FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  439 (02/11/04)

Q

I have inadvertently pressed a series of keys, which caused the display on my PC to rotate through 180 degrees.  This occurred while I had the Google home page open. Now every program appears upside down on the screen. How do I turn it back the right way up?

Jonathan Lawrence, via email

A

You could turn your monitor upside down of course (no, on second thoughts please don’t try that…). But seriously I suspect it’s due to a display ‘invert’ or ‘rotate’ facility in your PC’s video adaptor. This is a feature on some Ati and Nvidia cards, in which case look for the adaptor’s advanced settings menu (it’s usually in Control Panel or on the All Programs list), or you could try one of the common keyboard shortcuts for display rotate like Ctrl + Alt + cursor up. There’s also a glitch in Windows XP that can make this happen, which has been fixed in Service Pack 2 (SP2). There are more details in Microsoft Knowledgebase article 826480, which you can find by typing the number into Google.

Q

I recently bought a digital still camera and it has been one of the best decisions I ever made. Printing pictures is a bit of an issue, though, as I want to maximise use of the expensive paper by squeezing on as many pictures at a time as I need.  I have looked through the Boot Camp archive, but can't find anything. The Microsoft Fax/Photo viewer print facility is okay, but it doesn't give much control over sizes or layout etc, and indiscriminately crops to fit. Do you know of any software, which gives more control over printed output?

David Bennett, via email

A

With a bit of fiddling around it is possible to copy, paste and resize images into an open Word document (use the Print Layout view) but the embedded layout and formatting on the page can make it difficult to position images exactly where you want them to go. A better solution is to use an image-editing program like PaintShop Pro. This has a ‘Print multiple Images’ feature, which you select from the File menu. After opening all of the images that you want to use just drag and drop them from the thumbnail menu onto the page, crop and resize to suit then print.   

Q

How can I tell if a computer engineer is well qualified rather than simply knowing a little more than me? Is there a standard qualification they should have and are there any regulatory bodies that cover this area?

Pauline Grainger

A

Unfortunately not and there are a great many organisations issuing ‘qualifications’ and certificates of varying merit. In fact anyone can set up a PC repair business but the credentials I would look out for are a National BTEC in Computer Engineering, MSCE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) and MCDST (Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician).

Q

Can you please tell me what the following means with a returned message headed "Mail delivery failed: returning message to sender", SMTP error from remote mailer after initial connection.  IP address is blackholed by DNSBL.sorbs.net". What can the sender, or the person who should have received it, do about it?

Jean Grose, via email

A

The person or company you sent the email to subscribes to a Spam blocking service, which has deemed your email to be advertising or in some way offensive. They are becoming increasingly common these days and usually work by checking the message for attachments, embedded web page code or keywords like ‘Viagra’ and ‘sex’, for example, but this particular one looks rather dubious. If you visit the web site (www.dnsbl.nl.sorbs.net/), you'll find that you can pay to have your email unblocked for $97.00! I would phone or write to the recipient and tell them what's happening and hopefully they'll change to a less mercenary system.

Q

I have XP Home Edition with SP2 installed. AOL includes spyware and e-mail protection from virus and spam and I also have AVG Free Edition, Spybot and AdAware. Are any of these superfluous and do I also need a firewall?

David Saunders, via email

A

You need them all and you are well protected against most viruses and ‘malware’ programs but that’s not to say something still won’t get through and you do still need a decent firewall. This will prevent hackers from accessing files or planting malicious programs on your computer and it also stops programs on your PC from using your Internet connection without your knowledge or permission. Unfortunately the Firewall included with XP only does half the job and only looks after incoming connections, so I would consider ZoneAlarm (free from www.zonelabs.com) or one of the commercial offerings.

Q

In a recent article you recommended the use of Tweak UI, but you didn't mention its suitability for Windows 2000.   Is there a version of Tweak UI available for this operating system?

Dave Vigus

A

The Windows 95/98 version of Tweak UI works on Windows 2K, it’s downloadable from:

www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/

downloads/powertoys/networking/nttweakui.asp

Q

In recent days every time I switch on my computer, before I can open windows I get the error message: ‘Error Loading C:\progra~1\newdot~1\newdot~2.dll’. It disappears when I click on the cross and doesn't bother me again until I next switch on.  Any ideas??

Daphne Collicott

A

It looks like your PC has become infected with spyware, there's some useful advice from fellow sufferers at: http://computercops.biz/postp279639.html