FAQS! FACTS! FAX!  191 (16/12/99

BEAT THE BULLET

When creating bullet points in Microsoft Word, is there a way in which I can alter the distance between the bullet and the text? Trying to use a tab between the two doesn't work. For my taste the bullets come rather too close to the wording, particularly when using large font sizes for an overhead projector.
Armorel Young

A

In Word 97 you can adjust both the bullet's position and the size of the text indent by going to Bullets and Numbering on the Format menu. Select the Bulleted tab and click on one of the bullet styles then the Customise button, change the settings in the Bullet Position and Text Position dialogue boxes to suit.

FREE FAX

As a follow-up to the Boot Camp article on receiving faxes (December 2^nd), readers may be interested in trying a "free" fax to email gateways that are available. One is http://www.dmclub.net/. You are given a unique fax number, and any faxes sent will be forwarded to your email address. So you don't need to worry about keeping your PC turned on. Great for receiving the occasional fax. The service is, of course, paid for by the caller's phone call.

Andrew Yeomans

Before you install the Microsoft fax software did you know that you can have your own fax number that enables faxes to be received by email, and it's free! You get your number from www.efax.com. All you need to do is install a wee bit of software (a 'Microviewer') and your ready to receive. It doesn't get round the problem of sending faxes but it's a lot less troublesome than Microsoft Fax.
Dave Mercer

I read the Boot Camp about receiving faxes on your PC with interest. My experience with the SuperVoice V2.2E software bundled with my USR modem was encouraging. It enabled the PC to function unattended as an answering machine and fax receiver. The only item I changed from the default installation was to personalise the initial greeting message. I left the PC on all day whilst I was at the office, it successfully received three voice messages and the test fax I sent. My PC is an early Pentium II from Dell and has been configured to use hibernation mode when not used for a long enough time. The BIOS has also been modified to select the wake on modem ring feature.

Martin Connor

A

Thanks for those useful tips

GOING LOGO

On my C drive I have a file Strtlogo.oem (127KB) which when opened in Notepad makes no sense at all. What is the significance of "oem" and can I safely delete it?

Anthony Fisher

A

'OEM' isn't a standard Windows file extension it usually means 'original equipment manufacturer'. 'Strtlogo' sounds like it could be graphics file, used to display the PC manufacturer's logo on one of the start-up screens, System Properties or the Start menu. Try opening it in Paint or a graphics program, if you have one. It should be safe to delete but being so small is it really worth the effort or risk? If you do decide to delete it leave it in the Recycle Bin for a couple of days, just to be on the safe side.

MASTER PLAN

I have a Pentium II machine with Windows 98 operating system. I have been continuously upgrading the computer and as it started with a 500-MB hard drive I upgraded this by adding an 8 GB hard drive. I didn't want to have to bother with reconfiguring the whole system so I put the new drive in as a slave D:\ drive. The only problem is that
everything wants to install to the C:\ drive, which after Windows 98 and drivers has no space on it. How can I tell windows to use the D:\ drive as the default drive, or could I change the letter designation of the drives so that it boots from the D:\ drive and has the 8 GB C:\ as the slave?
Ritchie Wilkinson

A

The quickest and simplest solution would be to make Drive D bootable, install Windows 98 on it and then use it as your C: drive. If you haven't already done so make an Emergency Start-up disc from the utility in Add/Remove programs in Control Panel then copy across all the files from the floppy to the root directory of your D: drive. Switch off, open up your PC (observing all the usual precautions), disconnect the data and power cables to the C: drive and change the jumper setting on the D: drive to Master. Remove the Start-up disc and the PC should boot up to a DOS prompt on the C: drive (previously the D: drive). You can now install Windows 98 by changing the drive letter to that of your CD-ROM drive containing your Windows installation disc. When it has finished you can reconnect the old C: drive, configure it as a slave and copy across any files you want to keep. You may find that some previously installed applications on the newly designated C: drive may object to the change, in which case they may have to be reinstalled.

HISTORY LESSON

Is it possible to clear the web address toolbar history or delete the record of which sites have been accessed - and if so how? I have managed to delete items from c:\windows\history in the usual way, but cannot remove the address toolbar record. Any suggestions?

Robert Hill

A

Our old friend Tweak UI has an option called Paranoia, which can be set to automatically clear the various folders, and files that log your Internet activities. Tweak UI is included on the installation disc of version 1 of Windows 98 (Tools > Reskit > PowerToys, see ReadMe file for instructions) Windows 95 users can download PowerToys from the Microsoft Internet site at: www.microsoft.com/Windows95/downloads/

contents/WUToys/W95PwrToysSet/Default.asp

Tweak UI will not zap 'cookies' that are stored in Windows > Temporary Internet Files, which also maintains a record of sites visited, however these can be deleted manually from within Windows Explorer.

QUICK LINK

With regard to the query about upgrading an elderly laptop (F!F!F! December 2^nd), I managed to load Windows 95 on a laptop without a CD-ROM drive. Copy the WIN95 folder from the set-up CD-ROM to a folder on the hard drive of your desktop PC. Connect the laptop and PC together with a serial or parallel cable and run the old DOS utility Interlink on each machine, making the PC a server for the laptop. On the laptop switch to the drive letter given by Interlink where the WIN95 directory is stored and run the set-up program.

Shaun Anderson

A

In fact you should be able to directly access the CD-ROM drive on the desktop PC containing Windows 95 installation disc, and run set-up from there. It's worth pointing out that Interlink.exe is not includes on the DOS program built into Windows 95 and 98, it will have to be copied across from the version of MSDOS on the laptop.