FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 095 (05/02/98)

SOUND BARRIER

My CD-ROM drive won't play any of my music CDs through my PC’s SoundBlaster audio system, however the drive will read normal CD-ROMs and the sound card plays sounds from other programs.

Mark Lay

A

In order to play audio CDs your CD-ROM drive needs to be connected to the sound card. The chances are yours isn’t – it’s not unknown for PC manufacturers to forget to fit the cable – or it has become disconnected. Either way it’s not difficult to fix. Disconnect your PC from the mains and remove the case lid. Don’t forget to touch the metalwork to dissipate any static charge. The cable plugs into a small rectangular socket on the rear of the CD-ROM player; it can have 3, 4 or 5 pins. The cable is easy to identify; it’s quite thin and round, coloured grey or black. The other end plugs into a similarly shaped socket on the sound card, plugged an expansion slot on the motherboard. The sound card is the one to which the speakers are connected. If there’s no cable you will have to buy one. There are several different styles of plug and socket in use; rather than trying to remember the size or number of pins, get a universal audio cable, that has all the common plug variants. They’re available from PC dealers and mail order companies, like Choice, for around six pounds. 

Choice, can be reached at: 0800 0730730

NET CONTRIBUTIONS

Until recently I have been sending my publishers copy on floppy discs, via surface mail. Now I am planning to send copy by Email, using the latest AOL software. They have requested copy in text only format, why is that, and how do I go about it?

How should I transmit graphics, scanned diagrams, colour photos and book covers, to be used as thumbnails for book review articles? Which available file format e.g. .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .art, .avi etc. is used by the publishing and printing industry

Robin Copnall

A

A lot of freelance journalists and authors think they’re doing publishers a favour by sending them formatted text documents -- i.e. with bold and italic characters etc., – as Email attachments. It can cause problems; files have to be converted back to plain text, before they can be used for page layout. Your publishers have asked you to send text-only files; by far the simplest method would be to copy and paste text from your word processor, into the blank copy area on the AOL Write Email form. 

You will have to talk to your publisher, to find out which type of image format they prefer, but the chances are it will be  .jpg or JPEG files. They’re reasonably compact so they can be sent quickly by Email, and the quality is good enough for publication in magazines and newspapers.  

BOOT BOTHER

As an Apple Mac user I have been a little disappointed by the new series Boot Camp. I hope you will do a parallel series for the faithful Mac enthusiast. However, my real problem is that my screen display is getting ever smaller. The document file and letter I am now typing has virtually no background. The left, top and right-hand margins are just black, for approximately half an inch, but the image is not distorted. I’m reluctant to go to my dealer for fear he’ll tell me I need a new monitor. I belong to the generation that grew up during the war and this has left me with a healthy desire to repair, rather than replace. Any suggestions?

Dr Paul Roebuck

A

Around  99% of the PC-related queries we receive at  F!F!F! are concerned with IBM compatible machines using Windows 95, and occasionally Windows 3.1.  From that we have to assume that Macs are more reliable, users have fewer problems or Apple owners are not prolific letter-writers. Nevertheless, an episode of Boot Camp devoted to the Mac is in the pipeline.

Your monitor has almost certainly developed a fault, but there’s absolutely no reason why it cannot be repaired. The only circumstances when that might be uneconomic are if expensive items like the tube or line output transformer need replacing, which is unlikely in your case. Get a quote from your local dealer, or get in touch with a specialist repair firm, such as Monitor Workshop, who advertise a no fix, no fee service. They can be contacted on (0117) 940 6666.

COLOUR BAR

Not a problem as such, I’m just curious about why all computers seem to be the same colour? Maybe PC users do not want the same lurid colours as other products but there does seem to be an element of any colour you want, as long as it’s off-white. 

Maurice Skermer, Banbury Oxen

A

It goes back to the days when computers were items of office equipment and rarely found in the home. Several manufacturers have tried marketing ‘living-room’ PCs, housed in black and slate-grey boxes, presumably to match the cosmetics of hi-fis, TVs and VCRs, but cream or off-white remains the colour of choice. If you’re bored with manufacturer’s schemes there’s nothing to stop you whipping the lid off the box and spraying the outside using a tin of car paint. Perhaps there’s a market for enterprising cabinetmakers and artists, to produce custom finishes? If we hear of any, we’ll let you know.