FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  622 (22/07/08)

Q. It’s a bit out of your usual area but I wonder if can help me with a problem? Can I take a 4-track tape I recorded years ago on a Teac reel-to-reel tape recorder and play it on a 2-track machine?

Dave Wilken, via email

A. A change of scenery is always welcome and as it happens I am a big fan of ‘reel’ analogue tape recorders. At their best – in my opinion -- they can still blow the socks off digital recording systems when it comes to sound quality, but I digress. The trouble is the heads on a two-track machine read half the width of the tape, which contains 2 of the 4-tracks, so you will hear two of the 4 tracks played back at the same time.

You may think that this won’t be too bad if they are right and left stereo tracks, but most consumer 4-track machines record the left channel on track 1 (tracks are numbered 1–4 from top to bottom), and the right channel is on track 3, and when you reach the end and swap the reels, the left channel is now on track 2 and the right channel on track 4. So when you play back a 4-track recording on a 2-track machine you’ll hear track 1, which is the left stereo channel on side1, plus track 2, left channel side 2, played backwards, both at the same time. In other words it will be a horrible mess…

Q I am at the end of my tether with my landline, which develops a fault every time there is thunder storm, it’s the fifth time it has happened in 2 years.  The inconvenience and strain of continually arguing with BT so they don’t charge me for their faults, is leading me to consider ditching the landline altogether and using my mobile telephone and getting mobile broadband.

All in all moving to mobile broadband should be simple, however it would be great if it were possible to connect the mobile broadband via a wireless router when I am at home. This will let me use my own laptop throughout my granite house because I can’t get a mobile, as the walls are too thick.

It would also allow me to connect my work laptop to access our secure remote access system. As with many businesses these days they have a very strict line on security, and will not let me connect anything such as a USB dongle/hardware or load any software required to run it. A USB modem wont work, but a wireless connection is OK. My ICT colleagues suggested this might be an option, but don’t know of any products or solutions. I live in a rural area so there is no access to cable or anything similar.

Karen Tolmie, via email

A. Yes, it can be done and you need a device called a 3G broadband wireless router. Basically it’s a just like an ordinary broadband wireless router but instead of an ADSL modem it has a 3G mobile broadband modem, or a slot for a 3G/UMTS data card or USB dongle. There are several models on the market, from the likes of D-Link and Linksys, and mobile phone companies, such as Vodaphone also have them. They’re a little dearer than ADSL wireless routers but not frighteningly so. However running costs are likely to be an issue and needless to say there’s a bewildering array of tariffs and pay as you go deals, so it pays to do some homework first and work out your likely monthly usage to avoid being saddled with the wrong contract.

Q. I have suddenly lost items off the Start Menu on my XP computer. I had loads of shortcuts (many for pre-installed programs) under Start > Programs > Multimedia that all vanished one day. I was saved by finding them on backup files I had made some months ago. I am not so fortunate with those listed under Programs > Games because they weren’t included in my backup. They were for all of the usual MS offerings but I can’t remember, beyond Hearts and Solitaire, what they were, or where to find these programs. I wondered whether the indiscriminate use of CCleaner might be to blame. Can you help?

Tim Sinclair, via email

A. A small freeware utility called AccRestore (http://tinyurl.com/6u7gx)

would be a good place to start. This puts back everything in the Start > Programs > Accessories group, including the important Accessibility, Communications, Entertainment and System Tools utilities.

The easiest way to restore the Games folder would be to copy and paste it from another XP machine, but if that not possible you can create new shortcuts manually and the .exe files for FreeCell, Hearts, Minesweeper, Pinball, Solitaire and Spider Solitaire can all be found in C:\windows\system 32. Internet Backgammon, Checkers, Hearts, Reversi and Spades all reside in C:\Program Files\MSN Gaming Zone\Windows.

I haven’t heard of any problems with CCleaner and the All Programs. There is an option to clear the Start menu Shortcuts for the last 5 programs you’ve used but these are restored the next time you open a program. In any case this option isn’t checked by default, so it’s probably just a coincidence.

Q. I’m very interested in buying an Asus Eee PC, it seems to do everything that I want but I don’t want to have to rely on Wi-FI hotspots when I am on my travels. Do you know if they work with 3G USB mobile broadband modems? All of the sites I’ve looked at suggest that they only run on Windows PCs.

Martin Murray, via email

A. I can’t say for certain that it works with all 3G dongles but it certainly works with T-Mobile’s one and no installation software is required. Just plug it in and once it has logged on (steady blue light), open Network Connections, click Create to fire up the connection wizard, select GSM/3G (UMTS) /HSDPA from the list, click Next, select the device, click Next, fill in your details and it’s good to go. 

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

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© R. Maybury 2008 0108