InBox

By DON McALLISTER

Welcome to InBox, where we attempt to answer your internet questions.

Q. In a followup to last week's advice about cleaning PC screens, Phil suggests water-based solutions with a cleaner such as dishwashing liquid.

A. Never use a water-based solution on a monitor unless the manufacturer recommends it, Phil. Inside most cathode ray tube monitors is a coil that generates more than 10,000 volts of electricity. Even when switched off, this coil remains live for several days or more. One stray drop of water and possibly the monitor dies, or worse, something very shocking happens to you. Unless specified in the manual, stick with isopropyl alcohol - it dissolves the fingerprints and dust and, with most monitor brands, not the plastic.

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Q. Marie is annoyed with Internet Explorer. Often when clicking search engine results and discovering what she terms as a "stink site", the back arrow refuses to return her to the search engine results - effectively locking her into that site. Is there a solution without re-starting my search? she asks.

A. On the right side of Internet Explorer's "back arrow" you'll spot a little down arrow, Marie. Click on it to see the previous sites you have visited. Clicking one of these earlier entries will get you out of that web-jail.

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Q. Bill has experienced an influx of weird files starting in "ff" and ending in ".tmp". They are in his Windows directory and seem to multiply daily.

A. Yes, Bill, it's a known issue introduced by Office 2000. It is caused by the Machine Debug Manager (mdm.exe). This Microsoft support article gives you instructions on how to remove it.

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Q. Shane's an advanced user but he's caused a few problems recently when editing the registry incorrectly. Is there another way of changing system features etc in Windows Professional that's not quite as dangerous?

A. Yes Shane, XP Professional - but not the Home Edition - has a program called Group Policy Editor which is a safer, user-friendly tool. Go to Start/Run and type in gpedit.msc.


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