The PC Improvement News
Issue 1-17
February 03, 1999

ISSN 1488-3163
Published electronically by PC Improvements (c) 1999
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Welcome to the 17th 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.

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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None


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THE NEWS
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Internet World Canada 1999 and ISPCON Canada 1999
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Well, I spent the day at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre attending the
two conferences mentioned above.

Let me tell you, if I didn't believe all of the "experts" when they say
that e-commerce is the next big thing, I certainly believe them now. Out
of the 200 or so exhibits I visited, I'd say that at least half of the
exhibitors were promoting some kind of e-commerce solution.

The day was good, but I was surprised that some of the "bigger" companies
weren't there. Both Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard were co-sponsors of
booths, but there was nothing there that they were promoting themselves.

Of course, most importantly, I got 2 t-shirts, 5 CD-ROMs, 3 separate
magazine subscriptions, and countless other sample magazines and
newspapers, all free. Not a bad haul!


How can you make money from losing money?
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One of the things that I just don't get is why everone is so hooked on
Amazon.com. This is a company that has a lot of sales, but also loses
more than it takes in. But for some reason, every stock trader wants a
piece of them. Amazon.com announced that their fourth quarter net sales
were $252.9 million, but their total losses reached $124.5 million. How a
business can live like that, I just can't figure out.

Read the article for more info:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/news/articles/990127-1.shtml


What's up with Microsoft?
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Every week, I will provide several links to articles about the Microsoft
case with the DOJ. I will provide no editorial comments, other than this.
I think that Microsoft should give every company a chance to compete, but
I don't think that they should be under such intense scrutiny as they are
right now. People complain about the Starr report costing so much money.
Well, this DOJ case won't be cheap for either side, and I don't really
think that anything will come from this. A waste of time!

Links:
Microsoft Misses Its First Shot
http://www.businessweek.com/microsoft/updates/up90129a.htm
Cyber Trial of the Century
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/special/msdojtrial.html
**Check this site out often as it is updated daily as new case information
becomes available**


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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
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Do you defragment your hard drive regularly?
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It is a good idea to run Defrag regularly on your computer, especially if
you use your computer a lot. When the computer opens and closes files, it
moves them around the hard drive, and so the next time the computer wants
to open it, it has to look in several places. Defrag will put everything
back in order again.

When you run defrag, remember not to use the computer. You can't have
anything running while Defrag runs. If another program is running and has
modified even 1 byte of the hard drive, then the defrag program will
restart. Possible enemies are anti-virus programs, other memory resident
programs that load with Norton Utilities, McAfee Nuts
& Bolts, and other of those types of utilities.

I would suggest before running defrag, you close all applications. If the
virus checker has been running continuously, then you can feel safe that
your hard drive is virus free, and there shouldn't be a problem turning it
off for a short period of time. When you have closed everything, then
press Control-Alt-Delete, and terminate any thing that is listed there
that looks like it isn't needed. Everything should then run fine.

Also, remember to make sure you don't use the computer while defrag is
running.


Changing your file associations
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In the November 25, 1998 issue I gave a tip about how to change what
program is used to open certain file types. For instance, when
you double-click on a file with a .doc extension, Microsoft Word will
automatically open it. You can change it though to another program.
The link above tells you how to do it manually.

There is also a program available to download from the PC Magazine site
called "Freedom of Association" that lets you change which program opens
up what kind of file. Visit
http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/17/12/ut1712.001.html to read
about it. Thanks to Pat G. for the idea.


If you are bored...
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If you have some time to kill, you can drop by the Useless Knowledge web
site at http://www.uselessknowledge.com and see how much brain space is
being filled up by knowing that Mexico City has 60,000 taxis.

Read the article for more info
http://www.uselessknowledge.com/index.shtml


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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 editor@pcin.net
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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.
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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
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