Last updated 12:25, Friday, 21 March 2008

Computers with Alan Cleaver

Q: I can’t get a program/game I bought to run properly on my computer. The ‘helpdesk’ has been unable to solve it – what could be the problem?

A: More than once I’ve been surprised that neither the person who bought a particular game nor the guys on the helpdesk have begun by asking the most basic question: is your computer powerful enough to run it?

I know no-one reads small print but on the box it will have a list of Minimum Requirements. Check if your computer meets them. Do this by going to Start/My Computer/System Properties. It will reveal what version of Windows you have, how much RAM you have and the size of your processor. If in doubt, check with the store – or helpdesk – that your computer can run the game before you buy it.

Q: I’m on dial-up and don’t think I spend much time on the internet but my phone bill is huge. Can I do anything to cut back on the cost?

A: More and more people are moving to Broadband, and there are such good deals going around it would be worth considering taking the leap. Fewer service providers will bother with dial-up in the near future and I suspect it will get more expensive to ‘drive’ customers onto broadband. Remember, you only need to log on to download email or to send it.

You don’t need to leave it running while you are reading your downloaded emails or while you are typing your reply. Make sure you disconnect from the internet properly – if in doubt, pull the phone socket out!

Q: My computer seems to be quite slow these days – it’s about three years old – do I need to buy a new one.

A: Amazingly three years can be ‘old’ in computer terms. But the good news is that a computer is essentially several separate items (chip, Rom, Ram etc) plugged together. One of the best ways to improve your computer’s performance is add more Ram. Three years ago most computers came with 250mb or Ram and that was ample. But in this iPod age most computers are coming one or two gigabytes of Ram. Spend £30 or £40 on some more Ram and you should notice a real improvement.

Q: I’m trying to find my old school friend John Smith but tapping is name into Google is no help. Any tips?

A: First put the name in quotes (“John Smith”) when you tap it into Google – that will at least restrict the search to only people called John Smith – not every ‘John’ and every ‘Smith’. I’d also add – after the quotes – any other useful keywords: his home town, his wife’s name etc. But you might be better finding a newsgroup for the home town’s local newspaper and posting a message on it asking if anyone knows where he is.

Q: I have typed up a report for my boss, emailed it him but he says he can’t open it. What am I doing wrong?

A: If you write a document in Microsoft Word, Works or some other program then the person the other end needs that program to open it. Check first what programs they have. But a safe bet is to save it when you have finished into plain text. Go to File/Save As and you should be given such an option. It may be a drop-down menu called ‘Save File As’ – choose ‘Text document’ or similar. But be aware this will mean all your fancy logos, headings and other ‘clever-clever’ stuff will be stripped out in favour of just words and spaces. It won’t look as sexy but at least your boss can read it.