Speed reading
We use a Sony Vaio PCG-FX101 laptop and want to buy an external CD Rewriter for backing up files and making music CDs. Burnproof technology seems rare and expensive for external writers. Is it risky without it? Is it worth paying more for higher speed reading/writing? Ken & Kate
kenandkate@hotmail.com
Jack Schofield replies:
Any external CD-R drive will do the job reliably if you set it to make CDs at the lowest speed (which takes about half an hour) and don't do anything else while the CD is being made. However, if you want to make a lot of discs quickly while word processing and surfing the net then even the most expensive drive may not keep up. The problem is that data needs to reach the disc at a constant speed, and a buffer is used to store data to even out the flow. If there is not enough data in the buffer then a space is left on the CD, which may prevent it from working. This is a "buffer underrun". Sanyo developed a patented technology to make drives Buffer UnderRuN Proof, or Burnproof for short. Sony would obviously like you to buy an external Sony drive using i.Link, its version of IEEE-1394 (Firewire). Plextor's new PlexWriter S88TU with USB1.1/2.0 connection and Iomega's Star Trek-style Predator are among the many drives aimed at "stylish portable" buyers.
Ext finder
Is there a directory/dictionary of file extensions to help me identify the correct application for "opening" attachments to email messages? Kurt Sachs
d&k.sachs@geo2.poptelorg.uk
JS: I use http://filext.com/
Hotmail again
I use my Hotmail address when subscribing for newsletters, surveys, etc. These usually contain hyperlinks, which I click on. However, they often do not open properly, ie the page seems to be downloading, but when it says "done", the page is blank. Is this a problem with Hotmail or the pages? Colin Pierce
colpierce@hotmail.com
JS: Hotmail attempts to open hyperlinks inside a Hotmail frame, which does not always work. If possible, switch to a different email service such as Yahoo mail, which opens hyperlinks in new windows.
CC writer When I send an email to multiple recipients, they can see each other's email addresses. How do I avoid this?
Nick Atherley
Nickatherley@cableinet.co.uk
JS: Put the addresses in the bcc: (blind carbon copy) box instead of the To: or cc: boxes.
Autocomplete
Is there a way to clear out the autocomplete entries in Internet Explorer? Alan Harding
alanharding@ajharding.freeserve.co.uk
JS: Go to Tools|Internet Options, click the tab for Content, then click the button marked Autocomplete.
Out of sorts
Couldn't someone spend just a few quid on teaching computers to count the way humans do ie 1, 2, 3, 4 not 1, 10, 11, 12? Michael Patten
Michael.Patten@btinternet.com
JS: Files are sorted from the left and you are counting from the right. You may not like "leading zeros" (01, 02, 03) but the computer needs them. Attempts to program round the problem would probably create even more problems in other cases.
Backchat
· Several readers responded that the most obvious answer to Javier Vidal's Hanging PC problem was a faulty memory chip - one of the physical problems I might perhaps have mentioned. It happened to Tones tones@ntlworld.com who suggests running a memory test utility called Memtest86. Javier upgraded to Windows XP, which is complaining about his Mesh PC's BIOS chip attempting to read and write to illegal IO port addresses connected with ACPI (the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface). A BIOS upgrade would seem to be the next step.
