Connectivity issues leave user hanging

Q: I am getting so frustrated with my computer's tendency to get disconnected from the Internet. A couple of days ago I spent four hours with the MSN experts in South America, who transferred me four times to even more incompetent people to relieve my problem. I'm still having the problem. I have had my modem checked, and all is well. Can you help me? I'm sure the problem cannot be that complex.

— Joseph Roundill

A: Problem is, the problem can be that complex, especially if you're using a dial-up or a wireless connection. The cause of your disconnection can be anything from a faulty modem or router to bad cables, from radio interference (if you're using a wireless connection) to fraying or faulty telephone lines.

Indeed, the biggest problem with troubleshooting connectivity issues is that the potential causes are diverse and cross so many lines of vendor turf. The telephone company can't tell if the problem is the modem card you bought off the Internet. And the modem-card company can't tell if the problem is with the way you've configured an application that uses it. Heck, the problem could even come from an overheating processor in your computer.

Worse still, many of the potential causes of your problem may be sporadic in nature, which makes troubleshooting especially difficult. Even with competent help from your Internet-service provider, tracking down some connectivity problems can be challenging and frustrating.

There are, however, some potential shortcuts. The first thing to do is to ask your ISP to make sure that the signal to your location — and to the modem or router, if it is provided by the ISP — is strong and steady. Assuming you've done that, I'd next try using a different computer. If that solves the problem, you still may not know the exact culprit but you'll have narrowed things down considerably.

If you still haven't made any headway, further troubleshooting depends upon your level of expertise, your patience and your budget. If you've got more budget than patience, you may want to hire someone to come in and take a look.

Q: I've used MSN Mail as my e-mail program for a couple of years and find it more than adequate. However, when I recently upgraded my Microsoft Word Office suite by installing Office Home and Student 2007, I lost spell-checking capability within MSN Mail. When I click on the ABC icon in MSN Mail, I get the following pop-up message: "You currently do not have a dictionary installed for the selected language. You need to install a spell-checker available with installations of Microsoft Office and Microsoft works in order to use the spell-checking feature."

I've looked high and low for the way to install the spell-checker or otherwise link it to MSN Mail to no avail. And the online help for Office doesn't seem to deal with this problem. The spell-checker works in Word and Excel. Any suggestions?

— Dick Nelson, Seattle

A: Yes, this is a known problem. It arises from the fact that MSN Mail doesn't have a built-in spell-checker. Instead, it has relied upon the one installed with previous versions of Office. The spell-checker delivered with Office 2007, however, is not compatible.

This leaves you with three choices: First, you can turn to another e-mail program. Second, you can install the spell-checker from a previous version of Office. (You can do this without installing the rest of Office.) Finally, you can install a third-party spell-checker. You can find a number of such programs by searching the Internet for "MSN Mail spell check."

Q: When I am using Craigslist and I see an ad I want to respond to, I click a spot to e-mail about the ad. When I do that, Outlook Express opens, I type what I need and click Send. Now here's where the problem can happen: Sometimes it won't send because Hotmail is not responding or something else didn't work. So I just want to delete the message. I can't seem to figure out how to do this, and then later when I send directly from Hotmail, both messages get sent. How do I delete the message from Outlook Express?

— Ernie Mullins

A: If the e-mail hasn't been sent, it would still be in Outlook Express' Outbox. Just go to the Outbox, right-click on the message and select Delete. That should take care of things.

Questions for Patrick Marshall may be sent by e-mail to pmarshall@seattletimes.com or pgmarshall@pgmarshall.net, or by mail at Q&A/Technology, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists.