FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 161 (11/05/99)

COLOURFUL RESPONSES
In response to the query 'A bit of Colour' (F!F!F! 29th April), underlining or striking out black text in colour is possible. I use Word 97 and it can be done using the Drawing Toolbar. This method is a little bit fiddly but it should be achievable. After displaying the Drawing Toolbar click on Draw and then click on Grid. This defines the fineness of an invisible grid of vertical and horizontal grid lines over the page. Personally I have it at its lowest setting which is 0.1 cm for horizontal and vertical spacing with the horizontal and vertical origin values set at 0 cm.

Once this has been set up all you have to do is draw your underlining orstrikeout lines in the appropriate places. On the Drawing Toolbar there should be a button with a diagonal line on it which is the line drawing function. When you click once on this button and then move the cursor onto
the page the cursor changes to a cross and you simply click and drag to insert your line. There should also be buttons on the toolbar for line colour, line style and even dash style.
Anthony Metelko

Re 'A bit of colour', you can use the Field Code:  {ADVANCE \ L #} . Go to the Insert menu then Field > Equations And Formulas. The # is a number which shows how many points the subsequent characters are moved. Trial and error will need to be used to position the following characters correctly. The subsequent characters can be formatted in any style the user likes. This command can also be used to 'overline' by using {ADVANCE \l 20 \u 12}__ {ADVANCE \d 12}. The second ADVANCE is used to bring the cursor down again.
Andrew Dale

A

Quite a few readers came up with the Drawing Tool method. It works well, provided there are no subsequent changes to the text in which case the line may be displaced. We found it helpful to switch off the 'Snap To Grid' function which tries to align the line to an invisible grid. You can position the line more accurately by increasing the zoom factor.

EXPLORE OPTIONS
Your 'Exploratory Drives' solution (F!F!F! April 29) for opening Windows Explorer on a designated drive or folder was just what I have been looking for. Unfortunately it does not seem to work for me. Firstly I could not find Start Menu\Explorer.exe shortcut (I may have deleted it as I normally enter Explorer by right clicking on Start). I installed the specified shortcut and followed the instructions to add the necessary switches for opening at Program Files. They had no effect. The switches as printed seem to be incorrect to the extent that they incorporate the "|" symbol which appears to be illegal. I substituted the normal backslash.
Don Clarke

Why not just create a desktop (or anywhere else) shortcut by highlighting drive D in Explorer and right-dragging to the Desktop,and choosing 'create shortcut here'?
Ian McRobert

Here's an easier way to solve David Bickells problem (FFF of 29/4/99). Windows Explorer has many strengths but your solution is really only a patch. Right-click on the desktop select New and then Shortcut. Click on the Browse button and find your way to C:\windows\winfile.exe, Open, Next, Finish, hey presto! Now just left-click on the resultant shortcut and the Window 3.11 File Manager is now at your disposal.
David Bennet

A

Typographical gremlins changed what should have been forward slashes into uprights, the command should have read: C:\Windows\Explorer.exe /n /e, d:

Thanks to everyone who came up with alternative solutions and in particular David Bennet with his useful reminder of how to activate the old Windows 3.1 File Manager, hidden away in Windows 95 and 98.

KEY QUESTION
When I worked with WordPerfect I used the Alt key with numbers to insert symbols special to my workplace. This combination can also be used in Word 97. The only problem is, I do not have a list giving me these combinations. Where can I find such a list? The use of Alt keys in combination with a number is far quicker than the long way via Symbols on the Insert menu.
Gisela Greenaway

A

You can find the key assignment for any character or symbol available on your PC by consulting the Character Map utility. In Windows 95 you will find it in the Accessories folder (Start > Programs > Accessories), in Windows 98 it is in the Systems Tools sub-folder. Simply choose the font and highlight the character you want to use and the Alt code appears in the bottom right hand corner of the Character Map window.  

WNETGETUSER AGAIN…
I had the same problem as Chris Broughton (F!F!F! 29th April), with the WNetGetUser error message after opening Outlook Express. I followed your earlier instructions for removing this message; I didn't have an Identification Tab in the Network dialogue box, so I was really delighted to see your alternative method. But, I now have to log on to my computer with a network password, and your instructions for removing this don't work. So, I've swapped one annoying 'feature' for another - can you please help?
Terry Willson
 

Like many others I have had problems with the "WNetGetUser returned" message and I have followed the instructions in F!F!F! However I seemed to have ended up with an additional icon on the desktop, namely "Network Neighbourhood and I also have a "Log off John Sharp" on the start menu I do not recall seeing there before. Can you help?  By the way, the error message has gone.
John Sharp

A

To remove the log on password boxes try this: go to Find on the Start menu, in the 'Named' field type *.pwl and click Find Now. This will locate all instances of passwords on your PC. Rename the files with the suffix '.old' and restart the PC. If the password boxes reappear enter your username but leave the password field empty and press Enter. Restart and you shouldn't see them again.

The Network Neighbourhood icon and Log Off… are both harmless and can be left alone. If you must you can remove Network Neighbourhood with the Windows utility Tweak Ui.

Deleting the 'Log Off' entry is fairly straightforward but it involves editing the Registry file (definitely off limits to Windows novices). Do not try this unless you know exactly what you are doing, and always back up the Registry first, you have been warned!

Open Regedit and find the key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\

Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ Explorer

Create a new Binary Value (New on the Edit menu) and call it 'NoLogOff', right click on NoLogOff, select Modify and give it a value 01 00 00 00, close Regedit and restart the machine.

PESKY POWER

I am having problems with power management in Windows 98, as I do not want anything to be switched off. I have the screensaver as "none" and the power scheme as "Always on" with system standby, turn off monitor and turn off hard disks as "Never", yet the thing still turns off after 15 minutes of inactivity. This is a big nuisance because it takes a long time to turn itself back on. Have I missed something?
Tony Etheridge

A

It's worth checking to see if any of the power management options have been enabled in your PCs BIOS program. Refer to your manual or look for an on-screen message during boot up referring to the 'set-up' program.