|
11/21/09
Windows Tip:
MANAGING DIAL UP ACCOUNTS ON XP; Its easy to have
multiple dialup accounts where you can cherry pick from
one single menu of numbers to dial. Create a desktop
shortcut to "%SystemRoot%\system32\rasphone.exe" (less
quotes) or just type rasphone.exe in the Start/Run
window.. Launching presents a menu of previously
established account numbers from which to choose or
give you the ability to create new dialup accounts.
Finally, yes, you can simultaneous connect to a
dial up provider WHILE connected to a DSL or digital
provider. This can be useful when accessing e-mail
from POP3 servers other than your primary.
A K5HUM Opinion: Why I am not yet recommending Google's
latest Chrome Web Browser. Chrome attempts to change
the homepage and the default search engine for other
web browsers installed on your computer.
11/20/09
Windows Tip: If
you suspect an important system file got corrupted you
can run XP's on board System File Checker. You will
need your original install or restore CD to replace
damaged files that are identified. Click Start, then
Run, and type "sfc /scannow" (less quotes) in the Open:
dialog box and follow the instructions.
Is your pad-less Optical mouse behaving erratic? Turn it
over and clean the laser lens port with a soft cloth or
cotton swab. Even an almost invisible particle of dust
or hair can cause erratic jerky cursor movement.
11/19/09
Windows Tip: You
can open Windows (file) Explorer to the exact folder
you want; Shortcut command example:
"%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /n, /e, C:\POPNOTE" (less
quotes). This would open Windows Explorer directly to
the C:\POPNOTE folder.
11/18/09
Windows Tip:
How to ELIMINATING XP's "Report Error to MS" messages;
Go to control panel, double click the System Icon,
select the Advanced tab and click the Error Reporting
button. Now select the Disable Error Reporting option.
If you don’t want to see any type of error message,
clear the But Notify Me When Critical Errors Occur
check box. Click OK twice — once to close the Error
Reporting dialog box and once to close the System
Properties dialog box.
11/17/09
Windows Tip: HOW
TO BRING UP A DOS or Command Window; Create a shortcut
on your desktop using the following path:
"%SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe" (less quotes) or just
type cmd.exe in the Start/Run window. After launching
you can right click the blue bar on top of the dos box
that opens and select its properties to control various
parameters.
IT Net News: Charter Communications, the ISP that
powers this Web Blog, announced today that it was
filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to re align
its debt. The company says it does not expect this to
interfere with its ongoing services.
11/16/09
Windows Tip:
NETWORK TROUBLESHOOTING; Open a Command window. Type
"PING.EXE plus the IP to ping", Example: "PING
192.168.0.2" (less quotes) to test a peer on your LAN.
Type NETSTAT.EXE, Example: "NETSTAT /?" to see all the
settings. Type IPCONFIG.EXE Example: "IPCONFIG /ALL" to
get your WAN IP, MAC address and other diagnostic
information. Note: the switch or tail parameter "/?"
will provide Help with any of the above utilities.
11/15/09
Windows Tip: HOW
TO STOP OR START A SERVICE, Windows has the ability to
selectively stop (or start) a program registered to run
as a service (i.e. auto load and run in the background).
Create a desktop shortcut to:
"%SystemRoot%\system32\services.msc" (less quotes) or
just type services.msc in the Start/Run window. This is
a powerful low level utility. Make sure you understand
the mandatory services used by the operating system
before shutting any down. In many instances you can set
a service to run manually (on demand) in lieu of
automatically at boot up.
11/14/09
PC maintenance
Tip: Users who operate their computers for long periods
of time should be aware that dust collects internally
almost as rapidly as it settles on the keyboard and
monitor. Dust will clog the internal muffin fans and
fins on the CPU heat sink, causing it to run hotter and
slower. A house vacuum, applied carefully, will solve
the problems. If you have not had the covers off the
case in a year, its TIME.
11/13/09
A K5HUM Opinion:
Is Defraging your HD worth your time? In my opionion
that depends on the type and age of the drive. Newer
SATA drives with their small disk diameters and
extremely high operating RPM's likely wont see much
improvement, probably less than a 3% increase in i/o
times. Depending on the kind of applications you run,
its up to you to decide if saving 3 seconds out of one
and a half minutes is worth the effort. If you do
defrag, you may experience less defraging time if you
reboot first then defrag. As this will clear all the
cache files from the drive.
11/12/09
Windows News:
Reminder; last Tuesday (2nd Tuesday of the Month) was
Microsoft Windows Update Day. If your updates are not
set to automatically download and install, don't forget
to click the "Windows Update" Icon. Several of these
security patches were considered urgent.
Aside from enhancing PC security, keeping your
operating system up to date can occasionally make minor
anomalies with application software go away, or see
noticeably improvements in operation.
11/11/09
Today's PopNote
Hint: You can clear any individual User Button with F1
thru F5 (left to right). The first 3 buttons are static
(once loaded remain so). Alt+G will load the next blank
button with whatever IP is currently showing in the IP
address window.
11/10/09
Windows 7 News:
Recent test by independent security organizations
reported that Windows 7's new UAC failed to detect 8
out of 10 current Malware variants. Looks like Window 7
users will continue to be dealing with Microsoft's
2nd Tuesday monthly Security updates.
Hurricane Ida was a gentile Lady as opposed to some
of her past sisters. We who live on the Gulf Coast
were fortunate; only modest rain and light winds.
11/09/09
Software News:
For those interested in public VOIP chat software
geared to Hams and non hams alike, Kelly Lindman
promises his first "release candidate" RC1 of HamSphere will be out by
11/15/09. For those not already familiar, HamSphere
creates a virtual HF Transceiver on the users Desktop.
11/08/09
Net Security
News: Beware of a new rash of Bogus E-mails that appear
to come from the FDIC that Link you to Viruses that are
designed to steal your bank passwords and other
sensitive personal information.
11/07/09
Today's PopNote
Hint: Want the lower Send window larger? Just grab the
horizontal bar that divides the lower and upper dialog
windows with the left mouse button and drag up or down
while holding the left mouse button in.
11/06/09
Net News:
FireFox released version 3.5.5 yesterday for upgrade.
Meanwhile, if you want to be a part of Mozilla's Beta
team, just download their latest beta version,
FireFox 3.6b1. This
build seems as good as the public release of 3.5.4.
How to Browse safely on the Web today is everyone's
concern. There are just no absolute guarantees. Each of
the various Browsers employ their own versions of
malicious site detectors, many based on proprietary
databases built from their experiences. Unfortunately
in todays environment things change very rapidly. A new
Addon for Firefox has appeared that checks multiple
sources for known malware sites, its called
LinkExtend. It might be worth checking out.
11/05/09
Today's PopNote
Tip: Have other questions or problems with PopNote
not covered here or in the online PN_DOC file? Try
perusing the PopNote FAQ .
11/04/09
Today's PopNote
Tip: When running PopNote for long periods and never
clearing the chat dialog window (opting to use it as an
archive of past exchanges) may, depending on your PC
resources, result in an "out of memory" error. To
prevent this, CLEAR the chat window regularly to avoid
gobbling up memory. If you want copies of your chats,
toggle Auto Record to ON then use Ctrl+O to save all
your chats to the appropriate "user_ID.txt" logs. Now
you will have unique copies of all user chats for later
review without clogging the chat window.
11/03/09
Todays PC Tip: Is
your PC very slow to respond? One reason why that could
happen is a buggy application that is using most of the
processors (CPU) time. Here how you can check this.
Right click the Taskbar, then choose "Task Manager"
from the popup menu. Now click the "Processes" Tab.
Next click the CPU column. Check the bottom line that
says "System Idle Process". It should be between 95 and
98%. Give it 10 to 15 seconds to settle down. If its
not higher than 95%, look in the list to see what
application is using the difference. That's the
culprit. Google that executable's file name. That will
give you a good clue as to what steps to take next. The
majority of the time it's either a buggy application or
worst case, malware. Go close the suspect application.
If TaskManager says its still running, highlight it and
click the "Terminate process" button. If its an unknown
application and it returns on its own, run a malware
scanner such as "House Call beta 7" mentioned else ware
in this Blog.
11/02/09
Todays Net News:
The English language continues to be under attack. This
time its going to affect the Internet. ICANN (the
international authority for regulating the Internet)
has approved non-Latin characters for use in Internet
domain names. Dot Com, Dot Org etc etc, move over. You
may not even be able to type the new characters from
your keyboard!
11/01/09
Sunday at 0200 hrs,
that's the time to set your clocks back one hour. Those
with newer computers (or old ones with the DST fix)
will adjust the computers clock automatically.
Happy Birthday Internet. It was 40 years ago you were
born as a child of ARPANET, a US research project of the
DOD called the Advanced Research Projects Agency. From
there ARPANET was turned over to Universities who in
turn eventually allowed public access. Remember those
early days of Telnet for chat, PINE for e-mail and
GOPHER for Google??
Read all previous MOTD Archives
Previous Links that appeared here
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Comprehensive summary of Linux Unbunto 9.1 features .
Request an invitation for FREE Long Distance from Google Voice
Listing of available DNS Providers.
Upgrading to W7? read this
Washington Post article first.
Stop annoying phone calls, visit DoNotCall.GOV
Some Free DNS Providers.
Article on malware scanners submitted by W1PI on
Malware Scanner Help.
ZDNet's Adrian Hughes reports on Malware
and using Unbunto to avoit it. You can download a free copy
of Ubunto and download
a free copy of ImgBurn.
Check if your FireFox plugins are up to date
Now.
For PC requirements to run W7 you can read Microsoft's
Win7 System-Requirements .
Info on Microsoft's FREE Malicious Software Removal tool:
Microsoft's MRT Support.
Virtual Ham Radio, free, download at HamSphere .
New free Microsoft AntiMalware Scanner.
Along comes FoxIt for FireFox a free plugin and stand alone PDF Reader/Editor.
Text article on LAN Hints an Tips
FireFox NoScript Addon.
Latest Shockwave Flash release.
Open Source Freeware manual ClamWin Virus Scanner.
Malware Scanner HouseCall Beta V7
Freeware Sound Editor Audacity.
Suggestions, critiques?
|
