Issue 149 - August 22, 2001
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements ©2001
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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.
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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
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