FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 090 (30/12 /97)

HUNGARY LOOK

I’ve been trying desperately to obtain a Hungarian spell-checker for Microsoft Word, version 7, for my Windows 95 PC. Is such a thing available, if so where can I purchase it from?

Alex Fenyvesi, Greenford, Middlesex

A

Hungarian is one of more that a dozen languages supported by Microsoft Proofing Tools, available from the Alki Software Corporation. We’re not aware of any distributors in the UK, but it can be ordered direct from the Alki web site, you can go straight to the Proofing Tools page at:

http://www.alki.com/win/word7

/pt/manual/backcovr.htm

ANNOYING ARROWS

I have a Windows 95 PC, when I put a shortcut on the desktop a little arrow appears in the bottom left corner, how do you get rid of these annoying little occurrences?

Sam Brookman, via fax

A

We’ve had several similar requests. Quite why these arrows cause so much irritation remains a mystery, but the good news is that they can be removed. However, it involves editing the Windows 95 Registry, a set of critical files that determine how a PC operates. It’s not difficult, but please don’t try it unless you’re willing to accept the consequences, and don’t blame us if it all goes horribly wrong. You have been warned!

Before making any changes it is essential to make a backup of the registry files concerned, so you will be able to restore the last working configuration, just in case...  Select Run on the Start menu and type ‘regedit’ then okay. Click on the file called HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, then from the Registry menu select ‘Export Registry File’. Open or create a folder to save it in, and don’t forget to give the file a name, something like ‘backup’ will do, then click on save. If you need to restore the file later on, just click on it.

The two files responsible for the arrows are both called ‘IsShortcut’, there’s several of them dotted around the registry, so make sure you delete the right ones. From the Start menu select Run, type regedit, this will bring up the Registry Editor. Click on Edit, then Find. Type IsShortcut and click find. Each time you press F3 it will find a different occurrence of the file, the two you are looking for are: \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\

Classes\Inkfile,

and 

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\

Classes\piffile.

They might read slightly different on some machines, but the keywords are ‘Inkfile’ and ‘Piffile’.

The path is displayed at the bottom of the Registry Editor window, so double check you’ve found the right ones, before pressing the deleting key. The next time you start Windows those pesky shortcut arrows will have gone forever. 

DODGY DIAGNOSIS

About a year ago I brought  what I was led to believe is a 75MHz Pentium PC, running Windows 95. A few days ago I came across the MSD utility in DOS, which reported that my machine was actually a 486DX. Apart from removing the case lid, and physically checking the CPU chip, is there any other way of telling whether or not I have been conned?

Terry Lomas, London SE9

A

You shouldn’t believe everything MSD (Microsoft System Diagnostics) tells you, especially if you’re running it from a DOS window inside Windows 95. However, the more likely explanation is that your machine has a previously installed version of DOS,  with an old MSD, that cannot recognise Pentium chips. Check the version number when the MSD intro screen appears, if it’s earlier than v2.11 then that’s the answer. Incidentally older versions of Windows 95 also has trouble identifying ‘Pentium-class’ processors made by AMD and Cyrix.

BATTERIES AND BACKUPS

I have been told that the main settings in a PC’s set-up program are lost when a memory backup battery runs out. Is there any way of stopping the boot-up procedure so that I can copy down the information, that flashes onto the screen momentarily, as Windows 95 loads? How do I restore this information  after the battery has been replaced and how do I then restart Windows loading?  Is there any way to circumvent all of this?

A. J. Dudley, Rochdale, Lancashire

A

You’re referring to the BIOS or basic input output system, a small piece of software that configures the computer, before the operating system -- Windows 95 in your case -- is loaded. The BIOS tells the central processor unit (CPU) how to communicate with and control, hard and floppy disc drives, the keyboard, memory, communications ports and other items of hardware. On most PCs the BIOS can be accessed using one or two keystrokes. You should see a message flash up on the screen, something like, ‘to enter set-up press ....’; common options are ‘DEL’, ‘ESC’,  ‘CTRL-ESC’ etc. The boot up sequence then stops and the machine runs the BIOS set-up program. This usually comprises of four or five menus, don’t be tempted to change anything, especially if your machine is operating correctly. You can make a record of the settings using the ‘Print Screen’ command on the keyboard. When you have finished choose the ‘quit without saving changes’ option, and the machine will resume loading Windows. If you need to restore the settings at any time simply enter the set-up program again.