Q. I have an IBM Aptiva “Rapid Access” keyboard, which has programmable buttons that may be assigned functionality, such as open web browser, start mail client, etc.. There is a green light that blinks on the keyboard. What is that green blinking light, what is it for, and how do I turn it off? A. Take a look at this IBM web page, it has downloadable utility and documentation: http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-4BP6Q7.html?doctype=Downloadable+files. Q. My color printer will not work connected to either my Windows 98 machine or my Windows XP machine. It self-tests on power up fine. A. Make sure that you have an IEEE 1284 printer cable, not some old parallel printer cable—newer printers require a 1284 printer cable which is needed for bi-directional communications. Q. I was looking for the StartStop utility that has been mentioned over the years in various Random Access sessions to see if it is available for Windows XP, and can’t find it. Where is it? A. TFI-Technology has gone out of business. The most recent version of this freeware utility is still available via CNET, Tucows, etc., but there is no version for Windows XP. Similar functionality is built into XP. Q. I am having troubles running the Windows Update service. I get a dialog box saying that it must be run by the Administrator. The machine is Windows 98, there is no such thing as an Administrator —it is wrong? A. You must enable Active-X controls and/or Java Virtual Machine in your browser. The update utility will fail of Active-X controls are not enabled, and it misinterprets the failure as a security issue. You should be running Internet Explorer 5.5 or later. By the way, be aware that other than ‘critical updates’ for Internet Explorer, there will be no updates for Windows 98 after December 31, 2003. So get your machine up-to-date before then. Q. I have an 800MHz desktop machine and I’d like to add memory. Any guidelines? A. You will need to find the documentation for the motherboard (try the manufacturer’s site on the web) and see if there are specifications for the memory. Some motherboards have maximum memory values for the memory slots. In addition, some motherboards require the use of ‘old standard’ SIMMs which use lower-density chips - they need more chips per SIMM than newer, lower-cost SIMMs which have cheaper, high-density chips to achieve the same total memory capacity. Another variable in SIMM selection is CAS Latency, or CL, which is a ratio of how long it takes to get memory from the chip versus bus speed. Typical values are 2 and 3. CL usually is only a concern if you are ‘overclocking’ the system bus. Crucial Technologies, a leading manufacturer/vendor of memory modules has a library of articles about memory upgrades, at http://www.crucial.com/library/index.asp as well as an automated ‘wizard’ on their web site at http://www.crucial.com/store/listmfgr.asp?cat=RAM which if given the computer model or motherboard model will identify what the machine can take. Q. This is a follow on from a question from last month. I want to run an application daily—last month I asked if the machine could be suspended and automatically wake up at the scheduled time, and was told ‘no’ because the scheduler wouldn’t be running. Now it starts, but it will only run if I am logged on as a user with special permissions. Can I have it start even if not logged on? A. On a machine that has users (Windows NT 3.51, 4.0, 2000, XP) when you add a scheduled task, part of the profile is whose user profile to “run as”. You must provide the user account name and password if the task requires administrative permissions. |
| Bruce Preston is president of West Mountain Systems, a consultancy in Ridgefield, CT specializing in database applications. A DACS director, Bruce also leads the Access SIG. Members may send tech queries to Bruce at askdacs@dacs.org. |
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