To add a new search provider, simply click on the link below and [...]]]> Microsoft seem to have been making it harder to personalise the search engines used by the IE search box. There is a process for adding any search engine but it doesn’t seem to be as easy to find as it once was.

To add a new search provider, simply click on the link below and follow the instructions:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/searchguide/en-uk/default.mspx?dcsref=http://runonce.msn.com/runonce2.aspx

You can make any search engine the default option when it is added – by ticking the ‘make default’ box - or by the following process:

Click the little arrow by the search box and choose ‘Manage Search Providers’

Clicking on your chosen search provider

Then finally click the ‘Set as default’ button

Happy searching!

It is possible to restore the program to its rightful place but [...]]]> Due to a foul-up by securty firm Symantec, users of Norton anti-virus products found that Spotify had mysteriously stopped working today. The reason was that the security product had falsely identified the program – Spotify.exe – as a Trojan Horse and quarantined it.

It is possible to restore the program to its rightful place but it is a bit of a pain. Note that there is some risk in doing so as the law of averages means that some people with compromised PCs may have copies of the program that are infected by a Trojan, and this could include you. Anti-virus programs would normally attempt to clean the original program by removing the Trojan from it, warning if this is impossible. In our case Spotify.exe had itself been mis-identified as a Trojan, so it was safe to restore.

Norton’s official advice is to reinstall Spotify but ‘free’ users who don’t have the install files or their registration details may find it is no longer possible to register for the free version of Spotify. (Premium users can invite up to 10 friends to register for the free service.)

To restore the spotify.exe, simply follow these steps. Note that you need to wait until Norton have fixed the problem and your antivirus has been updated or it will simply quarantine the file again:

1. Double-click on the Norton icon in your System Tray (the bar on the bottom right hand corner of your screen, next to the clock)
2. Click on Quarantine. You should now see a list of Security History events that resulted in a file being quarantined
3. Near or at the top will be a message that a Trojan Horse has been removed, click on this so it is highlighted
4. Now click on the More Details button at bottom right
5. You should now be looking at a Security History Alert Summary saying “Trojan horse detected by Auto-Protect”
6. Clicking on the underlined words Risk Details will open a new window. Clicking on the Details tab should show that the supposed Trojan is spotify.exe. (If it doesn’t, go back to the Security history and lok for another Trojan removal event.) You can now close this window
7. Back in the Security history window, the final step is to click on the Restore button on the right

You should now see a screen a bit like this:

And you should now find that normal Spotify service is fully restored.

Sometimes however these boxes can get their disks in a twist, which can result in flaky operation even when there is sufficient free space. In this case, the answer is [...]]]> The Thomson DTi6300 PVR can become slow and unresponsive if the available free disk space falls below 15%. This easy to fix by deleting a few programmes.

Sometimes however these boxes can get their disks in a twist, which can result in flaky operation even when there is sufficient free space. In this case, the answer is often to reformat the disk, which can be accomplished by following the steps below.

Thomson DTi6300 disk reformat instructions

Warning – this operation will delete all recordings!

1. Select Menu then Set-Up and finally Help
2. Press the  green remote button to access the Advanced Information menu
3. Press the blue button
4. Finally press the green button to proceed

The process takes about a minute, after which the box will restart, then go into standby. Hopefully you will then find your box operation has been returned to normal.

If you are considering buying a barbecue you will have noticed that they burn either solid fuel – charcoal – or gas. So what are the differences and why would you buy one in preference to the other?

That wonderful barbecue flavour Some people [...]]]> Updated 25 May 2009

If you are considering buying a barbecue you will have noticed that they burn either solid fuel – charcoal – or gas. So what are the differences and why would you buy one in preference to the other?

That wonderful barbecue flavour
Some people believe that charcoal is what gives a barbecue that ‘special’ barbecue flavour but in fact it does nothing of the sort. When charcoal burns it gives a steady heat and creates no particular smell. The delicious smoky barbecue flavour comes from fat dripping off the food and onto the hot charcoal. Or onto the hot metal or lava rocks in a gas barbecue…

Charcoal
Charcoal barbecues are cheaper than gas barbecues, for the simple reason that gas valves, taps and pipes cost money. They may also be a bit better for the environment – gas is a fossil fuel which releases greenhouse gases when it burns. Charcoal releases very similar gases when burnt but is not a fossil fuel – charcoal is made by heating wood in a sealed container so it carbonises instead of burning. When wood grows it absorbs greenhouse gases from the atmosphere so the manufacture and use of charcoal simply recycles greenhouse gases.

Disadvantages
There are two significant disadvantages to charcoal barbecues – the time it takes to get the charcoal burning steadily and the ash that has to be diposed of after the party is over. There are a number of ways to get charcoal burning properly. Most common is to use special lighter fluid or firelighters (the firelighters made for starting coal fires leaves a nasty chemical smell and taste). The charcoal needs to be made into small piles over the firelighters and, after setting fire to the firelighters, left until is is burning well and covered with a layer of grey ash. The coals can then be spread across the barbecue so cooking can begin. This process takes around 20-30 min.

A quicker way to get charcoal started is to use a charcoal ‘chimney’. This is a device like a large paint can with no bottom and a wire shelf 1/3 of the way up. The bottom of the ‘chimney’ is stuffed with newspaper, which is set alight, and the top filled with charcoal. There are lots of holes around the bottom, which allow air to enter. Hot air rises, so the flames from the burning paper rapidly heat the charcoal. The processtakesaround 10 min – much faster than using firelighters.

Gas
Gas barbecues typically come with two or three burners, although some have as many as five, perhaps including a side burner. Each burner has its own control knob so one part of the barbecue can be cooler than the others.  Not only that but auto-ingnition is a standard feature too except on the cheapest of models.  Virtually all gas barbecues have a hinged lid or hood, which provides a couple of significant benefits.:

•  Cooking is more consistent, particularly in breezy conditions
• The food is cooked in a smoky atmosphere, which gives it a great flavour

Many gas barbecues have a thermometer set into the lid, giving the cook a better idea of how fast the food is cooking and allowing the barbecue to be used as an oven. Upper-end models also have a glass panel set into the lid, allowing the cook to spot flare-ups when dripping fat catches fire and the food is at risk of burning. Unfortunately the windows are not quite as useful as they appear, as the glass  gets covered in a mixture of smoke and cooking fat which can be very difficult to shift.

Auto-ignition
Sometimes the ignition system is operated by the burner knobs and sometimes by a separate ignition button.Some gas barbecue ignition systems require batteries, others are piezo-electric. In the piezo-electric systems there is a piezo-electric crystal which generates a voltage when it is hit. The voltage is used to create a spark, which lights the gas. These system usually have a red ignition button that is quite stiff to operate. The button operates a small spring-loaded hammer which hits the crystal, generating  the spark.

Gas is very convenient to use. It is controllable and, once set up, a gas barbecue can go from cold to cooking in a few minutes. There is no need for firelighters and no messy ash to deal with. Gas is pretty cheap too – £15 of gas may last you a year or more if you are only a fine-weather barbecuer. On the other hand the bottles are very heavy and most suppliers charge a large deposit (around £30 for a 13kg bottle). FloGas used to supply gas in deposit-free bottles and their website currently says this for most bottles: ”No ‘Non returns’ charge applies to this cylinder”. Which might mean they still do!

For more information on gas barbecues see Barbecue gas – butane or propane?

Thomson Top Up TV PVR

The first thing to try is to turn the box off at [...]]]> There have recently been a rash of problems with Thomson DTi6300 hard disk Top Up TV boxes. The fault typically manifests itself as a box that won’t come out of standby, usually with an orange front-panel light stuck on.

Thomson Top Up TV PVR

The first thing to try is to turn the box off at the mains, leaving it disconnected for 30 sec or so, then turn it back on again. Top Up boxes are quite slow to sort themselves out after a power reset like this, so leave it five or ten minutes before deciding whether that has fixed the problem or not.

If you do still have a problem, the best advice is to try turning the power off and on again. If two power reset attempts have not fixed things, there is another option but unfortunately it involves reformatting the hard drive, which wipes all recordings and setting stored on the disk.

To perform a complete reset and reformat the hard drive follow the steps below. Make sure you have tried the power reset twice just in case it resolves the problem without wiping the recordings.

1. Unplug or turn off the mains supply to the box
2. Hold in the Standby/Power button on the front panel (NOT on the remote control) then reconnect the mains
3. As soon as you see a light flash on the front panel, release the Standby/power button
4. Quickly press these arrow buttons one after the other – Up, Down, Left, Right
5. You should now see two lights on the front panel – a solid orange light and a flashing green light
6. When the green light stops flashing (after about a minute) the hard drive has been reformatted
7. After a short wait the box will turn itself on
8. If prompted run a channel scan

You have now finished and should be the proud owner of a working Top Up TV box again. If the box is still not working, or if you can’t complete all the steps above, it is possible that the box has suffered a hardware fault which will need repairing.

If this is the case, it may be cheaper to buy another set top box than to have yours repaired. Asda and a number of other outlets have recently been selling refurbished 160Gb Top Up TV hard disk recorders for £50.