Issue 118 - January 10, 2001

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements ©2000
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Welcome to the 118th 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 January and win a copy of the book "The Unauthorized Guide to Windows ME" by Paul McFedries. The more you recommend PCIN the more chance you have to win. Recommend PCIN now at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml

OPENING THOUGHTS

Things are finally getting back to normal here in PCIN land. Of course at the Wing house we are a little frazzled about the move, but it will all be done soon. Next Wednesday (a week today) we meet with the lawyer to hand over all our money and to finalize a couple of things, then on Friday (two days after that) we get the keys to the house. We can't wait. As you saw in the pictures at http://www.gawing.com/house/ the basement isn't finished, so it will make wiring the house for a LAN very easy. That will be one of the first things that I do.

I have noticed that the web sites running off of my home computer are running very slow. I don't think there is anything I can do to fix it (I believe it has to do with the local cable company), so just be patient. The Niagara Falls pictures are worth the wait at http://www.gawing.com/falls/

Some of you may have noticed that the Cheap Trick of the Week hasn't appeared for several issues. Their web-hosting provider went out of business, so they have been scrambling around trying to stay online. They should return soon.

Lastly, don't forget to recommend PCIN in the month of January and have a chance to win a copy of the book "The Unauthorized Guide to Windows ME" by Paul McFedries. Recommend PCIN now at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml

The NEWS

PC Sales Down Drastically

Sales of PC were down 1% (200 compared to 1999). This is the first time ever that PC sales have dropped year to year. Also, PC sales were down 20% December 2000 compared to December 1999. One of the main reasons was that there was no compelling reason to upgrade.
I agree with this 100%. The first computer I purchased 4 years ago felt like a snail after using it for 2 years. I replaced it with my current computer a few months less than 2 years ago, and after only a memory upgrade (128MB to 256MB), it still feels like it is running great. I use some pretty heavy-duty applications (not to mention that I am currently trying out Windows 2000 server) and the computer is still running fine. I normally would get a new computer in May or June, but I think I will hold off for a while.
Don't feel too bad for the PC vendors though. "In December, retail PC revenue fell 30 percent to $855 million, compared with the same month last year, according to PC Data." That is $855 million for 1 month alone.

For more info:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2669976,00.html
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/hardware/article/0,,5921_549971,00.htm

Disney to Pay for Toysmart.com List

"A Walt Disney subsidiary's offer to pay $50,000 for the customer database of Toysmart.com has been revived as a solution to privacy concerns raised in a court settlement, according to a Federal Trade Commission official.
Plans call for BVIG-T Inc., a Disney subsidiary that is majority owner of Waltham-based Toysmart.com, to buy the list but never touch it. Toysmart.com would have the list destroyed."

For more info:
http://digitalmass.boston.com/news/daily/01/011001/toysmart.html
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/160215.html

The Xbox Unveiled

Microsoft has finally unveiled their Xbox gaming console. It has been no secret that they have been working on it, but what it looked like was a big secret until a couple of weeks ago when some online gaming sites obtained a copy of a not yet released magazine that had done an article (with pictures) about the Xbox. Bill Gates unveiled the Xbox at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Experts are saying that the high demand (and therefore low supply) of the Sony Playstation 2 console will cause many consumers to wait until the end of this year when the Xbox will be available.
The Xbox contains a 600MHz CPU, 300MHz custom-built graphics processor, 64Mb memory, 4x DVD, 8Gb hard disk, and 64 audio channels.

For more info:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1104000/1104926.stm

MONTHLY CONTEST/QUESTION RESULTS

Sounds like a lot of you received some nice things for Christmas. I had 30 people send in their comments and you can find them on the web at http://www.pcin.net/contests/20010110.shtml

A lot of people got digital cameras or some sort of Palm device (maybe if I have November's contest question again about those handheld devices there will be more people who can respond). Several others got more memory. The rest was a variety of new peripherals. Some people were asking what I got for Christmas that was technology related. Well, it doesn't have much to do with a computer, but the closest thing was a Brother PT-1700 labeler. I've already got a lot of "toys" so I wasn't too disappointed.

Out of the 30, Bob Bigalow was randomly chosen and won a copy of PowerQuest's Second Chance 2.0 and PowerQuest's Lost and Found.

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 117-01)

I was exploring Windows. I punched up search, searched all files and documents, and 133 files popped up some, dating back to 1993 94 95 97 99. Is this normal to have these dates on a new pc?
(Win98, 64MB RAM, 14GB HD, IE5)

A 117-01)

** said, "Ii did a search of my win98 for files modified between 90 and 95, and found 119 files in the windows directory and sub directories.  This is because many of the files used to create windows have been used since the days of ms-dos, and have not needed to be changed.  The core of windows ME (the very latest version) still uses parts of the original windows 1.0 from MANY years ago. Don't worry, this is perfectly normal, Microsoft is just re-using programs where need be rather than "re-inventing the wheel" unnecessarily."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Stoneham said, "The reason you may see some files several years old is not that they are files you yourself have created. It is more likely they are shared components (i.e. DLLs) that were part of various programs you have installed. These files may have been created years back, explaining the dates. i.e., most of the installed files from Windows 98 should have a 1998 date, even if you bought the PC in 1999 or 2000, since that is when the files themselves were created, not when they were written to the drive."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony Lowell said, "I'm British. We have an expression, 'if it works, don't fix it', that's why you don't see too many MG's driving around. When you compile a piece of source code (human language) the current date can be imbedded in the object code (machine language). If the result doesn't need changing, similar to something called 'wedding0.font' 1994 that I found on my machine, the old created date will still be there. Many of the WIN95 subroutines work perfectly well, even in WIN/ME. Microsoft has no need to modify them. Without modification the original date remains in the object code. Per my example once someone in 1994 created what I believe is a wedding background for a greeting card there was no need to change it. There is a piece of code I wrote that is still running on a mainframe computer. Its date is Sept 28, 1975. Yes that's seventy-five. Programmers are expensive, so, 'if it works, don't fix it'. Hence the 1994 date."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Varden Morris said, "It is normal for you to have files with these dates for a new computer. The date on a file is the date it was created or last modified. Therefore, although the computer is new you may have program files or other files that were created or last modified an earlier date to the date the computer was purchased."

Q 117-02)

I'm dual booting NT 4 and Corel Linux, using the Corel Linux Boot menu thing. I've not really found any use for Linux so I want to get rid of it. Obviously I would like remove Linux without having to reinstall NT.

A 117-02)

** said, "I use win98 and this comes with a program called fdisk which lets created \ delete your partitions on your hard drive(s). To access type  "fdisk" (minus quotes) at an ms-dos prompt (not sure where NT hides his, should be available through the start->programs menu).  With this program find the partition holding Linux, and delete it.
I too use a Linux program to dual boot between Redhat Linux and win98, called lilo.  My program is referenced to in the MBR (master boot record) and doing a "fdisk /MBR" (without the quotes obviously) at a ms-dos prompt (accessible via the start menu in windows) will 'wipe' the MBR clean so only windows will boot.  This may not be necessary with the program you use but I've included just in case."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5-zal said, "This is an expensive tip: use partition magic 6.0. Its user-friendly menus will enable you to make a BootMagic from it. Hence what you need to do is to format the Linux OS and use this BootMagic in NT instead."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken Berry said, "You should be able to delete the Linux partitions from DOS using Fdisk. There should be two, a native partition and a swap file partition. DOS won't recognize these for their actual names but you should see something "Unknown" to DOS. Delete those partitions and reformat the new "D" drive for windows.
If the Linux install uses the same partition as NT it will be safer to consult your manuals on removal or contact Corel support.
This leaves the Boot manager. There should be documentation regarding the uninstall of this loader. It'll be either in the program help itself, usually as a separate option at boot, or the docs that came with Linux. There are apps out there that will rewrite the MBR (Master Boot Record) for you and start up will load the first OS it comes across (ie. Windows). These are actually Disk format and partition tools. "Ranish Partition Manager" http://www.users.intercom.com/~ranish/part/ for one, its free. -Or- see if your local Linux user group (LUG) will be kind enough to help you out."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony Lowell said, "I too put in Linux but the Red Hat version. After kicking myself in the butt and asking why, I got rid of it. I didn't want to spend the 18 hours re-installing everything either. You obviously know about partitioning disks etc. Back up what you need just in case including the mundane (e.g. your E-mail address list), then rebuild the other partition in DOS format in order to change the bootstrap back to one that DOS and Windows can recognize. Fun things like BIOS, DISKMGR, FORMAT etc. You can then use the new virtual disk for workspace by modifying the registry. Be very patient. Double-check everything you are typing before you hit enter. This is not a junior high typing exam. Read the manuals. Boring though it is, use a quill and paper to note everything you've done. The PC won't help you. Head and Shoulders shampoo works well for people scratching their heads. Good luck and I hope your diskette or CD R/W drive is working."

New Questions

Q 118-01)

I have some floppy discs from my office with important info, they were saved on a brother word processor in WPT format i cannot open them in WordPad. Is it possible to open these files in any program on my PC with Windows?

Q 118-02)

I purchased a computer with a cd rom drive and no empty bays. I want a cd writer to use. Am I better off removing the cd rom drive (48x) and installing an internal writer or leaving the cd-rom and buying an external writer (4x4x6)?

THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Privacy Tips

The January 16, 2000 PC Magazine (which I received well before Christmas, and which has finally arrived online) had a special section entitled "Leave Me Alone" and it covered some of the firewall programs that are out there, as well as some tips on how to secure your home computer. See the links below.

PC Magazine story "Leave Me Alone"
http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/stories/reviews/0,6755,2669355,00.html

15 Steps to Protecting Your Privacy
http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/stories/reviews/0,6755,2669365,00.html

Icons, Begone

This is a "Cheap Trick" from a while ago that I never included:
You can get rid of most icons on your Windows 95/98 desktop by right-clicking on them and selecting Delete. But some stubborn icons don't give you that opportunity - the Delete option is missing. You need to go into the Registry to outwit them.
For example, how about that Network Neighbourhood icon on your Desktop? If your PC is not on a network, you don't need it. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. If the Policies or Explorer keys are missing, create them by right-clicking on the previous key, selecting New and Key, and giving the new keys their proper names. Click on the Explorer key to view its values in the right pane. If there is not a value named NoNetHood in the right pane, create it by right-clicking on the Explorer key, selecting New and DWORD Value. In the right pane, NoNetHood should have a value data of 0x00000000 (0) next to it. Double-click on NoNetHood and a dialogue box will appear allowing you to edit the DWORD value. In the Value Data space should be a single zero. Change it to a 1 and click on OK. Now the data figure beside NoNetHood should be 0x00000001 (1). Close the Registry, reboot and you've left the hood.

Windows NT Resource Site

Since most end-users/consumers are using Windows 95/95/ME, it is easy to find sites that have tips and tricks for those operating systems. It isn't quite so easy finding help for Windows NT Workstation or Windows 2000 Professional.
This site isn't fancy, but it does contain a lot of information about Windows NT. If you have NT or 2000, then you should check out http://www.interlacken.com/winnt/

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.

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