FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  344 (17/12/02)

Q

I do not use Task Scheduler any more. Is there a method of removing the Icon from the Task bar? I go to Advanced and click on stop using Task Scheduler; the Icon has then gone but when I reboot it is back again.

J E Durkan, Salisbury, Wilts

A

The Scheduled Tasks icon appears in the System Tray – the area next to the clock -- and before it can be removed you must delete all tasks so begin by right-clicking on the icon, select open, highlight any tasks listed then select Delete. Now you have to remove it from the Windows Startup list, so go to Run on the Start menu and type ‘msconfig’ (without the quotes). Select the Startup tab and deselect all instances of ‘Scheduling Agent’, click OK and reboot.

Q

I frequently travel on long-haul flights and wish to conserve the battery power on my laptop. Reading documents in Word seems to empty an 'eight-hour' battery in two hours marking them 'read only' seems' to have no effect. any suggestions?
Madison Finlay

A

Laptop manufacturer’s battery life figures are often wildly optimistic and generally relate to ‘best case’ (i.e. unrealistic) conditions, when the battery is brand new. Nevertheless there’s probably quite a bit you can do to squeeze another hour or so out of your battery, but fiddling with settings in Word won’t help as it not so much the software that saps power, but your laptop’s hardware. You should have a look at the Power Management section in Control panel, make sure the Power Scheme is set for ‘Portable/Laptop and then, if the option is available, set it to turn off hard disc drives after a few minutes of activity. The screen backlight is another power hungry component so get into the habit of reducing the brightness as low as possible. Other things to try include taking a spare high capacity battery, check with the airline to see if they have seats with laptop power points, or ask the flight attendant if you can charge your battery from a suitable power point in the galley, or consider switching to a Windows CE type laptop, which have much lower power drain.

Q

I wonder if you can help me out in what must be quite a common problem with Microsoft Word. When I want to print out the address on an envelope, I click on the envelope tag, select the size of envelope and then using Options; I can move the position of the address anywhere on the envelope to suit my requirements. Unfortunately once you have printed the address on the first envelope the default position reverts back to the standard position. So with the next envelope you have to go all the way through this procedure again. Is there anyway that I can change the default position to suit my own requirements?

Derek Jones

A

It is an old niggle but there is a trick, which isn’t mentioned in Word Help or any of the textbooks that I’m aware of. Open a blank document and save it as ‘Envelope’. Next go to Envelopes and Labels on the Tools menu, key in your address and use Options to set the style and layout, when you’ve finished click Add to Document then Save. The Envelope document now becomes your default template so simply open it, then Envelopes and Labels when you need it.

Q

I am protected by McAfee firewall and it seems to work very well, but I get at least fifty attempts a day to hack into my computer. I am obviously relieved that they can't get in, but who are these people, and what can I do about them, apart from informing McAfee, which I do every day. Why would so many people want to get into my computer? 

Brian Cloughley, New Zealand

A

The first thing to say is that it’s not personal and not all of these ‘hacks’ are malicious, in fact many of them may be innocent attempts by web sites that you visited briefly, to finishing downloading incomplete pages. Nevertheless many others will be attempts to gain access to your PC, seeking passwords and personal information. The vast majority of attacks are generated automatically by programs that trawl endless trough web addresses, looking for vulnerable computers. Even if they find one it’s unlikely they will find much of interest and those with dial-up connections are semi-protected by the fact that their web addresses change every time a new connection is made. All broadband users should install firewall and antivirus software, and make sure it’s kept up to date, but apart from that there’s not a lot you can do. Hackers usually cover their tracks using anonymous server addresses and reporting them is largely unproductive, especially with so many to contend with. On the bright side as more people use firewall software it is getting harder for these idiots to do significant damage.

Q

My daughter is taking on the task of burning the family collection of 35mm
colour slides on to DVD disks. Your correspondence on scanning has been very helpful. A recent advert in the DT said "Careful what you record on DVD, It will last forever" but your correspondent John Wright on 26 Feb 02 says ". Most cheap CR-R/RWdisks are unlikely to last more than a few years so use gold or gold silver coated disks for longer life. They must be stored in warm, dry shaded conditions or the recording layers will delaminate and deteriorate."  I did not realise "gold" disks existed and an assistant in a computer store told me they ought to last 100 years! Are DVD disks any different?

Garrick Bowyer

A

The fact is non-one really knows but based on the experience of CD, which uses the same basic manufacturing processes as DVD, you can reckon on standard discs lasting at least 25 years, and probably 50 years or more, when properly stored. However, the longevity of recordable CD and DVD is largely irrelevant since the hardware necessary to replay these recordings is bound to become obsolete long before the data on the discs deteriorates. Most audio video and data recording formats seem to last for between 15 and 25 years – compact cassette is an honourable exception – so the only solution is to duplicate and re-record important material every few years onto whatever turns out to be the popular medium of the day.

Q

In Word, when I highlight a line and drag the highlighting down (or up) the page to select a large block of text, the scroll speed as the highlighting reaches the bottom of the window is uncontrollably fast.  Everyone I have asked about this is equally frustrated with it but we cannot find how to
slow it down.  Any suggestions appreciated.
John Handscombe

A

There’s no way to control the scroll speed in Word, other than by using a mouse with a scroll wheel but there are a couple of keyboard shortcuts that make highlighting large blocks of text much easier. Ctrl + Page down highlights a page at a time, keep the Ctrl button pressed and use the cursor keys to select individual lines and characters. Alternatively put the cursor at the beginning of the block of text then hold down the Ctrl key and move the mouse to the end of the block and left click.