INTERNET - IE LOSES STATUS BAR When I start up Internet Explorer (IE), it doesn't display the status bars at
the top and bottom of the screen. I can make the menu and tool bars appear temporarily by moving the mouse pointer over them, but how do I switch back tomy normal view? Joan Helliwell It looks as though you have the screen set to Full Size view. This is activated by pressing the F11 key, and it is quite easy to do accidentally. Press the F11 key again to switch back to Normal view, which should restore your status bars. COMPUTER UPGRADES - WHAT SHOULD I UPGRADE? My current laptop is very old, so I'm considering investing in a new one. If I want to still be using the new laptop years from now, what specifications should I invest in? And how should I get rid of all the information on my old laptop - hit it with a hammer? Janet Denyer The brain of your computer is the CPU, so it's worth getting a fast one. Intel's current rangeof high-performing processors are called Core i7. It's worth noting, however, that the very fastest chips tend to be disproportionately expensive. A 2.66 Gigahertz (GHz) i7 processor costs ukp190 -an expensive addition. Make sure you put in plenty of Ram, too - this isn't too expensive, so you should be able to afford at least 4GB. And don't forget that you can always upgrade components at a later date - the memory scanner provided by Crucial (www.crucial.com/uk) will help identify your PC and what memory upgrade options you require. Your data is stored on the hard drive of your old laptop. Using a hammer to destroy this - if you're careful - is an effective way of making sure no one else ever accesses it. File deletion software, however, is also effective,and would mean you're left with a spare working laptop. Even a slow machine can be handy for browsing the web, for instance. But make sure you back up all your files from your old computer before you do either. SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD - UNKNOWN DOWNLOAD When I use IE to try and 'download [the] latest catalogue' from an auction site I use, I get an empty browser window that simply displays 'unknown page' at the bottom of the screen. What's going on? Alan Golding If you're being asked to download a file, make sure that you trust the site and that you have up-to-date security software installed first - you don't want to download malware by mistake. But if it'sa catalogue, it's possible that it's in a format that IE doesn't necessarily understand on its own. For example, Adobe's PDF format. Check the website for more information, but Adobe offers a free reader program that you can download and install from its website at www.adobe.com. EMAIL - NUM LOCK ERROR Recently, a number of my contacts have been unable to contact me via e-mail (Hotmail), whilst others are just fine. What haveI done wrong? John Redhead As you are using Hotmail, you need to check that you have not accidently blocked the senders' addresses. Go to Options, click on it and go to More Options from the bottom of the menu. Go to the Safe and Blocked list and make sure the people sending you the affected emails are not listed on your Blocked list.If they are, you can remove them from the list and any subsequent emails they send will then appear in your inbox. WINDOWS - NUM LOCK ERROR I've pressed something on my keyboard which means that when I press some letter keys (u, i, o, j, k, l, m), I only get numbers. What's happened and how can I type normally again? Hilary Mathison It sounds as though you're using a laptop and have activated the Num Lock function. This mimics the numeric keypad that's found on the right-hand side of full-sized PC keyboards. You'll notice that the letters you mention sit neatly belowthe 7, 8 and 9 keys, and it can be handy to use these keys if you need to enter a lot of numbers into a spreadsheet, for example. It's easy to switch off. Look for the Num Lock key on your laptop (you may need to press Shift or Fn to access this) and press it again. INTERNET - WHO'S CALLING? When accessing the internet via AOL, we have started receiving the verbal message: 'You have company'. We exit immediately when we receive this warning. Is there anything we can do to prevent this intrusion? Michael Bennett As you are using the internet via AOL's homepage and you also use their email program, the voice you hear is AOL telling you that people in your address book are also online so you can chat to them using AOL's Instant Messenger facility. This is nothing to be concerned about but if you do not like it, you could use IE as your web browser and only use AOL to view your emails. INTERNET PASSWORDS - REMEMBER ME? My Windows XP PC will not hold a password even when I tick the 'Remember Password' option. The next time I log into a site, I have to re-enter my password. How can I ensure that my PC remembers my passwords? Ronald Pink You need to make some changes in your IE browser to do this. Open IE. Click Tools and then Internet Options and click on the Content tab and then on the AutoComplete button. Ensure that there is a tick by 'Usernames and passwords on forms' and 'Prompt me to save Passwords'. The next time you log into a site which you have ticked for Remember Password, it will rememberthe password. OUTLOOK EXPRESS - ATTACHMENT ISSUES I have received an email with three paperclips indicating attachments, but I am unable to open this, as a pop-up appears saying something along the lines of: 'Microsoft deemed as unsafe'. What do I need to do to be able to open attachments? GEOFFREY RIDDLE Outlook Express (OE), rather than Microsoft Security, is blocking your attachments. To enable you to be able to view attachments you need to make a few changes to OE. Start OE and from the Tools menu, select Options. Click the Security tab and under the Virus Protection tab untick the box labelled 'Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus'. Click OK. You will now be able to receive and open attachments. PRINTERS - PAPER JAM My printer is a Dell All-In-One Photo 924 which has been OK until I installed a new ink cartridge. Alignment mode was selected and the printer stopped, indicating a paper jam. I have looked and cannot find any paper jams and yet the message remains and the printer is non operational. Peter Donnelly An indication of a paper jam error is unlikely to be a false alarm. Please follow the instructions shown here to troubleshoot the issue: Turn the printer off and on to see if it can automatically clear the jam. If your printer shows an error code, be sure to check the printer manual to see if that identifies the area of the printer where the jam occurred. Turn off the printer. Remove any paper trays and inspect them for wrinkled or damaged paper. Open any other doors that give access to the printer's paper path and to the toner or ink cartridge. If necessary, remove the toner or ink cartridge (place it in a bag or away from light to avoid damaging it) before reinstalling it. If you find a piece of jammed paper, remove it by holding it with both hands and pulling firmly. The goal here is to keep the paper from tearing. If several pieces are jammed together, try pulling out the middle piece first to loosen the jam. Or if several small pieces are stuck, you may need touse a pair of fine pliers or tweezers to remove them. If the paper does tear, try rotating the roller gears manually to free the paper. Don't force anything. Replace the toner or ink cartridge and paper trays, close any doors you opened and turn the printer back on. EMAIL - PRINT PROBLEMS I used to be able to print emails but all of a sudden this function has stopped working. Now, when I click Print, nothing happens. How can I fix this so I can print my emails again? George Allan Click Start and then Run to run the Command Prompt. Type regsvr32 shdocvw.dll (note that there is a space between the number 32 and sh). There are a number of different problems that this will resolve, including not printing from the web and email. INTERNET EXPLORER - SMALL SCREEN Since having my hard disk replaced, I now find that when I click to open a website it covers about a quarter of the screen, and that I have to manually click the enlarge button to maximise the screen. How can I set this to open in a full screen mode automatically? Geoffrey Ollerhead You need to do the following and can do it from the IE shortcut icon. Right-click on the shortcut and then select Properties. Click on the Shortcutand then change the value in the Run command to Maximized using the drop-down menu. Click Apply. Now IE will open in the maximized state when youclick on the shortcut. Reader's TIP Sam Diggory Southampton: If you have a PC or laptop with an optical drive, you can use software such as Nero or Roxio (often bundled with new computers) to turn the contents of most software discs into an ISO file. You can then use a free program such as Daemon Tools Lite (www.daemon-tools.cc) to use these files to create 'virtual' drives on your PC's hard drive that work just like the original CD or DVD. This is handy for running or installing your software on netbooks without DVD drives. MOBILE HELPDESK Each issue, our Helpdesk visits a reader who needs hands-on help with a PC problem Tobias Tuft's old desktop PC hadan 80GB hard drive which was reaching full capacity. He wanted to replace it with a bigger hard drive and contacted us for advice on selecting and installing a compatible one. We ascertained that Tobias' system could support SATA hard drives, which are easier to install then the older IDE hard drive technology. So we ordered a 500GB SATA hard drive to replace Tobias' old one and even went along to his place to install it. TO INSTALL A NEW (SATA) HARD DRIVE: Turn off the computer and disconnect all the cables attached to it. Make sure you're wearing an anti-static wristband, and open the case cover. Mount the new drive into a spare drive slot. Connect the power and data cables to this drive and connect the other end of the data cable to the motherboard, using any socket other than the SATA1. Reconnect all the computer cables and turn on the PC. The new drive should be recognised and you may be prompted to format it. Transfer data from the old drive to thenew drive using cloning software suchas Acronis. Once this has been completed, connect the new drive to the SATA1 port. The old drive can either be removed or used for extra storage. Technical telepathy: 09969636745 Saints are not always saints; sinners are not always sinners. Voice your thoughts in the blog to discuss the Rights of persons with disability bill at: http://www.accessindia.org.in/harish/blog.htm To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
