Restoring files

I have a Pentium III, 800 computer with 810 motherboard and I have been using Internet Explorer 5 as my browser for the last one year. I had earlier been able to visit offline pages. I had fixed a time-frame of 120 days for keeping items in ``history.'' Now, all of a sudden, I cannot find the Web sites saved in Favorites and the items in ``history.'' I get messages that they are not available offline, which means files/data saved have been deleted. Can they be restored? If so, how do I go about it? Please suggest a solution.

S.K. Ranjan

Once you delete contents of ``history'' and the temporary Internet files folder, then those contents are lost forever. The only exception is the Favorites folder. When you delete contents of this folder, they are stored in Recycle Bin and you can restore the files from Recycle Bin. But if the files have been deleted from Recycle Bin too, there is no way to restore them.

Clock download

I have been trying my best to download the clock at the Web site ``www.mirage1.u-net.com/clox.htm'' but it displays the message ``permission awaited.'' There was no problem in getting to the site and download locations (a number of countries to choose from) but I am not able to download what I want despite repeated attempts. Please suggest a solution.

S.B. Sen

There is no problem in downloading this software. Please try logging in as an administrator and downloading it again.

PowerPoint use

Can we create a scroll or marquee of pictures in a PowerPoint presentation? If yes, please tell me how I go about it.

S.Vidhya

You can create a marquee to select multiple adjacent objects. When you are selecting objects using marquee, each object should be completely inside the marquee. For more information, please visit the link, http://www.calstatela.edu/main/docs/ppt97.pdf

E-mail tip

I have several e-mail accounts, namely Yahoo, Rediff, HCLinfinet, indiatimes, Hotmail, VSNL, Sify etc, and have arranged to have mail downloaded directly into my Outlook Express mail box from the abovesaid e-mail boxes. I have noticed something very interesting i.e. when I send a message to a Yahoo addressee by using my sender's address other than Yahoo, it does not transmit easily and remains in the Outbox but if I change my sender's address to my Yahoo mail address, then the mail gets transmitted immediately. Transmission seems quicker if both the sender and the addressee have the mail box address of the same ISP. I cannot say mails from Hotmail will not transmit to Yahoo mail or vice-versa but the process seems smoother in the first case. What is the reason for this?

Also, can you please provide the incoming and outgoing server details for indiatimes.com so I can use it in my Outlook Express mail box to auto-receive mails of indiatimes.com?

Satya Sen

Please visit the following site for more information on the working of e-mail -- http://www.howstuffworks.com/email.htm

Regarding your second query, indiatimes does not provide POP3 access, it only provides POP access for other mail servers i.e. it can download your mail from other servers to its own server.

Solutions by NIIT

Desktop clock

In addition to the Web site address provided by NIIT, http://www.mirage1.u-net.com/clox.htm, for world time on desktop in eWorld dated September 5, readers can check out www.geocities.com/prabha_ind/tools.html/iridium.zip

Contributed by Deepak

Coimbatore

All tips this week relate to the DOS operating system.

Using only DOSKEY

One way to have DOSKEY available when you open a DOS window would be to have it in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This takes away conventional memory, even when you don't have a DOS window open.

To only use DOSKEY when you open a DOS window, right-click on your DOS shortcut and select Properties. Click on the Program tab. Add DOSKEY > NUL to the Batch File field. You can also add /INSERT if you want to.

Showing DOS error codes

If you want to see what error codes are being generated by DOS programs, start your DOS session with the addition of a /Z parameter to the COMMAND.COM program.

Changing directories

Usually, you can move up one directory level by typing [CD ..]. The DOS with Windows 95 allows you to continue moving up beyond the first directory by simply adding more periods. For instance, to move up two levels, type [CD ...].

Entering long paths

If you have to enter a long path and program name in a DOS window, open Explorer and go to the folder of choice. Drag it to the DOS window. The path will be inserted into the window.

This can come is useful with long path names. If you need to change directories, type in the CD before you drag the directory.

Prompt for input

When you normally create a shortcut for a DOS program, it does not prompt you for any input and just runs the program. To change that, simply add a `?' after the program name in the CMD field.

For instance, [C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\EDIT.COM ?] will start the DOS editor and prompt you for a file name to edit.

Open DOS prompt

With the advent of long directory names, it can be difficult to open up a DOS box and CD to the directory you want, particularly if it is several layers of long names deep.

An easy way of getting around this is to open Explorer and highlight the directory you want to be in. Select Run/Command from the Start Menu. Your DOS prompt will now be in the directory you highlighted in Explorer.

Showing long and short filenames

These are additional switches that can be used when doing a DIR:

/B - Shows only the long filename, no details

/Z - Shows the short filename, with details

/B /Z - Shows only short filename, with no details

Changing Date and Time stamp

You can change the Date and Time stamp of a file to the current setting by typing: COPY filename /B + ,, /Y.

Compiled by C. Ramesh

Please e-mail us at eworld@thehindu.co.in if you have queries on computer usage or if you find an interesting way of using the computer.