FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 084 (04/11/97)

IRRITATING ICON

I have an Icon on my Windows 95 Desktop called ‘In Box’ which stubbornly refuses to be deleted! I don't use it and can't see any point in leaving it to clutter my Desktop. When I drag it to the Recycle Bin it comes up with a yellow circle with a diagonal line across it, which I presume is telling me that I can't delete it.

Tracey Gardner

A

The In-Basket icon is protected, it opens Microsoft Exchange Email and messaging utilities, which are an integral part of a standard Windows 95 installation. There are ways of removing the icon, by tinkering with the Windows 95 Registry, but it’s not something we would recommend; even experienced users can get themselves into trouble. The safest way to remove it is to delete MS Exchange from your system. From the Start menu click on Settings, then Control Panel, and Add/Remove Programs. Click on the Windows Set-Up tab, check Microsoft Exchange then click on details. Check the two boxes and OK. When you restart your PC the in-basket icon will be no more. You can easily re-install Exchange from the Windows 95 CD ROM at any time, using the Add/Remove Program utility.

GERIATRIC GAMES

I have an old IBM PS/2 PC with an 80Mb hard disk (39Mb free), running DOS 5, Windows 3.1 and MS Works.  I plan to give this to my 5 year old nephew this Christmas. I would like to buy some suitable fun and educational software for him  -- he's a bit too young for Works. My problem is that most of the packages I have looked at are CD ROM versions. Can you suggest anything I can buy that can be run on this PC, or is it not worth bothering with?

Denise Phillips

A

It’s a mistake to think that all the best software is necessarily new and on CD ROM, or that old PCs are only fit for the scrap-heap. There’s a huge number of  titles still available on 3.5-inch disc, that will run quite happily on your machine, including many inexpensive shareware programs. PC fairs are usually a good source of this kind of material, there’s bound to be one near you, check your local papers for details or the fair calendars in PC magazines. How about a subscription to PC Genius. It is a bi-monthly computer magazine aimed at pre-teens, every copy comes with a cover-mounted floppy packed with well written edutainment software. The magazine is about one third of the way through its 60 issue run, but back-numbers can be obtained by calling (0990) 673331.  

A ROM  DO

I came across an advertisement for a CD-ROM containing a database of millions of UK residents personal details. Is it legal to make such information available to the public? What are the sources of such information?

Dave Parsons, Wollaton, Nottingham

A

You are referring to the UK Info Disc, which contains details of some 42 million telephone subscribers in the UK. The company behind it, ICD Publishing maintain that the information on the disc is in the public domain and was obtained from a variety of sources, including BT directories, the electoral roll and telephone data agencies, which the company either scanned, or keyed in manually. Needless to say BT are not at all happy, and we understand the Data Protection Registrar, and other interested parties are looking into possible infringements of copyright. BT managed to have a previous version of the disc withdrawn from sale, it was produced in Germany by a company called Topware, who have connections with ICD Publishing. One of the main concerns over UK Info is the powerful reverse search-facility, though this is only available on the ‘Pro’ version of the disc, costing just under £200. This allows users to search by a variety of means, including house number and name, street, post-code and telephone number. The basic disc only allows searches by name and location. As a matter of interest BT produce their own CD ROM called The Phone Disc, it is more comprehensive and up to date than UK Info but it has only very simple name search facilities; the cheapest version sells for just under £200.