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Issue 149 - August 22, 2001
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements ©2001
==== 2256 Subscribers in 57 Countries ====
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Welcome to the 149th issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN
consists mainly of news and tips. There is something for everyone,
and if this is your first issue, I'm sure there will be something
for you.
You can reach me at mailto:editor@pcin.net with any suggestions
or comments. If you give me two or three issues, I know that
you will come back for more!
Recommend PCIN at http://PCIN.net/recommend.shtml
Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.shtml
OPENING THOUGHTS
Thanks to everyone who sent in their comments and links regarding
System Restore in Windows ME. I'll be putting all of the comments
and links together on a web page for next week.
Last week I told you that my monitor died, so I yesterday
I went out and purchased a KDS VS-190i 19" monitor from
a local computer shop. It is very nice, and the price was
very reasonable.
Lastly, I think that next week will be my first venture into
the world of HTML newsletters. PCIN will have its first HTML
newsletter. There will not be a text newsletter anymore. If
you visit http://PCIN.net/archive/latest.shtml
and look at the main body of the newsletter and you will see
how the newsletter will look. I will be using HTML to supply
some basic colour, and it will also allow me to embed links
in the text rather than showing the entire link. We'll see
how it goes next week.
The NEWS
Web Pirates 'Ripping Off' Top Authors, Survey Says
"Internet pirates are ripping off the world's top
bestsellers, from Harry Potter to Stephen King, a Web monitoring
company said on Wednesday. Almost 7,500 copyrighted books
are available free and the publishing industry could be
faced with the same headaches that the free Napster downloading
system created for the music industry."
For more info:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=172381
At Home, but for how long?
"Troubles for Internet over cable provider At Home
Corp. reached a crescendo this week, but one analyst said
Canadian subscribers probably won't see an interruption
in Internet service.
At Home, whose public face is Excite@Home, supplies Internet
over cable for Canadian cable companies Rogers, Cogeco and
Shaw. On Monday, At Home's auditors expressed concern about
its ability to stay in business."
For more info:
http://www.itbusiness.ca/index.asp?theaction=61&sid=45820
http://news.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/0-9900-1028-6945393-0.html
Governors lobby Congress on online sales taxes
"The nation's governors are urging Congress to level
the playing field for Main Street businesses by extending
the moratorium on Internet access taxes, according to a
letter to Congress made public Monday.
In the letter, which was signed by 44 governors, Congress
is urged to extend the moratorium on taxing Internet access
only with authorization for the states to streamline and
simplify the existing sales tax system."
For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/08/22/online.sales.tax.idg/index.html
PCIN POLL of the WEEK
Here are the responses from the last poll:
Have you ever purchased a music CD because of music you
heard online (either using a program like Napster or with
streaming radio)?
No: 54.39%
Yes: 45.61%
Total Votes: 57
Visit http://pcin.net/polls/
to participate in the new poll this week:
How big is your computer monitor?
FREEHELP FORUM
Visit the PCIN FreeHelp Forum to post your questions or answer
others. Each week I highlight a question, and where to go
to get the answer.
Question
I am a newbie and having a lot of fun. I'm having a problem
defragmenting my C drive after Scandisc indicates no errors.
I get a message something like cannot access drive because
of errors, run Scandisc to repair errors. Anyone have any
experience with this problem?
Answer
Start SCANDISC. When SCANDISC opens make sure that AUTOMATICALY
FIX ERRORS has a check mark beside it. If it doesn't place
the mouse curser over the little box and click to place
a check mark there. This will fix any errors scandisc finds.
Also make sure that THOROUGH has a check mark beside it.
This performs the standard test and scans the disc surface
for errors. Once these two items have a check mark beside
them click START. After scandisc is finished run DEFRAG.
Defrag should run now.
Visit http://www.pcin.net/cgi-bin/forum/index.cgi
and check out the Software Forum to post your suggestion,
or to post a question of your own.
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
PCIN FreeHelp Headquarters
http://PCIN.net/help/
Archive of PCIN Polls
http://www.pcin.net/polls/2001/
Support PCIN
http://pcin.net/donate.shtml
THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
Cheap Trick of the Week
**Cache flow**
Windows uses some of your computer's memory as virtual cache,
which theoretically helps speed up certain tasks. However
it can also drain memory that you need to carry out your
own work. If you suspect you are losing too much memory
to cache, you can set limits to it.
This can be done by adding lines in the system.ini file.
In Windows 95 or 98 you can open all the .ini files by clicking
Start and Run, entering sysedit and clicking OK. In later
Windows, you may need to run Notepad (Start, Programs, Accessories,
Notepad) and open system.ini from within that program. It
should be found in your Windows folder.
In system.ini find the [vcache] section. Add the following
two lines (substituting the correct number for the formula
in the second line):
MinFileCache=0
MaxFileCache=Total MB of RAM / 4*1024
For example, if you have 64 megabytes of memory (RAM), then
the maximum amount of cache would be 64 divided by 4 times
1,024 = 16,384 kilobytes. The second line would therefore
read:
MaxFileCache=16384
These lines set virtual cache to a range from none to one-quarter
of your memory.
Save the file and reboot for this limit to take effect.
Get your own copy of "The Little Black Book of Cheap
Tricks: 2001" by visiting http://www.pcin.net/lbbct/
Tile or Cascade Selected Windows
When you right-click on an item in the Taskbar, you get
a context menu for that program window only. If you hold
the Control key down and click multiple items on the Taskbar,
you can select these multiple items. Then when you right-click,
you get a menu giving you an option to Tile, Cascade, Restore,
Maximize, Minimum or close these selected items.
Double-Decker Taskbar
Speaking of the Taskbar, don't forget that you can resize
the height of the taskbar. If you have the taskbar on the
bottom of the screen (as most people do), hover over the
edge of the taskbar and your cursor will change to a double
arrow. Drag the taskbar so that it is the size you want.
I keep my taskbar twice as high as the default. The top
row I have for my taskbar items (open programs, windows,
etc.) The bottom row has the Address bar (right click on
the taskbar, choose the Toolbars options, then choose Address)
and the Quick Launch toolbar.
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.
- Support PCIN by visiting http://www.pcin.net/donate.shtml
Graham Wing can be reached at mailto:editor@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2001, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All
rights reserved.
This publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part,
as long as the author is notified and the newsletter is presented
as is.
Support PCIN by visiting http://www.pcin.net/donate.shtml
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