Q. I’ve been trying to use a 48-second MPEG video clip in a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation without much success.
I followed all the instructions (selected “automatically” play when the slide comes), even went to the Microsoft Web site on the topic to no avail. Please help!
Sanjib [email protected]
A. I too have encountered this snag, and I’ll bet the fix I found will work for you, too, S.B.
The problem is that Microsoft has developed its own formats for video known as WMV (Windows Media Video), and software like PowerPoint works better when it is fed files in the company’s own code rather than those from outside the gigantic outfit’s realm. So you need to take that small 48-second MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) movie and convert it to WMV.
The easiest way to make the switch is to load the MPEG into the Windows Movie Maker program built in as part of Windows XP. You can then click on File and Save As in the Movie Maker display and follow the prompts to export the movie into a computer-ready WMV file. When you rewrite that presentation to use this WMV file, it should play automatically when desired.
On the upside, WMV uses better compression techniques than do MPEG files, and the result is WMV files are about one-third smaller than they were as MPEGs.
Q. I have had my Dell laptop for 18 months, and the power started to cut out whenever I tried to move the laptop. Now it won’t go on at all.
I read online at the Dell Web site that some others experienced similar problems, but there was no solution on that posting or any others I could find.
Jim Pabst @hotmail.com
A. Many a laptop user has endured that sinking feeling when their machines promptly shut down whenever they pick them up because they inadvertently triggered a tiny “hibernate” switch at the top of the case. This small metal rod gets pushed down whenever one folds the screen shut. It’s the computer version of the little switch that kills the light when you close the fridge door.
So sometimes when a user tilts the screen a bit toward the keyboard, the switch gets hit, shutting down the computer when the victim merely wanted to move the portable machine a bit. Furthermore, these switches can get clogged with dust and dirt and get stuck, thus keeping the power from kicking in.
You might try very, very carefully to get the switch unclogged with a straight pin. If that fails, it’s time to get help from hardware professionals at Dell or elsewhere.
Q. My daughter would like to upgrade her Dell computer. She specifically would like to add a flat monitor and more power for gaming. Do I have to have Dell components to upgrade? Especially for the monitor?
Anita Atchison @hsd2.k12.il.us
A. Relax, Ms. A. Or at least you should relax as much as a parent can when facing the prospect of costly computer upgrades, especially this time of year.
Universal standards prevail in the computer industry, and they usually trump brand names.
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For monitors, that standard is Video Graphics Array. So any flat-panel monitor with a VGA cable will fit any Dell or any Gateway or any HP or any other product line you can name.
The most important thing to look for is resolution, which is expressed as pixels, such as 640 x 480, the minimal standard for VGA. But today’s monitors would be all but worthless with a mere 640 x 480 display.
It’s best to look for something that displays 1280 x 1024 or larger, and don’t settle for anything smaller than 1024 x 768.
Don’t be confused by specifications like SVGA or SXGA, WXGA, etc. Just be sure it ends in GA. Then look for the resolution specification.
One small caveat is that some computers come with digital video instead of the long-lived VGA format, and in cases where one has a digital port on the computer, it’s a good idea to seek out a DV-capable monitor. But even with DV-equipped PCs, there’s usually a VGA port as well, so there’s little reason to fret.
As you might imagine, companies like Dell and Hewlett Packard and Apple don’t go out of their way to lose sales of their add-on gear for their own computer lines by explaining to customers that their brand names don’t need to be on most peripherals.
In the case of flat-panel displays, it is almost always possible to get much lower prices buying monitors not branded by a major PC maker.
The universal standards also apply to printers, scanners, video cameras and just about everything else you can plug into a personal computer, so don’t feel bound to match brand names of the peripherals you buy with the computer itself.
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Contact Jim Coates via e-mail at [email protected] or via snail mail at the baiduhai, Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60611. Questions can be answered only through this column. Add your point of view at chicagotribune.com/askjim.
Ask Jim Tuesday: It can be boring beyond belief, but DVD Xpress from ADS Tech Inc. lets users easily convert VHS tapes to DVDs.