Aunty Virus 28th June 2010
Elaine via email asks:
Hello Aunty. Could you please help? I use a laptop with English keyboard but I can't find how to type French and Spanish accents. Could you give me some advice what to do?
Aunty says:
Hi Elaine. I normally use the ‘Alt’ key method which simply involves holding down the Alt key and pressing a 3 number code, but in your case as you are using a laptop I’m not too sure how easy this will be. This method is very straightforward on a standard PC keyboard because they have a separate number pad which you need to type in the number codes, whereas laptops generally share the number pad keys with the J - K - L and U - I - O keys and you will have to toggle the num pad on and off. This will vary model by model but it usually involves holding down the Fn key and pressing one of the F (function) keys. Once you have worked out how to use the number pad you can get all of the character number codes from www.asciitable.com.
Tina Burgess from Rugat asks:
Dear Aunty, Thanks for your interesting and enlightening articles. Since moving to Spain I have kept many of the pages however the problem we are experiencing with our new laptop does not seem to have been mentioned. We recently purchased in the UK an Advent Roma 2001 T3100 series laptop with Windows 7 to use here in Spain. The problem we are experiencing is that the laptop is saying it is connected but will not let us online. We have successfully tried a friends laptop and that connects with no problem but if we take our laptop to their house no connection is made. We have recently read elsewhere that this is a problem with Windows 7 but not sure. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Aunty Says:
I don’t know of a widespread connection problem with Windows7 Tina, but the most common one is usually associated with the WiFi security code that you are required to enter on your laptop when trying to connect to a Wireless router. If you can successfully connect to the Internet using an Ethernet cable (usually supplied by your ADSL provider) plugged directly into the router then we can focus on the WiFi card settings, if however this doesn’t work you may have a more widespread issue. Try it and get back to me.
Len from Hondon asks:
Dear Aunty, as I write the vertical bar to the right of the text keeps disappearing so that I have to bring it back with the mouse. Tkn me ags to rite ths. I use XP wth wils k/bd & mose. Pls hlp.
Aunty Says:
I can clearly see you have a problem there Ken. I’m guessing that says “I use XP with a wireless keyboard and mouse” and I suspect this is where the problem lies. The first and obvious thing is to check your keyboard is near enough to the wireless receiver and that you have new and good quality batteries. If this does not solve the problem then maybe the driver software needs reinstalling. Try the first options and let me know how you get on.
Terry via email asks:
Hi there Aunty, I am 99% sure you have written something similar about this a while ago but I didn’t keep a copy so could you go over it again por favor. My neighbour upstairs has recently got ADSL from Telitec with a wireless router and said it is fine if we share his connection. I have setup the WiFi on our Sony laptop and we get a signal of about 45%. I have entered the correct WiFi security code but I cannot seem to get onto Google or Hotmail or any website. Can you please help? If it’s any help we still get the old Telefonica dialup connection box and the laptop won’t work in our local bar either.
Aunty Says:
Hello Terry. I’m sure I have covered something similar sometime in the past but as it’s a fairly common problem I will go through it again. From what you’ve told me you’ve probably set the WiFi up correctly and you are getting a good enough signal so I think the problem is your browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox) trying to connect via your old Telefonica modem. Open up Firefox or IE and choose the ‘tools’ option from the menu bar then select ‘Internet Options’. Click on the ‘connection’ tab and choose the ‘Never Dial a Connection’ option.
Hello Aunty. Could you please help? I use a laptop with English keyboard but I can't find how to type French and Spanish accents. Could you give me some advice what to do?
Aunty says:
Hi Elaine. I normally use the ‘Alt’ key method which simply involves holding down the Alt key and pressing a 3 number code, but in your case as you are using a laptop I’m not too sure how easy this will be. This method is very straightforward on a standard PC keyboard because they have a separate number pad which you need to type in the number codes, whereas laptops generally share the number pad keys with the J - K - L and U - I - O keys and you will have to toggle the num pad on and off. This will vary model by model but it usually involves holding down the Fn key and pressing one of the F (function) keys. Once you have worked out how to use the number pad you can get all of the character number codes from www.asciitable.com.
Tina Burgess from Rugat asks:
Dear Aunty, Thanks for your interesting and enlightening articles. Since moving to Spain I have kept many of the pages however the problem we are experiencing with our new laptop does not seem to have been mentioned. We recently purchased in the UK an Advent Roma 2001 T3100 series laptop with Windows 7 to use here in Spain. The problem we are experiencing is that the laptop is saying it is connected but will not let us online. We have successfully tried a friends laptop and that connects with no problem but if we take our laptop to their house no connection is made. We have recently read elsewhere that this is a problem with Windows 7 but not sure. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Aunty Says:
I don’t know of a widespread connection problem with Windows7 Tina, but the most common one is usually associated with the WiFi security code that you are required to enter on your laptop when trying to connect to a Wireless router. If you can successfully connect to the Internet using an Ethernet cable (usually supplied by your ADSL provider) plugged directly into the router then we can focus on the WiFi card settings, if however this doesn’t work you may have a more widespread issue. Try it and get back to me.
Len from Hondon asks:
Dear Aunty, as I write the vertical bar to the right of the text keeps disappearing so that I have to bring it back with the mouse. Tkn me ags to rite ths. I use XP wth wils k/bd & mose. Pls hlp.
Aunty Says:
I can clearly see you have a problem there Ken. I’m guessing that says “I use XP with a wireless keyboard and mouse” and I suspect this is where the problem lies. The first and obvious thing is to check your keyboard is near enough to the wireless receiver and that you have new and good quality batteries. If this does not solve the problem then maybe the driver software needs reinstalling. Try the first options and let me know how you get on.
Terry via email asks:
Hi there Aunty, I am 99% sure you have written something similar about this a while ago but I didn’t keep a copy so could you go over it again por favor. My neighbour upstairs has recently got ADSL from Telitec with a wireless router and said it is fine if we share his connection. I have setup the WiFi on our Sony laptop and we get a signal of about 45%. I have entered the correct WiFi security code but I cannot seem to get onto Google or Hotmail or any website. Can you please help? If it’s any help we still get the old Telefonica dialup connection box and the laptop won’t work in our local bar either.
Aunty Says:
Hello Terry. I’m sure I have covered something similar sometime in the past but as it’s a fairly common problem I will go through it again. From what you’ve told me you’ve probably set the WiFi up correctly and you are getting a good enough signal so I think the problem is your browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox) trying to connect via your old Telefonica modem. Open up Firefox or IE and choose the ‘tools’ option from the menu bar then select ‘Internet Options’. Click on the ‘connection’ tab and choose the ‘Never Dial a Connection’ option.