Odds and sods in helpful hints
My hard drive is beginning to look like what my dear Dad calls an “odds-and-sods” drawer. It’s that place in the family home where stuff goes when no one knows where to put it. So as a kid, we had a drawer in the kitchen filled with shoelaces, wall-hangers, plant-food spikes, and bits of broken things.
My TechnologyTips odds and sods are a miscellany of short bits that have been cluttering my machine in the last few months. So, in an effort to organize them, here are a few in one clump:
LOW-VISION TIPS: If you know someone with limited or low vision, check out the computer tips provided by Dr. Elizabeth Hamilton, the coordinator of services to patrons with disabilities at the University Libraries at the University of Cincinnati.
Her pages offer a straightforward large-type guide to configuring computers from a visual point of view. While the pages focus on screen appearance and readability, they also offer some very rudimentary tips on using software platforms such as Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. There are also resources for Unix and Linux users. The Resources for People with Print Disabilities page.
SCREENSAVER SAVER:
D.M. sent me a note asking about his problematic screensavers. “Two weeks ago, after leaving my computer idle for 10 minutes, I noticed that my screen saver didn’t turn on. I’ve tested all my screensavers while standing by to make sure no one touches the mouse, but nothing happens. What’s preventing them from working?” he asked.
Darren Schotte at Edmonton’s Campus Computers says a simple reinstall of the Windows screensavers should help. He theorizes that a corrupt file is causing the problem. For a quick fix, go to Start > Settings > Control Panel and double-click Add/Remove Programs. Then click the Windows setup tab and find the Accessories item in the list. Search out the Screensavers and de-select the ones installed. Once you click OK, they’ll be blown away.
Once the de-install process is done, re-install them using the same method – find ’em and select them again. Keep your Windows 95 CD-ROM handy for this maneuver.
HELP FOR GAMERS: If you’re a big video game fan, but you’ve been frustrated by Windows 95 and its DirectX technology, there’s a new online utility to help you through your woes. Check out the DirectX website atwww.microsoft.com. You can click on a variety of common and more ornery problems and walk through solutions.
OFFICE 97 FIX: Keep an eye on Microsoft’s Web site this July for the Office 97 service release. It’s a fix designed to make the package backwardly compatible. Users screamed and yelled when they discovered they couldn’t save their documents into old Microsoft Word formats. Sharing their work with people who had yet to upgrade was impossible.
The primary fix in the service pack is a MS Word file converter. It creates Word 6.0 and Word 95 documents from newer Word 97 docs. Microsoft says it is also setting up a special no-charge technical support line to help users manage the transition to the new software. And an Office 97 migration Web site is available at www.microsoft.com
RECLAIMING HARD DRIVE SPACE: Seattle-based reader Mike Klassen found a way to reclaim 100 Megs of hard drive space on his machine. He uses Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and discovered that clearing the software’s hard disk cache produces scads of space. You see, MSIE stores pages you’ve visited. Let’s say the series of Tickle Me Elmo pages you check out at Christmas have lost their lustre. Even though there’s no point in keeping that data anymore, MSIE has stashed it for you in case you do go back.
To say no to data you don’t need anymore, follows these steps:
- In Internet Explorer, click View > Options and then pick the Advanced tab. Under the Temporary Internet Files section, click on View Files.
- Choose Edit from the menu bar and then Select All.
- From the File menu, select Delete.
- “Also, under Settings in the Temporary Internet Files section, examine the ‘Amount of disk space to use’,” suggests Klassen. One percent may be plenty of space to reserve.
