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FAQS!
FACTS! FAX! 101 (19/03/98)
SOUND
AND VISION
I
expect you’re used to silly questions…so here’s another! Should I be able to
get sound and movement from Internet sites? I think you’ll probably say yes and
if so, why can’t I? I have a 486 PC with recently installed CD-ROM drive,
however, the only time I get sound is when I play a CD or when using CompuServe
and am told ‘You have mail waiting’. How do I activate my sound card so it
works with the Internet?
R.
J. Relf, Manningtree, Essex
A
It’s
not a silly question at all. There are plenty of Internet web sites with sound
and video or animated clips, the trouble is, they’re not always obvious. Much
also depends on your how your browser software has been set up, your PC and its
multimedia capabilities and not forgetting modem speed. It’s easy to miss
multimedia clips when you’re page hopping as they can take a long time to load.
A good place to find out what your PC is capable of is the RealNetworks web
site. There you can download the latest video and audio player software, tune
in to radio stations around the world, even watch TV, though don’t expect too
much. Video via the Internet is shown on a small screen and movement is jerky,
sometimes no more than just a succession of still pictures. Moreover, just a
few seconds of moving video can swallow up megabytes of hard disc space, which
your relatively old PC may not have to spare.
RealNetworks
home page can be found at: www.realaudio.com
The
UK site is also well worth a visit, the address is: http://uk.rea.com
BUY
THE LEFT…
I
read with interest the article on alternative pointing devices in Boot Camp 10.
Do you know of anyone who supplies a left-handed track ball? My wife is left-handed
and after some searching around, I found her a left-handed keyboard and mouse,
but desk space is confined so a track ball would solve a lot of problems.
Dale
Emery
A
Like
a mouse, either hand can use a track ball. Windows 95 can reverse the actions of
the right and left buttons. Click on the mouse icon in Control Panel; the
option appears on the Buttons tab. Whilst you can get ergonomically shaped
mice, designed to fit the left-hand, as far as we’re aware no-one seems to make
a left-handed trackball. If we hear of one we’ll let you know.
ON
THE LINE
My
parents have only one telephone line, which is used heavily at weekends for
Internet use. A common complaint is the unavailability of the line when I’m
using the computer. If Call Waiting was installed on the line, would I hear the
‘bleeps’ through the modem speaker and thus have time to disconnect and answer
the voice call?
Findlay
Colquhoun
A
No
and they interfere with the flow of data, which will be interrupted, possibly
causing the Internet access program to crash. The only satisfactory solution is
to install a second line. BT currently charges £117, if required the cost can
be spread over four quarterly bills. Incidentally, some Internet software can
be set to automatically switch off Call Waiting, or it can be manually disabled
by pressing # 43 #, (hash 43 hash),
before dialling, and * 43 # (star 43 hash), to switch it back on again
afterwards.
SAVE
ME
Following
the advice in Boot Camp 9, Spring-Cleaning, I used Scandisk, but it complained
of being interrupted. This could only have been caused by a screen saver, as
nothing else was running. My question
is how do I switch it off?
Donald
Massey
A
Assuming
your PC is running a Windows 95 screen saver, from the Start menu select
Settings, then Control Panel and click on the Display icon and the Screen Saver
tab. Open the list of available screen savers by clicking on the down arrow.
Scroll through the list you, should find ‘none’, highlight it and click on OK.
If you are using a third party screen saver like After Dark, that’s not listed
in the Screen Saver dialogue box, then it should have its own control panel
with an on/off switch. This normally appears on the taskbar.
PASS
AGAIN
In
F!F!F! recently there was a question concerning the Enter Windows Password box
that kept appearing every time the machine was turned on. I also have this
problem but your solution didn’t solve the problem. Have you any other
suggestions?
Paul
Chanin
A
Yes,
try this. From the Start Menu select Find and in the ‘Named’ field type
‘*.PWL’, (without the inverted commas of course), and click on Find Now. You
should find one or more of these files in the Windows folder, they contain your
password data (and that of anyone else who uses the machine). Simply delete or
rename the files (*.OLD, or something similar), then restart the computer. When
the password box next appears put in your user name but leave the password
field blank, and press enter. When you next restart the computer the password
box should be no more, hopefully…
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