Issue 119 - January 17, 2001

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements ©2000
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Welcome to the 119th 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

I know that there are many subscribers who live within a couple of hours of Niagara Falls. I've had a couple of these subscribers suggest that we have some sort of get together. I've put it off for a while, but if there are enough people interested in this area, then I could plan something. If you live close enough to come to a summer BBQ or something like that, then please email me to let me know that you are interested. For those people interested, I'd also like to hear what you'd be interested in doing/discussing/seeing while here.

To keep you all up-to-date, Lisa and I signed over our lives today (we met with the lawyer to sign the final house papers), and we take possession of the house on Friday. The computer where the Niagara Falls wallpaper is on will be moved the a week later, and there will be a new IP address, so it may take a few days to get all of the DNS records updated. If you try to access the pictures over the next week or two and it isn't available, try again later. I will let everyone know when the computer is up and running again.

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

AOL Membership Passes 27 Million

"AOL Time Warner Inc. (AOL) said Tuesday the worldwide membership of its flagship AOL Internet service has surpassed the 27-million member milestone.
On Christmas Day, the company said, AOL broke its single-day record for membership growth. gaining more than 70,000 new subscribers worldwide -- over 30 percent more than on Christmas Day 1999. In the U.S., AOL added more than 56,000 subscribers, and the international AOL services grew by about 14,000 members."

For more info:
http://news.excite.com/news/r/010116/08/net-tech-americaonline-dc

What is IT?

I'm sure many of you have heard about this, but there has been a rumour going around about a device called Ginger or IT that would revolutionize the world. Supposed Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs that it was incredible. There was half-million dollar book in the works. All sorts of hype.
Well, the inventor, Dean Kamen has finally commented on the situation:
"Kamen, who had remained quiet initially, issued a statement late on Friday saying that several of the comments cited in the book proposal had been taken out of context. Harvard Business School Press has declined to comment on any plans for such a book.
'The leaked proposal quoted several prominent technology leaders out of context, without their doubts, risks and maybes included,' Kamen said in a statement issued late on Friday. 'This, together with spirited speculation about the unknown, has led to expectations that are beyond the mere whimsical.'"
For those interested, the links below are to the current stories, other of Kamen's inventions, and the patent application for this new device.

For more info:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-201-4460449-0.html?tag=st.ne.ron.lthd.sf
http://www.delphion.com/cgi-bin/viewpat.cmd/WO00075001A1
http://www.msnbc.com/news/285231.asp?cp1=1
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/computing/01/15/ginger.folo.reut/index.html

Allaire and Macromedia to Merge

Two of the major web development software firms are merging, after having a close strategic partnership for years. Allaire, the makers of HomeSite and ColdFusion (dynamic web pages similar to Microsoft's Active Server Page) will merge with Macromedia, the makers of Dreamweaver, and Flash.
Jeremy Allaire, CTO of Allaire, said "We've partnered closely with Macromedia for many years, and I've found they share our vision and passion for working with developers, building great products, and driving innovation in the Internet industry. Fundamentally, this merger is about creating a company that will provide the products and services you need to be successful. As a combined company, we'll deliver a comprehensive product family of tools and servers for building the next generation of solutions on the Web. The combined company, known as Macromedia, will focus on delivering world-class software for the web professional."

For more info:
http://www.allaire.com/handlers/index.cfm?id=19390&method=full

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 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?

A 117-01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leeor Geva said, "If you open them using Notepad you may be able to see the non-formatted text (meaning without underlines, bold, Italics, and whatever formatting can be done with the brother word processor). Furthermore, you can contact brother and ask them if they have any converters available to view the file(s) in Word or so, or if they have any viewers/editors for the PC."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** said, "You _will_ be able to open the files, whether or not you can read them is another matter. The problem (if i understand you correctly) is that you want to transfer data from two totally different types of machines. I assume that you can see the file on the disk. How else would you know the format? WordPad actually is probably the best first option to try. If you say word can open the file as in - it shows you garbage on the screen, it would seem you're out of luck as it has opened and is showing you what it found.
If you cant see the file on the disk when looking through WordPad, but you can through 'my computer' or however else you may look at the disk, then whilst trying to look at the file in WordPad click on the rectangle just right of "files of type" and select all documents, probably at the bottom. Now you should be able to see and select you file.
If you don't understand what you see when WordPad opens the file, then if you're in luck you may be able to find a program to read such a disk on the Internet. A good place to start for such would be at the Brother home page - http://www.brother.com/ "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chuck said, "The Brother Word Processors come with a floppy disk that has conversion software to convert Brother WP files to Win95 Text files. These converters, I believe, can be downloaded from Brother's web site. I had a customer that had the same problem. We converted her Brother files to MSWord 6 files when she converted from the Brother word processor to a computer for writing a book."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kris Roudebush said, "There is a program called Conversions Plus that will convert almost anything to almost any format. It retails for about $60.00."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Hills said, "No. You may find a converter program on the Brother Web Site."
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Chaz said, "There used to be some programs for the PC (and some word processors) could convert files (ASCII/text) from other computers. Short of trying to hunt for those from then and/or available today, you won't have much luck in reading those floppies for the fact that their data structure is different than that of IBM/IBM compatibles - such as the placement of directory entries. If you are "computer savvy", you could - as I've done in the past - use a program (or create your own) that does "direct track" reads of the disk (a kind of disk editor). With some time involved, you could transfer your files over to your IBM where you can edit/view/save them. The other option would be to use a Brother WP to read and make a hard copy of the file(s) and then hand enter them into your IBM.
If these files are critical to you, I do have a legacy Brother WP that I might be able help you with your needs (confidentially, of course). You may submit your request/needs to mailto:chaz@keymail.com"

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)?

A 118-02)

Chuck said, "I recommend getting a BackPack Kit for either the CD R/W or the original CD. The kit will work for either. If the original CD Rom is not multi-read capable it should be replaced. Non Multi-read CD-ROMs cannot read some CD R/W cds. Also, adding the CD R/W this way instead of just replacing the old CD allows for duplication of CD's for distribution if needed."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** said, "my personal choice would be 'c', assuming that you have a tower kind of case (i.e. one that the screen does not sit on) - take and leave the case off perch your current cd-rom precariously on top of the case with you shiny new burner screwed in (as long as your cable takes two drives - it should).
Otherwise ditch the current cd-rom; you can use the cash from it to help buy the burner that will do everything and more the cd-rom can do. Note: Making sure you always have enough room on you hard drive to copy a cd to will make your life a lot smoother, good luck."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VJ said, "It is definitely better to leave the CD-ROM drive in it's bay and buy an external CD-Writer. You do NOT want to overuse the CD-Writer for mere reading CD's as CD-ROM's can only last about 2/3 years (but then CD-ROM's are cheap, so easily replaceable). So when you invest in a CD-Writer, which are expensive, you must use it ONLY to write CD's. The best deal of all is an external USB CD-Writer, as there is no compromise on speed and reliability. Plus you got a 48X CD-ROM, which is very fast, so rather use that for reading CD's."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leeor Geva said, "The only reason why I would get an external is if I didn't feel like opening up my box, or if I had other computers around that would be able to use the cd-writer. You could also take it with you where ever you go :-) I guess the most ideal way to deal with your 'dilemma' is remove the cd rom, install the cd writer and sell the CDROM on eBay, maybe you can get like $40 for it :-)"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Hills said, "I think you should go for an internal as you can get much faster ones which copy more reliably. This does mean of course that if you wanted to copy from another CD, then you would obviously have to swap CD's to achieve this."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chaz said, "Being "better off" is a personal preference. When I installed my writer, I left my reader-only in the system. I now have the 48x reader and the writer available for CD-to-CD functions. As far as using and internal vs. external is also a personal choice. You might consider these two options in order for you to decide:
(1) - Internal keeps all my peripherals compact and easily relocatable
(2) - External allows me to use the writer on more than one computer if/when I need one."

New Questions

Q 119-01

I have some files on a CDRW that I wish to transfer to my hard drive. When I try to do so, I get a message that reads "unable to copy files. The device does not recognize the command"
I am using a Yamaha CRW 6416SZ SCSI 2 cd writer with and Adaptec AHA-2940 SCSI card.
I have done this exact type of file transfer before with no problems.
I took the disc to a friend's house and put it in his cd-rom and had no trouble copying the files at all. I have updated the CDRW driver, but not the SCSI card driver or the BIOS (not that brave yet).

Q 119-02

How often should I run defrag?

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

Troubleshooting Shutdown Problems

This is a very common problem with Windows. You try to shut down properly, and it freezes or just never shuts down. Well, there are a couple of things you can do:
The first one is to record a bootlog at startup. It will record things as they are loaded and should record any errors. Here are a couple of articles you should check out regarding this:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q127/9/70.asp
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nav.nsf/c9193164d07
a9a0f8525667a0055a1f1/d0003f644074742ac12566d0003fc
334?OpenDocument

I realize that this is a startup solution, but this may pinpoint any thing that isn't loading properly and is therefore making it harder to shutdown.
The second one is to use the PMTShoot utility. This is the Power Management Troubleshooter. It runs in the background and records activity when you try to shut down your computer. It will record what devices are responding correctly and which ones aren't. You can learn more about this at:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/windows/readme/win98SE/
w98sepmtshoottxt.asp

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q185/9/49.ASP
(You can download it from this link)

Online Freebies

The newspaper/magazine that brought you Cheap Tricks also has a section called "I Wanna Get a Freebie" where they highlight free software. There is a regular "Freebie of the Week" and there are also Freebies in other categories.
Check it out at http://www.we-compute.com/freebies.html
(NOTE: Please do not send me links to all sorts of "free stuff" sites. I chose to include this because it is well done and is computer related)

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

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