|
Issue 214 - November 20, 2002
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2002
==== 2221 Subscribers in 56 Countries ====
Welcome to the 214th 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
Graham is on vacation this week, so I am sending out this weeks newsletter.
I have sent it out for Graham in the past, but this is the first time I have
had had the opportunity to create the newsletter from start to finish. Graham
will be back next week.
- Chris
Graham editor@pcin.net
and Chris chris@pcin.net
Return to the top
The NEWS
IBM shooting for 'Fastest Computer' title
"Scientists will soon be able to observe the first instants after a
nuclear warhead detonates. Fortunately, it will be a three-dimensional simulation,
made possible by the world’s fastest computer. IBM and the U.S. Department
of Energy announced Tuesday the sale of a $290 million supercomputer, capable
of performing 100 trillion calculations per second. Armed with that much computing
firepower, a 3-D simulation of the first one-millionth of a second in a nuclear
explosion will take eight weeks to calculate."
For more info:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/836893.asp
Record industry continues attempt at online distribution model
"The beat goes on in the music business as Universal Music Group, in
a nod to the inevitable, said it would make 43,000 music tracks available
for consumers to download via a variety of retail outlets and music Web sites.
The move follows a somewhat similar recent decision by EMI Recorded Music,
and it's clear that the Internet has changed the music business forever."
For more info:
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/1545541
National Identity Card For Canada?
"Unfazed by criticism of his proposal for a new high-tech national identity
card, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Denis Coderre announced Monday
he is referring the matter to Parliament's immigration committee for further
study.
' The time has come to have a debate on the question of biometrics and the
question of identity,' Coderre told reporters on his way out of question period."
For more info:
http://www.canada.com/technology/story.html?id={9947936B-C0DD-4DA8-A7B8-854B86FAD95A}
Linux consortium takes on Red Hat
"UnitedLinux, a consortium of four second-tier Linux companies working
to catch leader Red Hat, released its first version of the open-source operating
system on Tuesday.
And as expected, two partners in the effort, SuSE in Germany and the SCO Group
in Utah, announced packages based on the version at a news conference at the
Comdex Fall 2002 trade show here. The other partners in the alliance are Turbolinux
in Japan and Conectiva in Brazil."
For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-966495.html?tag=fd_top
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
When searching for information, how many sites do you visit before you find
a useful site?
| 0 - I find the site right away |
 |
4.72 % (5) |
| 1-5 |
|
63.21 % (67) |
| 6-10 |
|
23.58 % (25) |
| >10 |
|
7.55 % (8) |
| I can never find anything useful |
|
0.94 % (1) |
| Total votes: 106 |
This Week's Poll
FREEHELP FORUM
Visit the new and improved PCIN FreeHelp Forum at http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php
to post your questions or answer others.
Question
I have an HP Vectra running Windows 98 I'm using at home off any network.
Until about 6 mo. ago all was fine, but at some point I became no longer able
to shut down the system in the normal way In other words, whether I tell it
to shut down or restart makes no difference in what happens and the only way
I can turn the system off is to use the power switch. I can do this after
Windows closes, but it's a nuisance. I've flashed the bios and all the settings
seems correct. I also went through reconfiguring the CMOS -- not that I really
know what this is -- by using the switch on the system board. But nothing
has helped. Does anyone have any ideas? If I continue to be unable to fully
shut down, is there any problem that might result?
Response
The problem is not the BIOS, you should not resort to a BIOS flash as a fix.
A BIOS Update should ALWAYS be the Last Resort to fix a problem. For further
assistance see this Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;202633
Shutdown problems can be caused by: improperly installed drivers, missing
driver, corrupted drivers, improper APM settings, improper ACPI settings,
ACPI is enabled but not installed in Windows, a piece of hardware is malfunctioning,
a damaged Exit Sound file, a damaged or missing system file, incompatible
Kernel Mode software, the list goes on....
To post a response, visit the General Hardware Help forum at http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php?board=4
and click on the "Won't Shut Down" topic.
Visit http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php
to post a question of your own.
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
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
PCIN.net Search
http://PCIN.net/search/
Some Useful Registry Tips
http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.shtml
THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
Use the Internet Explorer Links Bar
When browsing, I like to keep my Internet Explorer links bar open. I delete
the usual default entries and use it for my visited sites. Alternatively,
I use the links bar for special purpose research where I will be referring
to several documents over a short period of time, but do not need to save
the links as favorites. To do this, first make sure your links toolbar is
open. If it is not, right click on Address bar and choose Links from the list.
To
add a link, you can right click on the web page, choose Add to Favorites then
select the Links folder, or simply drag the web page icon from the Address
bar to the Links bar. When done with the links, right click on them and choose
Delete. As with all favorites, you can organize your links into folders as
well.
Troubleshooting boot times in Windows XP
This is from a newsletter Graham receives. Microsoft has improved the boot
time required to bring the OS up with XP, but users may still experience problems
of slow boot times. The boot performance problem often is the result of a
software/hardware combination, but these scenarios are hard to troubleshoot.
Fortunately, Microsoft has a special utility called Bootvis that can help
you identify devices that cause delays during the boot process.
- Download and run the Bootvis utility.
- On the Trace menu, select Next Boot + Driver Delays.
- Click OK. The computer will reboot and analyze the boot procedure. After the reboot, you'll be able to see what happened during the boot process, such as which drivers were loaded and which ones took the most time to initialize.
- Select Optimize System from the Trace menu. This will restart the computer and optimize it for boot performance
Turn off custom menus
Starting with Office 2000, Microsoft decided that users only wanted to see
the menu items they use most frequently. While this sounds reasonable, it
makes finding items more difficult when you do need them. To turn off custom
menus in Word, and the other Office products, right click on the toolbar and
choose customize. Choose Options in the dialog box and make sure that the
box "Menus show recently used commands first" is not checked.
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.
- If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have to cut
and paste.
- You can only win one contest every 30 days.
- To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://www.pcin.net/
and follow the appropriate links.
- Recommend PCIN to others at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.php
and be entered in a monthly draw.
- There are only 2 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, or you have requested FreeHelp from me in the past.
- If you have a web site or run your own newsletter, please email me at
editor@pcin.net and I will add it to
the subscriber web pages that I have on my site.
- Support PCIN by visiting http://www.pcin.net/donate.php
Return to the top
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.
Support PCIN by visiting http://www.pcin.net/donate.php
PC Improvement News Home Page
PC Improvement News
Archive
|
