Ask

Ask Mr. Modem! – May 2010     
www.MrModem.com   


Are Updated Drivers Necessary?

Q.  I read an article that recommended checking for updated drivers using Driver Agent (www.driveragent.com). I discovered that only the scan was free, but it cost $29.95 to download the seven updated drivers it said my computer needed. I’m not having any problems with my PC, so do I need to spend this money for these drivers? Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

A.  My philosophy, as often expressed in my weekly newsletter (www.MrModem.com), can best be summed up by the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Even with my own computers, as long as everything is working perfectly, I feel no need to play "Mr. Tweaker" and try to fix something that isn't broken.

If a printer, for example, stopped working at some point, I would go to my printer manufacturer's Web site, locate the area where I can check for updated drivers, and download them for free. There is nothing inherently wrong with a site like Driver Agent in a pinch, but it's rarely necessary to pay for updated drivers, if needed. Bottom line: Save your money.


Q.  I recently installed Microsoft Office 2007, and now when I send a Word document attached to an email, no one is able to open it. What can I do about this?

A. Word 2007 introduced a new file format for documents. Previous versions of Word used the .DOC file format. Word 2007 uses the .DOCX format that older versions, and other word processing programs, cannot read. The good news, however, is that you can save your documents in the old format.

To do that, with your document open in Word 2007, click the Office button in the upper left-hand corner, point to Save As and select Word 97-2003 Document. In the "Save As" window enter a file name for your document, then click the Save button.

If you want Word 2007 to automatically save all your files in the old format, click the Office button and at the bottom of the drop-down menu, click the Word Options button, then click the Save tab. Locate "Save files in this format" and change it from "Word Document (*.DOCX)" to "Word 97-2003 Document(*.DOC).” Click OK to save your changes and exit.


Q.  I would like to know if I can save one or two paragraphs from a document to a thumb drive without saving the entire document?

A.  To save text to another drive -- and it doesn’t matter if it’s a thumb drive, a pinkie drive, a Sunday drive, or any other type of drive -- first save the excerpted text as a file on your computer's internal hard drive, then copy the file to the external drive. To do that, select (highlight) the text you would like to save, right-click and select COPY or press CTRL +C.

Go to your word processing program, or you can use WordPad (under Programs > Accessories > WordPad), and click once to place your cursor in the new document, right-click and select PASTE or press CTRL + V. The text you copied will pop onto the screen. Click File > Save As, and save this excerpted text as a file. You can save it anywhere you wish, including to your Desktop.

Once it's saved, copy it to your thumb or flash drive. To do that, right-click the file you just saved, select COPY, then go to your thumb drive by opening (My) Computer, right-click the thumb drive's icon and select PASTE. The file will be copied to your drive.


Mr. Modem’s DME (Don’t Miss ‘Em) Sites of the Month

13 Things That Do Not Make Sense
Here you’ll learn about some of the greatest mysteries of science, including the 1977 “Wow” Signal from Outer Space, the Placebo Effect, and Cold Fusion. (Note: The tiny default font used on this site is the 14th thing that doesn’t make sense, so click View > Text Size if you need to increase the size of the display font for easier reading.)
http://tinyurl.com/ce4mj2

Test Your Geography Knowledge
If you were shown a picture of South America, would you be able to point to Uruguay? Or how about Eritrea on a map of the Middle East? Put your geography knowledge to the test with these humbling -- very humbling -- quizzes.
www.mccollam.com/fun/geoquiz

WalkScore
This site calculates the  “walkability” rating of neighborhoods. The score is based on the number of businesses, services and other destinations within walking distance of a given address. Ratings range from zero (“driving only”) to 100 (“walkers’ paradise”). WalkScore inspired me to conduct my own walkability study. The protocol I followed involved getting up off my chair and going for a walk around my neighborhood. Website, shmebsite. There are some things you just have to do for yourself. 
www.walkscore.com

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