FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  601 (26/02/08)

Q. This problem is driving me mad! I cannot turn off Word’s AutoComplete function; every time I type a date in the format I want Word insists I want some ghastly American date format. Turning this off in Word 2003 was no problem, but it seems there’s no way to do it in Word 2007.

Paul Davies, via email

A. Apparently AutoComplete was causing problems in the beta versions of Office 2007, so rather than delay the release Microsoft simply removed it, leaving the AutoComplete date function in place, but with no apparent means to switch it off.  Fortunately there is a fix, using a simple macro:

Sub TurnOffAutoComplete()

Application.DisplayAutoCompleteTips = False

End Sub

If you haven’t used Word macros before there’s a tutorial on the MS Office Online website.

Q. I am upgrading to a new computer with Vista. At present I use Quicken 98 but understand this is not compatible with the new OS. It was suggested that I use Microsoft Money Plus Deluxe, but this appears to be only available in the US. Can you please recommend a package, similar to Quicken?

W. M. James, via email

A. I can do better than that! Go ahead and install Quicken 98; it runs perfectly well on Vista. I know that because it’s what I use and if you are anything like me, accustomed to Quicken’s funny little ways, the prospect of changing to a new accounts program after all these years doesn’t bear thinking about...

Q. I have a new computer running Windows Vista Home Premium. I have used the System Configuration Utility (msconfig) to block some of the start-up programs which I do not need to have running all the time but now I get a balloon appearing every few minutes telling me that there are blocked programs.  I find it rather irritating.  Is there any way of stopping it?

Martyn Treasure, via email

A. I agree, this is really annoying but there is a way to get it to behave like XP, however, in true Microsoft fashion it’s not very intuitive. Here’s what you do. After Windows has rebooted and the first ‘Windows has blocked…’ message appears, click on the Blocked Startup Programs icon in the System Tray, then Run Blocked Programs > System Configuration Utility. As usual the User Account Control (UAC) box pops up, asking you for permission to proceed – more on that in a moment – click Continue and you should now see the familiar XP style System Configuration message window with the checkbox for ‘Don’t show this message again…’, click the box and that’s the last you’ll see of it.

Now for the UAC pop-ups, which I prefer not to see, though they do serve a useful purpose, protecting Windows from absent-minded users, blithely clicking on things that could have a damaging effect, so leave it be if you are at all unsure.

To switch it off go to Start > Control Panel, and in the Control Panel Search box type ‘user’. You will now see a list of options, including Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off…’, click on that and the UAC box appears (hopefully for the last time) , asking permission. Click Continue, it asks you again, uncheck the ‘Use User Account …’ box, then it requests a restart.

It’s not over yet. When Windows reboots you’ll probably see a Security Centre popup, if so click on ‘Change the way Security Centre alerts me’ in the left hand pane and choose ‘Don’t notify but display icon’ or ‘Don’t notify and don’t display icon’, depending on your level of expertise or degree of paranoia. Now if you make any changes in msconfig, after the reboot you will only see the normal XP-type warning message with the ‘Don’t show again’ checkbox.

Q. I run XP and would love to know how to capture a picture of what’s on my screen to save me having to write down complicated error messages, which I need to report to my learned savvy son-in-law for him to resolve.

Theo Spring, via email

A. Pressing Alt + PrtScn on your keyboard sends a bitmap image of the ‘active’ window or error message dialogue box on your screen to the Windows Clipboard. Use the Paste command (Ctrl + V) to copy the image into an open document and print or email that. Otherwise open it in Paint (or your preferred image editor), save it as a jpeg file, which can be sent as an email attachment.

Better yet, here’s an undocumented trick that lets you copy and paste text from error message boxes to the Windows Clipboard. Normally you cannot do this, as there’s no way to highlight text in error message boxes. All you have to do is press Ctrl + C then open Notepad and press Ctrl + V, which pastes the text content of the error message. You can then the text, copy it to a document or email, or enter it into Google and search for a solution.

Q. I am a British ex-pat, living in Spain. Quite often, when I access the Internet, some websites appear in Spanish. Is there anything I can do, to force it them to use English? I believe the problem may be due to my IP address, which must have been recognised as being in Spain.

Brian Mellow, via email

A. You’ve got it in one and your IP address tells he website which country you are in and this information is used to direct you to the relevant language version of the site. It can be bypassed using what’s known as a proxy server. Basically this is a remote website, through which you access the web, either directly, by visiting the site and typing in the address of the site you want to get to, or automatically by using (usually) paid for software that redirects your Internet connection through a remote server. In both cases your PC’s IP address is masked, which is why these services are popular with those, who for one reason or another, prefer to remain anonymous. An example of a web-based proxy server is www.proxify.com. It’s free to use but you will see ads on displayed pages, and one last thing to bear in mind, you have no way of knowing what the proxy company is doing with the information it collects about you…

If you have a computer problem write to: fff@telegraph.co.uk

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© R. Maybury 2008 1501