Issue 245 - June 25, 2003

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2263 Subscribers in 62 Countries ====

Welcome to the 245th 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

As I mentioned last week, Chris and I went to visit the new Niagara Falls Aviary. I've added the pictures to the AccessNiagara.com site. You can see these, along with the other Niagara Falls pictures at http://AccessNiagara.com/gallery/

I've also posted some pictures to the family web site. My parents celebrated their 35th anniversary on Saturday and had a picnic/barbeque for friends and family. You can see the pictures at http://WingFamily.ca/marshabrian/20030621/

Lastly, the first news item in last week's was about rebates. Joan emailed me the following:
"Read the article on rebates and thought this might interest you .I applied for one and received an answer saying that I did not send the proper information and enclosed was a 48 stamp for my trouble."
I've never heard of that before. I'm sure getting the actual rebate amount would be better, but it was nice of the company to at least send a stamp to cover the cost of sending the rebate in the first place.

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

The NEWS

The Feds Love Linux

"Three weeks ago, John P. Stenbit, chief information officer of the U.S. Department of Defense, issued an agencywide memo that has Linux lovers rejoicing. The brief outlined the DOD's policy on acquiring, using and developing open-source software, including the Linux operating system. By creating an official policy, the DOD is 'outing' open source, a technology that was stuck in government limbo, neither condoned nor outlawed."

For more info:
http://www.forbes.com/home/2003/06/20/cz_eb_0620linux.html

Fans have the muscle to shape the movie

"When Ang Lee, director of The Hulk, hinted last year that the title character might not wear his trademark purple pants - or any pants at all, for that matter - comic book devotees broke into a Bruce Banner-like rage on the Internet.
They filled up fan Web sites and warned Lee and Marvel studios chief Avi Arad not to stray from The Hulk's illustrated origins. They threatened to bad-mouth and boycott the film, which opens nationwide today.
In the final version, the monster does indeed sport purple trousers. He's in the buff briefly, thanks to some menacing dogs. And although executives stop short of crediting Web surfers with altering the final product - the movie breaks from the comic book to alter the Hulk's power source - they concede that film fans are exerting pressure moviemakers have never seen before."

For more info:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-06-19-movies-cover_x.htm

Probe finds IRS workers misuse Internet on agency time

"Internal Revenue Service employees using thousands of computers accessed prohibited Web sites that included personal e-mail, sexually explicit sites and games. To Treasury investigators, it was a sign that 'significant misuse' of the Internet continues after a crackdown a year ago.
'Employee abuse of the Internet is still widespread,' the investigators reported.
The results of the Treasury Department investigation disappointed lawmakers who pushed the IRS to revise its Internet policies and block access to prohibited sites after a study in 2001 showed IRS employees spent more than half their workday on the Internet for personal reasons.
'This is a classic case of people getting an inch and taking a mile,' Senate Finance Committee chairman Charles Grassley said Thursday."

For more info:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-06-20-irs-workers-surf-too_x.htm

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POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

Have you ever purchased an eBook?

Yes 21.15 % (22)
No 69.23 % (72)
What's an eBook? 9.62 % (10)
Total votes: 104

This Week's Poll

Do you read newsgroup messages?

Yes, it helps me in my job
Yes, it interests me
No, they're boring
No, I have no need to
What is a newsgroup message?

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 want to delete everything on my hard drive & start over. I downloaded a program & it changed all my settings. Could someone please tell me how to delete every thing & start over?

Response

No responses yet.

To post a response, visit the General Hardware Help forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=4 and click on the "How to delete every thing on hard drive?" 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:

XemiComputers Ltd. DeskLook 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/desklook3.php

Symantec Norton Ghost 2003 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ghost2003.php

Amic Games Email Saver Xe Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/emailsaverxe.php

XemiComputers Ltd. DeskLook 2.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/desklook2.php

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

New Free Network Software

Some time ago I reviewed several software products from Software602, Inc. One of the products was 602Pro LAN SUITE. I received an email last week informing me that there was a new version and asking me to review it. I don't have the setup anymore to do a good review of the software, but I wanted to pass along the details:
"Software602, Inc. has released the new version of 602Pro LAN SUITE. This network software includes a secure mail server with anti-virus & anti-spam, built-in firewall and proxy for controlled Internet sharing. The 5 user version is still FREE for commercial and non-commercial use.
New enhancements in the 2003 version are: advanced packet filter firewall with logging provides protection against unauthorized access, built-in BitDefender Anti-virus engine with scheduler offers up-to-date anti-virus protection (LAN SUITE Anti-virus Edition) and separate IP filters configurable for the Proxy, SMTP, WWW and Remote Administration services provides complete access control."
More information and a free download is available at http://www.software602.com/products/ls/

Monitor Your Computer

Hopefully by now everyone takes precautions with their computer to ensure they are free from viruses, are defragmented, and run well without any major complications. However, how many of you monitor your computer for physical problems. Most of today's hard drives do that automatically using SMART technology (there may be an additional software monitoring tool to install.) This past weekend I ran into problems with my system freezing on me. An overheating CPU was the problem. At this point I am still unsure whether I have done any damage to the CPU, but I can see damage to the motherboard has occurred. This could have been avoided with software that reports the motherboard, CPU and fan speeds of your system. I had used one up until a couple of months ago that reported fan speed and CPU temperature as well as sent out alarms when temperature's got too high and would shut down the system when temperatures were above a user set threshold. Try a search on Google:
http://www.google.com/search?q=motherboard+temperature+monitor

Keep drivers Up to Date

Running Windows Update will help you to maintain an up to date operating system and will also inform you of many driver updates for your hardware, but don't forget to check manufacturer's website's as well.
New drivers often fix bugs that exist in prior version and may also contain new functionality for your hardware. It is a good idea to have a copy of your existing driver before upgrading though, just in case the new driver causes more problems than if fixes

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PCIN.net AFFILIATED SITES

Both of us have other sites other than PCIN.net. These are all sites that we are actively involved in (they aren't client sites). Don't forget to check them out from time to time for updates:

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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.

  1. If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have to cut and paste.
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  3. To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://PCIN.net/ and follow the appropriate links.
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  5. There are only 3 ways to get on the subscriber list. You have either been subscribed by filling out a subscription form on any of the pages on my site, you have requested FreeHelp from me in the past, or you have registered with the FreeHelp Forum.
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net

Copyright 1998-2003, 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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