Fast Forward's Help File

Q The David Bowie box set I bought in 1989 includes a "CD-Video" disc, but I've never been able to play the music videos on it. What kind of electronic device would I need to play this thing? Would I find it anywhere outside of a museum?

AIf you know somebody with the right Laserdisc player -- only some of them read CD-Video discs -- you may be able to see what you've been missing. But Laserdisc itself never got past niche status in the United States before the DVD wiped it off the map a decade ago. Your odds are not good.

What was CD-Video? This hybrid format combined digital music and analog video on a gold, CD-sized disc. (It has no relation to "Video CD," a newer format that puts digital video on data CDs.) CD-Video was introduced in the late 1980s with the hope that it would help record labels cash in on the popularity of music videos. A June 1988 Post story confidently predicted that the format, after a slow launch, "should finally become a reality this month."

But CD-Video fared even worse than the music business's other innovation at the time, cassette singles. Within a few years, labels quit releasing "CDV" titles at all -- you can see a partial list at http://cdvideo.info-- and manufacturers stopped supporting the format in players not long after.

My old PC takes an awful lot of time going through the "Compress old files" phase of a disk cleanup. I don't want any files compressed, so how do I suppress this operation?

This system setting is not in the Control Panel as you might expect but in a "Properties" window at the far end of a right-click menu. Double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, then right-click the C: drive icon and select Properties. In the Properties window, click the checkbox next to "Compress drive to save disk space" so it's clear.

Rob Pegoraro attempts to untangle computing conundrums and errant electronics each week. Send questions to The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 orrobp@washpost.com. Turn to Thursday's Business section or visit washingtonpost.com anytime for his Fast Forward column.