The PC Improvement News

Issue 1-47
September 1, 1999

ISSN 1488-3163
Published electronically by PC Improvements (c) 1999
To subscribe or unsubscribe, 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 47th edition of the PC Improvement News. In this newsletter,
I have a couple of tips to make your computing life easier as well as
highlights of the past weeks PC Industry News. I am more than willing to
discuss any PC related topics in this newsletter. Just email me at
editor@pcin.net with your suggestions. I would also appreciate it
if you let me know if there is any strange formatting in the newsletter so
that I can fix them.

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.

Give me two or three issues, and I know that you will get something great
out of this!


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SOME OPENING THOUGHTS
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I am such a dolt! I came back from vacation, and sent out last week's
newsletter to pci-news-request@pcimprovements.com and waited for your
responses. None. This week I did the same thing. No responses. I received a
copy both weeks, so I assumed that everyone had received one. Then it
occurred to me that I was sending to the newsletter to the wrong address!
The - request server is for subscribe and unsubscribe requests. I would
receive a copy of the messages, as I am the moderator. No one else would
have. No wonder none of you received it. I guess I had such a good time on
vacation I forgot how to do everything:-)

Anyway, you have all received the latest issue, and unless something happens
to me again, this shouldn't happen any more. I felt really bad since I kind
of scolded you all for not participating. Well, you can't participate when
you don't get the newsletter.

I will always send out the newsletter on Wednesday. If you do not get it by
Thursday night, or at least a short message from me telling you what the
problem is, please email me at editor@pcin.net If I am going to
be delayed or won't be here, I will make sure you all know, so if you don't
get it, then there must be a problem.

If you have missed any issues, you can view the archives at
http://www.pcimprovements.com/pcinews/archive/


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THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
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"If at first you don't succeed, try hard work."
          - William Feather

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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Stable Versions of Windows
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Last week I shared a survey that said that over 40% of users thought that no
version of Windows was stable enough. I asked for your comments on which
version you thought was most stable:

Ken Berry said, "I've used (personally) W3.11, W95B, & currently W98 (1st
release). The longest I've run without a glitch, hiccup, hang, or blue death
screen was with W95B, that was a glorious 6-month time span. At work
(believe it or not) W3.11 ran the smoothest, but definitely NOT the fastest,
this was a good 4 years ago and the computers in the Air Force get heavily
abused. At present our W95B & NT systems get taken in for a low level format
and reinstall of all software every six months or so. I'm just glad
Microsoft doesn't write the programs for our aircraft! Final bid Windows
95B"
Ron Gilbert said, "I think NT is the most stable, although it can been
'flaky' at time as well. I do not really think that programmers write
self-destructing software but may be rushed but the need to get new product
to market quickly, before the competition. In MSFT's case, they do seem to
have a ton of time and still can't get it right ... makes you wonder."
Jerry said, "I believe Windows 98 has been my most stable system, however, I
also bought a Gateway vs. the CTX I had and have had 1/1000th the trouble. I
believe it's both Win98 and the new Computer."


AMD and Bathrooms
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AMD, a computer CPU manufacturer has released a new chip. They had named
their chips Kx (with x being a number), similar to the way Intel had their
x86 series. The latest one should have been the K7 chip, but they decided to
go with the name Athlon instead. The funny thing is that Athlon is a
trademark for a material used in bathroom partitions. AMD says they knew
about it, but since they aren't in the same category, the trademark can be
used.


Why do you abandon online transactions?
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In the September issue of Small Business Computing and Communications, a
survey asked why people abandon online transactions:
41% the web page was too slow
20% the web page looked unprofessional
16% the site didn't take credit cards
14% couldn't find the check out area
12% couldn't find a return policy

Let me know what you think of this. Why do you abandon transactions? Do you
buy anything online in the first place? Email me at
editor@pcin.net


New Coke Machines
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Coca-Cola has come out with machines that use telephone lines to release
information to the local distributor. In this way, you wear harass can no
how much pop has been sold and whether it needs restocking. This will make
the delivery process a lot more efficient as it will take the guessing game
at of the deliveries. These boxes, that Coke will take this one step
further and use database technology to keep track of when the sales are
highest or lowest. From there, they might change the price depending on the
End the time of day, the temperature, or other circumstances.


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CONTEST RESULTS
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Congratulations go out to Ben Cooper for winning last weeks scavenger hunt.
He won the Caldera OpenLinux 2.2 CD.

Here is the list of URLs that I received from everybody. Ben won because he
was the first to send me a complete list of URLs. This wasn't a contest of
finding the best URLs. He was just the quickest. Just for your information,
his URLs are the first in each list. Thanks to Ann, Ron, John, Chris,
Debbie, MW, Ray, John T., and one anonymous person for entering the contest.

1) Information on the Epson 900 Color printer
http://www.epson.com/printer/inkjet/sty900/
http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2306170,00.html
http://www.epson.com/printer/inkjet/sty900n/
http://www.idg.net/crd_mac_9-131273.html

2) The name of a program that will increase your CD-ROM cache
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/circuitsys/CDQ95.HTM
http://softwarecenter.net/CD-Quick_Cache.shtml
http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?fcode=0008S
1&b=

http://www.fwb.com/cs/cdt/main.html
http://www.cdquickcache.com/

3) A site that will make free banners for you online (appears instantly, not
sent to you by email)
http://www.crecon.com/banners.html
http://www.coder.com/creations/banner/linkexchange.html
http://www.web-animator.com/

4) What is packet reading and writing for a CDR or CDRW
http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/faq06.html
http://www.octave.com/library/glossary.html#P
http://www.cd-r.com/library/daotao.html
http://www.pdsimage.com/html/news/floppy/fcd-wp.htm

5) A site that has the option to send email greeting cards with a summer
theme
http://www.meet-and-greet.com/summer.shtml
http://marlo.com/g2/all/21summer.htm
http://www1.bluemountain.com/eng3/summer/index.html
http://www.regards.com/CC.cfm/d:1,cat:Summer%20Time,SN:*,SE:*,TN:*,
T_E:*,N:70.html

http://www.egreetings.com/cart/zHb-OUNsR-Qn5H21-dsC2-E-qvWOx3/e-
products/m_main/cgi/homepage?action=channel_home&channel=net|3|
seasons|summer

http://cards.about.com/summerfun/index.htm?COB=home&PID=
http://greetings.xoom.com/xigo/cat/summer


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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. I will not check the validity of
these comments. That is up to you.

Previous Questions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q1) I have an Acer Aspire Model#2771 and @home cable modem. @Home puts it's
files in 2 folders named @home and @home network. I cannot open any file in
either folder; it will crash the opening program, winfile, explorer, or my
computer. By accident I found a small file manager utility called FMedit95
that will open these files. I made a folder named @text and put a few text
files in it with the same results. I renamed the folders Athome and Athome
Network and they work OK except when I try to open a program called @home
Assistant, then it will crash. I e-mailed Acer with the problem and they
said you couldn't have a folder or program that starts with the @ sign.
Since @home has millions of customers I find this hard to believe.
Any explanation on this will be greatly appreciated.
A1) Acer is wrong, you can have a folder beginning with the "@" sign. I have
the @Home Network on this computer, and the folder is named "@Home". I have
no problems opening it. As to a fix, I would uninstall everything and start
over. It's very easy to do. Best of luck! (Sorry there is no name for who
wrote this. I erased the message without copying the name over.)

Q2) Been having a continuing problem with Rnaapp.exe locking up. It usually
happens as other programs or operations kick it out of memory and is
intermittent. Have tried Uninstall \ Reinstall Dun 1.3, IE5, and Windows
95(Over existing). Have looked for and tried patches for the various
programs and hardware on the computer. Any Ideas?
A2) Vijeprathap Vijendranath answered, "The only way you can get rid of
RNAAPP.EXE after a particular program has finished using it, is to press:
CTRL + ALT + DEL (ONCE ONLY!) and click on rnaapp.exe and click "END TASK".
This method gets rid of rnaapp.exe running in memory. I had no problems from
doing this. Until Microsoft releases its patches ... this is the only
solution."

Q3) I have a spare 56K modem lying around. Is it possible to install it with
my present 56K so I can get the two modems to work together for more speed?
I am US Military in Germany, ISDN, and cable modems are not really an option
where I am at. One is a PCI and the other ISA. A friend thinks I'll need two
phone lines to do this. Any thoughts?
A3) John Hill said, "The friend is right, and you probably need Win98 to
support it.


New Questions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q1) Does anyone know what problems there are with DirectX6.1 (its bugs,
shortcomings, etc)? I had problems with it and I don't know what the cause
is? Could it be compatible problems with the Banshee card, or SBLive card?

Q2) As usual us deadbeats are out there, and I am one of them I Reckon. My
Problem is: I tried to install Win98 (from a copied CD). It changed my
Mouse, CD-ROM, and Display. Now I'm looking at a black and white DeskTop,
Cannot access properties on Display and a bunch of other problems. (I know
...my fault for trying to go "cheap". It won't happen again I assure you. I
can't even run win95 CD any more. It gives me an" illegal operations"
message. If You could just tell me how to avoid the "illegal operations and
will be shut down" message I will be as happy as a pig in slop. Thanks in
advance.

If you have any answers to these questions, please email me at
freehelp@pcin.net


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NEW CONTEST
----------------------------------------------------------------
This Friday it is my birthday. I'm going to be 24 years old. In honor of
this, this week's contest won't have anything to do with computers. I would
like the wall to send me something three e-mail for my birthday. This could
be a greeting card (see the list from last week's contests), a regular
e-mail, or anything else that isn't too big. Make sure all things contain
no porn/adult content or other off-colour comments.

A couple of weeks ago, I talk to the program called AbsoluteFTP. This is an
FTP program that you can use to upload or download files. After finishing
the review, and talking with Dan Rask in sales at Van Dyke Technology, I
have obtained two copies of AbsoluteFTP to give away as prizes. The best
thing I get from two people will win these prizes. This isn't a time to
race. Just send me something good before Saturday morning.


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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
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F5 to refresh windows and desktop
----------------------------------------------------------------
In both Opera and IE, you can press F5 to refresh the page. It doesn't work
in Netscape 4.6 and earlier. You can take this even further in Windows. When
you are in a folder and you have just copied a file, it sometimes will sit
at the bottom, not in alphabetical order or however else you want it sorted.
You can press F5 to refresh the display. You can also do it on the desktop
or virtually any other place in Windows.

As you've noticed, I've shared a lot of keyboard shortcuts. A mouse is very
convenient, but a lot of times it will take 2 or 3 clicks with a mouse when
you can do it with 1 keyboard shortcut. It saves you time.


New Tips and Tricks
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I have partnered with We Compute, a computer newspaper in Toronto, to
provide you with weekly tips and tricks from their newspaper. There will be
many different kinds. We Computer also has a book called the Little Black
Book of Cheap Tricks. It contains thousands of tricks and tips, and all for
only $9.95 Cdn. (about $7.00 US + S&H). It is definitely worth it.

If you plan on buying it, please follow the link below (the one from my
site). As part of my partnership with We Computer, I am part of their
affiliate program.

For more info:
http://www.we-compute.com/
To buy the Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks:
http://www.pcimprovements.com/help/books/cheaptricks.shtml
To see other books available:
http://www.making-contact.com/books.htm
The Top 10 Tips
http://www.we-compute.com/top10.html

Here are a couple of tips:
**The ping thing**
You're waiting for a page or file to download on the Internet but nothing
seems to be happening and you're starting to wonder if the sending Web or
FTP server is working. How can you find out?
In Windows, click on Start and Run. Type ping and the name of the Web or FTP
site (like ping www.whatever.com) and click on OK. An MS-DOS window will
open and several signals will be emitted to the server. If the server is
functioning you'll get quick replies and the window will close up, so
quickly you hardly see it happen. (Sometimes this pinging is all it takes to
wake a dozing server and continue the download.)
You can also send an endless stream of these wake-up calls by throwing
in -t, as in ping -t www.whatever.com. This also lets you see the pinging
and the responding (ponging?) in action.

**Return to sender**
Windows 95 and 98's Send To extensions are so useful. When you right-click
on a file's icon it gives you a choice of places to send that file to, such
as to the A: drive.
But what if you want to send the file somewhere not on that list?
Open Windows Explorer (by right-clicking on Start and selecting Explore). In
your Windows folder, find the SendTo subfolder.
Create a shortcut in this folder by clicking on File, New and Shortcut.
Enter the path to the file you want added to the Send To list and that's
about it.
An alternative is to right-click the file or folder you want to add to the
Send To list, hold down the right button and drag the file to the SendTo
subfolder. Choose Create Shortcut(s).


My Computer Pop-Up Menu
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A couple of weeks ago I shared a tip about a tool from PC Magazine that lets
you surf the contests of your computer via the Start Menu. It was a program
called Folder Pointers. Well, you can do the same thing from the Windows
TaskBar if you have IE4 or IE5 or Windows 98 installed. You now have the
capability (thanks to the Quick Launch toolbar) to add any toolbar you want.
Right click on the taskbar and add a new toolbar for My Computer. Then move
it all the way to the right, as far as you can. You can then click on it and
a pop-up menu will appear and you can navigate your way through your hard
drive.


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Lastly, send in your comments, tips and news and you too can be included in
The PC Improvement News with a reference to your name and web site.
Send email to pcinews@pcimprovements.com
----------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that's all for this week. Remember that if there is anything that you
want to learn about, let me know and I will try to accommodate you. Also,
feel free to send any comments about the newsletters and the topics covered.
This newsletter is sent to those who subscribed only. We don't believe in
SPAM, so if you have somehow gotten this and you don't want it, please see
the subscribe/unsubscribe options at the start of the newsletter.

The PC Improvement News 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 (either good or bad) for the results obtained
from trying the tips in this newsletter.
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Editor: 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
editor is notified.

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