|
Issue 119 - January 17, 2001
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements ©2000
==== 1371 Subscribers in 50 Countries ====
Subscribe/Unsubscribe/View Archives at http://www.pcin.net/
Welcome to the 119th 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.
Recommend PCIN in January and win a copy of the book "The
Unauthorized Guide to Windows ME" by Paul McFedries.
The more you recommend PCIN the more chance you have to win.
Recommend PCIN now at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml
OPENING THOUGHTS
I know that there are many subscribers who live within a
couple of hours of Niagara Falls. I've had a couple of these
subscribers suggest that we have some sort of get together.
I've put it off for a while, but if there are enough people
interested in this area, then I could plan something. If you
live close enough to come to a summer BBQ or something like
that, then please email me to let me know that you are interested.
For those people interested, I'd also like to hear what you'd
be interested in doing/discussing/seeing while here.
To keep you all up-to-date, Lisa and I signed over our lives
today (we met with the lawyer to sign the final house papers),
and we take possession of the house on Friday. The computer
where the Niagara Falls wallpaper is on will be moved the
a week later, and there will be a new IP address, so it may
take a few days to get all of the DNS records updated. If
you try to access the pictures over the next week or two and
it isn't available, try again later. I will let everyone know
when the computer is up and running again.
Lastly, don't forget to recommend PCIN in the month of January
and have a chance to win a copy of the book "The Unauthorized
Guide to Windows ME" by Paul McFedries. Recommend PCIN
now at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml
The NEWS
AOL Membership Passes 27 Million
"AOL Time Warner Inc. (AOL) said Tuesday the worldwide
membership of its flagship AOL Internet service has surpassed
the 27-million member milestone.
On Christmas Day, the company said, AOL broke its single-day
record for membership growth. gaining more than 70,000 new
subscribers worldwide -- over 30 percent more than on Christmas
Day 1999. In the U.S., AOL added more than 56,000 subscribers,
and the international AOL services grew by about 14,000
members."
For more info:
http://news.excite.com/news/r/010116/08/net-tech-americaonline-dc
What is IT?
I'm sure many of you have heard about this, but there has
been a rumour going around about a device called Ginger
or IT that would revolutionize the world. Supposed Jeff
Bezos and Steve Jobs that it was incredible. There was half-million
dollar book in the works. All sorts of hype.
Well, the inventor, Dean Kamen has finally commented on
the situation:
"Kamen, who had remained quiet initially, issued a
statement late on Friday saying that several of the comments
cited in the book proposal had been taken out of context.
Harvard Business School Press has declined to comment on
any plans for such a book.
'The leaked proposal quoted several prominent technology
leaders out of context, without their doubts, risks and
maybes included,' Kamen said in a statement issued late
on Friday. 'This, together with spirited speculation about
the unknown, has led to expectations that are beyond the
mere whimsical.'"
For those interested, the links below are to the current
stories, other of Kamen's inventions, and the patent application
for this new device.
For more info:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-201-4460449-0.html?tag=st.ne.ron.lthd.sf
http://www.delphion.com/cgi-bin/viewpat.cmd/WO00075001A1
http://www.msnbc.com/news/285231.asp?cp1=1
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/computing/01/15/ginger.folo.reut/index.html
Allaire and Macromedia to Merge
Two of the major web development software firms are merging,
after having a close strategic partnership for years. Allaire,
the makers of HomeSite and ColdFusion (dynamic web pages
similar to Microsoft's Active Server Page) will merge with
Macromedia, the makers of Dreamweaver, and Flash.
Jeremy Allaire, CTO of Allaire, said "We've partnered
closely with Macromedia for many years, and I've found they
share our vision and passion for working with developers,
building great products, and driving innovation in the Internet
industry. Fundamentally, this merger is about creating a
company that will provide the products and services you
need to be successful. As a combined company, we'll deliver
a comprehensive product family of tools and servers for
building the next generation of solutions on the Web. The
combined company, known as Macromedia, will focus on delivering
world-class software for the web professional."
For more info:
http://www.allaire.com/handlers/index.cfm?id=19390&method=full
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 118-01
I have some floppy discs from my office with important
info, they were saved on a brother word processor in WPT
format i cannot open them in WordPad. Is it possible to
open these files in any program on my PC with Windows?
A 117-01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leeor Geva said, "If you open them using Notepad
you may be able to see the non-formatted text (meaning
without underlines, bold, Italics, and whatever formatting
can be done with the brother word processor). Furthermore,
you can contact brother and ask them if they have any
converters available to view the file(s) in Word or so,
or if they have any viewers/editors for the PC."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** said, "You _will_ be able to open the files, whether
or not you can read them is another matter. The problem
(if i understand you correctly) is that you want to transfer
data from two totally different types of machines. I assume
that you can see the file on the disk. How else would
you know the format? WordPad actually is probably the
best first option to try. If you say word can open the
file as in - it shows you garbage on the screen, it would
seem you're out of luck as it has opened and is showing
you what it found.
If you cant see the file on the disk when looking through
WordPad, but you can through 'my computer' or however
else you may look at the disk, then whilst trying to look
at the file in WordPad click on the rectangle just right
of "files of type" and select all documents,
probably at the bottom. Now you should be able to see
and select you file.
If you don't understand what you see when WordPad opens
the file, then if you're in luck you may be able to find
a program to read such a disk on the Internet. A good
place to start for such would be at the Brother home page
- http://www.brother.com/
"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chuck said, "The Brother Word Processors come with
a floppy disk that has conversion software to convert
Brother WP files to Win95 Text files. These converters,
I believe, can be downloaded from Brother's web site.
I had a customer that had the same problem. We converted
her Brother files to MSWord 6 files when she converted
from the Brother word processor to a computer for writing
a book."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kris Roudebush said, "There is a program called Conversions
Plus that will convert almost anything to almost any format.
It retails for about $60.00."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Hills said, "No. You may find a converter program
on the Brother Web Site."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chaz said, "There used to be some programs for the
PC (and some word processors) could convert files (ASCII/text)
from other computers. Short of trying to hunt for those
from then and/or available today, you won't have much
luck in reading those floppies for the fact that their
data structure is different than that of IBM/IBM compatibles
- such as the placement of directory entries. If you are
"computer savvy", you could - as I've done in
the past - use a program (or create your own) that does
"direct track" reads of the disk (a kind of
disk editor). With some time involved, you could transfer
your files over to your IBM where you can edit/view/save
them. The other option would be to use a Brother WP to
read and make a hard copy of the file(s) and then hand
enter them into your IBM.
If these files are critical to you, I do have a legacy
Brother WP that I might be able help you with your needs
(confidentially, of course). You may submit your request/needs
to mailto:chaz@keymail.com"
Q 118-02
I purchased a computer with a cd rom drive and no empty
bays. I want a cd writer to use. Am I better off removing
the cd rom drive (48x) and installing an internal writer
or leaving the cd-rom and buying an external writer (4x4x6)?
A 118-02)
Chuck said, "I recommend getting a BackPack Kit
for either the CD R/W or the original CD. The kit will
work for either. If the original CD Rom is not multi-read
capable it should be replaced. Non Multi-read CD-ROMs
cannot read some CD R/W cds. Also, adding the CD R/W this
way instead of just replacing the old CD allows for duplication
of CD's for distribution if needed."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** said, "my personal choice would be 'c', assuming
that you have a tower kind of case (i.e. one that the
screen does not sit on) - take and leave the case off
perch your current cd-rom precariously on top of the case
with you shiny new burner screwed in (as long as your
cable takes two drives - it should).
Otherwise ditch the current cd-rom; you can use the cash
from it to help buy the burner that will do everything
and more the cd-rom can do. Note: Making sure you always
have enough room on you hard drive to copy a cd to will
make your life a lot smoother, good luck."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VJ said, "It is definitely better to leave the CD-ROM
drive in it's bay and buy an external CD-Writer. You do
NOT want to overuse the CD-Writer for mere reading CD's
as CD-ROM's can only last about 2/3 years (but then CD-ROM's
are cheap, so easily replaceable). So when you invest
in a CD-Writer, which are expensive, you must use it ONLY
to write CD's. The best deal of all is an external USB
CD-Writer, as there is no compromise on speed and reliability.
Plus you got a 48X CD-ROM, which is very fast, so rather
use that for reading CD's."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leeor Geva said, "The only reason why I would get
an external is if I didn't feel like opening up my box,
or if I had other computers around that would be able
to use the cd-writer. You could also take it with you
where ever you go :-) I guess the most ideal way to deal
with your 'dilemma' is remove the cd rom, install the
cd writer and sell the CDROM on eBay, maybe you can get
like $40 for it :-)"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Hills said, "I think you should go for an internal
as you can get much faster ones which copy more reliably.
This does mean of course that if you wanted to copy from
another CD, then you would obviously have to swap CD's
to achieve this."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chaz said, "Being "better off" is a personal
preference. When I installed my writer, I left my reader-only
in the system. I now have the 48x reader and the writer
available for CD-to-CD functions. As far as using and
internal vs. external is also a personal choice. You might
consider these two options in order for you to decide:
(1) - Internal keeps all my peripherals compact and easily
relocatable
(2) - External allows me to use the writer on more than
one computer if/when I need one."
New Questions
Q 119-01
I have some files on a CDRW that I wish to transfer to
my hard drive. When I try to do so, I get a message that
reads "unable to copy files. The device does not
recognize the command"
I am using a Yamaha CRW 6416SZ SCSI 2 cd writer with and
Adaptec AHA-2940 SCSI card.
I have done this exact type of file transfer before with
no problems.
I took the disc to a friend's house and put it in his
cd-rom and had no trouble copying the files at all. I
have updated the CDRW driver, but not the SCSI card driver
or the BIOS (not that brave yet).
Q 119-02
How often should I run defrag?
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
Troubleshooting Shutdown Problems
This is a very common problem with Windows. You try to
shut down properly, and it freezes or just never shuts down.
Well, there are a couple of things you can do:
The first one is to record a bootlog at startup. It will
record things as they are loaded and should record any errors.
Here are a couple of articles you should check out regarding
this:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q127/9/70.asp
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nav.nsf/c9193164d07
a9a0f8525667a0055a1f1/d0003f644074742ac12566d0003fc
334?OpenDocument
I realize that this is a startup solution, but this may
pinpoint any thing that isn't loading properly and is therefore
making it harder to shutdown.
The second one is to use the PMTShoot utility. This is the
Power Management Troubleshooter. It runs in the background
and records activity when you try to shut down your computer.
It will record what devices are responding correctly and
which ones aren't. You can learn more about this at:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/windows/readme/win98SE/
w98sepmtshoottxt.asp
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q185/9/49.ASP
(You can download it from this link)
Online Freebies
The newspaper/magazine that brought you Cheap Tricks also
has a section called "I Wanna Get a Freebie" where
they highlight free software. There is a regular "Freebie
of the Week" and there are also Freebies in other categories.
Check it out at http://www.we-compute.com/freebies.html
(NOTE: Please do not send me links to all sorts of "free
stuff" sites. I chose to include this because it is
well done and is computer related)
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.
- If any of the links are too long to fit on one line,
you may have to cut and paste.
- You can only win one contest every 30 days.
- To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit
http://www.pcin.net/
and follow the appropriate links.
- Recommend PCIN to others at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml
and be entered in a monthly draw.
- 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.
- If you have a web site or run your own newsletter, please
email me at mailto:editor@pcin.net
and I will add it to the subscriber web pages that I have
on my site.
Graham Wing can be reached at mailto:editor@pcin.net
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.
PC Improvement
News Home Page
PC Improvement News Archive
|
