Q–I have a 2-year-old version of Windows 98, and sooner or later it always ends a session with the mouse (and everything else) locking up, going crazy or what have you. An uninterrupted 15-minute session is almost unheard of. It doesn’t matter what program I was in, what was open, it just resulted in a wildly jumping mouse until Control-Alt-Delete shut it down. I tried the $5 Microsoft CD-ROM “fix” to no avail. It’s a 233 mHz Pentium with 64 megabytes of RAM, a pretty ordinary machine. Your suggestions?
Steve Lyle, Youngstown, N.Y.
A–Let me tell you how to reinstall Windows to get your computer back on the straight and narrow. But first we will assume that there are no mechanical problems with that mouse, which is a big assumption. Mice get gummed up pretty easily, and when that happens they can send such a jumble of command signals to the main processor that a condition called stack overflow sets in and all freezes. So first of all, buy and try a new mouse.
If that fails, break out the manual and CDs that came with your PC and use the “restore” CD to return your operating system to its pristine out-of-the-box state.
You will get two choices for a restoration. The simplest just reloads Windows 98 on your existing drive. A more extreme fix reformats the drive and erases all your data, including word processing documents, e-mail address lists and Internet bookmarks. Try the less extreme measure first.
Q–It is a real nuisance to have the warning sign telling me that I am about to run out of ink for my printer when I have just replaced the cartridge and the printer is working just fine. It continues to appear no matter what I do. Any suggestion as to how I might rid myself of this nuisance?
Jim Shoffner @ msn.com
A–I have a printer of my own, a Lexmark, that does this same annoying thing, and I fix it by reloading the printer drivers every time I change ink cartridges.
You just pull out the floppy disk (or CD-ROM) that came with the printer and go through the same setup process as when the printer was new. It only takes a couple of minutes, and you’re already being bothered by replacing a cartridge so it’s just a bit more bother.
For what it’s worth, my software expert friends speculate that the printer’s software is looking for and not finding a log file it is supposed to create showing past maintenance steps. It thus fails to detect the fact that the cartridge was changed. Reinstalling the drivers makes the machine create that missing log file all over again.
Q–I use my PC mostly for writing. Frequently, while typing, I hit something that kicks in the “overwrite” function. But I can’t figure out how to turn off the overwrite mode except by closing my file and reopening it. Would you please tell me how to turn off this overwrite after I turn it on?
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Michael Holden, Chestertown, Md.
A–You’re going to slap yourself on the forehead when I give you the answer, Mr. H. I know because that’s what I did when I finally figured out why this perplexing thing was happening to me as I wrote my various and sundry newspaper pieces. I was (and you are) striking the Insert key, which is next to the Backspace key that gets a lot of use when you go back over sentences to clean them up. If you hit Insert, the computer toggles between the insert and overwrite modes. Since Word and WordPerfect and most other programs come up with the insert function already on, any accidental touching of the key toggles it off, putting the machine into overwrite mode. Closing and reopening the program fixes this, of course, but so does simply tapping Insert a second time.
Q–Recently, I downloaded the Napster Internet music software and started getting some songs from the site and loading them onto my hard drive. This allows me to listen to some of my favorite tunes while I am slaving away at work. I have noticed that after I sign off of Napster, throughout the day, my computer continues to stay connected to Napster letting other people download the songs that I have on my hard drive onto theirs. How can I disable my computer so that Napster cannot automatically call up its site?
Steve R. Eckes @bdfusa.com
A–As you have learned to your dismay, Mr. E., Web music file sharing is a two-way street. In exchange for getting free music from your “friends and neighbors” logged on to Napster, you are expected to make music stored on your own computer available to others. You know, tit for tat. Left hand washes the right hand. Show me your cards and I’ll show you my cards.
Napster works by creating a log on its own server computers showing the titles of all the music up for sharing on all the hard drives of all those logged on to the system at any given time. So while you are downloading goodies from other users’ drives, others can do the same from your own drive. However, you can eat your cake and keep it away from others by changing the settings on the Napster software. Click on the File command and then Preferences and Sharing and you will be directed how to stop sharing the files you take from others.
A second tip: You will note that an icon for Napster appears in the lower right-hand bar of your monitor after you run the software. You can shut off Napster’s efforts to read your hard drive after you shut down the software itself by right-clicking on that icon and choosing Exit.
Q–I think you could have given a better answer to reader Anita Healy of Baltimore, whose version of Microsoft Outlook Express kept nagging her that she had an unsent note in her Outbox every time she shut the e-mail software down. I’d bet that the “send messages immediately” box is not checked. This would be the No. 1 reason for the program asking if you wish to send the mail that is still in the Outbox. I believe that this is the default, and is meant to give users a second chance at checking the mail before sending–or deciding whether to drop that hastily written message you might regret sending into the mailbox. Tell her to click on the Tools item in the main Outlook Express screen and then Options and then open the Send tab. She will there find the box to send messages immediately, and the problem should stop.
Joe Toth @tellabs.com
A–OK, so let’s call today’s column Ask Joe Why. You are far from the first eagle-eyed reader to find a better solution to another reader’s question than the one I suggested. One of this column’s greatest resources has been the kind help of readers who chime in with criticisms, comments and alternative answers. Your idea is flat-out better and easier than the other way that I suggested to solve those sign-off nags from both Outlook Express and the full-blown Microsoft Outlook e-mail software. I thank you, Mr. T.; Ms. H. surely thanks you as well, and I’ll bet a great many other readers would chime in with a digital ducat or two as well.
Q–My wife teaches 8th grade at a school that has switched to Mac computers. She has a Windows-based computer at home. She is looking for a grade program (one which tabulates, averages and manipulates student grades) that would run on both Mac and Windows systems, and read and write grade files for each system. Can you suggest a program or, if not, where she should look for one? The school bells have already rung, and the tests will be starting, so she is looking forward to your reply. She would love to give you an A on this quiz.
J.T. Madell, Western Springs
A–I think I’m going to excel in this one, Mr. M., because that’s your answer: Microsoft Excel for Windows and for Macintosh. Actually any other spreadsheet program would work just as well, such as Microsoft Works for Windows at home and AppleWorks for the Macs at the schoolhouse.
Spreadsheets may look a bit daunting to a first-timer, but they aren’t terribly difficult to figure out, and the great thing is that a spreadsheet is a natural grade keeper right out of the box with its use of cells to track information. Just like an old-fashioned ink-on-paper grade book, a spreadsheet lets you type the pupils’ names down the first column and then insert a grade in a row of boxes to the right of each name. Unlike a paper grade book, a spreadsheet allows thousands of boxes to the right of each name, allowing grades to be kept by the day, the week and the month. Other functions let you do things like keep running averages of each pupil’s grades and sort students by all types of criteria, including gender, home room, age and, if you care to add the data, even things like height or weight.
So, did I excel on this one or what?
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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 /go/askjim.