FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  545 (26/12/06)

Q. Can you tell me how to add or remove a search engine on the list in Firefox's Search Bar in the top right hand corner of the page?

Brian Mills, via email

A. The easiest thing to do is upgrade to the latest version of Firefox (v2.0). This has a Manage Search Engines option on the bottom of the drop down list and you can use this to delete entries and change the order they appear.

To remove entries in older versions of Firefox open Windows Explorer and make you way to: C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins. (Additional entries may also be found at: C:\Documents and Settings\<yourname>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ default.XXx\searchplugins. There’s normally two entries for each search engine with *.src, *.gif and *.png extension and you have to delete them both. If you want to change the order install an ‘Extension’ called Search Engine Ordering from: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2164/. Click the Install Now button and after Firefox has been rebooted you will find the option ‘Rearrange Search Engines’ on the Tools menu.

If you want to add a Search Engine in Firefox 2 click the ‘Get More Search Engines’ link and this takes you to the Mozilla Add-Ons page (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/search-engines/), which has around 20 other popular Search engines and these can be added to the list with a single click. You can also use this page and add new search engines to older versions of Firefox. If the search engine you want isn’t listed go to: http://mycroft.mozdev.org/.  Just tap in the address and there’s a very good chance that it has been processed and as before you can add it to the list with a single click.

Q. I recently purchased a Lexmark X3480 and in attempting to buy a replacement cartridge I am advised that such for this particular model is only available from PC World or Currys, even though most other models are available in Tesco and similar stores. 

I find this incredible that a monopoly of this nature exists in this day and age, and had I been aware of this I would never have purchased it in the first place. Do you have any comments to make please?

John Chell, via email

A. My guess is you purchased this all-in-one printer, scanner, copier with built-in memory card reader was because it was incredibly cheap -- typically £50 to £60 or around half the cost of many rival products. Now you know why…

Printer manufacturers rarely make money from selling their hardware. The profits come from consumables, paper and ink, the latter often costing more than the most expensive French perfumes. Moreover they usually go to considerable lengths to lock you in to their own-brand products, by frequently changing the design of ink cartridges, fitting them with microchips or doing special deals with retailer and PC manufacturers.

We should all know the rules of the game by now, especially the ones about there being no such thing as a free lunch, and if something is too good to be true, it usually is...

Eventually you should have the option to use a refill kit or buy cheap ‘compatible’ ink cartridges -- they may be available already. The only downside is that you risk voiding the warranty and inferior performance, but after the guarantee has run out you have little to loose.

Q. When I open a folder (I'm on Windows XP), I get a page full of icons representing the files. I then have to go to the View menu to change to 'List'. I have been unable to find a way to get the folders to open in my preferred view. Any suggestions?

Gordon Whittington, via email

A. To change the default View for all folders in My Computer or Windows Explorer all you have to do is set the View on an open folder then go to the Tools Menu select Folder Options and then the View tab. Under Folder Views click ‘Apply to all Folders’ and your preferences will be set.

Q. I have a laptop running XP Home SP2, which is fully up to date. Although I use a USB mouse and a USB webcam my USB MP3 player is not recognised by the laptop, and when I follow the Installation Wizard the system cannot locate the relevant USB driver. My laptop came with a restore disk but no Windows disk. If I use the restore disk it will wipe my machine.

I am advised by a hardware forum to delete all of the USB device drivers then restart Windows. I am worried that Windows will not find the relevant drivers and ask for the Windows disk, which I was not supplied with. Can you help?

Doug Elliot, Ormskirk.

A. That’s a bit of a sledgehammer solution; it might well work but there are a couple of less drastic things you can try first. Either load the installation disc that came with the MP3 player or visit the manufacturer’s website and see if there’s a specific XP driver or install program available, if so download it and try the install Wizard again and when it asks, point it towards the disc of your downloaded files.

If there are no drivers then it should run on XP’s ‘generic’ USB drivers, which may be missing or corrupt. However, instead of deleting USB drivers willy-nilly try updating the ‘Root Hub’ drivers from Device Manager (Winkey + Break > Hardware > Device Manager) as this often gets things moving. Right click on the Root Hub entry and select Update. However, check first that there are no more recent drivers on your laptop manufacturer’s website.

For the record the non Microsoft USB drivers are stored on your machine but if they are damaged they should be recoverable from the installation discs that came with any hardware you have installed. Microsoft drivers are stored in Windows System Files and you probably also have a copy of them in your XP installation files stored in a protected or hidden partition on your hard disc drive. If you want to play it safe you can backup your drivers. There are several utilities on the market but I’m currently trialling a little shareware utility called My Drivers, which seems to do a pretty good job.

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© R. Maybury 2006, 1812