Issue 126 - March 07, 2001
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements ©2001
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Welcome to the 126th 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. Recommend
PCIN in March and win a Snappy! 4.0. The more you recommend PCIN, the
more chances you have to win. Recommend PCIN now at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml
OPENING THOUGHTS
I've been procrastinating making any changes to the site because I wanted
to get my logos done. This kind of sets my colours and the general "feel"
I'm going for.
Well, I'm finally done, and you can check them out at:
http://www.pcimprovements.com/pci_logo.gif
http://www.pcin.net/pcin_logo.gif
Remember that PC Improvements is the company, so that is the main logo.
PCIN is the "child", so it is based on the main company logo.
If you have any comments or suggestions about them (colour, positioning,
etc.), email me at mailto:editor@pcin.net
I don't know if you've read it before, but in the intro to the I Need
Help section, I ask people to send in their results. Subscriber Mike actually
sent in a comment: "Gary, nice simple tip about dos issues regarding
drive format/partition!" (Gary had explained in very basic terms
how to format a drive and make it bootable).
There are several subscribers who reply every week to the questions. If
this has helped you, email me and I can post some of these comments. I'm
sure these active participants would like to hear how things are going.
Don't forget to recommend PCIN in March. The prize is a Snappy! 4.0.
This is a device that will let you capture video on your computer. If
you don't have a graphics card that has TV or other video in, then this
is a great device to have. Recommend PCIN now at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml
The NEWS
Amazon Denies Bankruptcy Rumors
"Amazon.com Wednesday vigorously denied market rumors that the
company is planning to file for bankruptcy, but shares in the online
retailer fell 9 percent in trading Wednesday.
'I have no idea where this rumor is coming from,' spokeswoman Patty
Smith said. 'I can tell you absolutely, positively that there is no
truth whatsoever (to the rumor). I'm here to tell you it's not true.'
The rumors apparently were sparked by a short story early Wednesday
on German business news wire VWD, which said the speculation about an
Amazon bankruptcy filing was coming from the U.S."
For more info:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2001/feb/28/022801375.html
Proof May Lead to Unbreakable Code
"Cryptology experts are abuzz over a Harvard professor's claim
that he can make an unbreakable code that can be used over and over
again.
Computer science professor Michael Rabin, with the help of doctoral
student Yanzhong Ding, developed a mathematical proof that experts say
could be used to make a code indecipherable even by the most powerful
computers.
'We are doing something that is seemingly impossible, and that is, of
course, extremely exciting,' Rabin said Wednesday."
For more info:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2001/feb/28/022801555.html
Bill Gates For President, Microsoft Should Run US - Survey
"A study by Brouillard Communications asked people which company
they would most like to run the US government, and which they would
be least likely to put in charge. The results indicate that most Americans
view Microsoft as highly effective and innovative, but lacking character
and prone to poor behavior.
The divided feelings about Microsoft are among several findings of the
study, which surveyed a random sample of over 1,000 Americans (voting
age of 18 or older) on their views of corporate reputations."
For more info:
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/162809.html
MOBILE COMPUTING NEWS and NOTES
PayPal is a popular Internet company that helps you to make easy online
payments without a credit card. Soon you will be able to beam money
between Palm Pilot's using PayPal's software. Eventually this will
also allow transactions between mobile phones, PDA's, and other appliances.
Brought to you by Shawn Bremner and The Wireless Web ezine. Sign up by
sending a blank email to mailto:wirelessweb-subscribe@topica.com
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 Questions
Q 125-01
When I loaded Windows 98 and after completion of installation, when
system is restarted it shows the message that there is some problem
with the registry and restores from the backup and ask to restart
the system.
When you restart the system again it shows the same message and this
process continues.
I've tried installation three times by creating different partitions>
& formatting, and I've tried different Windows 98 CDs and the
problem remains.
A 125-01
** said, "If you have formatted the drive and installed windows
on top and it has crashed straight away then it sounds like you have
a hardware issue.
1) I would suggest removing everything you don't need from the computer
(e.g. sound card, modem, floppy disk drive etc) and boot to windows.
2) If it does it again and you have more then 1 piece of ram try using
only 1 piece at a time (assuming 178pin SDRAM here - the chips are
>= 1mm high)
3) If that fails try formatting and reinstalling with everything still
removed (one of them may have caused an upset during install)
4) Try using a friends computer parts to see if one of your few pieces
left are faulty.
5) Take it to a computer store - they'll find the problem (if they're
good)."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Hills said, "I am afraid that I can only make wild guesses.
Try:
1. Running scandisk on thorough to ensure that the registry is not
lying on a bad sector on your hard drive.
2. Just as PC is booting up, press the F8 key and select Command prompt
from menu. At the C prompt type scanreg and see if at that point the
registry is fine. If it is not then it may be caused by not
loading on the 4 in one drivers from your mainboard CDROM particularly
if you have an AGP socket and USB ports. These drivers are becoming
essential for USB, Bus master and AGP ports to work properly. You
may have to load these drivers from Safe Mode."
Q 125-02
When sending messages using Outlook Express, my copy shows all formatted
text as I typed it (i.e. CRs, LFs, etc). But, when the receiving end
gets it, all my text is written endlessly on one line, two at best.
There doesn't seem to be anything in the Preferences/Options mentioning
CR and/or LF added to Outgoing Messages.
A 125-02
John Hills said, "I think I would try uninstalling Outlook Express
and then reinstalling it. This should bring it back to basic
default settings."
New Questions
Q 126-01
I had to reformat my PC and now the CD-Rom won't read my photo CD's.
All other CD's are fine - programs, games, music. When I put a photo
CD in the computer tells me that the drive is not ready or not accessible.
Any ideas?
Q 126-02
Is adding RAM to your computer as easy as going out and buying the
hardware? And after you buy it, does your system automatically recognize
the change? Anything I should look out for?
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
**Nowhere left to Run**
If you use Run on the Start menu much, it can create a long list of
commands that can tell other users what you've been up to. You can clear
this list with an edit to Windows' Registry. (If you're not familiar
with editing the Registry, check out how at www.WE-Compute.com/registry.html.)
In the Registry make your way to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU. Click on RunMRU to show this key's values
in the right pane. Select all except Default, right-click and choose
Delete from the pop-up menu. Close the Registry and restart the computer.
Now there's nowhere left to Run, until you enter more commands that
start a new list. Sigh.
This should work n Windows 95, 98 and Me.
Get your own copy of "The Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks: 2001"
by visiting http://www.pcin.net/lbbct
More Mouseless Menus
Last week's Cheap Trick told you how you could press F10 to activate
the menu bar and then use the arrow keys to move around. Well, subscriber
Mike Cloud wanted you all to know that "ALT does this too in Windows
98 (Explorer + Outlook Express + IE5.1)." Subscriber Duncan Long
also noticed this and points out that if you press the ALT key and the
letter that is underlined on the menu (F for File), then that menu will
open.
Checking for Viruses
One of the I Need Help questions a couple of weeks ago was about the
Unable to End Task window that appears when shutting down. There were
several good answers sent in, but subscriber Joe Atkinson thought one
had been missed. He said, "I can't believe that no one suggested
that there could be a virus on the hard drive!
I had a variation of network.vbs that would crash defrag, scandisk,
Norton speedisk & disk doctor, and would not let my machine shut
down.
Norton 2000 anti-virus finally found it, but don't count on the problem
being 'fixed' with an anti-virus problem: this one changed the system.ini
file, winint.exe, 3 or 4 'backup' locations and the registry, all of
which needed to be modified manually.
Norton's site gave full instructions, but if I had just run anti-virus,
let it be quarantined, and carried on, I would still be having grief.
I did not bother to send this last week because I thought that you would
have gotten dozens of e-mails about this type of problem/solution."
Thanks for the suggestion Joe. I always assume that users have appropriate
virus protection. I guess I shouldn't though. In fact, one of my co-workers
(an IT professional) doesn't have any antivirus software installed on
his home computer.
Remember, if your computer is doing things that it never used to do
and you don't like it, check for viruses.
Free Auction Site
Subscribe Bob Bigalow (Bigalow) sent me this:
"You might mention to your readers there is still a FREE auction
site! I started on EBAY then to save $ moved to Yahoo... Next I will
start listing on BIDVILLE!
There is also a way for displaying ones feedback from other sites! NEAT!!
http://www.bidville.com/
Sign up is simple and membership is growing fast!"
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.
- If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have
to cut and paste.
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- To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://www.pcin.net/
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and be entered in a monthly draw.
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been subscribed by filling out a subscription form on any of the pages
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Graham Wing can be reached at mailto:editor@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2000, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All rights reserved.
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