FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  417 (01/06/04)

Q

We always try to listen to the Archers on Radio 4, however, we are not always ready and so we stream the latest episode from the BBC web site. Is there any way I can save it to disk?
Alan Ager, via email

A

You can record ‘streamed’ Internet radio stations as well as CDs and any other sounds that you hear through your PC using a simple little program called Total Recorder. It’s a shareware and can be downloaded from www.highcriteria.com/. It’s free to use but if you like what you find and want to continue to use it then I urge you to pay the very reasonable registration fee of $11.95, which you can do online by clicking the Total Recorder’s Help menu.

Q

Both my wife and I have separate e-mail addresses. We use Outlook Express 6, under Windows XP home. I am finding it tiresome to have to click through "Identities" to change between the two e-mail inboxes, etc. and sometimes OE6 fails when switching Identities - the computer has to be rebooted to restore service. I wondered if there would be any problems if one of us changed from OE6 to another e-mail programme, Netscape, Mozilla or any of the others recently listed in Boot Camp. Freeware preferred, needless to say!

Andrew Miller, via email

A

OE identities only works if the previous user remembers to log off properly from the File menu (rather than clicking the ‘X’ close icon), otherwise you will have to go through a reboot. Your suggestion of using separate email client programs will certainly work; I suggest your try the email program in Mozilla (www.mozilla.org/) but before you do have a look at a workaround featured on the ‘Tomsterdam’ Inside OE website (the ultimate Outlook Express resource) at: http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/tips/forceid.htm. This forces OE to request an Identity each time it is opened.

Q

In the May 11th edition of Boot Camp you mentioned the free AVG virus scanner. Can you explain how people can produce free software?  Surely it costs money to run the website, develop the product, and assemble virus signature updates? I always believed there's no such thing as a free gift in this sort of situation.  Is there a catch?  Will the user find he gets onto Spam lists?

Martin Frayn, via email

A

Believe it or not there is no catch and whilst it is not unknown for some ‘freeware’ and ‘shareware’ programs to carry adware or spyware payloads, or expose you to spammers AVG is definitely one of the good guys.  You’ll notice that AVG is only free for personal use – companies and commercial organisations have to pay a licence fee to use it -- and it doesn’t include any technical support, other than what’s available on the web site. You’ll also notice that AVG gently (and only briefly) encourage users to upgrade to its more sophisticated paid-for versions, which a lot of people are very happy to do once they are satisfied that the free version is doing its job.

Q

At switch on I am asked which, or all, of a long list of updates I wish to download. Some may be unnecessary and some incorporated into later editions. Is there any way of finding out which ones I really need?

Frank Blofeld, via email

A

Try visiting the Windows update web site: (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/), and you will be asked to download a small utility that scans your PC to check which updates you need. The resultant report highlights the really important or ‘critical’ updates and Service Packs that you definitely should install, to maintain your PC’s security, the rest will be drivers and patches to fix lesser problems. There’s a short explanatory note alongside each one to help you decide if they are relevant, according to what you use your PC for, and the software that you have on your PC.

Q

I have just discovered the Windows Resource Meter. Running one or two programs and it quickly drops to one bar and yellow. At this stage, if I look at the details it tells me that I have 20 percent User and System and 65 percent GDI resources free. Two questions: What do these details mean? Why does there appear to be so few resources even when at desktop? I am suffering from programs performing "illegal operations" and closing lately - is this due to the low resource level?

John Adie, Bath

A

The Windows 9x Resource Meter is a useful general guide to what your PC is up to, and can provide a timely warning of an impending crash. Details of how to install it can be found in Microsoft Knowledgebase article 300059 (just type the number into Google’s search box). Incidentally, you won’t find it in Windows XP as it is much more efficient at managing its resources.

Resource Meter displays how your PC’s memory is being used and managed and the general rule of thumb is if any of the indicators dips below 15 to 20 percent you probably have too many programs running and it time to shut one or two of them down. However, sometimes when a program shuts down it doesn’t release the memory it has been using, in which case it is prudent to save your work and reboot. Illegal Operations error messages may be caused by low resources and the reason your resources appear so low, even before you have launched any applications, could be that you have a lot of programs and services running in the background that start automatically with Windows. Check for any redundant entries – i.e. programs that you don’t actually need to be running all of the time -- in the Startup group (Start > Programs > Startup). Check also the Windows configuration utility ‘Msconfig’ (type ‘msconfig’, without the quotes, in Run on the Start menu and select the Startup tab). You can safely deselect most entries but leave Explorer and Systray, your virus checker, Firewall etc. Deselect one or two items at a time and reboot and check the Resource Meter. If a problem arises simply reselect the last unchecked items.