System
Ensuring Defrag works properly
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[Q] Windows Defrag gets to about 85 per cent then returns to the beginning. Why is this?
[a] Programs will be changing the disk's contents even though you don't realise they're running. You need to switch off all the programs running in the background by pressing the Ctrl, Alt and Del keys all at the same time. A window should appear which you can use to close down all the background programs running (using the End Task button). Switch off everything except Explorer. Also, right click on your desktop, choose Properties and turn off your screen saver (click on the Screen Saver tab and make sure the box with your screen saver name says None). Once all this is done your Disk Defragmenter will work with no interruptions.

Autorun on CDs
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[Q] Without Autorun on my PC I am unable to play many of the CD-ROMs that I have. Can you tell me how to switch it on?
[a] Autorun should work if Windows is instructed to use it. To check this, right-click on the My Computer icon, and select Properties. In the dialog box that opens, select the Device Manager tab, and then highlight your CD-ROM drive. You may need to click on the plus sign next to CD-ROM to find it. Next, you need to hit the Properties button at the bottom of the box. When the Properties box for your CD-ROM drive opens, select the Settings tab, and make sure there is a tick in the check box next to 'Auto insert notification'. Even without Autorun on, you should be able to access a CD-ROM disc. Insert one in the drive, double click My Computer, then either double click on your CD-ROM disk or right-click and select Open. You're looking for a file with an icon that will look like or have the name of the program itself. If you are loading software from a CD-ROM, then you should be looking for a file called SETUP or INSTALL. The icon for this file will look like a computer with an open box next to it. Double clicking on these files will bring up the screen you would have got had Autorun been working.

Using partitioned hard drives
[Q] I have a computer with an 8Gb hard disk. The hard disk is partitioned into two – drive C: is 1.99Gb and drive D: is 5.85Gb. Drive C is just about full. Do I have to load Windows onto drive D: or will it just automatically go onto the next drive when C: is full? Also, is it worth uninstalling some of the games and putting them on D: to leave C: free for other applications?
[a] You don't need to move Windows, just think of your D: drive as an extra storage area. Start installing all new products to D: and also consider transferring a few of your games to make room on C: for any expansion – it's always safest to have at least a few hundred megabytes free on the disk your operating system is running off. If you wanted to, you could also start using D: to store your work on, as there is nothing to say that you have to use the My Documents folder.

Restoring Windows sounds
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[Q] I have lost some of my sounds – those in Windows that signify events like starting up or making a mistake. Some of my games don't have any sounds, either.
[a] If you look to the bottom right-hand corner of your screen, your Taskbar should include a selection of icons in what Windows calls your System Tray. One of the icons should look a little like a loudspeaker – double click on this and it will bring up your Volume Control window. From here, you can check that all your volume levels are happy. Check that none of the levels have been muted (usually a tick at the bottom of the window). Also check that the levels are all high enough – if you can't hear Windows sounds, make sure the bar on the Wave Out option is pushed right up to the top to give maximum volume.

Finding out how much space on a hard drive
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[Q] Where do I look to find how much space I have left on my 1.5Gb hard drive? People say I don't need to worry because it's quite big and it's likely that I have used less than 500Mb but this is guesswork.
[a] You are right to be concerned, and you should always keep an eye on how much space you have left. You may find that you have less than you think.
There is an easy way to find this information. Click on your Start button, and select Programs, Accessories, System Tools then Drive Space. Double-click on the letter representing the drive you want to examine, which is likely to be C: if you're looking at your main hard drive, and the pink part of the pie chart will represent the amount of free space you have. You can perform the same check on any of your drives, even removable floppy disks.

Removing unwanted applications
[Q] Having removed many old programs, games and demos from my computer, I find legacies of their presence remain. When I use the Add/Remove Programs facility in the Control Panel, I still have the option to remove things I deleted long ago yet I cannot remove these options as their uninstall files have been deleted.
[a] This is one of those idiosyncrasies that plagues the PC. More often than not, especially with games, an uninstall will not perform completely, because extra files have been added to the program's folder, such as saved games or other bits of data that wasn't originally installed.
If you know where you installed a program, it is a safe bet that you can eliminate this folder. It's always a good idea, when installing in the first place, to place the program in a directory (folder) with a name and location you can remember. The suggested option often hides files down a complicated tree like sub-directory somewhere beyond your Program Files folder. When deleting a directory, delete it to the Recycle Bin and leave it there a while. Then you can reinstate it should your PC start behaving abnormally. It's possible the program may have left files all over the place, especially in your Windows directory, but we don't suggest you delete files from there because they may be used by other programs.

Keyboards that print the wrong characters
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[Q] When I use my keyboard, certain keystrokes do not correspond with the characters displayed on the screen. For example, pressing the £ key prints #, and speech marks print @. I suspect my keyboard settings are in some way incorrect. How do I change them?
[a] There are two areas where you might be having trouble with your keyboard, so you'll need to check both. They are both accessed from the Control Panel, so click on your Start button, select Settings then Control Panel. First double-click on the Keyboard icon. Click on the Language tab and make sure the language is set to English (British) and change it if necessary. Go back to the Control Panel and click on Regional Settings. Again, make sure English (British) or English (United Kingdom) is selected.

Automatically arranging icons
[Q] I recently had some problems with my PC and, after contacting the helpline, I was informed I could only cure the problem by reformatting my hard disk. I did this and everything installed once again and now appears to be working fine. However, since doing the reinstall, the icons for My Computer and the Recycle Bin can be moved around my desktop, whereas before no matter where you dragged them they always returned to their original location.
Is there a way I can make them return to their usual spot? I am worried I may do something silly and delete them.
[a] If you set your icons to Auto Arrange, there shouldn't be any problem with keeping them in place. Right-click on an empty part of your desktop and choose Arrange Icons then Auto Arrange. When you next try to move them, they should pop back into place. Having said this, both these icons are difficult to delete, so with a bit of care you shouldn't run into too much trouble.

Setting the default printer
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[Q] I hope you can help with a problem I'm having. Every time I try to print a document using Microsoft Works, the Compose New Fax wizard pops up. This all started last week when I tried to send a fax and it refused to go.
[a] Double-click on the My Computer icon on your desktop, then double-click on the Printers icon. You'll probably find that there's a white tick on a black background looming over the icon labelled Microsoft Fax. Right-click on your regular printer then click on Set As Default. This will move the tick to your regular printer, which should now be the first one Windows chooses when you got to print something out.

The Network Neighbourhood
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[Q] While trying to solve a problem using a telephone helpline, I started up Network Neighbourhood. It was empty, so I tried to drop it into the Recycle Bin with no success. What's it for?
[a] This is a section of your system that's reserved for keeping track of other machines on any network you might have. Since you haven't got a network, this is somewhat superfluous, and so remains empty. However, Windows won't let you delete it, just in case you ever attach another PC in the future - no matter how unlikely that may seem at the moment.

Making Caps Lock beep
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[Q] I have been using my computer for eight months now, but I frequently find myself typing in capital letters, having inadvertently pressed the Caps Lock key. Is there any way to make my computer beep whenever I hit this key, in order to warn me that it has happened?
[a] From the Start menu, select Settings and Control Panel. Double click Accessibilty Options and tick the bottom item, labelled ToggleKeys. This will produce a beep whenever you hit Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock.

Desktop
Deleting from the Documents menu
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[Q] When I click on Documents in the Start menu I find a few things that I would like to delete. However, when I go to the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel, none of these items are there. Where are they, and how do I banish them from my screen?
[a] This is a list of shortcuts to recently used files. Usually this keeps shortcuts for about 10 files in an easy-to-find list, so that if you'd been using a certain word processor file recently, you could find the file on this list rather than searching for it on your hard drive.
To eliminate a file from the list simply right click on it and choose Delete from the menu. You can also clear the list completely by going to Settings on your Start menu then choosing the Taskbar and Start Menu option. From here, click on the tab at the top labelled Start Menu Programs and click on the button marked Clear. When you next return to the Documents menu, you will find it has no files in it, though it will start to fill up again as you create and edit more files. To delete the files directly, you will have to go to the place where they are saved. Even deleting these may mean that the shortcut to the file stays in the Documents menu though, until it is replaced by a more recently used file.

Printing font samples
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[Q] I would like to get a sample print of all the fonts on my system, but other than copying lines then changing the font on each line, I cannot see how to do it. Do you have any ideas?
[a] If you go to the Windows directory then the Fonts directory, you should see all the fonts on your system. By right clicking on a font and selecting Open, you should be presented with information about each one, and a demonstration of how they look in different sizes. This can be printed off as a reference.

Using the Euro
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[Q] Whether we want it or not many of us are dealing with the unit of currency for the European Union, the euro. How do I make or where do I find a resizable symbol for the euro? It isn't in the character map.
[a] Windows 98 already has support for the euro, which you can access by holding down AltGr (on the right of your space bar) and hitting the 4 button at the top of the keyboard. Any Windows 95 user who finds this key combination doesn't work, can go to www.microsoft.com/windows/euro.asp to download the euro enabled version of the operating system. Most hardware manufacturers are now shipping keyboards with the euro symbol printed alongside the four key, but double check this before you buy.

Moving the Quick Launch bar
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[Q] When I installed Windows 98 it loaded icons for Internet Explorer and Outlook Express on the toolbar on the left-hand side near the Start button. I turned this off initially, then decided I rather liked it there, so I right clicked on the bar and selected Quick Launch from the Toolbar option.
This did return the icons, but now they are on the right-hand side of the toolbar. I have, to date, been unable to persuade the icons to move over to the left-hand side.
[a] To the left of the buttons there should be a handle – a little vertical line. Use your mouse to grab this handle, hold the left mouse button down as you do it and drag it across to the left. The icons should move to the left-hand side and stay there.

Clicking buttons that aren't visible
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[Q] Is there an easy way to access the OK or Apply buttons in display properties if you accidentally accept too low a resolution? I can't set the screen size I require as I can't get to this button by pushing the window up far enough, as the blue line at the top of the window goes out of the picture.
[a] Right-click on your desktop to bring the settings up and click the Settings tab. Now change your screen resolution setting, then press enter. The screen should change to the new resolution without having to see the OK button.

Installing WinZip
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[Q] I foolishly erased the WinZip program that came with my PC. I now realise that WinZip is a very useful application and would like to reinstall it. I can't find it on the Windows CD-ROM – where can I get it?
[a] WinZip isn't available on the Windows disc and must have been put on your machine by your manufacturer. However, you can download a trial version directly from www.winzip.com or get it from the cover CD of our sister magazine What PC?
WinZip creates zip files, which can be used to group and compress a number of different files into one. This makes it ideal for archiving your work and sending files to other people via email over the internet, since the space taken up can be dramatically reduced.

Changing resolution and desktop appearance
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[Q] I have a 17in monitor and would like to know what resolution is best. I did have it at 800 x 600, but I heard that 1,024 x 768 is better, so I changed it. I thought the text looked too small at this setting, however, even when set to large fonts. I'd also like to know what the best colour scheme is.
[a] This really is a case of personal preference. Gamers and those who work with graphics often like to use the highest resolution they can on their machine, as it allows them to see more detail. Some may even take their graphics beyond 1,024 x 768, although this tends to be the norm for 17in monitors.
If you're only doing low detail work, such as word processing or web browsing, then 800 x 600 should be more than sufficient. When using a higher resolution, everything gets smaller, but it means you can fit more on screen at any one time. As for colour schemes, unless you're colour blind or visually impaired, what you choose will make no difference to your computer's performance. Try using your favourite colours to brighten up your desktop.

Files and Folders
Clearing the temp folder
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[Q] I have 203 objects in my Temporary folder. Can I delete all the files without affecting my system?
[a] Generally, anything in your Temporary folder is there because an application is using the space as temporary storage. Having said that, when applications crash, they will leave their temporary files behind because they haven't been shut down properly. You can find out whether any of them are needed in one of two ways. The easiest is to delete all the files into your recycle bin just after starting your PC and before launching any applications, then run your PC normally for a good while – a couple of weeks of normal usage should be sufficient. If nothing untoward happens and your applications don't come up with 'Unable to find file' messages, you should be OK.
The other way is to open the folder, usually found in the C:\WINDOWS\TEMP directory and select Details from the View menu. The date under the Modified heading shows you when the file was last used. If this was a long time ago, it's a safe bet that you can delete the file, though it's still worth leaving them in your Recycle Bin for a bit first, just in case.

Associating files to applications
[Q] I have just uninstalled Corel Draw because I rarely use it and prefer Paint Shop Pro for images and scanning. Now, when I go to explorer, my .JPG and .BMP files have 'Corel Draw image' as their description, not Paint Shop Pro. If I double-click to load a picture file from explorer, a screen comes up asking me to locate Corel Draw. How do I make it look for Paint Shop Pro instead?
[a] These 'associations' are a feature of Windows and not individual applications. As a result, uninstalling a package will not change a file type's association back to an existing program, causing the PC to prompt you for the location of the deleted one. You can change these yourself though.
Select the Start button, choose Settings then Folder Options. There will be a tab in the next window called File Types. Choose this then scroll down the list until you find the one you want to change. Highlight with a single click and choose the Edit button. On the next screen, choose Edit. You get a Window with a box saying 'Application used to perform action:' above it, and a browse button next to that. Hit browse and find the directory where the new application is, in this case, Paint Shop Pro. Click on the icon for the application, press OK on all the other screens, and next time you double-click on an icon of its type, the new application will launch. You can change the associated files' icon to a Paint Shop Pro icon, so you know it's an image without thinking about it.

Renaming extensions
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[Q] How do I change a file's extension type in Windows 95 and 98? In Windows 3.1, this could be carried out through the Rename function in File Manager. Renaming nowadays appears to only allow the file name to be changed.
[a] We suspect you've got your file extensions turned off. Open Windows Explorer and choose Folder Options from the View menu. From the Options screen, make sure that the box next to the words 'Hide MS-DOS file extensions for file types that are registered' (Windows 95) or 'Hide file extensions for known file types' (Windows 98) does not have a tick in it. If it does, click once on the box to remove it. Next, click on OK, and when you return to Windows Explorer you should find file extensions alongside every file. Go to your file, click on it once and edit the letters of the extension, which should now appear after the file name.

Sorting lists of files
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[Q] Whenever I open a file selector box in Windows, all the files are listed in date order. How do I list them alphabetically?
[a] Open up the directory and select the View menu. Choose the Arrange Icons option, then select by Name and you should end up with icons in the order you require.

Copying files
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[Q] I'm not sure how to copy more than one file at a time in Windows.
[a] The Ctrl key is used in conjunction with the mouse to select multiple files and the Shift key can also be used. Using just the mouse, if you click on a file once with the left mouse button, you highlight the file. If you were to click on a second file, the first one you clicked on would return to normal, and the new file would be highlighted. If you hold the Ctrl key down while clicking on a second file, both files will be highlighted. You can do this as many times as you have files. If you click on a highlighted file while still holding down the Ctrl key, that single file will return to normal, all the others will remain highlighted.
If you have a lot of files to select, you can left click on the first file you want to select, hold down the Shift key (the one above Ctrl with an upward pointing arrow on it) and then click on the last file in the group. All the files between these two will be highlighted.
Once a file is highlighted, you can do certain things with it, such as dragging it to a new location. Open the folder where you want to move or copy the highlighted files to, click on one of the highlighted files and without releasing the left mouse button, move the cursor across to the new window. You should see the outlines of your files moving with the cursor. Release the mouse button when it's in the right place and the files will copy to the new location.
You can use the Shift and Ctrl keys here too. Pressing the Shift key before you let go of the left mouse button will change the action from a copy to a move - the files in the original location will be deleted as they are recreated in the new folder. Holding down both the Shift and Ctrl keys before releasing the left mouse button will create shortcuts to the files, instead of copying the files themselves.
If you're copying from one floppy disk to another, the easiest way is to create a temporary directory on your desktop (right click, select New, then Folder) and copy the files from the first disk to the new folder. Swap the disks and copy the files back to the floppy drive.

Explaining pixels and dots per inch
[Q] I bought a digital camera recently and can't understand the difference between the number of pixels in an image and its number of dots per inch (dpi). I want to scan a simple picture and email it to someone who uses Paint - the simple image-editing software built into Windows.
I can scan the document, save it in a .BMP format and attach it to an email. The trouble with this is that the file takes ages to load and unload, and is massive when opened at the other end. It requires four sheets of A4 just to cover the width of the image.
[a] This can be a confusing area, although it's actually quite simple. You can measure the quality of an image in two ways, either by dpi or pixels. With paper-based images, when you're printing or scanning, people tend to talk in dpi, since this is a convenient way of thinking about images on paper. In the digital world people talk about the number of pixels, since this can describe an image universally without having to worry about how big it appears on someone else's screen.
If you take an inch square image and scan it through a scanner at 300dpi, you'll get a picture on your PC at a resolution of 300 x 300 pixels. If you then printed this out again, but you enlarged the image so that it was two inches square, it would still only be made up of the same 300 x 300 pixels, but because it has been enlarged, it would only have 150dpi.
If you scanned an A4 page at 300dpi, you'd end up with a scan of 2,490 x 3,510 pixels. Saved as a .BMP file, this is going to take up a lot of disk space, and will take a long time to send to someone else over the internet. A better idea might be to dramatically reduce the scanning resolution - to, say, 50 or 100dpi. Although this will reduce the quality, it should be more than detailed enough to see a simple photograph quite clearly.
The real problem here though, is that Paint isn't a powerful enough package for what you want to do. Many commercial and shareware image processors allow you to resize pictures, decide whether you want an image to fill an entire printed page, and utilise all sorts of other special features. For a powerful yet inexpensive image processor, we recommend giving Paint Shop Pro a try – download a trial version from www.digitalworkshop.co.uk.
Alternatively, for image conversion, try Ulead's Photo Viewer, which you can download for free from www.webutilities.com. Using either package, you can save your scan in a net-friendly format, such as a .GIF or.JPG.

Opening .SEA attachments
[Q] A friend in Australia who uses an Apple Mac recently sent me an email attachment in the .SEA format. How do I open it on a PC?
[a] Aladdin Expander (which is available for free on the internet from www.aladdinsys.com) can open files compressed in this format. The program is freeware and can decompress, decode, convert and access other compressed file formats, such as StuffIt or .ZIP.