|
FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 570 (19/06/07)
Q. I set up a modem/router for my daughter
to use her laptop to access the Internet from anywhere in her flat. When
connected by Ethernet cable it works fine, however, when connected wirelessly
the laptop connects to the router with excellent signal strength and I can log
in to the router interface wirelessly but I can't access the Internet.
Ian Marshall
A.
If you are anything like me by now you will have forgotten what settings you
have fiddled with, so my advice is to stop trying to fix it and start over.
Connect the laptop to
the router by cable, access the setup menu and reset it to the factory
defaults. If the laptop is using an external adaptor remove any software that
came with it. Make sure WEP or WPA encryption is switched off on the router and
the laptop, disable the firewall, now reboot everything and try again. Only
enable encryption and switch the firewall back on again once the connection and
Internet sharing are up and running.
Q. I've designed my own website and I
would like to have a hyperlink that will take the visitor to a slide show of
about 20 of my photos full screen, then stop, with a button to Play Again or
return to page. Can you tell me if there is any software I can use (preferably
free) which will do this and how I do it?
Ken Blackwell
A.
If you are using one of the popular web page editors (Front Page, Namo, etc.)
then you may already have a picture viewer or slideshow utility built in.
Otherwise there are a couple of free tools you can try. The simplest one is HTML
Slide Show Wizard and it’s part of the Windows PowerToys suite. It’s really
easy to use, just select the images, arrange the order, chose the viewer format
and click Finish. It creates a folder containing all of your images, and the
viewer program; create a link to it then upload the folder and the page with
the link.
If you want to try
something a little more sophisticated have a look at Web Album Generator. This creates
thumbnail views, allows for resizing and resampling of your photos, there’s a
rotate facility, customisable templates and you can add captions.
Q. I recently bought a new monitor (a
19-inch flat screen) to replace my elderly 17-inch CRT model. After a little
trial and error I am reasonably happy with the display but is there any on-line
help for setting up contrast, brilliance, colours etc? Something like the old TV test card?
Frank Hobson, via email
A.
Indeed there is, lots of them and for a basic test that will show up any dead
or ‘hot’ (always on) pixels try the LCD Monitor Test Pattern
Generator, which also has crosshatch and phase/timing setup patterns. The
interface is a bit basic and it uses keyboard commands to change patterns, so
jot them down before you launch the program; just remember the Esc key exits
the program.
There’s a set of
on-line test patterns with more detailed tests for LCD monitors at Techmind.org, but for basic colour,
brightness and contrast setup I suggest the series of on-line patterns at http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/. This site also includes some useful advice
on how to setup and position your monitor for the best results.
Q. Internet Explorer 7 on my XP computer
keeps freezing every 20 minutes or so. I have deleted all the files and folders
I don't need to free up space in case that was the cause a cleared the temp
folders etc but it is still happening. I have run out of ideas on what else to
try to fix this.
A. Regan
A. More often than not it is caused by an
incompatible ‘Extension’ or add-on that was carried across when IE was updated.
The way to test this is to launch IE7 in troubleshooting mode; go to Start >
Programs > Accessories > System Tools and click on ‘Internet Explorer (No
Add-Ons)’. If it runs smoothly you can assume that an add-on was responsible.
To find out which one close and restart IE normally then go to Tools >
Internet Options, select the Programs Tab and click the Manage Add-Ons button.
The idea is to switch them off one at a time by clicking on the entry and
selecting Disable. If there is a lot of them – more than a dozen, say – it’s
quicker to do them in batches of 3 or 4.
Q. Shortly after I start my PC (XP Pro) it
always runs one particular svchost.exe (System) process which slows it down to
such a slow crawl, for the best part of an hour and a half, that you could be
forgiven for thinking the wretched thing had died a death. What purpose does svchost.exe serve, and can
I delete/close or otherwise shut the d**n thing down without fear of reprisals?
Guy Catchpole, via email
A.
Touch it at your peril! Svchost or Service Host is important and controls a lot
of other background processes, and you may have several instances of it
running. They can cause trouble but and a lot of the time it’s due to the
Windows Update Service, which Svchost controls. There’s a quick way to find out
and that’s to disable Windows Automatic Update. Right-click on My Computer,
select Manage, Expand Services and Applications, double-click on Services. In
the right-hand pane double-click on Automatic Updates and select Disabled on
the Startup Type drop-down menu. Click Stop and check CPU Usage (Ctrl + Alt +
Delete > Performance tab) and see it has dropped back to normal levels (i.e.
well below 10% with no programs running). Unfortunately I don’t have a cure but
you can leave Automatic Updates switched off and remember to download updates
manually from time to time.
---end---
© R. Maybury 2007 1207
|