Q–I am using Internet Explorer 5.0 and have Word Perfect 2000 by Corel as my word processor. I am a terrible speller, and I want to use the spell checker on my Outlook Express, but good old Microsoft will only recognize the spell checkers that come with their word processors, like MS Word. Is there a spell checker somewhere that I can download to my computer from the Web and allow my Internet Explorer to end my spelling-challenged condition when using my e-mail on Internet Explorer?
Dave Schain @ snet.net
A–The spell checker in my word processor put so many red squiggly red lines on your original note that I thought I had a nosebleed. I’d suggest logging on to www.tucows.com, the Internet’s premier shareware software resource, and pick up one of the many e-mail add-on spell checkers available there.
Q–I need some advice about buying a new printer. Our Hewlett-Packard 660Cse has died. I am interested in moving on to another brand of printer because I got tired of getting error messages saying that the ink cartridges were improperly installed on the H-P. I am considering an Epson or Canon product. It will be strictly for home use. Can you make any suggestions?
Tom Calanca, Mundelein
A–Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, and I’m no angel, Mr. C. I, too, got fed up with fiddling with all the confusing settings on a series of color ink jets like yours. I also came to realize through all the times that I had trouble getting colors to come out right that I was happy 99 percent of the time with a nice, clear black-and-white copy anyway.
So I chucked the cranky ink jets and bought me a nice cheap Xerox laser printer, the DocuPrint P8. It does stuff like printing out interesting Web pages (albeit in black and white only) much, much faster than ink jets do, and I just love the simple lock-and-load scheme for making quick cartridge changes.
I consider it the most useful single computer purchase I made all year.
Q–I want to transfer all my personal files (text and graphics) on my hard drive to an external drive I just bought. Is there a reasonably fast way of doing this and then deleting those files from my hard drive?
Roger Miller @aol.com
A–Microsoft recommends simply using the cut and paste commands built in to the operating system to move files from one device to another. Select whichever files or folders you want to move and tap Control+X to cut. Then move the pointer to the icon for your new remote storage device and once it is open, tap Control+V (the V comes from “moVe”).
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By holding down the control key while selecting file and folder icons, you can move large batches of stuff at a time.
So that’s Microsoft’s way. Coates’ way is a bit different because I am chicken about cutting stuff until it is backed up. So I click Control+C to copy files and then do the same moVe as Bill Gates recommends. Once my stuff is safely moVed, I go back and delete it.
Q–While I always enjoy your column, I can’t agree with your “not to worry” recommendation when it comes to hackers and DSL or cable modems. A better choice, in my opinion, would be to get a low-cost software firewall. I’m a DSL user at home, and my firewall detects probes virtually every day–better safe than sorry.
Michael Tena, San Jose, Calif.
A–While it is possible that some hacker is probing your Internet address bent on mischief, chances are much more likely that your cheap firewall software is simply registering background noise, which is commonplace in the frenzied exchanges of data bits that make up the Internet. There are millions of ordinary people using always-on DSL connections and, to my knowledge, not a single confirmed case of a hacker attack at the solitary consumer level.
Peter Norton, America’s great exploiter of PC phobia, is (as you may well imagine) already Peter on the Spot with Norton Internet Security 2000 for $53 with complicated firewall modules as well as some pretty welcome features, including Norton’s fine anti-virus software. If it makes you feel better, by all means, go for Norton, but beware that these kinds of fixes can often cause more problems than they correct.
Q–I am wondering if you can give me some advice on plug-ins. It seems that many times when surfing the Web I encounter the need for a plug-in that I don’t have. Which ones are the most needed for general use? Are any of them worth paying for?
Tom Barton, Birmingham, Ala.
A–IMHO (in my humble opinion) there are only a few plug-ins worth adding to one’s Internet browser to allow a computer to handle specialized content. And all of them are free.
First make sure your computer is running the Microsoft Media Player for handling streaming video, Internet radio and other on-line media content. The Real Player by RealNetworks not only costs money to upgrade, but trying to use it is an outrage because the company requires repeated returns to its ad-supported Web site for minor upgrades. So dump Real and stick with Microsoft.
The other must-have free plug-in is the Adobe Acrobat Reader, essential for handling the .pdf format files used widely by government agencies, mutual funds and others to make it easy to read huge federal reports and long company analyses.
Finally, make sure that you’re running the Macromedia Shockwave plug-ins to allow your browser to see the wealth of animations on the Web.
Keep in mind that you needn’t bother with a plug-in search on your own: All these plug-ins can be acquired with a simple click when you encounter a Web site that needs them to display content.
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Contact Jim Coates via e-mail at [email protected] or via snail mail at the baiduhai, Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 60611. Questions can be answered only through the column. Add your point of view at chicagotribune.com/go/askjim