Issue 225 - February 05, 2003

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2047 Subscribers in 56 Countries ====

Welcome to the 225th 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. If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come back for more!

You can reach me at editor@pcin.net with any suggestions or comments.

Recommend PCIN at http://PCIN.net/recommend.php

Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.php

CONTENTS

OPENING THOUGHTS

Expect a few more updates to the PCIN.net site soon. I've recently updated the Some Useful Registry Tips document and have more to add. Chris has a couple of reviews almost finished as well. We are trying to get a few things done and out of the way so we can request some new items. If there is any hardware or software that you would like to review, email us. As long as it is something that would be interesting to all of the subscribers, then we'll ask for it. There's no guaranteeing that we'll get it, but we can certainly ask.

Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net

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The NEWS

Dot-coms - gasp! - start to report black ink

"It's not quite the economic revolution once envisioned by brash entrepreneurs, but a handful of Internet businesses are actually making money.
In breakthroughs that show the promise of e-commerce wasn't all smoke and mirrors, four dot-coms recently reported their first quarterly profits.
The modest achievements of MarketWatch.com Inc., Ask Jeeves Inc., LookSmart Ltd. and Autobytel Inc. reflect the more serious dot-com approach that emerged after the nonsense of Internet mania a few years ago.
Remember the days when sock puppets sold pet food on the Internet?"

For more info:
http://www.thestar.ca/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1035777335117&call_pageid=971794782442

Sapphire/Slammer Worm Shatters Previous Speed Records For Spreading Through The Internet

"A team of network security experts in California has determined that the computer worm that attacked and hobbled the global Internet 11 days ago was the fastest computer worm ever recorded. In a technical paper released today, the experts report that the speed and nature of the Sapphire worm (also called Slammer) represent significant and worrisome milestones in the evolution of computer worms.
Computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego and its San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), Eureka-based Silicon Defense, the University of California, Berkeley, and the nonprofit International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, found that the Sapphire worm doubled its numbers every 8.5 seconds during the explosive first minute of its attack. Within 10 minutes of debuting at 5:30 a.m. (UTC) Jan. 25 (9:30 p.m. PST, Jan. 24) the worm was observed to have infected more than 75,000 vulnerable hosts. Thousands of other hosts may also have been infected worldwide. The infected hosts spewed billions of copies of the worm into cyberspace, significantly slowing Internet traffic, and interfering with many business services that rely on the Internet."

For more info:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030205073007.htm

Dell's New Guise Could Be Gateway's Demise

"While the rest of the PC industry prepares to sludge through another tumultuous year, Dell Computer is making a stand -- at Sears.
Best known for its direct sales approach, the Round Rock, Texas-based computer maker Thursday said it is branching out even more through a new contract with the retail giant. The trial relationship initially targets 10 Sears stores around Austin, Texas, where Dell will set up a store-within-a-store with its merchandise and have to pay for space.
'We see it as another marketing vehicle to extend the direct [sales] model,' Dell senior vice president John Hamlin told the Wall Street Journal."

For more info:
http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/1577151

Mac, Windows War Ends in Truce

"In 1998, Apple ran a television commercial aimed squarely at its competitors. The 'Toasted Bunny' ad, as it came to be known, portrayed one of Intel's Bunny-suited workers being hosed down by a firefighter.
'Apple Computer would like to apologize for toasting the Pentium II processor in public,' the voiceover intoned. 'But the fact remains, the chip inside every new Macintosh G3 is up to twice as fast.'
The advertisement so enraged Todd Arneson, at the time a 13-year-old fan of Windows PCs, that he launched Ihateapple.com, a website devoted to countering what he called Apple's 'propaganda.'"

http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,57280,00.html

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POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

Where do you get your MP3s or similar music?

Web sites 9.00 % (9)
Newsgroups 2.00 % (2)
File sharing software 39.00 % (39)
Friends 3.00 % (3)
Paid services 1.00 % (1)
I don't download music 46.00 % (46)
Total votes: 100

This Week's Poll

Do you have any wireless hardware?

Mouse
Keyboard
Network card
Other
More than 1 type of hardware
None

You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/

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PCIN.net FREEHELP FORUM

Visit the PCIN.net FreeHelp Forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/ to post your questions or answer others.

Question

I`m thinking about partitioning my HD. I am running XP with 60Gb.
I have been told that it is not possible to partition a HD that holds your OS and would need a second HD. Is this true?.
If is not true, and I partitioned my HD and something went wrong I do not have a XP system disc because the computer came with it pre-installed, all I have is a Reload disc, would this be able to get my computer up and running again, or would I need the system disc?.

Response

I doesn't matter if your OS is loaded on the same drive, you can still add more partitions.
You may partition anyway you wish, but if you are already using 100% of the capacity for the partition that contains your OS then you must use a program like Partition Magic to resize and create new partitions.
FDisk for MS-DOS and Disk Manager in Windows NT (Basic) do not support resizing, and therefore would require you to delete all partitions (on which case you have one partition) to free up space to make new ones.

To post a response, visit the Hardware How-To forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=7 and click on the "Basic partition question" topic.

Visit http://PCIN.net/help/forum/ to post a question of your own.

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PCIN.net UPDATE

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

Some Useful Registry Tips - Now 171 Tips!
http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.php

Paragon Hard Disk Manager 5.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/paragonhdm55.php

Object Desktop Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/objectdesktop.php

LG GCE-8400B 40x 12x 40x CD-RW Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/lggce8400b.php

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Recover a Document if Word Crashes

This was the PC Magazine Top of the Day a while ago.
"Category: Word 97/2000
Recover a Document if Word Crashes
Go to the Tools menu, then select Options and click the File Locations tab. Empty space next to AutoRecover files means your data is lost. If there is a location, go there and open the document."

More Registry Tweaks

As many of you know, I have a document (in either Word or PDF format) that contains all sorts of registry tweaks. It has been a while since I've updated it. I finally did, and there are now 171 registry entries described. Check it out at http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.php

Current Coupon Codes

I can't remember where I first heard about this, but it is a handy resource:
"Hundreds of well-known online stores like Barnes and Noble, Staples, and Amazon.com have a place within their shopping cart for a 'coupon code' that gives a percent or dollar amount off your purchase. If you don't know the code, you can't take advantage of the discount. You can find these secret discount codes listed on many sites across the Internet but the problem with these sites is that they're usually personal homepages and they don't maintain their lists! Currentcodes.com has a full-time staff of trained individuals whose only job is to find new codes and verify the accuracy of the existing database. We don't flood you with ads and we don't throw deals in your face. No hype, just current codes."
Check it out at http://www.currentcodes.com/

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DISCLAIMER and OTHER STUFF

PCIN is brought to you by Graham Wing. The opinions expressed are those of the Editor, Graham Wing and the Assistant Editor, Chris Empey. Graham Wing and Chris Empey accept no responsibility for the results obtained from trying the tips in this newsletter.

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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net

Copyright 1998-2002, 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.

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