FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 125 (03/09/98)

TAPI  TRAP

I have a 233MHz Pentium II with 32Mb RAM and it has been generally quite reliable. I recently upgraded from Windows 95 to Windows 98. It went without a hitch, apart from one small problem with CompuServe. Whenever I log off I get a message box that says 'The Following Applications are currently using active Dial Up Networking Connection TAPISRV.EXE do you wish to hang up anyway?' Unless I click OK the line remains open. A couple of times I've switched to another program and not noticed it, until several minutes later, when the connection times out. Is it me, the PC, Windows or CompuServe?

J. Carpenter, Dagenham

A

It's Windows 98. This is a known problem with CompuServe version 3.0.4, it concerns a file called CCTN240C.DLL, which lives in the CompuServe folder. When you log off it checks to make sure that no other applications are using Dial-Up Networking, for some reason Windows 98 tells it that it is still using the modem and you get the TAPI (telephony applications programming interface) message. There is a simple fix; it is available from CompuServe in the UK Help Forum. In CompuServe click on Go and type in UKHF, then in the File Finder section search for 'Win98fix.exe', retrieve the file and follow the instructions in the Readme document.

AGAINST THE GRAIN

During my time on the Internet I have made a lot of friends. I have subsequently collected photographs of many of them through downloads. The photographs are of varying quality some grainy, some dark, and some perfect. With particular reference to the grainy photographs, is there any software or technique available to reduce the coarseness of the grain?

Mike Daubney

A

Grain is usually caused by the lack of detail in an image. You cannot put back what is not there, but there are various ways of masking grainy texture. Paint Shop Pro in particular has some effective filters on the Image menu, try the  'blur', 'soften' and 'despeckle' options. Shareware versions of Paint Shop Pro are frequently included on computer magazine cover-mount CD-ROMs, or it can be downloaded from: www.jasc.com

BILL OF FAIR

I should be grateful if you could help me with two matters. I have recently moved into a shared flat and am conscious that I do not want the phone bill to skyrocket! Do you know if there is a program that will record the time that I am using the phone?

I am a librarian and am looking for a piece of software which will help me chase suppliers/publishers when an item I should have received on a certain date every month fails to arrive. At the moment I only become aware of a problem when one of my user's draws it to my attention. 

Averil Travers

A

A simple phonebook program called Dialog32 could solve both problems at once. Dialog 32 maintains up to four phone books, (personal, work, e-mail, etc.) and all call times can be automatically logged. It also has an alarm and calendar, to remind you about those important deliveries. You can download a 30-day trial shareware version of Dialog32 from various sites around the web, including: http://www.hotfiles.com  (enter Dialog32 into the search window)

PRINT POSER

I need to print a number of screens to capture configuration information from within Windows 95.  My keyboard is configured as 'Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard' however pressing the 'Print Scrn' key has no effect. I have looked in Windows 95 Help and for both screen capture and screen dump the advice is 'press Alt+PrintScreen'.   Unfortunately this does not work either!  Is it possible to print Windows 95 screens?

Graham Smart

A

When you press the PrintScreen key an image of whatever is on the screen is copied to the Windows 95 clipboard, where it remains until it is overwritten by something else. The simplest way to view and print the image is to open Paint (Start, Programs, and Accessories), or any graphics program, click on the edit menu and then select Paste (or press Control V). You can also import the image from the clipboard into any Windows program, including an open word processor document.

GOLDEN OLDIES

Regarding your advice in (F!F!F! July 23), about mixing gold with tin/lead contacts on memory SIMM (and indeed any other connector) it is quite simply wrong. You should never mix them. Electrical current flowing through the dissimilar metals will cause corrosion.  Eventually, the corrosion will result in bad contacts giving memory faults. Removing and cleaning the SIMMs and sockets will solve the problem for a while but that's treating the symptoms, not the cause. Maybe at that point you decide the PC is at the end of its life.

Andrew Crosland, Slough

A

We suspect that the vast majority of PCs reach the end of their useful working lives fully functioning. The pressure to upgrade hardware and software takes its toll long before corroded contacts ever becomes a significant problem. On a typical PC motherboard there are more than a dozen different types of connector -- plugs, sockets, chip sockets, jumpers etc. -- many of which can involve dissimilar metals coming into contact with one another. Corrosion undoubtedly happens, but it is a very slow process.

CROCK CLOCK

The clock on my PC appears not to recognise the standard 24-hour day, and constantly goes walkabouts. Some weeks it is fine, and then you'll find it's the middle of the night in mid afternoon, and August 12 will become August 4th. So you have any ideas?

Martin Johnson

A

It's not unknown for the clock in Windows to loose a few minutes over the course of a day, but date errors are very unusual. The prime suspect has to be the real time clock (RTC) on the PC motherboard. This can behave erratically if the backup battery is about to expire, or the contacts have become intermittent (possibly through corrosion…). If the PC is more than three or four years old the battery almost certainly needs replacing. On some machines this can be quite tricky so it's probably a good idea to leave it to the experts.

PULLING A FAST ONE!

I have a Packard Bell 100MHz Pentium PC and recently tried to sign up to the Internet via a free trial offer. However, I could not get connected. On telephoning the company's help line I was told that my PC's memory was not fast enough! I find this surprising as this is a relatively new machine?

Gordon Coyne, via fax

A

We've not heard that one before… It is of course absolute nonsense and the speed of your PC's memory has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on Internet access. If that's the standard of the company's helpline assistance you should count yourself fortunate that you were unable to connect to their service. 

RANDOM ORDER

I have tried out your tip of the week (Boot Camp, Connected August 6) and wondered if it is possible to change the random text generated by the Word 97 expression '=rand()' to, say "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party", or whatever else takes one's fancy?

Charles Cresswell

A

Probably but life is too short. If anyone knows we'll pass it on...