FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  483 (18/10/05)

Q

I recently reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows XP. All went well except that my monitor is now out of focus in the centre of screen, the outsides edges are fine. Updating the latest driver for my graphics card has not made any difference. I cannot find any advice on the web for altering monitor focus, is this possible? Any ideas as to the cause or a cure?

Alan Critchley, via email

A

I can say with a degree of certainty that it has nothing to with the PC, graphics card or driver software and I think the timing was probably just a coincidence. Focus on a CRT monitor is controlled by the position and orientation of a set of coils on the neck of the tube. It is just possible these became dislodged if you moved the monitor during the upgrade, though this would be highly unusual as the coils should be tightly clamped or bonded to the tube. On some monitors the focus can be adjusted electronically so there could be a fault in the control circuitry. Unless your monitor has some sort of user focus control (and this is extremely rare) there is not much you can do about it. It needs to be seen to by a service agent, though be warned that if it is out of warranty the repair bill probably won’t be far short of the cost of a new CRT monitor; I have seen 17-inch models selling for around £50 lately. You might want to consider upgrading to a LCD monitor because apart from the space saving and lower running costs they don’t go out of focus.

Q

Can you tell me how to add a second printer icon on the top tool bar in Word dedicated to a second (and maybe third) printer?  I read this tip from you once, but the printer disappeared as they do, and now I have a second one, but goes to the default printer.

Wendy R Plummer, via email

A

I don’t recall that that precise tip but I can show you how to do something very similar. As you know the standard Word toolbar printer icon initiates direct printing on the default printer. This tip will put a second printer icon on your toolbar that opens the main printer dialogue box with a drop-down menu so you can choose which printer to use, as well as print to file and change other settings (number of copies, zoom, page range etc.).

All you have to do is right-click into an empty area of the Word toolbar and select Customize then the Commands tab. Scroll down the right hand Commands window until you come to the Printer icon then click, drag and drop the icon on the Toolbar. I would place it at the opposite end of the toolbar to the standard printer icon, to avoid confusion. If you have Word 2000 or later there’s an even quicker method and that is to click the tiny drop-down arrow at the end of the Standard toolbar labelled ‘More Buttons’, and you can add and remove a second Printer icon from there.

Q

I run a Dell Dimension 2360 with XP and BT Broadband.  I am told that it is not possible to use fax with a broadband set-up and have not been able to disprove this.  Why and what, if anything, is the problem?

Peter Penny, via email

A

As you may recall when you send a fax your fax machine (or PC with a fax modem) dials up the telephone number of the recipient’s fax machine, creating a direct one-to-one connection. With broadband there is no dial up connection and your PC is permanently connected to the Internet at the local exchange.

In fact you can send and receive faxes via broadband but they have to go through a third-party fax service. This is obviously not as convenient; you will have to issue your contacts with a new number for incoming faxes and it will usually involve you (or the sender) paying for the service through a subscription or premium phone rate numbers.

The alternative is to install a dial-up fax modem on your PC, or use a stand-alone fax machine, and don’t forget these can be used whilst you are online as broadband frees up your phone line for incoming and outgoing voice and fax calls.

Q

In Boot Camps 68 & 281 you gave advice about connecting PC's with serial or parallel cables and using Windows DCC or Laplink. I believe using these, one has to load Client for Microsoft and Networks, file & print sharing. I wish to share broadband with one PC using Windows Professional 2000 and another using XP Home. I do not necessarily want to share printers etc., just broadband and files. I understand that it is possible to use an Ethernet connection without say using a modem router with port switching. If so can you help me to find what software protocols are necessary. I do not understand the difference connecting with older serial or parallel cables and Ethernet, but I believe it can be easier with an Ethernet cable needing only to set up the connection wizard in either Windows 2000 or XP.I would be so glad of a little help.

Alan Blackburn, via email

A

You shouldn’t need to go anywhere near tricky stuff like port switching and protocols with Windows 2k and XP. Provided all the PCs in your network are equipped with standard Ethernet LAN sockets all since you want to connect more than two PCs together you will need a simple router -- basic 3 or 4-ways models cost around £20 to £25 -- and you will need a set of cables to link everything together. Nominate one PC as the server (usually the one with the Internet connection) then connect everything up. To finish off run the Network Setup Wizard in Control Panel on each client PC and with a few mouse clicks file and Internet connection sharing will be automatically configured.

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© R. Maybury 2005, 1110