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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
July 9, 2006
Q.
When I sign on, at the welcome screen it
says that I have email messages, but when I
check, there aren't any. Why is it telling
me that I have email when I don't?
A.
Windows XP Welcome screen reports email on
Hotmail, Outlook and Outlook Express, even
if you are using another email program.
The best
way to do away with this notification is to
use a program called "Tweak UI",
one of what are called the Windows Power
Toys. There is a
link to download the Power Toys in my Download Section.
Tweak UI is a free applet from Microsoft,
and it allows making all kinds of changes to
Windows XP that otherwise could only be done
by manually tweaking the registry.
When
Tweak UI opens, click the + in front of
Logon, then select Unread Mail. Now, uncheck
the box in front of "Show unread mail on
Welcome screen". Next time you sign
on, there will be no notification about any
unread email.
Q.
I recently bought a new laptop computer, but
when I tried to use my PC Card, it doesn't
fit. Tech service told me that it is an
Express card slot, and the PC card won't
work. Why?
A.
You are a victim of progress. The Express
card is a replacement for the older PC Card,
and many laptop manufactures have started
using it in place of the PC Card. The unfortunate thing about it is
that it is not backward compatible with the
PC card, and the PC card won't even fit in
the same slot.
The PC
Card has been surpassed/replaced by faster
technologies, and ExpressCards have the theoretical
maximum throughput to transfer data at 250
MBps This is in comparison to the now
seemingly slower 132-MBps PC Card
standard.
The
ExpressCard is advertised to be a smaller,
faster, cheaper solution, and I suspect that
the laptop manufactures especially like that
last word, cheaper.
What all
this means to you is simply that you can no
longer use any PC card in your new computer.
If the function that you previously used the
PC Card for is still necessary, then you
will have to buy an ExpresCard to have it
available on your new laptop.
db
Note: Check my
column for December
25, 2006 for more on the Express
Card.
Q.
On just about all computer, peripherals and
other electrical devices
there are the two letters CE printed. What's
that all about?
A.
The
CE mark is a
mandatory marking on certain products, which
is required if they are to be sold in the
European Economic Area. By affixing the CE
marking, the manufacturer, its
representative, or the importer assures that
that the item meets all the essential
requirements of all applicable EU
directives.
CE has no
official meaning as an abbreviation, but may have
originally stood for Communauté
Européenne or Conformité Européenne,
French for European Conformity.
Officially, "the
CE mark is a mandatory European marking for
certain product groups to indicate
conformity with the essential health and
safety requirements set out in European
Directives. To permit the use of a CE mark
on a product, proof that the item meets the
relevant requirements must be documented.
Sometimes
this is achieved using an external test
house which evaluates the product and its
documentation. Often it is achieved by a
company-internal self-certification process.
In any case the responsible organization
(manufacturer, representative, importer) has
to issue a EC-Declaration of Conformity
(EC-DoC) indicating his identity (location,
etc.), the list of European Directives he
declares compliance with, a list of
standards the product complies with, and a
legally binding signature on behalf of the
organization.
The EC-DoC underlines the sole
responsibility of the manufacturer. The CE
marking should not be confused with
certification marks, which are licensed from
3rd party test houses / certification
bodies." That's
probably more than you wanted to know.
The
European Community
CE Mark
can be roughly compared in purpose with the
United State's UL (Underwriters Laboratory)
marking. |
