FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  431 (07/09/04)

Q

My teenagers are always chatting with their friends through Windows Messenger. I don't have a problem with that except when they are using the PC to type up homework and I find them chatting at the same time. This also applies when they are supposed to be accessing the net for homework research and I find them chatting. Is there anyway in which I can restrict access to Messenger to their leisure time so it doesn’t interfere with homework?

Christine Rutt, via email

A

It should be possible but it can’t be done from within Messenger and I haven’t been able to find any third party utilities capable of doing this. Some Firewall programs can be configured to disable certain types of connections or block the ports used by Messenger but it’s not going to be a simple task. However, rather than relying on technology why not use good old-fashioned parental guile? Tell them the times that they may and may not use Messenger and threaten them with temporary or permanent disconnection if they do not comply. Point out that you will be checking the MSN chat logs and if they imply that they know how to disable or delete log files suggest that you will install a monitoring program that they won’t be able to interfere with.

Q

For the last two days, whenever I start my computer and Windows XP loads I get a message 'Motive Chorus has detected a fatal error’. When I cancel the message it disappears without leaving a problem. Have you any idea what this is and how to get rid of it?

Eric Ballinger

A

My guess is you’ve recently installed a Hewlett Packard product or signed up with a new Internet Service Provider. Motive Chorus is a part of a program that gathers and logs information about your PC with the intention of providing more effective customer support… It all sounds a bit suspicious, and it may have been installed without your knowledge or permission but apparently it’s not regarded as intrusive so it doesn’t show up on spyware scans. However, you can easily get rid of it by going to Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel and delete items such as ‘Direct Support’ and ‘HP Instant Support’.

Q

What are the chances of a modern computer with a 2.4Gb processor and 512Mb RAM on a broadband connection, having two monitors, mice and keyboards so that two users could access the Internet at the same time?

P. Marchese, via email

A

You can certainly connect two monitors to a Windows PC (98 onwards) by adding a second video adaptor card and set them up to display different applications, such as two browser windows. You can also buy adaptors to connect two keyboards and mice to the same PC but as far as I am aware (and I’m happy to be proved wrong) only one mouse and keyboard can be active at that same time, so the simple answer is no

Q

Word 2003 is driving me round the bend. I don't know whether it is possible to de-select some of its weird ways, perhaps you could answer a few questions? What does unexpected blue underling and dotted underlines mean? I am told that it is only possible to load the program from a CD-ROM so many times, depending on the nature of the licence.  How does Microsoft achieve this?

Colin D. Campbell, via email

A

If you type what Word assumes to be a web or email address, i.e. it starts with ‘www’ and ends with ‘.com’ or it has an ‘@’ sign in it, it will turn it into a blue underlined Hyperlink that will open your web browser or a blank email message window. You can switch that feature off by going to Insert > Autotext > Autotext, select the ‘Autoformat as you type’ tab and under ‘Replace as you type’ deselect the item ‘Internet and network paths with hyperlinks’. Dotted underlines are ‘Smart Tags’, a new feature in Word 2003 that highlights names, times, or items of information that Word thinks you might want to associate with a particular action or another program (right-click on the Smart Tag for a list of options). Some users find them quite useful but if they are annoying you switch the feature off by going to Tools > AutoCorrect Options and select the Smart Tags tab, uncheck ‘Label text with Smart Tags’ and ‘Show Smart Tag Action Buttons’, then go to Tools > Options, select the View tab and uncheck Smart Tags.

Many recent Microsoft programs incorporate a feature called Product Activation. This basically means the program will only work properly when it has been registered with Microsoft -- via the Internet or by phone -- along with details of the PC on which it has been installed. If the program is only licensed for a single user and you then try to load it onto another PC Product Activation will fail and the program will not work. Of course you may have a quite legitimate reason for wanting to load the program on a second PC, the first computer has died or it has been replaced for example, but you’ll be asked to confirm this with a Microsoft representative before it will be activated.