CD killer
What is the best way of disposing of old back-up CDs? They won't go through a paper shredder. I break them (inside a thick envelope or it's messy) and then bin the remains, but I still worry that my data could be read by someone who is really determined. Rex D Last
Jack Schofield replies: If you are being targeted by the CIA or a similar organisation, then yes, they could reconstruct a shattered disc and extract data from it, but it would not be a cheap option. A simpler and more secure method is to scour the CD's surfaces with sandpaper or a similar abrasive. However, for most normal purposes, it is enough to scratch the surfaces with a penknife, letter opener or other sharp object. Indeed, if you destroy sector 16 of the disc, then you probably don't need to bother about the other 333,000. According to How to Destroy a CD-R by Bob Starrett, published in Adaptec's WINCDR newsletter in March 2000, "sector 16 contains the disc's volume descriptor, and is necessary for any CD-Rom drive to be able to read the disc". This sector is "pretty close to the centre of the disc, within an eighth of an inch of the beginning of the writable area". You can find the article and other destructive suggestions at www.roxio.com/en/support/discs/destroydiscs .
Blog here
Which blog software would you recommend? Derrick Cameron
JS: Blogger is the obvious place to start weblogging. It is free, the software is easy to use and the server seems fast enough. Also, now Google owns the company, reliability should improve. When you have a bit of experience and have developed some likes and dislikes, you may want to move to a more flexible system. For example, we started Onlineblog at Blogger, upgraded to Blogger Pro, and we are now thinking about Movable Type.
Incidentally, there are British alternatives to Blogger, such as Blog City, and there is a UK-based version of 20six. Finally, AOL is planning to launch blogging software this year, but it will be called AOL Journals.
Files doubled
When I want to open a Microsoft Word document, I find that all my files are listed not only by their given name, but also preceded by ~$. Can I stop these appearing in the list of files? Derek Robinson
JS: When Word opens a document, it creates a separate copy, so it has both the original file and the one you have changed. The working copy has the same name but starts with ~$. Usually you cannot see files like this unless you open Windows Explorer, select Tools|Folder Optons|View and click the radio button marked Show hidden files and folders. A tilde at the start of the filename means it is a temporary file, and Word can create at least 10 different types of temporary file per document, depending on need. However, when you save and close a file, Word is supposed to delete the temporary files it no longer needs. (There may still be temporary files if you copied text to the clipboard or edited a file on a floppy disk.) Check that your original files contain all the data you need, restart your PC (without running Word), and if the temp files are still there, you can delete them.
IE lock
Is there any way to lock an IE browser window so it is not taken over by a new link? I know you can press Shift and open a new window but this is not always convenient. Frank Healy
JS: I don't know of one. Does anyone?
Backchat
· Windows XP was asking Alan Fletcher for a password and he had not set one. Nick James and Nial Joyce note that in that case, XP should let you in if you leave the password field blank and just press Enter. Dave Langstaff, David Martin and Dominic Beecher recommend visiting the site at http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd for a utility to reset the administrator password. Langstaff says: "I've used it on a Windows 2000 installation and it should work on XP as well."
· Brian Kelsey wanted a mouse substitute to help avoid RSI. Alison Wright says: "You can download software that does the clicking of the mouse for you. Two good ones are Mousetool, which will click or double-click for you after the cursor is moved a given number of pixels, and RSIGuard, which not only 'autoclicks' but also includes an optional adjustable break timer. Given that short, regular breaks are key to RSI management, this is a godsend."
· Neal Cartwright has ventured into the long-running saga of converting read-only files from CD back to read/write format. He points out that changing the file attributes by typing attrib -r *.* /s in the top directory is quick and costs nothing. But most people no longer turn to MS-DOS commands even though they still have a "command prompt" that includes DOS emulation.
