FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 139 (10/12/98)

THE WRONG CONNECTION

I have recently bought a laptop PC running Windows 98. I am trying to connect it to my desktop running Windows 95 using the Direct Cable Connection through the parallel ports. Both computers have the software installed with file and print sharing set up and I have set the desktop to 'host' and the laptop to 'guest'. After I select 'Connect' and 'Listen' on the respective computers I get a dialogue box on each computer saying 'Verifying User Name & password…'.

The computers then give another box saying 'Status: the parallel cable on LPT1 disconnected. Leaving the Host computer waiting for a Guest'. Can you help?

Hugh Beadle

A

The Direct Cable Connection utility in Windows 95 and 98 is truly horrible. Do not waste another second of your time trying to make it work, it will drive you nuts! We have spent many hours grappling with it and even managed to get it to run on a few occasions but it is highly temperamental, very unreliable and saps the will to live... There are many much easier ways to swap files between two PCs, including using floppy discs, ('zip' the file if it's larger than 1.4Mb) or send files to your PCs over the Internet as E-mail attachments. Alternatively use a proper PC communications program like PC Anywhere or LapLink, both of which actually work…

KEY ISSUE

With reference to the Tip of the Week in Boot Camp (Connected November 26), the Win Key + D on my PC does not perform quick maximise/minimise as suggested. Instead it moves the focus to the first item beginning with the letter D in the current window, where there is one, otherwise nothing happens! This is the same on both my desktop and laptop!

Stephen Lloyd

A

There are differences in the actions of the Windows Key on earlier versions of the Windows 95 and the more recent OSR2 release and Windows 98. If you are using the older Windows 95 you can minimise all open windows by pressing Win Key + M; to open them up again press shift + Win key + M.

NAME THAT TUNE

Now you have shown us how to get hold of speak.exe (F!F!F! 26 November), can you tell us if - somewhere in Windows - there still lurks the hidden Christmas Carol program? I remember the tunes plinking away in the background in the office I was working in about ten years ago. Just the sort of thing to accompany mulled wine and mince pies in the office!

Tim Johnson

A

There were no carols in early Windows at least none that we can recall but Windows 95 and 98 does have a small repertoire of tinny tunes tucked away in the Windows folder. They include the hummy bits from Beethoven's 5th and Fur Elise, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto, Mozart's 40th, an excerpt from In the Hall of the Mountain King, and several others. To play them open Windows Explorer, click on the Windows Folder, scroll down until you find Media, open that and double click on the icon next to the tune you want to hear and the media player will start automatically.

SPARKS FLY

With reference to recent comments about the danger from lightning strikes to PCs (F!F!F! November 26), you say there's no need to unplug the PC from the mains. The other week we had an electrical storm and the telephone wires in the street were hit, the surge came down my telephone wire and burnt out my modem. I contacted BT, they said any appliance that is connected to a BT line, and even if it is still earthed by the mains, is still susceptible to damage.

Ron Mitchell

A

They are right of course and we should have said that it's a wise precaution to unplug your modem when there's a storm in the vicinity. The phone network is generally well protected but if the strike is close by then damage can still occur.

FAIR SHARES

I am looking for a software package than can manage a small investment portfolio of shares and unit trusts. Are you aware of any and if so, could you supply contact details?

G. T. Brighty

A

The popular financial program Quicken Deluxe 98 can do all that for you, plus a lot more besides. It will keep track of popular shares and unit trusts, automatically updating their value when you register and log on to the Quicken web site. As a matter of interest share prices are delayed by 20 minutes; unit trusts are updated weekly. Quicken 98 Deluxe currently sells for around £45 and you can get more details from Intuit Customer Services on 0800 585058 or visit their UK web site at: http://www.intuit.co.uk

ZIP TIP

I have downloaded two screensavers from various web sites on the Internet but both can only be utilised with WinZip. I find that WinZip is something for which one has to pay. Can screensavers be used with other 'Zip' programs?

Duncan Wu

A

Those screensavers are compressed or 'zipped' to reduce the size of the file and speed up download times. In order for them to work on your PC they must first be decompressed or 'unzipped', and that's where WinZip comes in. WinZip is one of a number of utilities designed to open compressed files and programs. PK Unzip is another and they can be downloaded, free of charge, from a number of sites on the Internet. However, both programs are Shareware and that means you can use try them for a brief evaluation period -- usually 30 days -- but if you continue to use them after that then you should register and pay a small fee. Details of how to pay are usually included in 'nag' screens that appear when the program is opened.

www.winzip.com and www.pkunzip.com

TIME FOR CHANGE

The setting buttons on my fathers Windows 95 clock do not work and he cannot change the time. How can he remedy this please?

Sue Jackson

A

Call up the Windows clock display, either by double-clicking the digital display in the bottom right hand corner of the screen (alternatively right-click on the clock display and select Adjust Time/Date), or double click the Time/Date icon on Control Panel (Start then Settings). To set the time click the mouse pointer into the digital readout immediately below the analogue clock display and insert a cursor. Now your father can change the value using the up/down buttons, or by using backspace to delete the numbers and manually keying in new numbers; the analogue clock will change to the new time when he clicks OK.  

OUT OF CONTROL

Please could you help me use our microphone for making our own recordings? Everything appears to work except the recording volume.  The recording volume slider is greyed out and the Help says: 'This setting is unavailable if you must physically change the volume on your audio hardware and cannot change it using software' I don't know how to do this.

Judy Oliver

A

That message usually means that your PC is fitted with an older type of sound card, with a manual volume control or a small thumbwheel, fitted to the back of the card. If so then your best course of action is to upgrade the soundcard, they're not expensive; prices start from around £20, and can be easily fitted in a few minutes.