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Newsletter from Fred
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Great comments are still pouring
in from "Memory Leaks Part IV: Final Tweaks," over at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/14.htm
. Several readers asked about the
need to reboot after running the self-maintenance items. For example, reader Jon
M. Lefstad writes: I also use SpeedDisk in
preference to Defrag. One thing you might want to consider is to reboot your
machine after all your maintenance. I know one of your goals is not to have to
reboot, but I like mine freshly rebooted every morning. You can add the
following to Task Scheduler to do a reboot C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe
shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 0x2 Thanks, Jon. Actually, I use DriveImage 3.0 each morning to clone my entire C: partition for a backup; DriveImage runs from DOS, so I'm rebooting as part of that process anyway. (I'll cover this and other backup options in a future issue.) But as Jon says, one of the reasons for doing all the anti-leak tweaks we've discussed is to reduce the need to reboot; if the tweaks are doing what they should, you should have to reboot far less often than before (although you certainly can *choose* to do so; it does no harm). How long can you go? For example, as a proof-of-concept exercise while researching the WinMag four-part series, I skipped my normal DriveImage/reboot backup routine on my daily-use PC to see what would happen (that PC is in very, very heavy use, all day long, every day). Day after day, I saw that my resources never varied outside a normal high of around 82% to a low (when I was doing a *lot*) of about 8%. The operating system *never* crashed or became unstable, and the resources *always* rebounded to 82% when I closed all the top-level apps. I don't know how long I could have kept going, but eventually my need to do a full backup overcame my need to prove that the system was truly stable! But one system isn't that much of a test, so let's look at other systems: For example, my web-access server here at Langa Consulting LLC's Worldwide Headquarters (read: my home office) is a Win98 box that's always on. To my knowledge, the server has never, *ever* needed a reboot due to memory/resource problems. In fact, there are only three ways it does need rebooting: My teenage son's online exploits are one ("You downloaded *what*?"); external hacker attacks are another; and hardware failures are the third (it's an ancient 10-year-old "junker" PC that's way overdue for replacement). Likewise, my laptop and the other five PCs here very rarely, if ever, suffer from resource-related problems. In short, the anti-leak tweaks *work.* If you fully follow the four-part series, you should be able to run for a very long time indeed between reboots, if that is your wish. But if you *want* to reboot after cleanups, that's fine--- there's no harm in that, and using Jon's unattended-reboot trick makes it easy, especially if there's nothing else running on your system then. (With nothing else running on your PC, there's no downside at all to rebooting; it can be the final step that ensures you start each day with a PC as clean and stable as possible.) But even there the point is to *choose* to reboot, instead of being forced to do so by a crash. And that's what the four-part series is about. Check it out: http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/14.htm (Ed. Note. Additional comments on this item are available here.) Click to
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Some ISPs try to cram their home
page down your browser's figurative throat. For example reader Tom Vallely
writes: I recently switched to
cable web service through Cox cable and excite@home. I've been reading about how
you have to use excite as your home page. I don't like being told I have to use
a service. I'm a little confused. I
noticed that if I used the new icon on my desktop that I went to excite.com and
couldn't change the home page. However, if I used my old IE icon I could do
whatever I wanted. Free services may require you to
use their home page; that's one of the ways they can be sure you're seeing the
ads that pay for the service. But I don't know why a for-pay service should
*require* you to use their home page. Although you shouldn't violate your user
agreement; if you want to change your home page and can't, there are options. IE
and Netscape handle home pages differently, so let's take them in turn: There are three ways you can
change IE's home page. the simplest is to click on Tools/Internet Options/Home
Page, and enter the URL you want. HKEY_CURRENT_USER/
Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Main/Start Page and edit the line in Start Page
to be whatever URL you want for your home page. REGEDIT4 In Notepad, change the "www.langa.com"
to be whatever home page you want (or leave it as Langa.Com--- I won't mind!
<g>). Save the file to your desktop as homepage.reg (be sure it's not
homepage.reg.txt or homepage.txt.reg). double click on the file, and your IE
homepage will be set to whatever URL you typed in. If your home page ever gets
changed, just click on the reg file to set it back. [NOTE: If you prefer, you also
can download a ready-made reg file from For Netscape browsers, try
clicking Edit/Preferences/Home Page. If you can't change it there, shut down the
browser, navigate to \Program Files\Netscape\Users\default and use Notepad to
open "prefs.js." Add or edit the following line, and you'll change the
home page to whatever URL you type in: user_pref("browser.startup.homepage",
"http://www.langa.com"); Again, it's fine to use Langa.Com
as your home page. I won't mind a bit! 8-) Click to
email this item to a friend Last issue's mention of a reader
who got multiple requests from Yahoo for his credit card numbers ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-07-06.htm#6
) brought a pile of conflicting email. (Note that the issues raised are not
unique to Yahoo--- they can affect *any* user of *any* ISP.) Many, many readers thought is was
simply a scam; someone posing as a Yahoo official and trolling for the unwary
who might respond by sending in their credit card numbers. It's a ploy that's
extremely common on AOL, for example, and other ISPs have been hit with it too. There also are variants, such as
the "You've won [name of prize here]! We just need your credit card number
to verify your identity!" scam. See http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/inwo/1219/265121.html
. But then there's COPPA, the USA's
"Children's Online Privacy Protection Act" which just went into effect
in April; it requires a site owner to verify the ages of participants in many
online activities, such as chatrooms. One way a site owner can verify age is by
requesting a credit card number. And that's where it gets murky. In the case of Yahoo, some
readers pointed out (and I verified this myself by creating a fake account
there) that if Yahoo thinks you might be underage, it will in fact let you prove
you're an adult by asking to "verify your age by credit card." The
credit-card inquiry page, however, is several screens deep, and runs on a secure
server. It is NOT a simple email request for a credit card number. So, unfortunately, this isn't a
simple black and white issue: There are times when you may get a legitimate
request for a credit card number. But that request should never arrive as a
simple email--- you should never, ever send credit card numbers by unsecured
email, and no legitimate request will ever arrive that way. At the very least,
you should be directed to a secure web page *on the host's server* (double check
the URL!) before you're asked to enter any credit card info. And, very simply, if anything
seems even a little suspicious, just say no: Don't give out any sensitive
information, ever, unless you're 100% sure why it's being requested, who's
requesting it, and what it will be used for. (Thanks to all the many, many
readers who wrote in about this! Man, you people are *good!* <g>) Click to
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it a try for your product, service, web site See http://www.langa.com/ratecard.htm GREAT
Exposure --- GREAT Prices! Reader Ray Miller found a strange
occurrence on a BellSouth site: Fred, After January 2000 came
and went without incident, I became increasingly sure that Y2K was either a
non-issue, just media hype or a conspiracy to grub money from the easily
swindled masses. Imagine my surprise when
I accidentally stumbled on a real-life revelation at a major corporation's site.
I have BellSouth to thank for educating me about Y2K. From their search engine,
I searched on keyword "jobs" and received a surprising result. I learned that the year
immediately after 1999 is really 19100. If you need proof, just look in the body
of the messages on [that] page ... pay particular attention to the "posted
by xxxxx on" date and the date near the end of the message body. Keep Smiling, Ray Miller Let me guess, Ray: You're using a
Netscape browser, right? Netscape browsers still, to this day, are not fully Y2K
compliant; there's a very well-known Netscape Javascript date bug that's been
around----and unfixed--- for years. Oops, excuse me--- I can't say
that in public, or I'll get 9,000 emails along the lines of "You're an
unthinking, pro-Microsoft stooge!" Sigh. (Pssst! Let me whisper this so I
don't get into trouble: When web page authors don't add extra code to detect and
correct the Y2K error in Netscape browsers, they show the "19100"
date. Microsoft's IE's scripting handles Y2K dates just fine, without any extra
coding. But I can't say that in public either, or the anti-Microsoft people will
light the torches and burn me in effigy.) OK, for public consumption:
Netscape is perfect, absolutely *PERFECT.* The year really *is* 19100--- it's
our calendars and that stupid Microsoft browser that are wrong! Yeah, that's the ticket. 8-) Click to
email this item to a friend Reader Ron Williams found some
information online that he found disturbing: A web page run by John
Navas ( http://cable-dsl.home.att.net/index.htm
) is very critical of Shields Up. I thought you might want to look at it and
maybe comment on some of what he says. John's Navas's "Cable Modem/DSL
Tuning Guide" and Steve Gibson's "Shields Up" ( http://grc.com/intro.htm
) are somewhat in competition: You have to be careful when interpreting one
competitor's criticism of another. Does Ford ever praise Chevy? Plus, Navas's site is geared for
more advanced users than is Gibson's; so the technical depth differs, as it
should. But both sites have good stuff;
and both sites have biases and weirdnesses. That's why I've recommended in past
issues that you run the security tests on BOTH sites (and others) to get the
full picture. No one site is ever likely to be 100% correct for all people, all
the time. Even mine! 8-) The four sites I use most often
to check my online security are: http://grc.com/intro.htm They all have something
worthwhile, and they're all free. Check 'em out! Click to
email this item to a friend If you think the
LangaList is a worthwhile read, just use the following link to recommend the
LangaList to a friend. Your friend just may find a new source of useful
information; I just may gain a new subscriber; and you just may win $10,000 for
your trouble (full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1 Or, win a copy of
"Poor Richard's E-Mail Publishing: Creating Newsletters, Bulletins,
Discussion Groups and Other Powerful Communications Tools." This book has
been described as "An excellent, straightforward manual on email
publishing, banner ads, driving traffic and especially ethics." (Full
details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2 Either way, thank
you, and good luck! Click to
email this item to a friend Reader Ernest A Kitt asks: Hi there Fred, you
provided a link to a site that gave a small virus program that safeguarded 'VBS'
& 'SHS' viruses from getting into the computer, as opposed to using the one
from MS, which I have heard can cause other problems. The reason I am asking is
that the cat or the dog, (no it was not me, I never do things like this), went
and formatted the cd-rw disk that all your mails were stored on, :-( along with
the actual program. I am sure that you will agree that any sensible person, like
myself, would know to keep programs separate. It was called Bulldog or something
like that. Also as I have just started to use a cd-rw could you let me know if
it ispossible to protect against this in the future, using CD-RW disc's and not
CD-R, as I have a feeling that stupid dog may do this again. Hope you can help.
Keep up the good work Hmmm, the old "the dog ate
my files" excuse, eh, Ernie? <g> You're thinking of Watchdog, on
the WinMag.com site. It's recently been upgraded and improved, too, and it's
still free. http://content.techweb.com/winmag//fixes/watchdog/default.htm Click to
email this item to a friend 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!" (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and
are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please
see http://www.langa.com/link.txt
) Speaking of which: Here's another
eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal: Welkom op
de Homepage van Peter Hegi Click to
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Wow, I was pleasantly surprised
to get a flood of mail about last week's New Hampshire humor item ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-07-06.htm#9
). Reader Jonathan Polirer (who says he grew up in "Manchesta") offers
this item from his humor list ( http://jp_hum.listbot.com/
): YOU MIGHT BE FROM NEW
HAMPSHIRE if you can name all four seasons, but, YOU'RE CERTAINLY FROM NEW
HAMPSHIRE if they are Tourist, Foliage, Ski and Mud. YOU MIGHT BE FROM NEW
HAMPSHIRE if you own flannel shirts, but, Click to
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