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Issue 329 - February 02, 2005

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2005
==== 2027 Subscribers in 60 Countries ====

Welcome to the 329th 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.

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Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.php

CONTENTS

Opening Thoughts

As far as I can tell, Chris has only blogged about his latest purchase once. In case you missed it, I figured I'd let you know that he just bought his first home. He got possession of it on Friday and expects to move in a week or so. He needs to do a few updates to the wiring before he moves in. I'm sure he'll have some pictures to show in a week or so.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Happy Groundhog Day

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

The NEWS

EU: We could fine Microsoft into submission

"The European Commission on Friday held out the possibility that Microsoft may be fined up to 5 percent of its average daily turnover unless it complies soon with a European Union antitrust decision.
Last month, Microsoft lost a months-long court bid to suspend sanctions for breaking the law and said it would offer a stripped-down version of Windows and share some protocols with rival makers of servers by early February.
'We obviously expect the remedies to be complied with within a matter of weeks--measured from last December--rather than months,' EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said Friday."

For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-5555077.html

AMD wants its name in pixels

"Nobody's going to run spreadsheets on their toaster, but AMD still thinks there's a lot to be gained by outfitting consumer gadgets with the same basic design underlying PC chips.
No. 2 chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices is rolling forward with plans to extend its output of x86--the architecture underneath most PC processors, including AMD's Athlons--with an extended Geode line of low-power, low-cost processors, Fred Weber, AMD's chief technology officer, told CNET News.com."

For more info:
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-10586_11-5560214.html

Government computer blunders are common

"The FBI's failure to roll out an expanded computer system that would help agents investigate criminals and terrorists is the latest in a series of costly technology blunders by government over more than a decade.
Experts blame poor planning, rapid industry advances and the massive scope of some complex projects whose price tags can run into billions of dollars at U.S. agencies with tens of thousands of employees.
'There are very few success stories,' said Paul Brubaker, former deputy chief information officer at the Pentagon. 'Failures are very common, and they've been common for a long time.'"

For more info:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-01-30-federal-computers_x.htm

Bloggers get set for State of the Union

"In the time that it takes to read this story, many blogs will be born.
The popular Web journals have become the hottest tool in the political word war. A new blog -- short for Web log -- is created every 7.4 seconds, according to Technorati, a search engine tracking blogs.
Last year's presidential election fueled blogs on either side of the electoral divide and the commentary will continue tonight during President Bush's State of the Union address."

For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/02/union.blog/index.html

Return to the top Recommend PCIN Poll of the Week

POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

Do you have anti-spyware software running and monitoring your system constantly?

Yes 59 % (61)
No, but I run manually scans when needed 36 % (37)
No, I don't do anything 6 % (6)
What is spyware? 0 % (0)
Total votes: 104

This Week's Poll

Do you have a Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) PC?

Yes
No
What's that?

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

Return to the top Recommend PCIN Poll of the Week

PCIN.net UPDATE

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

VMware Inc. VMware Workstation 4.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/vmware45.php

PCIN.net Update Blog
http://PCIN.net/update/

Sunbelt Software iHateSpam 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ihatespam4.php

Micro Solutions RoadStor Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/roadstor.php

Album Creator by FirmTools Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/albumcreator.php

Return to the top Recommend PCIN Poll of the Week

THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Winroll

Brian sent me this:
"I think winroll (http://www.palma.com.au/winroll/) deserves a mention. It allows users to do the following: Roll windows, make windows transparent, minimize windows to tray, and send windows to the pack. All of these features are added to the title bar and the associated buttons (i.e. minimize, maximize, close) as additional mouse options. Very easy to use."

PC INSPECTOR File Recovery

This is another great find by Langa. A subscriber sent him this link:
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm
I haven't tried the software, but apparently it will let you recover deleted items from an NTFS (used in Windows NT, 2000, XP) partition. Of course it also can recover deleted items from FAT16/32 partitions as well (used in Windows 95, 98, ME).

MSConfig

When troubleshooting problems with you Windows installation, a good place to look is in MSConfig. To access this utility, Press the Start button, choose Run and type MSCONFIG in the dialog box. After pressing OK, the utility will start and show you several tabs that allow you to control how your machine starts up. With it, you can selectively disable certain services and applications from starting automatically.
You can search Google for help with MSConfig.
http://www.google.com/search?q=msconfig
You can also learn about MSConfig from Microsoft
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560

Chris' Picture of the Day

http://potd.chrisempey.com/ is now online and active. I will further refining the design in the coming weeks, but I will be posting daily photos to the site.

Return to the top Recommend PCIN Poll of the Week

PCIN.net AFFILIATED SITES

Both of us have other sites other than PCIN.net. These are all sites that we are actively involved in (they aren't client sites). Don't forget to check them out from time to time for updates:

Return to the top Recommend PCIN Poll of the Week

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.

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

Copyright 1998-2005, Graham Wing. All rights reserved.

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