Q. Some users say Microsoft Windows 98 is just an upgrade to Windows 95. Is that right? A. It's a good analogy. Win98 is to Win95 as Windows 3.1 was to Windows 3.0. If you're already running Windows 98, go to the Control Panel and double-click on the System icon. You'll see the words "Microsoft Windows 98 4.10.1998." Sounds to me like a long-winded way of calling it Windows 4.1.
Q. Some users say Microsoft Windows 98 is just an upgrade to Windows 95. Is
that right?
A. Its a good analogy. Win98 is to Win95 as Windows 3.1 was to Windows 3.0. If
youre already running Windows 98, go to the Control Panel and double-click on the
System icon. Youll see the words Microsoft Windows 98 4.10.1998. Sounds
to me like a long-winded way of calling it Windows 4.1.
Whether your Win98 upgrade has gone smoothly or youve encountered glitches,
please drop a line to sneaker@gcn.com. Im
interested in hearing about your experiences and will publish the feedback in a future
column.
Q. I sometimes use clip art from my Microsoft Office 97
CD-ROM in Word or PowerPoint. Often I need to change the orientation but cant.
A. Heres a trick that will let you rotate, flip or otherwise manipulate the clip
art. Place it on the page and select it. Right-click, and from the drop-down menu select
Grouping, then Ungroup. Immediately right-click again, choose Grouping and then Group this
time. When Word or PowerPoint reassembles the art, youll be able to manipulate it
without a problem.
Q. If our network is down, I cant get Microsoft
Outlook 98 to work offline so I can see my contact information. What gives?
A. Outlook 98, like most clients of Microsoft Exchange Server, stores its information
on the server. When the server goes down, so does your data. Here is a quick fix.
Turn folder synchronization on. Click on the Tools menu and select Options. Click on
the Mail Services tab. Then check the box next to Enable Offline Access. A few options
beneath let you set when and how often the data on your local hard drive synchronizes with
the servers master data. If you know of scheduled server downtime, synchronize
everything beforehand by pressing F9.
Q. How many crashes should I experience before I need to
reinstall everythingWin95, applications and all?
A. You should not be experiencing any crashes. Thats the easy answer.
Unfortunately, we all see the Blue Screen of Death at some time. Here are a couple of
suggestions.
If you have repeatable crashes with a specific product, check for the vendors Web
updates. If no patch or fix is posted, uninstall the application, reboot and reinstall.
And report the problem to tech support.
If your crashes seem random, keep a log of date, time, applications open and what you
were doing at the crash. For example, if e-mail is open and you do a virus scan while
surfing the Web, your system bombs. Solution: Close all applications and do a virus scan
at lunch time.
The Sneaker Sleuth is on the case. Got a baffling bug? Sneaker.Nets author,
GCN Lab manager Michael Cheek, will answer questions about common problems. Send queries
to sneaker@gcn.com.
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