PC doctor

However, when I put the files in a folder on my hard disk and copied that across, the Zip disk accepted the folder and all the files without any trouble. Why was this?

Brendan Smith,
Dublin

A: If you already had a fair number of files on your Zip disk, this has a very simple explanation. Windows can't cope with having more than 512 files in the root directory of any disk. This is a limitation of the File Allocation Table (FAT) used by FAT16. Because this allocated a fixed number of clusters to the root directory itself, it allowed only enough addresses for 512 entries.

Although the FAT32 system used by Windows 98 theoretically removes this limitation, Microsoft has chosen to keep it in place. Storing files in a folder suffers no such problems, hence the reason you could copy your images across in a folder.

According to Iomega, this is the only restriction on the number of files you can copy to and store on a Zip disk apart from the capacity of the disk itself.

Q: How can I replace the normal Windows startup logo with my own pictures?

I did this in Windows 95 but now that I've moved to Windows 98, when I look for the file logo.sys I can't find it.

pnoushad@hotmail.com

A: Changing the Windows start-up 'splash' screen is exactly the same under Windows 98 as it was under Windows 95. To find logo.sys (and the files logos.sys and logow.sys which are the corresponding shutdown splash screens), you first need to be able to view hidden files.

Open My Computer, and go to View/Folder Options. Now click on the View tab and, in Advanced Settings, click the radio button next to Show All Files. Now, when you go to Start/Find/Files and Folders and search for logo.sys, you will be able to see it. On our test machine it is in the root directory of C:, while the other splash screens are in C:/Windows.

Simply open the file using an image editor - Paint is fine - as it is a standard Windows bitmap, just with a non-standard file extension to discourage tampering. Now, you can edit it to your heart's content.

Q: I am trying to set up an account in Outlook Express 5 for a Hotmail address, but I'm not sure what to put in when it asks me for the name of the server.

Can you help?

Nicky Playfair,
Nottingham

A: You're in luck, Nicky. If you go to the Tools menu in Outlook Express 5, you'll see a New Account Signup item at the bottom. Select this and up pops a Hotmail option. Click this and simply follow the onscreen instructions.

When you've finished, a new Hotmail folder will appear with its own Inbox.

Click here to get your hot mail.

Q: I'm a novice in computing but, since I bought a PC at the end of last year, family and friends have been sending me photographs which I have saved onto my hard disk. However, I somehow managed to delete a file called psp.exe, which I have also emptied from my Recycle Bin. Now I can view photos I receive as e-mail attachments in my e-mail program, but I cannot open jpeg pictures by clicking the files on my desktop.

jisaac@mtha.org.uk

A: As you've probably guessed, you've accidentally deleted the program - PaintShop Pro - that your PC wants to use to open such pictures. Because this is shareware, it's on our cover CD every month, so the easiest way round this is simply for you to reinstall PSP.

However, Microsoft Paint, which is included with Windows, can also open JPG files.

To use Paint when you just click on a file, you have to change the file associations. Double-click on My Computer, then go to View/Folder Options and click the File Types tab. Scroll down until you see JPG File, click on it and then press Edit.

In the Edit File Type dialog box, there's a space for Actions. Choose Open, then click Edit. Click Browse in the next dialog box to change the application associated with - used for - this action. Find the program you want to use to open the files - in this case Paint - and select it.

The file you need is Pbrush.exe, in C:/Windows. Having chosen this and clicked Open, you'll need to edit the text in the dialog box so it reads: "C:/Windows/Pbrush.exe" "%1" - the quote marks are important.

Once you've clicked OK and Close a couple of times to get out of these dialog boxes, you'll be able to open your photos using Paint. The same principles apply to changing the associations for any other file type.

Q: I recently installed Internet Explorer 5 on my PC, but because I didn't like it I reverted to IE4.01. Now, whenever I try to run ScanDisk the program stops and reports 'Restarted 10 times because another program wrote to this disk'.

Mark Borrington,
Chesterfield

A: Obviously, your ScanDisk problems are caused by a program which is running in the background as you try to check your disk. In the short term, the easiest solution is to boot your PC in Safe Mode, which will temporarily disable all your Start Up applications and run only essential drivers and the like. To do this, press Control as your PC boots, then choose Safe Mode from the menu which will appear. Now, run ScanDisk.

Once you have allowed this to fix any problems it finds on your disk, you may find that your difficulties vanish - when we've seen such errors in the past, there has been no apparent cause. Failing this, you need to track down what could be causing frequent disk accesses. If you are running any other program when you try to run ScanDisk, it may write to your hard drive (eg, a word processor with an auto-save facility), while if your virtual memory settings are low Windows itself may be writing excess quantities of data to your swap file.

What's more, Windows often starts programs or applets which don't show much evidence of their running. Check your Start Up folder, and look in the System Tray (the grey box on the Taskbar which normally displays your clock) to see what has been started automatically. Finally, use Start/Run/Sysedit to check your Win.ini file for Run= or Load= lines. It will be a time-consuming process, but if you remove applications one at a time you will be able to identify the source of your ScanDisk problems.

Q: When I am putting together Excel spreadsheets for work, I find that trying to put titles in the top row of cells takes up an awful lot of room. A long title makes the whole column too wide, and this wastes space as well as looking ridiculous when it is above a single column of figures. Is there any way I can turn the text on its side?

N Bottley,
Norwich

A: Like many problems with Excel, there's an easy answer to this as long as you know where to look. Just select the cells you want to manipulate, go to the Format menu - this is a simple matter of formatting rather than anything more sophisticated - and choose Cells.

Click on the Alignment tab and, under Orientation, you have several options.

You can have text running vertically either up and down or on its side, and at any angle you choose. To slope text down from left to right at, say, 60 degrees you can either click and drag the line on the 'clock face,' or type -60 in the dialog box.

What's more, if you want to put borders round the cells, Excel will automatically slope them to follow the angle of the text.

The PC doctor regrets that he cannot provide readers with individual replies or answer queries over the telephone, but if you have a question or problem you want to share with other readers, write to PC doctor, What PC? Editorial, VNU House, 32-34 Broadwick Street, London W1A 2HG or e-mail pcdoctor@whatpc.co.uk.

The writer of EVERY letter published will receive a FREE Microsoft IntelliMouse and a choice of Microsoft Bookshelf, Publisher 97 or Money 97. Please state which you would prefer.

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