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FAQS!
FACTS! FAX! 491 (13/12/05)
Q
I
have Windows XP home installed on my PC and wanted to set a System Restore
Point before restoring my PC to an earlier time. Once I had set the System
Restore point however, the calendar appears to have 'frozen' on the current
date (i.e. the Restore Point), and I can't get it to move back to an earlier
month, even after I have re-booted. I have successfully restored the system in
the past, but this is the first time I have had this problem.
Chris
Jackson, via email
A
This
suggests that the earlier Restore Points (RPs) you have created may be lost or
deleted. There are several things that can cause this, including running out of
disc space, though you would normally see a warning message to this effect.
Previous RPs will also be deleted if for any reason you have switched off
System Restore or you’ve run the System Cleanup utility using ‘More Options’.
RPs older than 90 days are automatically deleted and I have read a couple of
reports of concerning Real Player One deleting RPs, though I haven’t been able
to conform this. Microsoft
Knowledgebase article 301224 also has some more information concerning
missing RPs on PCs using drives with multiple drives and partitions.
Q
Can
you please clarify something for me in Boot Camp 399?
You say:‘If
your monitor display is set to 1024 x 768 pixels, and you are viewing
a digital image made up of 1280 x 1024 pixels then the outer edges of the
picture will be cropped. In order to see the unseen parts or the image you
either need to use the scroll bars at the bottom and side or use the
magnification tool to scale it to fit into the display window’.
I can
understand the part about scrolling to see the larger picture but if you use
the magnification tool does that reduce the number of pixels? Digital cameras
specs talk about resolution and quality, are these not the same thing?
Stanley
Cannings, via email
A
When
you use the zoom tool in an application all you are doing is changing way it is
being displayed on your monitor screen. This has no effect on the actual file
or the number of pixels used to display the image.
It's
a tricky concept I know but think of the digital image file created by a
digital camera or scanner as a fixed entity, like a frame in a roll of
photographic film. The software on your PC works like a slide projector or
enlarger and it can make the picture appear larger or smaller, but the original
image on film remains the same.
The
‘quality’ of the image from a digital camera is another thing entirely. The
number of pixels is only one factor; of equal importance are the optical
characteristics of the lens, the performance of the image sensor and the
electronic processing and compression used to manipulate the data that ends up
on the camera’s memory card.
Q
I
have experienced problems with setting up iTunes to download music. I have paid
the subscription but now when I wish to re-install iTunes an error message pops
up. I am advised that to successfully install I would have to wipe the hard
drive and start again which I am reluctant to do.
Can
you recommend a site for downloading music legally but without shareware?
David
Melling, Farington Moss, Preston.
A
If
you want to reinstall iTunes then I suggest that you run Regseeker, a freeware
utility that will clear out any remnants of the previous installation in the Windows Registry, which may
be preventing you from reloading the program. Remember to enable the ‘Backup
before deletion’ option and it’s a good idea to set a Restore Point before you
use it.
As
for alternative music download sites; most of them require you to download a
program or browser plug-in
before you can access the library. Plug-ins are generally simpler and easier to
use than a separate download program and sites which use them include HMV Digital and Virgin Digital, and
between them have more than 2 million tracks on offer.
Q
My
colleague’s computer selects all or blocks of text when highlighting with the
Ctrl key held down. I have looked at options and searched the Internet for some
time but cannot find explanation as to how this works.Can
you please offer some advice?
Mick
Woodhall, via email
A
If I
understand you correctly you want to know how to copy and paste text from one
document or application to another. This is a standard Windows facility called
the Clipboard and there
are a couple of keyboard
shortcuts you should commit to memory. To highlight a line of text place
the cursor at the start of the line, hold down Shift and press the cursor down
arrow, to highlight subsequent lines keep pressing arrow down. To copy the
highlighted block of text into the Clipboard press Ctrl+ C; once there you can
Paste it into another document or application by pressing Ctrl + V
Q
Images
are suddenly not displayed on my computer, suddenly just a small square with
coloured square, circle and triangle.
Is this a settings problem?
Carole
K
A
The
icon you describe is called a Placeholder, though in Microsoft applications it
is usually a small square with a red x inside it. A Placeholder is used to
represent a missing picture and in the case of a web page it either means the
picture hasn’t been uploaded by the publisher or the facility to display images
has been switched off on your browser. In Internet Explorer the picture
‘switch’ is on Tools > Internet Options, select the Advanced tab, scroll
down the list to Multimedia and make sure that ‘Show image download
placeholders’ is unchecked and ‘Show Pictures’ is checked. The
circle-square-triangle placeholder icon is used by Mozilla Firefox, to switch
picture display back on go to Tools > Options, click the Web Features icon
and make sure ‘Load Images’ is checked.
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© R.
Maybury 2005, 0612
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