FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 151 (04/03/99)

STICKY SHUT DOWN

My PC will not shut down from Windows '95 and freezes on the Windows cloudy sky screen. It then has to be shut down by switching off and consequently needs to do a scan each time it is re-started. Can you help please?

Graham Standbrook

A

There are many possible causes, some of them requiring major surgery, but quite often it's something fairly straightforward like a program running in the background not shutting down properly. Try this, before you exit Windows check that the taskbar at the bottom of the screen is clear -- i.e. there are no programs or applications still running -- then press Ctrl + Alt + Delete just once, and you'll see the Close Program Window. Highlight and click End Task for each entry in turn (except Explorer) then exit Windows. If the machine shuts down successfully you'll have to go through the list in Close Program, one by one, to find which one is causing your machine to hang.

HELPLESS?

Your recommendation of Serif Page Plus V4-0 desktop publishing software 'at the remarkably low price of just £5.95' (F!F!F! January 28th) failed to mention that the manuals cost an extra £25.00 and according to Serif there is no help menu in the basic package. Maybe it's not such a bargain after all?

Rosemary Marshall, rosemary@musiga.demon.co.uk

A

You have been mis-informed, not only does the program contain extensive Help files it also comes with the complete manual on the CD-ROM, the £25 is for the printed version.

QUICK STOP

I'm pretty " au fait " with most of the regularly used aspects of Office 97, but one thing does bother me.  Like most small business operators, I'm not so professional as not to make occasional mistakes in word processing/spread sheets, which need to be rectified.  As logic would have it, these are usually discovered after you have decided to print them. How do I stop the printer from carrying out its task without turning it off? 

J. F. Raeside

A

Click on Start > Settings > Printers, double click your printer icon and on the Windows that appears click the Printer menu and select Purge Printing Jobs.

MYSTERY BUTTON

I recently purchased a new PC with a 15" colour CTX monitor. One of the buttons on the front says "Degauss", I have no idea what the purpose of this button is, please can you explain?

Alex Murphy

A

Behind the screen, inside the picture tube, there's a thin perforated metal plate, called a shadowmask (or Aperture Grille in the case of monitors with Trinitron or Diamondtron type picture tubes). This can become permanently magnetised by nearby magnets in speakers, large metal objects, magnetic fields generated by other electronic devices or even the earth's own magnetic field. This causes colour impurities or 'staining' on the screen. The degauss button on your monitor generates a collapsing magnetic field in a coil around the outside of the screen, which de-magnetises the shadowmask. (On some monitors this happens automatically when it is first switched on). When you press the degauss button the picture will momentarily wobble and distort and should quickly return to normal.  In severe cases you may have to degauss the tube several times but in any case you should refer to the manual as doing it too often may shorten the life of some components.

BRIGHT SPARK?

I have recently purchased a new computer for the family. When starting up occasionally the system makes an unusual and unpleasant noise from the speakers, which can only be resolved by switching off the computer at the mains and restarting it. The supplier tells me this is due to the system being too cold or damp and not enough 'spark' generated at the initial turn on to successfully start Windows 98. As the computer has remained in the same position for several months and this has occurred only recently I am dubious to this advice. The family are fed up with this noise and I am concerned with the long-term implications of damage to the machine. What advice would you give to people like myself?

Derek Evans

A

Not enough spark eh? It sounds as though your PC supplier's prodwire has become discombobulated… It's bad enough when manufacturer's Helplines try to blind their customers with science but this is just pure baloney. There are no 'sparks' inside your PC, or at least if were it would be in very big trouble! The computer has a fault, it's probably concerned with the sound card or its driver software, but that's irrelevant because it is up to the vendor to put it right since it is still under guarantee. You must stand up for your rights and insist that it be fixed forthwith! 

IMMOVABLE ICONS

Can you please tell me how to delete icons from my desktop? I have managed to delete most of them simply by right clicking, but there are three that I am unable to get rid of including My Computer, Recycle Bin and Inbox. I never use the desktop icons, preferring instead to go to my programs via the Start menu.

Tony White

A

Those icons are 'protected' and cannot be removed without editing the registry (not reccommended for novices) or by using a utility like Tweak UI. Tweak UI will remove InBox and Recycle Bin but not My Computer which is best left alone but you can call it something else by right-clicking on the icon and selecting Rename

THE WRONG BOOT

When loading Windows 95 on my Pentium II PC I used to receive a warning during the DOS stage if a floppy disk had been left in the reader. This had to be removed before Windows could start. Recently, this feature has disappeared and all I get is a flashing cursor, which leaves me no option but to re-boot. Can you advise me either how to reinstate the warning, or at least what to key in order to re-start the loading process?

Phil Thomas

A

There are a number of reasons why this can happen but try the most obvious one first. Normally a PC is set to boot from the hard disc drive -- drive C: -- this instruction is contained in the BIOS (Basic Input Output System), a small program that configures your PC hardware before Windows starts loading. For some reason your computer was set to search for boot files on the floppy drive A: you can change the drive letter by entering the BIOS program. As soon as you switch on your PC you should see an on-screen message saying something like 'To enter Setup press…' (usually the Delete key or combination of keys). When the BIOS menu appears look for 'BIOS Features Setup' (instructions how to make selections and changes appear at the bottom of the screen). You should see an entry called 'Boot Sequence' or something similar, followed by the letters 'A, C'. Highlight the entry and press the Page Up/Down keys on the keyboard to toggle the entry to 'C, A'. It is vitally important that you touch nothing else! Exit to the main menu, select Save Settings and then Exit and Windows should now load from the C: drive.