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Q. Ngairene received an ".ink" picture file from a friend but it won't open.

A. It's not an ink file, Ngairene, it's an "LNK" file - a shortcut to the file they intended to send. Request they resend you the actual file - a link to a file in their computer won't work from your machine.

Q. Wayne has explained how my "Watt" calculation last week regarding the power savings to be had from turning your computer off was flawed.

A. It's all due to the relationship of power usage calculated in Joules. The rating in Watts of many appliances relates to peak output, not power used. Without going into the technical jargon, Wayne calculates the actual power saving from turning your computer off would be around 3.3 per cent. Sorry, folks, the 20 per cent I calculated (or maybe dreamed of) was just too good to be true. "Is 'Power Management' the answer?" asks John, who suggests you can juggle the power settings in Control Panel/Power Options to save power. Power Management can minimise, but not eliminate, power wasted. But as the power companies have requested, even the standby state of a TV uses power and therefore needs to be turned off at the wall. A computer standby state would be in the same category. What's often forgotten is the computer is central to at least three other devices - monitor, amplified speakers and printer. To make it worse, many computers are also connected to digital camera chargers, external modems, handheld computers, and scanners.

To put it all in perspective have a look at www.eeca.govt.nz/content/EW_news/75Mar02/research.htm - where it says: "New Zealand's standby load (electricity consumed by appliances doing nothing) - is 130MW, resulting in $115 million worth of electricity consumption a year."

Q. Mike quotes Xtra policy of refusing to support modems and referring the customer to the manufacturer.

A.Yes, Mike, that's the official Xtra policy. But in practice most of its helpdesk staff will go the extra distance to help. However, a few still quote policy - end of story. It pays to get familiar with the modem manual so a switched-on helpdesk operator can work with you to fill in the blanks. Jetstream modem settings for Xtra at www.xtra.co.nz/help/0%2C%2C5739-907829%2C00.html#suptab


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