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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2001-08-30

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!

Please note: Monday Sept 3 is a national holiday in the US.
The next LangaList will be published on Sept 6th.

1) IE5.5 SP2 Breaks Quicktime, Other Netscape PlugIns

Service Pack 2 for IE5.5 recently became available via Windows Update ( http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ ), and it's generally OK. In fact, I believe that IE5.5 is actually the best overall "free" browser available now--- certainly far from perfect, but quite good. (For me, Opera's never worked as well as its many supporters led me to believe it would; and AOL/Netscape has become a sluggish, ad-encrusted marketing tool for AOL's other offerings....)

In any case, Service Pack 2 cleans up quite a number of bugs. (See http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q303/2/01.asp?ID=303201 for the full list of everything changed in SP2.)

But with this release, Microsoft dropped support for the older proprietary Netscape "plug in" format. (See http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q303/4/01.asp?id=303401&SD=MSKB ) Both Microsoft and Netscape are moving towards adherence of W3C standards for browsers, and the old Netscape Plug-In models are not standard.

One of the most widely-used old-style plug-ins was the Apple Quicktime player that supported the older "MOV" format used in Quicktime. Apple already has released a new Quicktime player that works correctly with IE5.5 SP2: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/  Other vendors using old-style plug-ins will most likely be releasing updates as well. (Thanks to reader Leo Feret for being first to send along a head-up about this.)

If you're feeling adventurous, reader George Gombos has a more complex, do-it-yourself fix that goes further, and allows IE to run other PlugIns--- not just Apple's:

I bet you have read about the MS IE 5.5 SP2 (and 6.0 beta builds available on the net, and the interim builds bundled with WinXP/2002 RC releases) inability of playing QuickTime Movie (QTM) flics in MOV format.

The good news is Apple issued an ActiveX plugin fix, but it only enables QTM  in these IE releases, does NOT take care of the other Netscape-style plugins, because Microsoft *completely* removed support for all these Netscape-only plugins that do not include ActiveX extensions/plugs. So I found a fix... )

Please take a few minutes to read all about it here: http://members.aol.com/axcel216/newtip21.htm#MI5S6F

This works great with Win98 SE and ME + MS IE 5.5 SP2 and 6.0 (haven't tested  on Win2000 or XP).

George's fix isn't particularly hard, but you have to be careful and follow all his directions. If you have good backups and enjoy pushing the PC envelope a bit, you may wish to give it a try. 8-)

Thanks, Leo and George!

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2) New Version of Cacheman

We've discussed Cacheman many times before (
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-i=1&sp-q=cacheman&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000&sp-s=1 ): It's a tool that helps you experiment with various settings for Windows' disk cache: The idea is to help prevent excessive swapping of data from RAM to disk and back again, and thus improve performance.

It's not a panacea, and Windows' default settings are fine for many people. But Cacheman makes it incredibly easy to try different settings--- a couple clicks and a reboot, and you're done. If you're an inveterate tweaker (as am I!) you'll probably love Cacheman.

Cacheman's author, Thomas Reimann, recently wrote to me:

Thanks, Thomas. Looks good!

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3) A Challenge

Reader Jason A Allen asks a provocative question--- one that's been on my to-do list to research for a long time, but that I've never been able to find the time to do.

Thanks, Jason. It's an interesting question.

A RAM disk is a simulated hard drive that exists entirely within your system's memory chips. The operating system sees the pseudo-disk as a regular hard drive--- it even has an ordinary drive letter--- but the drive operates at RAM speeds instead of at the mechanical speed of a normal hard drive.

As a gedanken experiment, using a RAM disk to steed up Windows is simple and obvious: In a system with a ton of RAM (say 512MB), you'd set aside a big chunk (say, 256MB) as a RAM disk. Then you'd adjust Window's virtual memory settings to place a fixed-size swap file in the RAM disk. With no disk-induced delays at all, swapfile operations should be significantly faster.

But would it be noticeably faster? That is, would it make a difference in real-life operations?

It would be rather tricky to get valid, accurate, repeatable and quantifiable results in before-and-after testing; and in any case, any potential speed gains would matter most to users who routinely multitask large programs or who work with very large data sets. I'm not sure a mythical "average" user would see enough difference to make it worthwhile. (That's why careful control and measurement would be important; a subjective "it feels faster" wouldn't cut it.)

There's a further option for those with *very* large amounts of RAM: You could, for example, place commonly-called DLLs in a RAM drive, or even install Windows itself to a RAM drive. You'd need to use something like Ghost or Drive Image before shutdown to preserve and restore the RAM disk contents, which normally are erased when you turn off the PC...

It's one of those experiments that's simple in broad concept, but extremely complex in the details--- which is why it's remained on my to-do list for an embarrassingly long time.

Any takers? Drop me a line! 8-)

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4) Turn Off Office's Background Indexing

In "Troubleshooting A System Slowdown" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-08-02.htm#8 ) I suggested that one easy fix is to "turn off Office's background indexing." I was surprised to get lots of mail like this:

Hey. Lots of good info.... So then, regarding a system slowdown, how does one go about turning off Office's background indexing? What is office's background indexing? --- Rhett Cook

The background indexing--- also called Find Fast--- is a process used by Office to help you locate Office documents and content. It normally runs as a background process.

I've never found it useful--- the supposed "background" operation can interfere with things like scheduled maintenance, for example. (Many users who have trouble getting Defrag or Scandisk to complete eventually trace the problem to a "background" indexing process that won't get out of the way.) Plus, I prefer to use other search tools, and never bother with Office's own.

If memory serves, Fast Find goes back at least to Office 95, and I know it's in the newer versions of Office. But with three (or four) major versions of Office plus all the sub- and stand-alone versions, I can't give specific instructions for disabling Find Fast/background indexing for them all.

But in general: Insert your Office CD, and run Setup. Under the "add/remove features" or "maintenance mode" menus, poke around until you see something relating to Find Fast; tell the setup program that you wish to delete/deselect/remove Fast Find.

Alternatively, in some versions, you also can prevent Find Fast from loading at startup by running MSCONFIG, and disabling all instances of Find Fast you can find (especially in the Startup tab. 

If you never use Find Fast--- and most people don't--- removing it will save some CPU cycles, some resources, and a little disk space.

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5) Site Hijacks Home Page--- For 25 Years!

What astonishing gall. The odds of that company being in existence in 25 *weeks* is low; and probably near zero for a 25 month survival. The idea that they'd try to sew up your browser for 25 years is insane.

Yes indeed: Always read the fine print. One of my personal rules of thumb is: "The more fine print someone throws at you, the more they're probably trying to hide."

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6) Last Day To Enter Month's FREE Drawing

Tomorrow, I'll choose another monthly winner of a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys... 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 shopping spree! (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

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(!), try this link (full details also available here):
http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=143182

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

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7) TaskWheel

Reader Eran Rosenmann found and likes a new utility with an innovative interface:

Thanks, Eran!

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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

My Freedoms
http://www.myfreedoms.f2s.com/

Mad Magician
http://www.madmagician.net/

Bruno's Brain
http://pages.zdnet.com/brunoem/bbrain/index.html

HardinComp Web Services
http://www.hardincomp.com/

Homefires Hearth
http://www.homefireshearth.com/

Sorroeix Web Design
http://www.sorroeix.com/

MCP Computers
http://www.mcp-computers.com/

Flying Dream
http://www.angelfire.com/home/md11/

Karl's Computer Tips
http://pg13_funnys.tripod.com/c_tech/index_ct.html

Rob's V Portal
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze2wcrk/

Cyber News Weekly
http://www.yourpcdomain.com/

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9) Another Free Tool To identify CDR Type

There's still good email coming in from the article "Is Your Data Disappearing?" ( http://www.informationweek.com/thisweek/story/IWK20010719S0003?section=opinion ) in which we discussed the likely lifespans of various types of recording dyes used in CDR: The type of dye can determine whether your backups last a few years--- or a century!

But some of the dyes are hard to identify visually (some are actually transparent, or nearly so, to naked-eye wavelengths of light). Here's a way to see what's really on the CDR:

Hello Fred,  Enjoy your newsletter and look forward to reading each issue. I came across this and thought you would find it interesting based on the discussion about different types of 'dye' used on CD media. To use the site's own words

"CDR Identifier: This little tool lets you read the ATIP (Absolute Time In Pre-Groove) of CDR  (CD-Recordable) media with most of the current CDR recorders. This information tells the real manufacturer and type of dye used for this media." http://www.gum.de/it/download/english.htm "  --- Bruce Robertson

Thanks, Bruce!

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10) Just For Grins

Mark your calendar: The earth just may move for us all next week!

The Giant Jump, which launches Britain's Science Year, will take place on 7 September at 11 am and go straight into The Guinness Book of Records as "the greatest simultaneous jump in history".

Everyone taking part will jump for one minute, and the results will be monitored on seismometers and sensing equipment. Although this is the largest jump that has been attempted, it will not be the first time that people jumping up and down have caused the ground to shake. Alice Walker, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey, recalls: "In November 1995, Londoners contacted Scotland Yard claiming they had experienced an earthquake tremor. Investigations revealed that 20,000 rock fans had been jumping up and down to Oasis in Earl's Court, and tremors were being reported from up to one mile away. It will be interesting to see if hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions of school students can beat Oasis."

Science Year, which runs from September 2001 to August 2002, aims to raise awareness of science among young people aged 10 to 19 years. See http://www.scienceyear.com  to find out more. If any readers further afield have seismological equipment, let us know if the tremors caused by the British jump travel round the world.

http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opfeedback.jsp?id=ns230599#43

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11) More Eudora Tips;
USP/Surge Suppressor Update;
Safekeeping Your Patch/Update Files

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including:

• additional easy (and free) ways to manage your Eudora mail files
• what you can do to ensure you have access to OS patch/update files even when Microsoft stops providing them
• and excellent info problems with common parts used in UPSes and surge suppressors (you may NOT be as well protected as you think!)

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)

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