ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2005
==== 2027 Subscribers in 60 Countries ====
Welcome to the 329th 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
As far as I can tell, Chris has only blogged about his latest purchase once. In case you missed it, I figured I'd let you know that he just bought his first home. He got possession of it on Friday and expects to move in a week or so. He needs to do a few updates to the wiring before he moves in. I'm sure he'll have some pictures to show in a week or so.
Happy Groundhog Day!
Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net
EU: We could fine Microsoft into submission
"The European Commission on Friday held out the possibility that Microsoft may be fined up to 5 percent of its average daily turnover unless it complies soon with a European Union antitrust decision.
Last month, Microsoft lost a months-long court bid to suspend sanctions for breaking the law and said it would offer a stripped-down version of Windows and share some protocols with rival makers of servers by early February.
'We obviously expect the remedies to be complied with within a matter of weeks--measured from last December--rather than months,' EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said Friday."For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-5555077.html
AMD wants its name in pixels
"Nobody's going to run spreadsheets on their toaster, but AMD still thinks there's a lot to be gained by outfitting consumer gadgets with the same basic design underlying PC chips.
No. 2 chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices is rolling forward with plans to extend its output of x86--the architecture underneath most PC processors, including AMD's Athlons--with an extended Geode line of low-power, low-cost processors, Fred Weber, AMD's chief technology officer, told CNET News.com."For more info:
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-10586_11-5560214.html
Government computer blunders are common
"The FBI's failure to roll out an expanded computer system that would help agents investigate criminals and terrorists is the latest in a series of costly technology blunders by government over more than a decade.
Experts blame poor planning, rapid industry advances and the massive scope of some complex projects whose price tags can run into billions of dollars at U.S. agencies with tens of thousands of employees.
'There are very few success stories,' said Paul Brubaker, former deputy chief information officer at the Pentagon. 'Failures are very common, and they've been common for a long time.'"For more info:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-01-30-federal-computers_x.htm
Bloggers get set for State of the Union
"In the time that it takes to read this story, many blogs will be born.
The popular Web journals have become the hottest tool in the political word war. A new blog -- short for Web log -- is created every 7.4 seconds, according to Technorati, a search engine tracking blogs.
Last year's presidential election fueled blogs on either side of the electoral divide and the commentary will continue tonight during President Bush's State of the Union address."For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/02/union.blog/index.html
Return to the top | Recommend PCIN Poll of the Week |
Do you have anti-spyware software running and monitoring your system constantly?
Yes 59 % (61) No, but I run manually scans when needed 36 % (37) No, I don't do anything 6 % (6) What is spyware? 0 % (0) Total votes: 104
This Week's Poll
You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/
Return to the top | Recommend PCIN Poll of the Week |
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
VMware Inc. VMware Workstation 4.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/vmware45.phpPCIN.net Update Blog
http://PCIN.net/update/Sunbelt Software iHateSpam 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ihatespam4.phpMicro Solutions RoadStor Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/roadstor.phpAlbum Creator by FirmTools Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/albumcreator.php
Return to the top | Recommend PCIN Poll of the Week |
Winroll
Brian sent me this:
"I think winroll (http://www.palma.com.au/winroll/) deserves a mention. It allows users to do the following: Roll windows, make windows transparent, minimize windows to tray, and send windows to the pack. All of these features are added to the title bar and the associated buttons (i.e. minimize, maximize, close) as additional mouse options. Very easy to use."
PC INSPECTOR File Recovery
This is another great find by Langa. A subscriber sent him this link:
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm
I haven't tried the software, but apparently it will let you recover deleted items from an NTFS (used in Windows NT, 2000, XP) partition. Of course it also can recover deleted items from FAT16/32 partitions as well (used in Windows 95, 98, ME).
MSConfig
When troubleshooting problems with you Windows installation, a good place to look is in MSConfig. To access this utility, Press the Start button, choose Run and type MSCONFIG in the dialog box. After pressing OK, the utility will start and show you several tabs that allow you to control how your machine starts up. With it, you can selectively disable certain services and applications from starting automatically.
You can search Google for help with MSConfig.
http://www.google.com/search?q=msconfig
You can also learn about MSConfig from Microsoft
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560
Chris' Picture of the Day
http://potd.chrisempey.com/ is now online and active. I will further refining the design in the coming weeks, but I will be posting daily photos to the site.
Return to the top | Recommend PCIN Poll of the Week |
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:
Return to the top | Recommend PCIN Poll of the Week |
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.
Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2005, 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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