ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers, Vol. 30: Computer Questions and Answers

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First, let me apologize to anyone who tried to submit a question this month and got a "FrontPage Error". Evidently my FrontPage extensions on my website had gotten corrupted and therefore my forms were not working. I didn't realize this until someone tried to send me the actual webpage and I replied asking her why she was doing that. She replied and told me she couldn't use the form becuz she got an error, so she just sent me the whole page. Thanks to Cosma Ann Ballew for bringing this to my attention. If anyone tried to send a question and got this error, please try again. The problem has been fixed. Thanks for your patience.

So, since we are a little light on questions this month, I grabbed a few from my MSO support group and included them here, along with the few I did receive via ABC's form. :-)

Question submitted by Mike:

I am not a computer programmer (though I have a little knowledge, which I suppose makes me real dangerous), but rather an intelligence analyst who works for U. S. Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic. I have been teaching myself Front Page using Front Page 2000 at work, and FP 98 at home. For the most part I have been fairly successful - and have built my organizations web page (unfortunately it is not available in an unclassified version - its on SIPRNET if you know the term). I have ran into the preverbal brick wall (hurts when you do that) with two problems. I have researched the help function on both programs, and several books and papers I have, but have not discovered an answer to these questions.

Problem 1: I want to use drop down menus to direct users to other sites (URL's), and in doing so spawn a newpage (_blank) for that site to appear on. Problem is I cant seem to do it. I have no problem building the drop down menu (I mean all you have to do is point and click - cant get in any trouble there) Then using the Form Field Properties function, I set the hyperlinks - again that doesn't represent much of a problem. However when I enter target="_blank" A new page does not spawn, and the user must use the back key to return to the initial page.

I know that <A HREF=http://www.example.htm target="_blank" works, but not if you input it in Form Field Properties. Question: How do I get a new page to spawn with a given URL when I use the Form Field Properties function?

Problem 2: There are times when a given Site/URL is down or the URL has been changed (and the web meister hasn't redirected the URL.) When that happens - after what seems to be an interminable time - the system returns an error page (Cannot find server or DNS Error, etc.). Question: If it is determined (by the system) that the site/url is not functional/available, is there a way to redirect the the resulting generation of a system error page to one of my own design? Any help/direction you can provide will be more than gratefully accepted.

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hi Mike....you need to use specific javascript to get dropdown links to open in a new window. Here's some sample code to show you what you need...

<form method="post" action="" name=""> <select name="select15"
onChange="window.open(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value,'_blank')">
<option selected>Choose One</option>
<option>---------------------------------------------------</option>
<option value="http://www.yahoo.com">Yahoo</option>
<option value="http://www.msn.com">MSN</option>
</select>
</form>

I put it up on my test page so you can see it works...go here:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/_test.htm

Now...as to your question about designing your own error page...This only works for links that are bad
WITHIN your website ... You have no control over the error that is generated when OTHER websites are down. And, this can only be done IF your web host accepts "custom 404 pages". If so, then you can design the page any way you want and find out from your host, where you need to put this page and what you need to name it...in my case, my host, Hostway DOES support custom 404 pages and I just had to make my page and name it "missing.html" becuz that's the one that Hostway recognizes...and I had to put it in the root of my web and EVERY subweb in order for it to work. The name and location of the page may differ, depending on your host's setup...and some hosts just don't allow this, so you would have to check with them.

If you click on this, which points you to a page that does not exist on my website, it will redirect you to the custom 404 page I created, which is named missing.html and located at the root of my web...try it:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/xxx.htm

Hope this helps you.

Question submitted by Beth Lee (in MSO):

I'm using Publisher 2002. I had found the Tools --> Commercial Printing Tools --> Fonts path, but the Font Substitution button is dimmed, even when I click on a font to select it, and even when I've tried various combinations of choices for embedding. Any ideas why this is so?

Answer from Linda Johnson:

The Font Substitution button is only used when you want to globally replace a font that is MISSING in your system with one that you have...if the offending font you are trying to get rid of is NOT missing, this won't work.

BUT...I discovered a little workaround (my specialty lol) and it worked.

Here's what I did...I put some text in my Publisher document and used a font called Felix Titling (yes, I actually seem to have that font LOL) Then I went to my Windows control panel and double clicked on my Fonts folder...in there I grabbed my Felix Titling font with my RIGHT mouse button and dragged it out of the Fonts folder onto my desktop and chose "move here" (since the fonts folder won't let you cut/paste like other folders)...this moved it out of my fonts folder so Publisher now saw it as a missing font....so, I went back into the Publisher document and now the Font Substitution button was lit up and I easily substituted it...then, when I was done, I just dragged Felix Titling back into my fonts folder. I know, I know .. it's weird...but it DID work.

Question submitted by Don (in MSO):

I was thinking that if my computer crashed at work I would have to be put in an insane asylum. I have spent a multitude of hours getting Excel as I want it. What files should I back up. If you can lead me to a website that explains such things that would be good also. I have a personal.xls, which I assume I will be able to search out on the hard drive. I have several custom toolbars and the original toolbars are no longer "original". I would appreciate information on any and all pertinent files that are worth backing up for customization purposes, including things like quick correct (if possible). If I lost it ,it would literally take months to reproduce.

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hmmm...let's see... If you have made templates, search your hard drive for *.xlt and back up all of them And yes, definitely back up personal.xls. Toolbar files have an xlb extension, so search your hard drive for *.xlb and back them up also. Autocorrect files have an acl extension so search your hard drive for *.acl and back them up too. And, if you have anything in your XLStart folder, you might want to back that up also ... search your hard drive for XLStart and back up the whole folder ... of course, if you have shortcuts in there to launch addins when Excel starts, you would also have to reinstall the addins if you had to reinstall Excel. I *think* that about covers it.

Question submitted by Diane:

Please try and just bare with me, but what I am wanting to do is learn how to Tag, and I am the type of person it has to be Very Simple. Any Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks alot

Answer from Cap'n Patt, our GeekSpeak Translator:

I was just sitting here reading the mail when your question popped up and my first reaction was, Oh! Boy! The reason being that I’d like to be able to tag too. I can’t, probably never will. Let’s face it, I’m big on definitions but not on what to do with the end result. Since you say that you’d like to learn to “TAG” you are probably aware that a “TAG” is a command inserted into a document which dictates how a certain portion of that document is to be formatted. The major obstacle seems to be, first you must learn HTML (HyperText Markup Language) which is used almost exclusively for laying out web pages for the internet, or SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) which lays down the rules for tagging elements. It’s large and unwieldy and not widely used on personal computers. In short, although I may be wrong, and you’d be surprised how often I am, it would appear that first you learn HTML and in the process pick up the knowledge required to create and insert a TAG in the document you are preparing. You say it has to be “Very Simple” it doesn’t sound that way to me. Hope it does to you.

Question submitted by dtrickman:

Tabs are not available in Word 2000. Will not allow tabs to be selected and set. Question: How do you make tabs availabe to set? When opening up the Word program, this happens in all documents and when opening a brand new blank document also. When I go out of Word and reboot the computer they become available temporarily. As I continue to work they start this greying out again as I open different documents. It seems as though there is a problem in the actual toolbar or maybe the normal.dot template?

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Yes..it sounds that way to me too, if it's happening in all Word files....go here for my Word Troubleshooting instructions and read the part about normal.dot.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/NNTWord.htm

However, if that doesn't fix it, then I would think your Data key in your registry is corrupt, since the data key is what controls everything in your toolbars and menus...instructions for fixing that are here...
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/wordtoolbars.htm Good luck

Reply from dtrickman:

Thank you very much, I will try this. I appreciate your website and have found many helpful tips! Keep up the great work!

Question submitted by Cosma Ann Ballew:

Can I freeze web pages that are open so they will stay open all the time? When I open another webpage it opens in "one" of my already open pages. I have several that I want left alone and stay open, like when I am doing an online virus scan.. Then I open something and it chooses that page to use and I lose my scan.. kapish?

Answer from Renée Atkinson:

When you hold down the shift key and click on the url, it will open in a new window. Is this what you mean? Or right click and choose "open in new window". I've not tried it but I wonder if the options from any icon on your desktop where it has windows open in different window would work here? Not tried that!

Answer from Hal Cardona:

To force Internet Explorer to use a new window when clicking a link from outside Internet Explorer (like from e-mail or your desktop): Go to Internet Options and on the Advanced Tab uncheck "Reuse windows for launching shortcuts". You can get to Internet Options by right clicking on Internet Explorer in the Start Menu, From the Control Panel or while inside Internet Explorer, drop down Tools and select Internet Options. This won't work for links inside Internet Explorer, for links inside Internet Explorer right click on the link and select Open in New Window.

Question submitted by Michael@AOL:

In Excel, I want to find the total # of hours between Mon 9:00am and Wed 3:00pm. I cant find a way. Can you explain how to get Excel to tell me the total # of hours difference ?

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hi Michael. You need to use a combination of date/time formats to do this and you must use dates, not days. Here's a simple example:
Open a new blank sheet and try this, so you can see how it works

Highlight cells A1 and B1 and go to the Format menu and choose Cells. Click on the Number tab and choose Date from the list on the left, then choose the format that says 3/14/01 1:30 PM from the list on the right....OK your way out

In A1, type this, EXACTLY as I show it here, using correct spacing, etc.:
10/3 9:00 am
See that Excel changes it to 10/3/03 9:00 AM (if Excel doesn't change it to that, you didn't type it correctly, so type it again)

In B1, type this
10/05 3:00 pm
Excel changes it to 10/5/03 3:00 PM

In C1, type this:
=B1-A1
Excel will give you some incorrect time, so highlight C1 and go back to Format>Cells. This time choose Custom from the list on the left. Then in the small white box at the top right, type this

[hh]

Now you should get 54, which is the number of hours between Monday at 9am and Wednesday at 3pm

If you want hours and minutes, use this custom format instead:
[hh]:mm

If you also want seconds, use this one:
[hh]:mm:ss

Question submitted by dweiner:

In PowerPoint 97, can I animate the bullets so that each bullet changes color after it animates. I know that I can do this in 2000 if I choose custom animation, effects, after animation and then choose a color. When I do the very same thing in 97, nothing happens.

Answer from Kathy Jacobs:

In PowerPoint 97, the exact process is:
Slide Show --> Custom Animation
On the Effects tab, select an entry animation (I chose "appear"). When this is selected, "After Animation" becomes available. In that drop down, either select a color from the 8 sample squares or click "More Colors" and pick a more custom color. (The eight squares are the colors for the color scheme.)
Next, on the left side of the Effects tab, make sure that "Grouped by" is checked and that the paragraph level is set. You can even set the reverse order and it works.
Finally, click OK to close the window.

Test it and it should work. No matter what I set for entry animation, the color change works. I am not sure what you might be doing wrong.

Reply from dweiner:

Thanks for getting back to me. I figured out my problem. I followed your directions and it worked as long as I did not start animation automatically. Evidently, this type of animation requires a mouse click. I can not seem to find a way around this. Your help was greatly appreciated.

Answer from Kathy Jacobs:

You are right. The color changes in PPT 97 only work on next mouse click, not with animated entrances. They work the way you expect in 2000 and later. I did a quick check of the MS site and found that there is a relevant KB article (number 189554):
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;189554&Product=ppt97

I don't think there is a PowerPoint 97 fix for this. You are going to have to live with it or upgrade.

Reply from dweiner:

Thanks again. I have 2000 at home but 97 at work and upgrading is not my decision but I will pass this along.

Thanks to all who submitted questions this month. If you submitted a question and did not get an answer, and the problem still persists, try going here and submitting it again. Just remember that we cannot guarantee that we will answer every question, though I think the Fleet did a bang-up job this month! Thanks to all of the Fleet for your expert advice and your valuable time :-)

Ask the Fleet Have your own question for the Fleet? Click here to ask it.

Question submitted by Mike:

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Question submitted by Beth Lee (in MSO):

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Question submitted by Don (in MSO):

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Question submitted by Diane:

Answer from Cap'n Patt, our GeekSpeak Translator:

Question submitted by dtrickman:

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Reply from dtrickman:

Question submitted by Cosma Ann Ballew:

Answer from Renée Atkinson:

Answer from Hal Cardona:

Question submitted by Michael@AOL:

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Question submitted by dweiner:

Answer from Kathy Jacobs:

Reply from dweiner:

Answer from Kathy Jacobs:

Reply from dweiner:

Ask the Fleet
Have your own question for the Fleet? Click here to ask it.