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Question:
I recently developed a problem while attempting to click
on an e-mail attachment. The screen becomes gray, and a
message says "File conversion ... select the
encoding that makes your document readable." This
happens with new e-mails and even those a couple of
months old. What can I do?
Answer:
This happens when Microsoft Word doesn't recognize the
file format of an e-mail attachment. It could happen if
the person who sent the e-mail also writes in other
languages, and as a result has the file encoding
software on Word set differently.
Microsoft
offers free software updates that should fix the
problem. If you have Microsoft Word 2007, see
tinyurl.com/ydqmtmp and the read the section
"Choose an encoding standard when you open a
file." For Word 2002, see tinyurl.com/y8cpsww. For
Word 2000, see tinyurl.com/y92yqhz.
Another
possibility is that someone sent you a file in the new
Word 2007 file format, which earlier Word programs can't
read. You can fix that by downloading a free
Microsoft
conversion program at tinyurl.com/y5a879.
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Q: I'm
having a problem connecting to the Internet by cable
modem. I keep getting error messages that say the
computer is trying to connect via a dial-up modem
instead. When I cancel the error messages, I can connect
to the Internet with the cable modem. How can I solve
this problem?
A: It
appears that your Windows broadband connection has not
been set up properly. Use the following steps to tell
Windows to use your cable modem rather than a dial-up
connection: Go to Start, choose Control Panel, click
"Network and Internet," then choose
"Network and Sharing Center." Click "Set
up a new connection or network," then click
"Connect to the Internet."
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Q: What
is the best way to set up a Windows 7 swap file (a space
on the hard disk that temporarily stores information
when the PC's memory is nearly full)? I have 2 gigabytes
of RAM, and two swap files: a 5-gigabyte file on my C
drive and a 5- to 10-gigabyte file on my D drive (a
section of the C drive set aside for special uses).
A: The
rule of thumb is that your swap file should be 1 1/2
times the amount of RAM you have. That means the
5-gigabyte swap file on your C drive should be more than
adequate. You really only need one swap file; keep it on
the larger C drive so it doesn't get in the way of
anything else.
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ABOUT THE
WRITER
Steve Alexander
covers technology for the
Minneapolis Star Tribune
. Readers may write to him at Tech Q&A,
425 Portland Ave. S.
,
Minneapolis, Minn.
55488-0002; e-mail: steve.j.alexander@gmail.com.
Please include a full name, city and phone number.
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