Please note: Older issues may contain information that is now out of date.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.htm
Questions about the advertisers? See the end of this note. Please also see legal notices at the end of this note. LangaList: ISSN 1533-1156

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
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-02-15.htm

The LangaList
Standard Edition

2001-02-15

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

1) What's The Best Email Client?

The emails and discussions generated by the current "Monitor" column at WinMag.Com ("What's The Best Email Client?" at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2001/04.htm )is turning up some excellent info.

Writing from India, Oswald Rajesh says:

I've found this utility very useful in backing up the Outlook Express Messages and I just want to share this info to my fellow readers. It's called Express Assist 2000, which can be downloaded from http://www.ajsystems.com/

Express assistant is trialware: you can use it for a while for free, but you're expected to pay the $30 fee if you keep it. The same site offers other tools, too, for managing the full version of Outlook (not just the Express version); and Eudora, as well.

And speaking of Eudora, reader Randal Stevens offers this free tip:

I have been using [Eudora] for years and can't be more pleased with it. Here is a trick that I learned a while back to get rid of the splash screen, just edit the *.ini file in the Eudora directory. Add the line
NoSplashScreen=1
Restart the program and you'll never see it again.

Thanks, Randall and Oswald!

For lots more info, click over to http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2001/04.htm, read the column, and then check out the discussion area!

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

2) Free Add/Remove Fix--- And "Gear Hobbing"

Writing from the UK, Brian Gill points out another nifty free tool for cleaning up the Add/Remove list in Windows' Control Panel:

Thought you might be unaware of tiny application(10kb) called "Crowbar" available at http://www.helixware.com/  which I found does the job quickly and simply; and it's freeware! Find all your info. really interesting,...! Thanks.

You're right, Brian, I hadn't seen that one--- probably because Helixware primarily makes software for gear hobbing:  "finding the index and feed gear trains to cut helical gears using the non-differential method on both differential equipped and non-differential machines." Nope--- that's not the kind of site I'm likely to cruise looking for freeware! 8-)

But Brian is right--- they *do* offer a freeware add/remove utility. Check it out!

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

3) Self-Contained Backups

A few issues ago, I wrote about creating 100% self-contained backups--- CDs that contain not only your backed up data, but also everything you need to access and restore the backup.

I kept the information general: For example, I use Drive Image for my backups, but many people use Ghost or other, similar tools. If I focused too much on techniques specific to Drive-Image, people who use other products will be left out--- and I try not to leave anyone out. <g>

But I got a ton of mail like this:

Your news letter 2001-02-01 ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-02-01.htm#8 ) you state ...

I burn a CD that contains that image PLUS the contents of the Drive Image DOS floppies. That way, the CD is a 100% self-contained backup that includes the restoration app and the backup data all in one place.

Thanks to you I use DriveImage; it's a great product and I thank you for the time you save me. But how do you go about using a image backup that contains the restoration floppies?---H Hambleton

So here are the specifics: They probably can be adapted to any similar kind of application, too:

Drive Image prompts you to make DOS floppies that you can use in an emergency or on operating systems that don't allow access to DOS. To make a 100% self-contained backup, I first copy the contents of those floppies to my hard drive in new directories named something obvious such as  c:\di1 and c:\di2 ; I leave these directories on my system permanently.

Next, I make a normal Drive Image backup, saving the image file to a hard drive partition other than the one I'm backing up. (This is my "live" backup, which I keep readily at hand on my hard drive. I keep several week's worth of these live backups available at all times, and eventually purge the older ones as I add newer ones.)

Right after it's made, I also burn each backup onto its own CD and store it offsite, away from my PC. (That way, if anything takes out my PC or my office, I still have my backups.) To make these CDs into 100% self-contained backups, I copy not only the image file (the "PQI" file) to the CD, but also the "c:\di1" and "c:\di2" directories. That way, each backup CD I burn contains not only the backup data, but also everything I might need in the future to access and restore an image file, even if I'm restoring it to a machine different from the one it was created on.

To actually perform the backup, you'd boot the target machine to DOS, and then use the contents of the two floppy directories to launch the DOS-based version of DI. If you're DOS-savvy, you can either pre-edit the batch files in those directories (before you write them to the CD) so they'll run from the CD; or you can use the batch files as crib sheets to see what software needs to run in which order, manually launching those apps from the DOS command line.

If you're not comfortable with DOS, simply copy the contents of each DI directory from the CD to a blank floppy, and use these new floppies exactly the same way you'd use the original ones you created with DI.

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

4) DIY AutoRun For Both Novices And Experts

Speaking of CDs, we recently also discussed the prospects of using Windows' "autorun" feature to make your backups totally automatic and self-restoring.

Although I prefer the manual method mentioned in the previous item (in part because an errant automated restore operation might overwrite something you wanted to keep), it turns out that there are relatively easy ways to make DIY (do-it-yourself) autorunning CDs:

First, WinMag's Karen Kenworthy posted an excellent article and free software tool for making autorunning CDs: http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/powertools/2001/06.htm Karen's approach is great, especially if you're new to the idea of creating autorunning CDs.

And reader Joe Andreini also cooked up his own method, more suited for experts:

1) create your image, copy it to your hard drive in a folder.
2) copy the contents of a DOS system restore disc into the folder as well
3) copy your DriveImage or Ghost program into the folder.
4) edit the autoexec.bat and config.sys files in the folder to boot the machine, load CD-ROM drivers, do a "D" or whatever is necessary to change to the CD-ROM drive, and then run the drive imaging program with whatever switches are necessary to load the image.
5) create a batch file that asks "are you sure?" then, in the event of a "Yes" answer, copies the autoexec.bat and config.sys files, along with the other support files from the original DOS floppy, to the root directory of the hard drive, and reboots the machine
6) create an autorun.inf file that causes said batch file to run.
7) make sure all these files are in one directory and burn them all to a CD.

What you end up with is a CD, that when placed in the CD-ROM drive of a Windows machine, will ask if you want to re-image the machine, and in the case of a "yes" answer, it will copy new startup files and CD-ROM device drivers to the Hard drive, and reboot the machine, upon reboot the cd-rom drivers will load, and the drive will be ghosted from the image on the CD.

A few notes:

1)these CD's would be _VERY_ dangerous, consider having a 2nd partition on the drive to store data.
2) you could have 2 sets of autoexec and config files on the CD and record it as a bootable CD to give another option
3) as-is, i dont think this would work with Windows ME due to the no-ms-dos thing, but i don tknow because i have not tried it, as a bootable CD it should though, if you follow suggestion 2 here
4) of course, as always, keep a backup copy of the image away from the laptop and the user. if this fails, it will be fairly difficult to restore the machine a second time.
5) won't work without #2 here if the machine won't get into windows
6) laptops have funny CD-ROM drives, be careful with DOS drivers

Overall, this is probably not for the faint-of heart... I feel confident doing this because I image about 2000 machines a year...

I agree that using autorun CDs for restoration is an experts-only technique. But if, like Joe, you're cranking out large numbers of images each year, it could be a real timesaver.

Thanks!

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

5) Internet Sharing Options

Scott Moorey faced an issue that's increasingly common: How to share a single fast connection (cable, DSL, etc) among several machines.

In today's Langa List, you said "I also have a router (actually, it's a Network Address Translator running on a old PC that I use as an access server; but it's the same idea)." I am getting ready to subscribe to a DSL service which I have been awaiting the arrival of for what seems to be forever, and want to set up this kind of arrangement on my small home network. Where can I find more information on the what and how of implementing this? Thanks, and keep up the great work!

I actually have two fossil PCs I use to share a cable modem connection among the 9 PCs in my office. (All the PCs are different, running various OSes and hardware, so I can test things under a variety of conditions.) The main internet-connection server started life as a 24MB Pentium 90, but I upgraded it some years ago with a 200MHz drop-in CPU replacement from Evergreen. ( http://www.evertech.com/ ) The backup server (which I use when I'm testing new proxy or NAT software on the main system) is even older: It started life as a 16MB 486-25. It still only has 16MB of RAM, but I upgraded the CPU years ago a 486/100 (Evergreen, again). Although both hardware systems are way too anemic to run today's mainstream business apps, they're perfectly fine for Internet connection sharing, which is not a RAM- or compute-intensive process.

As connection-servers, both systems run fine: All that's on them is a minimal installation of Windows, and an old (but still fine) copy of Sygate 3.0 ( http://www.sygate.com ) secure connection-sharing software that I actually like better than the newer versions of Sygate. You could use any similar gateway, proxy, or Network Address Translator software to provide secure sharing--- even the ICS ("internet connection sharing") module bundled with the newer versions of Windows.

Using junker PCs this way can give new life to hardware that would otherwise end up in a landfill, and also enhances your security because the only thing directly connected to the outside world is that junker PC: Your real PCs are one step removed from that PC, and (ideally) protected by an additional firewall such as ZoneAlarm.

There's lots more info here:
http://content.techweb.com/winmag//library/1998/0701/ana0006.htm http://content.techweb.com/winmag//specreps/business/bui0006.htm

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

6) More Registry Info... And Beyond

Readers have really been digging for answers to questions about the Windows Registry--- and man, have they come up some some great information!

Anthony L. Smith survived a deep dive into the Microsoft Knowledgebase, and returned with these gems:

Chapter 31 - Windows 98 Registry
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/win98/Reskit/Part6/wrkc31.asp

Actually, this chapter is just one of 31 chapters of a huge document on Win98. Here are some of the other more interesting chapters

Chapter 24 - Device Management
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/win98/Reskit/Part5/wrkc24.asp

Chapter 26 - Performance Tuning
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/win98/Reskit/Part5/wrkc26.asp

Chapter 27 - General Troubleshooting
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/win98/Reskit/Part5/wrkc27.asp

Chapter 28 - Windows 98 Architecture
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/win98/Reskit/Part6/wrkc28.asp

Chapter 29 - Windows 98 Network Architecture
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/win98/Reskit/Part6/wrkc29.asp

Chapter 30 - Hardware Management
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/win98/Reskit/Part6/wrkc30.asp

There are many other great documents available on WinNT, Win2000, etc. I use Google's advanced search and search on "Chapter" and limit to http//www.microsoft.com domain. There are thousands of these documents. Once you get a flavor for which chapters you want you can add additional search terms such as "WinNT" to reduce the number of hits.

Dana J. Thornley offers this:

Here's something more about the registry, a guide you can download and read offline. http://www.windowsfornewbies.com/registry.htm

And Karl Tipple writes:

Fred The Joan Bard site as well as a bunch of others are listed here that relate to registry tutorials:
http://windows.about.com/compute/windows/msub_registry_tutorials.htm

There's *lots* of great information in all the above links: Thanks for writing!

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

7) Recommend It!

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 no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys... and more. To have a shot at winning, 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 a $30 Gift Certificate! (Full details also available via this link):

http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2

Either way, thank you again, and good luck!

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

8) Window-Positioner, And More

Reader Adam Porter found a nice little software vendor I'd never heard of, but wish I'd found sooner:

I was looking for a program to position windows automatically and keep them there (for example, IE5 puts new windows in different places, which is very annoying), and I found this gem of a program called ZMover. It's $10 shareware, but I think it's definitely worth the $10. I am in no way affiliated with the author, I just love the program and want to get the word out about it. It's especially useful if you have a large monitor and run at high resolutions, as it allows you to make the most of your screen space without spending time moving and sizing windows all the time. The URL is http://www.basta.com .

Thanks, Adam. Actually, they have a pile of cool little tools there: Definitely worth a look!

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

9) More Reader Sites!

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:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site From Among All Listed
http://www.langa.com/cgi-local/rand_link.pl

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://www.langa.com/readersites.htm

A Man With An Unusual Job
http://home.cfl.rr.com/mikewilson/

Free Stuff!
http://www.justriddlesandmore.com/newsletter.html

BC Dance Productions
http://www.dancesteps.addr.com/

Shopping City
http://shoppingcity.homestead.com/home.html

MustardWorks PC Tips
http://mustardworks.tripod.com/

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/9078/beware.html

Veteran's memorial Page
http://www.geocities.com/nightcrawler_70655/nightcrawler_70655.html

"Old Pop" Personal Page
http://www.homestead.com/oldpop/

New Zealand Knowledge Management
http://www.masseyhay.com/

Buddha Dust
http://www.buddhadust.org/

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) ---

Have You Noticed The Repeat Advertisers In The LangaList?

Many advertisers come back issue after issue
because advertising in the LangaList
is both EFFECTIVE and AFFORDABLE.

Give it a try for your product, service, web site
or organization. It costs less than you think
and you'll like the results!

See http://www.langa.com/ratecard.htm

<a href="http://www.langa.com/ratecard.htm">AOL Users: Click here!</a>

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

10) Brief Hiatus

The next issue of the LangaList Standard Edition will be on February 26th. With one exception, instead of publishing the newsletter next week, I'll be ripping apart and overhauling my office LAN setup, changing the way I network my systems. Part of it's a simple changeover and system shuffle, but part is decidedly experimental, so I don't want to promise to deliver issues I may not be able to produce. 

If anything interesting comes out of this experimental change, I'll include it in future issues so you can learn from my experiences and not repeat whatever mistakes I'll make. 8-)

The "one exception" mentioned above is this: There will be one Plus! edition issue next week: I'll be releasing the long-awaited archives of every LangaList ever published. The archives will be in compact zip-file format that Plus! subscribers can download and place on their hard drives for easy and fast access. The archives will also include all the Plus! editions of the newsletter published to date, with all the extra content that has appeared there; and will include everything in all formats--- standard text, Plus! HTML, Plus! Text, and Plus! Digest. It's *everything,* all at your fingertips.

Plus! subscribers will receive full instructions for getting their copy of the archives next week. (And if you're not yet a Plus! subscriber, but would like your own copy of the archives, it only takes a minute to sign up: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm )

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

11)Just For Grins

Reader "Mikeprieur" sends along this list of fractured definitions:

Arbitrator \ar'-bi-tray'-ter\ A cook that leaves Arby's to work at McDonald's
Avoidable \uh-voy'-duh-buhl' \ What a bullfighter tries to do
Baloney \buh-lo'-nee' \ Where some hemlines fall
Bernadette \burn'-a-det' \ The act of torching a mortgage
Burglarize \bur'-gler-ize' \ What a crook sees with
Control \kon'-trol\ A short, ugly inmate
Counterfeiters \kown'-ter-fit'-ers\ Workers who put together kitchen cabinets
Eyedropper \i'-drop-ur\ A clumsy ophthalmologist
Heroes \hee-rhos' \ What a guy in a boat does
Left Bank \left' bangk' \ What the robber did when his bag was
full of loot
Misty \mis-tee' \ How golfers create divots
Paradox \par'-u-doks' \ Two physicians
Parasites \par'-ih-sites' \ What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower
Pharmacist \farm'-uh-sist \ A helper on the farm
Polarize \po'-lur-ize' \ What penguins see with
Primate \pri'-mate' \ Removing your spouse from in front of the TV
Relief \ree-leef' \ What trees do in the spring
Selfish \sel'-fish' \ What the owner of a seafood store does
Subdued \sub-dood' \ Like, a guy who, like, works on one of those, like, submarines, man
Sudafed \sood'-a-fed' \ Brought litigation against a government official

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) ---

Great Reading!
(And get a 20% Discount!)

Check out computer-related books personally recommended
by Fred Langa and available at Amazon.Com's deepest discounts!

http://www.langa.com/books.htm

<a href="http://www.langa.com/books.htm ">AOL Users: Click here!</a>

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

See you next issue!

Best,

Fred
(fred@langa.com)

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000!I)

An easier-to read formatted HTML version is available in the "Current Issue" section of http://www.langa.com.  (The HTML version of each issue normally is available by 9AM EST [UT-5] of the issue date.) All past LangaList issues are also available at the Langa.Com site.

return to top of page

Administrivia:

Why are you getting this newsletter? This is a 100% OPT-IN newsletter: There are only three ways to get on the list--- signup via direct email request from you, or signup via the WinMag newsletter page or signup via BrowserTune's email-notification service. If you're getting this newsletter; your name came to me through one of those signup channels. At signup, you also received a confirmation email from my list software---no one is signed up secretly or against their will.

SUBSCRIBE (it's free!): Create and send a new email address it to subscribe-langalist@lyris.dundee.net

For even more content, downloads and special services, check out the LangaList Plus! Edition: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm

UNSUBSCRIBE: From the same address you used to sign up with (it's shown on the first line in the body of each email issue you receive), create and send a new email address to  unsubscribe-langalist@lyris.dundee.net .

CHANGE ADDRESS? LIST TROUBLE? HAVE QUESTIONS? NEED HELP? See http://www.langa.com/help.htm

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: (Please see full disclaimer here: http://www.langa.com/legal.htm.) Abbreviated version: 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 service of Langa Consulting LLC and is Copyright © 1997-2005Langa Consulting LLC. All rights reserved. LangaList: ISSN 1533-1156

return to top of page