FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  264 (24/05/01)

Q

If I click to display the files in the Recycle Bin, the resulting box may be empty. However, if I open hard disk root directory, right click Recycle and select properties, the display shows over 23 Mb of files in the bin. Clicking "Empty Recycle Bin" does nothing. Files can be seen if I look at recycle in DOS, but peculiar files names are shown. What causes these hidden files to remain in these particular folders? How can one empty the recycle bin quickly if no files are shown in it?
Brian Dance

A

You are going to have to dump the bin, as it were. The chances are Recycle Bin or one of its associated system files has become damaged, or corrupted. The quickest and simplest solution is to delete everything and let Windows make you a new bin. Since you know your way around DOS this shouldn't be a problem, but be warned, this is not something novices should try! Restart your PC in DOS mode then at the command prompt type 'deltree c:\recycled' (without the quotes) and Y when asked to confirm (double check, this is a very powerful command!). When you restart your PC Windows will rebuild the folders and you will have a shiny new, and completely empty bin. If problems persist have a look at the following web site, which has links to a number of Recycle Bin resources: http://www.aumha.org/kbrecyclz.htm

Q

I have just read your advice to a reader who is planning to travel in France. I regularly spend time in France, and disagree with your advice quite strongly. Firstly, using cyber cafes may seem a good idea, until you are confronted with a French Keyboard. It takes hours to type messages if there is no QWERTY keyboard. Secondly, to use your English service provider's English phone number for connection will cost a fortune. I use Claranet, who are a free service provider, with a French connection number. You can buy a French SIM card very easily, but you need the right one for your handset. Some phones are not data enabled (e.g. Nokia 3210), so it's important to buy the right handset.

Alison Wood

A

I take your point about French keyboards, however I think you underestimate the usefulness of cyber cafes, especially if you are travelling light. Once logged on to the Internet you can either configure the PC's email client with your own username and password or better still, use a webmail service like www.web2mail.com, which will let you read the contents of any POP3 mailbox, or set up a free web email account, like Hotmail (www.hotmail.com) and use that to send and receive messages. Buying a French SIM card is a good idea but there is the compatibility issue, which could be a problem if you find your phone isn't suitable when you get there. Incidentally, after France Telecom introduced Mobicarte in 1997 the French Secret Service objected that they were technically unregistered phone numbers and could be used by criminals so they can only be bought with a suitable ID card and the user has to register their name and address, which might be a struggle for non-fluent French speakers.

Q

I am in serious trouble with my 10-year old daughter! She has just bought a "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" game and when we tried to load it told us that we didn't have enough RAM. The game needs 32Mb of RAM, my machine says it has 32Mb, but when I checked in System Properties > Performance, it tells me I only have 31Mb RAM. I have used the "Windows Help Memory Trouble-shooter but none of the advice gets me my missing 1Mb back! Can you please help a desperate father?

David Cooksey

A

Lots of things can cause memory to go AWOL, including faulty RAM modules, BIOS settings, errant programs and device drivers and Windows mis-reporting, however, since we're only talking about 1Mb and your machine is presumably behaving itself I don't think it is very serious or worth pursuing. The real problem is that your PC doesn't have enough memory. The 'minimum system requirements' quoted for programs like your daughter's Sabrina game should be taken with a pinch of salt, yes it will probably run on a PC with32Mb, but you can bet your boots it will be painfully slow. With more memory Windows and your major applications will run a lot smoother and you should aim to at least double your PC's RAM memory or better still go the whole hog and increase it to 128Mb. With prices so low at the moment – a standard 128Mb 168-pin DIMM modules from www.eclipse-computers.com cost £27 inc. VAT! -- there's no better time to upgrade.

Q

I have successfully transferred some music audio tapes onto CD using Music Match.  This program uses the MP3 format.  The only difficulty is that I cannot play the discs on my CD Walkman. Is there a program that will make it possible for me to listen to my favourites in this way?
Harry Turner

A.

Yes, and you may already have the necessary software if your CD-Recorder came with Adaptec's Easy CD Creator. Some bundled versions include a utility called Spin Doctor that converts Wav files to CD-A tracks. (The finished recording should sound better if you use Music Match to create WAV files rather than MP3 tracks)  Otherwise there are plenty of shareware titles available. MP3Bee (http://www.sahertian.com/software/mp3bee.htm) is worth shortlisting as it can also convert WAV files to MP3, others worth trying are: MP3 CD Maker (http://www.zy2000.com/) and MP3 Burner (http://www.net-burner.com/Products/MP3-Burner.cfm)

Q

The toolbars normally present when using Word 2000 no longer appear when a blank document page is brought up nor are there the usual File, Edit options. What have I done to remove the toolbars and how can I get them back?
Ian Miller

A

Quite a few things can cause the Word menu and toolbars to vanish, the commonest one is inadvertently selecting Full Screen Mode, though usually there's a small dialogue box on screen that allows you to toggle back to the normal screen view. If not try the keyboard shortcut Alt + V then press U. If that doesn't work have a look at the Microsoft Knowledgebase article at: http://support.microsoft.com/support/ kb/articles/q242/3/68.asp

This includes a number of other possible solutions, including the one that I find solves most Word problems. This involves renaming the Normal.dot document template file (usually in C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates). In addition to basic document formatting instructions it also contains customisation features, macros and display preferences. Renaming the file by calling it something like Normal.Old, forces Word back into its default condition.