Q–Do you remember that TV show “Doogie Howser, M.D.” where the teenage genius doctor would enter the events of his day into his journal every evening? Do you know of any company selling software to record a daily diary type of input? Any of the diary functions I have found are really calendaring functions and not a true diary or journal keeper.
JoAnn Becker @ameritech.net
A–A little-known feature of Microsoft Windows dating back almost to before Bill Gates could vote is a diary function written into the Windows Notepad software designed to allow one to create simple text files on the fly.
Open Notepad and type .LOG (uppercase is required) at the beginning of the text field. Then name the file and save it where you can find it easily at the end of each day. I call my current diary file DECLOG.TXT. (December Log).
Each time you open a file with .LOG as the first line, the software automatically moves to the bottom of existing text and prints the time, the date and the year for your next entry.
You can then type in the day’s journal entry using Notepad’s limited word processing features, which are more than adequate for the Dear Diary type stuff (in my life at least).
Next day, open your .LOG file again and repeat as desired.
I use this trick to keep running logs of things like phone calls as well as my own journal.
A Notepad file can only be 16,000 bytes long–a tad over 3,000 words. So once one fills up, you just start another.
Q–I subscribe to Consumer Reports on-line and sometimes I want to copy their articles and paste them to a Notepad or another word processing program. However, I would like to include their graphs, which do not appear when I try to copy them. Could you tell me what I’m doing wrong?
Mark Isip @aol.com
A–Virtually all graphs and charts on Web pages are simply photographs embedded in the on-screen text. The text, as you note, can be painted with a computer mouse and copied into the computer memory and then pasted into a word processing program. You can’t paint pictures as you paint text, however.
To copy those charts you need to move the cursor arrow over each and then click the right mouse button. In the window that pops up, choose Save Picture As. (If you choose the .bmp format in that window you can later open the picture in the Paintbox program built in to Microsoft Windows.) You then choose Edit/Select All and Copy.
Then call up your word processor and click where you want the chart and then type in Control + V (Move) and the graphic will be pasted into your document.
Q–I have a Gateway computer with Windows 98 running. My problem is that when I bought the computer, the auto play function on the CD-ROM worked fine. Somewhere along the line, the auto play feature stopped functioning.
Audio CDs still automatically start to play when inserted, but not the CD-ROMs. I have called Gateway but they were not able to help me with the problem. They suggested that I call McAfee to inquire about some sort of virus. I downloaded the latest .dat files from them and ran my Virus Scan but no virus was detected. I turn to you since you seem to know a heck of a lot more that the customer service departments at Gateway and McAfee.
Mike Vail, Springfield, Ill.
A–I fear that Gateway techie was sugar-coating things by telling you to ask McAfee if some kind of virus is wrecking your machine’s ability to automatically run CD-ROM software when you drop a disk into the tray.
It’s likely that it’s no virus but rather McAfee’s own virus-checking software that’s to blame. Virus checkers can poll the CD drive at the same time your operating system is checking it for any recent commands such as auto run, causing a conflict.
You can either solve the problem by temporarily disabling the virus checker while using CD-ROMs or just put up with the glitch and run them manually. To do this, just right-click on the CD drive icon and select the choice “Auto Run” that pops up on CDs with software that includes this feature.
Q–When I bought my IBM Aptiva computer two or three years ago it could handle the software that was out there. It had a 1.2 gigabyte hard drive, 16 megabytes of RAM, 8X CD-ROM, and a 120 Mhz Pentium CPU (central processing unit). Now, however, even after adding 16 more megs of RAM and adding another hard drive, it no longer has what it takes to run the software that I’m interested in–such as “James Cameron’s Titanic”–which requires/recommends a 200 Mhz CPU.
My questions are: Can I and is it worth upgrading my CPU or should I plan on getting a new computer? I’m not a gamer yet but I do work with photos and would like to do some music composing/arranging with my computer.
Rich Roberts @msn.com
A–Your already obsolete Aptiva cost around $2,500 when you bought it just a couple years back and so the only good news is that you can move up to a far more powerful machine such as the Aptiva E2U for just a tad over $800 because you already own the monitor and speakers.
Check out that Aptiva and others at IBM’s Web site (www.ibm.com) and you’ll quickly see that buying a new CPU (central processing unit) will cost about the same as would buying upgrades for the various pieces of your current system.
Furthermore, the AMD-K6 microprocessor and 3D video card in the $800 Aptiva are more powerful than anything you could get to upgrade your Intel Pentium in the current box anyway.
I guess I should add that this is a lot of cash to shell out for somebody who says his biggest interest is watching more Titanic melodrama. Get over it, Mr. R. The boat sank.
Q–I have Windows 3.1 on my 486 computer and used to have a 14.4 modem that was connected to AOL and had no problems. I recently had a 56k modem installed and switched to Earthlink as my Internet provider. Now, at random times, but with frustrating regularity, my computer crashes while I’m surfing the Net. My provider told me the problem probably results from Windows 3.1’s inability to support the increasingly complex content on the Internet and that I should upgrade to Windows 98, which will require that I purchase a new computer. Does this make sense, or do you think I have a problem with either my provider or with my new modem?
Jennifer Siebel @mail.house.gov
A–Your quandary has a lot in common with that of Mr. R. above, even though your 486 machine is a certifiable antique while his P120 still has a lot of life in it as long as one’s needs are as modest as those you describe.
The technicality that affects you is that virtually everything to do with today’s Internet is based on 32 bit software, and your Windows 3.1 on the 486 is a 16-bit system and flat-out can’t keep up with the speed that data moves now. Windows 3.1 Internet software must use a 32-bit emulation patch that not only slows things down but that can cause frequent crashes, as you know all too well.
The good news is that you can get by very nicely indeed with even less than the AMD K6 that I suggested to Mr. R.
Find a computer megastore and check out one of those ultracheap 300 Mhz Cyrix MII-based machines that often can be had for just a tad over $500 with modem included. You can use the monitor and sound equipment from the 486, and I know you’ll be tickled with what that Earthlink connection can do with a proper machine.
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Contact Jim Coates via e-mail at jcoates@tribune.com or snail mail at the Chicago Tribune, Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 60611. If you think you’ve got a better answer to any of these questions, add your point of view at bancodeprofissionais.com/go/askjim.
