Today's meeting was "chaired" by KenM. There were no new attendees among the approx 30 people. Below are the topics discussed. 1. The case of lost intensity - RodB. Unresolved, but I will try reloading the printer driver when next I gain access to the machine with the problem. 2. Free PDF - IE5.5 an exception - RodB. I have now noticed that the problem page has a special link to get you out of a frame that produces an advertisement. If that link is taken, no further problem arises and I am now a happy user of FreePDF, which has met my needs exactly. 3. KNAPSTER Charlie K 3 queries:- 1. Have tried to set up proxy server usage for Napster, but no matter how arranged, always fails. Advice was that proxy set ups don't seem to work so best avoided. 2. File transfers have been fairly limited in success rates - frequent breaks in transmission. Advice was that because files are transferred from a variety of users private PC's, these can be going on and off line t random times, so breaks in transmission can be patchy. Best to look for a file on a broadband distributor. 3. Can MP3 files be easily converted to Wav files for burning on CD Answer - yes, but probably don't need to worry as most burning software will do the conversion as it burns. 4.a. MSIE5,5 interesting fault - JohnS Installed MSIE Vrs 5.5 "over the top" of Vrs 5.01 from PC User CD for a friend. Included Outlook Express Vrs 5.5 and not much else. All O.K. for on-line browsing, Favourites, etc. But no history visible using the default "by date" view. Eventually cleared history, went back on-line and checked out a few sites. Still no history visible. But eventually found some items using the "by order visited today" option. But none of the items could be viewed off-line due to a "file path error". Not really surprising as "pcug.org.au@" (no quotes) was being added to the history URL! E.G. A typical URL would be pcug.org.au@http://www.sandiegozoo.com No wonder the URLs could not be found! Tried every possible option in MSIE & OE, tried RegCleaner and MSIE repair - nothing helps. Nothing else seems to have problems. This Veeerrryy interesting item is still unresolved. 4.b. A printed list of C&C attendees was circulated among the group to be "ticked" by members attending and returned. The list will be circulated among those attending the south side meeting next Tues for additions - JohnS 5. Internet disconnect - Margaret. I have probably been trying to disconnect whilst still in Internet Explorer and that is why it has been sticking. Was advised to go to the desktop when finished with internet and right click on my isp server icon and disconnect from there or go back to the dial up connection and then hit disconnect. Another thought was that I should do a "scan disk" at least once a week to make sure there are no troubles there. 6. TransACT - KenM Transact has released the names of four content providers. Apex; Asia Online; Net Speed; vod.net Video on Demand. 7. Update display driver - Alistair Alistair's HP8315 (Win98SE) has been experiencing an increasing number of "Blue Screen" fatal exceptions which occur towards the end of the initial booting procedure. Several Ctrl/Alt/Del's later, and booting does complete successfully, but only after defaulting to a low screen resolution (typically 848X480, '256 Colour' ). Once operating, any screen resolution can be selected, including the highest 32bit 'True Colour' level. As an updated driver (7.34MB) was available for the ATI "Rage Pro Turbo" video card, supplied with the HP "Pavilion" two years ago, this was downloaded from the ATI site. Merve C advised that this 'exe' file (...w82560en.exe...) should be placed in a folder of its own and simply executed from there with a 'double click'. Despite the ReadMe note:- ...... "Be sure to UNINSTALL any previous version of the 'Rage Pro' display driver before installing this version"....... Alistair followed the unanimous C&C approach and the 'double click' worked wonders! He will advise further if the driver update has solved his "Blue Screen" problem, keeping in mind Merve's suggestion that Sound Cards of earlier versions can sometimes produce similar effects and may also require updating. P.S. Someone reading this may be able to elaborate on Merv's suggested use of a dedicated folder to "contain" the 'exe' file. 8.a. Format floppy - RodS a request as to how to format a floppy disk which had previously been used as part of a backup set. I had previously seemingly successfully copied a file to it (I could read the file) but when I went to copy it back again in a different machine that machine could not read the file. Any further attempts to format it were unsuccessful. The meeting response was to format it /u (unconditionally) in DOS. The response was ...Invalid media or track 0 bad - disk unusable. Does this indicate a unique bad disk or has something been permanently corrupted because it was a backup disk? Trevor's comment. There might be several reasons for the fault, including interference from some magnetic device, age of the disk (or user?), written to invalidly by some software that doesn't behave itself. I have previously reformatted some of the rest of the backup set, but others I tried to reformat now gave the same results as the disk above. 8.b. File from CAB - RodS. A request for the name of the standard program to extract files from Windows cab files. This is 'extract' which is in Windows\command. It is a DOS command where the instructions for its use can be found by clicking on the name in Windows; then to use it you transfer to a DOS window. It automatically checks through all cab files in the folder if you are not sure of the location of the file(s) you want. Cab files are the same as Zip files so WinZip can be used instead. To find the correct cab file, use FIND with the contents as the filename you want to extract. P.S. One could also use Winzip which is shareware or the free PowerArchiver to extract from a CAB file. 9.a. "Commander" phone modem - MikeD 9.b. Software to burn CD ROMs - MikeD 10. Word97 using US spelling - TrevorF. I asked on behalf of a friend of my mother-in-law. Response at the meeting was from KenM who had published how to do it in his column in Sixteen Bits from notes taken from MervC. Howto received via e-mail from Merv follows converted from Word97 to plain text: ========= This is how to put the English Australian Dictionary back on your computer, or if you are starting afresh. If you have Word/Office installed 1) Uninstall from Add Remove Programs in Control Panel. 2) Have the Office CD-ROM for removal of Word/Office from the computer. 3) Restart computer. (Or if starting a new Installation). 4) Open My Computer, Control Panel then select, the Regional Settings Icon and make sure the Region English (Australia) is selected5) Next the Keyboard Icon then Language 6) Come down to the entry English Australian then select OK 7) Set as Default and Apply (Win98 will ask for the CD-ROM Win98 OK), the Apply sign will then grey out, then select OK. 8) The System tray will have a Blue(En) sign. Click on this and change it to English Australian. 9) Restart Computer. 10) After the computer has restarted make sure the English Australian is on the top of the English United States, if not check your Region again. 11) If all is well, proceed with the installation of Word/Office. 12) After you enter the serial number Select Custom Installation, select All and untick any components you do not want to install. 13) In Office leave in Data Access, Office Tools and Converters & Filters. 14) Continue then select the A4, Australian English Dictionaries in the Dialogue Box (Select Paper Format Language). 15) Finish the installation and all will be OK with Australian Spelling. 16) EXCEPT if you have an OLD KEYBOARD, you will need to replace the keyboard with a more modern one, and then start all over again. ========= The meeting closed with a joke and I've forgotten it, so those who want to hear one might consider joining the throng. Here's one to add to your repertoire: Warning, if you don't like jokes that are a bit risque don't read from here: A family of skunks were strolling in the forest one day and were confronted by a pack of wolves. The mother said: "Quickly children, let's gather round and spray" ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤øø¤º°`°º¤¤º°`°º A hug warms the soul and places a smile in the heart.
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