FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  265 (31/05/01)

Q

Re: your tip to magnetise a screwdriver (Boot Camp Dotcom May 17th). Is this strictly kosher? All the advice I have ever read, heard and absorbed has emphasised that magnets should be kept well away from computers.
Brian Powell, Colchester

A

It's true that you shouldn't leave floppy discs close to strong magnets but hard disc drives are well shielded, they have to be, the interior of the average desktop PC is awash with magnetic fields of varying strength, from surprisingly powerful permanent magnets in disc drive motors, cooling fans and the internal loudspeaker to weaker fields surrounding every single cable

Q

Could you tell me if it is possible to convert a Bitmap image back to JPEG format?  How? I have managed to convert a JPEG to Bitmap but the reverse seems impossible.

Harry Elmee

A

Nothing is impossible, well, almost nothing. It sounds as though you have been using Windows Paint, which is a handy little program but with limited file handling facilities. You need a fully-fledged graphics/paint program; most of them will let you convert between file formats using the Save As command. You could do worse than try ACDsee, featured in last week's Boot Camp special on shareware utilities.  (http://www.acdsystems.com/

index.htm). Otherwise have a look at programs like PaintShop Pro, PhotoSuite etc.

Q

Re. Juanita Bullough's letter (F!F!F! May 17th), about her keyboard's disappearing letters. Give your keys two or three coats of good nail-varnish. I used Rimmel Super-Strong. My old Amstrad PCW8512 keyboard of 1986 is still OK after 15 years.
Ralph Hill

Berol labelling pens (available from stationers for about 30p) write on virtually anything and are perfect for giving a worn keyboard a new lease of
life.

David and Janet Tighe,

A.

Some handy money saving tips, thanks, and here's a couple more.

Q

If readers are daunted by the high cost of proprietary printer replacement ink cartridges (F!F!F! May 17th), can I suggest they investigate sources of compatible products for their printers for great savings. I was delighted with the products and service from one such supplier last year, (Choice Stationery Supplies Ltd., www.choicestationery.com) and had no hesitation in placing a repeat order their way when I next needed replacements.

John Hughes, Chorleywood, Herts.

Q.

HDD backup is essential and CD-RW is a convenient way of achieving this. However my burner insists on setting all folder attributes including data, to read only. Is there a way to change attributes globally, having transferred
the data back to the HDD, rather than file by file?
Ronald Allan

A

You can change the attributes of all of the files in a folder in one go from Windows Explorer. Simply highlight one file, go to the Edit menu and click Select All, place the cursor in the highlighted block, right click, select Properties then deselect 'Read Only' and click Apply and OK.

Q

Following your item on writing teaching targets (F!F!F May 17th), another way of doing it might be with Teachers Report Assistant.  It automates pasting of stock phrases from a set of test files. The program is free from www.rayslearning.com/report.htm
Roger Osborn

There is a brilliant shareware program called ShortKeys (which I have been using very successfully for some years) which automatically replaces letters or numbers with a sentence, paragraph or several paragraphs - allowing you to save time by not having to key in the sentence or paragraphs each time.It runs in the background, with an icon in the system tray, watching every keystroke.

To save it operating inadvertently you can specify a prefix character (I use '#') - so when, for example, I type '#e', it automatically replaces these 2 characters with my email address. In essence, it is similar to Word's AutoCorrect facility, but has several advantages including its ability to work with any application. Over the years, ShortKeys must have saved me hours! You could set up ShortKeys on each of your teachers' PCs, so that by keying, say, # followed by a number, it would automatically insert the appropriate target.

A 30-day trial version of ShortKeys can be downloaded from www.shortkeys.com although if the maximum number of targets you will use is under 35 then you might prefer to use the freeware version ShortKeys Lite (which has a maximum capacity of 35 different 'keys').

Vivian Dunn

A

More good ideas, thank you

Q

I use my computer for work and, occasionally, to play games. Unfortunately, the start up programs essential for work (virus scan, etc.) slow down games (especially, on Flight Simulator) to the point where they do not work.  Without disabling program at Start Up (I cannot risk forgetting to turn them back on for the next boot up!) is there a way round this - for example, by programming the computer to recognise two 'users' with different Start Up programs loaded for each - for example, 'Work', 'Games'?
Colin Mackenzie

A

The simplest way to stop the programs in the Start Up folder from loading is to hold down the Ctrl key, as soon as the first Windows 'splash screen' appears. It's important to keep the key pressed until the hourglass icon has gone, indicating that Windows has finished loading. Incidentally, this trick only works on Windows 98, to do the same thing in Windows 95 hold down the Shift key.

Q

Every time a switch on my PC Microsoft Outlook opens automatically. How can I stop this from happening as it is being to annoy me?

Amandip

A

At some point Outlook must have been added to the Start Up folder. To remove it go to Start > Programs > Start Up. Right Click on the Outlook icon and select Delete. Note that this won't affect the program; it only removes the 'shortcut' or instruction telling Windows to load it automatically.

Q

I recently wanted to check when I originated a document and went to the properties of Windows Explorer. In the statistics tab it said 13 Jan 0937 and then under the General tab 13 Jan 0837. Obviously it was a simple matter of one clock not changing to winter Time, but how do I adjust this? I thought there was one central clock.
David Sievwright

A.

It has nothing to do with winter time settings, that much I'm certain. On a PC there is only one clock, but two methods of timekeeping. PC time is set by the 'hardware' or 'real time clock' on the motherboard, basically a clock chip that's constantly powered by a backup battery. The time shown in Windows is taken from this clock when Windows boots up, but it runs independently of the hardware clock and the two clocks can drift throughout the day, up to an hour in extreme cases. However, I can't explain the one hour discrepancy and I welcome suggestions from knowledgeable F!F!F! readers.