Odds and sods in helpful hints // Published: Mat 29, 1997

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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 CyberWalker odds and sods are a miscellany of shortbits 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 orlow vision, check out the computer tips provided by Dr. Elizabeth Hamilton, the coordinator of services to patronswith disabilities at the University Libraries at the University of Cincinnati.

Her pages offer a straight-forward, large-type guide toconfiguring 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 is at w3.one.net

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 screen savers 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 screen savers should help. He theorizes that a corrupt file is causing the problem. For a quick fix, go to START/Settings/Control Panel and doubleclick the "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 manoeuvre.

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 Troubleshooter 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 Elmo-like data, follows these steps:

In Internet Explorer, click View/Options and then pick the"Advanced" tab.

Under the Temporary Internet Files section, click on ViewFiles.

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 per cent may be plenty of space to reserve.