FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  447 (04/01/05)

Q

In Windows XP Home, under Settings/Control Panel/Phone and Modem Options/Advanced, there is a list of telephony providers installed. Three of these are listed as provided by Microsoft, for which the Remove button is active, while three others are also present, for which the Remove button is greyed out. These latter three are:

NDIS Proxy TAPI Service Provider

TAPI Kernel-Mode Service Provider

Unimodem 5 Service Provider

Should I be worried, and if so, how can they be removed?

B. Bennett, via email

A

I can see how the term 'Service Provider' might concern you. In fact this has nothing to do with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or rogue diallers etc. These 'services; are actually behind the scenes processes in XP that enable different types of data connections over networks and the Internet, which is why Windows won't let you remove them. If you are interested there's a fuller and even more incomprehensible explanation on the Microsoft website, just type 'NDIS Service Provider' into Google and it should be at or close to the top of the list.

Q

Following your request for details of a decent freeware or shareware MP3 to Audio CD converter (F!F!F! Connected December 14th), have a look at dbpoweramp converter at: www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm.

Charles Donaldson, via email

The freeware version of JetAudio can do this  - as well as being an easy to use media player, CD burner and recorder - works with Real Media files too. My hard disk wouldn't be complete without it. You'll find it at: www.jetaudio.com/download/

Kevin Inskip, via email

I have downloaded and successfully used a shareware program called CDRipper from: www.sharewareorder.com/

CDRipper-download-54.htm,

which converts Audio CD tracks to MP3 or MP3 tracks to .wav format.

Peter Thompson, via email

A

Thanks to everyone who wrote in with suggestions.

Q

My PC is faster than my laptop so can I use the laptop as a monitor for the PC and rid of my bulky CRT monitor?  Both have USB sockets.

A. Sidall, via email

A

Whilst it is possible to equip a laptop with video or VGA interfaces using a USB port or PC card slot adaptor and connect it to the video output on a PC there will be a big reduction in image quality and quite possibly problems with screen sizing and resolution, so the short answer is no. Why not just buy a LCD monitor? Prices have fallen dramatically over the past year and 17-inch models are now selling online for less than £150.

Q

Whilst running AVG and AdAware I have noticed that almost 70% of the time is taken scanning temporary Internet files.  It would be wonderful if I could reduce scan times from, say, 40 minutes to ten minutes! Can I delete them with impunity?  I use Papal, Ebay and Hotmail that need passwords etc., and would prefer not to lose or complicate matters too much.

Eric Howitt, via email

A

Internet Explorer stores web pages in the Temporary Internet Files folder in order to make pages appear faster if you subsequently re-visit those pages. Personally I thinks it's a waste of space and hardly necessary if you have a broadband connection. If you insist on using IE (or Avant Browser) then the best thing to do is reduce the size of the Temporary Internet File folder to a minimum. To do that go to Tools > Internet Options, on the General tab, under Temporary Internet Files click the Settings button and under 'Amount of disk space to use' reduce the setting to 25Mb or less. Passwords and logins are normally stored by your browser or in Cookies, so this won't affect you ability to access websites.

Q

I have having trouble burning CDs via my PC and the resulting discs do not play on my new audio system. I have checked all the Help menus on the software and hardware on all products and looked at the Boot Camp archive, but still no luck.  I have also tried different manufacturers CD-Rs. CD's burnt on other PCs play on my system and CDs that I have made replay on my PC. When loaded my CD displays Track 1 but no sound or other tracks are evident. Do you think I should try different burning software, or is it the CD-RW drive?

Eammon H, via email

A

Data is obviously being recorded on the discs in the proper manner or the PC would report errors so I'm inclined to think it might be more to do with the CD player in your hi-fi system. Some CD decks can be intolerant of CD-Rs, due to differences in recordable disc's optical characteristics, though this doesn't fully explain why CDs made on another PC will play. Nevertheless I would check to see if your discs play on other audio systems. If they do I would try a cleaner disc, even a few specks of dust on the player's laser lens or can make a disc unplayable, you should also clean your CD-RW drive while you are at it. A visit to the hi-fi manufacturer's web site might also prove helpful, to see if there are any known issues with playing CD-Rs.

Q

Is there a program that shows or logs what's happening when Windows XP shuts down, which now takes several minutes, with a great deal of disk activity.  In the past it has been quick and I can't recall changing anything.

Ian W Marshall, via email

A

Not as such but XP does keep track of errors in 'Event Viewer', which is worth checking, just in case. Go to Administrative Tools in Control Panel, Double Click the Event Viewer icon and then System and have a look down the list. However, in view of the busy hard disc it's more likely that a program or service is running a background process. There are many possibilities from programs flushing cache memories to sluggish drivers on recent Nvidia video cards, however, I would start with XP's built-in 'Troubleshooter', go to Help on the Start menu, type 'shutdown troubleshooter' into the Search window then follow the prompts.