Q. I need real answers and not b.s. from the techies!
I want to put a Western Digital 320-gigabyte EIDE drive in my Dell 8250 by removing the ZIP drive to get space. I am running the newest BIOS, which is A04. Is the 137gb barrier real? Will my BIOS recognize the full capacity of the drive, or do I need an interface card? (I hope not).
— Bill Tanguay @aol.com
A. Such brilliantly stated techie jargon makes my head spin, Mr. T.
So let me answer your complicated questions and suggest a slick and simple hard drive storage fix for folks like you whose multimedia collections and other data have become so gigantic that even a 137gb drive won’t hold it all.
Save yourself all that fuss over BIOS settings and EIDE bit rates and interface cards and get yourself a soap-on-a-rope type external drive that plugs into a USB 2.0 port. These increasingly popular drives spare users from opening the computer case, struggling to bolt in a new part and find the proper connections, jumper settings and all that old-fashioned stuff.
I’ve used external models from both Western Digital and Maxtor for a couple of years and I can assure you that at 7200 r.p.m.s and above, these drives are plenty fast enough for the role you want. Take a look at the One Touch product line at www.maxtor.com.
In addition to being speedy and easy to set up, such external drives can be moved from that Dell 8250 of yours to any other computer, whether it be a Mac or a PC. Even if you don’t get excited about the possibilities this presents for sharing files with friends, keep in mind that you will probably want to upgrade that 3-year-old PC in the next few years. Having all of your stuff on a portable drive will be a 300gb Godsend when moving day arrives.
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As to the specifics when you upgraded to Windows XP Service Pack 1, your 2002-era computer became capable of handling drives larger than 137gb because the upgrade adds support for the 48-bit addressing required for an Intel-type computer to see more than 137gb.
Unfortunately your hardware uses the ATA Ultra 100 protocol and most engineers say it’s best to have Ultra 133 because of the speed issues raised when searching for data on huge drives. You can get deeper information at this Web spot: www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/hddfaqs.htm.
Also go to www.support.microsoft.com and search for article 303013, which covers the topic nicely.
Q. My computer manual does not give me enough information to get the photos from my scanner to my Web site, and when I e-mail them out, my customers cannot open them.
Is there some way to get the photos in the body of my e-mail?
— Pat Morrow @adelphia.net
A. Let’s fix both issues with the same move, P.M. Most scanners make pretty large image files by default and so you need to change the setting so that the device creates images designed for viewing on a television screen instead of paper. This should be around 72 dots per inch for computer viewing instead of the printer friendly 300 dpi your scanner uses as the default. Look for the “Resolution” setting that your scanner’s software will display.
This will make an image that will be small enough for any recipient to readily open. But you can also use the Format command in the Outlook Express Tool Bar to insert that image directly into the message body. Click on Format and then select the choice for Rich Text (RTF) or HTML. When that is selected the composition area will start displaying a tool to select fonts for the message body. This lets you create headlines and other type styles and sizes and also sets the software to accept images.
So click on Insert and then pick Picture in the drop-down menu. This displays a search box that lets you find the new 72-dpi image file. When you find the scanned picture it will be inserted in the body of the message as you want.
Q. I am at my wits’ end and am hoping you will help me. My problem started when my children downloaded the America Online Instant Message software, AIM. Now every time I open up my Outlook Express, AIM opens up automatically. I have unchecked everything I can find in Outlook and AIM that says anything about AIM starting automatically. Can you help me?
— Christina Petersen @comcast.net
A. AOL has been trying to explain this issue for some time, Ms P., but in a word, your problem is IMAP, a type of Web-based e-mail called the Internet Message Access Protocol. Those tykes in your life seem to have followed the directions available for AIM users that lets them add IMAP accounts for AIM Mail to the Outlook Express display.
Your regular account uses a different system called Post Office Protocol or POP. You can find and fix the conflict under the heading for Tools in the Outlook Express toolbar.
When you click on Tools, select Accounts and you will see a list of the e-mail accounts on your machine including the POP from your Internet service provider and the IMAP account. You will note a box marked Default to the right of the list. Select your ISP account and click on Default to stop the AIM account from popping up each time you want to send e-mail.
If you want more details here is a Web page where AOL explains it all: http://r02.webmail.aol.com/Help/detail-m isc-emailprograms.aspx#outlook-express.
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Got a question on personal technology? Send a note to Jim Coates at [email protected]. Questions can be answered only through this column.