Solutions: Better to be safe: backup registry

Q. You always warn that users should backup the registry before editing. Good advice, but is it necessary? It is my understanding that Windows Me automatically makes a backup every day and keeps the last five successful backups. In the event of a bad RegEdit session, couldn't I use my start disk to go to Real Mode and type RegEdit /restore, then pick out one of the backups to restore?

A. This is a feature of Windows Me. And while what you say is true, most of our readers have Windows 98. So in other words, better safe than sorry.

Internationalize Outlook Express

Q. I write frequently in German. After defragging, most of the umlauts (in the character map) do not appear when the appropriate keys are typed in Outlook Express but do in Word. How can I fix this?

A. Make sure your default encoding setting with Outlook Express is set to UTF-8. To check this: In Outlook Express, click Tools, Options, Send tab, then the International Settings button. Also make sure the "Reply to messages using the format they were sent" option on the Send tab is not checked.

Achieving the right balance

Q. I bought new speakers for my PC running Windows 95 version B. When I play regular music CDs, I get sound out of only the left speaker. When I play back media files or run Winamp, the audio comes out through both speakers. I've also tried running regular audio CDs through Winamp, but still get sound out of only one speaker. What is wrong?

A. You need to check the balance setting for CD Audio. To get to this setting, double-click the speaker icon in the System Tray (bottom right of the screen). This will open the default play controller for your sound card. Check the balance setting for CD Audio.

Handling suspicious attachments

Q. You wrote about saving a suspicious e-mail file. While inspecting the file with a text or hex editor may be okay, isn't the real reason for saving such a file to a hard drive to be able to give it a going over with a virus scanner?

A. That would make it possible to manually scan a file, but most current antivirus scanners can scan files still attached to e-mail. If yours does not, you should upgrade to a Norton or McAfee version that does.

Opening downloaded attachments

Q. I often receive e-mail attachments that can be downloaded, but that I cannot read because I do not know which program to assign them to. I get the popup box with the options, but how do you figure out which is the correct one?

A. Certain file suffixes are associated with one or more programs (referred to as File Associations). I have never seen an official list and usually this is known by experience/trial-and-error. Common file types received through e-mail are .JPG and .GIF, which you can user Internet Explorer to open and display the pictures. .EML files are ASCII e-mail text and can be opened with Notepad or WordPad. You need to be careful with file suffixes associated with programs or processes that can run potentially harmful code and damage your system. Never open .EXE (executables), .VBS (Visual Basic Script) or any file that could have programmable or macro actions associated to them without checking them with an up-to-date antivirus program. Even with that assurance, you should never open an .EXE file sent to you in e-mail, even from people you know.

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