FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  389 (11/11/03)

Q

Whenever one registers for a service from a web site on the Internet, one is usually required to submit a username and password. The crux of my problem is that I failed to keep a record of all my various usernames and passwords and kept forgetting them… After reading about “Password Depot” in a previous edition of Connected, I downloaded the freeware version thinking that it would be the answer to all my problems. You’ve guessed it! I have forgotten the password I need to access Password Depot’s. List Access Key. I cannot even uninstall the application without inputting the key. Is there any way of unearthing the stored passwords?

Steve Lawson

A

Not according to the Password Depot Support FAQ. There may well be some sort of ‘backdoor’ but Password Depot would clearly not want it to be known – which is as it should be -- so it looks as though you are going to have to re-register with those web sites, or use the ‘remember my password’ or ‘forgotten password’ links. My own strategy for storing critical passwords is to ferret them away in random text in an obscurely named file buried several sub folders deep inside a program folder. All I have to do is remember where I hid it… Alternative suggestions welcomed.

Q

After a hardware failure my PC was professionally repaired under warranty.  However when they reloaded Windows XP they spelt my name incorrectly as registered owner. This is very annoying as it appears in many places. Is it possible to list all the places where corrections should be made in Windows XP for me to get rid of this annoyance?

Michael Dawson

A

Registered Owner information, which has to be entered during the installation of Windows, is stored in the Registry, a large system file responsible for the setup and configuration data for all of the major applications on your PC. When you install new software it usually takes the owner details from the Registry, but they won’t necessarily be kept in the Registry and might end up in a file inside the program folder, which may be inaccessible or impossible to change.

You can correct the initial mistake, though, by editing the Registry (only try this if you know your way around Windows, and make a backup first!). Open the Registry Editor (type ‘regedit’, without the quotes, in Run on the Start menu) and work your way down to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion. There you will find the misspelling next to ‘RegisteredOrganization’, ‘RegisteredOwner’ or ‘ProductId’; simply double click on the entry and correct the name. Other instances in the Registry can be found by going to Find on Regedit’s Edit menu, type in the misspelled name and press F3 to find and correct each entry in turn.

Q

I have lost Outlook Express on my laptop as a result of incompetently dealing with Bugbear and another virus. It runs on Windows 98SE and I have the original Microsoft installation disc. Can I reinstall it from said disc without having to reinstall everything else or can I download it from the Internet?

A.P.Davidson

A

Internet Explorer and Outlook Express are bound closely together so it’s safest to treat them as a one program and install them together. This also gets around any conflicts between old and newer versions, which would almost certainly arise if you tried to install it from your Windows disc. Downloading from the Internet is an option but unless you have broadband I would advise against it as it is a large file and can take ages on a dial-up connection. A better alternative is to seek it out on a computer magazine cover disc, like PC Pro, where it appears on a regular basis.

Q

I frequently send the same email to many recipients.  If I post it in one operation I have to put all their email addresses in the 'to' or 'cc' box which means that they can all see who else is receiving it.  To keep my business confidential I have to send a separate message to each one. Is their any way that I can send a bulk email without everyone knowing who the other recipients are?

David Fitzpatrick

A

If you use Outlook Express as your email client simply put the recipient’s names into the BCC (blind carbon copy) address window and they will not appear in the received emails.

Q

My wife's eyesight has deteriorated so much that she has difficulty when watching TV - particularly in trying to make out any wording that appears on screen.  What would solve the problem would be a 15-inch LCD extension screen on a wall mounted angle-poise type bracket, which could be mounted on the wall near her chair.  A separate TV would be fine but for the difficulty of connecting existing VHS and DVD players to work on both at same time as I would still need to view the main TV at the same time.  Extension speakers are commonplace, but there appears to be a real need for extension screens - are such things available and if so where can they be obtained?

Neil Bingham

A

Extension screens or video monitors are readily available but ironically they usually cost more than ordinary TVs with equivalent sized screens. You can easily use a second TV as a monitor – set it to ‘External’ or ‘AV’ input – and use a SCART ‘splitter’ to derive a second set of audio and video feeds from your VCR and DVD players. Splitters and details of more elaborate video distribution devices can be found on the Maplin web site at www.maplin.co.uk. Alternatively, if your main TV is a reasonably recent model it may have a video ‘loop through’ output on one of the SCART sockets, which could be used to connect it to your second TV via a simple SCART cable. Consult your TV’s manual to see if it has such a facility.