iPOD SHUFFLE
PROBLEMS LOADING MUSIC Q. I'm having problems loading music onto my new iPod Shuffle. It's a really small model and all the instructions I've seen relate to the larger sized Shuffles. I know this shouldn't make any difference to the download process, butI just can't get mine to work. I've charged the iPod up before using it, and have brought up the Apple system on screen, but I just cannot transfer my music (which I've already loaded onto iTunes) to my Shuffle. I expect this is a really simple thing to do and I'm just missing an instruction or two. What doI need to do this sort this out? SANDRA PRIEST A. First of all, you need to make sure that you're using the latest version of iTunes. To do so, unplug your iPod from your computer. Now uninstall iTunes by going to Start more than Control Panel more than Programs and features. Click on iTunes and then clickon the Uninstall button. Next, reinstall iTunes by going to www.apple.com slash uk slash itunes slash download slash. Choose the latest version of iTunes to download, enter your email address and click Download Now and follow the onscreen instructions. Plug your iPod back into your computer via the USB port and look for the installation progress bubble at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. Once this appears,you should be able to synchronise your devicewith the music tracks in iTunes. For further instructions on syncing, go to http: slash slash support.apple.com slash kb slash ht1351. TYPING MISALIGNMENTS PROBLEMS WITH MS WORD Q. I've got Microsoft (MS) Office 2003 on my computer and whenever I start typing in Word, the text suddenly jumps to a new line unbidden and in mid sentence. In addition,the initial letter of the first word on a new line changes to upper case. How do I fix this? HAROLD KILLINGBACK A. Many laptops have responsive mouse pads which are so sensitive they can be affected by a hand touching the surrounding area. The best thing to dois to dis able the mouse pad before you start typing. To do this, press and hold down the Function (Fn) key on your keyboard and press F. To re-enable the mouse pad, use the same sequence. Regarding your second query, this is caused by an AutoCorrect option which capitalises the first letter in the first wordat the beginning of each sentence. To stop this, open Word, click on Tools, then go toAutoCorrect Options and un-tick the Capitalise the first letter of sentence box. MS OFFICE 2010 MISSING 'CLOSE' SYMBOL Q. I'm using a Windows 7 computer with the Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student software package. Whenever I open a document in Word, there's no 'X' symbol to close the file, only an 'X' to close Word. In place of the second 'X, there's a '?'. Excel functions as it should with two 'Xs'. What's gone wrong? GRAHAM BRYCELAND A. The 'Close Window' button is not in 2010 by default, but you still have plenty of flexibility in terms of how you choose to close Word documents. Youcan close a single document without closing Wordby pressing and holding down the Ctrl keyon your keyboard and F4 or Ctrl plus W. If two or more documentsare open, you can close the active document by double-clicking on the Microsoft Office button.If one document is open, this action closes Word. You can also change the default settings in Word so that you can have an 'X' button. To do this, go to File, then Options. Next, go to Advanced, then Display. Under Display, find and uncheck the box that says Showall windows in the Taskbar, click OK. COLD CALLING SCAMS REMOVING CORRUPT FILES Q. I was cold-called by a company who told me I had lots of corrupt files in my computer andthat the only way to remove them was to pay it UKP189. I allowed the company to remote access my computer, but when it said it would only remove the corrupt files after I paid them, I ended our conversation. But how can I get rid of these corrupt files and is my computer now at risk from this company. My computer is running very slowly and it's getting worse. It's nine years old. MARGARET CRAVEN A. Calls of this nature are scams, so please do not give any money to this company. The fraudsters behind the scams generally trick consumers by getting them to look at an error report. They achieve this by getting the unsuspecting user to install genuine free remote access software (RAS), usually from a company call Logmein. Once installed, the consumer then allows the fraudster to remote access their machine via this software. Once inside the machine, the fraudster goes to the part of the computer responsible for creating error reports, creates one which he or she then uses to scare the user into thinking their PC is riddled with errors which need to be fixed immediately. Every computer generates error reports, and even the healthiest will display harmless errors. To put your mind at rest, you should uninstall the RAS. Go to Start, then Control Panel and click on Add or Remove Programs and see if you can see a program called Logmein. If you can, and you have no other use for the software, uninstall it. You should now perform maintenance on your computer to clear away old files and items which could be clogging up the computer and causing slowness. You can download free computer cleaners, including one from Microsoft, from http: slash slash onecare.live.com slash site slash en-us slash default.htm. Click on Full Service Scan and let it run. It's also worth noting that the age of your computer must be taken into account, and computers like people, slow down with age. SPYWARE REMOVING MALWARE Q. When I power my computer up, a pop-up from a company appears saying that my computer is infected with 39 viruses. When I spoke to McAfee, my security software provider, McAfee said this was a fake; but I can't operate the computer until I register with the company and pay it 59 dollar (UKP35). I feel I'm being held to ransom. I've tried to remove the pop-up, but every effort to destroy it is blocked. What canI do, short of paying to get it removed? PHILIP BODEN A. It looks as though your computer has been invaded by spyware, which is generating the pop-ups you're seeing and not allowing you to use your computer. There's a way to re-claim your computer, but you'll need plenty of patience and a flash drive. First of all, on another working computer, go to www.malwarebytes.org and click on Download free version, save the program to the computer and then save it to a USB flash drive. Next, go to the infected computer and shut it down. Turn it on again and press F8 repeatedly to get to the Safe Mode option. Login in Safe mode, plug in the flash drive and copy the program over to your computer. Run the program and allow it to do a Full Scan to remove anything it finds, including the offending spyware. Finally, run a full scan of your anti-virus software just to be extra safe. EMAIL CLIENTS DUPLICATE IN-BOXES Q. I've got a BT e-mail account provided by Yahoo! Mail which uses Internet Explorer as its default browser. The usual inboxes appear when I open it, but another icon also appears called Microsoft Outlook, which has its own inboxes. When I open MS Outlook it contains the same emails that appeared in my BT email account. This all started when I installed Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student edition. It's not a major problem, but when I think I've deleted all the items from my BT inbox, they turn up in Microsoft Outlook inbox. How can I stop this and go back to having the one inbox? RON DAWES A. Microsoft Outlook is an email client that helps you retrieve your emails from your email account and stores them locally on your computer. Your BT Yahoo! Mail account is held online on BT's server, which is why when you delete the messages in the inbox (from the browser) the messages still appear in your Outlook inbox, as they are on your hard disk and not in the server. I'd suggest you disable Outlook and just keep using your BT account via the browser. To do this, click the File tab. Under Account Information, click Account Settings. Select the email account that you want to remove, and then click Remove. To confirm removal of the account, click Yes. EMAIL CLIENTS CHANGING DEFAULT SETTINGS Q. What do I need to do to my email screen so that when I compose a message, the text I type in is large, say 18pt, by default? I accessmy emails by clicking on the left of screen of AOL Mail via the Mozilla Firefox browser. BETTY BROADLEY A. To change the font type, font colour and font size used by default in AOL mail, click on the Settings link in AOL Mail. Go to the Compose category, choose the desired font, font size and colour under Default Font and Colour and click Save. MAC IBOOKS STOP PHOTOS FROM LOADING Q. I'm a newcomer to computing and I'vejust begun using a Mac iBook G4 computer running on the Tiger 10.4.11 operating system. Every time I turn on my computer, the Library photos load. I've been into iPhoto Help and looked at System Preferences etc and I did click on a Hide Photo line, but to no avail. What canI do to stop this from happening every timeI access my computer? CHERYL MEDDEMAN A. To stop the Library Photos from loading every time you boot up, right-click on the iPhoto iconin the Dock and make sure the Open at login option is not ticked. If it is, then un-tick it and the Library Photos will no longer launch at startup. IMAGE EDITING SOFTWARE WHERE DO I GET FREE ONES? Q. I'm using a Windows Vista computer and wondered whether you could suggest a free photo correction programme that can deal efficiently with faults like red eye. SHEILA THORNTON A. We've reviewed a variety of free and pay-for image-editing programs in this issue - see our recommendations. READER'S TIP TONY HARE, TORQUAY When researching products online,it's a good idea to bookmark useful pages. Windows 7 and Windows Vista ship with a tool called Sticky Notes.To open a Sticky Note, click Start and type 'Sticky'in the search box. Click on Sticky Notes in the list of results. Highlight the address of the webpage you wish to bookmark, press Ctrl plus C to copy it and then Ctrl plus V to paste the address into the Sticky Note. The URL appears in the Note as a clickable link. MOBILE HELPDESK EACH ISSUE, OUR HELPDESK VISITS A READER WHO NEEDS HANDS-ON HELP WITH A PC PROBLEM The Helpdesk visited Emily Williams who needed some help setting up her new computer and connecting her network printer to the local area network (LAN) so she could print from her laptop wirelessly. First, we backed up all the data Emily wanted to keep from her old PC onto an external hard drive. We then installed a copy of Microsoft (MS) Office 2010 Home and Student Edition ontoher new computer. We also downloaded and installed MS Security Essentials onto the PC to ensure it was protected from computer viruses, spyware and other malicious software. The Helpdesk then copied over the data from the external hard onto her new computer. We then connected the printer to Emily's local network. 1. Make sure your printer has an Ethernet port and that it's near your router. Ensure your router has free port and a crossover network cable. 2. Plug the network cable from the printer's Ethernet port to the router's port. 3. To add the printer go to Start, Devices and Printers. Click the Add a Printer tab and then Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer and followthe instructions. WINDOWS - Accessing games Q. Computers are a different language to me, but I enjoy playing games. So when I saw 'How to play Windows games' in your November issue, I was excited to learn that I could play my favourite game, Solitaire, on my Windows 7 computer. I followed your instructions, but when I got to the games folder it was empty. How doI move my favourite games in there? FIONA RAWSON A. Spider Solitaire is included in all versions of Windows 7 and it should appear in the Games Folder. If you don't see the game title, it could be because you have an earlier version of the game.The games that come with Windows are turned off by default in some editions. To turn them back on, click Start and then Control Panel. Click Program and then under Programs and Features click Turn Windows features on or off. Select the Games tick box and then click OK. INTERNET EXPLORER - Finding lost toolbars Q. I've lost the Toolbar in Internet Explorer (IE). How do I get it back? STEWART SMEED A. Right-click on the remaining IE Toolbar; the menu that pops up displays a variety of menus including the Menu Bar and Favorites Bar. Clickthese to reactivate them and a tick will appear inthe pop-up window. PRINTERS - Images not printing Q. My Canon Pixma IP3000 inkjet printer prints text documents with no problems, but when I try to print colour photographs or images, I get horizontal lines running through them. I've tried cleaning the print heads and have gone through all the other maintenance operations, but to no avail. Can you help? STACH ODROWAZ-PIENIAZEK A. It sounds as though one or more of the print heads may be blocked; this can be correctedby going through the cleaning options again. You could also try the printer in High Quality mode, as the problem can also be caused if one of the ink cartridges is low on ink. Using High Quality mode should resolve the problem and allow you to print images and colour documents, minus the horizontal lines, until the cartridge is replaced. PRINTERS - Greyscale printing Q. How can I print in greyscale on my Canon Pixma iP8500 inkjet printer and set this as the default? I've been using the printer connected to my PC where printing in this mode is straightforward,but I now need to print from my iMac. I've downloaded and installed the iMac printer driver from the Canon website, but I can't find the greyscale option. COLIN PRICE A. To set the default in greyscale, go to the print dialog box. Click to the right where it says 'Copies & Pages'. Select 'Quality & Media', then tick the box that says Greyscale. WINDOWS 7 - Caps Lock notification Q. In Windows Vista and XP there was a Caps lock On/Off indicator. I've no way of knowing in Windows 7 whether the Caps Lock is on or off without actually typing. In XP, I could also initiate a sound indicator when the Caps Lock was pressed, but I don't know how or whether it's possible to set the same notifications in Windows 7. Can you help? BELINDA TONG A. Enabling the warning sound for the Num/Caps Lock features in Windows 7 is straightforward. Go to Start and select Control panel. Go to Ease of Access Centre and click on Make the Keyboard Easier to Use. Here you'll see the tick boxes in front of Turn on Toggle Keys, tick these. Click OK and the Num/Caps Lock features will be turned on. WINDOWS XP - XP notifications Q. I'm using Windows XP and every time I try to delete a file I get a notification asking for confirmation that I want to continue deleting the file. How can I stop Windows requesting this confirmation? JOE FRISWELL A. To turn off the confirmation prompt that appears when deleting items, right click on the Recycle Bin and select Properties. Untick the 'Display delete confirmation dialog box'. Click Apply and OK. WEBMAIL - Deleting files in Hotmail Q. The 'Computing Made Easy' booklet only shows you how to delete an item within a folder. But I have a couple of folders in Hotmail that I wish to delete but can't, despite trying. Can you show me how this is done? JOHN WINDEBANK A. Microsoft has recently updated Windows Hotmail to Windows Live Hotmail. Go to your inbox and move the mouse over Folders in Windows Live Hotmail's left navigation bar and click the gear that appears to the right of Folders (see image right). From the menu that appears, click Manage folders. Place a tick beside the folder that you want to delete. Click Delete and then OK. You should be aware that the folder doesn't need to be empty for you to delete it, so it's worth checking to see if there are any emails in it that you'd want to keep. Note that when you do delete the folder, Windows Live Hotmail will automatically move it to the Deleted items folder. HARDWARE - Disc not recognised Q. When I put CDs into my disc drive, my computer doesn't recognise them as recordable discs, even though they are from the same pack I've used before without any problem. I did manage to record one disc after the original failure. I've turned the computer off and restarted it and I've checked the Windows updates, but the problem persists. MICHAEL READE A. If you're now having trouble copying to discs when you've been able to in the past, you might be having device driver problems. To access the Device Manager in your operating system (Windows Vista), click Start and then Control Panel. Click on the System and Maintenance link. In the System and Maintenance window, click on the Device Manager link near the bottom of the window. Alternatively, click Start and in the search bar type devmgmt.msc and then press Enter on your computer's keyboard.It might also be worth verifying what discs your drive supports. You can do this easily with the free software program downloaded from the following website: http://discinfo.rpc1.org. OFFICE SUITES - Removing bullets in Word Q. I'm using MS Word 2003 and would likethe bullet feature to stay off when I don't need it. How do I do this? RICHARD LINDLEY A. On the Tools menu, go to the AutoCorrect Options. Next, click the AutoFormat asYou Type tab. Under Apply as you type, clear the Automatic bulleted lists or the Automatic numbered lists tick box. OFFICE OUTLOOK - Can't send emails Q. I'm running Windows Vista and using Office Outlook to send and receive emails.I can receive emails, but can't send them. I just get the following undeliverable message which reads '550 you are not allowed to send mail to'. My internet service provider is NTL World. What's causing this and why can I send butnot receive email? DENISE NEVILLE A. This problem can occur if you're trying to use Office Outlook with a different internet service provider (ISP) connection (in your case, someone other than NTL World), as this will allow you to receive but not to send emails. The ability to send and receive emails using Office Outlook is only available if your ISP also provides your webmail. If you have changed your ISP provider and still want to use yourold email address, then you can do so via your old ISP's email website and not Office Outlook. If NTL is your ISP, you need to check the Incoming and Outgoing server details for emails via the NTL website. You now need to check the details in Office Outlook. Open Office Outlook, Tools and Accounts, then click on your account from the list and then Properties. Go to the server tab and check that your details are correct. If not, amend accordingly. WINDOWS VISTA - Error messages Q. A flag always appears when I start up my laptop which says: 'Vista registration has stopped working'. This is then followed by another which reads: 'A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available'. Windows never notifies me of a solution. Due to illness, I didn't register Vista when I bought the computer two years ago. Can you show me how to stop this message appearing every time I start up my computer? SYLVIA WRIGHT A. This error message is linked to Toshiba machines. To stop the message appearing, reboot your machine. Make sure you call Toshiba and register your computer as this may be one of the requirements you need to validate your warranty. FIREFOX - Unresponsive script Q. I'm using Firefox as my browser and I keep getting unresponsive messages flashing up asking me whether to 'ignore or continue'. I think these messages usually crop up when emails are arriving in my inbox, since the message usually says: 'unresponsive script, do you want to continue or ignore'. I must admit though that ever since I cleaned up my disk, the problem has not occurred again. But what's causing it and how can I prevent it from happening again? PATRICIA CAMFIELD A. This is telling you that Firefox thinks a script may be running out of control and that it could freeze if no action is taken. The script could refer to an item on a web page or an extension you've installed. For more details and a fix for this error, go to http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/warning+Unresponsive+script. READER'S TIP Barbara Nunn, Northants I recently bought a small, cheap LCD TV. But when I tried to attach it to my PC, it refused to work. I just kept getting 'out of range' messages. I realised I needed to change the resolution settings on the computer and did this by re-starting my PC and pressing F8. I chose the Safe Mode option and was able to adjust the resolution to that in the LCD's instruction booklet. I restarted the computer and the monitor worked. MONITORS - POWER SAVING ISSUES Q. When I turn on my computer, the tower begins to boot up but the monitor clicks off after displaying 'Power Save'. The monitoris a Mitsubishi Diamond Plus92 CRT. How canI change it so I can work on the computer? JOHN CARR A. Check and tighten any loose cables. If this does not resolve the problem then do the following. First, you should turn off the monitor's power saving mode. To do this, right-click on the Desktop, select Properties, then select the Screen saver tab. Next,click on the Select power tab, then click on the Turnoff monitor drop down arrow and select Set to never. The following link shows you how to set the settings for XP and MAC operating Systems. http://www.ehow.com/how_5097708_turn-off-power-saving.html DVD PLAYERS - WHERE'S MY SOUND GONE? When I play a movie on my computer's DVD player, the picture's fine but I can't get any sound. Yet I can play music CDs on my computer without any problems. How can I fix this problem? FRED TURTON A. We know the soundcard driver works because you can play a music CD. So, it sounds as though some of your audio codecs could be missing or corrupted.An audio codec is a computer program that compresses/decompresses digital audio data according to a given audio file format or streaming audio format, and if you have any which are missing or corrupt it will cause you problems of this type. You can download and install this free codec, which should resolve the sound issues, by going to: http://www.freewarefiles.com/Vista-Codec-Package_program_24218.html OUTLOOK EXPRESS - STRANGE SYMBOLS Q. I recently opened an email in Outlook Express, and just as I was about to reply to it, my email was invaded by what I think are punctuation markings. I'm not sure what these are called, but now all my emails have dots between each word and then a sign which looks a bit like a double cleff at the beginning of each sentence or paragraph. I know this is quite easy to fix, and I came across this feature many years ago, but I've forgotten how to get rid of it. How do I switch this feature off and return my emails back to normal? ANNE FREARSON A. In Outlook Express, you can quickly hide and show hidden characters like tabs, spaces, line breaks and paragraph marks by hitting the Shift, the Control and the 8 keys at the same time. It looks as though you have accidently activated the show/hide feature. You can turn it off by using this sequence. GROUP MESSAGES - NEW EMAILS NOT SHOWING Q. I use Outlook Express for sending and receiving emails. The emails are compressed, which is something I dislike.If I receive emails from, say, Which?, they're collated together and do not show up as new emails due to their current listing. Can you please show me how to decompress them? BETTY GILBERT A. You are seeing your emails grouped togetherdue to a setting in Outlook Express, but it isvery easy to turn the conversation option off. Go to Views, then Current Views and Group Messages by Conversation. Untick this. Now when you receive new emails, they will show as new and will not be grouped with previous messages. EMAIL CLIENTS - NEED FOR A NEW PROVIDER Q. I would be grateful if you could advise me if there is a free email client that I can use with my Sky account? I've been using an email client on my old computer and email address. I'm now using Sky on a new Windows 7 computer but my old email client does notwork on Windows 7. Can you recommend one? I find the Sky email very cumbersome and pretty basic, and would like to move away from it. MIKE ROBBINS A. Sky's email program can be accessed via its internet page and doesn't have to be used via an email client. You can log straight into their email page via the web. But using an internet service provider's (ISP) email address, depending on their usage policy, can limit you to only using it if you are using them as your ISP. Should you decide to move to another ISP, you will then have to change your email address. With this in mind, we recommend you set up a web mail account, such as Windows Live, Hotmail, Google mail or a Yahoo! Mail. These are free, come with lots of added features, such as instant chat and online file sharing facilities, lots of free storage and can be accessed on any computer and on any PC regardless of your ISP. You can also keep your email account for as long as you like, regardless of your ISP. To learn more on this topic, see our test of 'Free Web-based Email', in this issue. PC SYMBOLS - STRANGE WINDOWS 7 ICON Q. On my Windows 7 taskbar there is the Windows Explorer icon to the left. I seem to have acquired the same icon, usually partly hidden, on the far right. It's called 'Libraries',but brings up the same display. It's simply annoying at the moment, but how can I get rid of it? Dragging it to the recycle bin doesn't remove it. EDWARD MELLOR A. Right-click on any free space on the Taskbar. Go to Properties, then the Toolbars tab and un-tick the desktop box. Click Apply and you will no longer see the additional icon. OPERATING SYSTEMS - UPGRADING TO WINDOWS 7 Q. I'm contemplating upgrading to Windows 7. I've run the Upgrade Advisor and discovered I can upgrade to the 64-bit version. I wonder if this would be worthwhile as the maximum RAM my motherboard can take is 4GB. Is a 64-bit system going to be the future standard for software, peripherals etc, or would it be just as well upgrading to the 32-bit version? I do a lot of video-editing.GEORGE FOX A. All future systems will be 64-bit as they're faster and will accept Ram above 4GB. If your system will not go above 4GB, then you will not benefit from 64-bit. Your 64-bit computing is determined by your CPU. If your Intel Quad Core is 64-bit, then you can install 64-bit Windows 7. You can only find out if your CPU is 64-bit by looking it up on the Intel website.If you want to stick with your hardware for now, gofor the 32-bit version of Windows 7. If you're going to upgrade soon, buy 64-bit Windows 7. Be aware, though, that some older peripherals will not work with 64-bit operating systems. For example, older external hard disk drives, printers and wireless cards. REMOVABLE DISCS - COPYING TO MEMORY STICKS Q. How do I copy digital images onto a memory stick? Which? Computing has, in previous editions, shown how to copy onto a disc, butnot to a memory stick. Can you help? RONALD SMITH A. Plug the memory stick or Flash drive into oneof your computer's USB ports. Open the file that contains the pictures you want to duplicate. To savethe entire folder, using your mouse, right-click onthe folder. Scroll down to Send To, it will havea small arrow next to it, telling you that you have a few options. In the new box, scroll down until you see your flash drive (memory stick) icon which will show as a Removable drive and it should have a letter assigned to it. Click on your flash drive. Your file folder will then send and save your pictures to your flash drive. To save individual pictures, hold down the Ctrl key and use the mouse to choose the ones you want to send. Once you've highlighted them, right-click and follow the Send to instructions as above. HELP AND SUPPORT CENTRE - I CAN'T ACCESS THE SERVICE Q. When I click Start, then Help and Support, this message appears: 'To fix this problem, start the service named Help and Support'. How? DEREK HAMLIN A. To solve the problem you need to access the Help and Support Center service and set it to Automatic. To do this, click Start, then Run. Type services.msc, double-click on Help and Support and set the Startup type to Automatic. Start the service. READER'S TIP David Cemlyn, Bristol This is one of the quickest ways to reduce digital images. Open the picture in Windows Picture Viewer by double-clicking on it. Right-click on the picture, then click on Send To in the drop down menu. Select Mail recipient. A window appears asking if you want to reduce the size or keep it at its original size. Select Reduce and then OK. You'll get a blank email with the reduced picture attached. Next, select the picture and click on Open. Save the file, adding Reduced to its name. 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