FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  277 (23/08/01)

Q

In F!F!F! August 9th you showed how to change the position of the address on an envelope but I don't seem to be able to make that position become the default. The next time I want to print an envelope it has gone back to Auto. Can you advise further?
Mike Harrison

A

Good point, several other readers wrote asking how to do this. You can't actually change the default but there is a workaround that lets you create a template, which you can customise and use for all of your addressing jobs. It's another one of those useful facilities that Microsoft seems to have forgotten to mention in Word Help… Step one, open a blank document and give it a name, next click on Envelopes and Labels and enter the address then use Options to set the style and layout. When you have finished click Add to Document and then Save. This document is your template, next time just open it and click Envelopes and Labels and make any changes as necessary.

Q

In the days of the BBC-B computer, there was a program on 5.25 floppy disk that generated television test signals. It included a test card, colour bars, and grey scale, crosshatch pattern, black and white level signals and single saturated colours.  It wasn't the best of signal generators, but nonetheless, it proved to be a useful timesaving tool for testing and adjusting televisions. Do you know of a similar program available for the PC?

Bernard Rudd

A

I do and I have a couple of excellent utilities on my laptop that I regularly use for testing PC monitors and video equipment. The first is called PCATV and it generates 40 customisable test patterns and test cards from around the world. This program is 30-day trial shareware and worth every penny of the £5 registration fee. It can be obtained from: http://www.arcadeshop.demon.co.uk/atv/

The other one is a little freeware program called Testbeeld, which produces a standard video test pattern, colour bars and greyscale, it can be downloaded from:http://home-1.tiscali.nl/~peterdb/testcard/

Incidentally, it's worth pointing out that in order to display these patterns on a TV your PC will need to be fitted with a graphics card with a video output. These are widely available from PC accessory dealers and cost from around £35

Q

I suffer from arthritic hands and have difficulty operating the mouse, so I prefer to use the keyboard whenever I can instead of the mouse. This difficulty is especially acute when I am trying to place the cursor on the 'dial-up' icon in the Systray in order to disconnect my Internet connection (right-click, then left-click on 'Disconnect' pop-up).

Do you know a keyboard shortcut, which will perform the function of disconnecting my PC from the telephone line at the end of the call? I operate Windows 98 SE.

Fred Brooks, Redgrave, Suffolk

A

I've found a simple little freeware utility called Hangup that does the job brilliantly well. It's set by default to use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + H but you can easily change that, or set it to automatically disconnect when you exit your browser. The download file is only 207kb and can be found at:

http://www.physik.tu-muenchen.de/

~mbuschbe/tools/hangup/

Q

My company is starting to trade in Euros but I cannot get the Euro symbol on any of the software that I run. I am using Windows 95. I have the symbol on my keyboard on the four key on the top line of my keyboard, I have tried pressing Alt Gr + 4 but this does not bring the symbol up. I cannot find the symbol in Word using the insert symbol command.

Deiniol Elliott-Wright

A

The Euro symbol was included in the Windows 'core' fonts from Windows 98 onwards. In order to display it in Windows 95 you will have to download an upgrade from the Microsoft web site at: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ euro.asp#win95

Q

If you can't help please ask them to come and take me away! Whenever I try to name or rename files my computer has a mind of it's own. I prefer using capital letters folders but it decides which register to use. This is most frustrating. I am using Windows 98, any suggestions?

Richard M. Berry, London.

A

Try this. Open Windows Explorer and go to Folder Options on the View menu, select the View tab and check the item 'Allow all uppercase names', and you should be back in control once again!

Q

My P75 computer is 5-years old.  I had it upgraded a couple of years ago and it now has 40Mb RAM, 6.4Gb HD and I run Windows 95.  I am perfectly happy with it except I want to buy a scanner and maybe DVD in the future. A local shop has quoted me the following to upgrade:

Midi/Desktop Case ATX 235w £36
TNT2 32Mb AGP graphics card £49
128Mb PC133 SDRAM £25
Jetway Motherboard 695AS ATX Celeron & PIII with sound £69 Intel Celeron 733A Processor £69 (fan not included) Labour including transferring old programs £45
Total: £293 The Salesman assures me that this will run a scanner, DVD, etc should I want to add them at a later date, and it certainly sounds a good deal cheaper
than investing in a completely new system.  What do you think?
Jennifer Thompson

A

It sounds to me like the 25-year old broom, that's only had half a dozen new heads and ten new handles… This is some upgrade, as far as I can see the only part remaining from your original system will be the hard disc drive! In fact that's not a bad price for what basically amounts to a new PC system unit and having it set up for you, but watch out for any extras, and why on earth isn't a processor cooling fan included, they only cost a few pounds?

Q

I produce a newsletter using Windows 98/Word 97 and can successfully incorporate photos and sketches via my scanner. However, the system will only allow me to insert text above or below the images, not alongside.   How can I correct this?

H. F. Smith

A

Word has a facility called Text Wrapping, which can be found on the Picture toolbar, which you can display by right-clicking in an empty area on the toolbar. Place your image on the page, make sure the sizing handles on the corners are highlighted then click on the Text Wrap icon on the Picture toolbar (a page with a yellow diamond shape in the middle) and choose the type of text wrap (square, tight etc.)  that best suits the design of your document.

Q

My microphone has gone dead. I purchased a new one, but this did not work either. As the sound still works fine, I think that the sound card is OK, but somehow whilst "fiddling" I have inadvertently switched the microphone off. If this is feasible, what can I do to switch it back on?

Derek Horner

A

If you've been tinkering then it is likely that you have set the microphone input level to zero or muted the input. To find out double click on the loudspeaker icon in the System Tray (next to the clock) if that's not shown click on Multimedia in Control Panel and check the item 'Shown Volume Control on the Taskbar'. Double-clicking the volume icon brings up a bank of level sliders, one of which should be for the microphone, uncheck the Mute box or set the level as appropriate. If by chance the microphone level control isn't shown click on Options then Properties and check the Microphone box in the 'Show the following…' window.