Unwanted help
When I received a letter from the Microsoft Corporation Security Center, Norton Anti-virus said it had detected a virus. I deleted it unopened, as it seemed unlikely that Microsoft would mail anyone about any security problems. Please comment! S Roxburgh

Jack Schofield replies: Wise move! The message appears to come from Microsoft but it is a fake. The attachment includes a worm called W32.Gibe@mm. For details, see the Symantec security site. Microsoft also explains how you can tell such email is bogus.

Power down
We have frequent short power cuts, and when the power is restored, my PC switches itself on. This can be disconcerting, particularly at night. I don't want to have to switch it off at the wall whenever I close down. Juliet Burgess

JS: PCs no longer have on/off switches. The PC97 design guide from Intel and Microsoft introduced ACPI (Advanced Configuration & Power Interface), which has four states: working, sleeping, soft off and mechanical off. In the soft off mode, the PC consumes about five watts or less and can be woken up over a network for maintenance, for example. The way mechanical off is implemented may vary between manufacturers. However, holding down the power button for several seconds may do the trick.

Esperantist
Is it possible to set up Word 2000 to deal with the characters needed in Esperanto? Stanley Challenger Graham
www.barnoldswick.blogspot.com

JS: It seems it is. John Massam has a web page (or two) explaining how.

Mail access
Is there a quick way of backing up my emails on to CD? I just want to be able to click on a folder to open it from where it's stored on CD! Lynne Morgan

JS: I don't think you can do that, or not easily, but neither do I think Outlook Express is a good place to store a significant amount of email. Express Archiver could be worth trying as it lets you read email without loading it into Outlook Express.

Stuck
Sometimes when surfing I get stuck on a web page and it won't let me go back, which is infuriating if I have Google running. Can I stop this? Antonia King

JS: You can sometimes stop it by surfing with JavaScript turned off but this may have other disadvantages. However, try clicking on the tiny black triangle next to the Back button. This will drop down a list of the sites you have visited recently, so you should be able to pick Google. Another workaround is to open Google's links differently by right-clicking on them and selecting Open in New Window from the menu.

Mac cookies
So how do I delete Cookies from my iMac? Cristina Crossingham

JS: It depends which browser, and which version of it, you use. If you use Internet Explorer, go to System Folder| Preferences|Receiving Files| Cookies and delete any or all of them directly. Unfortunately Microsoft seems to store cookies in a different place each time. (To find out where cookies are stored in earlier versions of IE.) Alternatively, go to the Edit menu, select Preferences, choose Cookies, and delete them that way. If you use Netscape Navigator, go to System Folder| Preferences|Netscape Users and look for the folder with your user name. Either delete the MagicCookie file or open it with a text editor and delete individual cookies. Alternatively, look for the Netscape History file. You could also use Webroot's MacWasher to clean up your system.

Backchat
· Browser hijacking (April 11) is rampant. Paul Canning had a problem with Lop.com, and says he found the solution through Spywareinfo: "It was to use free software called Ad-aware and delete two more files as directed". Spyware says its article on hijacking is "by far the most popular feature" on the site.

· John Murphy (April 4) asked for an offline browser to fetch stories from publications such as the Guardian. He has now found one that he says is ideal: Microsurfer.

· Frederic Hardy (April 4) was looking for IT training. Adrian Cobley replied: "For the man in the street, the first port of call should be their local college of further education." Dave Jones added that "the TUC has a network of training centres, many attached to local colleges. They provide free accredited IT training to members and in many cases their families." See www.tuc.org.uk/learning/. Emma Solomon from Hairnet said Hairnet offers "1-2-1 IT training on your computer in your own home, or at work, in your own time. We specialise in teaching the over 50s, but we welcome anyone." Tuition costs £20 an hour. Call 0870 241 5091 or see www.hairnet.org