The Digital Life, Houston We Have a Problem, 054, 29/09/07

Cheap Wi-Fi for XBox

My son has just acquired an XBox 360 games console and now he wants to hook it up to my broadband Internet to play on-line games. I have no problem with this except that it is not physically possible to connect it to my wireless router by cable. My son has a wireless connection to his Windows XP laptop, so we know a Wi-Fi connection does work in his bedroom; however, the cost of the Microsoft wireless adaptor is prohibitive. My question is, is it possible to use a standard USB Wi-Fi adaptor on the XBox?

Jerry Hastings, by email

In theory some third-party adaptors will work but I have never managed it. There is a much easier solution though, right in front of you, and that’s to utilise the Wi-Fi connection on your son’s laptop. All you have to do is connect the XBox to the computer, using an Ethernet ‘crossover’ cable, and set up the laptop for Internet ‘sharing’. Open Control Panel then go to Network Connection and right-click on the Wireless Connection entry. Select Properties, then the Advanced tab and check the item ‘Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection’. Click OK and the XBox should now be able to connect to the Internet.

A File in the Works

I am using Windows 98. How do I transfer a newsletter from Works to my email, so that I can send it to members? The article is set out with artwork and is in a two-column format.

B. C. Thomas, Somerset.

You could send it as an email attachment though it's unlikely that many recipients would be able to display it properly, unless they all have Works installed on their PCs, which seems unlikely.

The best option is to convert the file into a pdf (portable document format), which will retain the layout and illustrations of your document and it can be read on almost any PC or Mac since most people have the Adobe Reader program installed on their computers.

The simplest (and cheapest) way to create a pdf is to use a freeware application like PDF Creator , which works with any Windows application that has a print facility.

Parallel Bars

Recently, I came across a parallel port to USB adapter. I have a Windows 95 PC containing quite a lot of files, which I would like to transfer to an external hard drive, flash drive or even a later version of a PC. Although the Windows 95 PC has no USB ports, would it be possible to transfer the files to one of these drives by using one of these adapters?

John Clitherow, by email

It might work but I suspect you will run into problems with the drivers Windows needs to communicate with USB devices. A far simpler solution would be to buy an external hard disc drive enclosure and pop the drive from your Windows 95 PC into it. It only takes around 5 minutes and all you need is a Philips screwdriver. External drive cases cost around £10 to £15 online from companies like aria.co.uk and ebuyer.co.uk.

Once that is done you can plug it into the USB port of any Windows XP computer and move your data. When you have finished you can reformat the drive and use it as a full-time external hard drive for data transfer and backup.

Multiple Attachments

Is there a way to send an email with more than one photograph attached? I cannot work out how to do it. I tried to send some wedding pictures to a friend but I found that I could only get one picture per email; therefore I sent ten separate emails, which the recipient had to open one at a time.
Pamela Ford, by email

The easiest method is to open the folder where the pictures are kept (usually My Pictures) and here’s the trick, hold down the Ctrl key. Select the images you want to send one. When you have finished release the Ctrl key then right-click on one of the highlighted files and select Send To > Mail Recipient. Windows should now offer to ‘Make all my pictures smaller’, click OK and a New Message window will open with all of your selected pictures resized and attached. Incidentally, this method of selecting multiple files works in all ‘Explorer ‘ type windows (Open, Save SaveAs etc.).

Pictures in Emails

I am running Outlook Express 6 on Windows XP. When I attach a photo to an email it also inserts it in the text part of the message. Can you tell me how to stop this happening?

Tony Boardman, by email

Attached images with the extension jpeg will appear in the message window by default on sent emails, however you can prevent them from appearing in received emails by going to Tools > Options Read tab and check 'Read all emails in plain text'.

© R. Maybury 2007 1609