Issue 240 - May 21, 2003

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2224 Subscribers in 61 Countries ====

Welcome to the 240th 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

They weather has been fantastic lately so I've been busy with my digital camera. I've taken some more pictures of Niagara Falls, as well as Ball's Falls. I'll have the pictures up on the AccessNiagara.com site sometime in the next week or two.

Another week, another review. This week I finished a review for DeskLook 2.0 by XemiComputers Ltd. It is a tool that shows your Outlook Today data on your desktop. Read the The Tips and Other Stuff section for more.

Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net

The NEWS

Prescription for Privacy

Information about you is everywhere, and you have no control over how most of it is used.
Your medical records are particularly sensitive. If companies got a hold of your records, they could use your medical history against you.
Imagine employers using your info to determine whether to offer you a job, or insurance companies using your history to determine rate quotes. Some people could even use your medical records to guess your sexual orientation.

For more info:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/Living/techtv_medprivacy030519.html

Technology Takes Its Lumps

If our list of the 25 fastest-growing big companies had been published in 1999, it would have looked much different. Companies like Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems and Oracle would have made the cut. But today there are only two big tech companies growing quickly enough to make our list: Dell Computer and Microsoft.
Dell, which is changing its name to Dell Inc. to reflect diversification beyond PCs, can seemingly do no wrong. It has gained market share and increased sales and profits through the worst technology-spending slump in its 17-year history. Competitors privately gripe that Dell walks around with a halo, garnering nothing but glowingly positive news and analyst reports. Unfortunately for them, the praise is justified.

For more info:
http://www.forbes.com/2003/05/20/cx_ld_0520biggrowth.html

Pressplay To Become Napster

Less than two years after going live as a legal alternative to the rogue file-sharing program Napster, the Pressplay digital music service has been acquired by Roxio (Quote, Company Info) and will be relaunched as Napster.
Roxio, known mostly for CD and DVD recording software, announced Monday it would shell out about $40 million in cash and stock to acquire Pressplay's distribution infrastructure and music licensing, which was previously a 50-50 joint venture between Universal Music and Sony Music Entertainment.

For more info:
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/2208791

Return to the top Recommend PCIN News

POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

Do you defrag your hard drive(s) regularly?

Yes, I use the built-in Windows defrag utility 55.41 % (87)
Yes, I use a freeware defrag utility 10.19 % (16)
Yes, I've purchased a defrag utility 24.20 % (38)
No, I've never been able to get it to work right 3.18 % (5)
No, I did, but it didn't help 0.64 % (1)
No, I don't think I need to 5.10 % (8)
What does defrag mean? 1.27 % (2)
Total votes: 157

This Week's Poll

Do you access the Internet (email or web) on your cell phone?

Yes
I can, but don't
I can't, but wish I could
No
Why would any want to do that?

You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/

Return to the top Recommend PCIN Poll of the Week

PCIN.net FREEHELP FORUM

Visit the PCIN.net FreeHelp Forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/ to post your questions or answer others.

Question

Something recently happened with my internet-connection, and I don´t know what is causing it.
I have 3 web-browsers: Explorer, Netscape and Opera.
1) None of these will now connect to the internet directly, that is: The "password/username" box that I need to connect to my ISP do not appear when I start the browsers.
2) If I "manually" connect to my ISP, and THEN start the browsers, Netscape and Opera WILL work, but Internet Explorer will not.
3) The same with Outlook Express. When I start it directly, it will not show the "password/username" box. When I connect manually to my ISP, and then start the program, it will work.

Response

In Internet Explorer choose Tools > Internet Options... > [Connections] tab, and choose "Always dial my default connection" and {OK}. (Make sure you default connection is the right one)

To post a response, visit the General Software Help forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=3 and click on the "Problems with Internet connection/Browsers" topic.

Visit http://PCIN.net/help/forum/ to post a question of your own.

Return to the top Recommend PCIN FreeHelp Forum

PCIN.net UPDATE

Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:

XemiComputers Ltd. DeskLook 2.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/desklook2.php

Executive Software Diskeeper 7.0 Second Edition Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/diskeeper7se.php

Logitech Cordless Freedom Optical Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/lcfo.php

Some Useful Registry Tips - Now 171 Tips!
http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.php

Return to the top Recommend PCIN.net Update

THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Outlook Performance Tips

"The ability to communicate by e-mail is an absolute necessity for doing business today. So, ensuring optimal performance of your e-mail client is critical. In response to this need, Microsoft has built performance improvements into the latest release of its personal information manager and communication solution - Microsoft Outlook® version 2002. This white paper provides network administrators and Outlook users with technical background information on the factors that affect performance, discusses the improvements in performance in Outlook 2002, and provides recommendations for optimizing performance for a variety of scenarios. Find out how these recommendations can help you or your organization."
Download the Word document at http://www.microsoft.com/office/outlook/evaluation/performance.asp

Charting Free vs Used Drive Space

This tip was featured in a recent WinXPNews newsletter. To view a pie chart showing your hard drive breakdown of free space vs. used space, in Windows Explorer right click on the drive icon and choose properties. To view a pie chart for all of your drives, select the drives you want to show while holding down your control key then right click and choose properties. Now you will have a separate tab for each drive. This worked for me in Windows 98, 2000 and XP.

XemiComputers Ltd. DeskLook 2.0 Software Review

"How many times a day do you check your email each day? If you're like most people, you check several times a day, and most likely have your email open all day checking constantly automatically. Email is critical to the success of business and to the enjoyment of individuals and families. Because of this, I'm always on the lookout for tools to enhance your email usage. In the past we've reviewed Annotis Mail (enhanced email authoring) and Outback Plus (email client configuration back up). DeskLook 2.0 by XemiComputers Ltd. is a system tray utility that uses desktop wallpaper to display data it reads directly from Microsoft Outlook."
Read the full review at http://PCIN.net/help/software/desklook2.php

Return to the top Recommend PCIN Tips and Other Stuff

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.

  1. If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have to cut and paste.
  2. You can only win one contest every 30 days.
  3. To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://PCIN.net/ and follow the appropriate links.
  4. Recommend PCIN to others at http://PCIN.net/recommend.php and be entered in a monthly draw.
  5. There are only 3 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, you have requested FreeHelp from me in the past, or you have registered with the FreeHelp Forum.
  6. 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.
  7. Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php

Return to the top

Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net

Copyright 1998-2003, 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://PCIN.net/donate.php

PC Improvement News Home Page

PC Improvement News Archive