FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  440 (09/11/04)

Q

I wish to store and retrieve family photographs so that I can find them using various key words so images can be retrieved by file name or, situation (say holiday at Bournemouth or school photograph), year of photograph etc. Please can you recommend a suitable database?

Graham Jackson, via email

A

Over the past couple of weeks I have been trialling an excellent little freeware program called Picasa which does everything that you require, and much more besides. This includes automatically cataloguing and presenting all of the images on your PC in an elegant and easy to use format -- the ‘Timeline’ display is brilliant! It can create slideshows, search for images by date or keyword etc., help with printing (multiple images, contact sheets etc.) and there’s even some simple editing tools (red-eye reduction, crop and enhance). The download is 3.6Mb and it can be found at: www.picasa.com. Try it, you will be impressed!

Q

A friend of mine refuses to install anti virus software because he says it is not necessary.  He doesn't use Outlook or Outlook Express as he accesses his email whilst on the Internet and says that ZoneAlarm is enough.  Is this irresponsible or am I being over sensitive?

Charlotte O'Kane, via email

A

Whilst it is true that most viruses are spread via email attachments there are plenty of others that can infect a PC, embedded in web pages, music downloads, digital photographs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and even commercial software. You might also like to tell your friend that several hundred new viruses are created every week, admittedly few of them go 'wild' or spread beyond the virus writers' immediate circle but the risk exists so your friend would be daft to ignore it, and with excellent anti virus software like AVG available for free from: http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/1/ there really is no excuse.

Q

I was reading the recent query in F!F!F! concerning the feasibility of

adding a floppy disc drive because his computer was supplied without one.  I wonder, is there a device that will fit into a desktop PC, that can read the different memory card formats, like one of the multi-card readers that connect to a USB port?

Nigel Hinton, via email

A

‘Internal’ card readers are available that fit into a vacant 3.5-inch floppy disc drive bay and prices start at less than £10.00 from the likes of online retailers like Ebuyer (www.ebuyer.co.uk) and Aria (www.aria.co.uk). These are designed to be used with fairly recent PCs with USB connections or ‘headers’ on the motherboard. Once installed Windows XP will recognise it up as a series of removable disc drives. On older versions of Windows it is usually necessary to install a small driver program, which comes with the reader. 

Q

I am using Windows 98SE and on my ‘msconfig’ Startup List I have well over 50 different entries. Even though I delete the unwanted programs the start-up identifier stays on the list. Does this mean I haven't completely deleted the program and how do I purge this list?

Ian Millar, via email

A

The programs and services on the Startup list remain on your PC when they are disabled but they are inactive and will not be launched with Windows. To completely remove the entries you will have to uninstall the programs that they are associated with, from Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel or the program’s own uninstaller utility. Incidentally, 50 entries is rather a lot and I suspect most of them are a just waste of space and slowing your PC down. To find out what they all do and which ones you can safely remove refer to: www.3feetunder.com/krick/startup/list.html

Q

I have recently purchased a Samsung Notebook PC. It says that it comes with 256Mb RAM, however when I looking Control Panel/System Information it says that I have 224Mb RAM, which means 32Mb of RAM is unaccounted for. I have since purchased a further 256Mb RAM Module, which should give me 512Mb RAM but System Information now says I only have 448Mb of RAM.

David K, via email

A

The missing 32 and 64Mbs of RAM are being used by your PC’s video adaptor, which ‘shares’ the main system memory. This is quite normal in laptop and notebook PCs and is due to space restrictions. If you are happy with your PC’s video performance then I would leave well alone but you can override the automatic video memory allocation setting of 32, 64 or 128Mb from the PC’s BIOS program. On your particular model switch on then press and hold F2 until the setup screen appears, you’ll find the video settings on the Advanced menu.

Q

Having installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 one of my programs, Winebase, which previously ran okay, no longer starts. I get an error message saying that I have insufficient resources to continue and am advised to close the applications and restart the machine. Rebooting computer doesn’t solve problem, is there anyway to overcome this so that I can access the details of my wine cellar?

Austin Smith, via email

A

There is a problem with Winebase and SP2 and a new version (V4.2) has just been released, which as a registered user you can download from: www.winebase.com.au/wbclub.htm

Q

Can you please tell me if you have updated any of your info on Wi-Fi networks in the home since Boot Camps 281-286 (August 2003)? I have been told by several people that they have found wireless networking to be unstable. As all of my PCs and laptop will be in the same room would I be better off using cables?

Molly Armstrong, via email

A

There have been a few developments since those articles appeared, and prices have fallen dramatically, but the basic principles remain the same. In general I would say that Wi-Fi has proved to be very reliable but problems can occur if there are any other wireless devices or strong sources of interference in close proximity to the server or client PCs. Manufacturers also tend to be a bit optimistic about the range of Wi-Fi and 10 to 20 metres inside a building is a good average. If mobility is important to you then I would definitely give it a try, otherwise a cable network will be faster and more secure.