FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  413 (04/05/04)

Q

I receive several e-mails a day offering pornographic or other unwanted services. I realise that this is an ongoing problem and nothing much can be done about it.  However most of them are not addressed to me and I would at least like to reject them.  The ISP says it can do nothing (although I think that they should). I have tried MailWasher but this marks everything not in my "Friends" list, as "Not to me" so all e-mails have to be checked individually. Can you suggest a method of automatically bouncing e-mails, which are not addressed to me?

G.W. Eastwood

A

‘Bouncing’ or sending unwanted emails back from whence they came is no longer an effective strategy as it unlikely they will be received by the sender since most Spam and virus messages are unwittingly forwarded by infected PCs or sent from forged email addresses. The easiest way to get rid of email that doesn’t bear your name or address is to set up a Rule in Outlook Express. Go to Tools > Message Rules > Mail, select New, in the ‘Conditions’ box check ‘Where the To line contains people’, in the Actions box select ‘Move to specified folder’ or ‘Delete it’. In the Descriptions box click on the highlighted and underlined ‘Contains People’ and enter your own email address, your name and any other names or words you deem acceptable, click OK. If you selected  ‘Move to folder’ click the underlined ‘specified’ in the Descriptions box, create and name a folder where your unwanted emails will be sent, where you can inspect and delete them at your leisure.

Q

I have been enjoying reading the ‘Build your own PC’ series of Boot Camp articles but I use a Mac; I know they now use many PC components.  Do folk build Macs?  Could you do a similar series for Mac enthusiasts?  Sorry, I know we’re in the minority. Laptops are generally more compact of course but can one build laptops at home?  If so, I might even build a PC laptop!
Nick Slaymaker, via email

A

It’s certainly possible and as you say some parts are common to both systems but due to the proprietary nature of the Mac and Apple’s reluctance to licence hardware some critical components, like the motherboard, processor and power supply can be expensive, moreover because the market is so small they tend to be quite expensive. If you want to learn more there’s a useful series of articles at: http://www.macopz.com/buildamac/. 

Building your own laptop is not a practical proposition. Whilst modular in construction there are no set standards and therefore no source of generic (i.e. cheap and unbranded) parts like cases, keyboards and motherboards.

Q

I have a laptop, and a digital cordless phone. Is it possible to connect these for Internet use without having a wire trailing across the floor?

John Bax, via email

A

No, not really, though there used to be a BT product, called Airway, which used the DECT digital cordless phone system for wireless extension sockets. Unfortunately it didn’t work very well and was discontinued but in any case you would still have needed to connect the PC to the extension unit by cable. The only viable solution for cordless computing in and around the home is Wi-Fi, but you will need a broadband connection, or set up a second PC with a modem as an Internet ‘server’ if you want to use a dial-up connection. Boot Camps 281 to 286 looked at all aspects of Wi-Fi, home networking and Internet connection sharing;.

Q

I note that you recommend downloading digital photos to a CD-R to prevent image degradation.  If I download photos at irregular intervals to the same CD-R will the original photos be overprinted and lost or will the newer photographs be added on each time until the disc is full?

Alan Fletcher, via email

A

CD-Rs are simply a storage media, like hard disc drives and floppies and files are only overwritten if they have the same filename, and even then Windows will always ask you if you are sure you want to replace a file. There are several ways of incrementally adding files to a recordable disc; my preferred method is to use the UDF (universal data format) or ‘Packet Writing’ method. This effectively turns a CD-R/RW disc into a huge floppy disc, allowing you to read, write and delete files at will (though data is not actually deleted and it continues to occupy space on the disc but reference to the file is removed). The only downside to using UDF is that discs have to be formatted fir – this only takes a few seconds though – and they can usually only be read on the PC they were created until the discs are ‘finalised’ after which they become readable on any PC. UDF writing programs are included with popular CD/DVD applications; in Roxio’s Easy CD Creator/Easy Media Creator it’s called ‘Direct CD’, the equivalent in Nero’s is ‘inCD’. 

Q

When I open Explorer 6 I no longer get the dial-up box automatically and can't find a way of getting it back. Also when dialling-up I no longer get the accompanying sounds. Can you help?
Don Tomkinson, via email

A

The switch for automatic connection, when IE is launched, can be found on the Tools menu, select Internet Options then the Connections tab and make sure the item ‘Always dial my default connection is checked’. A silent modem may the result of a faulty driver but on some models there is a mute and volume control. Go to Modems in Control Panel, highlight your modem and click Properties then the General tab. Otherwise try uninstalling then reinstalling your modem driver, which should have been supplied with your PC, or you can try downloading the latest version from the modem manufacturer’s web site.

Q

I live in the Middle East.  Frequently when using the Internet I get disconnected (has been up to 15 times in an hour).  The telephone company say it is not their fault; the computer supplier says the modem is OK. Help!

Fiona Emblem, Doha, Qatar

A

It’s difficult to say at this distance but ask around amongst friends and colleagues to see if they’re experiencing the same difficulties and if possible, try connecting a PC or laptop to your phone line. If the PC has a previously unblemished connection record and the problem continues then there’s a problem on the line that need investigating, otherwise the fault lies with your PC and the modem or its driver needs to be checked.