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The
LangaList
Standard Edition
2002-02-21
A Free Email Newsletter from
Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware,
Software, and Time Online
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1) Feedback On Cheap
($77!) PCs
Wow, we're getting some great reader feedback on the
article I wrote about replacing a server with a
PC whose core guts cost just $77 (
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020214S0003
). Many readers have offered additional real-life examples ranging from
specific brand and site recommendations (where to buy and where NOT to buy),
to configuration info, info on integrating these machines into networks and into
businesses, and more. It's a ton of great info! Here are two quick examples:
Fred, I'll bet you're going to get swamped with replies to your $77 PC article in
the 2002-02-18 LangaList, with everyone telling you about their favorite place
to buy on line. I thought I would go one step further and send you a site the
reviews web retailers. I used to buy a lot from TigerDirect, one of the links at the bottom of your
Information Week article. I had issues with returns and my account being
credited in a timely manner so I went looking for another source. In my search I came across
http://www.resellerratings.com [news flash: alas, *today*--- 2002-02-21---
ResellerRatings.com says is being phased out.], a great web shopping resource
that ranks web sites based on customer feedback. The reviews of TigerDirect paralleled my experience exactly. I wish I had found this site
before I made my purchases. I would have save a lot of time, money and
aggravation. I was looking at a Gigabyte Motherboard on TigerDirect that they had priced
at $219. Tiger has a 69 out of a possible 100 rating on the resellerratings web
site. I went to http://www.markonecomputers.com which had a 100 rating and a lot fewer
customer complaints about returns. Mark One had the Gigabyte GA-7DXR+
motherboard for $143.90. You could buy a nice upgrade video card or CD-RW with
the $75 savings. --- Ken Rosen
You asked for experience with cheap PC's. Best Buy has been selling the E-Machine package for months that can't be beat. This weekend Circuit City matched it. Get this: $400 buys a 1Ghz, 128 MB RAM, 20GB HD system including a 17" monitor and a cheap printer. I have had customers buy the E-Machine over the past 3 years and have had no complaints. I bought one in November with the first XP to test it before recommending it to my clients. I have been using it extensively and am very pleased with it and have no qualms recommending it to clients for a basic machine. (I added $100 for the better machine with CD-RW, added a second drive, more RAM and a network card) I run XP on my two other machines, so I have a base of comparison. I've always used local shop built machines since 1979, but this last upgrade since November to switch to XP was different. I bought a Compaq 1.1 Ghz with Me and upgraded to XP. I built a game machine from scratch using drives from recently upgraded older machines. The E-Machine is using XP Home and the other 2 use XP Pro. Best Buy has run this ad every week for months. Of course it involves rebates, but every one I know has received the entire rebate.
--- Loren Barrett
Article:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020214S0003
Discussion area with more reader feedback:
http://www.informationweek.com/forum/Fred Langa
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2) More Broadband
Shenanigans
Reader Steve Sturgill discovered that Cox--- another
mega-ISP that picked up large numbers of subscribers when @Home died--- quietly sets up its own remote network as a member of
his "local intranet" on his PC.
Intranets are usually office LANs--- local
networks--- where all the machines are set up in similar ways, and where you
more or less can trust that the guy in the next cubicle isn't going to try to
hack into your files. Typically, intranet security is lax to allow easy file
sharing.
Of course Cox (and other ISPs) are not local
intranets at all--- they're external networks. Clearly, you need much higher security to protect yourself from
threats that may come in to your PC from these external sources.
But Steve's setup showed that the Cox software had
silently added all external Cox.com and Coxenterprises.com domains to his PC's
*local* zone, allowing any and all traffic from these Cox sites to bypass his
Internet security settings!
I'm ready to believe that Cox's intent wasn't
nefarious: Using the relaxed "local" settings probably makes connections easier
and reduces "I can't connect" support calls to Cox. But no software should ever
change your security settings without letting you know, and giving you the
chance to say no. And Cox's attempts to save themselves some tech support calls
put their customers at additional risk from external, malicious sites. It's a
selfish and customer-hostile practice.
I suggest you do what Steve did: Click to
Tools/Internet Options/Security/Local Intranet/Sites/Advanced, and see what, if
anything, is entered there: Any domain or path you see entered in the intranet
zone is bypassing your Internet security settings.
If you see something there you don't like, either
delete it, move it to the Internet zone, or alter its settings (use the "custom" button
on the main Security dialog) to restore some
measure of safety to these connections.
Thanks, Steve!
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3) Floppy Drives In
The Dishwasher
In the previous issues, we've discussed the ways you
actually can *wash* some kinds of electrical components (see "Take Your PC Into
The Shower?" at
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-11-01.htm ; "More On *Washing*
Your Electronics" at
http://www.langalist.com/Plus/newsletters/2001/2001-11-08plus.asp
; "Dirty Mouse Balls" at
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-10-11.htm
and "What's Inside Your Keyboard?" at
http://www.langalist.com/plus/newsletters/2001/2001-11-29plus.asp )
Now, there's this:
After all the discussion in the LangaList about floppy disk drives, I felt
compelled to relate the following story.
I've worked in the small and desktop computer service industry for over 20
years (I started 2 years before IBM built the first PC!) Over all that time,
I've seen just about every problem a floppy drive can have. In recent years,
drive prices have fallen to such ridiculously low prices that no technician even
tries to diagnose a bad drive these days. Onsite, I check the bios settings,
look at Windows Device Manager, change the cable and then, if the drive still
malfunctions, replace the drive. The whole process takes about 15 minutes. At
$100/hr for service, you don't want your hired gun tech guy spending much time
on a $20 drive. As you can imagine, this creates quite a pile of bad drives back at the shop.
Our shop has a kitchenette with a dishwasher. Imagine my surprise when I
opened the dishwasher one day to find a whole load of floppy drives in it! One
of the senior techs had taken all the covers off of the defective drives and
washed them in the dishwasher. I watched in fascination as he carefully removed
them and placed them all in the OVEN...... Three hours at 200 degrees!
Almost every one of them worked after a cycle in the dishwasher. I was
flabbergasted! We gave free drives away for months to anyone who wanted one - I
think I gave more of them away than I did business cards!
Over time, the senior tech applied this bizarre procedure to CD-ROM drives,
power supplies motherboards (sans batteries!) and printer parts of all types.
I've seen completely disassembled Ink Jet printers in the dishwasher.
Interestingly, this ridiculous procedure fixes more than half of these devices,
and almost ALL of the Ink Jet printers.
Three secrets were learned over time:
1.) Granulated dish washing detergent is the only way to go - liquid doesn't
wash out of all the cracks
2.) That liquid no-spot rinse stuff messes up the works
3.) The oven must be electric and digitally controlled. 200 degrees is the
perfect temp - less and the circuit boards do not get dry and more temp makes
the plastics melt.
For those who adventure into this at home I recommend having a camera ready
before proceeding. It's fun to photograph your spouse the first time they open
the dishwasher to find a load of computer parts..... --- Carl W. Lovern
Thanks Carl. It's a new twist on the old joke:
Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but inside a PC, it's next to impossible!
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4) Command Line &
Batch Options In XP
While trying to create a batch file which redirected
all output from its commands to a log file, I needed to redirect both standard and error output to the same file. I couldn't remember how to do it, and was searching the web for help. All the while, I was muttering to myself about Windows XP not having decent help with command-line stuff. I happened to come up on a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation on Microsoft's site which mentioned that there *is* a help file in Windows XP for command-line stuff.
BTW, I have XP Pro - I don't know if this file, or many of the commands it documents, is available to XP Home users.
You can open the file from a command prompt thus:
hh ntcmds.chm
This command reference contains an absolute goldmine of information on XP's very rich collection of command-line utilities.
For example, here's one I'll bet not many people know about
fsutil hardlink create <new filename> <existing filename>
On an NTFS partition, this command creates a duplicate link and name (possibly in another folder) for an existing file. The two files are actually the same physical file on disk, but are available by two different names in (possibly) two different folders. You can create as many of these as you want, and, if you delete a file by one of these names, the file won't actually be deleted until the last hardlink is deleted. (Note this is *not* just a Windows-style shortcut. This is an actual file-system object which has duplicate file-system entries, and can be opened and manipulated by any program from any of the "hardlinks".)
I have been amazed... at the plethora of commands available to the XP command-line junkie. Hopefully you and your readers can find something worthwhile here. Your faithful reader and Plus subscriber, Patrick Mills
Thanks, Patrick. Alas, XP Home lacks the full version
of the command reference file; in XP Home, ntcmds.chm and many other standalone
help files are just placeholders that point you back to the general Help
and Support system. However, in both Home and Pro, many of the individual
commands--- like FSUTIL--- are separately included in the main Help system. So,
you
can learn about command options in the Home edition--- it's just harder than it
needs to be.
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5) MSN Messenger
Worm
"C o o l n o w [also called J S . M e n g e r
] is a worm that uses Microsoft Messenger to propagate. It uses a
vulnerability to execute its code via Internet Explorer.
The worm spreads a message via MSN
messenger that contains a link to an infected web page. Some of the messages
looks as follows:
U R G E N T - Go to [url]
Now
A T T e N T ! o N - Go to: [url] Now
When an user clicks on the link in the MSN message, Internet Explorer will
open the page and execute the JavaScript code in the page. This is the actual
worm.
The worm uses an vulnerability to execute.
It goes through the users MSN contact list and sends a message with a link to
an infected site to each recipient.
Further information, including a fix for
the vulnerability, is available from Microsoft at:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS02-005.asp "
(---from F-secure's writeup of the worm.
All the major AV sites have similar info.)
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6) PR Budget = $0.00
Long-time readers know this newsletter is a private
project of mine: It's not part of some publishing empire's stable of
publications. There's no separate budget, staff or facility to handle outreach
and promotions. The newsletter depends on word of mouth to grow.
And that's where you come in: Each issue, I try to
offer you useful, interesting and amusing factoids to help you with your
hardware, software, and time online. Can you take just a minute to help me out
in return?
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 "Recommend It"
link):
http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1
The "Recommend-It" service is an ad-based site
(you’ll see banners and such). The advantages to you of using the Recommend-It
service are that you can win $10,000 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
find it at:
http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2 . That option gives you a shot at
winning a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books,
software, hardware, kitchenware, toys, and more.
Either way, thank you for helping to spread the word
about the LangaList!
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7) More Downloadable
Microsoft Updates
Rick Steele suggests some additional non-Microsoft
front ends to various MS patches and updates:
Hi Fred, Check out these links for downloadable M$ updates and very useful info
http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/ie50-14.shtml
http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/ie40-28.shtml
http://www.windows-help.net/windows95/all-tips.shtml
http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/all-tips.shtml
http://www.windows-help.net/index.shtm (this is the home page)
Also below is a very useful freeware Outlook Express-both 4 & 5 (separate
downloads from the same author)- email utility
http://chattanooga.net/~scochran/oe5faq.htm
Thanks, Rick!
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8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming
and Coming...
Almost two thousand of your fellow readers have "Loaded the code." Please
click over to
http://www.langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join them! (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
Bob's Digital World
http://home.sport.rr.com/bobf/
Ralph Johnson
http://nyail.com/
Multimedia Spy Weekly eZine
http://www.multimediaspy.com/
Dogwood Mall (BC, Canada)
http://www.dogwoodmall.com
Happy Trails Computer Club
http://cybercoyote.org/help/online.htm
Schnool Enterprises
http://shnool.lamtec.com/
Davis Lamp and Shade
http://www.davislamp.com/
Talbot Racing (Canada)
http://home.cogeco.ca/~trthistory1/
Hexff Consulting and Microsystems
http://www.hexff.com/index.html
TristanWeb (Filipino)
http://www.geocities.com/zooeyglass15/tristan/
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9) "Is [X] Safe To
Delete?"
I've never formally catalogued the
most-frequently-asked questions I receive, but I'm sure one of the top 10 is
along the lines of , "Is [X] safe to delete?" where "X" can be anything--- a file, a
folder, a DLL, etc.
Here's one recent example:
I recently installed a program called ASHAMPOO and have been using it to clean my registry and hard disk. I have run the scan for the .dll's but as per the caution in the beginning of the ashampoo program, I haven't had the courage to delete the ones it finds as not needed. How can I be absolutely sure which .dll's, as indicated by the scan, are safe to delete? According to the ashampoo scan, I have quite a few that could save me some serious space. Thank You, Mickeymaster
You'll find complete info on how to see in advance if
ANY file is safe to delete or not; or, barring that, ways to
safely test whether something is safe to delete (or not) here:
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000&sp-q=%22safe+to+delete%22
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10) Just For Grins
I got a note the other day from "~Steve-O," aka
"Robot Karate Man" aka "HeySteveo," saying he was the original author of the
"Tales Of Blood Curdling Terror" listed in this space in the last issue.
Establishing provenance on the Web is iffy, but
~Steve-O is indeed the author of a root post with the subject: "Tales of
Blood-Curdling Terror" in the Usenet group
"alt.2eggs.sausage.beans.tomatoes.2toast.largetea.cheerslove" ; you can use
Google's Groups search to locate the original post, and view the whole curious
thread that follows.
I'm glad to provide attribution when it's known
to me. 8-)
And if you think the Usenet group
"alt.2eggs.sausage.beans.tomatoes.2toast.largetea.cheerslove" is strange--- you
really haven't explored Usenet!
On a completely different note, here's a "Just
For Grins" item that can't be explained--- you have to see it to believe it:
http://www.extremeironing.com/~eib/ei/homepage/main.php
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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:
- It Was Inevitable---
WPA Is Now Fully Cracked
- SMNP XP/2K Security
Patch Released
- Reader Declares War on Startup and Background Processes
Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten
items above, plus about 30% more content including: Info on a software crack
that can generate an infinite supply of apparently-valid product activation
codes, thus totally undermining the validity of Microsoft's "Windows Product
Activation" process; info on a security patch for Windows 2000 and XP; and FREE
reader-recommended tools you can use to "declare war" on self-starting
and background processes that can slow down your system and consume resources.
The Plus! Edition costs just pennies per issue. See:
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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