|
December 2007
30/12/07
Laptop to Car Stereo
Hi Rick, I want to play my laptop through my car stereo. There is
an auxiliary socket for an MP3 player on the stereo but when I connect up,
using an ordinary audio lead from the socket to the headphone output of the
laptop, the sound quality is poor with a lot of background noise. Is there a
solution or should I abandon the idea?
John Baker
A. I hesitate to ask why you should want to do such a thing, but
it should work. The signal coming out of the headphone socket on a laptop is
essentially the same as that as any other electronic/audio device with a
headphone socket. The output levels on some models can be a tad higher, though,
so if you haven’t already done so, experiment with the volume control, on the
laptop. Windows also has some audio output options in Control Panel (Sounds > Volume tab, click Advanced
button and try the various Speaker Setup options).
The other two options are to purchase an USB
audio adaptor – they cost around £5 - £10 from online sellers -- and these have
headphone outputs, which may be better suited to your car stereo’s input
circuitry. Otherwise you could try a wireless ‘sender’. These are basically low
power stereo VHF FM transmitters that you plug into the laptop’s headphone
socket and you tune the car radio to the sender’s output signal. These cost
from around £10 upwards, though I have to warn you that the quality of the
budget models I’ve tested is not very good.
27/12/07
Mystery Files
Dear Rick, I check my PC with SpyBot weekly and find the number of
files being checked increases although I haven't added any more programmes etc.
Is something being added to my PC without my knowledge?
D. Rhodes
A. In a word yes. Your PC is constantly creating new files without
your say so. The vast majority of them are perfectly legitimate and mostly
concerned with housekeeping functions, like error and activity logs and so on.
Windows and the applications you use also create a great many temporary files.
Most of them will be automatically deleted when you exit Windows, but if your
PC crashes or freezes these can be left behind. Web surfing generates a lot of
new file activity with downloaded updates for the operating system and your
applications; your browser is probably set up to automatically download and
install plug-ins without asking.
Malware also comes in through this route,
though hopefully SpyBot (and preferably at least one other cleaner) will take
care of these, then there are email attachments, anti virus signature file updates,
then there are all of those multimedia files, if you have a digital camera or
audio player and the list goes on, but as long as your PC is behaving normally,
you take all of the usual anti-virus, malware and firewall precautions, and you
have plenty of free hard disc space, there’s no need to worry.
24/12/07
Slowdown after Updates
Hi Rick, I don't know if you can shed any light on something I
have just started to experience.
I am a frequent PC user and am well aware of the 'foibles' of the
software I use but since a bunch of 'security fixes' auto loaded down from
Microsoft a couple of weeks ago the initial opening of my home page takes ages.
Once up every thing runs as normal. The phenomenon does not affect Outlook Express,
which starts up and connects in the normal timescale.
I removed Norton, which I thought might be part of the problem but
nothing gained. Communication with my ISP's helpdesk and performing several
'procedures' at their request has not resolved the problem. Are you aware of
any one else experiencing this?
Warwick Prior
A. Security updates are frequently blamed for slowdowns, and for
good reason, there have been some really dodgy ones in the past but I’m not
aware of this sort of problem associated with the most recent batch, released
on December 11th. That’s not to say they haven’t affected your PC and most of
them were concerned with IE6 and IE7 so they must be high on the list of
suspects. The first thing to do is take a look at MS Knowledgebase article 942615,
which relates specifically to this update, and then try uninstalling it, to see
if that makes any difference. You will find it listed in Add/Remove Programs in
Control Panel.
If it’s not to blame I suggest putting it back and then looking at
any other programs you have installed recently. Other things to try are to see
if there’s a more recent version of Internet Explorer, run a couple of malware
cleaners (you’ll find several excellent free ones listed on the Software page
of my PCTopTIps website), and also
see what happens when you temporarily disable your anti virus scanner and
firewall.
20/12/07
Mac Attack?
Hi Rick, I recently purchased a new Apple Mac notebook. Will I need an anti virus program and if
yes, which one do you suggest?
Lorenzo
Zanacchi
A. In
theory you do not need one since there is no viruses ‘in the wild’ that can as
yet affect the current releases of OS X (though there are one or two flaky Trojans),
but never say never…
I certainly wouldn’t bother buying any anti virus software
but if you’re a better-safe-than-sorry sort of person, then have a look at a
freeware virus checker for the Mac called ClamXav.
It’s worth having on your Mac if you run Virtual
PC and just in case some idiot goes ahead and develops one of the theoretical
exploits that have been doing the rounds, though the chances of it spreading at
anything like the rate of a Windows infection are vanishingly small as there
are so few Mac users.
17/12/07
Clean Bill of Health
Greetings Rick, one
of my colleagues who is a computer engineer has been telling me about a
software called Super Anti-Spyware. He maintains that this is the best
anti spyware program he has ever used and thoroughly recommends it. Have
you any thoughts on this program? I would be interested to hear of another
opinion.
Robert Palmer
A. Coincidentally I was already looking at this program, and
the first thing I do when checking out malware cleaners is to see if it is
listed as a ‘rogue’ on the excellent Spywarewarrior
website. Rogue cleaners, and there are scores of them, try to trick you into
paying for them by reporting false positives, and in some cases actually
spiking PCs with malware.
I am happy to report Super Anti Spyware isn’t on the list,
but it does turn up elsewhere on the site, on the list of Trustworthy Anti
Spyware Products, so it’s off to a good start. I’ve been using it on my main PC
for a few weeks and so far so good. It didn’t find anything new after scans
from my regular malware cleaners so it will have to wait until I can get around
to giving it something really nasty to chew on, but I’m happy to include it
alongside the other free cleaners I list on the Software page of my PCTopTIps
website. As I have said many times in the past, you can’t have too many
good malware cleaners as no single program can possibly hope to detect all of
the infections floating around the web, so this one is a useful addition to your
armoury and a weekly scan with two or more cleaners should keep your PC clear
of nasties.
13/12/07
Cross Border DVD
Hi Rick, I recorded some TV programs on my Panasonic HDD recorder and then
edited it (on the recorder) onto a DVD, and sent it to a friend in the US. It
won't play on their DVD player. The DVD ran OK on my player, also on my PC. Is
it possible to send such a DVD that’s payable on a US TV? Is there a
facility on Nero, or such, to tweak it?
Ray Woodyear
A. You’ve run afoul of cross-border incompatibility caused
by the differences between the 625-line PAL colour TV system used in the UK,
and the 525-line NTSC system, used throughout North America, Japan and parts of
the Far East.
Unless your friend can get hold of a
multi-standard DVD player and TV the only way they’ll be able to watch your
discs is if you convert them to NTSC format during the authoring process. A number of freeware programs
that will do it, such as GUI for DVD Author, which you will find in the
software section of my PCTopTips website. However, it’s all a bit of a palaver
and you’ll have to use a Freeview dongle to make a recording of the programmes
on your PC, or get the recordings you have on your HDD recorder into your PC
with a video input card or something like Pinnacle’s Dazzle video to USB
adaptor. You can then re-author the recording in NTSC format and burn a DVD
using Nero. If anyone can think of a quicker or simpler solution please let me
know.
10/12/07
Disabling Drives
Hi Rick, following your instructions I have assembled a computer complete with two
hard drives. I use Casper to copy from the first to the second drive. It
seems to me that it would be better to have the second drive switchable, so it
would only be running for a short period when using Casper. Is there any
way this can be achieved without opening the case and physically disconnecting
the second drive?
Peter
West
A. I’m not aware of any way in Windows to power
down an individual drive, nor do I think this would be a good idea. Strange as
it may seem the best way to ensure that a hard drive leads a long and healthy
life, is not to keep switching it on and off. Statistically, and in the real
world, the most likely time a drive will fail is when it is powering up or
down. That’s the time when it is must vulnerable to electrical and thermal
shock, and all I takes is a few broken bytes to render it useless. Modern hard
drives are incredibly reliable and most will outlive the rest of the hardware
they are connected to, so leave well alone, and avoid switching your PC on an
off any more than is strictly necessary and you data should be safe (though
route backups to removable media is a sensible belt and braces precaution).
06/12/07
Life after Apple
Hi Rick, my Windows XP Pro PC went bust ‘big time’ so I have
invested in an Apple Mac and have been successful in migrating across to
Tiscali using Wi Fi Airport Extreme. To keep some Microsoft capability I
activated an old laptop and wonder if it is possible to use this to access my
broadband Internet with the following kit, albeit with reduced capacity: Windows 95 2nd Edition, Xircom Credit Card
Modem 56, spare micro filter from my Wi Fi setup, and
a telephone cable.
James Wilcock
A. It’s not a bad idea to keep your options open but I’m afraid
you won’t be able to simply plug your old laptop into a phone socket and surf
the net. (By the way, I’m assuming that you mean Windows 98 Second Edition).
Your PC card modem is only capable of making a dial-up
connection, which might be okay for emergencies or when you are out and about
but in order to hook up to your broadband you need to connect the PC to the
AirPort Extreme by an Ethernet cable, or through a wireless (Wi-Fi) adaptor.
Check to see if your PC has an Ethernet socket – it’s a
little larger than the standard US type telephone cable socket fitted to most
PCs. If not you could try a PC card or USB Ethernet adaptor; though make sure
it comes with a Windows 98 driver. Once connected simply run through the Win 98
Internet connection Wizard and it pretty much configures itself.
Wi-Fi adaptors are also available to fit PC Card
slots and USB ports, but once again, they must have support for Windows 98.
Setup is usually fairly straightforward but you will find it easier to
temporarily switch off wireless encryption, and turn it back on again once the
connection has been established
03/12/07
Hide Cursor Whilst Typing
Hi Rick, did I dream it or was there once a facility in MS
Word (or other software) for making the cursor disappear from view, when
starting to type? How often do we click in a cell/document, type in some
numbers/letters and then find our text has been obscured by the flashing
cursor? It's annoying to have to stop and move the cursor in order to verify
the data that has been input.
Hugh Sawyer
A. No you weren’t dreaming but I’m not aware of
such a facility in Word. I think the one you are referring to is in Windows,
and in XP and Vista you can get to it by going to Start > Control Panel,
double-click the Mouse icon and select the Pointer Options tab then deselect ‘Hide
Pointer While Typing’ and click OK
|