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Issue 222 - January 15, 2003
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2042 Subscribers in 56 Countries ====
Welcome to the 222nd 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
After a very long delay, I finally completed the review for Paragon Hard Disk
Manager 5.5. It is a software suite that has products similar to PowerQuest's
PartitionMagic and Drive Image or Drive Copy. Details are in the Tips
and Other Stuff section below, but I still wanted to let you know how great
a product it is. If you need a product to resize, create, delete, or copy partitions,
then you should definitely check it out.
Everything is going well with Lisa and Andrew. I forgot to mention the great
pictures we had taken of Andrew. Chris (Assistant Editor) is also a hobby photographer,
and came over with a complete setup and took pictures of Andrew. We then used
those pictures to put together some gifts for our family. They look great! You
can check them out at http://wingfamily.ca/lisagraham/Andrew/20021214a/index.html
or http://wingfamily.ca/lisagraham/Andrew/20021214b/index.html
Graham editor@pcin.net
and Chris chris@pcin.net
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The NEWS
Governments to see Windows code
"Microsoft will share the source code underlying its Windows operating
system with several international governments, a move designed to address
concerns about the security of the OS.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant, which dominates the market for desktop
software, has signed deals or expects to shortly with 10 countries and organizations,
Salah DanDan, worldwide GSP manager, said in an interview.
'The GSP is the global initiative announced today that seeks to provide governments
with access to source code and information that governments need to be confident
in the security of the Microsoft platform,' DanDan said."
For more info:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-980666.html
A Microsoft Watch Will Provide Much More Than Time
"Microsoft, continuing its effort to extend its reach beyond computers,
today introduced designs for a new class of watch that gives more than the
time and a pocket audio and video player.
The designs, which will be available from several manufacturers by the end
of the year, were presented by Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates, in a speech
today that opened the annual International Consumer Electronics Show here.
But even as the company extends its reach to new devices, Microsoft's vision
is closely linked to the computer. Both the watch - which can provide weather
information, text messages and other data - and the media player are designed
to be controlled through wireless connections to their owners' PC's."
For more info:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/09/technology/09SOFT.html
SGI Uncloaks Linux Super Servers
"Silicon Graphics Tuesday revealed servers and software that make it
possible for the Linux operating system to tackle massive computing chores.
The Mountain View, Calif. firm, known for its development of high-octane supercomputers
for life sciences and government markets, unveiled its Altix 3000 family of
servers and superclusters. The systems combine SGI's supercomputing architecture
with Intel Itanium 2 processors and the Linux operating system to dash a number
of scalability and performance records."
For more info:
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/1565121
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
What was the biggest IT story or 2002?
| Microsoft trial and settlement |
 |
19.75 % (16) |
| Viruses |
|
12.35 % (10) |
| Microsoft vs Linux |
|
9.88 % (8) |
| Launch of Xbox |
|
1.23 % (1) |
| Wireless devices go mainstream |
|
9.88 % (8) |
| Segway |
|
8.64 % (7) |
| Other |
|
2.47 % (2) |
| Nothing, it was all pretty boring |
|
35.80 % (29) |
| Total votes: 81 |
This Week's Poll
PCIN.net FREEHELP
FORUM
Visit the PCIN.net FreeHelp Forum at http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/
to post your questions or answer others.
Question
I have an M810 mother board with an AMD Duron 1.3ghz processor and every
time I try to run Win98se setup from DOS, it gets to the point of copying
needed files to start setup and goes to a blank screen with a blinking cursor
in the upper left hand corner of the monitor. I've tried putting windows on
the hard drive in another computer and then transferring the hard drive to
my computer, I've tried clearing CMOS, I tried a different windows install
disk, I made sure everything was plugged in where and how it is supposed to
be and whether I'm trying to boot into windows or windows setup it nearly
always gives me that blank screen with the cursor. Although, two out of about
twenty times it actually did boot into windows.
Response
Some possible causes:
1) Your RAM is faulty.
2) You computer is going into Standby because the CMOS is set to a low value
for the timeout.
3) The problem is a Video Card you've added (usually Video card's BIOS is
not compatible with the Mainboard's BIOS). Remove the video card and use the
on board Video.
4) You are using a UDMA 66 or higher capable Hard Disk drive with a 40 conductor
IDE cable instead of an 80 conductor cable.
To post a response, visit the General Hardware Help forum at http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php?board=4
and click on the "blank screen in os" topic.
Visit http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/
to post a question of your own.
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Paragon Hard Disk Manager 5.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/paragonhdm55.php
Object Desktop Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/objectdesktop.php
LG GCE-8400B 40x 12x 40x CD-RW Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/lggce8400b.php
Some Useful Registry Tips
http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.php
THE TIPS and OTHER
STUFF
USB Hubs
This is a practical tip if you are need more USB ports. Rather than buying
a hub, it might be better to purchase hardware that has ports built in. For
instance, you can buy a keyboard from Dell that is USB (will use up one of
your ports, but which has 2 ports built in as well (so you actually gain one.
It has multimedia buttons on it, and is very nice keyboard. The price is about
$30.
Paragon Hard Disk Manager 5.5 Software Review
"For years PowerQuest was the only name in hard drive partition utilities.
Over the last few years others have joined the fray. I recently had an opportunity
to review Paragon Software Group's Hard Disk manager 5.5 (HDM55). If you were
thinking of purchasing a hard drive utility, then you had better give this
a chance.
Overall, Paragon Hard Disk Manager 5.5 holds its own against the competition.
The interface needs some improvement, but the software is all quite easy to
use. And I can't emphasize enough that if you are looking for a complete set
of tools, then this is the product for you."
Read the full review online at http://pcin.net/help/software/paragonhdm55.php
More on the Outlook 2000 Holiday problem
In each of the last 2 newsletters, I have included links to help solve the
problem of Outlook 2000 not having any holiday's past 2002. It turns out that
there were problems with both of those suggestions. Microsoft has released
a couple of different files to update the holidays, but the updates had all
sorts of wrong dates, so they were removed. I don't know when a proper fix
will be available, but the best place to look for it will be at http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/default.aspx
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.
- Recommend PCIN to others at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.php
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
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.php
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