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Houston We Have A
Problem 087, 16/01/10
Troubled
Tosh
My Toshiba laptop is
saying that it can’t check for updates and it gives the error code of 8000FFFF.
There is no help or explanation; can you help?
David Robinson, by
email
This glitch has been
causing problems for a lot of Vista users and is usually due to one or more
rogue Registry entries. Microsoft Knowledgebase article 946414 (http://tinyurl.com/bsm4hq) offers two solutions.
The first is to switch off and try again, it sounds daft, but you never know…
Method two is more promising and involves removing the errant Registry keys.
It’s not difficult and the KB article has some simple to follow instructions but
if you don’t feel up to it get a PC savvy friend or relative to
help.
In the
Frame
Do you know of a
digital picture frame that runs on batteries? I want to get one for an elderly
person. A trailing wire seems dangerous
and there is no convenient power socket.
Anne Vinnicombe, by
email
The backlights used to
illuminate the LCD screen consume a fair amount of power and since the general
idea is to have the picture frame displaying photographs for prolonged periods,
they can be very expensive to run on disposable batteries. Several models have
internal rechargeable batteries that last for between 2 and 8 hours. Have a look
at the Philips SPH8208, Link 8-inch or the Nix Designer Series (all available
from Amazon). However it’s only a partial solution and they are still going to
have to be connected to their mains adaptors from time to time to charge the
battery.
Underlying
Problem
My problem is that
somehow I have configured Word 2000 so that when I press the underline icon on
the toolbar I get double underline instead of single underline. I have tried all
sorts of ways to rectify this but have failed.
Ruth Leonards, by email
The controls for the
Underline option can be found by going to Format > Font > Font tab. Close
to the centre of the dialogue box there’s an Underline Style drop-down menu;
select the default ‘(none)’ and this will reset it to a single
underline.
Media
Attention
Following a recent
update to Windows Media Player I am no longer able to play DVDs (which I bought
and was able to play prior to the update) on either my PC or laptop. The error message says ‘Windows Media Player
cannot play this DVD because there is a problem with digital copy protection
between your DVD drive, decoder, and video card. Try installing an updated
driver for your video card’. I have the latest drivers for the video
cards.
Since this happens
with both the PC and laptop, I assume the problem lies with Windows Media
Player. Is it possible to go back to an earlier
version?
Jim McCartney, by
email
This is almost always
caused by missing or outdated codecs (coder-decoder) conflicting with Windows
Media Player. Codecs are small plug-ins and add-ons that WMP and other media
players use to decode multimedia files. When WMP is updated some older codecs
may stop working. Basically there are two solutions, switch to another, less
pernickety media player and you can’t go far wrong with VLC (http://tinyurl.com/nvqmm9). The alternative is to
install an up to date universal codec pack, which should solve any compatibility
issues. Several are available but one that seems to work well with the
sometimes-cranky combination of Vista and WMP is CCCP or the Combined Community
Codec Pack. It’s free and there’s a link to the download at: http://tinyurl.com/yb3xy3v, and don’t worry, it’s
not dodgy Russian software
Unable to Label
When I used Microsoft
Word I was able to make labels quite easily. My son decided to change me over to
Open Office when I had a new laptop. I have tried all ways, but I cannot work
out how to make labels any more.
Elizabeth Snow, by
email
Open Office Writer is
comparable with Word in terms of features and sophistication and it does have a
label making facility, though needless to say it is in a different place. Go to
File > New > Labels. The dialogue box layout is a little different too but
it has the same basic options, to use standard branded labels, or create your
own custom labels.
Life
Stories
I shall soon have
taken 10,000 photos with my Fuji FinePix S8000fd digital camera. How many photos
can I reasonably expect before it dies of old age?
Charles King-Smith, by
email
When it comes to
longevity and reliability most electronic devices follow what’s known as the
‘bathtub curve’, a graph, representing the likelihood of failure against time.
It suggests that at the tap-end of the bath the chances of a fault developing
are highest in first few days and weeks after purchase. If it survives then it
should work properly for a good while – the bottom of the bath -- before
reaching the other end, after which the graph and the risk of a fault developing
rises steeply.
The big question is,
how long is the bottom of your Fuji FinePix’s bath? Unfortunately there is no
definitive answer; most semiconductor components should operate reliably for
between 25 and 50 years. Mechanical parts tend to be the first to go but it all
depends on how well they were made in the first place and how much use they get.
In practice the
majority of electronic gizmos are replaced after 3 to 5 years. Not because they
are faulty; well-made products from respected brands are mostly still working at
that age but by that time cheaper and better-specified models are usually
available. If you bought your camera when it first came out it is now around two
years old. It probably hasn’t escaped your notice that digital cameras with 10
and 12 megapixel sensors are now selling for less than half what you paid for
your 8 megapixel digicam, but how long they’ll last is still anyone’s
guess…
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© R. Maybury 2010
2112
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