PC speed
I am working on a scientific project where speed and storage are the limiting factors, and am waiting to update my PC until something sufficiently attractive comes at a reasonable price. But all the Ram seems to be 100MHz only, so having a 700MHz processor doesn't seem to offer anything over my present PC. Am I right? Donald Houtman
donald.houtman@dial.pipex.com
Jack Schofield replies: Faster processors, faster memory chips and faster buses (for transferring data inside the PC) are on the way, but probably won't make an impact until Intel ships the 1.3GHz Pentium 4. Even then they will be too expensive for most of us. However, memory speed may not be the limiting factor, since processors don't usually get their instructions from main memory. The core processor is fed by fast "cache memory" chips, and by cache memory that is actually part of the chip, so shop for a PC with more of those. In fact, all computer buyers should check the size of the Level 2 cache supplied: this is an area where manufacturers sometimes cut corners. If you have a bit more to spend, try looking not at desktop PCs but at a small servers with SCSI hard drives and more than one processor.
Right clicking
My question feels a tad embarrassing. I use Internet Explorer (IE5), and I'd like my Favourites to be in alphabetical order, rather than in order of adding to the list. I can't find the facility to sort it. I can't be the only one. Conrad Cork
ConradCork@TadleyEwing.co.uk
JS: Pull down the Favorites (sic) menu in IE5 or Windows Explorer and you can sort the list by clicking and holding the right mouse button, then selecting Sort by Name, which is next to bottom. You can also sort the entries by hand by selecting each one, holding down the right mouse button, and moving it up or down the list (ie drag-and-drop). This lets you put the My Computer entry, which links to folders on your hard drive, at the top. It is always worth trying a right mouse-click just to see what it does. There are a lot of useful facilities hidden under there.
Unattached
How can I can delete an attachment from an e-mail received into my Outlook Express inbox? I sometimes want to keep the email but not the attachment. Richard Browning
wintonhouse@clara.net
JS: Right-click on the paperclip icon and select Delete from the drop-down menu. See what I mean?
Missing icons
I have lost the line which contains the icons: back, forward, stop, refresh, home, search, favourites, history, mail, print, edit. I am sure they still exist but I am unable to locate them. Peter McConnon
Cate@pmcconnon.freeserve.co.uk
JS: Your standard toolbar is not showing up in your web browser. Go to the View menu, select Toolbars, and put a tick next to the Standard Toolbar option.
Partition problems
My problem is the opposite of that dealt with on August 17. When I bought my laptop two years ago, I had them load all the software for me, and for unknown reasons they partitioned the hard drive into C and D. Now that C is almost full I'm getting concerned about how to use the D drive. Dave Roberts
David_Roberts@ching-ford.freeserve.co.uk
JS: Using another drive partition is no different in principle from using another folder. In Windows Explorer, you can right-click a file or folder, hold down the mouse button, and move it to a different drive.
However, you can't simply move applications programs from C: to D: because Windows is not smart enough to change the pathnames (eg C:\Collins\Colewin.exe) that point to program files, and your apps will stop working.
You could use Partition Magic (August 17) to expand the C: drive to take over the space occupied by D:, or you could uninstall your applications from C: and re-install them on the D: drive, or a bit of both. Partition Magic 5 includes a utility called Magic Mover that will move applications without you having to re-install them. Norton's CleanSweep (originally Quarterdeck's) will do it too.
I'm old fashioned enough to like partitions. I often split drives in three: C: for the operating system, D: for applications, and E: for my data. It simplifies making back-ups.
Either way, it is important to have lots of spare room on C: as that is where Windows usually keeps its swapfile (a sort of scratchpad for pages of memory) and its internet cache memory (in Temporary Internet Files). I would allow at least 150MB for each. When Windows runs out of swap-space, its performance and its stability deteriorate dramatically.
Ask Doc
Is there a medical search engine similar to Ask Jeeves where common clinical questions can be filtered and answered in real time? For example, "what is the drug choice for condition x?", "what is the cause of symptom x?" and "what test is indicated in situation x?". Paul Bowie
Paul.Bowie@scpmde.scot.nhs.uk
JS: I don't know of one, and given the less-than-perfect performance of Ask Jeeves, I hope not. It is bad enough trying to answer computer queries when not everyone appreciates that they should make back-up copies of their data in case they make changes that have disastrous consequences; backing up parts of the human body is a lot trickier. Computer programs called "expert systems" have a good diagnostic record in some restricted areas but they are a long way from duplicating the performance of a good GP.
