Q. Ordinarily I wouldn’t write in like this, but I just had to say something after reading your work in today’s (June 1, Tech.Buz) paper. To wit:
1. Regarding why people tend to listen to CDs on their computers instead of on conventional stereo equipment, well, the logic should be obvious. How often do people load in CD-ROM software anyway? And if you’re banging out reports and such like, why not centralize your operation by listening to CDs at your desk instead of involving all kinds of other devices?
2. I really have to wonder if AOL is sneaking you some grease under the table. As a (fortunately) former AOL subscriber, I can honestly say that I will never, no matter how tempting the offer, switch back to AOL as you suggested to another reader seeking an ISP.
I realize that not everyone is as interested in computing as I am, even though I’m but dust in the desert compared to others. I have found your column helpful from time to time, but I feel that it is more targeted (maybe not intentionally) to the rank beginner.
Ethan Johnson @lycos.com
A. I’ve been messing with computers for a living for the past five years and every day I find something to remind me that everybody is a rank beginner about something in this multimedia mare’s nest called personal technology.
If you saw the complaints about unfriendly coverage I get from AOL’s boss Steve Case you’d acquit me of taking grease faster than Ken Starr can say Monica Lewinsky.
As to playing CD-ROMs on your PC, need I remind you of just how fragile CD music players often prove to be? How are you going to feel when you need to read a CD-ROM for serious computing use and find out you trashed the player listening to Beastie Boys cuts?
Q. In Windows 95 I have deleted material no longer needed with the intention of freeing up space on my hard drive, but I find that overall storage space is not affected. Uninstall facilities that come with 95 work on only a few programs. I prefer not to mess with store-bought uninstall programs and wonder whether there is an alternative.
Eli Pindsey @aol.com
A. Mmmmmm. Sounds like you need to empty the Recycle Bin. When you pick out stuff and order the delete command, the files are moved to this fail-safe directory on the desktop rather than zapped outright. So click open the recycle icon and select File/Empty Recycle Bin.
Q. Regarding your answer to John Savage @juno.com who asked about Internet Service Providers, I think the best advice you could have given him was to go to http://www.thelist.com and research the ISPs himself.
Mike Turczak @mcs.net
A. As Johnny Carson used to tell his best guests, I didn’t know that! Wow, Mr. T., that Web site you tipped me to is sponsored by Internet powerhouse Mecklermedia’s Internet World magazine and it all but blew me away when I checked it out.
The site covers more than 4,600 ISPs, and visitors can call up basic information about each one of them either by state or area code.
The listings cover both local ISPs and national outfits that have POPs (points of presence) in each area code to allow local calls. For example, the listing for area code 312 includes well over 100 providers complete with basic information and hot links to a Web site for each.
I thank you, Mr. T, and I’m sure a good many readers will thank you, too.
Q. What do you do when the Windows 95 “Save Password” box is grayed-out and won’t accept a change? I have had this problem since I upgraded to Internet Explorer 4.01 from 3.?. My local computer weenie has no solution for this situation. Any ideas?
Ken Marshall Lebanon, Tenn.
A. My guess is that your machine burped and changed one of the Windows 95 password settings that are accessed by clicking on Start/Control Panel/Passwords. Most likely you will find the wrong box checked under the heading User Profiles.
BTW (by the way), you can use this set of moves to set up individual passwords and profiles so that different family members can log on using their own passwords, individual Internet accounts, etc.
Q. I’m in the `thought process’ of replacing my slooooow 83mhz computer and need to know the best method of getting files from the old to the new. I have an Iomega tape drive (external), but that takes forever. I’m thinking of either an Iomega Zip 100 or a SyQuest SparQ 1.0. IYHO (in your humble opinion), which of these would be my best bet, or do you have other options I should consider? I’ve been procrastinating on this for over a year, so you can see I need an answer quickly!
Jim Shannon @compuserve.com
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A. IMHO you can’t go wrong either way. Both machines cost about $200 for the basic hardware. But the Sparq is probably the sweeter of the two choices if your top priority is moving stuff from the old box to the new one. Megabyte for megabyte, Sparq is far cheaper. A 1-gigabyte Sparq cartridge costs $30 compared with $15 or so per 100 megs with ZIP. Sparq also seems faster in my tests, for whatever that is worth.
But ZIP drives are something of a global standard in removable storage, and if there’s any chance you’re going to want to swap big files with others, ZIP is a much stronger choice.
Q. I currently use Windows 95 on my PC but it’s an original version. If I install a newer version, will it erase my HD, i.e. reformat, or just update the files in the WINDOWS directory? Or would I be better served waiting for the WIN98?
Joe Suarez, Springfield
A. You can argue about whether Binary Bill’s Big Show known as Windows 98 is worth the bother until the cows come home, but if you’ve got an older version of Windows 95 Windows 98 is a far better choice.
It takes me at least 4 hours on the average to do a Windows 95 upgrade and less than a half hour to do the 95 to 98 switch. This is because Microsoft vastly improved the install process during the nearly three years it spent moving from 95 to 98. And, no, neither upgrade will erase other files on your hard drive.
Q. While I’m not a computer novice, I’m no expert, either. I’ve recently bought a new computer with a lot of bells and whistles and am trying to get used to Windows 95; I knew the ins and outs of 3.1 pretty well. Here’s my problem: I’ve been trying to work with an East Coast company regarding a freelance job and I can’t get my resume attached to my e-mail. In 3.1, the file manager pretty clearly marked all the files. But now, when I put in the file’s designation to my e-mail, a message pops up telling me the file doesn’t exist. Yet, when I’m in word processing, and I want to go to the file, the name works. I really need to get my resume into the body of my e-mail. I really hope you can help me as soon as possible.
Karen Lukac @gte.net
A. Veterans of Windows 3.1 often get blind-sided by the built-in browsing software that most Windows 95 e-mail programs use to find files and attach them to outgoing messages. After you open the compose note module, address a note and put in a subject line, you click on the attachment command, usually a paper clip icon. This will open a file finder box with that browse command on it. Click on browse and then click on the various folder icons until you reach the one for your resume.
Good luck in the file search, Ms. L., but good luck especially in the job search.
Q. I am trying to create a book of quotations and sayings and would like to be able to sort by category and cross reference quotations that may be put into several categories. We have Microsoft Office Pro on our PC. We have taken a course for Access 95, have purchased several books on the software but have not been able to set up a program that will do this. Also, we want to be able to print all this out in book form.
Che Leben @aol.com
A. Access is just great for what you envision. Break out that manual from your course and do the following:
Set up fields for the author name, a keyword and a category.
Then set up a note field for the quotation itself.
Create a form for this custom database and start filling in your data.
Later you can use the query function to either extract all quotes of a given category or all quotes with a given keyword. or whatever.
Best of all, these queries can be set up to cover multiple conditions: This is a relational database.
Using these relational queries you can find all the quotes by Robert Frost mentioning snow along with all the quotes from Carl Sandburg about fog and combine it all in a single report.
Each report then can be exported into a word processor for final tweaking.
If you give it a second chance, I think you will be delighted to see just how well Access works for what you have in mind.
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Contact Jim Coates via e-mail at [email protected] or snail mail at the baiduhai, Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 60611. If you think you’ve got a better answer to any of these questions, add your point of view at www.chicago.tribune.com/go/askjim.