InBox

Russell can't seem to synchronise his Windows XP clock over the internet. He has tried running XP firewall and attempted to turn the clock off but has had no luck. The problem appeared when he switched from dial-up to broadband. He wants to know if XP time is incompatible with broadband.

The problem will probably be located in the firewall of the broadband router. An unshielded twisted pair data port 123 should be opened between your computer and the time server. Every router has different quirks, the manufacturer's site may have specific instructions for configuring that router. Alter-natively, disable the router security while synchronising, then re-enable it.

Mike has a case of disappearing task bar icons. He keeps losing icons from the notification area at the bottom right-hand side of the task bar. The main culprits are the power and volume icons. The show/hide arrow has also gone, even though he has the hide inactive icons box checked.

There are many causes for this problem, too long to list. A good website which covers a substantial amount of bases with workarounds for most scenarios is http://winhlp.com/WxSystray.htm.

Mike found that the "Ostuni Workaround" listed on that page fixed his problem.

Trevor is using Microsoft Excel 2003 program which interprets two-digit year entries incorrectly because he needs to use multiple columns to record information. If he types in 30/3/49 there is no problem, but if puts in 19/3/20 and drops down to the next line the date automatically changes to 19/3/2020.

Excel interprets any two-digit year figure between 00 and 29 as 2000-2029 but numbers between 30 and 99 are interpreted as 1900-1999. The best thing to do is change your habits and type a four-figure year figure so Excel will ignore it. For example: 19/3/1920

John uses WinMX file-sharing software which won't connect to the internet. He had been using the software for quite a while then it decided to stop working. John has tried removing the program and downloading it again from Free-music.com but has still not been able to connect to the internet.

Add entries in your firewall for TCP port 6699 and UDP port 6257 and this will let WinMX connect to the net.