I formatted my wife's PC, reinstalled Windows and now, after the screen saver kicks in, the num lock, caps lock and scroll lock indicator lamps blink in unison, and I have to reset and go through the boot process to use the PC.

The problem is that though I can't be certain why your computer locks up when the screen saver kicks in, I can tell you that disabling the Environmental Protection Agency-approved Energy Star feature built into Windows 98 probably will fix your problem but add to your electric bill and hurt our environment a bit.

The Energy Star feature can be switched off by right-clicking on the desktop, choosing Properties and then Screen Saver. Crippling the feature probably will fix the problem -- but hurt the environment.

A letter from Andrew Fanara, chief of the Energy Star program, took me to task for telling a reader to disable Energy Star.

"If everyone would use Energy Star-labeled office equipment, the United States would save almost $1.5 billion a year in energy bills and cut air pollution equal to the amount produced by more than 3 million cars," he wrote.

Sadly, however, I get lots of questions from people whose computers act up when software conflicts with Energy Star. All I can say is that if you ignore my advice the world will be a better place.

I have downloaded a number of fonts from the Internet to the Fonts folder in Windows. Problem is, I can't seem to access them from within Word 97 -- they don't show up on the pull-down font list.

Right-click on the Start icon to call up the Explorer tool in Windows 98. Go to the folder Windows and open the Fonts folder. Drag the icons for your not-functioning fonts onto the desktop. Then drag them back into the Fonts folder one at a time. This will trigger the font installation software.

Pub Date: 03/22/99