FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  584 (09/10/07)

Q. I have recently had to start using Outlook Express for both Contacts and Address Book, following a catastrophic crash of my old machine (where Addresses only were kept on Outlook 98).

I would love to export just names and addresses (for, say, a Christmas Card mailing list) from the Outlook Express Address Book, but it will only let me export the entire Address Book, which contains many other entries I don't want and have to manually delete before using what's left. Are you aware of any way round this problem, please?

Hector Stewart, via email

A. It cannot be done from within Outlook Express but there is a nifty workaround. Basically all you have to do is create a new Address Book with just the contacts you want to use. Here’s how. Go to Run on the Start menu and type ‘wab /new’ (without the quotes, and watch for the space between wab and the backslash). You will be asked to give the new Address Book a name and specify a location for it, do so and an empty Address Book opens.

Now open your normal OE Address book, hold down the Ctrl key and select, one by one, the contacts you want to use. When you have finished right click on one of the highlighted entries and press Ctrl + C (copy) and the entries are copied to the Clipboard. Now go to your newly created Address Book, click into the right hand pane and press Ctrl + V (paste) and the new Address Book will be populated with your selected contacts. You can now Print or Export this Address Book, and if you select ‘Other Address Book’ on the Export menu it will be saved as a plain text csv (comma separated value) file, which can be opened and edited in your word processor.

Q. I am having a major drama with my computer, which is running on Windows XP home edition. I constantly get the error message ‘bcmwltry.exe Application error Oxc0000142 application failed to initialize’.

This is causing me huge problems, as I cannot access my Program Files or System Restore. I have tried to get into the msconfig utility but to no avail. Is there

any other way to resolve the problem and restore my computer to normal?

Col. C R Green, by email

A. The.exe file is a small applet belonging to wireless adaptors from Acer, Belkin, BT, Dell, Linksys and US Robotics, amongst others and it lives in the Windows System32 folder. Try uninstalling then reinstall the software that came with your wireless adaptor. If that’s not possible you should be able to open Windows Explorer in Safe Mode, rename the file bcmwltry.old, restart normally, the error message should disappear and you can try reinstalling the wireless software.

Q. Every time I open Outlook Express to download my emails I am asked for my email password. I have checked (and re-checked many times) the ‘Remember Password’, both in the password request box and in Tools > Accounts, so what’s happening?

Julia Marshall

A. This sounds like a problem with the Windows Registry glitch. It is fixable but I have to warn you it’s not for absolute beginners or those of a nervous disposition. The first thing to do is make a backup of the Registry, (see this Top Tip for details), and because you can’t be too careful, set a System Restore Point as well.

When that is done open the Registry Editor by going to Run on the Start menu and typing ‘regedit’ (without the quotes). Now navigate your way to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider.

Right click on the key in the left hand pane and select Permissions and make sure that your user name is highlighted and below, the Full Control and Read boxes are ticked. Now click the Advanced button, your user name should again be highlighted, tick the ‘Replace Permission Entries on all Child Objects…’  check box, click Apply and Yes, then OK to return to Regedit. Now expand the Protected Storage System Provider key by double clicking on it and you should see below it a sub-key looking something like S-1-5-21-987654321-123456789-987654321. Right click on it and select Delete, then Yes to confirm and exit the Registry editor and try again. If you make a mistake use your Registry backup or System Restore to return your PC to its former state.

Q. I am trying to help a friend, who has for a long time used a BBC Micro Computer. Do you know if there are still any user groups or parts suppliers for these old machines?

Saxon J G Taylor, via email

A. There is still a huge amount of software, resources and information on the net for these venerable 8-bit machines. Sadly many of the sites I’ve looked at haven’t been updated for some time, several years in some cases but there appears to be a fair number of users striving to keep the marque alive and old Beebs turn up regularly on ebay. Here’s a few sites to be getting on with, courtesy of RISC OS fan Geoff Potter, who assures me there’s still plenty of software and parts to be had, if you know where to look.

www.BeebMaster.co.uk/
www.acornpreservation.org/index.html
www.stairwaytohell.com/
www.mdfs.net/
www.bbcmicro.net/old-8bs/index_.htm
www.nvg.ntnu.no/bbc/index.php3

Q. My Microsoft Natural Keyboard finally gave up the ghost after years of faithful service. I looked into replacing it with another Microsoft Ergonomic model with a split curved keyboard but the current ones all have USB connections. I need to use a round PS2 plug as I have a KVM switch, so I can share the keyboard between two PCs. Do you know if anyone still makes them with the old style connector?

Cliff Williams, via email

A. You can get USB to PS2 adaptors but I have my doubts that they would work with some of the more advanced keyboards as they rely on the USB connection to provide power. Have a look at the offerings on the Keyboard Company website (http://www.keyboardco.com/), it has several promising looking models on offer, and several really weird looking devices, but prices for the normal ergonomic and split field designs are comparable with the Microsoft rangse.

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