New PC
I am considering buying a new PC (and also installing Windows XP) but find the price lists I have received from local suppliers who can build to my specifications unhelpful. Do I go for the fastest/newest processor or go for the biggest hard disk, etc? Are you able to offer your minimum specifications for home/office needs? Alun Richards
ar@cwmpas.co.uk
Jack Schofield replies: Any new PC should meet your needs, but mid-range systems usually provide the best value. Currently that is a machine with a 1.5GHz or 1.6GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 256 megabytes of memory, 40 gigabyte hard drive, nVidia GeForce 2 MX graphics card with 32MB of memory, CD-RW drive, 17in monitor and Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. From Dell, that would cost around £800 including delivery and VAT.
There is no significant difference between the different P4 chips from 1.5GHz to 1.8GHz. However, more memory usually does improve performance, so I suggest getting a PC that takes standard (SD Ram) memory chips and filling it. With 256MB modules costing about £20 each (see www.crucial.com/uk, you can probably afford as much as the PC can handle. A CD drive capable of writing CD-R discs is essential for taking back-ups of home/business data.
Someone buying a games machine might want a faster graphics card and perhaps a bigger hard drive. For Windows XP, all parts must be on the hardware compatibility list. See www.microsoft.com/hcl or http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q131/3/03.asp
Sync it
I use Microsoft Outlook at work, with Windows NT, and use the Tasks, Calendar, Diary and so on. At home, I use Outlook Express as my default mail service: I have Outlook loaded but don't use it. Can I transfer diary/calendar data from one Outlook to the other so I can have an up-to-date diary both at home and at work? Carew Satchwell
carewandmarian@satchwell.fsworld.co.uk
JS: Outlook's File menu offers an import and export wizard that will save data from your office PC so you import it into your home machine. Alternatively, Outlook keeps its data in a file with the pst extension, so you could search your work system for a pst file (*.pst), copy it, and take the copy home.
However, you may find it is very large, and your company may not like the idea. But both options are so tedious you would not want to do it every day. Instead, try synchronising the data on your office PC with a web site such as Yahoo, then synchronise your home machine with the same site. I recommend Visto or any site that uses Pumatech's Intellisync software. A much more expensive version of the same idea is to synchronise both machines with a PocketPC such as a Compaq iPaq.
Mailing files
A friend is trying to send me some photos via email but my ISP bounces them back as too large. Is there a way to send large files via attachments without them being rejected? Ray Physick
rayphysick@fsmail.net
JS: Most email programs will split a large file into a number of small files and encode the parts as text. The file is then sent in pieces, and reassembled at the other end. Outlook Express can do this. To set the maximum size of the parts, go to the Tools menu and select Accounts. Select the service you are using on the Mail tab and click Properties, Go to the Advanced tab, tick the box next to "Break apart messages larger than", and type in the maximum file size you want, eg 256K.
However, email is a poor way to send large files. Either exchange them directly using an instant messaging program such as Yahoo Messenger, or use Streambeam. If you and your friend open "freeloader" accounts at www.streamload.com, you will be able to "beam" one another multimedia files up to 10 megabytes in size. The free account limits you to 50 megabytes of downloads per week.
It forgets
I had Internet Explorer 5 set up to connect automatically to Freeserve, and when first installed, the "remember password" facility worked. Now I have set up another connection, I can enter the password but it is never remembered. Richard Waddington
richard@rwaddington.freeserve.co.uk
JS: This bit of Microsoft programming seems to be so flaky the question is almost impossible to answer. The Microsoft Knowledge Base has at least two articles on the topic: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q148/9/25.asp and http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q137/3/61.asp. But usually I think the best approach is to work through the list of nine possible solutions at www.annoyances.org/cgi-bin/ce-showtopic/006_004 and hope you find one that works.
Talkback
Jacob Brauner jacob.brauner@ntlworld.com wanted to set Internet Explorer to summon his Pegasus mail program when he clicked an email address on a web page (September 6) but it would not let him. Now Nigel Greenwood nigel@elgin.free-online.co.uk thinks he has found a solution: "a useful patch called WSendTo available from the Pegasus home page". It also adds Pegasus Mail as an option on Windows Explorer's Send To menu. "I find that it works perfectly," says Nigel.
