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Issue 206 - September 25, 2002
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2002
==== 2181 Subscribers in 57 Countries ====
Welcome to the 206th 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. If you give me two or three
issues, I know that you will come back for more!
You can reach me at editor@pcin.net with
any suggestions or comments.
Recommend PCIN at http://PCIN.net/recommend.php
Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.php
CONTENTS
OPENING THOUGHTS
Lots of news about Dell this week. There is even a comparison to Microsoft
in the way they are trying to get into all areas of the PC market. Dell makes
great products for great prices, but they do seem to be bullying the hardware
suppliers.
Have you noticed how nothing exciting has happened in the PC industry for quite
some time? CPUs are getting faster, prices are falling, screen sizes are increasing,
but there has been nothing new and innovative for too long. Hopefully the R&D
departments will get busy!
Graham editor@pcin.net
and Chris chris@pcin.net
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The NEWS
Dell Makes Its Move Into Printer Market
"After months of speculation, Dell Computer finally made its move into
the lucrative printer market Tuesday, inking an agreement with Lexmark to
produce Dell printers and setting up a battle with HP for supremacy in the
printer market.
The agreement with Lexmark, the No. 2 printer manufacturer, calls for the
company to develop and produce Dell inkjet and laser printers, along with
peripherals. The printers will be sold to customers using Dell's vaunted direct-sales
model, beginning in the first half of 2003."
For more info:
http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/1469101
Also
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/09/24/020924hndelllexmark.xml
3Com next to drop Dell as reseller
"3COM terminated a long-standing agreement that allowed Dell Computer
to sell 3Com networking gear, becoming the third supplier since July to cancel
a reseller agreement with Dell as the PC maker ventures into new markets.
'Dell has made it clear that it aspires to gain market share in networking,
and 3Com won't help Dell legitimize its sales offering with 3Com's products
or 3Com's channel program benefits,' Catriona Parker, a 3Com spokeswoman,
said Monday. Dell was notified on Wednesday and has to stop selling 3Com products
as soon as possible, she said."
For more info:
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/09/23/020923hndellnetworking.xml
Is Dell the Next Microsoft?
"In a business traditionally built on partnerships and cooperation,
Dell Computer seems bent on making more enemies than friends of late.
In July, Hewlett-Packard terminated a four-year reseller agreement with Dell
that reportedly brought HP as much as US$100 million per year in revenue.
The companies, which have long been rivals in the personal computer market,
parted ways after word leaked that Dell intended to make and sell its own
line of printers and other peripheral devices.
Earlier this month, Dell lost another longtime partner when Cisco Systems
announced that effective in October, Dell no longer would be authorized to
sell Cisco data switches. Like HP, Cisco acted after Dell announced plans
to offer similar products under its own brand name.
Is Dell taking a page from the Microsoft handbook -- one that eventually will
see it standing alone?"
For more info:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/19448.html
University students see change in forms of spammers' e-mails
"Adie Ellis '04 gets about 30 spam e-mails per day.
Late last spring she replied to a piece of junk mail asking to be removed
from the list. But that only exacerbated the problem.
She has resigned herself to hitting the delete button.
Some schools, like the Iowa State University, are required to sell their lists
by state law."
For more info:
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2002/09/19/news/5367.shtml
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
What steps do you take to backup your data?
Full system backups 17.35
% (17)
Backup important files only to CD or other media 44.90 % (44)
Copy files to another drive on the same computer 15.31 % (15)
I don't do backups 22.45 % (22)
Total votes: 98
This Week's Poll
Visit http://PCIN.net/polls/
to vote on the web site rather than from here.
FREEHELP FORUM
Visit the new and improved PCIN FreeHelp Forum at http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php
to post your questions or answer others.
Question
Can anyone explain the use of the file MSGSRV32.EXE. It resides in windows\system
directory on my Win98SE OS. Every so often my computer slows w-a-y down, and
the cursor motion is jerky and the hourglass symbol is blinking. When I do
a ctrl/alt/del to check on what's running, I see, among other things, "msgsrv32
(not running)". If I delete it the problem clears up immediately.
Response
This behavior can occur when power management is enabled, and you have issues
with programs not responding correctly to power management commands, for example,
screen saver programs.
To work around this behavior, use the following steps:
Quit any running programs, and then test to determine if a specific program
is causing this behavior. If you quit all running programs and the issue is
resolved, one of the programs that was running is the cause of this behavior.
If this does not resolve the issue, continue to step 2.
NOTE: This issue is often caused by screen saver programs.
Disable power management. To do so, click Start, point to Settings, click
Control Panel, and then double-click Power.
In the Power Management box, click Off (or click the "Allow windows to
manage power on this computer" check box to clear it).
Click OK.
Restart your computer.
If the behavior continues to occur, follow these additional steps:
In Control Panel, double-click System.
On the Device Manager tab, double-click the System Devices branch to expand
it.
Double-click Advanced Power Management Support.
On the Settings tab, click the Enable Power Management Support check box to
clear it, and then click OK.
Click OK.
Restart your computer when you are prompted to do so.
To post a response, visit the General Software Help forum at http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php?board=3
and click on the "msgsrv file" subject.
Visit http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php
to post a question of your own.
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
PCIN.net Search
http://PCIN.net/search.php
Some Useful Registry Tips
http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.shtml
PCIN.net FreeHelp Forum Update
(I've updated the forum and there is a new calendar feature. If you go and
edit your profile to add your birthday, it will show up on a public calendar.
Kind of neat!)
http://PCIN.net/help/forum/
Outback Plus 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/outbackplus3.php
THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
Happy Anniversary Microsoft Access!
"Join us for the 10-year anniversary celebration of Microsoft Access,
and the launch of the new Access Development Center on MSDN. Released in November
1992, Access is now the world's leading desktop database solution, used by
millions of people worldwide.
Thank you for making Access such a success."
Visit http://www.microsoft.com/office/access/10years/default.asp
Email Options
If you use Outlook as your email client, chances are you don't use a lot
of the options that are there. For instance, while composing a message, from
the View menu, choose Options. Some of the useful options are:
- Have the reply address different from the from address
- Delay delivery of a message
- Set an expiry date and time for a message
- Set message tracking options
The power and flexibility, as well as the many options, are why I use Outlook
at work, and at home.
Enjoy the Weather
Chris and I were talking about what we could use for a third tip. He says
that we're halfway through September and there isn't much time left for the
good weather, so turn off your computer and go outside!
(not until you've read PCIN though)
DISCLAIMER and
OTHER STUFF
PCIN is brought to you by Graham Wing. The opinions expressed are those of
the Editor, Graham Wing and the Assistant Editor, Chris Empey. Graham Wing
and Chris Empey 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.
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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 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.php
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2002, 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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