Q I recently developed a problem while attempting to click on an e-mail attachment. The screen becomes gray, and a message says "File conversion ... select the encoding that makes your document readable." This happens with new e-mails and even those a couple of months old. What can I do?
LARRY CHRISTENSON, BLOOMINGTON
A This happens when Microsoft Word doesn't recognize the file format of an e-mail attachment. It could happen if the person who sent the e-mail also writes in other languages, and as a result has the file encoding software on Word set differently.
Microsoft offers free software updates that should fix the problem. If you have Microsoft Word 2007, see tinyurl.com/ydqmtmp and the read the section "Choose an encoding standard when you open a file." For Word 2002, see tinyurl.com/y8cpsww. For Word 2000, see tinyurl.com/y92yqhz.
Another possibility is that someone sent you a file in the new Word 2007 file format, which earlier Word programs can't read. You can fix that by downloading a free Microsoft conversion program at tinyurl.com/y5a879.
Q I'm having a problem connecting to the Internet by cable modem. I keep getting error messages that say the computer is trying to connect via a dial-up modem instead. When I cancel the error messages, I can connect to the Internet with the cable modem. How can I solve this problem?
LEON LEBOLDUS, OTTAWA, CANADA
A It appears that your Windows broadband connection has not been set up properly. Use the following steps to tell Windows to use your cable modem rather than a dial-up connection: Go to Start, choose Control Panel, click "Network and Internet," then choose "Network and Sharing Center." Click "Set up a new connection or network," then click "Connect to the Internet."
