FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  467 (24/05/05)

Q

Re the advice in last week’s F!F!F! about the date appearing in Word when you begin to type the year, I too have that problem but I tried your tip and couldn’t find the ‘Show Auto Complete tip’ check box.

Pete Hammond, via email

A

My mistake, the checkbox is on the 'Auto Text' tab, not the Autoformat tab, which is next to it.

Q

Does anyone make a mouse suitable for left-handed people?

Pablo Hawoth, via email

A

Microsoft and several other manufacturers claim that most of their mice are ambidextrous, try a few for size and comfort. You can easily re-configure the button layout for any mouse by going to Control Panel, click the Mouse icon, select the Buttons tab and you can swap the functions of the right and left buttons. Specially designed left-handed mice do exist, though I have to say the ones I have seen are rather expensive (around £80…), see: www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk/ and

www.keytools-ergonomics.co.uk/

lefthand/mouse.asp.

If anyone knows of a cheaper alternative, or can recommend a particular model please let me know.

Q

I have Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2. I have a problem with my Internet Explorer and when I first had XP I could save an Internet page to view at a later date, in fact I still have the pages in "My Favourites" to view now. But for some time now when I try to keep a web page in My Favourites it lets me save the web address only, and I am unable to view the page when not connected to the Internet.

Brian Wickins, via email

A

This is another of the changes made by SP2, which deems it unsafe to store and access web pages stored 'locally' on your PC or a CD since they may contain malicious content. You can switch this feature off but be aware that it does reduce the overall security level of your PC. To make the change open Internet Explorer and go to Tools > Internet Options > Security tab and scroll down to Security and check the item: Allow active content to run in files on My Computer’.

Q

On my Windows XP PC I can delete files but I cannot subsequently locate my Recycle Bin should I need to restore them. Can you help?

David Lord, via email

A

The Recycle Bin icon can be restored using our old friend Tweak UI, a free Windows configuration utility available from:

www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/

downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

However, if the registry entry for the Bin has been damaged it needs to be recreated and you can do this by right-clicking into an empty area of the desktop, select New then Folder, rename the folder:

"Recycle.{645FF040-5081-101B-9

F08-00AA002F954E}"

(without the quotes), and a shiny new Bin icon will appear.

Q

My son is 8, and I am worried that the games he has are on disc, which is not really a child-friendly medium as they are easily damaged.  Is there a way to permanently have them on the hard disc?

Kevin Cottrell, via email

A

Yes, it can be done, but this would be a good opportunity to teach your son how to handle his game discs. In my experience the biggest problem is proper storage, or rather the lack of it, which usually results in discs being left lying around and getting scratched. Equip your son’s bedroom, or wherever the PC is used, with a large storage rack -- and I mean large, most people underestimate the size of their disc collection. Encourage him to return discs to their library cases and the rack when not in use.

You can copy the contents of a disc to your PC’s hard drive but be aware that this will consume a lot of space so make sure you have the room to spare. Simply create a new folder, give it a suitable name, copy all of the files on the disc into it and pop it back in its case. You can then install the program from the HDD copy by clicking the Setup icon. If the program needs to access files on the disc it will sense the disc is not on the drive and will display a dialogue box asking you to insert the disc or specify the location of the files it is seeking, in which case you can direct it to the folder on your hard drive.

Q

Although my computer runs perfectly well on Windows ME, I would like to upgrade to Windows XP. Is it feasible to do this by buying the Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade version?

Ken Williams, via email

A

It is but I strongly advise against an upgrade of your existing system as you will almost certainly run into trouble, and risk importing any problems (viruses, malware, registry corruption etc.) into the new installation. Instead backup all of your essential data and files, reformat the hard drive and go for a 'clean' install. During the installation Windows XP Upgrade will ask you in insert your Windows ME disc, to verify that you are entitled to install it, it checks the disc is genuine then asks you to reload the XP disc and the installation will continue normally.