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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
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
You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/
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.
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
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/
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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and paste.
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- To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://PCIN.net/ and
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be entered in a monthly draw.
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I will add it to the subscriber web pages that I have on my site.
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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.
Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php
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