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FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 262 (10/05/01)
Q
I
am retired and use a computer to support my leisure interests. I have a
Gateway 2000 P5-90 with Windows 98, which I find adequate for most
needs. I
would like to be able to scan transparencies but it appears that models
such as
the Agfa e-50 are USB compatible only. Is my only option to change my
computer
- I expect to have to upgrade my HP 500c printer anyway. If so, can you
advise
the minimum specification I would need to support my family history
research
and suggest suitable packages? Would you advise against buying used
equipment?
Barbara Freake
A.
There are scanners that plug into a parallel printer
port and you can also get USB adaptor cards but I fear your present PC is a tad
underpowered for scanning, moreover it's likely to have a fairly small hard
disc drive (by current standards) which will quickly fill up with large image
files. In other words it's time to change, but you don't need anything
especially exotic for the sort of applications you'll be using. A basic or 'entry level' model with a 650MHz processor,
64Mb RAM and 10Gb hard disc drive will be more than adequate. If you shop
around you can find plenty of PCs with that kind of specification selling for
less than £500. Buying second-hand is a bad idea unless you are an expert, I
know the support offered by some companies leaves a lot to be desired, but it's
better than nothing…
Q.
About
5 years ago I was given some software that enabled you to send text messages
direct from your PC to a mobile phone. Obviously using the PC keyboard is
much faster than the phone buttons. Unfortunately I have lost the software
and when I enquired at my local computer suppliers they had never heard of
it, although they could see it was a good idea. Please can you identify the
software and where I might be able to obtain it?
Don
Shore
A.
You don't need specialised software, several web
sites provide free SMS text messaging to UK mobile phones, one of the best can
be found on the Lycos search engine site at: http://www.lycos.co.uk/service/sms/
Q
I have heard that there are hidden games in some
Microsoft programs. Can you tell me on which ones they are, and how I can
access them?
Tom
Miller
A
It's
not just Microsoft; lots of applications have so-called 'Easter Eggs' tucked
away. Most of them are a waste of space, put there by bored programmers, but a
few of them are mildly entertaining. The best place to find out more is the
Easter Egg Archive at: http://www.eeggs.com/,
which currently lists over 4600 of them…
Q
Later this year I hope to be touring France in a
camper van. I want to take a laptop with me. First, are all laptops suitable
for this, and how do I send and receive emails? I have been told to buy a
mobile here and use that, but also to get one in France. What about charging it
up? Any ideas?
James Coulthard
A.
If all you want is to do is stay in touch with the
folks back home via email then you may be better off using a cyber café. There
are more than 150 of them in France; you can get more details at:
http://www.cybercafes.com/
http://www.netcafeguide.com/textindex.htm
A palmtop PC and a GSM mobile phone is the best bet
if you are not going to be doing any heavyweight computing, otherwise consider
a pukka Windows or Mac laptop, though bear in mind the cost and risk factors of
leaving an expensive piece of kit in your vehicle. An account with an ISP with
local dial-up facilities (AOL, CompuServe etc.) will help keep the costs down.
It is unlikely that buying the phone in France will save you any money, and
there's the added complication of connecting an unknown make or model of phone
to a PC; at least if you buy one in the UK you'll be able to make sure
everything works before you leave, and you can continue to use it when you get
home. You'll have to do some homework though; check out the options for
reducing the cost of using your phone abroad offered by Cellnet, Orange and
Virgin. Charging batteries shouldn't be a problem, car adaptors are available
for all PCs, (from pocket size models to full size desktop replacements) and
mobile phones, though handhelds like the Psion series and those using the
Windows CE operating system tend to have much smaller appetites for power.
Q.
I
have been using Internet Explorer 5 with BT internet very successfully, however
I changed to BT Anytime and then downloaded update to MS Explorer 5.5 with the
result that if I am lucky enough to obtain a connection then the resulting
connection to website takes forever, (15 to 20 minutes). How do I uninstall
Explorer 5.5 and revert to V5.0?
Stuart Kirkby
A
The latest update of Internet Explorer seems to have
caused quite a few problems, though such spectacularly long connection times
isn't one of the usual ones. Nevertheless reverting to the earlier version
might well get things back to normal. There's a very helpful article on the
subject of IE 5.5 and its funny little ways at: http://windows.about.com/compute/
windows/library/weekly/aa072100b.htm,
and the site has a link to a feature on how to uninstall the program.
Q.
It would appear that whilst I can buy a replacement
cooling fan for my processor (for about £8), I cannot buy the same component
for my PC's power unit, so I have to buy a new power unit (about £30). I know
we live in a 'throwaway' society, and that these components are probably made
in China, but this sort of thing bugs me. I've stripped the power unit
(very dusty inside, this is something that a normal clean out would miss) and
the fan is easily replaceable, if I could get the right one. I'm
sure somebody has been here before me on this one; surely PC repair techies
don't chuck out a perfectly good power unit for the sake of a fan.
Roger Wood
A.
In fact you can buy replacement power supply cooling
fans and they're not expensive, typically £8 to £15. Changing a fan involves
removing and opening up the mains power supply module, which is not in the same
league as swapping a clip-on CPU cooling fan. Consequently they tend to be sold
mainly by specialist component suppliers, like Maplin Electronics (www.maplin.co.uk), which is probably just
as well…
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