Q. I live in Hoboken, N.J., and, after various mergers, my Internet service provider is EarthLink. When it was originally Netcom, we had no problem connecting to a local number with no long-distance charge. Now because of the mergers, Hoboken has lost all its no-fee connection numbers. Short of changing my ISP, which I will do if necessary, what can be done?
Thomas Mosley @ix.netcom.com
A. As the doctor once told Edgar Allan Poe, I don’t like the sound of that cough, Mr. M. I am assuming, of course, that you checked the access numbers from within the superb EarthLink home page (www.earthlink.com/home/access) to make sure your home is, indeed, out of range. Sticking with EarthLink is possible by upping your current $20 per month deal to a $25 per month 800-number plan. But you only get five hours per month before a $5 per hour surcharge kicks in.
If I were you I would sever my EarthLink and log on to www.thelist.com operated by e-media publishing tycoon Alan Meckler. There you will find the world’s most comprehensive listing of Internet service providers, arranged by area code and local exchange, making it easy to home in on a provider with no-cost local dial-ups.
Q. My computer has been corrupted somehow by whatever the people from Pacific Bell did when they set up my account for high-speed DSL Internet service. Before I ever had an Internet service provider, my HP Pavilion’s Windows 98 always shut down just fine, but now when I do a shutdown from the Start menu the computer does not shut off. I am left with a screen forever saying “Windows 98 is shutting down.” Not so! Several technicians have been of no help.
Sigi Riddle @yahoo.com
A. Between you and Mr. M. above, today looks like a day for bicoastal Internet service provider beefs here in the Midwest headquarters of Ask Jim. Your problem underscores the fact that high-speed Internet connections remain the Wild West of the Information Age, and problems like yours are both commonplace and a bit hard to fix.
You need to reconcile the settings on the 3Com network card that PacBell installed in your PC when you signed up for that slick DSL service. Check the lower right-hand corner of your screen and you will find a little blue 3Com NIC (network interface card) icon in the taskbar. Click it and pick Properties from the display that pops up. You will find a button marked Optimal Settings. If you click this, the software will check all the settings and change the one that is creating the conflict that hangs up your machine when you try to shut down.
Q. If you could figure out a way to do this, I would be eternally grateful. I’m approaching 76 years of age and am not too computer-savvy. I now need to copy into my new Windows 98 Toshiba computer some important files I input into a Brother word processor seven years ago. These files are updated annually and saved onto a floppy disk. Do I need to buy software to accomplish this? I figured only you would have the answer for me.
Loretta Havel @aol.com
A. Actually, Ms. H., your question is pretty elementary for a lot of computer users because it is blessedly simple to answer and easy for you to implement. Happily, those glorified typewriters/word processors that Brother sold in great profusion less than a decade ago were designed to save files on floppy disks formatted for MS-DOS, the operating system that lies at the heart of Windows 98. You need to copy all those Brother word files over to your Toshiba and then open them in the word processors built in to Windows 98. Here’s the drill:
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Put that floppy from the Brother into the floppy drive on your new Toshiba and click the My Computer icon at the top left of your screen. Look for the icon named 3 1/2 Floppy (A:) and click on it. When the next display comes up, press the control+A key to select all the files and folders on the floppy. Next move the cursor over any one of the files or folders and press and hold the right mouse button and then drag the icons on the floppy onto your desktop.
You will then get icons for the Brother files that you can open and edit in the Toshiba. The files should have names with .txt as their extension. If so, they will open automatically in the Notepad text editor included in Windows. If by some chance the names don’t have .txt at the end, select each and then press the right mouse button to bring up the rename command. Then change the name to .txt at the end and you’ll be back in business big time.
Q. I have several songs on my PC in the MP3 format. I have been trying to burn them on a blank CD. The Adaptec software that came with the CD-RW drive that lets me make my own music CDs is looking for WAV files, not MP3. Is there a way to convert MP3 files to WAV files so I can burn a CD?
Greg Harmis @aol.com
A. The best way to transform those Internet-friendly MP3 music files from places like Napster.com and MP3.com into CDs playable in ordinary music machines is by way of CD ripping software from Web sites like www.rioport.com or www.musicmatch.com.
This software plays music CDs in the CD-ROM drive on PCs and creates highly compressed MP3 files on the hard drive. Both RioPort and MusicMatch include a command that lets you convert the MP3s into music CDs, and both work well with the Adaptec software included on the bulk of CD-RW drives now in use on the Windows side of personal computing.
Q. I have a very nice Dell computer that’s about 18 months old and I don’t do anything weird with it. It works well and has lots of memory. I use the Web a lot with a Road Runner cable connection, avoiding sites that might foul up my computer. Can you help me with two questions?
First, about once a day when I’m using the computer, Microsoft sends me a message: “Critical Update.” Early this year, I accepted the update and then had so many problems with my computer that I had to call a technician. I haven’t accepted an MS “Critical Update” since. Should I accept these Critical Updates, and if so, how often?
Second, how often should I update McAfee virus protection?
Leslie Malek, Columbus, Ohio.
A. I recommend that you give up and download the new Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 and be done with those continuing nags from the Raptor of Redmond, Wash. Your 18-month-old version of the browser is so far behind the curve that it keeps notifying the mother ship that it needs to update the various and sundry patches that have been issued over time, and Microsoft advises those updates. If you go to www.microsoft.com/windows/ie you can download 5.5 or order a $10 CD.
On your second question, I would only update the McAfee anti-virus software as long as it is free. After the free update grace period expires, you can always download any emergency fixes that you might need should a virus strike later on. You already are protected from the great majority of problems because of the version you have.
Many of my peers and superiors think I am foolish to downplay the problem of viruses as I do, but I have been doing this for a goodly long time now, and my approach of waiting for something to break before fixing it has served me well.
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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, IL 60611. Questions can be answered only through the column. Add your point of view at chicagotribune.com