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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2001-06-18

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

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1) Flashes, Flickers and Fluctuations

Here on the top half of the planet, summer is approaching, and with it, an increasing incidence of lightning storms and other electrical irregularities (can you say "rolling blackout?"). Meanwhile, our friends on the bottom half of the earth are facing winter weather woes. In actuality, no matter where you live, electrical power problems can happen at any time. For example:

Not so long ago I was working on my computer when the power flashed off for a second or so. I screamed the usual curse at the power company, (I live in Florida and the power company is lovingly referred to as "Florida Flash and Flicker") and watched in horror as the power came back on... then off... then on... then off! I dove beneath my desk and yanked the power strip out of the wall. I vowed to get an uninterruptible power supply but recently discovered something that may benefit all. Enter your Bios setup at startup and look around for "power loss management". Once you find it (if offered), select the "shutdown" option. You may also see "return to last state", and "always restart". By selecting shutdown, the next time you lose power, your computer will stay off until you deem it safe to restart. This may be especially helpful due to predicted "brownouts" this summer.--- Dave J

That's true, Dave, up to a point: *If* the power interruptions are caused by a "clean" shorting of a power-distribution line somewhere, or *if* the power company cleanly disconnects your part of the grid as part of a planned blackout, then the risks to your system *may* not be high, and simply keeping the system off until the power is back on and stable *may* be sufficient.

Why all the conditionals and qualifiers? Consider: Most PCs today never really shut all the way off: Instead, even if the power switch is in the Off position and all the front panel power indicator lights are dark, the PC may still be actively drawing power to keep a few basic motherboard functions alive. You can sometimes see this if you open the case of a supposedly-off PC: Many times, you'll see an LED on the motherboard glowing brightly, indicating there's still power present. The only way to *completely* shut off these system is with a switch on a power strip or UPS, or by physically disconnecting the plug. This type of PC, if unprotected, can easily be damaged by voltage surges even if they're nominally "off."

But even a switch that turns all the way off might not be enough: The air gap in a typical power switch is quite small, and a sufficiently high voltage can jump the gap as if it wasn't even there. For example, a typical lightning bolt can traverse several *miles* or *kilometers* of empty air on its way from a cloud to the ground; the tiny air gap inside your PC's power switch is meaningless in the face of such power, and the voltage will blast across the switch's tiny air gap unhindered.

And it doesn't take lightning to wreak havoc: For example, writer Jerry Pournelle once experienced a weird traffic-related event when a car took out a high-voltage regional distribution tower: The live high-voltage power lines dropped on top of the local, low-voltage residential distribution wires, sending the un-stepped-down higher voltages--- something like 50,000 volts, if memory serves--- through the neighborhood's homes. Once again, an air gap inside a power switch is meaningless with that kind of voltage.

Many people buy inexpensive power strips/surge protectors as a safeguard, but sad to say, most such devices are garbage: They do little, if anything, to prevent power-related problems (despite the extravagant claims you'll see on some packaging). Think of those devices as nothing more than breaker-protected extension outlets. They're NOT serious power protection devices.

Although pulling the plug is the only complete protection against worst-case conditions such as a close-by lightning strike, there are power strips/surge protectors that *can* help with lesser events--- but you have to pay more for them: Look for a brand name (MinuteMan, Tripp Lite, Best Power and APC are some of the better-known brands), and look for a written guarantee: The better power strips/surge protectors come with mini-insurance policies that will pay to have your equipment repaired or replaced if it's fried while protected by the high-quality power strip. You'll probably pay something around $25-$50 for a basic power strip/surge protector in this category.

Better still, spring for an uninterruptible power supply, as Dave mentioned. These usually include heavier-duty surge protection, and also let your system ride out brownouts, blackout, sags and surges lasting anywhere from a couple minutes up to 30 minutes or more, depending on the size battery you include. The very best UPSes never run your PC off the wall current, but *always* run your PC off the battery so there's no "switching time" when the power goes down, and so there's also extra indirection between your PC and any surge source.

You can get a very basic and minimal UPS for around $50, although the units that cost closer to $100 and up are far more robust and practical for normal PC use. (All of my UPSes cost between $80 and $150; I have one for every essential PC in my office.) There's almost no upper limit to how much a UPS can cost: It depends on how beefy you want it to be.

Let's continue this topic in the next item, below.

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2) Generators, Rolling Blackouts, etc.

I am a enthusiastic reader of your Plus! newsletter. Really appreciate all the great information so...thanks! The reason for my email is that I was wondering if you could comment on backup electrical generators that can be purchased at various stores, Home Depot, Loews, etc. that might be good to have around the house. I rely on my computer being up during peak periods of electrical consumption but am worried that these rolling blackouts will cause downtime that I can ill afford. I have spoken to the store consultants but can not get a satisfactory answer on what might be the best and most economical brand to buy without causing other unforeseen problems with my Dell 566 system. Any thoughts or advice on this new problem we have here in California? --- Truit Trowbridge

The power here in New Hampshire is usually quite reliable, and it's rare that I lose electrical power long enough for it to matter (or for my battery-backed UPSes to be unable to handle it). But because my business is in my home and depends utterly on electrical power to survive, I do have a small 4KW generator in my basement that I can roll out and use to power a few essential home circuits--- including my office--- during any truly extended power outage. It's not intended to run the full house--- it's way too small for that--- but, with careful use of selected circuits and appliances (to keep the total load from getting too close to or exceeding the generator's rated capacity), it's enough to keep the PCs alive and the house inhabitable.

But I'd never trust that little generator to provide power that's clean and stable enough for direct use by a PC. Instead, I let the generator power my office circuits, and let my UPSes (again, I have one for each essential PC) adjust and filter the voltage as needed: Once again, a high-quality UPS is key to protecting a PC.

Generators raise other safety issues, though: You need a safe place to run the generator so heat, exhaust fumes and noise don't cause trouble; it must be sized appropriately to handle the maximum load you'll ask of it, including the high transient "starting loads" of any pumps, compressors or heavy motors you plan to run; it must be connected to your home's wiring in a safe and foolproof way such that no power can "back feed" out of your house into the power grid (where it might endanger the lives of electrical workers); and you need a safe, secure and fireproof way to handle and store the generator's fuel.

For additional safety when I (rarely) use my generator, I also plug a Radio Shack digital voltmeter into a nearby socket so I can watch for dangerous over- or under-voltages; and I keep a dry-chemical fire extinguisher handy just in case. So you see: Generating your own power is not a casual undertaking. 8-)

Fortunately, most PC users don't need to go the self-generation route. But I believe all PC users--- *ALL* users, everywhere--- would be well-served by a name-brand, guarantee-backed UPS.

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3) Easy Alternative Power For Laptops and Small PCs

Finally, while we're on the subject of power, if you have a laptop or a small PC, one simple power alternative is an automotive power inverter that plugs into your car's accessory outlet or cigarette lighter socket and converts the car's 12vdc electrical power into standard AC current--- 120v/60Hz for inverters made for the US and Canada, with other voltages and frequencies available in places that use other electrical standards. An inverter can power a laptop for hours--- or even days--- without harming a car battery, and costs only $30-$50 or so. Larger units (up to $300 and above) can also run standard PCs and monitors, albeit with a higher drain on the car's battery. The more expensive units also produce true sine wave AC, which is easiest on your electrical gear. But for laptops and other devices that normally connect to the wall through their own step-down transformer, a less-expensive "square wave" inverter is usually fine.

You can find inverters in almost any auto store; off-road/RV/marine supply stores; and in stores that specialize in accessories for mobile professionals. Or try a web search on "inverter" or "mobile DC adapter." LangaList sponsor CyberGuys also carries quite a collection of "mobile DC adapters" and inverters: http://www.langa.com/sponsors/cyberguys.htm

OK, enough electricity-supply related stuff! It's normally a once-a-year topic for me, and barring something extraordinary, that's it for this year. 8-)

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4) Tons Of RAM = Memory Hell?

Kalle Wesala wanted a PC with a full 1.2 GB (!) of RAM, in the form of two 512MB memory strips. Trouble is, some versions of Windows can have trouble with that much RAM:

I've fallen into memory Hell buying the new 512 meg dram strips. When I expanded my system by 512 meg Norton reported bad memory at 221 meg even though both 256 meg sticks checked good by themselves. each 512 meg stick I bought also checked bad at same place.

Widows started failing and I found help in the knowledge base, I changed Vcache in system.ini as directed in Q108079, Q109845 and Q253912....

This is a problem that traces its roots all the way back to Windows 3.11, when the thought of a system with 1.2GB of RAM was inconceivable. In fact, back them, many high-end systems shipped with a total of just 4 or 8 megs of RAM. There are wristwatches with more RAM than that today. <g>

But some of Windows9X-based systems (including WinME) retain some old limitations: The problem is that there's a finite number of memory addresses available to the OS for memory management, and a system with large amounts of RAM may simply run out. Note that this isn't running out of memory (although that's one way Windows may report it); it's actually running out of ways to access the memory. It's a Windows problem, not a hardware problem. (Note that NT/Win2K and XP do not have this software problem.)

The three KnowledgeBase articles Kalle mentions can help:

"Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q253/9/12.ASP

How Windows 95 Manages the Size of the Disk Cache
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q140/6/78.asp

32-Bit File Access Maximum Cache Size
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q108/0/79.ASP

But sometimes, it's not Windows: Some system BIOSes and chipsets also can stumble with large amounts of RAM; and sometimes, RAM chips themselves are flawed.

Kalle checked for bad RAM by swapping the RAM strips, but got the same error from both. While this doesn't rule out bad RAM, it would be an odd coincidence for both strips to fail at exactly the same place. That leaves a hardware or motherboard or BIOS problem as a possibility.

The Norton test Kalle used runs inside Windows, and so does not "see" the RAM in a raw form--- it sees what Windows sees.

One simple test is to turn off the system's startup logo screen and set the BIOS to perform a slow/full boot, including RAM enumeration: At reboot, you'll see the system hardware--- on its own, before Windows starts--- briefly count up through however much RAM you have. If this simple check fails, it suggests the problem is in the hardware: The system vendor's, BIOS, or motherboard manufacturer's site should be able to help.

There also are far more comprehensive and complete DOS-based RAM tests you can use to test the memory subsystem at a low level, outside of Windows' influence and limitations. For example, see http://reality.sgi.com/cbrady/nmemtest86/ . You can find others with a web search for RAM TEST.

But note one caveat: When I searched for "RAM test" I found a lot of information on sheep breeding. Really! 8-)

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5) More On Cookie Deletion

We recently discussed a long-filename issue a reader was having. The particular example was with a specific Cookie with a long file name. My response to the issue dealt mainly with the long file name--- the item was even called "A Long File Name Trick" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-06-11.htm#5 ) --- but it generated a ton of reader email that focused not on the file name, but on the specific example: Deleting a persistent Cookie:

A better way to dispose of this sort of cookie is to prevent them from being stored in the first place. If you're using Internet Explorer, this is done by adding sites to the Restricted Zone and ensuring that the Restricted Zone is prohibited from storing cookies.

Procedure In Internet Explorer, select Tools | Options, and then the Security tab. Click on the Restricted Sites icon, then the Custom Level button. Scroll down to "Cookies" and make sure that "Disable" is checked under both "Allow cookies that are stored on your computer" and "Allow per-session cookies (not stored)." The latter choice may be unnecessary, but I've had it set that way for months without any problem at all. It's worth noting that every option in this section should be either "Disable" or "Prompt". Click "OK", then "Yes" to make the setting changes. Now click the Sites button and enter "*.doubleclick.net" in the top box, then click the Add button. Repeat for any other annoying cookie sources you've encountered. Now click OK, then OK again, and those Doubleclick cookies are gone forever. Some of the names in my restricted site list adforce.com, admaximize.com, admonitor.net, avenuea.com, bfast.com, doubleclick.net, hitbox.com, linkexchange.com, and valueclick.com.  ---Gary Smith

Thanks Gary--- and everyone else who wrote in along similar lines. 8-)

Setting aside the long file name issues, we've discussed many ways to manage Cookies, most recently including Jason Levine's free "Cookie Jar" tool:
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/cookiejar.asp . For a glimpse of all the many other ways we've covered Cookie management, please see
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000&sp-q=cookie

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6) $10,000 For Your Trouble?

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, just use the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. You just may win $10,000(!), your friend just may find a new source of useful information; I just may gain a new subscriber (full details also available via this link): http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=143182

Or, win a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys... (Full details available via this link):
http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

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7) Win2K Security Bug

In a note called "Predictable Named Pipes Could Enable Privilege Elevation via Telnet," Microsoft says that Windows 2000 has a security hole that could allow attackers to achieve "privilege elevation" (where the attacker can act as, say, an administrator or privileged user of the system), denial of service, or information disclosure.

If you're running Win2K, check out
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS01-031.asp for more info and a patch.

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8) They Loaded The Code

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

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

BRUISE BROTHERS
http://sites.netscape.net/hckamin/homepage

Werner E. Moecke (Brasil)
http://www.wmoecke.hpg.com.br/

Cumberland Trio's
http://www.cumberlandtrio.com/

Test Depth Software
http://www.testdepth.com/

Roger's Pick Of the Week
http://rwchessher.tripod.com/

Joe's Home Business Page
http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/WindowsWay/jfrontiero/Index.html

Dick Nite Spoons (fishing)
http://www.dicknite.com/dicknite.htm

Sales Jobs and Candidates
http://www.recruit2hire.com/

Summerhouse  (A Band)
http://www.summerhousenow.com/

Find MP3s
http://findmp3.com.ar/

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9) Just For Grins

Kevin Lamoreaux sent in this amusing snippet (apparently originally from one Keith F. Lynch) from a Usenet newsgroup discussion:

Subject: Converting Pi to binary DON'T DO IT!
Newsgroup: alt.math.recreational

WARNING Do NOT calculate Pi in binary. It is conjectured that this number is normal, meaning that it contains ALL finite bit strings. If you compute it, you will be guilty of

* Copyright infringement (of all books, all short stories, all newspapers, all magazines, all web sites, all music, all movies, and all software, including the complete Windows source code)
* Trademark infringement
* Possession of pornography
* Espionage (unauthorized possession of top secret information)
* Possession of DVD-cracking software
* Possession of threats to the President
* Possession of everyone's SSN, everyone's credit card numbers, everyone's PIN numbers, everyone's unlisted phone numbers, and everyone's passwords
* Defaming Islam. Not technically illegal, but you'll have to go into hiding along with Salman Rushdie.
* Defaming Scientology. Which IS illegal -- just ask Keith Henson.

Also, your computer will contain all of the nastiest known computer viruses. In fact, all POSSIBLE computer viruses.

Some of the files on my PC are intensely personal, and I for one don't want you snooping through a copy of them. You might get away with computing just a few digits, but why risk it?

There's no telling how far into Pi you can go without finding the secret documents about the JFK assassination, a photograph of your neighbor [performing an unmentionable act], or a complete digital copy of all future not-yet-released Hollywood smash hits. So just don't do it.

The same warning applies to e, the square root of 2, Euler's constant, Phi, the cosine of any non-zero algebraic number, and the vast majority of all other real numbers.

There's a reason why these numbers are always computed and shown in decimal, after all.

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10) Clever Ways To Configure Windows Explorer; Drive Image Automation Tricks; SurfWax...

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all items above, plus about 30% more content including: many ways to make Windows Explorer (that's the tool you use to navigate your local hard drive and system) behave exactly the way you want it to; a pointer from Mike Elgan about "SurfWax;" and a marvelous example of very powerful Drive Image automation tricks.

Plus! Edition info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm 

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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.

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