A new wave of Mitglieder Trojans has been spreading across over 30 countries over the last few days, so please make sure that you are keeping your Antivirus software fully updated as often as possible. If you don't see your Antivirus Product icon in the bottom right hand toolbar (system tray) call us immediately.

If you regularly use the Internet, it is essential that you have a Firewall installed on your PC. If you have Panda Software or XP you will have a Firewall. But if you are running either Windows 95, 98 or 2000 or ME without Panda you won't have a Firewall installed. If you are unsure, please give us a call. A Firewall prevents hackers from breaking into your PC via the Internet. If you do discover that you are not protected, ZoneAlarm from Zonelabs (www.zonelabs.com) takes about 15 minutes to download and is free!

Screensavers are useful and fun but can interfere with system processes that take a long time to complete and use a lot of resources, such as CD burning. As a result, it is a good idea to disable a screensaver when performing an important task. To do this, simply click on the Start Menu, so that the menu is displayed. Leave the Start menu activated until your task has finished and the screensaver will not launch.

If you are downloading a large file

If you are disconnected unexpectedly whilst using a dial up connection, it's likely that a setting in Outlook Express is causing it. Outlook Express is set to check for new messages every 30 minutes, with a switch that says "Hangup after sending and receiving" this would then disconnect. To correct the situation, click on the Tools menu and select Options. When the dialogue box appears, click on the Connection Tab. Next, uncheck the box next to "Hang up after sending and receiving" then click on Apply and, finally, click on OK. Don't forget though, that if you do a "Send and Receive" you will not now be automatically disconnected afterwards!

Every dial-up user is familiar with the strange shrieking noise that emanates from a PC as it connects to the Internet. This is the sound of information being transmitted to and from your PC via the modem. To lower the sound or turn it off completely, go to the Start menu, and click on Settings then Control panel. When the Control panel appears, double click on the modem icon. The dialogue box that appears will contain a slider bar marked Speaker volume. Click on the slider knob and pull it to the left. This will reduce the amount of sound that the modem makes, but it won't affect the modem's performance.

This is a useful tip if you are working on a sensitive document or you have children who are likely to bash away at the keyboard as soon as you're out of the room. Press and hold the Windows key then press L on the keyboard. This will lock your computer until you re-enter your Windows password.

Your keyboard isn't big enough to accommodate all the possible symbols. However, Windows has a menu containing a special selection of characters that don't appear on the keyboard called the Character Map. If you need to insert a special character into a document click on the Start Menu and select Programs, Accessories, System Tools then finally Character Map. When the dialogue box appears, choose the font you want to use from the drop-down menu, select your symbol and click on the Select button; you can do this several times. When your selection is complete, click on the Copy button and return to your document, right-click and select Paste.

You can also go to the Insert tab at the top of your document and select Symbol and can choose from Webdings and 3 different Wingdings groups, which gives you a huge variety of symbols and pictures to choose from.

If you need to delete a group of files that you won't need again, instead of sending them to the Recycle bin, you can delete them permanently from your computer. Select the files you want to delete, to select it then hold down the Shift key and press the Delete. You'll be asked if you are sure, click on Yes and the file will be gone for good.

You can adjust the volume on your PC using a shortcut icon on your Taskbar. By placing the volume control icon on the Taskbar, you don't have to go into Sounds and Audio Devices in the Control Panel each time you want to adjust the volume. Click on the Start Menu then Control Panel. When the Control Panel window opens, click on Sound, Speech and Audio Devices. When the options appear, click on the volume setting and place a tick in the box next to "Place volume icon in the taskbar" and click on OK. When you restart your PC you'll be able to control the volume by clicking on the Speaker icon on the taskbar and setting the level.

Most keyboards have small lights to indicate if the Caps, Num and Scroll Lock keys are on or off. When you're busy typing, its commonplace to accidentally hit one of these keys and you might end up having to retype lots of text as a result. To be alerted when you have pressed one of these keys, click on the Start Menu, then move the cursor to Settings and then Control Panel. When the Control Panel window opens, double-click on the Accessibility Options icon. When the dialogue box appears, click on the check box next to the ToggleKeys and click on OK. Now, whenever one of the Lock keys is pressed, your PC will beep to let you know.

Nothing is more frustrating than constantly needing to click on the View menu and change the view setting (large/small icons, list detail) for every folder to suit your personal preference. However, there is a remedy. Open a folder and change the view to how you would like it, then click on the View menu and choose Folder Options from the bottom of the list. When the dialogue box opens, click on the View tab and click on the Like Current Folder button. Click on Yes in the confirmation dialogue box, then on OK. All your folders will now be displayed in this way.