FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  474 (12/07/05)

Q

I use 'Small Fonts' in Excel but cannot find it in Word or Windows XP Control Panel. Neither can I get a smaller than 8 point Times New Roman. Can you help?

R. Adams, via email

A

Small Fonts is a 'raster' or bitmap screen font, designed specifically for display, rather than printing as characters can look blocky when they are 'scaled' or made to look larger or smaller than the preset sizes. Raster fonts are not supported by recent versions of Word and most printers, which is why it doesn't show up on the list, though I'm not sure why it is still included in Excel. Although the drop-down font-size menu in Word only goes down to 8 point you can specify almost any size, from near microscopic 1pt to a monumental 1638 pt (in 0.5pt increments) simply by typing the size you want into the box. 

Q

I have a number of digital photos, which I have transferred into Word 2003, and whilst looking at one of them, pressed the select button, turning the photo into a negative image. The effect was intriguing, such that I would like to save the negative image. Can you tell me how, or suggest a piece of software I could buy in order to do this?

Rod Stuart, Rye E. Sussex

A

Word has only rudimentary picture-editing facilities and unfortunately the switch to negative, which happens when an image is highlighted, is not available as a separate effect. However, you won't need to obtain any extra software, simply open the picture in Windows Paint (Start > Programs > Accessories), highlight the image and press Ctrl + I to 'invert' the colours, then use Save As to give it a new name.

Q

I like many others I expect, have tried Mozilla Thunderbird and like what I find very much but have not been able to find where the message files are kept. I use Windows XP Home edition. 

David Verity, via email

A

Thunderbird stores messages in a 'Profile' folder and in Windows XP you'll find this in: C:\Documents and Settings\<yourname>\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\default\Mail. Incidentally, unlike Outlook Express, Thunderbird messages files are in a plain text format, which can be opened and read in WordPad or your word processor program.

Q

Periodically I get an on screen message, telling me that the following is trying to connect to the Internet: Indexing Service Filter Daemon (cidaemon.exe). I do not know what this file is. Clicking on the Details button brings no enlightenment. Do you know what it is and is it safe to allow the connection?

Brian Robinson, via email

A

Cidaemon is a legitimate Windows 'Service' that operates in the background. Its job is to build and maintain an index of the files stored on your PC, theoretically to make it run faster. Usually it just gets on with its job and doesn't interfere with normal operation but occasionally it throws a wobbly and can actually start to slow your PC down. There is also a chance that you have a virus infection that has hijacked and renamed the cidaemon.exe, so make sure your virus scanner is up to date and run a complete scan. Assuming that isn't the cause then the easiest thing to do is simply to switch it off, you are very unlikely to miss it. Go to Run on the Start menu and type 'services.msc' (without the quotes). On the Services (Local) list that appears double-click 'Indexing Service' and on the General tab, under Startup Type, select Disabled on the drop-down menu. Exit the dialogue boxes and reboot.

Q

We are about to move over to broadband. My husband thinks I ought to buy a new machine as mine is about 8 years old and has a low spec. I am wondering whether to follow the less costly option of simply upgrading it by installing extra memory, a bigger hard drive and a either a DVD read/writer or CD read/writer. It has a 400MHz processor with 128Mb RAM, 2Gb hard drive and currently runs in standalone mode with Windows NT4. I have been given conflicting advice from the ISP as to whether or not its broadband service will work with Windows NT4. I should point out that I don't expect to be downloading music or video clips. If the need arose, we could do that on my husband's machine, which is only a year old and has a high specification and runs under XP.

Judy Cowan, via email

A

Internet browsing is not an especially demanding application and if you are getting satisfactory results from a dial-up connection then broadband won't put any serious additional strain on your PC. The only problem I can foresee concerns the connection to the broadband modem. If it's a USB type you might find that that an NT4 driver isn't available, so check that first. If not then changing to Windows 98SE (the best pre XP version of Windows), should do the trick and this is also advisable if you want to add a CD Writer, I think the spec is borderline for a DVD drive though, but in any case you should also upgrade the memory to 512Mb and get a new or second hard disc. However, your machine is getting a bit long in the tooth and reliability could soon become an issue. New PCs are not expensive so I wonder if it's not time to bite the bullet and get a new one.