FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  323 (23/07/02)

Q

Do you know of a program, which could tell me -- whenever I need to know -- the current time in any country of the World?

Peter Vick

A

Yes, it’s called Windows… Simply double-click on the clock display in the System Tray and select the Time Zone drop-down menu for an extensive list of cities around the world and the time difference from GMT.

Q

A colleague has built a state of the art PC for me. It is bedding in well, but there is a major snag regarding my scanner. The new motherboard is an Elite K7S5A, with white expansion slots. The old one used black slots, and my scanner driver board will not transfer. Unfortunately it appears that Hewlett Packard no longer support my particular model (HP Scanjet 4C) and it looks as if it will have to be binned and a new scanner purchased. This grieves me - it does all that I require of a scanner and has given no trouble over years of hard use. Is the situation really this bad?

Don Minterne

A

The white connectors are PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slots, which have largely replaced the slow and clunky ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) expansion slots, which your scanner’s adaptor card uses. The ISA standard is a throwback to the earliest days of the PC and is now virtually obsolete, though one or two motherboards still have an ISA slot. Clearly changing the motherboard on your PC would be unrealistic the only economic solution is to buy a new scanner. If it’s any consolation a modern scanner will have superior performance and facilities, and a great deal easier to install with a simple USB plug and play connection moreover it’ll cost a fraction of what you paid for your HP model. That’s progress…

Q

My son is on extended holiday in the USA and I would like to send him some music via the Internet. Unfortunately I don't know how to do this I have tried compressing the wave file and sending it via e-mail but even compressed the file is still over 3Mb.

Malcolm Shermal

A

The best file format for sending music over the Internet is MP3 (Motion Picture Experts Group layer 3, to its friends…), which allows for very high levels of compression, however if you want to retain any semblance of quality then you should expect file sizes to be between 500kB and 1Mb for every minute of music. There are plenty of MP3 encoders or ‘rippers’ on the market but a good place to start is the freeware version of MusicMatch, which can be downloaded from: http://www.musicmatch.com

Q

I purchased computer in Australia - I moved to UK a year ago and altered my modem settings so they worked OK here in England  - however, just recently I had to replace my hard drive - now the modem settings have reverted to Australian and I cannot remember how I changed them to work in UK - can you help please?

Carol Miller

A

Your modem has no idea what country it is in; all that’s happened is that you’ve lost your modem driver and Internet dial-up settings, which were stored on your old hard disc drive. You will need to reinstall the driver from the disc that was supplied with the PC – see manual or Readme file on the disc for details – and then run the Internet connection Wizard (Start > Programs > Accessories > Internet Tools). This will ask you for various details, including your Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) phone number, your email address and your ISP’s POP3 and SMTP mailbox addresses, all of which should have been provided by your ISP, or can usually be found in the FAQ section of their website.

Q

I have a Tiny ME edition setup, which is fine, however it came with a Works spreadsheet. I have been unable to transfer any work from Microsoft Excel because Works won't open it, and vice versa, or will it. Any clues?

Francis Jolley

A

The easiest solution is to use the two program’s file import and export facilities, which you’ll find when you use Save and Open in the respective programs, simply go to the File of Type drop-down menu and make the appropriate selection. For example, when saving a Works spreadsheet, save it as an Excel file, and so on. Alternatively you can use a file conversion utility like Works Konverter; you can download a freeware trial version from:

http://www.rl-software.com/

indexjs.htm?/converter/wkscnvxls_e.htm

Q

I get several junk emails daily, which I just delete. How can I stop getting them? My email is at work, and I only give the address to friends, so most emails received are work-related.
J Wellman

A

If the junk mail or ‘spam’ is coming from the same sources you can create a ‘rule’ to automatically erase them before they’re downloaded. To do that open one of the offending emails, go to the Message menu and select Create Rule From Message then in the Select Actions pane check the item  ‘Delete From Server’. European legislation is in the pipeline to control this nuisance but at the moment there’s little you can do to counter one-offs or junk mailers that continually their name or source address. Replying to junk mail can often be counter productive as it’s usually sent out automatically or randomly, if you contact the sender they will then have your details and you could end up being be deluged… Complaining to your ISP if the emails are particularly offensive might help, you could also try contacting the junk mailer’s service provider or domain host but only if they’re located in the UK, don’t expect too much sympathy or even a response if they are based overseas. 

Q

I am involved in a local group interested in computing. Our Chairman sends us an updated membership list a couple of times a year as an attachment to an email. Is there a way in which he can send us this information in a form, which can be used to automatically update our Outlook Express Address Books? This would be a big time saver over the method we currently use which involves manual input by us to make any changes.

Bob Pawsey, Winterbourne Monkton, Wilts

A

Yes there is, all the Chairman has to do is go to the File menu in Outlook Express and select Export > Address Book > Text File (comma separated value) then name and save the file. The resulting ‘csv’ file can then be sent as an email attachment and saved to a location on the recipient’s hard disc by right clicking on it. The updated address book is entered into Outlook Express by reversing the process, i.e. select Import on the file menu, then Address Book, browse to the ‘csv’ file and follow the prompts.