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Please note: Older issues may contain information that is now out of date. How To Subscribe
and Unsubscribe is at the end of this note. Mailing List Trouble? See http://www.langa.com/help.txt Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000 !) An easier-to
read formatted HTML version of this newsletter is available on line at The LangaList 2000-10-09 A Free Email
Newsletter from Fred
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We're almost to the end of our
"Save Your Butt With DOS" series ( http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/17.htm
), which was occasioned by the release of Windows Millennium Edition. You see,
in WinME, Microsoft has hidden access to DOS and made it difficult to create a
useful bootable floppy disk. As Microsoft is doing its best to
shield utter newbies from DOS, it's making life harder for the rest of us.
Without easy access to DOS, some types of powerful, low-level disk diagnostic
and repair operations become much more difficult. Of course, Windows 2000 goes even
further, by design; it has no component that we would normally refer to as
standalone DOS. "Save Your Butt With DOS"
has covered a lot of ground so far--- the basics, free DOS tools, batch files,
and more. (see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-10-05.htm#1
) Now, in the series' next-to-last
column on using DOS in an increasingly DOS-free world, we'll show you how you
can build your own batch files--- or alter those of others, including the
Cleanup batch files! If you're new to batch files, we'll
walk you, step by step, through clear examples you can type and run or
copy/paste and run on your own system. You'll learn by doing, and that's the
very best way. If you already know the DOS batch
language well, you may find some good stuff in the references at the end of the
article: There's a ton of info and downloads there--- even for batch experts! Novice or expert, please check out
the column: http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/21.htm
! Click to
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OK, I blew it. It was an editing
error on my part, pure and simple. In the last issue, when explaining how
SCANREG /OPT and CleanAll.Bat can only run from pure DOS (which is correct) I
got my wires crossed: I blended the thought "they cannot be run from
Windows" and "they must be run from pure DOS" into the
nonsensical "they must only run from pure Windows." Whatever Windows is, it ain't
pure... and neither was my thought process in generating that mangled sentence.
<g> To be clear: SCANREG /OPT (the
hidden Registry-compacting command inside Win98's version of ScanReg) only works
from pure DOS; CleanAll.Bat likewise only works from pure DOS. I've corrected the online (web)
versions of the newsletter at http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-10-05.htm#2,
if you'd like to refresh your memory. My apologies. Click to
email this item to a friend We've been discussing ad-blocking
software (see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-09-25.htm#8
and http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-09-14.htm#2
) and there seems to be a booming submarket in this kind of tool. Reader Tom Parkison writes: Well, just to make the
Internet a little bit more friendly and more speedy (How can I say that? I have
ADSL!), there is another free ad blocker. It is called Interquick 2.0 from the
makers of WinGate, Deerfield! It has two modes, lite and
pro. Lite only has a few options, well, so few, it only allows you to use one
part of the program at once. Of course, I chose the ad-blocking feature. It also
allows you to cache recently viewed web sites, but, I don't use that feature.
Pro mode, well, you get the picture. You can even update the
ad-blocking database to keep up with the new ads that come out every month, free
of charge, EVEN if you are using the Lite version. -) The blocker has some
advanced features, like allowing ads to come through on certain web site through
the use of stating the domain (I put www.langa.com in the ad-blockers exception
list to be nice to you Fred -) ). For each site you add to the exception list,
you can configure what things you want blocked and what things you don't want
blocked. Sites in the exception list have the ads not blocked (that is, if you
except that option) no matter what advertising company it is. Thanks, Tom. Interquick is at http://interquick.deerfield.com/.
If you're looking for ad-blockers, it's definitely worth a look. Click to
email this item to a friend Wow, once you start looking for fat
files (perhaps using the techniques described in http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/18.htm
) you may be amazed at the space-gobblers lurking in the recesses of your hard
drive. Here's what some readers have found: Hi Fred:There is a further
+/- 7 MB that can be cleared from Win 95 machines, (I'm not too sure, but
probably 98 as well). In the windows/help folder, there are .avi files that form
part of the windows introduction. Deleting these will free up a couple of MB.---
Andrew Germishuys Fred: Users of Outlook and
Outlook express would be shocked to know that every mail that they've ever
deleted is in their deleted messages.dbx in Outlook and express. Mine was 55 mb!
Delete the file, create a new txt file, and then rename it deleted messages.dbx.
Saves a lot of space, and it's a good security measure (keeps your boss from
finding out that you're negotiating with Cnet, maybe? lol).---Frank Looper Fred, Outlook Express
("OLX") has file-pruning opportunities too. Most of my clients have no
idea that Thanks to all who wrote in! Click to
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"Nannyware"--- software
that tries to prevent kids from seeing inappropriate content--- also has been a
hot topic of late. (See http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=nannyware&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000
) Trouble is, most nannyware operates
as a blunt instrument; many innocuous words may get flagged as obscene or
inappropriate. Some examples: Fred, Your recent mention
of MIMEsweeper's stupid behaviour highlights a significant problem with all
nannyware their inability to understand the context of "undesirable"
stuff. I've developed a number of astronomy-related websites over the years. All
of them have attracted outraged complaints from nannyware users, who discover
numerous instances of the word "na*ed" (k replaced by * for the
benefit of MIMEsweeper victims). "Na*ed eye" is among the most
frequently-used terms in astronomy! One of my sites that is "full of
pruerient filth" [sic] according to one nannyware user is at http://www.dove.net.au/~fraserf/scope.htm
. This same site was given a Recommended rating by the Encyclopedia Britannica
people, who actually read it. Even my kids admit I'm a far more discerning
censor than any nannyware. 8-) -- Fraser Farrell And reader "gygyuu" was
first of several readers to steer me to the "Digital Freedom Network's Foil
the Filters Contest" at http://dfn.org/Alerts/contest.htm
. There's some hilarious nannyware blunders there, including: Joe J.
reports being prevented from accessing his own high school's Web site from his
own high school's library. Carroll High School adopted filtering software which
blocked "all questionable material." This included the word
"high." You wouldn't think someone
named Hillary Anne would have censorware problems, but all attempts to register
hillaryanne@hotmail.com were rejected because censorware spotted the hidden word
"aryan." Congressman Richard
"Dick" Armey, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives and
a staunch defender of censorware and strict Internet regulation, is himself a
victim of censorware. Netnanny, Surfwatch, Cybersitter, N2H2, and Wisechoice are
among the "software solutions" which Armey advocates. All of them
filter his site because it contains [his nickname] "dick." The really odd thing is that a
number of LangaList reader won't get this issue because their (or their
company's) nannyware will flip out at the material above--- which kind of proves
the point that nannyware is a crude solution at best. 8-) Click to
email this item to a friend Interoperability among some Office
components can create a potential security problem where a "Dynamic Data
Exchange" link is used to request and exchange live data. The problem
affects Word 97 and 2000 and "could allow a malicious user to run arbitrary
code on a victim's computer without their approval." There is a patch available for
Word2K, and the patch for Word97 is in the works. According to Microsoft: If an Access database is
specified as a data source via DDE in a Word mail merge document, macro code can
run without the user's approval when the user opens that document. If a user
could be enticed into opening a specially constructed mail merge Word document,
which was provided either as an e-mail attachment or as a link hosted on a
hostile web site, it would be possible to cause arbitrary code to run on the
user's machine. For such an attack to succeed, the victim would also need the
ability to reach the Access database via a UNC share or file// protocol. If the
user is behind a firewall and security best practices have been followed, the
ports required to access the database would be blocked. FAQ: Word 2000 Patch: Word 97 Patch "will be
available shortly." Click to
email this item to a friend I just mailed Barb and Eric free
copies of "Poor Richard's E-Mail Publishing: Creating Newsletters,
Bulletins, Discussion Groups and Other Powerful Communications Tools." It
normally retails for $30. Barb and Eric got their book by
using the "Recommend" link at http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2 If you use that 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 a book!
(Full details also available via that link.) The more times you make a
recommendation, the greater your chances are of winning! Or, if you'd like to try to win
$10,000(really!), try this link (full details also available here): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1 Either way, thank you, and good
luck! 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: Click to
email this item to a friend --- ( Your
Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) --- The Best
Value In E-Newsletter Advertising? AOL
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We discussed Partition Resizer, a
freeware alterative to the $60 Partition Magic several issues ago. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-10-02.htm#5
) Reader "Brad," from
Australia, gave that and a related tool a try: Hi Fred: I just had to let
you know that I absolutely swear by Partition Resizer and another very good (but
advanced) free partition tool. Recently, I added a second drive (15gig) to my
system, split it into three and installed 98SE onto one partition and tried to
install NT4 onto the 4 gig piece. Unfortunately, I had problems with the NT
install and ended up with a blinking cursor. To cut a long story short, I
deleted and recreated the partitions with fdisk (which caused more trouble) and
ended up with overlapped partition information. I changed back to the original
drive which still had my original 98 system luckily and went hunting for some
more partition tools. I found Partition Manager ( http://www.users.intercom.com/~ranish/part
) This tool is probably not
suited to absolute beginners. However, the documentation and GUI will help you
recover from just about any disk problem. It will show you all the partitions on
a drive, the MBR and just about any other information you care to mention
concerning low-level drive information. Using this tool, I managed to kill the
overlapped partitions (something fdisk couldn't cope with). I then recreated a
clean ten gig partition and then formatted same. Then I split that partition
with Partition Resizer into two again. Finally, I connected the new drive as the
first again and booted up. My partition with the new install of 98SE was intact
and I had two fresh new fat32 partitions to play with again. Thanks, Brad--- sounds like you gave
these tools quite a workout! Click to
email this item to a friend Canadian reader Paul R. Bushell
discovered that the Canadian government really asks its employees to give their
all: Thanks for the great
columns. Your tips are always helpful and easy to use. I enjoy the Grins section
every time, so I thought you might like this one. I was looking at the
government of Canada JobBank on-line for PC support jobs and somehow this one
was included in the list. I don't know how many applicants they can really
expect with this specification http://jb2-ge.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/Scripts/IndexJobs.asp 1431 ACCOUNT
SPAYABLE CLERK 3529169 WEST OTTAWA OUEST 2000/09/14 All I can think of, Paul, is that
the Accounts Payable system must be, er, UNIX-based. 8-) Click to
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Abbreviated version: The tips and other information given in the newsletter are
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