Issue 78 - April 05, 2000

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements (c) 2000
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Welcome to the 78th issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN consists of 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 topic. Email me at mailto:editor@pcin.net with any suggestions. If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come back for more!

Recommend PCIN to others and be entered in a monthly draw (April draw is for Mijenix's PowerDesk) at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml

OPENING THOUGHTS

Congratulations to JoAnn Harkness who won the March draw for recommending PCIN. She won a copy of StarOffice 5.1.  You can recommend PCIN now for the April draw and win a copy of Mijenix's PowerDesk. You can enter at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml

One of last week's I Need Help questions was about fixing a keyboard. There are a couple of funny suggestions. Most people just said that if you weren't prepared to buy a new one, then don't try and fix it, because the suggested method of cleaning it could ruin the keyboard anyway.

April marks the arrival of the first monthly contest. For you new subscribers, I used to have contests 2 or 3 times a month, but there wasn't a very good response to it, so I have changed it to a monthly contest. The first Wednesday in each month will have a contest.

SMILEYS and ACRONYMS of the WEEK

|:-)  1-Eyebrow person
8^    Chicken
FITB  Fill In The Blank
KOTC  Kiss On The Cheek

Get the WWW. Smileys & Acronyms book for the PCIN special price of $7.00 Cdn (around $5.00 US). You can only get this price by visiting http://www.pcin.net/help/books/reviewed/smileys.shtml

The NEWS

More Microsoft Troubles

I reported last week that Microsoft had lost its position as the highest valued company. Well, after the Judge gave another ruling in the anti-trust trial, they lost more ground, losing $80 billion in market value. Bill Gates himself lost $12 million.
Of course I'm sure all of you have heard that U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson has ruled that Microsoft did in fact break some laws. This wasn't unexpected though, and it could still be several months before his remedies/punishments are announced. He does want to get this moving though. He said: "My transcendent objective is to get this thing before an appellate tribunal - one or another - as quickly as possible because I don't want to disrupt the economy or waste any more of yours or my time."
In related news, the European Commission is going to continue its investigation into Windows 2000.

For more info:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/390940.asp
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/094/business/Brave_New_World+.shtml
http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/04/04/eu.microsoft.idg/index.html

The Internet Changes Everything

The March 24, 2000 issue of Computer World Canada had the following survey:
The marketing Phrase "the Internet changes everything" has been hyped to the stratosphere. In your job, what has been your experience?
12% The Web has changed little or nothing about my job
47% The Internet has made my job easier
12% The web creates management challenges and has made my job more complex
29% The Internet has caused profound changes - both good and bad

Bionic Chip

"Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have invented what they believe is the first 'bionic chip' in which a biological cell is part of electronic circuitry. A biological cell can act in a circuit as an electrical diode or switch, allowing current to flow through the device at certain voltages." This can give cells a "door" that can be opened or closed with precise control, allowing DNA, proteins, medicines, or other materials to pass freely.

Free Speech on the Internet

Most of the talk about free speech on the Internet deals with message boards and other sites that allow you to post messages. In fact, some people have been investigated for their comments left in guestbooks. In a different story, an Ohio judge has declared that programming code is covered under the First Amendment. "A federal appeals court today cleared the way for a law professor to post previously banned encryption software on the Internet, finding that computer code qualifies as speech protected by the First Amendment. The decision hands the U.S. government yet another defeat in its efforts to keep intact federal rules limiting the export of encryption software. Academics and civil liberties groups have mounted several attacks on the regulations, winning a similar result before an appeals court in California, a decision currently under review."

For more info:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1641004.html?tag=st.ne.1002-0-1002-0-1641265.1005-200-1641004?st.ne.fd.gif.j

NEW CONTEST

I'm sure you are all sick and tired of hearing this, but I haven't had many of you email me your opinions. What do you really think about this Microsoft trial? Did Microsoft really damage consumers or other competitors? Have they stopped or slowed down innovation in the industry? Or do you think we really owe a big thanks to Microsoft for giving us Windows and changing the way we use our computers?
Send your opinions to mailto:contest@pcin.net and you will have a chance to win a copy of Microsoft Picture It! 99. I will make a random draw of all the entrants.
I will send out a short reminder message on Saturday.

I NEED HELP

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 most of them, but there are things that I have never tried or experienced so I don't have an answer. I 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 questions or results to mailto:freehelp@pcin.net

Previous Question 1
Soda pop was spilled on my keyboard and subsequently, the keys are stiff. Is there an easy way to clean it or am I out of luck?

Answers to Question 1
John Hills said, "I did the same thing to a keyboard with a cup of tea steeped with sugar. That same week I read an article in a magazine that informed me there were no parts that can rust in a keyboard so to sort out spillage problems, immerse keyboard totally in mild soapy water, scrub and take out and leave to drain. When most of the water has drained out, leave it in a warm place for two days to dry completely and the keyboard will be as good as new.
I did this and it looked as good as new but didn't work as good as new. In fact it didn't work at all. I had to go and buy a new keyboard.
I trust this has been of immense help to you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steve Black said, "Normally, it is easier to buy a new keyboard... As taking it apart and cleaning the beast can cause more problems than it cures. But, if you want to take a chance, I recommend disconnecting it form the PC and spray it with a general purpose cleaner (nothing too serious... at work we use Mr. Muscle, but that could be an UK product) or you can use computer solvent (which is expensive!) and that may clean it. If at last resort, you can soak the keyboard in warm detergent for a couple of minutes (making sure it is not plugged in!!!) and let it dry naturally. This will either kill or cure..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leeor Geva said, "I'm not a janitor, so I recommend buying a new keyboard for $10 or even free with those rebate deals. Or check your warranty on the computer; Gateway2000 replaced my keyboard for free when the "U" key started acting up.
Also, I'm guessing you're from Ohio or Canada, cause it's not POP, it's
SODA :-)"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Wheatley said, "It's probably a bit late now, but this has worked for coffee spilt on a keyboard, sea water and urine- don't ask. Ok - I work in a Hospital; I'm not a fetish freako! ;->
Do this only if the keyboard is otherwise useless and would be chucked away; preferably before everything has dried - especially with urine salts!
1) Unplug the keyboard and loosen the back case screws a little.
2) Plunge to whole thing in a bath of fresh water (Really)
3) Keep the cable out and the plug a sellotaped plastic bag.
4) Rinse the keyboard by gentle rocking to & fro.
5) Remove said keyboard and allow it to drain, then dry a little while on a pad of towels, changing position to allow the water to escape - obtain distilled water and repeat stage two or sluice with copious amounts. (You can buy a gallon cheaply in a garage supply shop) loosen screws a teeny bit more if it helps.
6) Use a hair dyer and GENTLY blow warm air over keys for 10 -15 minutes.
7) Place keyboard (keys down) in airing cupboard (UK) or place with boiler cupboard (US) or a towel drying warm cupboard or on the porch if in Florida.
8) Wait a few days and make sure unit is dry before tightening screws and trying the keyboard.
9) Mines a Guinness, (Beer, Stout, Irish - for the US citizens)"

Previous Question 2
I was looking around my computer and I saw a bunch of "class" files? How do I open them? Do I need them?

Answers to Question 2
Rob said, "If you mean something like *.class, these are compiled Java. They can be used for various purposes. You would need a Java Compiler/Decompiler to open them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leeor Geva said, "Blah.class files would most probably be JAVA Programming Language files. These files are automatically downloaded to your TEMP directory when you browse the web and Java Applets are loaded. To use those files you need to learn JAVA, or how to make a web page and just use those java class files. Do you need them? If it's in a TEMP directory I say no, otherwise, I'd say you may need them."

New Questions
Q1) On startup I am presented with an "Enter Network Password" dialog box, but I don't have a network? What is this and how do I get rid of it?
Q2) When I boot up, the screen is ok (in the center). The 'Starting Windows 98' screen comes up and is ok but when the Windows desktop comes up the whole thing moves over to the left in one fast move. Windows say's there are no conflicts and I have tried to reinstall the graphics card's driver. What's up with this?

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

THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Cheap Trick of the Week

**Time passes quickly**
QuickTime is a great plug-in that almost everyone has on their system to run multimedia clips, especially while on the Internet. If you haven't installed it yourself, some software that you've used has probably installed it on your system during its own installation.
But odds are QuickTime is configured too slowly for your modem - which makes for longer-than-necessary QuickTime downloads. Or it may be set for a speed that's too quick for your modem and computer system to handle efficiently.
You can check this in your control panel called QuickTime or QuickTime Settings. In the control panel, select Connection Speed from the drop-down menu and click on the speed that corresponds to your modem.
On four machines we checked it on, Quicktime was set for 28.8/33.6 Kbps instead of 56K to match the modem capabilities.

You can get the Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks yourself for only $9.95 Cdn (about $7.00 US)
http://www.pcin.net/help/books/reviewed/cheaptricks.shtml
(Please mention that you heard about it from PCIN)

Use Multiple Partitions

Hard drives are getting so big now, that most people have their hard drive divided into several partitions. You probably have a C:, D:, E, drive and more, even though you only have one physical hard drive. It is a good idea to have multiple partitions because of how the computer and operating system deals with it. From a data storage point of view, if you have 2 partitions, data is copied to them as if they are totally separate drives. It is possible that at some point, one of your partitions will become corrupted, and you will need to reformat it. This will not affect the other partitions. If you have your data stored on another partition, you don't have to worry about losing it when the original partition goes down. Obviously the data partitions can still become corrupted, so you still need to backup. For instance, I just purchased a Maxtor 20.5 GB 7200RPM hard drive. When I was setting it up, partitioning it, and installing and copying, I had PartitionMagic stop on me, and that caused an error on the first partition. I was able to remove that partition, recreate it, and my data was still intact on one of the other partitions.  This can be handy any time you want to reinstall Windows.

The Joystick Mouse

Subscriber John Hills sent me this:
This may be of some use to anyone who has a spot of trouble using a mouse.  This software allows your joystick to become a mouse.  This is probably a personal thing but it's worth mentioning to anyone who may have difficulty using a mouse where as a joystick may be a more manipulative pointing device in some circumstances.
Mouse buddy
http://www.32bit.com/software/listings/nl0323/14376/

Networking Home PCs

Subscriber Nick Massey sent me this:
Hi, I read you newsletter just recently and saw that people were asking about getting multiple computers connected to the Internet. I have 4 computers and one laptop connected at home all using one dialup connection.
I use Wingate 3. It is a wonderful program that will allow all computers access to the Internet and has all the needed services for things such as ICQ, Hotline, WWW and even your ISP e-mail. It's not to bad to configure and works very reliably. I have only have to reinstall it once in the year and a half that I have had it running. You would be surprised at how good the download speeds are with all those computers accessing the net at once, although all are now downloading at once all do have ICQ and web browsing at once and I have had very little complaints from the family.
Also there is a really great FREE program that does the same thing, but is free and it has a built in DHCP server for your network so no more assigning IP addresses to the other computers on the network. It is called SOHO and can be downloaded free from http://www.download.com/ I have not experimented with this much but a friend uses it and swears by it.

Live PC Help

Subscriber Judy Wilson sent me this:
I have found the best voice program out there, calling people on the web.  It is called FireTalk and can be found at http://www.firetalk.com this site is just the best for voice communications between PC friends all over the world.
Once you have downloaded and installed this program there are forums that you can enter that will make the experience wonderful for you.  There is a forum on FireTalk called PC Tech which is people helping people live which is just wonderful for people who are having trouble with their computers.
Just thought I would tell you about it so you can tell others. 

DISCLAIMER and OTHER STUFF

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.

  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://www.pcin.net/ and follow the appropriate links.
  4. Recommend PCIN to others at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml and be entered in a monthly draw.
  5. 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.
  6. If you have a web site or run your own newsletter, please email me at mailto:editor@pcin.net and I will add it to the subscriber web pages that I have on my site.

Graham Wing can be reached at mailto:editor@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2000, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All rights reserved. This publication may be reproduced in hole, or in part, as long as the author is notified and the newsletter is presented as is.

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