FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  286 (25/10/01)

Q

I have recently started editing video on my computer, but despite installing a 45Gb main drive find that I cannot load more than 4Gb at any one time. Why is this and is there any solution which will allow me to work with files larger than 4Gb?

Brian Rutter

A

The 4Gb limit is imposed by all versions of Windows 9x using the FAT 32 filing system and basically you have to live with it. In practical terms it needn't be too much of a problem it just means that you can't easily create continuous sequences longer than around 19 minutes (when editing uncompressed DV material). The simplest solution is to upgrade to Windows NT, 2000 or XP, which supports the NT filing system (NTFS) that allows file sizes up to the capacity of the hard disc.

Q

I am in contact with a French lady who is working in Poland at present. She e-mails me with little problems from time to time. The following is her latest but I am at a loss to answer this. She writes: I fooled around with Word, clicking on every single command. The end result is that when I type, a dot comes in between every word'. Where in the world do they come from?

Phil Cahill

A

They're called non-printing characters and represent spaces, carriage returns etc., they can be shown or hidden by clicking on the backwards 'P' symbol between the Document Map icon and 'Zoom' (percentage) items on the Word toolbar.

Q

I need a non-visual cue, i.e. a sound, to play when connecting and disconnecting from the Internet. I have a blind client who uses only the keyboard, in conjunction with a program called Supernova, to navigate his way around his PC.  He can hear the modem dialling, of course, but he cannot be sure that he has connected until he tries moving around!  Disconnecting is more difficult still. The only check I can advise him to make is to pick up his phone to check for the dialling tone.

I have checked the 'Sounds' folder on the Control Panel but Internet Explorer and Outlook Express are not included as options. I have used various 'Call monitoring' programs but again there is no audible cue given when connecting and disconnecting. I know it is possible to get the line to hang up after a certain period of inactivity, but I am still worried about gigantic phone bills!

Peter W Allison, SCAMP, (Swindon Communication Project)
)

A

I am sure F!F!F! readers will have some alternative suggestions but I have a quick fix for sound notification when disconnecting from the net using the 'Hang Up' utility that we mentioned a while back.

(Available from: http://www.physik.tu-muenchen.

de/~mbuschbe/tools/hangup/).

Once is installed it shows up on the list in Sounds in Control Panel and it can then be assigned a sound of your choosing. 

Q

I am left-handed and my wife is right handed and we both use the same PC.Is there a one-click program that can swap the mouse from left handed to right handed and vice versa. I know I can put the mouse control on the desktop but I would prefer something quicker.

Brian Shepherd

A

You're in luck, I managed to track down a simple shareware utility called SwapMouseButtons (100-day trial, $3.00 registration), which swaps right and left-hand configuration by tapping the F12 key. You can find out all about it at: http://mtejada.home.mindspring.com/ swapmousebuttons/SwapMouseButtons.html

Q

Can you tell me how to delete the contents of the address box in Internet Explorer? It has collected various keywords that have not resulted in the location of a web site, along with various web sites that I no longer want.
Arthur Pulford

A

If you're referring to the drop-down list of previously visited web site addresses, then you can zap the lot by going to Start > Settings > Taskbar & Start Menu. Select the Start Menu tab and under Documents Menu click the Clear button. Note that this will also clear a range of other History files and things like items on the Run menu but it's unlikely to cause you any problems and all of your bookmarks etc. are quite safe.

Q

I want to construct a Table in MS Word where I can enter a formula in one of the cells in the same way that one can do this in Excel. The various instruction books I have consulted tell me that this should be quite straightforward, yet following the guidance given in them, I find that when I enter a formula in a cell, all I get is the reproduction of the formula itself in the relevant cell, not the result of its application. Can you help?

Gordon Jones

A

It does work, but you don't enter the formula directly into the cell. Place the cursor in the relevant cell then go to the Table menu and select Formula. A dialogue box appears, enter your formula into the top field (most standard Excel formulas work), click OK and it's done.

Q

Is it possible to change the colour or the appearance of folders in Windows? I feel a multicolour coding would be much more informative than the monotonous yellow colour.

Paul Vlvek, Cheltenham

A

There's various ways of doing this, and other suggestions are very welcome, but I have found that the simplest way is to use a shareware program called Microangelo. This lets you change individual icons in Windows Explorer as well as the Start menu and desktop and it comes with a set of tools that lets you design your own icons from scratch or modify ready made ones. You can find 30-day trial copies of the program on computer magazine CD-ROM cover discs (it’s a regular on PC Pro) or it can be downloaded from: http://www.impactsoft.com/. I can also recommend a brilliantly simple little freeware utility called, appropriately enough, ChangeIcon (http://home.nordnet.fr/~pmdevigne/), which lets you change any icon in Explorer to one from Windows own icon library, or any that you've created or downloaded from the web.

Q

On starting my PC a small oblong appears which contains the words 'Out Of Range' with some coloured bars and figures, which could be settings. What is wrong and how can it be put right

John Graham

A

You can relax; your monitor generates that message as it comes out of standby mode. During the boot up routine the configuration of the video signal coming from the PC changes and this confuses some monitors but it quickly settles down once Windows starts loading.

Q

On the version of Windows 98 loaded on to my wife's laptop is a program called My Briefcase. This does not appear on my PC, which also has Windows 98. Why are the two versions different, and where can I obtain My Briefcase to put on to my PC?

P Wychwood

A

My Briefcase is not always loaded by default when Windows is installed; it's simple enough to add it however. Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel >  Add/Remove Programs, select the Windows Setup tab then double-click Accessories, check the My Briefcase box and click OK