Bay of Isles Computers Support and Technical Tips

Bay of Isles Computers

63B Dempster Street
Esperance WA 6450

Ph: 08 9071 5542
Fax: 08 9071 5549

boic@boic.net.au

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General Questions

January 2006
Is there a way to install an older technique turntable to my Dell computer.

As long as your turntable has a line in and line out and so does your PC, you can easily rustle up some free software on the net which will let you copy your records to your PC as audio files. Just join the two with a cord easily obtainable from an electronics or music store.

January 2006
My home page has changed, how do I get my old home page back again?

Go to the page that you want for your home page by entering its address in the address bar at the top of your browser. When the page you want is open then follow these steps:

Click on Tools right up at the top of the window. A menu will drop down.
Click on Internet Options. A dialogue box will open up.
The home page address (the one you don't want) will show in the address box of the dialogue box.
Just underneath the address is a button that says Use Current. Click on the Use Current button and the address will change to the page you want to use.
Now click on the Apply button right down at the bottom of the dialogue box.
Click on OK when the Apply button goes pale in colour.

Another good idea, while you have the desired page open. Go to the top of the browser and click on Favorites. Then when the menu drops down, click on Add to Favorites. Now your desired home page will be in your favorites list as well. So if you should ever lose it again, you can easily get back to it by clicking on the Favorites and selecting your page from the list.

December 2005
Windows XP Home does not open beyond the Welcome screen.

Your operating system appears to have crashed. There are so many reasons for this to happen that it is impossible to diagnose without seeing the computer. It could be a hardware, software or virus problem. Take it to your technician to look at.

September 2005
I have an HP computer that came with a CD burner. I have copied Music and game CDs successfully. I have a file with data and pictures but when I try to save to CD I get a message that there is no writable CD in the drive. I have tried 3 differnet CDs. I have checked my list of programs and I cannot see a Nero or any other burner program. Do I need a different burner program to save data?

Generally using programs as Nero, NTI, Adaptec etc is the best way to burn cd's. There is generally an option to burn a DATA cd in one of these dedicated programs. This would be the option for backing up documents and photos. Using the system Windows XP provides does not always work very well.

Be aware that it generally is illegal to copy music and game cd's as they are covered by copyright.

June 2005
I am having horrible problems downloading heaps of photos (sent as email attachments) to disc.

Right click on your desktop and a menu will popup.
On the menu left click on New - another menu will pop up
Left Click on Folder This will put a new folder on your desktop. We will put your photos in here
First we will rename the folder by right clicking on the name New Folder This will open a menu.
Left Click on Rename. Now type Photos (or whatever you want to call it) and then hit Enter
Okay now the folder to hold all your photos is ready.
Open the email with the photos
Right click on the first photo - a menu will pop up
Click on Save As - a dialogue box will pop up
Up at the top of the dialogue box it will say Save In: and a box beside it will say something like My documents.
At the side of the Save in box there is a little down arrow. Click on that arrow
A list will drop down and Desktop will probably be at the top
Click on Desktop and a list of all the folders that are on your desktop will appear. Find the one you just created called Photos (or whatever you called it) and doubleclick on that. Now the box will be empty, because you haven't put anything in it yet.
Down at the bottom of the empty box is another little box called File Name: and in the box will be the name of the photo that you are saving. You can change the name right now to something else if you want to, or leave it as it is.
If you are happy with the name now, just click on Save in the bottom right hand corner of the dialogue box.
That puts a copy of the photo into your Photos folder on your desktop.
Now right click on the next photo you want to save and this time you will find that Windows has remembered where you want to put the photos and it will probably open the Photos folder for you straight away. Then all you have to do is check the file name: and if you are happy with it, click on Save in the Right hand bottom corner.
Keep doing this until all your photos are in the folder on your desktop.
Windows will remember to use this folder until you close the email program or go and do something else. Then it will go back to the default folder My Documents. But you have the instructions now to find the folder you made on the desktop.
When all your photos are in your new Photos folder. Then you can open your burning software and follow the instructions to copy to disk. Remember that your photos are in this folder on your desktop and you will be right to find them.

May 2005
I have a database in Access with 4 columns. I want to create an update query to one of the columns. the column names are candidate No, exam No, paper No & score. I want to update the column score with whatever score the candidate gets in the exam - how?

Here is a Microsoft Access forum where all the Access gurus are available to answer your questions and help new learners through to experienced users. That will be the best place for you to place specific queries for Access.

May 2005
How does the finance option work? Can you tell me how much the repayments are if I buy anything worth $2500?

The quickloan finance details are here. Just click on the quickloan icon and the details will appear. The repayments on $2500 will vary according to the length of the term that the loan is taken over. If you are a resident of Australia, let me know and I will supply you with a form to fill out your details, if you are approved by the Credit company, you will be eligible to receive your goods.

March 2005
What is meant by differing views of data in the context of database systems?

Within the database you can view the items in a list - this is called list view - or by field - this is called field or details view (it is like looking at the items on an old fashioned cardfile). You can usually switch easily between the views according to your needs for access.

March 2005
When sending a photo email, how can it be reduced so that the receiver can see the whole photo at once without scrolling to view by quarters?

If you have a photo editing program on your computer, you can resample the picture at whatever size and resolution you like. That is one way you can reduce it.

But instead, you might just tell the recipients to save the photo to their computer and then open it with Internet Explorer 6. IE 6 will automatically resize the photo to fit the window. That way you both end up with a good high resolution picture that is printable when you want it.

February 2005
My Canon printer s200spx ran out of paper while I was using it. Now it won't start.

If your printer ran out of paper, did you press the 'resume' button on the screen dialogue when you put more paper in or did you just click the dialogue box off.

Check your print queue on the bottom of your screen in the right hand corner. If there is a little printer icon down there in the task bar, double click it and cancel the print jobs that it thinks it still has to do.

Then turn off your printer and unplug it from the power.

Restart your computer and plug your printer back into the power and then turn it on. See if it goes then with a fresh print job. If not, bring it in and we'll have a look at it.

January 2005
Where can I find dvd label images of movies to download?

If the movie labels are not available at the legitimate movie download site, just create your own. There is no law that says you must have original movie labels. If your intention is the illegal resale of copied DVDs then I have no advice to offer.

July 2004
I have a virus filter on the computer through Westnet, and I am unable to open any attachments that come through to my email address.

Your most likely problem is with Outlook express, rather than Westnet. In your Outlook Express click on Tools on your menu bar and select Options

When the Options window opens, click on the Security tab and then untick the box next to "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus."

July 2004
I use Windows 98 and just bought a Canon S200SPX printer. When I installed the printer driver, it cannot detect USB port, although I've already checked the USB connection to the printer and my system. The printer is also On, but still can't detect. It gives "unknown USB" to my device setting. How do I solve this?

In the first place you should check to see what version of Windows 98 you are running. If it is the original version of 98, most of the USB setups don't work.

Right click on My Computer and select properties. On this window you will be able to see if it says Windows 98 or Windows 98 second edition.

If it is the original edition try the following first:
Go to Microsoft's site and look for all the Windows 98 updates. Install these first. This might let you install the printer, but if it doesn't work, you will have to upgrade your operating system.

If it is the second edition try the following:
Enter Device manager and delete the Unknown USB device. Restart the PC and when it tries to detect the printer, put the CD in the drive and find the drivers.

May 2004
I have a Canon S200SPx printer which although very basic in capabilities, serves my purposes for now. Is it okay just to leave the main power supply off when not in use or should I leave it always connected. My concern is that even when I am using my computer (and not the printer), for print head maintenance purposes the print head need to be primed every time I start my computer. At least that's my guess as to what the noise is every time the power supply is switched on. My preference would be to leave the printer with no power supply at all except when I need to actually print.

It is fine to leave the printer turned off until you want to use it. The printer will do a head clean whenever you turn it on anyway. Even if you left it on all the time, the printer would still do regular head cleans because the heads dry out when they are not in use. For this reason it is good to turn your printer on and do a test print once every week or fortnight when you are not using it at all. This will keep it in good health.

March 2004
I'M a beginner on the computer. If 'A' in spread sheets is blue font, bold, centre, 45%, what does 45% mean and how the hell do you find it and carry out task?

I am guessing that you want to know how to format a column in excel. If that is so, go to A and click on it so that the whole row is selected, then hold down the control key and press 1. That will open the format box and you can choose your colour, your font weight, your alignment and the degree of angle that you desire from the format box selections.

March 2004
I am trying to work out how to delete addresses from my outlook address book - not from a distribution list. I've used the 'help' functions, and they only explain how to remove from a distribution list.

If you open the address book and select the address you want to delete and then click on the cross icon on the tool bar of the address book (that is the delete button), an alert box will pop up asking if you really want to delete this entry, click on yes. It will disappear.

February 2004
My mum has recently brought a new computer and has installed Windows XP. She used to download a crossword daily from the Sydney Morning Herald Newspaper site. This site uses Java applets to do the crossword online. Since upgrading to WinXP she has been unable to do any of her crosswords and cannot install Java at all?

Microsoft are no longer supplying the Java Virtual machine with their windows operating systems. They no longer supply it at all. However you may still be able to download a copy from this site.

Java virtual machine

December 2003
How can I transfer my VHS video into a VCD or DVD format?

Here's How:

Install a DVD Writer - a multi-format writer is recommended
Install Video-Capture Hardware - whether it is a USB video-capture device or a PCI-based FireWire card
Install the Drivers and Software - for all components, starting with the hardware drivers first
Connect a VCR or Camcorder to the Analog-In Ports on the Video Capture Device
Specify a Video Source Within the Recording Software - VHS tape or TV show or Camcorder
Set Video Quality - sometimes you can set different resolutions, frame sizes, frame rates, and bit rate. Experiment.
Record Video to Your Hard Drive - video can consume a lot of disk space, depending on how high you set the video quality.
Edit Your Video - using video editing software
Author the DVD - Use the DVD program included with your DVD Burner to create a menu and add videos.
Burn the DVD - Now that you have assembled the video, burn it! Some people like to try burning to a DVD-RW or DVD+RW so that if the DVD didn't come out correctly, they can try again. DVD-R and DVD+R's can't be overwritten (you only get one chance with these)

Tips:

Get a multi-format DVD burner if you don't have one.
If you want to use a USB 2.0 video capture device, make sure your computer can handle the newer speeds.
Make sure you have a lot of hard drive space, and if possible, dedicate a drive to capturing video files.
Before recording, make sure you shut down any programs to give your video editing and recording the highest priority. Even Anti-Virus software can hold up a video recording session.
Use DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs to test your DVD

What You Need:

Computer
Video Capture Card
DVD Writer
Blank DVD-R or DVD+R

(Thanks to desktopvideo.about.com)

December 2003
I used my CD writer to store a copy of my digital photos. I noticed when they were finished that that are read only. Will this effect or limit the files use? If so how do I make a bulk change to an archive file before or as I copy them?

Writeable CD's can only be used once. If you want to put data on a CD and keep going back to manipulate that data, you must use a Re-writeable CD. I suggest that for your photo storage, you put them in a file on your hard drive, then do whatever you want to them. When you are satisfied with the result, store the finished product on your Writeable CD. If you wish to change a photo from the CD you have stored them on, copy the photo onto your hard drive again, then do your changes and store it eventually to a fresh CD.

August 2003
I have used a forum under a name ONLY I knew. I had a friend come to me and tell me that she had tracked me on the internet and she had figured out my forum name. She actually knew it. How is this possible and what else can she find out about me on the net? Can I stop it?

This is a question you should be asking the moderator of your forum. Forums differ considerably and their security arrangements and the information you give when you register are not consistent from forum to forum. Be warned that nothing on the internet is 100% safe. Sorry about that.

I want to stop receiving pop-up windows (internet pages) containing adult content straight onto my Windows ME desktop. Whenever I am connected to the internet these pages pop-up on my desktop unexpectedly. Please do help me to terminate this nuisance.

First you have to disinfect your computer. Delete all your temporary internet files and your cookies and your history. Run adaware. The instructions for deleting temp internet files are in the archives above. You can also download adaware from our site to get rid of all the adware and spyware on your computer.
Once your computer is clean, then you have to monitor every site you visit. When it starts happening again, it is because of a site you just visited. Then you will have to do the whole thing all over again.

I am a high school student and I am doing an assignment on the Care And Maintenence of computers, would it be possible for you to email me some information for my project?

The information you want is in the Tech Archives on our web site.

I am getting a new processor & going from Windows 98 to XP. Is there a way to take all the files from 98 and put them in the XP?

I am presuming that you have checked that your new processor is going to be robust enough to handle XP and that you have enough RAM.
The sad story is that this is not particularly easy, if you don't have competent skills, don't consider doing it yourself.
You cannot install XP over the top of 98 and save any files, they will all be wiped. You have to back up all your data files and reinstall your programs after you have installed XP. That's the short answer. Without knowing what your system is like, I can't even begin to start on the variables. See a tech.

Does Bay of Isles Computers have a chatroom?

No, we do not have a chatroom. However if you want technical support, you can see our archives on this site or put your question in the Ask a Question box. We also offer over the phone technical support to our customers on 08 9071 5542.

How do I type a line break when writing html?

To type a line break, you use the code <br>. This is equivalent to the enter key on your keyboard. To miss a line in between, repeat the code or to make a new paragraph, use the code <p>.

What is Paul's email address?

paulw@boic.net.au
For general information use boic@boic.net.au

Should I use chat rooms?

Visit our techarchives for a discussion of the dos and don'ts surrounding chatrooms.

Can I use QuickBooks 2001 on Windows XP?

Visit our techarchives for a discussion of Quickbooks & Windows XP.

Disclaimer:

While reasonable efforts have been made to check the accuracy of the information contained within this web site, Bay of Isles Computers, its employees, representatives, owners and affiliates, make no warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy of the information or its fitness for any particular purpose, and we disclaim any liability arising from use of the information contained within this site. Further, we are not responsible for the contents of any off-site pages linked or referenced.