Persistent sounds of silence

Q. I clip and save all your advice columns but didn't find a solution for my problem, getting sound to play after I upgraded my MSN 8 software to MSN 9.
I did a quick restore and reinstalled my printer, scanner and MSN 8, which had no problem, yet still no sound. I have tried everything a novice can do to no avail, checked all cable connections and speakers, and don't know what else to do.
A. It's easier to point you to the fix than it is to explain why this problem vexes so many folks. That's especially true for people who make changes to their multimedia habits, such as using different programs to play different files.
Windows Media Player 9, built into the Microsoft Network's spiffy new interface for subscribers, can wind up resetting the computer's ability to play certain types of files when it is playing other sorts of files. Almost always, this amounts to setting the Windows operating system to mute the most basic of all sound files, the Wave or WAV format.
To find the settings that fix this, click on Start and Control Panel and then look for the Sounds icon, a small gray speaker. This brings up a menu with several tabs, including Volume. Pick it, and look for the little box that lets you display the sound settings in the Windows system tray in the lower right of the monitor display. Check the box.
Now click on Advanced. You should see a display of multiple volume and balance sliders for such sound sources as Voice, CD, Line In and Wave. If so, you will note that the Wave setting is at the bottom of the volume slider. Move it up halfway and let loose of the mouse. You will hear a little ding telling you sound is back.
If your computer isn't showing the Wave console, click on Options in the upper-left corner. This brings up a list of check boxes that set which of the many kinds of outputs and inputs a computer can use for sound.
The reason I urged you to put the icon in the taskbar is that you may find this Wave setting gets set back to silent at unexpected times from using MSN to play CDs, show movies, view animations and so on.
Q. My father is a fan of yours and often forwards me your articles, which I always find interesting. My question is about your e-mail address. Why would such a knowledgeable computer user still be using AOL? I work in a tech department and always seem to associate AOL users with naive beginners who are not aware that something better is out there.
Couldn't you have gotten a more professional e-mail, like one without a number in it? I recall my old AOL addresses back in the 1990s being filled with numbers. Since that time, I have always tried to stay away from e-mail addresses with numbers.
A. I continue to use an AOL e-mail address for some of my work because it has become a first-rate business tool. It's a development sadly unknown to many folks who outgrew AOL's consumer-centric Internet-on-training-wheels offerings.
As you note quite correctly, tagging an AOL e-mail address on a serious enterprise risks turning off serious business folks, as I did with you.
With developments like the relatively new AOL Communicator software, America Online's e-mail now offers so many of the powers and even the same screen displays as Microsoft Outlook that I'm waiting for the press release from Bill Gates announcing a lawsuit over what they call "look and feel."
This AOL Communicator is a downloadable program for AOL subscribers, particularly ones with version 9.0 of the company's software. The screen display is like Outlook in that the subject lines for messages are stacked in a top pane and then text of the currently selected note displays in a pane below.
It brings all the sorting powers of AOL, such as listing notes by the name of a sender, the topic, the date and other factors. A very fast search engine retrieves keywords from collected notes, and you can keep your AOL e-mail stored on your hard drive as long as desired.
It links with an AOL calendar that outdoes Outlook in some ways, particularly because it lets multiple users share the same calendar and have Web access to it. This functionality in Outlook requires the cost and expertise of Microsoft's Exchange Server programs.
I use the address of jcoates1@aol.com to communicate with readers of my binary columns, as opposed to these "Ask Jim" outings. Here I offer the businesslike address of jcoates@tribune.com, and askjimbiz@tribune.com for my small-business column. It's a fine way to keep track of what reader is reacting to which column.
XContact Jim Coates via e-mail at jcoates@tribune .com or via snail mail at the Chicago Tribune, Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.