FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  506 28/03/06)

Q. I use Windows XP Home Edition on my Evesham PC. I have a Data/Voice modem. I also have broadband using a Motorola cable modem. As a database for names, addresses telephone numbers etc. I use Time and Chaos. By clicking a telephone number on Time and Chaos the number will dial through the modem but I have to use the telephone handset to speak. Is it possible, using a headset, to use the PC for telephone calls?

John W Young, Maidstone

A. Possibly, but if it does work then I think you may be disappointed with the quality. You need to check whether your modem has its own headset connections or if it uses your PC’s soundcard. If you can see audio input and output jack sockets on the modem back plate then give it a try. If not you will have to use the PC’s microphone and audio output sockets, and this could get messy -- cable wise -- if they are already being used by speakers. If you try to use the speakers instead of a headset you could run into trouble with acoustic feedback or ‘howl round’. The other problem is that some voice modems operate in what is known as ‘half duplex’ mode, which basically means that during a phone call you can speak, or listen, but not both together. Some models are full duplex but they are in the minority. 

Since you have broadband why not have a look at VOIP or voice over Internet protocol? You can experiment with Skype for free and there are now a number of VOIP handsets on the market, that plug into your PC and look and work like a normal telephone. Not only are VOIP calls cheaper than a normal landline (PC to PC calls on Skype calls are free), the quality can also be a lot better. It would mean reorganising your phone book but it should be well worth the effort.

Q. I have recently bought a new computer, using Windows XP (SP2) with IE 6 and Outlook Express 6.  I have found that, unlike my old computer, I cannot open a web browser page from a web link within an email. Is there a simple solution or patch to be downloaded? I've searched through Microsoft's pages and can't find anything for OE6.

Bill Veazey, via email

A. No patch required, as it is all to do with our old friend File Associations. This is the way Windows knows what to do when you click on an icon or link, so for example if you click on a Word document file it opens Word. In this case the association between a hyperlink in an email message and Internet Explorer has been broken or changed and in order to fix it you need to open Windows Explorer or My Computer.

Go to Tools > Folder Options and click the File Types tab. Scroll down the Registered File Types list to URL: Hypertext Transfer Protocol and click the Advanced button.  Now click the Edit button and the ‘Application used to perform action’ box should contain the following line (including the quotation marks):

“C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” -nohome

If something else is showing replace it. Click OK, and then OK to exit the box. Now repeat the above step for the next entry which should be: URL:Hypertext Transfer Protocol with Privacy. When you have finished click OK to close Folder Options.

Q. I own an Olympus ES10 (Slide) Film Scanner 135, which works well with my old Windows 98SE computer. However it will not work at all on my new Win XP Home computer. I have tried getting the appropriate new driver from Olympus without success and from various Driver Download sites with similar results. Have you any idea where I might find the right driver?

Malcolm Burley

A. Bad news I’m afraid. This scanner will not work under Windows XP nor has Olympus any plans to produce a driver for XP, despite many requests from disgruntled owners. You could try installing the software using Windows Compatibility mode (Start > Accessories > Program Compatibility Wizard) but I am not hopeful. The only solution I can think of would be to create a dual-boot installation with Windows XP and Windows 98 SE (the lasted supported version of Windows) and boot to the appropriate system when you need to use the scanner.

Q. This may be a very basic query but I am new to digital photography. I am a keen walker and downloaded a photo of the map of my walk to my PC. I then edit it by painting my route on the map. My query is why is the original image 1.12mb but the edited version only 561k? I have set the resolution to 600 and compression to none in the options settings. 
Val Davies, via email

A. My guess is that when you check files sizes you are not comparing like with like. In other words when you right click on an image in a web page to copy it, it will usually be in jpeg or gif format but when you paste it into your image editor it may be converted into the program’s own file format. If you copy the image using the Print Screen facility it will be a bitmap file and again there will be a significant change in file size as it is converted into the proprietary format, or converted into a jpeg. In practice it’s not something you normally need to worry about, unless you are going to be sending the file by email, publishing it on a web page exchanging it with others or there is a noticeable reduction in quality.

Q. Do you know of a program, preferably freeware or shareware, which will ‘listen’ to a music audio file and prepare and print the sheet music from it?
Andrew Miller, via email

A. A very similar question came up a few years ago in the ‘Over 2 You’ column, which we used to run in the Daily Telegraph. You’ll find some helpful suggestions from readers in O2Y 62 and 64 under ‘Head of Music’ including a program called Music MasterWorks, which could be exactly what you are looking for.

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© R. Maybury 2006, 2103