The PC Improvement News

Issue 1-46
August 25, 1999

ISSN 1488-3163
Published electronically by PC Improvements (c) 1999
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit
http://www.pcin.net/

Note 1: If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have to
cut and paste.
Note 2: You can only win one contest every 30 days.

Welcome to the 46th edition of the PC Improvement News. In this newsletter,
I have a couple of tips to make your computing life easier as well as
highlights of the past weeks PC Industry News. I am more than willing to
discuss any PC related topics in this newsletter. Just email me at
editor@pcin.net with your suggestions. I would also appreciate it
if you let me know if there is any strange formatting in the newsletter so
that I can fix them.

There are only 2 ways to get on the subscriber list. You have either been
subscribed by filling out a subscription form on any of the pages on my
site, or you have requested FreeHelp from me in the past.

Give me two or three issues, and I know that you will get something great
out of this!


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SOME OPENING THOUGHTS
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I just did finished cleaning up my subscriber list. I have added a few
people who should have been added when they requested FreeHelp, and I
deleted a couple of people that wanted off. If something was done in error,
you can remove address and resubscribe if you want at
http://www.pcimprovements.com/pcinews


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THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
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"Big shots are only little shots who keep on shooting."
          - Christopher Morley

Thought courtesy of http://www.HappyPublishing.com/

To subscribe to the FREE "Aspire to Something Higher" Thought-Of-The-Day
list, send a blank email to HappyQuotes-subscribe@listbot.com


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THE NEWS
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Stable Software
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Have any of you seen the latest James Bond move, Tomorrow Never Dies? The
villain is a media freak. He tries to rule the world by manipulating the
news in his magazines, on his news channels, and in his newspapers. He also
makes software. One day when he is consulting with his people, one reports
that the latest software is finished and it is full of bugs so consumers
will have to keep upgrading. Obviously the writers of the movie were making
a statement, and it was probably about Microsoft.

In recent online poll (August 9, 1999) at the ZD Net Sm@rt Reseller site,
they asked people which is the most stable version of Windows:

4% Windows NT 3.x
4% Windows 2000
10%Windows 95
11% Windows 98
28% Windows NT 4.0
43% None of these

Let me know what you think of this. Which version of Windows that you have
used is the most stable? Do programmers really make inferior software on
purpose? Email me at editor@pcin.net


GPS Rollover
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In the March 17, 1999 issue of this newsletter, I mentioned that there were
several other number issues that we will have to deal with. The most recent
one happened on the weekend as the GPS (Global Positioning Satellite)
service rolled over. The 19-year-old GPS internal calendar, which was
designed to last 1,024 weeks, rolled over on Saturday. Many people thought
this would be an example of what would happen with the Y2K problem.

Well, nothing happened. Orbital Sciences Corp., one of the major
manufacturers didn't even have any one at the office on Saturday they were
so confident that nothing would happen.

For more info:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-08/23/025l-082399-idx.html
My previous newsletter article:
http://www.pcimprovements.com/pcinews/archive/19990317.shtml


Internet Hoaxes
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The Internet is great. It has opened up a new world to most of us. But with
this comes some problems. One of the biggest is the distribution of email
chain letters that claim someone is in need and you can help. Or they claim
that by forwarding this email to a friend you will get a free computer (or
$1000, or free software, etc.). Well, the Department of Energy in the US has
a division called the Computer Incident Advisory Capability that has a web
site that lists many of these hoaxes and chain letters.

For more info:
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACChainLetters.html


Virus Hoaxes
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With all of the news that viruses like the Melissa virus and others get, I
think it makes us a little paranoid. There are many people who exploit this
paranoia and spread rumours of virus that don't really exist. This can waste
time and money when people try to protect themselves.

Well, the Symantec Antivirus Research Centre has a collection of web pages
that describe the viruses that without a doubt do NOT exist.

For more info:
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html


Ad Zappers
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Almost all of the major companies, and even many of the small ones, have
banner ads on their site. It could be for their own product or services. It
could be for a WebRing that they are in. It could be for anything. If these
don't interest you, then all they do is make the pages load slowly. Some
pages also use annoying Java or JavaScript that slow down your pages.

There was an excellent article in the Detroit Free Press about this problem
and some of the solutions. Most of the solutions are software based. I am
currently reviewing a program called InterMute that is supposed to stop all
of these things from appearing.

For more info:
http://www.freep.com/tech/qwebads15.htm


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SAME CONTEST
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Last week I shared the winning contest ideas, and said that I loved the idea
of an online scavenger hunt. It can be used in so many ways. I started one
last week, and not one single person sent in an answer. Either you didn't
notice it, or you couldn't take a couple of minutes. It doesn't really
matter to me. I can stop giving prizes and stop the contests. That would
actually be easier for me. We'll try this one more time.

It works like this:
You need to send me the URL of a web site(s) that contains the item(s) I am
looking for. You probably won't be able to find one web site; you will
probably need a separate URL for each thing.

The first person to do this will win their choice of one of the following:
-ZD QuickSkill Learn Microsoft Word 97 tutorial CD (very good tutorials)
-MSIE5 complete on CD (saves you from downloading it)
-Caldera OpenLinux 2.2 (one of the nicest Linux distributions I have used)
-Window Washer
-TweakDUN

Here is the list of things to find:
1) Information on the Epson 900 Color printer
2) The name of a program that will increase your CD-ROM cache
3) A site that will make free banners for you online (appears instantly, not
sent to you by email)
4) What is packet reading and writing for a CDR or CDRW
5) A site that has the option to send email greeting cards with a summer
theme

When you find all of these things, email me your name, email address and
answers only at editor@pcin.net and DO NOT email me which prize
you would like or your address. If you have won, I will contact you
requesting this information.


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I NEED HELP
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As many of you know, I offer a free help service via email. If you have a
question, you can email me and I will try my best to answer them. I can
answer about half of them. Those are things that I do regularly or have
experience with. There are other things that I have never tired or
experienced so I don't have an answer. I hope to post those questions here
and see if any of the readers have any suggestions. I will include all
reasonable suggestions with credit to you. I will not check the validity of
these comments. That is up to you.

No one answered last weeks questions, so here they are again:

New Questions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q1) I have an Acer Aspire Model#2771 and @home cable modem. @Home puts it's
files in 2 folders named @home and @home network. I cannot open any file in
either folder; it will crash the opening program, winfile, explorer, or my
computer. By accident I found a small file manager utility called FMedit95
that will open these files.
I made a folder named @text and put a few text files in it with the same
results. I renamed the folders Athome and Athome Network and they work OK
except when I try to open a program called @home Assistant, then it will
crash. I e-mailed Acer with the problem and they said you couldn't have a
folder or program that starts with the @ sign. Since @home has millions of
customers I find this hard to believe.
Any explanation on this will be greatly appreciated.

Q2) Been having a continuing problem with Rnaapp.exe locking up. It usually
happens as other programs or operations kick it out of memory and is
intermittent. Have tried Uninstall \ Reinstall Dun 1.3, IE5, and Windows
95(Over existing). Have looked for and tried patches for the various
programs and hardware on the computer. Any Ideas?

Q3) I have a spare 56K modem lying around. Is it possible to install it with
my present 56K so I can get the two modems to work together for more speed?
I am US Military in Germany, ISDN, and cable modems are not really an option
where I am at. One is a PCI and the other ISA. A friend thinks I'll need two
phone lines to do this. Any thoughts?


If you have any answers to these questions, please email me at
freehelp@pcin.net


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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
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More Keyboard Shortcuts
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I have included in this section before some of the keyboard shortcuts you
can use to access certain programs or features on your computer. A lot of
these use the newer keys on the keyboard meant for Windows 9x. Well,
Microsoft has a Knowledge Base article about some of these shortcuts. The
list isn't all of them, but it is a good start.

View the shortcuts at:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q126/4/49.asp


Browse Hard Drive Contents and Print from Browser
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Windows Explorer comes with a lot of great features, but there isn't an easy
way to print out the contents of a directory/folder. Here is one way you can
do it using a browser other than IE4 or IE5.

You can use your broswer to view the contents of your hard drive. When you
are in Netscape or Opera, you can put c:\ in the address bar and then
navigate through your hard drive. Since this is being viewed in your
browsers, you can print out the page just like you can any other web page.

This doesn't work in IE4 or IE5 since Microsoft integrated IE with the
operating system. As soon as you put in a local file in the address bar, the
interface looks the same, but it is running Windows Explorer, not IE.
Therefore you can't print.


Open in New Window
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When I am surfing the Net, I usually have 2 or 3 pages open. I get halfway
through an article and there is a link. I want to follow the link but I want
to finish the article. What do you do? Well, you could right-click on the
link, and choose the Open in New Window option. This works almost all of the
time. The link will open in a new window and you can continue reading the
article. The problem is that there is a JavaScript that can be used to
suppress the Right-Click menu. You can't access it. What do you do then?
Well, what I do all of the time, is hold down the SHIFT key and then click
on the link like normal. This will open the link in a new window. You can
use this even in the address bar (of IE at least).


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Lastly, send in your comments, tips and news and you too can be included in
The PC Improvement News with a reference to your name and web site.
Send email to pcinews@pcimprovements.com
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Well, that's all for this week. Remember that if there is anything that you
want to learn about, let me know and I will try to accommodate you. Also,
feel free to send any comments about the newsletters and the topics covered.
This newsletter is sent to those who subscribed only. We don't believe in
SPAM, so if you have somehow gotten this and you don't want it, please see
the subscribe/unsubscribe options at the start of the newsletter.

The PC Improvement News is brought to you by PC Improvements. The opinions
expressed are those of the editor, Graham Wing. PC Improvements and Graham
Wing accept no responsibility (either good or bad) for the results obtained
from trying the tips in this newsletter.
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Editor: Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net

Copyright 1999, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All rights reserved.
This publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part, as long as the
editor is notified.

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