FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  282 (27/09/01)

Q

I seem to have lost two commands on my recently installed Win 98 software! The first of these is the "Copy Disk" command, which should be available in both My Computer and Windows Explorer - the command is totally missing from the drop down File menu in My Computer. The second command is the "Add New Font" from the drop down File menu in the Fonts window available in Control Panel.

George Lindsay

A

You haven't by any chance been doing some spring-cleaning? Both problems are usually associated with missing or corrupted .DLL (dynamic link library) files in the Windows System folder. Loosing one might be considered unfortunate but loosing two together is very unusual... Anyway, it's not a huge problem but the files have to be extracted from the Windows installation disc and installed in DOS for it to work properly, the following two articles from the Microsoft Knowledgebase should help you to restore them:

http://support.microsoft.com/ support/kb/articles/Q154/9/25.asp

http://support.microsoft.com/ support/kb/articles/q133/7/25.asp

Q

Please can you tell me how I can delete the history trail of web address (URL's), that is created when you go to File > Open on Windows Media Player. I can't seem to delete them or find the file that they may relate to. I have no need to 'revisit' a site once I have watched a movie. I have deleted temporary Internet Files, but they still stay there. 

Paul Roberts,

A

The list of recently visited web sites and opened files is held in the Registry and there are two ways of getting rid of them. The first involves editing the Registry and as regular readers will know this is a hugely important file upon which your PC's well being depends. It is not something we recommend novices try, and no one should do it without making a backup copy, in case something goes wrong! For those that know the routine the location of the relevant files is:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\

MediaPlayer\Player\RecentFileList.

The keys containing the lists (RecentFileList and RecentURLList) can both be deleted by right-clicking on them and choosing Delete, however, be warned, Windows Media Player will recreate them the next time it is used.

The smarter and safer alternative is to download the Windows Media Player Bonus Pack, which contains a PowerToys utility called Most Recently Used Cleaner, which as the name implies deletes this information at the click of a mouse button. It's all free and can be downloaded from the following location on the Microsoft web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/

windowsmedia/en/download/bonuspack.asp

Q

Further to Fiona Buckley's query (F!F!F! 13 September 2001), is the "Send To" command in Word 97 also an unsung hero? Is it possible to use it to make a quick copy of a document on a floppy disc without having to change the File, Save As, settings and then changing them back again afterwards?
Robert Few

A

Not as far as I am aware but we have in the past published a simple macro that will do precisely what you want, namely backup the file you are working on to a floppy disc, with a simple keyboard shortcut. Two versions of the macro, for Word 97 and Word 2000, along with all necessary instructions, appeared in Boot Camp 139.

Q

As an experiment, I'm trying to convert colour prints to 35m slides. If scanned in at 35%, printed on transparency paper, cut to size and mounted in old cardboard frame, the result is terrible. But the principle works. Any ideas for improvement?

Norma Rowlerson

A

Whilst you can reduce the size of the image you can't reduce the size of the dots or pixels made by the printer, so when the image is projected they will be greatly magnified. Most high street film processors and specialist camera shops can provide a print to slide transfer service; basically the print is photographed in a special camera, using slide film, nothing more complicated than that, though various professional electronic systems that scan the image and create a slide using lasers are also available, at a cost! If anyone has any alternative suggestions involving ordinary PCs scanners and printers I would be interested to hear them. 

Q

In spite of my best efforts, OE (Draft Messages) insists on forcing this puny font (Ariel 10) upon me when I wish to be forthright and true with Times New Roman 14, properly justified, which I have to laboriously re-impose on each letter draft that I write. If I employ the Return and then "Tab" key to begin a new paragraph properly, we're straight back in Ariel 10 again - no gongs, no whistles just straight back to what Uncle Billy ordains is best for me. Help! For one thing, Times New Roman is a long way down the menu slider thingy; for another, I expect to be able to carry on in TNR when I next write a letter.

C. R. Cheeseman

A

To change the default font in Outlook Express go to Options on the Tools menu, go first to the Send tab and make sure HTML has been selected under 'Mail Sending Format', then go to the Compose tab, change the typeface and size and click Apply.

Q

I am just starting a business and discovered that my chosen business name is registered as a  .com by one of those people who buy Domains and sit on them to wait for a buyer. I emailed the person who registered the domain name and now he wants to know how much I will offer for it. I haven't a clue.  Can you suggest an approximate figure or is the answer just to use an alternative suffix?  After all there are plenty to choose from now. I am going to be dealing with people abroad so would have preferred .com.

Lynne Haywood

A

A .com domain name is worth whatever you are prepared to pay for it, and the person selling it, is willing to accept. However, I think the value of a .com address is vastly overstated. In the early days it might have given an impression of size and importance but I don't think having a .co.uk or any one of the many other domain types will do your business any harm, in fact a UK registration can even add a touch of respectability (The Daily Telegraph and BBC seem to get by with them…) and at least your customers will know where you are based.

Q

Can you please help me to install new True Type fonts into Word 97? I have copied the new fonts into the "Font" folder in my "Windows" directory but they are not showing as being available in the Word drop down font selection bar.

George Lindsay

A

Copying the font file into the Font folder won't work, you have to tell Windows that it's there and that will allow other programs, like Word to access them. To install a font go to Fonts in Control Panel, click Install New Font on the File menu and follow the instructions.