[Ham-Computers] RE: XP-Pro, How do I ???

Tue, 7 Jan 2003 10:45:18 -0800

I haven't touched WinXP yet, but I can speculate...

In certain Windows apps (such as Microsoft Outlook (and Express), there's an option to use the dial-up connection if needed, and, there might be an option to "hang-up when done".  In Windows 2000, if you go to the "Internet Settings" control panel, click on the "Connections" tab, and click on the settings of the dial-up adapter, you'll see an "Advanced" button.  There you can set the disconnect settings (via time out or "when connection may no longer be needed").  In your case, you might want to try selecting the "when connection may no longer be needed" checkbox (might be different in XP).  In the properties of the dial-up adapter in the Network control panel, you can also set the "idle timeout".

As to the amount of time required to disconnect, that may be due to the way Windows initializes the modem.  There are two ways to tell the modem to "hang up".  One way is to initialize the the modem so it drops the connection when the "DTR" line goes low (DTR is a line on the RS-232 port).  This is also known as "dropping the DTR" to hang up.  The other way is to send the "ath0" command to the modem.  However, the modem must be in "command" mode in order to do this, so if a call is currently connected, you need to get the modem's attention by first sending a a "+++" string.  This string must be "in the clear", so the system waits until at least 2 seconds pass without any data flowing "out" before sending the "+++".  The modem will go into "command" mode if enough time passed before receiving "+++" and will respond with an "OK".  You (or Windows) thens sends a "ath0" to hang up the line.  If Windows doesn't receive the "OK" after sending "+++", it waits and sends the "+++" again until it does receive the "OK" response from the modem before sending the "ath0".

As you can tell, dropping the DTR is much faster as the modem immediately hangs up.  However, since Windows NT based systems (NT/2K/XP) don't allow "direct" access to ports, the only way to hang up is to use the "soft" method - "+++" followed by "ath0".  This is probably why it takes longer to hang up...more overhead required.

I also haven't touched OfficeXP yet, but it should be the same as with Office 2000.  In Excel 2000, if you have multiple files open, you can view all the sheets by going to "Windows" menu and clicking "Arrange...".  You can then select the various "views".  The view you're looking for is "Vertical"

Hope this helps!

73,

  - Aaron Hsu, NN6O (ex-KD6DAE)
    {nn6o}@arrl.net
    {athsu}@unistudios.com
    No-QRO Int'l #1,000,006
    . -..- - .-. .-   ".... . .- ...- -.--"

-----Original Message-----
From: Phil Atchley [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 7:09 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Ham-Computers] XP-Pro, How do I ???

Hi.
I've been running XP Pro for sometime now and like it a great deal.  Just a
couple small things that I haven't been able to figure out, maybe somebody
here can help.  (No I didn't find the answers in the help files though that
doesn't surprise me).

1.  I use I.E 6.0 and Outlook Express 6 on a dialup. The computer is a
standalone machine with no other computers networked to it.  When I select
any of my programs that requires a dialup it dials the ISP and connects ok
(elite.net) and everything works just fine.  HOWEVER, when I'm finished and
close the program the dialup connection remains intact until I left click on
the little icon in the taskbar and tell it to disconnect.  It then
reluctantly disconnects (takes a little while)....  When I ran WIN98 SE
anytime I closed a program requiring Internet access it brought up an "auto
disconnect" window and when I clicked it the disconnect was very quick.  I
can find nothing to allow a "Autodisconnect" in my XP network stuff.

2.  Office XP.  Up to the time I installed XP I'd been using the freeware
602 Office Suite to access Excel and Word documents.  Works ok but not
great.  HOWEVER, it did allow me to open two Excel documents in different
windows and "split" the screen displaying one document below the other (it
had a menu select to allow documents in different windows).  Now in XP Pro
I'm running Office XP and for the life of me I CANNOT figure out how to do
this in Excel.  It insists in opening both documents to one window and
forcing me to view one or the other.

73 de Phil  KO6BB