FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 106 (23/04/98)

ARABIAN GULF

My computer uses Windows 95, and I would like to configure it to work in Arabic and English. I tried to do this using the upgrade kit (wi95a.upg) but failed. The result is a message, which says ‘Some control panel or device settings have changed since you have started Windows. Close all your programs, restart Windows, and then run set up again.’ I followed the instructions but with no success. Do you have a solution?

Tarek Ageli

A

It appears that you are using the latest release of Windows 95, produced within the last six months, which does not support this upgrade. All previous versions and the soon to be released Windows 98 should be okay though. The simplest solution is to delete your existing Windows 95 and replace it with the earlier version, and continue with the upgrade, or you could wait for Windows 98. For more detailed advice you can contact Aptec plc, who specialise in non-English versions of Windows 95. They can be reached at 0171-627 1000. 

FLYING THE FLAG

Microsoft doesn't miss a trick in promoting its own image, even to the detriment of its captive customers.  My latest gripe is that 'Flying Windows' is the only screen saver that can be individually installed/uninstalled on my machine. I prefer 'Flying through Space' because it is far less distracting when I'm working at my desk. I would therefore like to uninstall all the rest to save space, but they seem to come as a job lot, apart from the flag-waving 'Flying Windows'. Is there any way of sorting this out?

Ken Robinson

A

You can easily delete unwanted screen savers using the Find utility. It’s on the Start menu, click on it, then the ‘Name & Location’ tab and in the field marked ‘Look In’ type C:\Windows. Next, select the Advanced tab and in the ‘Of Type’ field enter Screen Saver and click ‘Find Now’. A list of the Windows 95 screen savers on your system should then appear below. Highlight the ones you want to get rid of, hit the delete button on your keyboard and they’ll be sent to the Recycle Bin. If for any reason you wan to get them back again they can be re-installed from the Windows 95 CD-ROM, using the Add/Remove utility (Windows set-up tab) in Control Panel.  

NUMBERS UP

With reference to your reply concerning enabling keyboard Num Lock (F!F!F!  9^th April), I am amazed you offered such a complex solution to this problem. To set the Num Lock to be either on or off during boot up, you simply add the line "numlock=on" (or "numlock=off") to your CONFIG.SYS file.

Peter Simon

A

The BIOS solution was carefully chosen in preference to modifying CONFIG.SYS for two reasons. Firstly it is easier and more accessible for novice users – the instructions to safely alter the CONFIG.SYS file would involve many more steps with a great deal more explanation. Secondly, PC BIOS’s have a built-in fail-safe feature. Default settings can be easily restored if something goes wrong, trouble-shooting a corrupt CONFIG.SYS without a backup can be a nightmare, especially for a beginner.  

FAST FOR WORD

I use the word processor in Microsoft Works and, in general, am very pleased with it. My only real criticism is that when I want to highlight text which extends further than the screen monitor window, the highlighted areas move at the speed of light and is very difficult to bring under control. Is there any was it can be slowed down?

A Richards, Whitney, Oxen

Either buy a ‘Wheel’ type mouse, (prices start at around £25), which will allow you to precisely control screen scrolling speed in Word 7, or you can change your PC’s graphics acceleration. Open Control Panel and System, then select the Performance tab. Click on the Graphics button and you will see a slider, which should be moved towards the ‘None’ end.  Note that this will affect all Windows 95 applications, and some programs, like games, may run very slowly.   

RADIATION HAZARD

Is there any radiation hazards that might result from leaving on a PC during the day, particularly in or near a child's bedroom?

David Auger

High-frequency electromagnetic radiation – the kind generated by PC monitors -- has been associated with a risk to health in the past, in particular to the unborn children of expectant mothers working all day in close proximity to a VDU screen. However, all CRT-based monitors sold within the past five years (LCD monitors are considered safe) now have to conform to strict emission standards. Whilst no one can say PC monitors are 100% safe it seems fair to assume they are no more harmful than domestic televisions, which work in exactly the same way. Furthermore, electromagnetic radiation follows the inverse square law, which basically means levels fall off very sharply the further away you are from the device. At a distance of a metre or so, they would be barely measurable against background radiation from other man-made and natural sources.

BELIGERENT BIOS

On turning on our 386 recently, our 6 year-old accidentally typed in something during start up, so now we have a password protected BIOS. Therefore we cannot now turn on the PC, or even boot it up from the FDD. Have you any advice on how to overcome this problem.

Paul Foyle

A

It should be possible to trick the BIOS into forgetting the password protection by removing the backup battery on the PC motherboard. This should return the BIOS to its factory default settings. However this isn’t a job you should tackle yourself and is best left to an engineer.

WIPE THE SLATE

I have asked six different computer professionals if deleting items from the Recycle Bin in Windows 95 means they are irrecoverable by any means. Three of them say yes, the others say no, and that with the right software the information can be retrieved. To make such information irrecoverable requires a program to fully destroy it. Who is right? Can you recommend a program that wipes information permanently if that is not possible by normal deletion?

Tony Smith, Brighton, Sussex

A

When you delete a file on a PC all you’re really doing is removing the entry in the hard disc drive’s table of contents. The operating system then regards it as free space but the original data remains, until it has been overwritten by another application. Up until that point it can be still be recovered. There are several programs that will fully erase latent files, usually by replacing them with random data. One of the best known is a shareware utility called Blackboard File Wipe. It pops up from time to time on magazine CD-ROMS (it’s featured on the May issue of PC Magazine), or it can be downloaded from various web sites around the Internet, including: http://www.softseek.com and www.zdnet.co.uk/software/

HOLD THE FRONTPAGE

I am trying to install Microsoft FrontPage 98 onto my Windows 95 computer. Before installation actually starts I get the message 'Can't find local registry key'. I can then install 70% of the programme then it stops and tells me 'Error 3' and stops again. Any idea what's going on

Andy Perkins

A

Everything points to this being a problem with the Windows registry. Microsoft tell us the only reference they have to an Error 3 message concerns an attempt to install FrontPage 98 over an earlier version on a network PC, however this doesn’t seem to be relevant in your case. The simplest remedy is to bite the bullet and re-install Windows 95.