FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 150 (25/02/99)

DIY SAVER

A recent Boot Camp Tip of the Week Boot Camp concerned the option in Control Panel to create your own screen saver. This however relied on a facility in Windows OSR2 and Windows 98; I have the earlier version of Win 95 so I wonder if there is another way to develop my own screensaver by importing a picture from another file or from a scanned image?

Andrew Hollamby

A

There is and you will find an assortment of shareware and trial screensaver programs at the following web sites:

http://www.kagi.com/sightscreen/product.html

http://www.slsoft.com/screen/saver.html

http://www.customsavers.com/index_sshot.html

http://www.inetnow.net/~arthur/

jim/picsave/picsave.htm

MORE FAST FONTS

Regarding the query in F!F!F! February 11th concerning viewing fonts on a PC, there is an interesting Word add-in which allows you to see and select your fonts, just like the facility in Publisher. This is called Visual Fonts and can be downloaded from http://www.officetoys.com/

Jim Brown

Try 'Enhanced Font List for Word 97' available free from www.wopr.com

It adds a new button just to the left of the font drop down list. If you press it, you see the font list with each font in its own font, if you see what I mean.

Jim Noble

I downloaded the FontList macro from the Microsoft web site as advised and all seemed to be fine.  However, when I try to run it I get the message "Compile error.  Ambiguous name detected." Reading through the macro I can't see the conflict.  Can you help, please?

Richard Kelly

A

Some useful tips, thanks to everyone who wrote in with suggestions. Incidentally, several other readers reported similar problems to Richard Kelly when attempting to run the Microsoft Word 97 macro on their PCs. The 'Ambiguous name' error seems to concern the first few lines of the macro, which conflicts with the default entry in the new macro field. The solution is to make sure you call the new macro 'ListFonts', and delete the text that appears in the Create Macro field before pasting in the macro listing.

RAVE FROM THE GRAVE

Having been an early convert to a Sinclair ZX81 in 1981 with many of the programs I wrote for it gathering dust in a drawer, is there any way I could emulate Sinclair Basic either on my retired Amstrad PCW or 486 DX66?  I have been told that there is software to enable me to do this, but all my searches have proved in vain.  It would be rather like seeing a long dead language spring to life before my eyes!

Roy Asser

A

Everything you need to revive your old programs can be found at the web site below, including a good selection of downloadable emulators, games and links to the many other ZX81 fan sites:

http://www.fortunecity.com/underworld/

finalfantasy/513/zx81eng.htm

MOVING AGAIN

In response to the article in F!F!F! about forwarding e-mail when changing ISPs, the easy answer is to contact Bigfoot, at http://www.bigfoot.com  There you can get an e-mail address, which is yours for life and is free! All mail sent to that address is forwarded to an address of you choice, so it doesn't matter how many times you change your service provider. All you have to do is tell Bigfoot your new address. This way as far as your contacts are concerned, your e-mail address will always remain the same. They will also provide you with a URL for your homepage.

Clive E.Mockford

The ISP Easynet will redirect e-mails to a new address. The service is free for as long as your subscription lasts, thereafter a fee is payable.

Janet Bord

The simplest solution to the problem of changing e-mail addresses when moving to a new ISP is to take out one of the many free e-mail services available (e.g. HotBot and Yahoo) and to use their mail forwarding services. One may then change ISP as often as one likes.

Tom Lister

A

Thanks to the many readers who wrote in extolling the virtues of Bigfoot and the other web sites that provide a free redirection service. The only point to bear in mind is that your e-mails will be passing through the hands of a third party, which may be a consideration if you are concerned about security.

MODEM GO SLOW?

I have a 56kbps modem, and the ISP I use states that it also uses 56kbps modems, but I have never connected at more than 33.6kbps. Is there any way that I can change this?

Mark Wharton

A

Many factors determine data transfer speeds, not least the time of day -- it falls off dramatically when Internet traffic increases during the afternoon and early evening -- and the quality of your telephone line. In any event the maximum speed that you can upload data on a normal phone line is 33.6kps, 56kps is only possible when downloading data, and then only a 'perfect' line. You could ask BT to check your connection and there are various 'tweaks' they can make at their end to improve line quality, but it's unlikely you will gain much. The only way to get a significant increase in speed is to upgrade to a digital ISDN line.

LOST IN SPACE

I have a Compaq Deskpro 5100 with added modem and CD-ROM.  I use Windows 95 and Office 97, as well as various other programs and the Internet.  My C-drive total capacity is 605Mb.  I have been told that Win 95 needs at least 100Mb of free memory to work effectively, and I am struggling to keep this amount available.  I have deleted software applications and downloads that I never use, and transferred most of my own files to floppies, but I have several big software apps that I would like to install. I would be grateful if you could let me know: Are there any tricks for making more space on the C-drive? Can I clear out the Temp folder periodically, or should I leave it alone? What sort of files on Win95 can be harmlessly deleted?

My local computer shop suggested installing an additional hard disk (Fujitsu/Seagate 4.37Gb Ultra DMA), to be run as a D-drive (moving the CD to the E-drive) at a cost of approximately £100.  What do you think?

Angela Horn

A

You can delete and shuffle files until you are blue in the face but the fundamental problem will remain, namely your hard disc drive is far too small.

If correct the shop's £100 upgrade offer sounds like a very good deal indeed and that would solve all of your problems at a stroke. To keep things simple you might consider replacing the old drive with the new one and starting afresh.

VIDEO ON CD

In Faqs!facts!fax! (11/02/99) you mention transferring photos to CD-ROM. Can the same thing be done with video recordings and if so where? I have just been delivered of my first grandchild and would love to put my video recordings of her on CD.

G.E.McGowen, Cambridge

A

It can be done but it's a bit of a palaver. In addition to a fast Pentium PC (233MHz plus) you will need video capture device and/or an MPEG encoding card, plus a CD writer. The discs will only be playable on suitably equipped PCs and at this stage of the game the quality probably won't be up to much either. All this is going to cost you a darn sight more than a good Super VHS video recorder (the JVC HR-S7500 is currently selling for £350 or less). You can edit or copy your camcorder recordings to the VCR, either for viewing on your TV, or for making an edit 'master' that you can use to run off multiple copies on VHS tape for friends and family.