These Tips and Tricks contain valuable advice and guidance to help you solve PC problems and get the best out of your PC. They are updated regularly, so come back here soon. You can add your own tips by e-mailing them to us. We'll credit you for them and add a link to your website. Just click here.

Keeping Your CDs Clean

Sometimes a CD-R/RW disc can become unreadable because of scratching or scuff marks. A CD polishing kit can sometimes fix this, but if not then try Brasso (a brass cleaning treatment sold widely in the UK and most other countries). Use a clean duster and be prepared to work hard at getting offending marks off. You can also use this method on audio CDs and DVDs, but only if all else fails and make sure you wipe off the cleaning material and polish thoroughly before using the disc again.

Protecting Your PC

Power surges and spikes, and general fluctuations in the power supply can damage your PC. A power failure when writing to the hard drive can be fatal to your machine. A surge caused by a lightning strike can be equally damaging.

You can protect your PC from this by a modest investment in a UPS, or uninterruptible power supply. This regulates the power supply to prevent surges damaging your computer, and if the power fails it carries on supplying power from an inbuilt battery for several minutes, giving you time to save data and shut down properly. If you can, get one with an inbuilt in-line lightning arrestor, to protect against lightning strikes when you're online.

A: Drive Trouble

Many people complain that their PCs regularly try to access the floppy drive for no apparent reason, even though there is no disk in the drive. This is known as Phantom Drive Access and there are a number of possible causes.

It could be your virus scanner, so check the setup for regular checks that might be carried out on your floppy drive. It could be Windows FindFast, which may have been set to index your drives automatically, in which case go to Control Panel > FindFast and double click on it to see if there is any reference to drive A:. If there is then highlight and delete it.

If you think a program running in the background may be responsible, press Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up the Close Program dialog box so you can highlight each program in turn and click End Task to see if that stops the problem.

If all else fails, try checking your Recent Documents folder on the Start menu to see if there are any files in the A: drive mentioned and, if so, delete them.

Scanning Photos

When scanning color photos, beware of making the resolution too high. If it's to be put in a document or on a web site you don't need high resolution. 300 dpi for a document and 72 dpi for a web image should be enough. Too much resolution makes for huge files and long download times on the web (which few visitors will tolerate).

Restoring Your Windows Registry

If you want to restore your Windows Registry to the state it was in when you last successfully started your computer (eg, if your PC doesn't start up properly, or takes too long), do the following. Go to Start > Shut Down > Restart in MS-DOS mode. Click on Yes, and at the MS-DOS prompt type scanreg /restore (note the space between the "g" and the "/"). Then restart your PC.

Scanner Alternative

Some people find using a scanner to input data into their PC to be painfully slow. Why not try this instead? Get a spare fax machine and link it up to your PC so as to fool them into thinking that they are connected via a telephone line. Full instructions are contained in a file called faxscan2.zip. Download it from here.

Hardware Checkup

There's a Windows 98 utility called Hardware Info. It checks on your driver files and other hardware, and can detect potential problems.

To start, go to Run on the Start menu and type hwinfo /ui and click OK. A report will then appear. Anything highlighted in red or blue indicates a problem that should be dealt with. You can save the file or print it out to show to an engineer.

Get a Free Firewall!

With nearly every PC in the world being connected to the Internet a firewall is now second only to anti-virus software as being absolutely essential for all PC owners. ZoneAlarm is a freeware utility (for non-commercial use) from ZoneLabs. Once installed, it pops up a warning message every time an unauthorized access to your computer is attempted, and, more importantly, stops such access altogether. It also stops programs on your PC from connecting to the net without your permission. Download it and you'll be surprised at how often someone somewhere tries to gain access to the files on your computer or run programs on it. Download it from here.

What Speed Processor?

If you're in the market for a new or second-user PC, or are thinking of upgrading, take a moment to think about what you want a computer for. The slowest processors being sold in the shops are around 1.1 Ghz.

This was unbelievably fast just a couple of years ago. And as for the current fastest of 2 Ghz or more . . .

It's true that modern games software demands ever faster processors and if that's what you use your PC for then get the fastest processor you can afford.

Don't forget, though, that the processor isn't everything. If you don't have enough RAM (memory) then even the fastest processor isn't going to do the latest shoot-em-up justice.

But if you use your PC for business purposes then you don't need a fast processor. And a few gigs of hard drive space will be more than adequate. You only need a massive 40 GB or more hard drive if you load tons of games and MP3 files onto it.

Cursor Problems?

If ever your cursor locks up for a few seconds at a time it may be because of a faulty memory management setting. Right click on My Computer and select Properties. Under Performance, click the Virtual Memory button and ensure that "Let Windows Manage my Virtual Memory Settings" is checked. Talking of memory, you really need to have at least 64MB. Anything less, even for purely business purposes, is courting trouble.

Buying a new laptop PC or camcorder?

Don't skimp on the batteries. Most manufacturers tell downright lies when they estimate how long the batteries last before needing a recharge. Assume it's half the time quoted. And if you're traveling overseas make sure you have the most long-lasting batteries. Lithium-ion are the best, and make sure you buy them before you travel, as airport shops and the like see you coming.

Copying Your E-mails to a New PC

If you buy a new PC one thing you'll want to do is transfer all your e-mail messages in their respective folders to the new machine. If you use Outlook Express on both machines, here's how to do it:

Using Windows Explorer, locate your e-mail messages in your old PC by opening C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Identities\(long jumbled up numbers and letters)\Microsoft Outlook Express. Copy the contents of this folder to floppy disk and then from the floppy to the new PC by pasting in the same location in the Windows folder.

Divide Your Hard Drive Into Two Or More Drives (without expensive partition software)

With the typical hard drive now rapidly getting bigger and bigger and outstripping the increase in size of most programs and Windows operating systems, there is much more scope to divide it into two or more drives, all of a decent size.

Why do this? Simple. If you have your operating system on the same drive as your games (or your children's or grandchildren's games), or the same drive as where you keep various programs and utilities downloaded from the Internet then you are courting trouble, especially if other people, such as children, use your PC.

When you install a game or other application on the same drive as Windows it can in some cases make subtle changes to your Windows registry files, the vital files that allow Windows to work for you. If it is then deleted (and it should, of course, be uninstalled, using a recommended uninstaller program) it can cause your operating system not to work at all. Often the only solution is a reformat of your hard drive, which can lose you all your data and cost a great deal of time and money. It can be absolutely catastrophic and is to be avoided at all costs.

Having your hard drive divided into separate hard drives eliminates this problem. So when you order a new PC, ask your dealer to do this for you. If the size of your hard drive is reasonable, say from 4.3 GB upwards, then I recommend having it divided into three or four drives. Use the C drive for your operating system and not much else, if anything. Personally, I also keep Microsoft Office, and a couple of other trusted programs on it as well. Everything else goes onto a different drive. I use drive D for my data and E for everything else (a good way of remembering where things are). I also have an F drive, for miscellaneous items that I might not want to keep for long.

That way you can keep your important business files separate from any games or utilities you may want to have only for a short time and which may cause problems if on the same drive as your operating system or important data files.

If you want to reformat your hard drive and divide it into two or more drives, you can buy the software to do so from me for only £5.00 sterling or US$8.00. This includes full step by step instructions. Just e-mail me using the e-mail form on this site. To go to e-mail, click here.

On Boot Up

It can be annoying if your PC wastes time on boot-up trying to access the floppy drive. If this happens it's probably because a recent document was saved to drive A:. Go to Start >Settings > Taskbar and Start Menu. Click on the Advanced tab, then the 'Clear' button. This removes the list of recently accessed files. (Best to do this before you shut down your previous session, of course!).

Run Your Favorite CD-ROM’s From Your Hard Drive

If you're lucky enough to have one of the latest high capacity hard drives and you have loads of empty space on it, you can run your favorite CD's from it instead of your CD drive. Games and applications will run much faster. Just create a folder somewhere on your hard drive (preferably have this partitioned into two or more drives - see elsewhere in Tips'N'Tricks and place the folder on a separate drive to that which holds your operating system) and copy all the files on the CD into that folder. You will need to change the Target on desktop shortcuts, where the computer must look in order to find the program. Right click the icon and select Properties, to do this.

Spring Clean Your PC

If you have a mouse with a ball, unscrew the circular retaining part and release the ball. Check the rollers and scrape off any deposits with your fingernail or a ballpoint pen cap. That's what's been causing your mouse pointer to behave erratically.

Take your keyboard, turn it upside down and give it a good shake. Clean between the keys with a can of compressed air, or use a miniature vacuum cleaner.

Clean off any stains with a damp cloth and a little washing up liquid.

Take the lid off (oh, did I say, you should switch off the power first!) but leave the plug in the wall with the wall switch on so the machine is earthed. Touch one of the metal parts frequently with your hands to discharge any static electricity.

Gently blow out the accumulation of dust. Even use a vacuum cleaner extension hose, but be careful not to disturb any of the components. Make sure all components, such as video cards, the drive cables, etc, are firmly secured to where they are supposed to be secured. If in any doubt, consult a PC engineer.

Replace the cover and get back to work - this won't earn you a living online! :-)

Run Your PC System With Two Monitors

If your operating system is Windows 98 or better and you have at least a 200 MHz PC then you can run two monitors instead of one. This enables you to, for example, multiply your Surf4Pay earnings (if you're into that) by keeping all the ad bars on one monitor while using the other monitor to surf the Net, play games, do your work, etc. For a free Report that tells you exactly how to do this and offers back-up support, click here.

Something New

Here's something for when you've just treated yourself to a new piece of software or maybe a peripheral of some sort (or, even better, someone's treated you to it!)

Before you actually load the software, see if you can check when it was made. Quite possibly the box has been lying around in a warehouse for a couple of months (a lifetime, in terms of software development).

All kinds of problems with compatibility and other issues could have arisen in that time. So before doing anything else, pay a visit to the manufacturer's website to check for bugs or updates, etc, that you should be aware of. It could save a lot of time.

Tune Up Your Modem

There are loads of utilities out there, several costing £20/$28 or more, that claim to increase your Net speed. Most of them give modest improvements in performance, but nothing you couldn't get by making a few tweaks to Windows.

Here are two sites that show you how to do this and also test your modem and connection speed.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~leslie/testpage.htm
http://206.170.44.66/NetTest.html

Viewing All The Fonts On Your PC

Do you want to view a sample of all the fonts on your PC? How do you go about it though? There's no facility in Windows or Microsoft Word to do this. Here are a couple of solutions. The first one is provided by Microsoft. Go to www.microsoft.com and download a program called Wordware. This puts a number of extra buttons on your Word toolbar, one of which creates a Word page showing examples of all the fonts on your PC.

Microsoft also provide a macro for Word that prints out a sample of every font on your PC. Download it from here. As it's a big file, copy and paste it from the web page into a new macro field by going to Tools, Macros and call it Listfont. Click on Create and it will be installed.

Alternatively, you can download a program called akFontViewer 3.1 from attend.to/anatoly. This enables you to see all the fonts in any style and all possible characters in each font, and to print them out.

There is another programme called FontLister at www.theill.com/fl/ which can display all the fonts not just on your hard drive but also on a CD-ROM, and is very versatile in a number of ways. It is shareware, but only costs $5.00.

Virus Protection (1)

You not only have to have a good anti-virus program on your PC, you have to keep it updated. This is normally free; just log onto the site of the producer of the software (I use Norton from Symantec myself) and click on update. If you do this frequently it shouldn't take long to download.

When you download anything from the Net, that is when your system is at its most vulnerable as far as viruses are concerned. You have the option of Save to Disk or Run the Program from its current location. My advice is always to save to disk, and specify a folder (preferably on a separate drive to that which your operating system is on). If it has a virus it is at least quarantined. Then immediately run a virus check on it before opening it or unzipping.

Using Your PC As A Fax Machine Using Windows 98

Place your Windows 98 CD in the CD drive and open Browse this CD. Go to Tools/Oldwin95/Message/Int and find AWFAX.EXE. Install it and then you can send a fax by pressing Ctrl + P and selecting Microsoft fax instead of your printer in the Print dialog box.

Better Scanning

Are you stuck with a cheap scanner and low picture quality? Try putting a sheet of black paper or card behind the picture or image that you are scanning. This will increase the quality of your scan no end, with more accurate colors and better contrast.

 For some reason, when I download things, it doesn't give me the option of saving the file to disk. It just downloads and opens automatically. How can I change it so that I can save files to my hard drive?"


Answer: Depending on which version of IE (or other browser) you're using, this may be slightly different, but try going to Tools Internet Options Advanced and unchecking the option to "Install on Demand.

Another option is: To get the 'What do you want to do with this file?' message box back, in IE go to Tools Internet Options Advanced tab, and scroll down to 'Notify when downloads complete,' which is probably unchecked. Check it and click
OK. The message window should appear next time you download anything other than updates from Microsoft. If you ever click on 'Don't ask me again' when that message window pops up -either on purpose or by accident - you'll need to go back and re-check that box on the Advanced tab to get it back.