Issue 149 - August 22, 2001

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements ©2001
==== 2256 Subscribers in 57 Countries ====

Subscribe/Unsubscribe/View Archives at http://www.pcin.net/

Welcome to the 149th 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.

You can reach me at mailto:editor@pcin.net with any suggestions or comments. If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come back for more!

Recommend PCIN at http://PCIN.net/recommend.shtml
Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.shtml

OPENING THOUGHTS

Thanks to everyone who sent in their comments and links regarding System Restore in Windows ME. I'll be putting all of the comments and links together on a web page for next week.

Last week I told you that my monitor died, so I yesterday I went out and purchased a KDS VS-190i 19" monitor from a local computer shop. It is very nice, and the price was very reasonable.

Lastly, I think that next week will be my first venture into the world of HTML newsletters. PCIN will have its first HTML newsletter. There will not be a text newsletter anymore. If you visit http://PCIN.net/archive/latest.shtml and look at the main body of the newsletter and you will see how the newsletter will look. I will be using HTML to supply some basic colour, and it will also allow me to embed links in the text rather than showing the entire link. We'll see how it goes next week.

The NEWS

Web Pirates 'Ripping Off' Top Authors, Survey Says

"Internet pirates are ripping off the world's top bestsellers, from Harry Potter to Stephen King, a Web monitoring company said on Wednesday. Almost 7,500 copyrighted books are available free and the publishing industry could be faced with the same headaches that the free Napster downloading system created for the music industry."

For more info:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=172381

At Home, but for how long?

"Troubles for Internet over cable provider At Home Corp. reached a crescendo this week, but one analyst said Canadian subscribers probably won't see an interruption in Internet service.
At Home, whose public face is Excite@Home, supplies Internet over cable for Canadian cable companies Rogers, Cogeco and Shaw. On Monday, At Home's auditors expressed concern about its ability to stay in business."

For more info:
http://www.itbusiness.ca/index.asp?theaction=61&sid=45820
http://news.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/0-9900-1028-6945393-0.html

Governors lobby Congress on online sales taxes

"The nation's governors are urging Congress to level the playing field for Main Street businesses by extending the moratorium on Internet access taxes, according to a letter to Congress made public Monday.
In the letter, which was signed by 44 governors, Congress is urged to extend the moratorium on taxing Internet access only with authorization for the states to streamline and simplify the existing sales tax system."

For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/08/22/online.sales.tax.idg/index.html

PCIN POLL of the WEEK

Here are the responses from the last poll:

Have you ever purchased a music CD because of music you heard online (either using a program like Napster or with streaming radio)?

No: 54.39%
Yes: 45.61%

Total Votes: 57

Visit http://pcin.net/polls/ to participate in the new poll this week:

How big is your computer monitor?

FREEHELP FORUM

Visit the PCIN FreeHelp Forum to post your questions or answer others. Each week I highlight a question, and where to go to get the answer.

Question

I am a newbie and having a lot of fun. I'm having a problem defragmenting my C drive after Scandisc indicates no errors. I get a message something like cannot access drive because of errors, run Scandisc to repair errors. Anyone have any experience with this problem?

Answer

Start SCANDISC. When SCANDISC opens make sure that AUTOMATICALY FIX ERRORS has a check mark beside it. If it doesn't place the mouse curser over the little box and click to place a check mark there. This will fix any errors scandisc finds. Also make sure that THOROUGH has a check mark beside it. This performs the standard test and scans the disc surface for errors. Once these two items have a check mark beside them click START. After scandisc is finished run DEFRAG. Defrag should run now.

Visit http://www.pcin.net/cgi-bin/forum/index.cgi and check out the Software Forum to post your suggestion, or to post a question of your own.

PCIN.net UPDATE

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

PCIN FreeHelp Headquarters
http://PCIN.net/help/

Archive of PCIN Polls
http://www.pcin.net/polls/2001/

Support PCIN
http://pcin.net/donate.shtml

THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Cheap Trick of the Week

**Cache flow**
Windows uses some of your computer's memory as virtual cache, which theoretically helps speed up certain tasks. However it can also drain memory that you need to carry out your own work. If you suspect you are losing too much memory to cache, you can set limits to it.
This can be done by adding lines in the system.ini file. In Windows 95 or 98 you can open all the .ini files by clicking Start and Run, entering sysedit and clicking OK. In later Windows, you may need to run Notepad (Start, Programs, Accessories, Notepad) and open system.ini from within that program. It should be found in your Windows folder.
In system.ini find the [vcache] section. Add the following two lines (substituting the correct number for the formula in the second line):
MinFileCache=0
MaxFileCache=Total MB of RAM / 4*1024
For example, if you have 64 megabytes of memory (RAM), then the maximum amount of cache would be 64 divided by 4 times 1,024 = 16,384 kilobytes. The second line would therefore read:
MaxFileCache=16384
These lines set virtual cache to a range from none to one-quarter of your memory.
Save the file and reboot for this limit to take effect.

Get your own copy of "The Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks: 2001" by visiting http://www.pcin.net/lbbct/

Tile or Cascade Selected Windows

When you right-click on an item in the Taskbar, you get a context menu for that program window only. If you hold the Control key down and click multiple items on the Taskbar, you can select these multiple items. Then when you right-click, you get a menu giving you an option to Tile, Cascade, Restore, Maximize, Minimum or close these selected items.

Double-Decker Taskbar

Speaking of the Taskbar, don't forget that you can resize the height of the taskbar. If you have the taskbar on the bottom of the screen (as most people do), hover over the edge of the taskbar and your cursor will change to a double arrow. Drag the taskbar so that it is the size you want.
I keep my taskbar twice as high as the default. The top row I have for my taskbar items (open programs, windows, etc.) The bottom row has the Address bar (right click on the taskbar, choose the Toolbars options, then choose Address) and the Quick Launch toolbar.

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.
  7. Support PCIN by visiting http://www.pcin.net/donate.shtml

Graham Wing can be reached at mailto:editor@pcin.net

Copyright 1998-2001, 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.

Support PCIN by visiting http://www.pcin.net/donate.shtml

PC Improvement News Home Page

PC Improvement News Archive