could you recommend a series of actions to 'clean-up' the machine? For example, what is the safest and quickest way to clear out old files, documents, games, unwanted programs etc. What is the minimum 'clean' configuration to end up with almost as if one had just purchased it from a retailer?

Geoff Brown

A

Strictly speaking, unless all of the rights and licences to the software on a 'used' PC, along with the original program discs, are transferred to the new owner then the disc drive should be wiped clean. This is advisable in any case, if only from the standpoint of security, and saving the seller from any comebacks if there are any software problems. To do that boot the PC using an Emergency Recovery Disc and at the A:/ prompt use the 'fdisk c:' followed by the 'format c:' commands to clear the disc and prepare it for the next owner.

Q

I should like Word 97 to type the date as '2001 March 1', for example, when I press the date button on the toolbar. Unfortunately the format does not exist in the list of options and despite wrestling with Fields and Dates for several hours I cannot get the "date" button to print the date as I want it.
Mal Pike

A

It can be done, but there's a bit of a trick to it. Open Windows Control Panel then Regional Settings and select the Date tab. Highlight and delete the current setting in 'Long Date Style', key in 'yyyy MMMM dd' (without the inverted commas) and click OK, if you now look at the available formats in Word's Date and Time dialogue box you should see your preferred style included.

Q

In Boot Camp 15th Feb you mention that a Hotmail web mailbox can be accessed from Outlook Express. Could you please explain how?

Bill Patten

A

Happy to oblige but be aware that this only works on Outlook Express version 5 and above. If you have it go to Accounts on the Tools menu, select the Mail tab then click the Add button and them Mail. Enter your Hotmail address and the Wizard will automatically take you through the rest of the configuration 

Q

Who are these churlish types who want to delete Office Assistant (F!F!F! February 15th) from their Word screens? The sort who stand in front of you at the bar ordering crisps, I imagine, and who play Wagner while driving their poxy estate cars, mow their lawns regularly, and who eat bran for breakfast... Office Assistant is delightful -- charming, funny, and caninely faithful. I want to reward mine. Where can I obtain software to provide, at least, an on-screen coffee machine, or -- better -- a verdant on-screen garden, or a nice new mountain bike with 21 gears, or -- best of all -- a companion Office Assistant, so they can while away the hours together?
Martin Quinlan, Rabley Heath, Hertfordshire

If Alan Shore does not like the magic paperclip in Word, why not try some other assistant. Right-click the paperclip, select "Chose Assistant" and see what is on offer. Genius is OK!

Eric Minshall

With Office 2000, if you "Show" and "Hide" that stupid paperclip a few times, when next you "Hide" it, it will ask if you want to permanently remove it or just hide it again.
Y.T Cottage

A

Mr Paperclip or 'Clippit' does seem to arouse a lot of passion… I half expected to find lots of alternative animations and customisations on the web but the only thing I could find was 'Office Resistant', which generates a ranting and very vocal Clippit character, that's funny for about two minutes, it can be found at: http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/ stories/info/0,,000UY9,.html

Clippit haters might also might also like to have a look at:

http://www.hoe.nu/features/clippit.html

the pop up window will probably drive you mad! There's also a mildly amusing site devoted to our friend at: http://thisfunsforyou.com/

funpages/paperclipblues/

Any more suggestions gratefully received.

Q

Further to the February 15th F!F!F!, to reinforce your advice: as a professional publisher I tell would-be authors never to attempt to make their typescript "look like a book". Plain text with 1½ line-spacing is what's needed.  If there are illustrations, don't integrate them into the text, and unless you are a graphic artist, don't try to use a computer drawing package - pencil-drawn roughs are best.  An excellent paperback, "The First Five Pages – A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile" by Noah Lukeman (an American ex literary agent) is a good place to start.  It's available from Amazon.co.uk
John Watson

A

That also goes for copy submitted to newspapers, magazines and journals, plain text is always preferable to formatted copy as it is easier to handle.

Q

I enjoy watercolour painting and wonder how it would be possible to copy my paintings, the majority of which are larger than A4, on to my computer so that I may reproduce them as greetings cards etc. I have a Pentium 75MHz processor with 24Mb RAM, CD-ROM and a colour inkjet printer.  Could you tell me what additional equipment I would need?
Carol Smart

A

There are two possibilities: a scanner or a digital camera.  You can use the scanner to scan in photographs of your paintings, or shoot them directly with a digital still camera, preferably one with an image sensor that has 2 million or more pixels. In both cases you need to be very careful checking the minimum system requirements of these devices as your PC is a relatively old model with only modest system resources. 

Q
I've received a 132-page attachment of my brother's life story - he was killed in WW2. I need to print the last 11 pages because I ran out of ink before I had finished printing it all - I can't find out how to do this -is it possible to print out part of an attachment?
Margaret Harper

A
The easiest method is to open the attachment and click on Print on the Filemenu and this will open a printer dialogue box with a Print Range option,that lets you specify which pages to print.

Q

I've received a 132-page attachment of my brother's life story - he was killed in WW2. I need to print the last 11 pages because I ran out of ink before I had finished printing it all - I can't find out how to do this -is it possible to print out part of an attachment?

Margaret Harper

A

The easiest method is to right-click on the attachment and save as a text file in My Documents, say, then open it with your preferred word processor, or Windows WordPad, choose Print from the File menu and this will open a printer dialogue box with a Print Range option, that lets you specify which pages to print.