FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  303 (05/03/02)

Q

My geriatric hard drive is now insisting on running Scandisk before Windows 95 loads, and is finding bad sectors and suggesting that this is evidence of physical damage. Is this the end of the road for it, or is there something I could do to get some more life from the old drive?

Sally Dore

A

Bad sectors are a warning sign -- one you should heed as quickly as possible --which your disc drive could be about to expire. Disc drives are comparatively cheap, the data they contain is almost certainly a lot more valuable so if you haven’t already done so backup any irreplaceable data and install a new disc drive. It’s a good idea to start afresh with a clean installation of Windows and all of your applications but you can speed things up by ‘slaving’ your old drive to the new one, so you can quickly and easily copy across data. 

Q

Some time ago you mentioned that there was a combination of two keys (not Alt +F4), which closed in one go, all open windows, then similar keystrokes returned the closed windows back to the desk top. I remembered using this useful function, at the time but did not copy it down for future use. Would you remind me of the key combination, and this time I will remember!
Robin Newby

A

I suspect you’re referring to WinKey + D, (the key with the Windows logo) which toggles the display between the desktop and the currently open application

Q
Can you let me know if there is any way to password-protect a PowerPoint presentation. These are used extensively at work on a network and I would like to prevent unauthorised access whilst at the same time allowing access to the other areas on my server.
Nick Gowrley

A

As you know there are no password facilities in PowerPoint (prior to version 2002), Microsoft say this is to maintain backwards compatibility with previous editions, however there are several simple techniques that can be used to protect your presentations. If you change the file extensions of your presentations from .PPT to .PPS it will prevent inexperienced PowerPoint users from editing the file, though it will still allow it to be seen and double-clicking the file will start a slide show.

Converting your presentations to PDF (using Adobe Acrobat) would give you a higher degree of security, files can be password protected against opening and editing and because PDF uses embedded fonts and preserves formatting the appearance of your presentation needn’t be affected.

Q

I have a Compaq 2212 with a 8.4Mb hard disc and 64Mb RAM but no USB ports.  In fact I only have one serial port available.  The other parallel port is taken up with a printer and scanner in tandem; I run Windows 95. Is there any type of digital camera that I can use with my computer please? 

Michael J.Shaw, Boston Lincs

A

The alarm bells started ringing as soon as I saw the model number of your PC. The Compaq 2212 has a very poor reputation when it comes to upgrading and expansion, besides USB and Windows 95 do not make happy bedfellows. Whilst it may be possible to cobble something together using the parallel port it’s going to be slow and inconvenient, as you’ll have to unplug other devices. It might even be feasible to use the serial port but it would be painfully slow for downloading images. A few older digital cameras had parallel port interfaces but compared with current models these would be quite crude, with low-resolution image sensors.

Q

I want to automatically record the date and time duration of each visit I have made on the internet over a set period, say one month, and to accumulate a running total. At the end of each period I want the ability to reset the total to zero. If this were not possible, a running total would suffice. I use IE5.

David Marwick

A

Have a look at two freeware utilities, both called Internet Logger. They can be downloaded from:

http://www.geocities.com/

SouthBeach/Marina/9374/logger.htm

http://download.cnet.com/

downloads/0-10205-100-879483.html

Q

I lost the address of one of my Internet banks recently because I didn't visit the site for several days and the address dropped off the drop-down list.  The history log didn't help because I've restricted it severely nor did Favourites because I never registered the site. After visiting several other Royal Bank sites I eventually figured out the correct address. Can I avoid similar repetitions by controlling the content of the drop down list?

Richard Ball

A

The addresses on the drop-down list are known as ‘Typed URL’s and they are stored in the Windows Registry, which as we never tire of saying is a no-go area for novices. However, I have uncovered a freeware utility called Edit URLs which lets you manage the list without having to go anywhere near the Registry. It also has a facility to create a Master List that can be restored at any time. The download link can be found at: http://www.aandrc.com/editurls/. Even so, a far simpler solution would be to just add the site to your list of Favourites…

Q

I view my photos on my computer monitor and store them on a CD. My family would like to view them on the TV in the living room via the DVD player.  Is there any way in which I can achieve this?

Neil Page

A

Kodak’s Photo CD is the ideal system for archiving digital photographs on CD and presenting them on a wide range of display systems, from PC screens to living room TVs, unfortunately only a small handful of early DVD players ever supported the format. However, most DVD players can play Video CDs, and there are a number of applications that can create photo albums from JPEG images, converting them into the MPEG-1 format that most DVD players can read. The best known is Roxio’s WinOnCD, more details from: http://www.roxio.de/english/

products/index.html. There’s also a shareware program called FlyVCD, you can download a demo, (limited to 30 second sequences) from: http://www.flyvcd.com/. Be warned that the quality of Video CD is not that wonderful (resolution is only 352 x 288 pixels), which is comparable with VHS.