FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 097 (19/02/98)

LOST ADDRESS  

Is there a way of either printing out or saving to a floppy my Email address book? I use Windows 95 and BT Internet; shortly after connection I had a major system crash which meant re-registering with my server and of course losing my address book which fortunately was not too long at that time.  Now it is much larger and I am worried about losing it again.  I have laboriously typed it into to a word processor file, saved on floppy disc, just in case.  The only non-manual way of preserving it that I have found so far is to send an Email to the entire list, including myself, and then printing out the return message - which annoyed a lot of people!

Mike Smith

A

Your address book is contained in a file with the extension .wab, the one you are looking for is normally kept in the Windows 95 directory, though it may buried in an application data folder. Either way, the easiest way to find it is to use the Find utility on the Start menu. Type in ‘*.wab’ (without the quotation marks of course), and look for a wab file that starts with your user-name, or it may be called userMPS.wab. Note where it located and send it straight to a floppy by highlighting the entry with the left mouse button, then clicking the right button. Click Send To from the menu and choose the floppy disc option. If you loose the BT Internet software again, after re-installation, you can restore the address book by simply copying your backup file back to the directory from whence it came.

THE LONG GOODBYE

My Windows 95 machine is taking longer and longer to shut down. Sometime it hasn't shut down five minutes after clicking "Shut Down" on the Start menu and occasionally it will not shut down at all. Any help would be appreciated.

Chris Crofton-Sleigh

A

This is a very common problem, unfortunately there are many possible causes, and here are just a few of them. A corrupt Close Program or Exit Windows sound file could be causing the system to hang, check they’re okay, or cancel them from the Sounds utility in Control Panel. Make sure that no programs are left running in the background when you shut down. Press Alt-Tab and check the task menu is clear. If that’s inconclusive, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to call up the Close Program menu. Highlight each selection and Click on the End Task button, to find out if any of the programs listed – except Explorer – have stopped responding. You might come across applications loaded automatically by Windows at start up; one of these could be causing problems. If it’s the same one each time that’s your culprit. If that doesn’t help there’s probably something amiss in one of the start-up files (autoexec.bat, win.ini and config.sys etc.) or the dreaded Windows Registry, and that will require further, much more detailed investigation. 

GOLDEN OLDIES

I am starting up a small business and I need a computer and printer to help with letters and mailshots. Friends have given me two used computers but I do not know where to begin.

D.W.Emby, via fax

A

From the information you have supplied it appears you have been given two ancient IBM PCs, circa 1988. One clearly has a major fault, the other sounds a bit iffy too. It’s unlikely they could be economically repaired, moreover they both use long-obsolete processors, that are too slow to run up to date software, even if any was still available on 5.25 floppy disc… A Pentium-class PC, suitable for straightforward business applications needn’t be expensive, if you don’t mind not having the latest or fastest model, not that it’s necessary for this kind of work. Companies specialising in end of line and discontinued models -- often selling for a fraction of their original cost -- advertise in magazines like Micro Mart. You should be able to pick up a PC, inkjet printer and business software package for less than £600.

GETTING THE POINT

I have the opposite problem to the reader in F!F!F! (January 22), who wanted to change his mouse pointer back to the Windows 95 standard. I used to have a red coloured pointer, which I found very helpful. I upgraded to Windows 95 and the pointer is now black, but I cannot find how to turn it red again.

Douglas Potts, via fax

A

Pointer options in Windows 95 are rather limited, and there’s no easy way to change the colour. Incidentally, pointers and the hourglass live in a file called ‘cursors’, you’ll find it in the Windows directory. Your best bet is to get hold of an Icon Editor program. Microangelo from Impact Software is well worth trying, you can use it to change the shape, colour and look of your pointers and desktop icons, you can even design new ones. A 30-day trial version is available from their web site for the cost of a three-minute download. It also turns up on magazine cover discs from time to time. Microangelo can be found at: http://www.impactsoft.com/muangelo/

download/ma21.zip