FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  328 (27/08/02)

Q

The flow of those Nigerian 'swindle' letters has increased recently. They get more and more outlandish! Do you know of an address of, say, an appropriate Fraud Squad, to whom I might forward these for action?

Victor Brand

A

It’s known generically as the ‘419 Fraud’ (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code). Various attempts by International law enforcement agencies have been made to crack down on this nuisance but they still keep coming, and unbelievably people are still being caught by the promise of instant riches… If you’re getting a lot of them it’s worth informing your ISP and you should pay a visit to the Metropolitan Police and The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) websites, which have more information about the scam at: http://www.met.police.uk/fraudalert/, and http://www.ncis.co.uk/

Q 

In Windows 98 it was possible to use msconfig to change the Start-up programs just by ticking or unticking a box. I haven't found the equivalent in Windows 2000.

Mel Painter

A

For some reason msconfig was dropped from Windows 2000 but the Windows 98 utility will work – albeit with limited functionality -- in Windows 2000. Simply copy msconfig.exe from c:\windows\system to the c:\winnt\system32 in Windows 2000 folder. Alternatively there are several third-party programs with similar facilities. Try Startup Control Panel at: http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml or AutoRuns from: http://www.sysinternals.com/

ntw2k/source/misc.shtml#autoruns

Q 

I transferred to AOL early this year to reduce telephone costs - highly successful cost saving but some other problems have arisen. I have three email accounts for separate businesses. The first two pre-dated the change to AOL and operate commonly from Outlook Express and send/receive in sequence. Ideally I would like to have AOL set-up on Outlook Express as well. AOL says it can't be done, can you advise?

Peter Huxtable, Hope Valley, Derbyshire

A

AOL uses a proprietary email system, which is not compatible with Outlook Express and the near standard POP3 email system. It can be done, however, it involves a fair amount of messing around, and you will need to download a shareware utility called enetbot, which you will find at: http://www.enetbot.com/.

Q

I have a problem with the download speed of my modem - 4800 bps is all I can get. Some time ago I downloaded an anti virus package (PC Cillin) and this seemed to have the effect of slowing down my machine. In the end I decided to delete the package but I wonder if I have deleted some files, which may be crucial to the operation of the modem, causing it to operate on this much reduced level?

Keith Miles

A

I think it unlikely that PC Cillin was the cause of the slowdown and the speed reporting utility in Windows is notoriously inaccurate so the first thing you should do is run a few tests to establish whether it’s the PC or your connection. Internet speeds vary according to many external factors, including the time of day, the quality of your phone line and location so take several readings at different times of the day from bandwidth test sites such as http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/ and http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/band-test/.

If the results are poor compare them if possible with another PC or laptop on the same line. If it’s the PC try reloading or updating your modem driver and check the modem settings in Control Panel. To find out if software on your machine is having an effect use Ctrl + Alt + Del to shut down running programs, one at a time, and retest the connection. You could try the same procedure by shutting down programs that start with Windows, type ‘msconfig’ in Run on the Start menu and select the Startup tab, disable one item at a time and re-run the test.

Q

Can I use a spare fax machine to scan into my computer? I find a flatbed scanner painfully slow but I am able to send a fax to my friend’s computer in a fraction of the time. I think it must be possible. How do I set it up?

John Beaumont

A

Provided you’re adept with a soldering iron it can be done. The trick is to fool the PC and fax machine into thinking they’re connected together via a live telephone line. Full instructions are in the download file faxscan2.zip, which can be found at:

http://www.jumbo.com/business/windows/

fax/faxscan2.zip.download.htp

Q

How can I delete (and I mean DELETE) System Restore? I've used it twice and each time the cure was worse than the complaint!  It left my Norton Antivirus program in a right mess. I've disabled it but it still keeps making millions of little files, which it won't let me delete. I want it dead!

Chas C

A

Although you can disable System Restore it does continue to write files to the –Restore folder. This activity is perfectly harmless and I would advise you to leave it be but if you are determined you will have to resort to good old DOS (don’t try this unless you know what you are doing!). At the prompt type ‘deltree c:\_RESTORE’, answer Y when prompted, then type ‘echo This is a Dummy File > c:_RESTORE’. Restart Windows then run msconfig and on the Startup tab disable *StateMgr and PC Health.

Q

I am having grief with Internet Explorer V6.  I am prevented from getting into the secure section of some sites, a yellow triangle appears with the following message: ‘The callee (server [not server application]) is not available and disappeared…’.

Chris Myers

A

This is a fairly common problem, caused by conflicts with Active X components in programs and web pages. You should be able to get back to normal and stop the error message appearing by going to Internet Options on the Tools menu in IE6, select the Advanced tab and uncheck the item ‘Disable Script Debugging’.

Q

How can I enlarge the fonts in any of the "Help" boxes? I am going blind and getting frustrated trying to read the miniscule printed instructions. The font adjustment boxes for all other operations are of no problem but I cannot find a way to adjust sizes in Help.

Alex Miller, Buxted, East Sussex.

A

You can certainly change the font size in the right hand pane of Windows Help windows and those of most other Microsoft applications (Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Word, Excel etc.), using a simple Registry hack. Since this involves tinkering with a critical system file you should make a backup first. Type ‘regedit’ in Run on the Start menu and make the backup by clicking Export on the Registry menu, if you run into difficulties you can restore the Registry by clicking on the *.reg file this procedure creates. Now work your way to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\International\Scripts\3. In the right hand pane double click on IEFontSize, the default value should be 0000 01 00 00 00 00, you can increase the size by changing the 01 to 02, 03 or 04 (04 being the largest), click OK and exit Regedit.