FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  305 (19/03/02)

Q

My trouble started when I pulled a fuse in the garage and cut off supply to computer that had been left on 'Hibernate'. It stopped working. I was told processor had been damaged and had a new motherboard and processor.  Now my computer is affected by the telephone and will start up automatically on incoming or outgoing calls. My dealer is unable to account for this behaviour.

Tom Percival

A

Assuming that you have made no other changes, such as installing a new modem or driver software, then the most likely explanation is that your new motherboard’s BIOS (basic input output system) Power Management section has a 'wake on ring' function, which has been enabled. You will need to consult your motherboard instruction manual, to find out how to access the BIOS, though on most PCs there is a message at boot up something like 'press DEL to enter setup', but it varies from make to make. If the motherboard has an integral modem there may be a ‘wake up’ command accessible from with Windows, go to Control Panel, select Modems, click your modem’s entry and select Properties.

Q

I have a friend in Florida who occasionally sends me email greetings cards, which appear in my inbox, clearly marked as "Xmas"/"New Years"/"Valentine" etc. As soon as I try to open such messages, or now try to erase them, my machine goes in to instant paralysis. I highlight the item ready for further function and find I can do nothing.  No mouse operates, no selection of edit etc or any action whatever. His messages are frequently multi-addressed and so far no one else has complained from the US/Sweden/Norway or the UK. What is going wrong and what can I do to erase them from my inbox?

Peter Richardson

A

It is difficult to say what has gone wrong, or why, but if Outlook Express is otherwise behaving itself and you are able to send and receive normally then the simplest thing to so is to temporarily move the ‘good’ emails from your inbox to a new folder by dragging and dropping them then close Outlook Express. Open Windows Explorer and navigate your way to: C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Identities\{ -- long number/letter code --}\Microsoft\Outlook Express then delete the contents of your Inbox.dbx folder, which only contains those corrupt emails. You can now move back the contents of your inbox or leave them where they are and start again.

Q

John Wright (Over To You 26/2/02) states that cheap CD-R/RW disks are unlikely to last more than a few years when storing picture images, as the recording layers will delaminate and deteriorate.  Will storage under the right conditions prevent this deterioration, or simply postpone the inevitable? Does the same apply to data and music CD-Rs created on my Easy CD Creator 5?  If G. Thomas is correct (Can You Help 5/3/02) in stating that tape cassettes will no longer be available after 2004,

then what medium is there for long-term recording of data, music and photographs?

Alan R. Mayor, Clitheroe, Lancs

A

The fact is no one really knows how long optical discs will last – 25 years is a commonly quoted figure -- but there is no doubt that their demise can be hastened by incorrect storage. However, the real point is that the life expectancy of the storage media is irrelevant if the hardware needed to extract the data is no longer available, will anyone have a CD-ROM drive on their PCs, or indeed any sort of mechanical drive in ten years? The safest approach therefore is to routinely copy important data to the currently popular mass storage format, every five to ten years say.

I think that tape cassettes will be around for a few years to come, for the simple reason that nothing has yet come close to replacing them. MiniDisc has shown a lot of promise but it still has a very long way to go to achieve anything like the kind of market penetration and CD-R/RW discs are nowhere near as convenient as tapes, when it comes to portable equipment.

Q

I have Outlook Express and use it to send email shots. I prefer to personalise each message rather than sending a standard message with a huge list of addressees to everyone in the group.  At present this involves creating a new message for each addressee, and copying the email address from the address book into the message. This is very time-consuming.

Is there a way of attaching the addresses in the group, one name at a time, to a standard message text?   Even better, how can I also put the First Name automatically into the message greeting?  Finally can I also copy a message title into the message each time?

Richard Taylor

A

There are several ways you could do this, the simplest would be to use the Mail Merge facility in Microsoft Word, using your Outlook Express Address Book ass the Data Source (you will need to Export it first as a comma separated value ‘*.csv’, text file) then you’ll be able to personalise each email with the recipients name. Details of how to use Mail Merge can be found in Boot Camps 94 and 95. There is also a useful article on the subject at: http://www.ibiztips.com/email25JUN01.htm

Another idea worth pursuing is to use a dedicated email client program or add-on utility for creating email mailshots, have a look at the software on the following web sites:

http://www.isbister.com/express-plus-email.asp

http://www.dwgsoftware.com/help/

emailmerger.html

Q

On a number of occasions without luck, I have tried to find out if CD-R's played back on an ordinary Hi-Fi CD player can damage the player? I would also like to know if CD-RW discs are compatible with audio CD decks

Jimmy Bond

A

You’re probably thinking about the warning on some CD-ROM discs to the effect that damage may occur, if the discs are used in an audio CD player. That’s because computer data can produce a very high sound output that could damage the speakers if the volume was set to a high level. CD-R discs containing only audio CD tracks pose no threat to a CD player; the deck simply treats them as a normal audio CD. Because of the way recordable CD-R and RW discs work they have slightly different optical characteristics to pre-recorded CDs and some older CD decks may not be able to play one or both types but generally speaking, most decks made in the past five years should be able to play them.