FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  382 (23/09/03)

Q

In your recent Boot Camp article you explained how to transfer LPs or cassette to CD. How many ‘wav’ files or tracks will fit onto a CD? Can I simply add up the available playing time and match it to the stated capacity on the CD-R; mine suggests 80 minutes?

V. M. Gray

A

More or less, tot up the playing times of each track, allowing a further 20 or so seconds of silence between each track. However, although most standard 12cm blank CD-R/RW discs are labelled 74 minutes/650 Mb or 80 min/700Mb the amount of ‘user data’ available can vary quite significantly, up to plus or minus 10%. This is due to a number of factors, including differences in manufacture and the way the various CD recording programs work. In general it is best not to try and fill up a CD-R to its limit as the reliability of the recording medium is not always uniform and does tend to tail off towards the outer rim of the disc (data is recorded from the middle of the disc outwards). In other words, if you are recording on an 80-minute blank play safe and don’t try to record more than 72 minutes worth of music or 630Mb of data.

Q

My ADC computer monitor (CRT type) has started to flicker ever so slightly, but it is very annoying. It’s visible in one corner, most noticeably when the background is white and it seems to be slowly worsening. I have had the monitor only for about nine months. Why does it do this and is there anything that can be done to cure it?
Georgina Ormrod, via email

A

It is very unusual for a CRT monitor to flicker only in one corner; if there’s a fault in the monitor or the PC video adaptor it usually affects the whole of the image. The chances are it is being affected by an external magnetic field, probably from an unshielded loudspeaker or some other electrical device, such as a desk lamp. (Cheap low-power types with a transformer in the base are notorious…).  Move everything away from the screen by at least six to nine inches and see if that makes a difference.

Q

I recently bought some software over the Internet from a vendor in Australia and this resulted in me having set up an account with PayPal. However, this is currently useless, as PayPal require that I accept cookies. What I want to know is how can I enable cookies on a one-off basic?

Don Perham

A

You can set Internet Explorer to ask you every time a web site tries to download cookies onto your computer. Go to the Tools menu and select Internet Options then the Privacy tab and click the Advanced button. Click ‘Override automatic cookie handling’ then check the item ‘Prompt’ or  ‘Always allow session cookies’ which are automatically deleted when you close down Internet Explorer.

Q

My PC keeps unchecking the ‘Always dial my default connection’ command

when I launch Mailwasher, which I downloaded after your recommendation in Boot Camp. How can I stop this happening?

Paul Taylor

A

You should have a look at the Mailwasher FAQ at: www.mailwasher.net/faq.php, which has solutions for common problems like this, as well as a simple workaround for a possible interaction with some versions of Norton Antivirus.

Q

I do not have a PC but I do use an Amstrad Emailer for sending and receiving emails and I use a public library computer when I want to use the Internet.  If I have accessed a site and want to send an email from it I am confronted with messages in Outlook Express, asking for POP3 and SMTP servers. As I haven't the faintest idea what this means I can't send e-mails from the PC and the library staff are unable to help. I

John M Tuohy

A

You can utilise your Amstrad Emailer account to send and receive emails from any PC. Simply go to www.amserve.com, enter your username and password and away you go.

Q

When using Windows Explorer to browse through a quantity of files, I get frustrated as Explorer slows in proportion to the amount of time spent browsing. This continues to such an extent that further browsing is impossible due to the absurd amount of time taken?

Russell Stevenson

A

This is quite a common problem and there seems to be no end of solutions, from editing the Registry to using third-party Explorer programs, however there are a few simple things you can try first. First deep clean the Temporary folder in Windows, remove all files with a *.tmp extension then do a spring clean of the My Documents folder; remove or relocate as much as possible to separate folders on the C: drive and afterwards defrag your drive. Make sure your PC is free of adware and spyware and if you haven’t done so lately, run a complete virus scan. If that doesn’t work, and you know your way around Windows you might like to read through some of the posts in the Windows Annoyances forum at www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win98/n1062262607

Q

I have a PC with Windows XP, and the system is a mess. I want to format C: and re-install XP, but XP will not permit this under the Command prompt. How can I get the drive cleaned out?

Dick Whittingham

A

You need to restart your PC in DOS mode using a Windows 98/SE Emergency Recovery Disc. On the menu that appears select ‘Start PC with CD-ROM support’ and at the C: prompt you can use the format C: command to wipe the disc.