Several months back my parents  had their Virgin Media line upgraded from a 2Mbps to a 10Mbps connection [...]]]> Last Friday I talked about a new breed of superfast broadband heading our way, however it would seem that in the current day many users still aren’t achieving anywhere near the maximum speeds promised by their ISPs.

Several months back my parents  had their Virgin Media line upgraded from a 2Mbps to a 10Mbps connection free of charge, due to the discontinuation of the older package.   This week my father mentioned that he hadn’t noticed a difference and so I performed a quick speed check which confirmed he was still on the old package; an issue resolved by a single phone call to Virgin.

I had a similar issue when Virgin upgraded me to 20Mbps without replacing my old, slow modem; once again a quick speed test provided me with the fodder to give them a call and get a new, faster broadband modem free of charge.

It is always important to check that you are receiving something that at least resembles what you’re paying for and fortunately a quick visit to www.speedtest.net will do just that.  Simply click on ‘begin test’ and within around thirty seconds you will be given the current download and upload speed achieved between your computer and the closest server – in our case, Maidenhead.

Please remember that the speed quoted by your ISP is most often a maximum obtainable speed and it would be completely reasonable to get something less.  This is especially true if you connect using ADSL via a convention phone line rather than via a fibre optic (Virgin Media) connection as the speed is heavily influenced from your distance to the closest exchange.

While this one factor cannot be helped, there are several routes you can take if your actual speed is completely disproportionate to that promised by your ISP:

-          Talk to them – In many instances your ISP will be able to run tests to ensure that your poor performance isn’t due to a fault such as excessive line noise.  I’ve seen customers have their connections increased in speed exponentially by simply reporting a fault and having an inherent problem removed; this work is paid for by the phone provider.  Even in a worst case scenario where the line speed cannot be increased, it is possible that you could get moved down to a cheaper package while suffering no loss in performance.

-          Update your router firmware – Most of us nowadays will connect to the Internet via a router which, if not doing its job properly, will result in slower download speeds.  Problems with a router can in many instances be rectified by updating it with the latest software via a free firmware update provided by the original manufacturer.  These updates are usually distributed free of charge online and serve as a way of the manufacturers improving the features, security and speed of their existing products as and when improvements are discovered.

-          Clean up your PC – Many cases of connection slowdown are caused by a needlessly large amount of software in the background either slowing down the computer itself or hogging a proportion of the Internet bandwidth.  Ensure that your Operating System is always kept clean and most importantly ensure that peer to peer file sharing programs (such as BitTorrent) aren’t set to run in the background as these will certainly slow your connection.

The Windows recycle bin is a godsend [...]]]> Although I have covered this subject before in the past, I am still getting a large number of people regularly e-mailing me asking how they can undelete a specific file so thought it might be time for a quick recap.

The Windows recycle bin is a godsend for many users as in the majority of circumstances a deleted file will be transferred to the recycle bin so it can be quickly recovered if necessary. There are some instances however when a deleted file won’t go via the recycle bin or alternatively the bin will be emptied before the mistake has been discovered. However fortunately there is usually still a way to retrieve the data.

In order to understand how this is possible, we need to understand a little more about how your computer manages deleted files. When you request that Windows deletes a file, rather than actually physically removing it from the hard disk it simply marks the space where that particular file was stored as being free. It’s not until the computer tries to save another file in the same space that the file is then truly erased; it is for this same reason you should always be careful to fully erase your data with a specialist application when selling your computer so no data can be recovered.

There is no way of telling when Windows will choose to start reusing the space where your deleted file was once stored and as such the use of an undelete program won’t always guarantee that you will retrieve your data. A good analogy I heard recently is that recovering a deleted file is a similar experience to losing a contact lens at a party. The process of the lens falling out of your eye and dropping on the floor is unlikely to damage it so if you were to immediately yell “nobody move” and retrieve your lens then you would probably be able to recover it. If, however you were to allow the party to continue for 15 minutes then chances are that with the general movement around the room that your lens would be destroyed. Using your computer even for simple tasks such as browsing the Internet involves a certain amount of data being shifting around the hard disk and as such increasing the probability of data los.

In order to minimise the amount of disruption caused when you do accidentally delete a file it would be best to download and install an undelete utility such as the fantastic free of charge application Undelete Plus (www.undelete-plus.com) BEFORE you actually have the need to use it.

You can choose to do a general search for all recoverable files however the sheer number of files that are created and deleted by your computer on a daily basis without your knowledge means that you will almost certainly be presented with several tens of thousands of files that can be undeleted. Fortunately the program allows you to sort these in to categories (applications, music files, pictures etc) as well as filtering the results by name, size or modification date of the file. Once you have located the file(s) simply tick the appropriate checkbox and then the ‘Start Undelete’ button and the program will restore it to the original location; simple!

When you’re taking a call and need to make a note or [...]]]> Many people would be surprised by this but one of my favourite applications in Windows is notepad utility – Okay, it’s extremely simple and contains practically no features but that’s exactly why I like it!

When you’re taking a call and need to make a note or are using the computer and want to create a non fancy document such as a to do list for the day Notepad is absolutely perfect. There would rarely be a time that notepad isn’t running on my computer as it saves me jotting notes down on pieces of paper that I would then promptly lost.

Just recently I discovered an application called ‘EditPad Lite’ which retains the simplicity that I love about notepad but also adds other helpful features that sometimes you just wish Microsoft had incorporated into their application from the start.

For all of you that share the same passion for Windows simplest utility I thought I would spend this week looking at what this free replacement can offer you.

One of the most useful features of EditPad is that it includes tabbed browsing which seems to be all the rage with pretty much every Windows application at the moment. This feature means that you don’t have to have multiple instances of the same program running if you have several files to view but instead you’ll just have EditPad opened once and will flick between the different documents by selecting the appropriate tab.

Other useful features include:

- Unlimited document size. Very many text editors (including notepad) suffer from only being able to open text files of a limited size but EditPad will open any file no matter how large.

- Unlimited ‘undo’ and ‘redo’ functions. Whilst notepad has an undo function you can only ever undo just the one step whereas EditPad allows you to ‘undo’ or ‘redo’ as many steps as you like.

- In addition to the obvious Windows compatibility EditPad can read and write both UNIX and MAC files in a variety of different coding styles.

- Print Settings and Preview function. These features really were long overdue in the standard Notepad so I’m glad someone has finally addressed this issue.

- System tray icon. I loved this feature as it means whenever you close or minimise EditPad it is extremely easy to reopen just by clicking the icon in the system tray. Of course this functionality can be turned off if required.

- Appearance – The appearance of EditPad can be altered quickly and easy for those who don’t like or find it hard to read the conventional black text on a white background.

- Search and Replace – This is an improvement on the Notepad standard functionality offering options such as case matching, whole or part word matching along with being able to find and replace text across all text documents currently open.

Other features such as block text insert, case conversion, indentation, and a large list of customisable options make this a worthy replacement for Windows Notepad. Additionally the application is completely free to download, small in size and has no advertising present whatsoever.

To download or learn more about EditPad please visit http://www.editpadlite.com/editpadlite.html. There is also a professional version available from the same website but in all honesty the free ‘lite’ version should give you all the functionality you require from a text editor.

My original review last year focussed [...]]]> With a new version of Firefox recently released I thought it was well time that I recap on this fantastic browser as far too many people are still using what I would consider to be the inferior Microsoft designed Internet Explorer.

My original review last year focussed on the main improvements over the Microsoft offering and these include:

Tabbed Browsing – This allows you to only have one browser open but with multiple tabs (pages) that you can then switch between quickly and easily. This leaves your taskbar a lot less cluttered than having multiple instances of the same browser running simultaneously.

Downloads Manager – Rather than downloading software to a selected location on your hard drive you can use Firefox to manage all of your downloads in the same place. Should you choose to then save a download permanently onto your hard disk this is quick and easy to do.

Pop Up Stopper – A fantastic feature that has only recently been added to Internet Explorer. The Firefox pop up stopper does exactly what it says on the tin as it simply stops intrusive pop-ups from getting in the way of your browsing experience.

Simplicity – This browser is extremely compact and simple – We have no flashy graphics or fancy menus to contend with which ultimately makes the software easier and quicker to use.

Since we are now only recapping old ground I feel that we should focus on what has improved in the new version 1.5:

First off it is worthwhile noting that the software hasn’t bloated and all and as such is still a tiny 5mb download whereas IE 6 can be up to 75mb in size. Now only does this make the software extremely quick to load and use but due to some new intelligent caching the performance of moving from page to page has also been improved.

The tabbed browsing interface has been improved so that you can now change the order in which you flick between pages from within the software. Whilst a small improvement on paper this does really improve the usability of the software.

Possibly the most important feature is that Firefox will keep itself secure by automatically updating should a security hole be found. For example should a security vulnerability be found in the software the developers of the package will be able to make the browser automatically update without the user even being aware.

The way in which third party additions to the software are managed has also been changed which will mean that many of the older extensions designed for previous versions of Firefox may not work however you can rest assured that you won’t have to wait long for an updated version to hit the public domain. Since we’re now on the subject of extensions can I suggest that along with the basic browser that you download the Google Toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com/firefox/) as this provides several improvements to Firefox including an auto form fill utility and a spell checker which is especially useful to those that use web based e-mail programs. As one may expect the Google Toolbar also includes the ability to use the Google search engine and news services from within the toolbar without having to actually visit their website.

The Firefox browser has already captured approximately 10% of the browser market which is extremely impressive when you think that not only is Internet Explorer included with every version of Windows but also that Microsoft have a huge amount of resources available to them to develop their browser. I certainly prefer Firefox over Internet Explorer and would recommend that you at least give it a trial run by visiting www.firefox.com.

I realise that last month a stated that I would be reviewing sites that would save people money on the run up to Christmas but as one of my readers helpfully pointed out, I had completely neglected to cover the new legislation coming into effect that bans the holding of [...]]]>

I realise that last month a stated that I would be reviewing sites that would save people money on the run up to Christmas but as one of my readers helpfully pointed out, I had completely neglected to cover the new legislation coming into effect that bans the holding of mobile phones whilst driving. Whilst this article is primarily concerned with computing I do like to think that I cover other areas relating to technology in general and of course mobile phones are one of them.

The new law that came into effect at the beginning of the week basically allows the Police to issue on the spot fines of £30 to anybody caught holding a mobile phone and that could rise to £1000 if convicted. This is obviously a fair amount of money and so it makes sense to look at means of complying with this legislation even if not for a financial point of view then of course for a safety point of view.

The main confusion arises from most drivers not knowing exactly what keeps them within the law and what accessories are still legal. Essentially, any piece of equipment that means that you don’t have to physically hold the mobile is legal; so for example, a little earpiece which you could pick up for a couple of quid would be considered legal, a £20 plug and go car kit or of course a £200 fully installed job would all do the trick. If using an earpiece then the mobile does have to be placed in a secure holder and not just placed in your lap!

I did look for a clarification on the Internet as to what exactly happens when the phone rings if you’re not allowed to physically touch it which of course wouldn’t pose a problem in the case of a fully installed car kit but if you had a little in-ear headset then in the majority of instances you’d actually have to touch the phone to answer it. Another point that I don’t understand is that if you had a headset plugged into your phone and it started to ring then you’d have to take your hand of the wheel to fish around trying to find the headset and putting it into your ear. Of course, the alternative would be to keep the headset in your ear throughout the entire journey, whether you are in a conversation or not but I wouldn’t like to drive around all day with the hearing in one ear completely impaired.

There is of course the flip side that suggests that the main risk with using a mobile phone when driving isn’t the physical act of holding it but rather the fact that you’re drawn in to a conversation which distracts you from driving. At first I found this hard to believe as when I’ve had four other people in my car nattering away then I’m not particularly distracted nor am I when listening to the radio but after having tested a fully installed car kit I’ve concluded that this doesn’t seem to be an accurate comparison; I was far more drawn into the conversation I was having on the phone than I would have ever been if the person was in the car with me. Why this is I have no idea but it does seem that conducting a phone conversation took my focus off of driving than having a conversation with someone sat next to me.

Bottom line is that I’m in business and so often need to use my phone in the car and so I’ll be taking the lesser of two evils by getting myself a fully installed car kit next week to keep me legal and I suggest that any of you who often use your phones whilst driving do the same. I don’t believe that any of the other methods are particularly safe, practical or viable so I’d suggest that you either do it properly or pull over to make your calls. With Christmas coming up then what better time to ask for something that could really come in useful; retailers like Carphone Warehouse have full car kits from £60 that you can install yourself.

Whilst I believe that all the details relating to the product pricing and the law are correct I suggest that the information I have given here is for guidance only and should be checked before any action is taken as a result.

I have an irritating problem in Word 2000 that hopefully you can help me with.  When pressing the return key a strange symbol appears after the sentence.  [...]]]> This week I’ll again spend a bit of time answering a selection of readers’ questions in the hope that I can resolve some of your most common problems.

I have an irritating problem in Word 2000 that hopefully you can help me with.  When pressing the return key a strange symbol appears after the sentence.  Also, when you press the spacebar, a small dot appears each time.  I enjoy reading the Click column in the Herald Express every week.
Alban Williams, Kingsteignton.
These characters that you refer to are known as ‘Formatting Marks’ and are basically used to highlight paragraph marks, spaces and tab intents in your publication.  Some people find it helpful to have this feature turned on so that they can easily see whether there are two spaces in between a couple of words or whether an intent is tabbed or justified into position.  Personally however I can’t stand my document being littered with formatting marks so to turn it off do the following:
In Word go to ‘Tools’ and then ‘Options’ from the main window then half way down the dialog box that pops up will be the option to display formatting marks.  Just ensure that all the boxes for the different types of formatting marks are un-ticked and then click ‘OK’.

I read your column every week and find it very useful. I was wondering if you could answer this question for me please. I’ve heard a little about Linux, is it worth me installing it on my computer and are there any advantages or disadvantages over Windows?
Chris Truman, Dartington

For those of you not in the know, Linux is a popular alternative to the Windows Operating System that has in recent years become a real option for the home computer market and not just the professional server market that it once occupied.  In many instances the program is available free of charge and manages to rival and even beat the popular Windows Operating System in several areas such as speed and reliability.
One of the most extraordinary things about Linux is that the source code is available to anyone who requests it and they are then able to modify it themselves to add new features or bug fixes.  This leads to some quite interesting spin offs of the original product – For example, some of my more observant readers may remember an article I wrote five weeks ago that focussed on the ‘Lindows’ Operating System that was based on Linux but promised to allow you to run Windows applications.  This was one product based on Linux of many and over the next couple of weeks I’ll take the opportunity raised by your question to attempt to review the options available to home users as a real alternative to Windows.
I have a small problem with my PC that I’m hoping you can help me with.  When I shut down Internet Explorer and then disconnect from the Internet my PC attempts to re-dial almost straight away.  Although I can cancel this off, it does get quite annoying.
Brian Carter, Brixham

It sounds to me as though you’ve got it set up so that your computer automatically connects to the Internet whenever it detects that a connection is needed which can be quite troublesome as even though you have shut down Internet Explorer it is likely that you may still have a number of small programs running in the background.  These programs, such MSN Messenger, ICQ, Kazaa, WinMX and so on continually search for an active Internet connection to log on to so that they can provide an Internet based service for your computer.  It seems most likely that one of these small programs is triggering your auto-dial just by searching for a connection that it can use.
The two choices are either to disable these programs before you disconnect from the Internet or to disable auto-dialling.  To perform the latter, simply open up the connection that you use to connect to the Internet and ensure that ‘Connect Automatically’ is un-ticked and then go into ‘Properties’, ‘Dialling’ and check that  ‘Dial whenever a network connection is not present’ is selected as the default option.