FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  274 (02/08/01)

Q

I am having great difficulty in producing a table in Word without the gridlines showing. When Table is clicked, the 'Show gridlines/Hide gridlines' box in the drop-down menu appears to be switched off, the small icon is a light grey colour.

Philip Wood

A

It's easy to get into a tangle with this one. The 'Gridlines' referred to on the Table menu are light grey, non-printing lines around each cell in a table that help with alignment and layout. You can't see them however because by default Word superimposes a 1/2 pt black border and grid lines on the table…You can make the border and lines disappear, or change the attributes (line thickness, colour etc.) by highlighting the table (it's important that the highlight doesn't stray above or below the table border) and click on Borders and Shading on the Format menu and click 'None' to make it go away or choose White for the line colour.

Q

It is most frustrating. You come across a new file type, in this case someone has e-mailed me a "wps" file, and I do not know which program will open it. Where do I find information on file types generally and what will open them. The Windows Help (95 version) facility is worse than useless.

Bob Sare

A

To be fair to Windows Help it would be impossible for it to list every single file type and extension, there are thousands of them, with new ones being created all the time. When you see the 'Open File With' dialogue box Windows is simply telling you that it doesn't recognise the file and the program it is associated with is not loaded on your PC. Files with the extension *.wps are Microsoft Works text documents. To find out about the file types that are recognised by your PC open Windows Explorer, click Folder Options on the View menu and select the File Types tab and you'll see a list of all the programs, along with their associated file extensions. If you come across a file that your PC does not recognise there are several sites on the Internet that can help identify them, try:

http://extsearch.com/

Q

Since my PC had its final and total nervous and mental breakdown and had to be replaced, I have lost the ability to scroll through documents at speeds of my own choosing by manipulating the mouse backwards and forwards on the mat.  I now have Windows ME but word processing is still via Word 97.  Can you tell me where to find the control whatsit to regain this tremendously useful facility - or was I dreaming?

W.L.Wright, Wistaston, Crewe

A

It was real and it's one of those hidden facilities that never seem to be mentioned in Help or the manuals. Select Customise on the Tools menu then the Commands tab and scroll down the list to highlight All Commands in the Categories menu. Next scroll down the list in the right hand Commands window, click hold and drag the item Auto Scroll onto a toolbar, click Close on Customise to finish off. If you like you can change this into an icon by opening Customise again, right click onto the Auto Scroll button and select an icon from 'Change Button Image' and click Default. Incidentally this also works on Word 2000.

Q

The easiest, fastest and most convenient way to shut down Windows is by the use of 3 key strokes: Windows key + U + Enter. This has the advantage of not requiring the use of the mouse, since it should be considered good practice to avoid the use of the mouse if realistically possible to reduce the risk of RSI.
Ian Anderton

I couldn't get your Top Tip regarding Shutting Down Windows to work.  However the following works with Windows 98 SE and ME: C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE

shell32,SHExitWindowsEx1 If you use 0 instead of 1 at the end, you can Log Off.  Or 2 instead of 1 at the end you can restart.

George Hill

A

Thanks for those tips and to everyone who wrote in to point out that the Fast Shutdown tip does indeed work with Windows ME.

Q

I wish to position a camera over an entrance door with the live pictures being fed to my PC, which I can see on the screen when there is a caller.Can you suggest how to set this up and recommend any soft/hardware?
Mark Porteous

A

Virtually all web cams, even budget models, come with a monitor utility that lets you display a live image on the screen in a pop-up window. The only problem is that most web cams use a USB connection, which is very easy to configure, but is limited to a maximum cable length of 5-metres. However this can be increased in multiples of 5-metres by the use of 'hubs' or  'active' extension cables, all of which can be obtained from PC accessory dealers and specialists like Starmount Ltd: http://www.starmount.co.uk/u_rep1.htm

Q

Could you please tell me if it is possible to have more than one clock on the desktop of Windows 98, NT & 2000 etc., showing different times? I know I can have numerous clocks showing, but they all show the same time.  Having the time shown in the States and here would be useful, as I often e-mail a friend and it would be useful to know what the time is where he is.

Brian Morgan, Southampton.

A

Have a look at a freeware program called Clox, this displays the time in up to seven different times zones of cities. The file size is 2.5Mb and it can be downloaded from: http://www.mirage1.u-net.com/clox.htm

http://filext.com/

Q

I have been sent some marvellous landscapes, which I would like to use as a screensaver. I have six pictures in all and would like them to change every few seconds. I seem to recall that you had details of how to make a screen saver but I can't find the article. Please could you print it again?

Derek Cole, derek.cole@ntlworld.com

A

Certainly, and if you have Windows ME that facility is built in, look for 'My Pictures Screen Saver' on the list of installed Screensavers. For other versions of Windows there are plenty of shareware utilities available for download from the Internet, here's a small selection:

http://www.kagi.com/sightscreen/product.html

http://www.slsoft.com/screen/saver.html

http://www.customsavers.com/index_sshot.html

Q

I shall shortly be living permanently on a boat where the only power supply will be 12v DC. I know that the normal solution for a computer would be either an inverter or rotary converter to provide 240volts AC from the battery power, but as I imagine computers actually use a low voltage DC via their internal power units I should like to bypass the internal unit and provide whatever voltages are required via simple regulators from the battery. I suppose I must be missing something - please can you help?

Alan Ashton

A

Why not use a laptop with a car power adaptor; it would solve a lot of problems? You can get DC to DC power supplies that fit in place of the standard mains power supply  units (see links below) but you will still need a 220 volt AC supply for the monitor, unless you intend using a LCD panel (some models operate on a 12 volt DC supply, as do some printers). I suspect that the cost of a DC supply module and LCD panel won't be far short of a modest laptop, which will also take up less room, consume less power and hopefully better able to withstand a life on the ocean wave.

www.arisecomputer.com/ps/html/powersply.htm

www.portable-computer.com/ps/

dc-48-volt-ps/dc-48-volt-ps.htm

www.keypower.com/DC_power/DX-250H.htm