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Houston
We Have A Problem 113, 17/07/10
Change of
Identity
I have two identical Samsung Windows 7 laptops. The first on
I bought in January and I put in my own password. The second one, bought a
few weeks later was a shop display model and it had its own password. My son
says that this cannot be changed, I'm quite happy to keep it but I find
that if I leave the machine for a few minutes the password screen
comes up. This is not a huge problem but I would be pleased if you could
help me eliminate it.
Patricia O'Byrne, by email
Changing
your password is easy, just go to Start > Control Panel, click User Accounts
then Change Password. You will be asked to enter the original (shop) password
then enter and confirm your new password. It’s a good idea to put something
into the password hint box, just in case you forget it, then click the Change
Password button and it’s done. If you
want to change the time delay before your PC goes into sleep or hibernation
mode you can also do that in Control Panel, select Power Options then click
‘Require a password on wakeup’ and follow the prompts.
Capital
Punishment
I have a
wireless keyboard on my computer, which I am very pleased with, but because it
is battery powered there are no LED indicators for the Num Lock or Caps Lock
keys. As a result, I never know when
the switches are on.
Leslie
Miles, by email
You can
disable these keys – more on that in a moment -- but Windows has a built-in
facility called Toggle Keys that sounds a bleep whenever the Caps Lock, Num
Lock or Scroll Lock keys are pressed. In XP and Vista go to Control Panel >
Accessibility Options > Keyboard and click the Settings button under Toggle
Keys. In Windows 7 go to Control Panel > Ease of Access Centre and Make the
Keyboard Easier to Use. If you prefer something louder, or more visual, I
suggest a freeware program called Caps Lock V3 (http://tinyurl.com/35qxzkc). The easiest
way to turn off those pesky keyboard locks is to use another freeware utility
called FirstCap (http://tinyurl.com/33vw627),
which has lots of other useful features for customising the way your keyboard
works.
Building
Material
I am
taking regular photographs, from the same location and using the same lens
settings, of a building during construction in order to follow its development.
Is there any program that is available (freeware if possible) whereby I can
join them all together in order to generate a movie file?
Bob
Parkes, by email
You
already have one on your PC, if you have XP, Vista or W7. It’s Windows Movie
Maker and all you have to do is click ‘Import Pictures’ on the Movie Tasks pane
and select all of the images you want to appear in your movie. Now go to Tools
> Options > Advanced and change the picture duration setting. I suggest
you start with 0.125 seconds. Next, drag and drop the images, one by one in the
order you want them to appear onto the timeline strip at the bottom. Try 10 or
20 to begin with then click the Play button on the preview screen to judge the
effect. If necessary go back and increase or decrease the picture duration
setting. When you have all of the pictures in place and you are happy with it
go to Finish Movie in the Movie Tasks pane, select ‘Save to my computer’ and
follow the prompts. On the Movie Settings page, if you click ‘Other Settings’,
you’ll have a wider choice of quality options.
Blue View
I have
just moved from Microsoft Office 2000 where it was possible to have a blue
background and white text as the default.
As far as I can see this facility is not available in Word 2010.
Richard
Haute, by email
It’s
mostly bad news, I’m afraid. This obscure but surprisingly popular WordPerfect
‘legacy’ feature was enabled in Word 2000/3 by going to Tools > Options >
General, but Microsoft decided to remove it from Word 2007 onwards. I’m not
aware of a permanent solution, there have been rumours of a third-party plug-in
but I have yet to see it. There’s also a Registry hack doing the rounds but
this has problems. It is possible to change the background and text colours on
a per-document basis from the Page Layout tab, and you can save this as a
template for re-use but you’ll have to change it back to black text on a white
background if you want to print the document.
Sleep
Deprivation
There is a lot of
publicity about the possibility of brain damage caused by mobile phones. This
is not my problem but I do keep a small radio under my pillow and use one
earphone (sometimes for many hours) during the night when my mind is
racing as it provides an alternative focus and ultimately induces
sleep. Are the radio waves feeding into my ear likely to be equally damaging
or are they entirely different from those emanating from mobile phones?
Jane Rowse, by email
Mobile
phones incorporate a radio transmitter that emits low power microwave
radiation. It’s by no means conclusive but some studies have suggested that
sustained use and long-term exposure may have health implications. Radio receivers
do produce some electromagnetic emissions they are at significantly lower
frequency and a minute fraction of the intensity of a mobile phone. It’s only
measurable within a centimetre or two of the actual radio but in any case the
earphone only emits sound, so your brain is safe and you can sleep easily. By
the way, I seem to remember that sleeping with an earphone in place can be
quite uncomfortable so why not get hold of an mp3 or ‘pillow’ speaker, there’s
plenty to choose from online and prices start at around £10.00.
---end---
© R.
Maybury 2010 2106
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