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Newsletter from Fred
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Last issue's Registry
patch was a hit, and it's easy to see why: It's a tiny, free file that lets you
easily make Win98's Start menu act like Window 2000's: With one click, you can
instantly change Win98's default scrolling Menu style to a
see-everything-at-once multi-column Menu style. Another click, and it reverts
back to a scrolling menu. Cool! (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-05-15.htm#2
) I've personally tested
the Reg patch on a variety of systems running Win98 and Win98SE (the two version
of Windows in widest use) and found it worked exactly as stated. But a number of
readers had trouble, and the problems fell into three broad categories. It's worth talking about
these problems for two reasons: First, this information may help you if you
encounter *any* similar problem with *any* download or patch in the future (even
if you had no trouble with the Reg patch). And more specifically, it should help
those readers who did have trouble downloading the Reg patch and getting
it to work. The first problem area
relates to how your browser handles downloads: When some readers clicked on the
link to the Reg file, their browser *displayed the contents* of the file rather
than downloading it: Some versions of Netscape do this by default; and almost
any browser can be made to display, rather than download, a downloadable file. When this happens, the
usual solution is simply to try the other mouse button. For example, if you
RIGHT click on a link to a file in Internet Explorer, there's a "Save
Target As..." function available that lets you download and save the file
to disk, rather than displaying it inside the browser. Likewise, in most
versions of Netscape browsers, a RIGHT click gives you a "Save Link
As..." option that does the same thing; you can download and save a file to
disk, rather than display it inside the browser. If you had trouble
downloading the Reg patch, try again, but click with the RIGHT mouse button: http://www.langa.com/reg/menu.reg If you still have
trouble, check your security settings: Restrictive security settings can also
interfere with some downloads; if you do loosen your security settings for the
purpose of grabbing this or any download, you may wish to re-enable the security
settings after you're done with the download. The second trouble area
some readers encountered was due to Microsoft's odd naming conventions. I'll
discuss that in the next item. Click
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Some readers were
tripped up by Microsoft's confusing naming conventions regarding two related,
but different items: Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer. WINDOWS EXPLORER is the
Microsoft application that shows you your files and folders on your local
system. It's sometimes referred to simply as "Explorer." You can
launch it by clicking to Start/Programs/Windows Explorer or by typing
"Explorer" in the Start/Run box. INTERNET EXPLORER is the
Microsoft application that you can use to browse web pages. It's sometimes
called "IE." You can launch it by clicking Start/Programs/Internet
Explorer or by typing "IExplore" in the Start/Run box. It's confusing not only
because both names are similar but also because their functions are similar: For
example, although Windows Explorer is intended mainly for viewing folders and
files on your local system, you also can use it to view HTML-based web pages:
Windows Explorer simply morphs itself, internally, into Internet Explorer. To
see this in action, open Windows Explorer (click Start/Programs/Windows
Explorer) and in the address bar type in a URL, such as http://www.langa.com
. Presto; "Windows Explorer" is now acting almost exactly like
"Internet Explorer." It also works the other
way: Open Internet Explorer (click Start/Programs/Internet Explorer) and
type "file://c:/" (without the quotes) in the address bar: Presto;
"Internet Explorer" is now acting almost exactly like "Windows
Explorer." In fact, several prankster web sites---including the "Green
Eggs and Ham Operating System" link mentioned in the last issue--- use this
trick to make the unwary think that the web site has somehow gained access to
their system files. (In other words, it uses the "file://c:/" trick to
play a joke.) This "two
Explorer" phenomenon stems from Microsoft attempts to integrate universal
HTML functions into the base operating system. "Windows Explorer" and
"Internet Explorer" are two front ends to shared back-end components;
that back end is capable of displaying whatever it is you want to see regardless
of whether it's on your local system, on an intranet, or out on the Internet. I actually think that's
a good thing--- a convenience for users--- but the Department Of Justice and
some of Microsoft's competitors disagreed: This integration was one of the
sticking points in the Microsoft/DOJ trial. The DOJ and AOL (mainly) felt that
Microsoft should, in effect, keep the operating system ignorant of HTML, and
require users to employ an entirely-separate browser for that purpose. Indeed,
the browser used to be an entirely separate application; the two separate names
and two separate front ends are a vestigial remnant of that approach. (Who knows? If Microsoft
is forced to remove HTML processing ability from the OS, then the Explorers will
become two separate apps again, and you'll have to use one tool to view all
local files except HTML; and an entirely different tool to view HTML and remote
files.) In any case the
similarity of the "Explorer" names can cause confusion. For example,
the Start Menu Registry Patch we're discussing (see item #1) adds a check box to
the View/Folder Options/View menu items in *Windows Explorer,* NOT Internet
Explorer: Many readers just saw "Explorer" and assumed the item was in
IE's menu. When they looked in IE's menu, they couldn't find the new check box,
and assumed the patch failed. It hadn't; they were just looking in the wrong
place. As stated in the last
issue, after you run the Reg Patch, "open *Windows Explorer* and click on
View/Folder Options and then select the View tab. Scroll down to the "Files
and Folders" area and you'll see the new checkbox there--- it appears as
"Multi Column Start Menu." Check or uncheck it to switch instantly
between multi-column and scrolling Menu types." We'll discuss the final
problem areas in the next item. Click
to email this item to a friend Here's a third point of
confusion about the Reg patch: Menus only scroll or expand into multiple panes
when you have more menu items than will fit in the available display area.
There's no need to scroll or show multiple columns if everything on the menu
already fits in the normal menu area. Thus, you'll only see
the effect of the new Reg patch when your menu runs out of room. If your Start
menu currently fits in the available space, you won't see either action---no
scrolling, no multi-panes/columns, no nothing. <g> That doesn't mean the
patch failed; you'll only see the scroll or expand action when your menu exceeds
the available display area. As a final note: Other
Registry changes you've made (or that have been made by other applications or
patches you've run) may interfere with the operation of the Reg patch. I can
only tell you that the patch works fine on standard, unmodified Win98 systems. Whew! I had no idea that
such a simple file would open such a large can of worms! <g> Click
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Speaking of patches, the
Microsoft security team has been very busy: First, they've completely overhauled
the Office update site and added an automated update service that operates much
like "Windows Update" has done for a long time: It sniffs your Office
components (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc etc etc), determines which patches you
need, and (if you choose) then auto-installs them. It's much easier than the old
way of hunting down patches app by app. It's called the
"Microsoft Office Auto Update Service" and it's available at http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/ouv3/catalog.htm
. The first patch
available via the new service corrects the "Office 2000 UA Control
Vulnerability," which had an Office scripting component incorrectly tagged
as "safe for scripting." It was a back door by which malicious hackers
could, potentially, run harmful scripts on your system. The problem exists in
Office 2000 and all its component pieces--- Word 2000, Excel 2000, PowerPoint
2000, Access 2000, Photodraw 2000, FrontPage 2000, Project 2000, Publisher 2000,
Outlook 2000 and the Works 2000 Suite. The patch is available
either by running the Office Update tool (mentioned above or by going directly
here: If you want more info,
there's a FAQ at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-034.asp Click
to email this item to a friend I normally don't tell
you about updates and patches until they're available, but this one's worth a
"heads up!" Next week, Microsoft will release a major patch for
Outlook that will change some of its fundamental behaviors. The resulting
Outlook will be more secure--- but less convenient. (Sigh.) The patch is
specifically for Outlook 98 and 2000; it's not yet clear if Outlook Express will
be included, but so far it appears that it will not. Stay tuned. The idea is, of course,
to prevent the spread of "Luv Bug" type emails that contain a runnable
attachment that---when clicked---wreaks havoc on your system. The downside is
that it'll be harder to share legitimate files: If someone sends you an
email with an attachment containing any of the disallowed types (Exe files, Reg
files, Batch files, VBS file, etc.), you'll simply get a notice that Outlook has
stripped the potentially-dangerous file from your email; you won't even be
allowed to look at it. (It's not clear what happens to these stripped
attachments or where they go.) The only way any of the
disallowed file types can be received as Outlook attachments is if they're sent
to you in a compressed Zip format. Even then, they can't be opened from within
Outlook---they only can be saved to disk. (You can then use your favorite
Zip-file processor to virus-check and expand the compressed file. I recommend
WinZip for this purpose because it integrates so easily with virus-checkers: http://www.winzip.com/
) Third, the patch will
change Outlook's default security settings in a way much like the manual changes
we've discussed in recent issues. (For example, see the series of tips starting
at http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-05-15.htm#6
)
Outlook is an integral
part of Office, of course, so diddling with Outlook can affect how other
email-enabled components of Office work. Microsoft has posted preliminary
information on which parts of Office may be affected here: http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/2000/articles/O2ksecImpactedFunc.htm If you've followed this
far, it probably won't surprise you to hear that a number of email-enabled,
non-Microsoft products that rely on Outlook may also be affected. A partial list
of affected vendors includes: The list probably will
evolve over time: You can get the latest version here: Note that the patch is
NOT YET AVAILABLE. It probably will be available next week. But it's so
significant and sweeping a patch that I thought it would be best to give you an
early heads up. The Outlook 98 patch
will be available here: The Outlook 2000 patch
will be available here: And there's lots more
detail on the patch here: http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/2000/articles/out2ksecarticle.htm If you think you're
likely to install the patch---and it will probably be a good idea to do
so---note that the patch requires that you first install the Office 2000 Service
Release 1 or the new 1a Update; see next item. Click
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Office SR-1a is a
slightly modified version of the huge SR-1 patch for Microsoft Office that was
released a while ago. The SR-1a version contains everything in the SR-1 version,
plus all newer security patches and a Registry Repair tool that's specific to
Office 2000 running on Windows 2000. Fortunately, the new
Office Update wizard (at http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/ouv3/catalog.htm
) appears to be pretty good about sniffing out what components you actually need
so you won't necessarily have to re-download the entire, enormous SR-1 patch.
(Thank goodness.) In fact, I only had to download a few hundred Kbytes of new
patches--- and it took only a minute or two. You can get lots more
detail on what you may or may not need at http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/2000/downloadDetails/O2kSR1DDL.htm
. One small surprise is
that you'll have to make sure you have the latest version of Windows Installer
before installing the SR-1a update and/or the Outlook patches mentioned earlier. Windows 98 and Windows
95 users can download the new Installer here: Windows NT 4.0 users can
download the new installer here: Windows 2000 users do
not require the Windows Installer update. Whew--- that's a lot of
information, and a lot of patching! Now you know why I'm telling you about this
one a week in advance! <g> Click
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Do you have a home page
or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://www.langa.com/code.htm,
and maybe you can join the hundreds and hundreds of LangaList readers who have
"Loaded the Code!" Speaking of which:
Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very
personal: Click
to email this item to a friend In recent issues, we've
discussed a number of free email services and tools. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-05-08.htm#4
and http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-04-24.htm#4
) Well, reader John H.
Shannon found another free tool that can help you manage your email---and even
help protect you against spam and viruses! Hi
Fred, I've
been enjoying and finding your Langa List very useful for some time now. The
latest issue mentions using Outlook to view only the headers of your Email, and
deleting any messages you don't want to download directly from the server. For
those who don't have this feature in their Email clients, there is an excellent
freeware program called 'Letter Box' that offers preview and delete-off-server.
It is highly configurable and can be set up to auto-delete mail according to
rules you provide. More features also. It's available at http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~fangorn/ultimathule/index.html
I've been using it several months now and am very happy with it. Thanks, John! Click
to email this item to a friend Kevin Wakefield, a
reader from New Zealand, sends along these "great lines from job
evaluations." I suspect many or most are apocryphal, but they're still
funny: 1. I would not
allow this employee to breed. Click to
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