FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  452 (08/02/05)

Q

I have been using Firefox browser from Mozilla since the article in Boot Camp and am now fully committed to it. Does Microsoft's new spyware eraser program work on Firefox? The download site only refers to Internet Explorer and I can’t see any reference to other browsers.

Pete Murphy, via email

A

That’s not really surprising since most ‘malware’ is targeted at Internet Explorer and by switching to Firefox you have significantly reduced the chances of your PC catching an infection. Incidentally, thanks to everyone who took the time to write in with comments about Microsoft’s AntiSpyware program. We had a huge response and the overwhelming majority were positive. Nevertheless there were a few complaints and it’s evident there are some teething problems and conflicts with other programs but that’s to be expected as this is ‘Beta’ software and the bugs are still being ironed out, and I should have made it clear that this is for Windows XP only. Until the final release sometime in the next few weeks I would continue with the belt and braces approach and use AdAware and Spybot, moreover it’s still not clear if uncle Bill will be charging for it. For those of you that haven’t tried it yet the link to the download is in this week’s Boot Camp where you will also find some FAQs and limited support in the user forums.

Q

I have just signed up to broadband access that has a download limit of 2GB a month.  Is there a program that I can download that will keep a record of my monthly usage?

Alan Holman, via email

A

Unless you go in for a lot of large file downloads -- music, videos and so on -- then I doubt that you will get anywhere near that 2Gb limit. Web pages and emails typically contain only a few tens of kilobytes of data. But if you want to keep a close eye on it try a freeware program like Bandwidth Meter (http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/link/tbm/), which keeps a log of your Internet usage.

Q

I downloaded Real Player because I wanted to listen to programmes on the BBC website.  It worked fine for a while then it seemed to knock off all my sound.  I uninstalled it and normal service was resumed (except I can't hear anything on the BBC!).  This has happened to me twice and is very frustrating.

Fi Murray, via email

A

I suspect that if the BBC had its time again it would not have used Real Player for the ‘Listen Again’ service on its website but in spite of numerous complaints it has decided to stick with this awkward and intrusive program. I’m not sure why yours has stopped working though Listen Again did go offline a couple of weeks ago for ‘maintenance’ but I haven’t been able to uncover any changes that would affect its operation. Fortunately you don’t have to use it, try Real Alternative, it’s free from: www.majorgeeks.com/download4094.html. It works on all versions of Windows and both Internet Explorer and Mozilla (though you have to install a ‘plug-in’ on the latter). The only point to watch out for is that you must completely uninstall Real Player and RealOne before it will work properly.

Q

I need a small portable general knowledge reference. Has anyone succeeded in putting The Encyclopaedia Britannica on a computer smaller than a notebook?

Colin Jenkin, via email

A

Sort of… The problem is hand-help PCs PDAs and organisers cannot read CD/DVD-ROMs and have limited storage capacity for the huge volumes of data required for an encyclopaedia. Nevertheless, there is a cut-down version of Britannica, called Britannica Concise, available on a MultiMedia memory card. It is compatible with Palm OS (4.0 and above) Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2002 or higher and some mobile phones (there’s a list of compatible devices at: www.gomdm.com/p_encyclopedia.asp). Needless to day it lacks the depth of the disc version but it does contain more than 24,000 articles, 900 photos maps and illustrations, keyword search, bookmark and annotation features. It doesn’t seem to be very well distributed so you might have to hunt around to find it though -- try Amazon -- and it typically costs around £40.

Q

My wife and I both enjoy playing FreeCell. Before she discovered the game I ran up a score of 200 games. Unfortunately my nearest and dearest seldom gets past seven. Is it possible to have two FreeCell games on the computer, one strictly for me, the other for wife, granddaughter and others?

Duncan Allison, via email

A

There doesn’t appear to be an easy way to have two instances of the Windows game on your PC as they share a common statistics log. However, there’s nothing to stop you downloading another version of the game and there are plenty to choose from. There’s one at:

www.freecell.com/, and Pretty Good Solitaire at: www.freecell.org/download.html is a suite of 600 card games including several versions of FreeCell. On the same site you’ll also find FreeCell Wizard, which uses the same game numbers as the Windows version. Alternatively there’s an online FreeCell game that you can play in your web browser at: www.idiotsdelight.net/freecell.html

Q

I have updated to Windows XP from Windows 98. After running SP2, find I cannot print from Ami-Pro. It is essential for me as I am a private tutor of mathematics, and MS Word is absolutely useless for equations, each one takes far too long,

Commander Harry Stern, via email

A

There is a known glitch with printing from Ami Pro after SP2 has been installed but it’s simple to fix. Go to Tools > User Setup > options and uncheck ‘Print in Background’