FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  456 (08/03/05)

Q

Some weeks ago you suggested trying the new Microsoft AntiSpyware program, it’s been very useful but since using it I find that I cannot activate the Windows XP Firewall.  I have done all the obvious stuff but no luck, any ideas?

Tony Wood, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.

A

I’ve had a couple of similar reports and it appears that removing some malware components can muck up the XP Firewall settings. Fortunately there is a simple fix, go to Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt and at the flashing cursor type 'netsh winsock reset' (without the quotes). Press Enter, wait a few moments and you will be instructed to shut down and reboot. After Windows has restarted go to Start > Control Panel > Windows Firewall, select the Advanced tab and click the Restore Defaults button.

Incidentally for those of you that tried and liked MS AntiSpyware the good news is that Bill Gates has announced that it will be free to Windows XP users when the current round of beta testing has finished in a few weeks time. If you haven’t tried it yet the download can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/

security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Q

I do not own a mobile phone and have no real wish to do so. It would, however, be useful to be able to text message from a computer to my family who do use mobile phones. Is this possible and if so is extra software necessary?

Graham Martin, via email

A

Several web sites offer a PC to mobile phone text messaging service. Try Cardboardfish at: www.cbfsms.com/. The message will be accompanied by a short ad so you only get 137 or the available 160 characters and you will have to accept a pop-up ad on your PC (though this can be blocked with a Firewall), but it works well, and it’s free.

Q

I recently installed Firefox and have been using it as my browser - very satisfactorily. However, when I tried to use CCleaner it failed to remove anything from Firefox. It only appears to be designed to look at Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer and System. Is there any way of persuading it to work with Firefox, or can you recommend any other programs to do the job?

Tony Maskrey, via email

A

Utilities like CCleaner address a specific problem with IE and Windows, namely that details of your web surfing activities are secretly stored in a hidden and protected file called index.dat, which cannot be deleted by normal means. There is no such problem with Firefox and you can manually delete the browser’s History and Cookies files from the Tools > Options > Privacy menu.

Q

I am currently looking at buying a PC for home and although I am not interested in gaming or video editing I also don't want to waste my money on a computer that will be redundant before it has a chance to get dusty. Having recently read about the new chip from Sony, Toshiba and IBM in your paper I believe we are on the edge of a step change in computing technology. What sort of timeframes/speeds and advantages are we talking about with the new chips? If I have to by a basic model PC to tide me over for email and broadband Internet while I wait for the new processor to enter the market, what would be the minimum specification you would recommend?

Jonathan Aslet, via email

A

The recent announcement regarding ‘Cell Processor’ chips has indeed excited a lot of people in the industry. It may well lead to a fourfold increase in computational power and lower prices at some unspecified time in the future but right now it’s not going to make a ‘hapoth of difference to the average user for word processing, web surfing and relatively straightforward graphics applications. Cell Processors are expected to make their first appearance in video games consoles, like the forthcoming Playstation 3, where it will help to improve gameplay and make graphics more realistic, but it will take a while for the mainstream PC software industry to make any meaningful use of this extra power. In fact it has yet to catch up with the current generation of machines and most of them rarely get out of first or second gear. In short I wouldn’t worry too much about Cell Processors just yet and any PC with a 2-3.5GHz processor, 512Gb RAM and at least 80Gb of hard disc space should more than meet your needs for the foreseeable future.  

Q

I am using a typical web-camera and MSN. The background to my picture is a fairly scruffy office. Is it possible to impose a background of my choice using a technique similar to that used by the BBC Television News Studio  - i.e. hang a blue curtain behind me in the office as background and mix with a still photograph of my garden?

Robert Macdonald, via email

A

The facility you are referring to is called ‘chroma key’ and yes, it is technically possible to do what you want but I suspect it would be very difficult to achieve with an ordinary web cam. The easiest method would be to use an analogue video camera or possibly a camcorder and an external video effects unit and feed the output to a video capture card on your PC. The simpler and cheaper alternative is to tidy up your office…