Saving favourites
I have created a vast alphabetical index of website links using Favorites. The trouble is that one has to visit the website in order to store its address. Is there another way to do this? John Cooke
john@onema.com
Jack Schofield replies: You can always store website addresses in a plain text file using Windows Notepad or another simple text editor, then cut and paste them in to the browser when you want to visit the sites.
I take this one step further: I paste them into an HTML document in Microsoft Word, add my own comments, and use the resulting file as my start-up page on Internet Explorer. To do this, double click the .htm file so that it loads into your browser, then go to Tools|Internet Options and click the Home Page button marked Use Current. To return to this page after visiting a site, click the Home (House) icon, or select View|Go to|Home Page from the menu, or press the Alt and Home keys on the keyboard.
Word can automatically turn proper web addresses into live links, so you do not need to know any HTML. If you want to take the idea further, a small, free program called Bookmark Wizard will convert your current Favorites into an HTML page.
The next step would be to put your bookmarks online at a site such as Hotsheet, or use a program to organise them. There is a good list of online bookmark managers at www.dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/WWW/Web_Applications/ Bookmark_Managers. There are comprehensive collections of bookmark programs and other utilites at Dave Central and WinFiles. I don't know which is best, but IC Soft Site Manager www.ic-soft.com/products/icsiteman.htm looks powerful but pricey ($34.95). Bookmark Mate is simple and free
Little windows
Since I upgraded to Internet Explorer 5.5, all new windows in Outlook Express open up very small. How can I make them open up maximised as they always used to? Dr Kambiz Boomla
k.boomla@qmw.ac.uk
JS: Many Windows programs try to remember how they were when you closed them down, and open up the same way. However, there is a standard way to control how an application opens in Windows. Right-click on the icon and select Properties, then go to the Shortcut page. At the bottom, next to Run, there should be a drop-down menu that offers three choices: Normal window; Maximized, and Minimized. Pick the one you want and click OK.
The icon may be on the desktop, in Windows Explorer, or even in the Quick Launch tray usually positioned next to the Start button.
Booklets
I've written a 36-page booklet, using Word 97, and I want to print it out on standard A4 paper ready to be folded in two to create an A5 booklet. Do you know of any utilities that will let me print it out so that page 1 is adjacent to page 36 and page 2 adjacent to page 35 etc? I am surprised that Word 2000 hasn't addressed this problem. It must be quite common. Alan Currie
Wilma.Pooch@tesco.net
JS: You are correct: Microsoft is lagging Lotus and Corel (WordPerfect) Office in this area. Richard Keijzer has reportedly written some free macros to do the job, and we are waiting for them to appear at www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/MacrosVBA/BookletMacro.htm.
One alternative is to use a pre-print utility that will work with other programs too. Clickbook and FinePrint are the best known examples. Both cost money - $49.95 and $39.95 respectively - but offer free trial versions.
You may also find a desktop publishing program will do the job.
Web bits
Is it possible to print just a section of information displayed on my monitor from a website? Sometimes there are many pages but only one is relevant. Peter Olive
peterolive@hotmail.com.
JS: FinePrint Web prints from most popular web browsers and from Adobe Acrobat. Like FinePrint 2000, it will preview, print 2, 4, or 8 pages per sheet, create booklets and save web pages. It is available free from Fineprint but, like Hotmail and other adware, adds its own advertisement.
Filofax printing
I want to put my Filofax in an Excel spreadsheet so I can print it out, alter it at will, and print labels etc. I have sourced A4 paper perforated and punched with two Filofax pages per sheet, but cannot find a program to print double sided, alphabetical order onto it. Can you help? Chris Wallis
watershed@cix.co.uk
JS: See above. However, I don't think Excel is the most suitable software for the task. In the days when I still used a Filofax, the only program that made a creditable job of printing out Filofax pages was Lotus Organiser. Other readers may know better.
Attached but unaccessible
I work in Appleworks on my iMac and frequently receive attachments from others (mostly PC users) which I can't open. The attachments I send them are likewise inaccessible. Is there a suitable translator out there somewhere? Anne-Marie Quigg
QuiggAM@aol.com
JS: Sorry, but I think your best bet is to switch to Microsoft Office. Microsoft tried to tackle the problem by developing the Rich Text Format file format, but your chances of getting everyone to send you .rtf files are close to zero.
Too jazzy
I want to listen to Jazz FM via the internet but it is transmitted using Microsoft's Media Player format. Needless to say, that's not available for Linux, which I run. Tony Green
tony.green@talk21.com
JS: As a Linux user you should be able to hack your own player for WMA (Windows Media Audio) files, or at least convert the Solaris (Unix) version available at www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/download/. Alternatively you could join or lobby the happy band working on Wine, the long-running project aimed at running Windows programs without running Windows. (Wine stands recursively for Wine Is Not an Emulator.) Since Microsoft wants WMA to become an industry standard, it might even help.
