Dastardly advertisers
A program hidden on my hard disk is calling websites and downloading adverts whenever I use the internet. This nasty little program, tsadbot, runs indefinitely. It lives in a directory called C:\Program Files\ TimeSink\AdGateway, but when I delete the directory, it comes back whenever I use a trial version of PKZIP, a file compression program. Very clever, but how can I get rid of it? Raphael Vowles
rvowles@mgdardani.screaming.net

Jack Schofield: Lots of software houses are now trying systems like this. The deal is that you get free use of their programs in exchange for viewing banner ads, and the adbots fetch the ads. That seems fair to me.

What isn't fair is for adbots to be installed behind your back, without explaining what they are going to do and explicitly asking permission.

The two main adbot systems are Conducent's tsadbot and the Radiate or Aureate system and www.binarybliss.com which uses IPC Server.

Some people have become very annoyed about adbots: see www.cexx.org/adware.htm for example.

Steve Gibson of Gibson Research Corporation has published lots of information at http://grc.com/optout.htm and is developing software to remove adbots. (So far it only removes Aureate.) The message to the suppliers is that they need to clean up their acts to prevent a revolt.

However, it is not fair to block the ads while continuing to use excellent adware programs such as GetRight and SurfSaver. The solution is to pay for ad-free copies.

Meanwhile, PKware's answer to your problem is as follows: "PKZIP 2.70 shareware for Windows has the capability of uninstalling both PKZIP and the tsadbot.exe program. To uninstall the adbot, please download and install version 2.70 and then uninstall. This will clear the tsadbot from your system."

Saving old BBC floppies
My Acorn BBC computer packed up years ago, but I kept my old floppies, always intending to find a way of having their contents read and saved on to disk. Is there any hope? Tony Nunn
tony.nunn@dial.pipex.com

JS: It's getting increasingly hard to rescue old files because of the size difference (your BBC floppies may be 5.25in not 3.5in) and because modern PC floppy drive controllers simply aren't capable of reading such low disk densities.

However, I believe that an Acorn Risc PC can read and write both formats, so if you know someone with the right types of drive, that may be the best way to do it.

If you have a suitable PC - preferably an old one - then you can try to read double-density BBC disks directly using the FDC program written by Wouter Scholten.

You can download this from 8-Bit Software's BBC and Master Computer Public Domain Library at www.8bs.karoo.net/filecon.htm

Chris Richardson, who runs the site in his spare time, is prepared to help people with file transfer problems "for a modest fee", he ssays.

His email address is chris@8bs.karoo.co.uk

Book worm
I have quite a lot of books in my personal library. Can you suggest a good way to catalogue them? Is there a dedicated database for that sort of thing? David Graham
davidjohn@grahams.fsbusiness.co.uk

JS: There doesn't seem to be a wide choice of cheap or free programs to catalogue books: presumably most people create their own using database software.

However, there's the PrimaSoft Book Organizer Deluxe, available on a 30-day free trial for Windows from www.primasoft.com/deluxeprg/bkodx.htm.

There's also HomeBase 2, a free program from the Advanced Book Exchange (the "world's largest source of out of print material"). You can download it from www.abebooks.com (select the link for free software).

The program looks good but may be more than you need - unless you want to set up as a second-hand book dealer.

Default font
Is there any way of changing the default font in WordPad (Windows 98 Second Edition)?
Keith Scott

kscott@btinternet.com

JS: If there is, I can't find it!

Blame Bill
When I edit a document in Word 97 and click Save, the file usually becomes unreasonably larger. The only way I can get round this is to click Save As and use a different filename or a different folder. What am I doing wrong, or is it Bill

Gates's fault?
Jim Flett
JimFlett@tesco.net

JS: The Microsoft Word document file specification is fantastically complicated and provides for all sorts of features, including revision tracking and statistics that you might not want to circulate: for example, select a doc file, right click it, and look at Properties.

Go to Tools|Options|Save and turn off Allow Fast Saves, but otherwise, you can blame Bill.

Picture shows
I have a Fuji MX-600 Zoom camera which is useful for showing the latest snaps of our granddaughter to friends and relatives on their own television sets. Once the image files have been downloaded on to CD-rom for storage, is there any device that could "play" the CD-rom, again on our friends' TV sets?
Kerry Milan
Kerry_Milan@email.msn.com

JS: A decade ago, some companies - Kodak, Philips - had a go at this market with PhotoCD players, but they didn't sell. The only obvious device today would be a portable computer with a TV output port and a CD-rom drive. This would not be cheap.

An alternative would be to record the sequence from the camera to a VHS cassette and run the tape.