The PC Improvement News

Issue 61 - December 08, 1999

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements (c) 1999

==== 621 Subscribers in 37 Countries ====

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.

To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view previous issues please visit
http://www.pcin.net/

Note 1: If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have to
cut and paste.
Note 2: You can only win one contest every 30 days.

Welcome to the 61st edition of the PC Improvement News. In this newsletter,
I combine news, tips, thoughts, and contests. There is something for
everyone, and if this is your first issue, I'm sure there will be something
for you. I am willing to discuss any computer topics in this newsletter.
Email me at editor@pcin.net with your suggestions.

If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come back for more!
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SOME OPENING THOUGHTS
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The PCIN.net domain is coming along. The subscribe form is working now and I
have put all of the previous issues there.

I really want the new site to be a place that subscribers can really use.
One of the first things that I am doing is making a section listing other
subscriber web sites and email newsletters. I already have a collection of
sites (from the contest a few weeks ago), but I need more.  If you have a
web site or run an email newsletter, I would like you to send me in a 3-5
line description with information on the web site or instructions on how to
subscribe. Send in your stuff to editor@pcin.net

This week's I Need Help section is a lot longer than usual because several
people sent in answers to questions from 2 weeks ago that were never
answered.  I just wanted to let the newer subscribers know that the section
isn't usually that long.
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THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
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Always remember that striving and struggle precede success, even in the
dictionary.
          - Sarah Ban Breathnach

Thought courtesy of http://www.HappyPublishing.com/

To subscribe to the FREE "Aspire to Something Higher" Thought-Of-The-Day
list, send a blank email to HappyQuotes-subscribe@listbot.com

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THE NEWS
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Anyone Can Accept Credit Card Payments
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I think this is a great idea.  A company called Confinity has set up a
service called PayPal.  At the Confinity web site, you set up an account and
using a small application that you download to your home computer, you can
tell the service how much you want to pay and to whom. The money is then
debited (charged to) your credit card.  The person you owe money too
(friend, family member, associate) needs a PayPal account too. Confinity
will then send the payee the specified amount either by check or by
crediting a checking bank account.  IN the future they are hoping to credit
the payee's credit card account.

For more info:
http://www.confinity.com/
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=index


Save 120MB of Pictures in Your Camera
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I have a pretty decent Kodak digital camera that has an 8 MB flash memory
card. If I wanted to up it to 32 MB it would cost well over $100.  That is
one of the reasons that the Sony digital cameras are so popular; they save
information to a floppy disk.  Well, Panasonic has taken this one step
further by incorporating a SuperDisk drive into their latest camera.  Even
if you don't have a SuperDisk drive in your computer, you can hook the
camera up to the computer using a USB cable, and use the disk (only about
$10) in the camera as another disk drive.  You can store anything you want
on it. The PalmCam PV-SD4090 costs around $900.

For more info:
http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/digital_imaging/index.htm
http://www.superdisk.com/


Cursor Tracks Users
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The little icon that moves around the screen when you move your mouse is a
cursor. I can be in all shapes and sizes. A company called Comet Systems
Inc. had developed animated software that replaces the standard arrow cursor
on a computer with a corporate logo or other site-specific character.
Privacy experts said the technology could be used to track and exploit
viewer behavior. The software sends "anonymous cursor-counting information"
(whatever that is) to their servers. Even though they deny it, people are
accusing Comet Systems of trying to collect information about users.

For more info:
http://news.excite.com/news/r/991201/02/net-tech-comet
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,32788,00.html


MSN Messenger Problems
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Subscriber John Hills noticed one day that after visiting a web site by
Microsoft, he automatically had the MSN Messenger program installed.  He
never asked for it to be installed, and emailed Microsoft about it.  They
sent him the usual excuses, and so John contacted a publication in England
(where he lives).  John is trying to collect some information on this, which
may be used in a forth-coming UK magazine article.

Q1) Do you have the following line in Outlook Express under the TOOLS -
OPTIONS menu and General section?
(Tick Box) "Automatically log on to MSN Messenger Service."
Q2) Do you know how it got there?
Q3) Do you know what it does?

Each of these questions can just be answered yes and no. That is fine but
you can expand if you want. Send in answers and comments about this to
editor@pcin.net

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I NEED HELP
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As many of you know, I offer a free help service via email. If you have a
question, you can email me and I will try my best to answer them. I can
answer about half of them. Those are things that I do regularly or have
experience with. There are other things that I have never tired or
experienced so I don't have an answer. I hope to post those questions here
and see if any of the readers have any suggestions. I will include all
reasonable suggestions with credit to you.

These are NOT my own questions and they are NOT my answers. I will NOT check
the validity of these comments. That is up to you. If you do try one of
these tips, please let me know how the suggestions worked out. Did they work
or not? Please send in your results to freehelp@pcin.net

Previous Question 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have a ZIP drive as a back up medium. This takes care of the physical
requirement but managing backups is still a nuisance and the only way I can
be sure I'm doing it is to back up everything each time. I've heard of
software that manages backups, tracking what needs to be saved and managing
restores, but the one I investigated is pretty expensive. Does anyone have a
good way to deal with this or know of a cheap/free application that will
make it easier?

Answers to Question 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bill R said, "You have another option to backup's as well in system tools.
You can go to your accessories and system tools and hit backup there also,
it has a few options that are useful."
~~~
Joe Joseph said, "I have been using a shareware program called SECOND COPY
which I downloaded from the ZDNet site. This works with NT also. Go to:
http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?fcode=0000Q
G
Quite versatile and reliable and cheap."
~~~
Leeor Geva said, "In Windows 98 you have a "Scheduler" program, it looks
like a calendar and it's next to the system clock, double click on it and
you can see how to add something like running the ZipDisk backup utility
every week or night. Now if you need something to click on the "Backup Now"
button, search the web for RTVReco, this program clicks buttons to windows
you specify whenever it catches the window. Some nifty stuff there, (RTVReco
is one of my all-time favorite programs!)"


Previous Question 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Does anyone know of an email client or an add-in for any of the usual email
suspects (we use Eudora and MS Outlook) that will selectively apply a
process like zipping attachments depending on the characteristics of the
mail (e.g. The size of the attachments or the who it's going to)? I would
like to automate the process.

Answers to Question 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bill R said, "There are many email clients out there, but very few use a zip
utility on the site. Your best bet is to try WinZip (usually they charge for
it like $10) or a new zip utility that just came out recently for free it is
called EnZip it seems to work good.
~~~
 Leeor Geva said, "1. Zipping something won't make it smaller unless it's
text, database, or a file with lots of room for "crunching". 2. Never heard
of such a program, maybe you will need that customized. 3. It's pretty fast
to zip something. 4. Unfortunately the 'corporate' web has gotten ZIP
frenzy, when there are other Algorithms that actually make smaller files
like Rar, Arj..."


Previous Question 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I cannot get to some web sites using internet explorer while the same ISP
will work using AOL browser, e.g. http://www.microsoft.com and
http://www.angelfire.com  I have checked explorers settings and can't figure
it out. Most web sites I can access. I have Shiva remote access installed
for my dial-up to work and can access the sites there but not with my ISP.
Any ideas? I get "Internet Explorer could not open the search page".

Answers to Question 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Hills said, "It may be your security settings. IE may think that these
sites are insecure. Might be worth reinstalling IE to ensure defaults are
back to square one. Could also be that IE resents other browsers being
present and is sulking until such times as it becomes your default browser.
~~~
Leeor Geva said, "I tackled the same problem at a company last week. You
need to make sure that the check mark next to "figure out proxy settings
automatically" is not checked, and nothing else should be filled out in that
properties section of internet explorer's properties. Next you need to
Delete all files including subscription content and history too (this is in
properties!). That took care of the problem, good luck."


Previous Question 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have a problem with the color on my monitor. There is no red or green. I
went to the control panel and tried to change the settings but the color is
wrong there also.

Answers to Question 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silvan Kuipers said, "Most likely this is caused by a bad cable (the one
from your computer to your screen) or connector on it. You could also try to
unmount and then remount your videocard in the computer. If none of this
works, then maybe your screen is bad or your videocard is giving up. The
latter is not very likely.
~~~
John Hills said, "This has nothing to do with settings. You can get these
symptoms for three reasons. In order of likelihood: 1. Monitor has demised
or cable damaged. 2. Cable is not attached tight enough into graphics card.
3. Unlikely but graphics card is not seated in its socket tightly or has
also passed away.  On the plus side, you do have the blue."
~~~
Chris Wheatley said, "Sounds like you have a Gonzo monitor! (You know the
blue Muppet character) Have you tried to de-gauss the monitor? If it's a
digital model the option will be on the little menu that pops up when the
control wheel or button is pressed. Usually this has a symbol of a magnet
with a line through it and it literally de-magnetizes the screen. Remember
to keep the monitor away from speakers, big electrical cables or even spare
magnets just in case and remove any if they are next to the monitor. It is
possible to de-gauss an older analogue monitor - but the device costs about
£20 and it may not be the cause - You'll have to resort to taking the
monitor in to a service tech and ask for a quote. Bare in mind a new monitor
may be cheaper - about £90 for a 15 inch in the UK (less everywhere else of
course!)"
~~~
Leeor Geva said, "Borrow a monitor from the neighbor (since Bill Gates said
he placed a desktop in every home in America, I believe the neighbor should
have a monitor) If you still don't see red and green it's the system
properties/drivers. If it looks perfect, throw out your monitor."


New Question
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q1) Here is a good question for someone who knows about Internet connection
sharing .I have recently added network cards, and can see each p/c in
network. I ran Internet connection sharing but cannot log onto the net with
the second system. Any suggestions, links to useful web sites or help would
be greatly appreciated.

Q2) I changed a jumper to blank CMOS so that I could fit a hard drive to an
older ex network diskless machine. And now it is asking for a ROM password
and I do not know a way round it.

If you have an answer to these questions or have a question of your own,
please email me at freehelp@pcin.net

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NEW CONTEST
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I've got 2 copies of Gizmos 98 by Play, Inc. (full, boxed versions) to give
away to 2 random people who send me an email explaining what "gizmo" they
like to have the most on their computer and a good web site where they can
get them.

Gizmos 98 is a great program that comes with screensavers, clocks,
calculators, photo calendars, card games, etc.  I did a review on this quite
a while ago and it can be found at
http://www.pcimprovements.com/help/software/gizmos98.shtml

Send email to contest@pcin.net

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
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Cheap Trick of the Week
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**Explore where you wanna explore**
After you right-click the Start button and select Explore, Windows' Explorer
opens by default in the Start Menu in the Windows directory - leaving you to
find your way out of there to the file you.
But you can set up your own version of Explorer to open more quickly to the
directory of your choice. Or several versions of Explorer starting in a
selection of directories.
First, find the file explorer.exe in your Windows directory. Drag the icon
onto your desktop. This will leave the file in the Windows directory but
create a shortcut to it on the desktop. Right-click on the shortcut, select
Properties and click on the Shortcut tab.
In the Target field, you'll see an entry like:
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
Add a space and "/e" to the end of this, so you end up with:
 C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE  /e
The "/e" parameter makes your new Explorer window open with two panes, just
like in the default Explorer. Without this parameter, the window would look
like the opened My Computer folder.
Below the Target field, you'll see that the Start Menu probably listed in
the Start In field. Replace this with the path to whichever directory you
prefer Explorer to open with; for example, C:\MyFiles
Click on OK. Then back on the desktop you can rename the shortcut - for
instance, to Explore MyFile.
Now whenever you double-click on the Explore My File icon, Explorer will
open at the directory you've chosen.
You can create as many such shortcuts as you like, giving yourself
quick-clicking exploration of all your often used folders.
You can even change the icons of these shortcuts from the My Computer-style
computer graphic to the Explorer-style magnifying glass. In the same
Properties window for each such shortcut, click on the Change Icon button to
get some alternative icon designs.

Buy the Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks for only $9.95 Cdn (about $7.00
US)
http://www.pcin.net/help/books/reviewed/cheaptricks.shtml


Cliché Finder
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Are you looking for a way to replace that tired, old phrase, "Cat got your
tongue?"  If you are, then you should visit the Cliché Finder, enter a word
you would like a cliché about (maybe something with regards to a hippo), and
search. There are around 50 other cliches that mention cats. I'm sure you'll
find one you like. The main page claims that they have over 3000 total
cliches. Check it out at http://www.westegg.com/cliche/


Adjust Graphics Acceleration
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Do you have a problem with your mouse pointer freezing and causing your
whole system to freeze? This can be caused by some interference by Windows
with the graphics card and drivers.  Under the System applet of the Control
Panel, click on the Performance tab, then the Graphics button. There is a
little slider that adjusts how Microsoft "accelerates" the graphics. On some
systems, this acceleration can cause problems. You can safely move the
slider to the left one notch and restart your system.  If it helps, leave
it. If it doesn't, try moving it to the left again.  You could try this even
if you have no problems.  You just may find that your system is smoother
with less acceleration.

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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.
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Copyright 1999, 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.

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