HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM 2008

The Digital Life, Houston We Have a Problem, 064 05/01/08

Working Arrangements

My friend sent me an attachment to an email, which was a copy of her address labels so that I could delete her addresses, insert mine and then print them. However, she sent it as a Works document and I cannot open it in my Word program. Can you tell me why and how I can do that?

Jane Aldridge, by email

You should be able to open Works documents in most recent editions of Word. Go to Word’s File menu and select Open then at the bottom, in the Files of Type drop-down menu select Works for Windows and locate the file.

If for any reason that doesn’t work – you may be trying to open a Works file that is too old or too recent for Word, or the necessary file converter isn’t installed – then consult Microsoft Knowledgebase Article 315757 (http://tinyurl.com/2kska5), which has a number of possible solutions. Alternatively download the free Word Viewer 2003, (http://tinyurl.com/3qlb4). This versatile utility opens and displays a variety of word processor file formats, including Works 6.0 and 7.0, which can then be printed or copied into Word.

Digital Radio, Long Distance Loser?

With my new digital radio I cannot get French and Spanish broadcasts though I do get a lot of awful pop stations. I have other issues with it, and if I leave it too long between each press the sound cracks up. Is there anything I can do to improve reception?

Rose Dudeney, Burgess Hill

I would be surprised if you received many French or Spanish stations before digital radio came along, unless you had a powerful receiver and a good aerial. You certainly won’t be picking any up on your DAB radio, unless they are being broadcast from your local transmitter. That’s because digital radio uses VHF Band III (174 – 240MHz), which provides only line-of-sight reception. In other words you need to be within 30 or so miles of a transmitter to pick up a signal. (It might just about be possible to pick up French DAB stations on the south coast, with a good aerial). There are hundreds of French and Spanish radio stations on the Internet, though; there’s a comprehensive list with direct links on http://www.radio-locator.com/

The Right End of the Stick…

I have a Sony digital camera that uses a Memory Stick I have just ordered a digital Photo frame, which accepts Memory Sticks, but how can I transfer pictures from the one used in the camera to another one, which I will use with the photo frame?

Derek Francis, by email

Although digital cameras are sold as stand-alone gadgets nowadays you really need a PC, and a multi-format memory card reader (costing around £10 to £15), to get the full benefit of digital photography.

A card reader turns a digital camera memory card into a giant floppy disc, and you’re not limited to photographs, you can use memory cards to store almost any type of file, from Word documents to MP3 tracks, but the point is you’ll be able to copy images from the card used in your camera to your PC’s hard drive, and transfer the ones you want to view in the photo frame, form the hard drive to your second card.

The card reader also frees you from the constraints of USB cables and the sometimes awkward software that comes with digital cameras, and a multi-format type reader means you can copy images and files from other people’s cameras and devices, and it won’t matter if one day you change to a different make of camera that uses another type of card.

No Slideshow in Vista?

My desktop PC, running Windows XP, has a simple slideshow "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer" with the facility to rotate images. I would like to use my laptop, running Windows Vista, to feed a projector for a public slideshow but I cannot find a similar program on it. Is it possible to copy the Picture and Fax program across to the laptop or is there a similar program, which will run under Vista?

Roy Jones, by email

Vista’s picture viewer facilities are even better than those in XP; I’m just surprised you haven’t found them. Open the folder containing your images in Computer or Windows Explorer and you’ll find a Slide Show icon on the Toolbar. Clicking on it starts the slideshow running, and unlike the XP slideshow, this one also plays video clips.

If you move the mouse a menu bar appears with drop down menus for Themes (try the Pan & Zoom options, the Classic Theme is equivalent to the old XP slideshow) and there’s another drop down for controlling speed and mode (shuffle or loop).

On some Vista PC’s with simpler graphics cards the Themes options might not be displayed, if so, and you know your away around the Windows Registry you can try this workaround.

Open the Registry Editor (type Regedit in Search on the Start menu), go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows Photo Gallery\SlideShow. Right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD, rename it WinSATScore then right click on the new key, select Modify and change the Value data to 300, click OK and close Regedit.