Issue 106 - October 18, 2000

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements (c) 2000
==== 1162 Subscribers in 48 Countries ====

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Welcome to the 106th issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN consists of news, tips, thoughts, and contests. There is something for everyone, and if this is your first issue, I'm sure there will be something for you. I am willing to discuss any computer topic. Email me at mailto:editor@pcin.net with any suggestions. If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come back for more!

Recommend PCIN to others and be entered in a monthly draw. The October prize will be a copy of the book "HTML Goodies" by Joe Burns. Recommend PCIN at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml

OPENING THOUGHTS

My grandparents celebrated their 64th anniversary yesterday. They are both 83 years old and this go me thinking about how much things have changed in their and some of my elderly subscribers life. Technology is changing so much even from month; it is mind-boggling to think of how things have changed in the last century.

I'm a millionaire! Well, just a pretend one. My father and I made it through Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (the computer game). We had to use all our lifelines, but we still won.

I just wanted to recognize subscriber John Hills. He recently wrote an article for a magazine in the UK about computers for people who are quadriplegic. As he put it in the article, "I am a one-man band, building, mending, configuring, and selling PCs to all sorts or people. But without a doubt the most rewarding work I do is for those with spinal injuries." Good for you John :-)

Lastly, don't forget to recommend PCIN in the month of October. You could win a copy of "HTML Goodies" by Joe Burns. You can recommend PCIN at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml

The NEWS

To Vote or Not to Vote

From the Sm@rtPartner Magazine October 2, 2000 issue (by Eric Carr):
"First, Microsoft PR told us to mark our Calendar for a .NET technical workshop on Nov. 7 and 8 in Redmond. Next, they attempted to entice us with secrecy and goodies. 'The contents of the session are under NDA until we announce beta 1 of the product.'
Then they drop the bomb. 'We realize that Tuesday, Nov. 7 is Election Day and that voting is incredibly important. We'd encourage you to sign up for an absentee ballot in your area so that you can take part in this presidential election....'
Translation: Voting's important, but there's no freedom from Microsoft."

New Sony Dog Coming

Last summer, Sony's robot dog Aibo was released and it quickly sold out. I guess they figure Aibo is getting lonely, so they have announced that they will be creating another one. No details have been released yet, but with the demand there was for the last one, I'm sure it will be even higher for this one.

For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/10/05/sony.pet.reut/index.html

Banner Ad Museum

From the Computer World Canada October 6, 2000 issue:
"Some may think that banner ads are ineffective, but not SNX. The company has announced the official opening of BannerAdMuseum.com, a web site devoted to the exhibition and recognition of excellence in the creation and use of banner ads. The BannerAdMuseum.com now hosts a collection of Internet banner ads from around the world by category and strategy, along with background information and tools for evaluating banners."

For more info:
http://www.banneradmuseum.com/

I NEED HELP

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 most of them, but there are things that I have never tried or experienced so I don't have an answer. I post those questions here and see if any of the readers have any suggestions. I will include all reasonable suggestions with credit to you.
These are NOT my own questions and they are NOT my answers. I will NOT check the validity of these comments. That is up to you. If you do try one of these tips, please let me know how the suggestions worked out. Did they work or not? Please send in your questions or results to mailto:freehelp@pcin.net

Previous Questions

Q 105-01)

Search engines are variable and unreliable. Each depends on its own (limited) database. Metasearch engines can help, but they often compound the problems.
Can anyone suggest a source of info on the strengths and weaknesses of search engines, particularly geographically and by subject? Living in the UK, when I want to book a UK hotel, I do not want US info, and I want to use a search engine that specializes in hotels.

A 105-01)

John Hills said, "I use AltaVista UK http://uk.altavista.com/ which gives me the option of searching just UK or the entire planet.  This search engines is probably the most comprehensive but not the most user friendly. You could also try UK Plus http://ukplus.co.uk/ukplus/SilverStream/Pages/pgUKPlusHome.html which has found things for me when Lycos, Yahoo and others have missed them.
At the end of the day, I think search engines are a personal experience and what is good for one person, is a drag for another.  You will find that most ardent searchers use AltaVista and this search engine is normally rated the highest but that means nothing to someone who is happy with "Ask Jeeves", or would you believe it, "Dog Pile"."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob said, "No doubt others will suggest this but being an editor there, I feel semi-obligated to:-)
ODP is a good source. This category in particular may help:
http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/
The UK specific section seems to be pretty well built up. (Other than that I use Google for most any searching I do.)"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joe Crowe said, "Search engines are variable and unreliable. Each depends on its own (limited) database. Metasearch engines can help, but they often compound the problems. Can anyone suggest a source of info on the strengths and weaknesses of search engines, particularly geographically and by subject? Living in the UK, when I want to book a UK hotel, I do not want US info, and I want to use a search engine that specializes in hotels.
Answer: Here are a few links for search engines and how they work etc.
Search Engines In Review - http://www.blueangels.net/
A Helpful Guide To Search Engines - http://www.monash.com/spidap.html
Search Engines and How They Work - http://www.webreference.com/content/search/
The next site has a list of search engines and other info:
Virtual Search Engines - http://www.virtualfreesites.com/search.htm about halfway down the page you will find a list of search engines that are subject specific.
The next links are search engines that can be used to search for sites located in the UK.
Yahoo UK/Ireland - http://uk.yahoo.com/
AltaVista UK - http://uk.altavista.com/
Lycos UK - http://www.lycos.co.uk/
When using these search engines check the box beside Search UK."

Q 105-02)

I want to build a new computer, but I don't know what to do about the power supply. How do I plan for this? Is there a good resource online explaining power supplies?

A 105-02)

Rob said, "Each component you get whether it's a DVD drive, hard disc, modem, or whatever uses a given amount of power. It will have specs somewhere, probably at the manufacturer's website, of how many Watts it requires. Just add them up. Perhaps more important might be the quality of power supply you get. Also, power supplies are often sold with the computer case.
Chances are a 300W supply is going to be more than adequate unless you have a Full size tower you plan to pack full of equipment. But you don't want the thing to die on you on a hot day. I got an Antec with a built in thermostat controlled fan.
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/subjects/71/ may help."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kenneth Aspinwall said, "You can find some info at http://www.ehow.com/eHow/eHow/0,1053,8229,FF.html and http://www.computerhope.com/help/ps.htm#01 "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Hills said, "Power sources for the home PC normally range from 150watts to 300watts in Europe anyway. Generally speaking, the bigger the case the bigger the power supply required to run the amount of stuff that you can physically fit in. Therefore, a micro tower would get by on a 200watts psu because the amount of gear you can stick in is extremely limited and a full tower system 250w-300w. The most common one is 230w but as you appear to have an option, go for the 250w, which gives you plenty in hand. Of course, if you intend to link in the lawn mower and dishwasher, go for the 300w. You can also buy AMD approved psu's, which means they have been tested by AMD and approved by them for running AMD processors. As I try and avoid Intel chips at all costs and stick with AMD, this is my preferred power unit when I have the chance to get one. Obviously costs a couple of quid more for the name. It is also advisable not to daisy chain the monitor into the power unit even though some have a power socket specifically for this purpose. Much better to stick the monitor directly into a main socket.
Another point is that many psu's have a little red switch to swap between USA voltage and European voltage. I think USA voltage is around the 110v whilst in UK it is 240v. As you can see, it is much easier to bump your mother in law off with UK voltage than using USA voltage and should you use US voltage in UK then it will blow the psu and/or the mainboard. Worth checking this little red switch before you turn on the power.
Bottom line is, the more you pay the better quality you get."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert Nelson said, "A power supply usually comes with the case. A good resource is http://www.maximumpc.com/ there are two articles one deals with replacing one that has gone bad on an existing machine and other reviews several power supplies.
If the power supply comes with the case, make sure it is at least 250watts and preferably 300watts."

New Questions

Q 106-01)

We have installed Windows ME on a computer. We still use some DOS programs that need some settings in the autoexec.bat and config.sys files. But when I empty that files and reboot Windows ME, the files are filled with standard setting for Windows ME. How can I change the autoexec.bat file, and empty the standard contents, without windows ME changing this every time?

Q 106-02)

When I open the Recycle Bin and while the bin seems to be empty, when I hit the button to "empty" the contents--it says it can't delete the 240 files because it says that the file "DC122" is either write-protected, full or currently in use. I found a way to see what's in the bin--and it has many "DC files" and they have many GIF files in them. My question: How can I delete these 240 "invisible" files in my recycle bin?

If you have an answer to these questions or have a question of your own, please email me at mailto:freehelp@pcin.net

THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Cheap Trick of the Week

**History buffer**
Want to quickly go back to a site you were on last night? If you have Web History on your Start menu, you can do this. Here's how to set it up:
Right-click on the Start button and select Explore. You should land in Windows Explorer with the Start Menu folder open within the Windows folder. Right-click in the right pane and select New and Folder from the context menu. This creates an item called New Folder. Click to select the name and type Web History.{FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-4445 53540000} as its new name. (There are no spaces, there is a period after "History", those funny brackets are found above the square brackets on your keyboard, and those are zeros - not letter O's - in the long string of characters.) Press Enter and the folder name will collapse to "Web History".
Close Explorer, click the Start button and you'll find Web History on the menu.
Now you can select from this menu any site previously visited online. Provided your Internet connection is set up properly, your browser will open, you'll log on, and you'll go right to that Web page.

More on Norton SystemWorks Complaint

Last week I mentioned the problem that a subscriber had had with Norton SystemWorks. Alec Thompson then emailed me to let me know that he had a similar problem and it was fixed by uninstalling CrashGuard. There are some good tips in all of this. Norton certainly isn't the only company that has software that doesn't always agree with your system. Last week I mentioned that you might be able to run the software without actually installing it. Alec's comment this week reminded me how often we choose to install the Full product as part of the setup routine. This isn't always the case. If you don't need everything, then choose a custom install and only install the components that you will need. You may find that by not installing everything your system runs better.

How Fast is Fast?

Subscriber Chris Empey sent me this:
"I came across the following site http://computingcentral.msn.com/topics/bandwidth/speedtest500.asp that will let your readers test the speed of their internet connection. I tested it at work (a dual channel, 128k ISDN line) and it recorded a speed of about 112Kbps. At home on my cable connection, I have registered speeds from 1140Kbps to 1750 Kbps."

Force Hardware Redetection

Several weeks/months ago, I shared a tip on how to force your hardware to be redetected by changing the Hardware Profiles. Well, there is another way. Open the Registry Editor (regedit) and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and erase the entire Enum key. This will force redetection of all of the hardware. I tried this on my Compaq laptop and it worked just as expected. Just make sure that you have all of your driver disks nearby, as it totally wipes out any existing hardware setups.

DISCLAIMER and OTHER STUFF

PCIN 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 for the results obtained from trying the tips in this newsletter.

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Copyright 1998-2000, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All rights reserved. This publication may be reproduced in hole, or in part, as long as the author is notified and the newsletter is presented as is.

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