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The LangaList
17-Jan-00
A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa About BrowserTune,
HotSpots, Columns, Tips & Tricks, and Other Activities
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Long-time readers may remember my
first experience with AOL 5.0 (when I tried to upgrade a system from AOL 4
to AOL 5). I'll spare you the details, but after trying every trick I knew to
get the system working properly after the upgrade, the punchline was
"Format C:\" I wrote about my unhappy
experiences in this newsletter (see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/1999/nov-1-99.htm#aol)
and was amazed at the flood of mail I got in reply from readers whose
experiences were as bad---or even worse!--- than mine.( See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/1999/nov-4-99.htm#aol1
) With all that, I decided simply
to try avoiding AOL, but it's a marketing behemoth that just won't quit. Day
after day, readers would write to me or to the WinMag staff complaining about
AOL5.0. Then, last week, with the announcement of AOL taking over Time Warner
and becoming the largest online/content source on the planet, it became clear I
needed a closer look: Because I knew from reader mail
and from painful personal experience that upgrading from 4.0 to 5.0 often
brought major trouble, I decided to try a clean install of AOL 5.0. It was eye-opening. In all, I
found AOL had added or altered 229 files on my system, including over 4.5MB of
Windows system files! It significantly (and unnecessarily) altered my networking
setup. It even diddled with Power Management settings in my Registry! I'll detail everything---
including what files were altered, how you can tell what files and settings AOL
altered on your machine, which kinds of users and systems AOL is good for, and
which it's really bad for--- in this week's column on the WinMag.Com site. (The
full column is far too detailed to present in an email, such as this
newsletter.) In the end, I did get AOL
installed and running. If you're even thinking about using AOL5.0, please check
out the column first: It may save you a ton of headaches. If you're already using AOL5,
then the column will help you determine exactly what the software already did to
your system. And either way, please join in
the discussion: Is your AOL experience different from mine? Have you found ways
around the upgrade hassles? What do you think the future will hold as AOL
emerges as the biggest media company on the planet? Join in the discussion
starting in the afternoon, EST (gmt-5) TUESDAY (a day later than normal, due to
the US holiday on Monday) 18-Jan-00 at (Note: if you get there early,
you'll see the previous column on computing resolutions for the new year---and
if you haven't read that one, check it out too!) Click to
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In this week's column on
InformationWeek Online, I focus on five things I like a lot about the new OS,
and in the next column, I'll tell you the five things I most dislike. In the discussion area attached
to the column, an official Microsoft representative has chimed in, as have a
number of readers. In all, it makes for informative and interesting
reading! But what's *your* take? What are
the things you most like about the new OS? What are the most-welcome (or
most-needed!) improvements over NT4 and Win9x? Come check out the rest of the
column, and then voice your likes and dislikes about the new OS--- in the
discussion area. Click to http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter
! Click to
email this item to a friend In the last issue, in response to
a reader question about how to track down spammers and hackers, I told you about
http://www.allwhois.com/
. "Whois" is a command that tells you "Who Is" behind a web
site or registered IP address. If you get spammed or are hacked or have trouble
with a site, you can use a whois lookup to see where the spam or hacker came
from, or to track down a contact for a web site (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/jan-13-00.htm#3
) As usual, a number of LangaList
readers volunteered additional information of other options. Man! The collective
knowledge of you folks is awesome! Here are some of the best emails: For spam I use http://spamcop.net/hosttracker.shtml
which not only identifies a numeric address from the Received header but also
supplies the abuse address for forwarding the spam.---Peter Fred: Regarding tracking
down the owner of an IP address, here's a link to my favorite tool - named
"network tracer" - www.pc-help.org/trace.htm.
Scott Randolph Hi Fred, great
Newsletter.. re: Hackers, there is a another good site to report them, see their
methods...as well as help keep your system secure. The URL for the Database is: http://www.netice.com/Advice/Intrusions/default.htm
and the URL for further Support is http://www.netice.com/Advice/default.htm
Hope this can help some, these sites are really not for the novice or the
paranoid... but good info. Again, thanks for the Great Newsletter.---John Fred: In response to
your article on tracking down a hacker, there's a much easier way. If you
download and install NukeNabber ( http://www.dynamsol.com/puppet/nukenabber.html
), it will automatically perform a whois, finger (if possible), and tracert on
the person who tries to hack into your PC. When a hacker attempts to gain
access, the NukeNabber icon will flash in the system tray. Simply right-click
the icon, select Restore, then you can view the Intelligence Report it gives.
NukeNabber is a great tool, and I rely upon it often (since I have a cable modem
connection).----Dennis "Guru-X" Deveaux The best set of tools
you can get (web based) are http://www.samspade.org
(or you can download samspade for windows and an IE 5 browser plugin) at http://www.geektools.com
(and their whois server http://whois.geektools.com
).... [Also, use] http://www.abuse.net
and http://spam.abuse.net .
Register for free (to prevent misuse) and send complaints to foo.com@abuse.net
(if you want to complain to foo.com). To register mail to new@abuse.net and
reply to the auto-ack with "I accept" in the first line of your
reply.... Also see http://legal.web.aol.com
for what they are doing to screw spammers.---Suresh Ramasubramanian (You may recall Suresh's help in
a previous item about a spammer using a fake [and nonexistent] email address at
Langa.Com: see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/1999/dec-20-99.htm#3.) Thanks to *everyone* who wrote
in! Click to
email this item to a friend I pack a lot of information into
this newsletter, and I know sometimes it's hard to remember where everything
was. I do have a full text search of all back issues available at http://www.langa.com
, but for some subjects---like "Windows bugs" the number of hits is,
um, rather high. 8-) That's why it's always a good
idea to bookmark or make a "favorite" out of any sites you find
especially worthwhile. For example, this week, reader
"Hollie" wrote this: Hi Fred: Some time ago, you had
run an article about how to work around the Windows Live Update / Install
feature and actually download the programs to your drive, thus enabling you to
burn them to CD or whatever and not have to go download them again in case of a
reinstall. (Actually, I think it may have been a separate URL that allowed this
feature.) I've been wading through your site for about 3 hours now (and having a
really good time, I may add), but I can't find your reference to it. Do you remember where
this was? Would you remind us all of it? Thanks Fred. Love your
work. Hollie The site is http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/corporate.asp
. It doesn't have everything, but it has most of the most essential OS
updates. Having a downloadable copy handy
can indeed save time during (say) a reinstall. Of course, the downside is that
unlike the Windows Update automated system, with manual downloads you have to
figure out what you need on your own. Still it can be very useful to have direct
access to a given patch. If you agree the site might be
worthwhile, make a bookmark of it now, while you're thinking of it! 8-) Click to
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It was a busy and fruitful week
for reader email, as you've seen above--- and as you'll see in this note from
reader Michael Teague at "SailCat Graphics:" Fred- Your newsletter is
a wonderful resource, thank you. After upgrading to
Internet Explorer 5.01, I was unable to access some accounts which required
login and password. I am confident that I am not alone in experiencing this
problem. When I contacted
ArtToday.com about being unable to access my paid account, they blew me off,
implying it was something I was doing wrong. It is to the credit, then of John
Wozniak at Netwhistle (where they keep an eye on four of my domains for free)
who wrote at length with the solution. It seems that if the setting is
'Anonymous login' under the Internet Security tab in IE5.01, it disables the
login/password screen which would normally appear to site members. Changing this
to 'Prompt for user name and password' enables the login screen to function
normally. I hope this information
is to the benefit of you and your readers.---Michael Teague Thanks, Mike! Click to
email this item to a friend If you use the following link to
recommend the LangaList to a friend, it will cost you nothing, it costs them
nothing, and it just may help them out. You make out, too, because you just may
win a Palm III organizer for your trouble (full details also available via this
link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1 The "Recommend-It"
service (above) is an ad-based site (you’ll see banners and such). The
advantages to you of using the Recommend-It service (above) are that you can win
a Palm III and that you can add a personal message to your LangaList
recommendation. But if you’d rather use the
tried-and-true, ad-free recommendation form, you’ll still find it at: http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2
. Once a month or so, I draw one name, at random, from among those who have
used that recommendation form, and award a thank-you prize--- a free copy of the
$30 book "Poor Richard's E-Mail Publishing: Creating Newsletters,
Bulletins, Discussion Groups and Other Powerful Communications
Tools." (Note that this isn't some big-company sweepstakes: It's just
my informal way of saying thanks for your help in spreading the word about this
newsletter.) Full details also available via the link above. In fact, either way, thank you! Click to
email this item to a friend Many of you enjoyed the
"Etch-A-Sketch FAQ" in last week's issue. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/jan-10-00.htm#7
) Reader Mark Lebowitz did
especially. He wrote: Fred: That cute little piece
reminds me of the way my boss used to refer to powering a PC off and on in order
to recover from a serious OS/hardware problem: "Turn it off and let the
electrons leak out." In fact, he said, when you want to have a little fun
with a computer-illiterate client, you tell him not only to turn it off and let
the electrons leak out, but that before turning the computer on again, he should
unplug it, pick it up, turn it upside-down and shake it vigorously in order to
make sure that ALL the electrons leak out! ---Mark A. Lebowitz That, in turn reminded me of
another gentle joke some co-workers and I used to play on the unwary: When someone would ask us for
help with a recalcitrant installation of new software, we'd explain with a
straight face that it was because the software bits were new and still had rough
edges, causing them to get stuck inside the chips. But, we'd assure the worried
users, after we ran the software a few times, the edges would get worn smooth
and the software would then run properly.... OK, you're groaning now, but I
know a lot of you are going to use this same joke the next time someone asks
*you* for help installing new software! 8-) Click to
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See you next issue! Best, (Please recommend
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(The HTML version of each issue normally is available by 9AM EST [GMT-5] of the
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through one of those channels. SUBSCRIBE (it's free!): Send email to subscribe-langalist@lyris.dundee.net About
the advertisers: Langa Consulting LLC will never knowingly accept
advertising for a fraudulent product, company or service. However, Langa Consulting LLC makes no implied or explicit warranty, recommendation or endorsement
of or for the products, companies or services mentioned in the ads. Disclaimer:
The tips and other information given in the newsletter are researched and are
believed to be accurate, but we cannot and do not guarantee that all the
information here will work on all systems, for all users, all the time. All
information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind. Neither
Langa Consulting LLC, nor its employees nor contributors are responsible for any
loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from application of
any information presented here. This newsletter is a free service of Langa Consulting LLC and is Copyright © 2000 Langa Consulting LLC. All rights reserved.1)
WARNING! The "Upgrade of Death"
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(At a 20% Discount!)
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Fred
(fred@langa.com)
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