ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers
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Have your own question for the Fleet?  Click here to ask it.

Question submitted by Jerry 162:

I have a question I hope you can answer for me. Please keep in mind you'll be talking to someone who is not computer literate; so keep it simple if possible.  OK here is the question. I am using Windows XP Home and I keep getting this notification. "Virtual memory minimum too low. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file". I've noticed this notification presents itself about once a week. I haven't added any programs or done anything that, I feel, would affect virtual memory. Is this a bad thing and if so is there anything I can do about it? I'll be looking forward to your reply. Thank you.

Answer from Hal Cardona:

To adjust the size of your paging or swap file in XP. Right click on My Computer. Select Properties. Advanced Tab. In the Performance sections click on Settings. Advanced Tab. In the Virtual Memory section click on change. Set the minimum paging file size to 1.5 times RAM. Try setting the maximum to double RAM. Ok your way out, reboot and see if it helps.

Question submitted by Diana:

A co-worker prepared an excel file with File Send To Mail Recipient. What that did was add email headers to the top with various to, cc, bc, etc. fields. Now when she opens the file from the .xls file on the network it looks like an email ready to be sent. How do you undo this?

Answer from Linda Johnson:

On the toolbar above the email header, you see a button that says "Send this sheet"  ... put your own email address in the To line so you are only sending it to yourself, then click on the Send this Sheet button and the header will be removed ... close the file and say YES when Excel asks if you want to save the changes.

Reply from Diana:

Muchas Gracias

Question submitted by Mock26:

I have created a series of 8 charts, each of which is 20 cells x 20 rows in dimension. Each chart is on it's own seperate worksheet,labled "Level 1", "Level 2", "Level 3," etc. On my master worksheet, labled "Surge Generator", I have created two cells, each of which contains a formula to generate a random number between 1 and 20. These two numbers are then used in an offset command to display the contents of one of the cells on one of the 8 charts. Here is my basic formula:

=OFFSET('Level 1'!A1,A8,B8)

What I would like to do is have my formula set up so that is will reference a cell which contains a number from 1 to 8, and based on that number, go to the appropriate level. I thought this was the correct formula, but it generates a #VALUE! error:

=OFFSET('Level "&D1"'!A1,A7,B7)

I would greatly appreciate your help in trying to solve this little problem. Thank you very much. Take care and have a great day.... caio

Answer from Ray Blake:

I think what you're looking for is the INDIRECT function. You'd use it in this context thus:

=OFFSET(INDIRECT("'Level " & D1 &"'!" & A1),A7,B7)
 

Reply from Mock26:

Thank you for taking the time to help me with my problem, but the formula didn't work. It gave back a "#REF" error when I typed it in. I was using the Error Checking feature on Excel (which I don't really understand too well) and I traced one possible problem. In the segment of the formula using the Indirect command, it is directing the formula to A1 of the worksheet upon which the formula is typed, not the reference cell of the various "Level " worksheets. Any thoughts on this? Would you be willing to let me send you a copy of my document?  Again, I greatly appreciate your time and effort. Take care and have a great day....

Answer from Ray Blake:

Yes, send it

Reply from Mock26:

I figured out the problem. It was a lack of alcohol in my system! When I got home from work I mixed myself a nice gin and tonic and started experimenting with your solution. I had used a straight up Indirect command on another spreadsheet, but didn't realize you could combine the two until you sent your answer along. After checking between the two,
this is what I came up with and it worked:

=OFFSET(INDIRECT("'Level "&D1&"'!a1"),A6,B6)

Here is your solution:

=OFFSET(INDIRECT("'Level " & D1 &"'!" & A1),A7,B7)

I removed the spaces when I typed it in. It appears that you made a typo and misplaced the double quote.  Thank you again for all of your help. Take care and have a great day!

Question submitted by letty:

I have a question i would like to know which of these two is more advanced and which is better or powerful pentium 4 with hyper threading or pentium M with centrino chip please let me know Im currently on the market for a notebook and i want to make the right purchase thanks

Answer from Hal Cardona:

For a notebook, go with a Pentium M if you are going to be moving it around (they are lighter) and run longer from a battery. Go with P4 HT if it is going to sit on your desk (They cost less and more desktop like features).

Answer from William Warren:

Pentiums are more efficient and therefore perform the same as much higher clockspeed p-4's. Hyperthreading's value is questionable ... in some apps (even ones supposedly optimized for it) it speeds things up in there and you have to turn if off. p-4's also run hotter by a significant margin over the pent-m's for the same performance. Also battery life with the pent-m will be better as they do not waste as much (due to
leakage) and run lower voltages than a p-4. IMO pent-m is the way to go
if you have to go intel ... :)

Question submitted by Ed from Newport News:

When I typeing in a website the IE offers a box with the information somewhat like WORD. In Word I can get the fill-in by just hitting the tab key. I can not do this in IE. I have to take the mouse and click in the box to complete the information. Is there an easier way than hitting the mouse?

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hit your down arrow key on your keyboard to move down to the one you want ... when that one is selected, just hit Enter

Question submitted by agriffin66:

Actually, I have no laptop or notebook as of now, but I want to get a cheaper one, maybe PII or PIII, but I travel and was wondering if I can use an old machine to connect to the internet via a broadband connection? So many hotel offer broadband connections now. Thank you in advance

Answer from Hal Cardona:

You should be able to connect to most broadband connections at a hotel if your laptop has the correct type of interface. Most broadband in Hotels use either an Ethernet connection or an 802.11b wireless connection. If the laptop you choose doesn't have the one you need built in, you purchase an add in PC Card to handle the connection. You will need to know which type of connection the hotels you are staying at use to determine which kind of card you will need, or buy both.

Reply from agriffin66:

Thank you Hal, I appreciate your help on this very much

Questions submitted by michaeljb @ tds.net:

When I go to File/Save As/ in Microsoft Word, a separate window opens at the most recent folder, however, if I am going too fast (which at times I Must) my mouse pointer, will Highlight the file it happens to be hovering as, and if I click the Save Button, that Once Saved File Is Replaced By The New File, and I know of no way to recover the old file. Is there a way to prevent this, it really is causing a problem when I have to ensure that the mouse pointer Is not over a file in a deep directory that I I have to save to, every time that I Save a document.

Answer from Linda Johnson:

How are you "going to File>Save As"? If you are clicking on the File menu, then clicking on Save As, I can't imagine doing it "too fast" would cause this. What I think you must be doing is DOUBLE clicking on Save As instead of single clicking on it. Sorry, there's no way to override that behavior, if that's what you are doing. ONLY ONE CLICK on Save As, otherwise you are executing two commands, instead of one ... one click opens Save As and a second click clicks the Save button. Same thing, if you are using the Enter key...one will open, the other will Save. Wish I could tell you more ... but if you are clicking or hitting keys too quickly, then you need to slow down. Good luck.

Question submitted by rafael:

if i wanna insert more memory in my pc what do i do i have now 224 i want 512 thanks

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hi Rafael...that question is fully answered in one of Hal Cardona's ABC articles. Read all about it here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc1/v2/ram.htm

Question submitted by Joseph Damien:

I was using a Microsoft Ergonomic wireless keyboard and mouse. My spouse has difficulty with this kind of keyboard so once when she was using the computer, she unplugged the keyboard and plugged in a regular keyboard. When the ergonomic keyboard was plugged back in it would not work and in fact caused the computer to more or less freeze up. I do have another ergonomic keyboard that I use now and it works fine as well as the original wireless microsoft mouse, but whenever I try to use the Microsoft wireless ergonomic keyboard it will not work and will cause the computer to freeze. Does this mean that this keyboard is "dead" or damaged and unfixable? Just wondered if you or anyone had any comments or suggestions regarding this problem. I would really like to get the wireless microsoft keyboard back in use but don't know what it will take (if anything) to accomplish this. My worst fear is that the keyboard is damaged and unfixable. Thanks in advance for any help forthcoming.

Answer from William Warren:

Your best bet is to uninstall the keyboard software (with the keyboard in question disconnected), reboot, then reinstall the keyboard and then reconnect the keyboard.

Reply from Joseph Damien:

Ok, you are saying uninstall the keyboard software (hope I can find it in Add/Remove) and then reboot. Then reinstall the keyboard software? and finally reconnect the keyboard. I assume while the keyboard is unconnected that I would have to use the other keyboard to perform installation. Thanks.

Answer from William Warren:

yes

Question submitted by Lou:

I loved Vic Ferri's article on using the bat file to list and count files. I set up several on my old computer using Windows 98 and they ran perfectly. I have recently purchased a new computer and have Windows XP Professional. I cannot get the bat files to work on new computer. When I run the bat files, the resulting Count.txt document is blank. What am I doing wrong? The following are the way I have My Documents and the CD drive bat files set up:

Count My documents:

@echo off
dir /b /o /s /v "c:\Documents and Settings\admin\My Documents\" | find
"" /n /v >count.txt
cls

Count CD (i drive:

@echo off
dir /b /o /s /v i:\ | find "" /n /v >count.txt
cls

I love using the bat files, especially on CDs that I have made. I would appreciate any advice you can give me. Thanks

Answer from Vic Ferri:

omit the v switch from the dir command

i.e.:

@echo off
dir /b /o /s "C:\Documents and Settings\admin\My Documents\" | find "" /n /v
>count.txt
cls

Reply from Lou:

Many, many thanks for your prompt response. I followed your instructions
and now have the count files working properly on my new computer. I really appreciate your help.

Question submitted by Joe in Tasmania:

I am trying to help someone with the below problem.

MS Windows 98
4.10.1998
(name of original owner)
23798-OEM- ***********(more numbers)

I noticed in "My Computer" a CD icon was now in view, this not the situation before Also this time the system asked me for a password which it did not do the past few days.

Here is the history. I found this computer and hooked it up. It worked well for about 3 months, until one day I was unable to boot it up. Norton Anti Virus identified a virus. It asked what I wanted it to do. I said to clean it. But instead the system shut down. That was the result each time over the year I tried it. It was an old version of Norton which probably did not have the virus which infected the machine.This is strange, as per many other mysterious computer events over the past few weeks. A few days ago I purchased a new copy of Windows 98 SE, and MacAfee 8.0 to install on the PC. I am able to boot up in safe mode with no startup disk. With the startup disk I can get to the DOS C:/ prompt.I have yet to try any method of reinstalling formatting, or anything. I am trying to do the least damage first and then to go further until I get it up and running again. I do not save any files on the hard drive. All of my writings are on removeable storage devices, diskettes, CDs etc. I have advised him to run SFC and also do a registry repair but that doesn't seem to have resolved his problem.The awkward situation is that he is in Massachusetts and I'm in Australia. He wrote to me asking help and I would like to be able to help him, so your advice would be truly appreciated.

Answer from Vic Ferri:

My latest issue of Wintips&Tricks shows you how to create a quick boot disk that loads you right into Windows if the problem is some missing or corrupt boot file. If you'd like to try it, you can subscribe here
http://www.freelists.org/webpage/wintips  and I'll be sure you get it. Such a disk will take you right to the loading Windows stage (the last stage of the boot process) so if it works then you will know the problem is at some point before. However, since you can get into Safe Mode, you can find out if Windows can load by going into native dos mode and typing WIN at the prompt. If Windows loads, then the boot disk will work. I would try replacing the operating system from the startup disk.
At the A:\> prompt type SYS C:
And check to see if you have anything in your autoexec.bat and config.sys files that may be causing the problem. As well, run msconfig in Safe Mode and see what you have running at startup.

Reply from Joe in Tasmania:

Once again thank you, I have passed the information on.

Question submitted by Joe in Tasmania:

I am trying to help one of our Senior Group members, she had a computer running Windows 95 and has upgraded to Windows XP.Her problem was that the word processer was Novell's PerfectWorks Version 2.1, 1995. She now has MS Office and her problem is that she is unable to open any of her old files. She does not have Perfect Works
installed now. Is there any filters available that she would be able to get that would let her open those files. I can't find any.

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hi Joe.  I don't know of any free converters for PerfectWorks ... but this site does have them ... you may want to check it out and see if the cost is
something you can handle or if they perhaps have a free trial download you can use ... I really don't know ... but it's the only converter I know of that works.  There may be others.  Do a Google search on "convert perfectworks to word" and you will see other options.  Good luck

http://www.dataviz.com/products/conversionsplus/
CPW_Translist.html

Reply from Joe in Tasmania:

Thank you Linda, I will pass that onto her and then she should be able to convert the files and save them. Much appreciation for your help as always.

Question submitted by Stewart from Lincoln, England:

Reference: Vol 18 - Creating Shortcuts to Your Outlook Express Identities. I have followed the procedures explained in the article to  create  the .reg and .bat files and have created the shortcuts to three  different mail accounts, however, they all open to the same identity. I have also tryed the .vbs method and recieved a MS VBScript compilation error (line 2, Char 57, Expected end of statement (Code: 800A0401)). The seperate mail accounts have been created and the three identities added within OE. I can manually switch identity when in the program but not automatically with the shortcuts.

Answer from Vic Ferri:

I just tested it in XP Pro and works with no problem. See if this makes a difference:
Open OE, click File>Identities>Manage Identities and uncheck "Use this identity when starting a program" Log off and log on again after making the change. Also, when I wrote this article, I was using Windows 98se and thus the reg file header reads: REGEDIT4.  For XP, change it to: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00. I doubt that is the problem but it is the proper header for XP.

Question submitted Sunshine40 @ comcast.net:

When Windows 98 start it goes thru the counting part then a c:>path something comes up? then the win98 colored screen comes up then i get a error: accessibility error>could not load the enable 2.VXD  module then i hit the ok box then i get another error> error loading Explorer.exe. ou must reinstall windows then i hit the ok button and it starts all over I have the win 98 cd BUT I DONT HAVE THE PID NUMBERS OR THE COVER ANYMORE ALSO:I have win xp pro on my desktop and i am trying to figure out how  i can use my computer to fix the laptop so my son can you it for games. Please help me

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hi Sunshine. To find out what your product key is, Vic Ferri covered this already in an ABC article. He says:
____________

Boot up your computer with your startup disk, without cdrom support. When you get to the A:\> prompt, type the following commands, pressing Enter after each.

C:
CD WINDOWS
FIND "PRODUCTKEY" SYSTEM.DAT

This will search system.dat for the word entered and output the results on the screen for you. Your Windows key will be right there in front of you.
Write it down on a piece of paper and you'll be all set to begin your Windows reinstall.
_____________

If you don't have a Windows 98 startup disk, go here and download one and put it on a floppy:
http://www.bootdisk.com

Vic's full article is here if you need more info:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc2/v15/vic15.htm

Good luck.

Question submitted by Brian, Dublin:

I work on a network. I dont want to sent Read receipts. One person on the network has their PC set up to request them. Can I stop them being sent if i open their e-mail

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hi Brian. It's been a long time since I've used Outlook 97, but I know there's a setting in Tools>Options on the E-mail tab, where it says "Process delivery, read, and recall receipts on arrival" ...I  *think* if you remove that check, you will be prompted to process a receipt when it arrives and can then decline it. I can't test this now cuz I don't have Outlook 97 installed, but I think that's the only way to disable automatic processing of receipts in Outlook 97, so give that a try. (The later versions of Outlook make this choice more obvious and give you options like "always decline", "always accept", "prompt to accept/decline", but those options do not appear to be available in 97.)  Good luck

Question submitted by Bob from Sacto:

When i start my computer, using Windows XP, all that happens is my background picture shows up i do not have any icons or even the start bar at the bottom of the screen. The only thing i am able to do is click control alt delete to get to my task manager. No other buttons do anything. I cant even right click on my desk top. Any help would be great. Thanks

Answer from Hal Cardona:

Try booting to safe mode and using System Restore to restore your computer to a time when it worked correctly. If System Restore doesn't help try running msconfig from safe mode and disable everything on the start-up tab (don't worry you can re-enable them after it is booting) and see if it helps. IF it does, re-enable them one at a time until you locate the culprit. To boot to safe mode bounce your finger on the F8 key while your system is booting (prior to the XP boot up screen), when the text menu appears use the arrow keys to select safe mode. You may find that your system is so bogged down with spyware, adware and other scum, that running updated Adaware (http://lavasoftusa.com) and Spybot Search and Destroy are necessary also.

Question submitted by Will from FL:

Added a second hard disk (Western Digital 80 GB hard disk), using this
as the master hard disk (C) and the original Dell 20 GB as the slave hard disk (D). Added a second CR-RW. Question: 1. Can I reformat and install Windows 2000 Pro in my master and slave hard drive (both are physical drives)in my computer. Please tell me the best way to partition the drives. 2. After I reformat and install 2000 Pro, can I still use the two CD-RWs.

Answer from Hal Cardona:

What you want to do should be no problem. Before you start formatting though, make sure you have drivers for all your hardware available on CD or some other media that won't be destroyed when you format. Be aware that some of your hardware may not drivers available to allow it to work under Windows 2000.Both of your hard drives and CDRWs should work under Windows 2000. You should know that for your CDRW drives to be able burn to CDs a 3rd party CD burning application is required as there is none built in to Windows 2000.  As for how to partition the hard drives that really is a personal decision and based on how you want to use your computer. I prefer a small partition (around 5 GB) for the OS. Separate partitions for Data and another for applications, the size of these is dependent on the amount of data and applications you will be using. If you are into digital multimedia, you may want to dedicate a partition for that. I would use the small hard drive as device to store back-up images made by some thing like Ghost. Remember that formatting will remove all data and programs from your hard drives, so back-up first!

Question submitted Christopher:

Greetings, I read the article about "document properties" in Microsoft word. I am having trouble. I just purchased a new printer and I am trying to print out wedding invitations. Needless to say, they are expensive. I keep ruining every other invitation.  I got a new HP2410, all in one printer. Only in Microsfoft Word, I keep getting a document property page before every sheet printed. I have tried several things to resolve the problem. I am unsure what to do. As an example, It prints out like this:

Filename: Directory: Template:
wedding invitation
C:\DOCUME~ 1 \Dauber\MYDOC
C:\DOCUME~ 1 \Dauber\LOCAL;
Wedding invitation. dot
Title:
Subject:
Author:
Keywords:
Comments:
Creation Date: 5/26/2004 4:59 PM
Change Number: 5
Last Saved On: 6/30/2004 1 :06 PM
Last Saved By: Christopher W. Cox
Total Editing Time: 106 Minutes
Last Printed On: 6/30/2004 2:46 PM
As of Last Complete Printing
Number of Pages: 1
Number of Words: 0 (approx.)
Number of Characters: 2 (approx.)

How can I fix this?? Do you have any ideas?? Thank you so much for your help

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Open Word. Go to the Tools menu and select Options. Click on the Print tab. Remove the check where it says "Document Properties"

Question submitted by Ed H:

In Win 98 how do I find a point to restore my computer to. I use to know but have forgotten how to do this. Thanks

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hi Ed. Go to Start>Shutdown and choose to Restart in MS Dos mode. At the C prompt, type scanreg /restore and you will be given choices for your most recent registry backups. Just choose the on you want.

Question submitted by kleo2x:

(Vic) All the higher-ups tells me that win98 doesn't support 'thumbnails'. But Darryl home built my computer and I have always had 'thumbnails. I'm on my 3rd computer crash and after crash 1 & 2, when Darryl brought me back I still had 'thumbnails. But now after crash # 3 I don't have thumbnails. On another forum I was given some settings but they were for 95 and lower. Would you please give us some register settings to enable 98 to have/support thumbnails. I'm sure die-hard 98 owners will lift their glasses from coast to coast to honor you for doing this.

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hi kleo .... Before I send this to the Fleet, I did a quick Google search .... here's a page that tells which registry key needs to be adjusted so you can see thumbnails in Windows 98 ... If this does NOT work for you, let me know and I will forward this onto the Fleet. Good luck

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000284.htm

Reply from kleo2x:

Yes Linda - that info helped and I now have thumbnails. I'm so happy. thanx

Question submitted Ray from Adelaide:

When IE 6 is open, the min restore close buttons in the top right hand corner are extremly small. How can I make them larger or normal, my settings are 800x600.

Answer from Hal Cardona:

Change the size of the Active Title Bar font.  To do that, right click on a blank spot on your desktop and select Properties. Now choose the Appearance tab, click on the Advanced button. Now click on the words Active Window in the picture and then increase the font size.

Reply from Ray from Adelaide:

Thank you so much. I have asked other people about the problem I had and no one could help. Thank you again.

Question submitted by jonlyn:

what program do I use to install temperature converter?

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hi jonlyn. Do you mean the temp converter you got when you subscribed to ABC? The one from my website? There's no install necessary. But the file is zipped so it's a smaller download. You can use any unzipping program to extract the file, then you just double click it to use it. Winzip is the most popular unzipping program. You can download that here. It's shareware.
http://www.winzip.com/

Question submitted by Kendra:

I am wondering what you used to create the interactive VLOOKUP Excel spreadsheet? Is that XML? I thought I saw an XML tag in the coding but maybe not. Thanks in advance

Answer from Linda Johnson:

Hi Kendra. When you save the spreadsheet in Excel, go to File>Save As Webpage ... in the box that comes up you will see the button to "add interactivity".  Good luck.

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 :-)