FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 146 (28/01/99)

LEGO TRICK

I have a problem with two games that my family plays on our PC. One is Legoland Express; the other is Broderbrund's Logical Journey of the Zoombinies. One of them only operates in the 256 Colour setting; the other will only run using 16 bit HiColour. Is there an easy way of changing the colour settings in Windows 95 without having to go through Settings, Control Panel, Display, Colours etc. etc.?

Tim Cox

A

You need a little utility called QuickRes. It sits in the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen. One click takes you to a list of all the possible display modes on your PC, click on the new setting to make the change, it only takes a couple of seconds. QuickRes is part of the Microsoft PowerToys suite (it includes our old friend Tweak UI, also well worth having on your PC). PowerToys can be downloaded free of charge from the Microsoft web site, find it using the Search button: http://www.microsoft.com

SCAN PLAN

I have a friend whose son is travelling the world and I am sending and receiving E-mail for them. The question I would like to ask, if I am given a typed letter is there a way I could scan it and send it using CompuServe?

John Penkethman

A

There are two possibilities. If your scanner came with OCR (optical character recognition) software, convert the letter into a plain text file and send that as a normal E-mail. Alternatively, scan the letter, save it as a JPEG file and send it as an E-mail attachment using the 'Attach File' button on the Create File window, (or 'Send File', on the Mail drop-down menu).

DATE DISABLE

A few weeks back you showed how to disable the autodate facility in Word

documents so that the current date isn't shown when the document is called up at a later date. Unfortunately I have lost the issue with that item and cannot remember the keystrokes. Can you help?

Harry Watson

A

To disable an autodate entry in a document, highlight the date field (it turns grey) then press Ctrl + Shift + F9, it will then change to normal (black highlighted) text.

TESTING TESTING…

Can you suggest how to check whether or not the microphone on my PC is working (or even if there is one…)? I bought the PC a year ago, (166MHz Pentium), Control Panel suggests that I have a microphone, I have turned up all volume controls I can find up but how do I know for sure and how do I test it? I am keen to record some sounds for defined events and to use it with voice recognition software.

Andy & Rebecca Burgess

A

Look on the back panel of your PC for a socket marked 'mic' or 'microphone', if it is unoccupied the chances are a microphone isn't connected to your machine. You can double check by running the Sound Recorder program in Windows 95/98 but first ensure the microphone input is enabled and the level set high on the main volume panel (Start > Programs > Accessories > Multimedia > CD Player> View > Volume Control)). From the Start button select Programs > Accessories > Entertainment and click on the Sound Recorder icon. Click the red Record button and make some noises -- clap your hands or whistle -- if your PC has a microphone the sounds will be registered on the graphic display.

EDITOR'S CHOICE

I am the editor of a newsletter and we are looking for desktop publishing software. The problem is, once I ask the salesperson for a simple explanation of the programs abilities they loose me. All I require is a program that can produce a booklet or around 16 folded A4 pages.

Alex Balmforth, Delph, Saddleworth

A

That kind of job is well within the capabilities of word processors, like MS Word and Word Pro, but dedicated desktop publishing software needn't be expensive. Serif Page Plus V4.0 is currently on special offer for the remarkably low price of just £5.95, call 0800 376 7070 for details.

RETURNED ADDRESSES…

In response to your request for recommendations for address book programs (F!F!F! January 14th) may I suggest the one in GSP Power Publisher? It has a number of sections, viz., Firms, Surnames, Newsletter, Web Sites, Postcards etc., and information can be copied between sections. Each section can be printed out in sequence or used to create labels. It is all very easy. More details from: http://www.gspltd.co.uk/news/focus.htm

Eric Griffiths

Users lamenting the loss of MS Cardfile need look no further. Like Cardfile, Jot+ is a free-form note program, so you can put whatever information you need onto each note, but without Cardfile's miserly limitations. Jot+ also allows you to organise your addresses in a hierarchical fashion, so you can group your business contacts separately from your relatives or utility companies. Jot+ is not limited to addresses either. It can be used for recipes, class notes, novel plotting, research, client lists, legal references, storing E-text and much more. A shareware evaluation copy can be downloaded from http://www.kingstairs.com/jot/

Michael J Marshall, London SE16

Info Select is an address book that works very well both in its DOS and Windows versions. It is a general-purpose database and is available from Micro Logic Corp: http://www.miclog.com

Geoffrey Simon

I have found the program Sidekick is very good and does not get involved with anything in Windows or other Microsoft software. http://www.starfish.com

E. J. Smith

I use Address Manager for Windows; it is a comprehensive tool for printing labels, envelopes and for mail merge. Version 3.0 is now available from Simply Shareware and can be downloaded from: www.simplyshareware.com

Brian Adams

With reference to the demise of Cardfile in Windows 95/98, find someone using Windows 3.1 copy the 'Cardfile.exe' and 'Cardfile.hlp' files onto a floppy, paste them into the Accessories file in Windows, create a shortcut to Cardfile.exe on your desktop, click on it and bingo, Cardfile! By the way, I read somewhere that Excel 97 has a flight simulator in it - how do you access it please?

C. McCartney. Nice, France.

Once again another fantastic response, thank you everyone who wrote in with suggestions for Roger Pickering. However, readers seem generally satisfied with the Address Book utility in Windows Internet Explorer but as we suspected Cardfile still has a lot of dedicated fans so we're grateful to C. McCartney for reminding us how to copy it from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95/8. By way of thanks, the way to start the hidden Excel 97 flight simulator 'Easter Egg' is to open a new Workbook, press F5, type in 'X97:L97', click OK, press Tab once, hold down Ctrl + Shift then click on the Chart Wizard icon. The 'sim' is set on a dark, eerie alien landscape, use the mouse to steer, the left and right buttons control speed. To exit press Ctrl + Shift + Esc. The trick is to try and find your way to the scrolling credits.