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LangaList 2002-03-28 Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!
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1) 100% Legit, Partial Workaround For Product ActivationDon Lett was the first to send in this info. It's not a crack or a malicious way to foil Windows Product Activation (WPA), but rather is a way that legitimate users of XP software can avoid having to reactivate the software after a full install: The trick is to copy and re-use the c:\windows\system32\wpa.dbl file. It's small--- mine is just 13K long--- so it will easily fit on a floppy. Or, you can copy it to another safe location on your hard drive. Once that's done, go about your reinstallation task normally. After you've reinstalled XP, either boot to a DOS floppy or start in XP's Safe Mode/Command Prompt (i.e. hit the F8 key when your system "beeps" during the boot process). Then copy your original wpa.dbl from its safe location back into the c:\windows\system32 folder, and then reboot. Because nothing on your system has changed--- it's the same BIOS, CPU, RAM, etc., and because you're installing the same copy of XP that was previously installed, the "old" WPA key should be accepted as valid, saving you the hassle of re-Activating the software. Note that this won't work if you try moving the file to a different machine, so it's not a way to pirate software. But if you want to simply reinstall a valid and already-activated copy of XP onto the same hardware on which it was originally installed, this may save you from having to re-Activate the new installation. Thanks, Don. Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 2) McAfee's Forced Upgrade?Dennis Faas, who writes the "Infopackets" site and newsletter ( http://www.infopackets.com/ ), sent this along:
When Dennis went to the McAfee site, what he found was surprising: Using the normal update link, he was told that he had to upgrade his AV engine to a newer version--- in other words, he had to buy a newer copy of McAfee's software in order to use the latest anti-virus definitions. But when he poked around the site, he found there still was a way just to grab the definitions, and that they'd work fine with his current engine: No upgrade was really needed after all. It appears that McAfee is simply using strong-arm tactics to try to get people to upgrade, when there's actually no technical requirement that they do so. I'm summarizing here because Dennis' email was long; but if you want to see his full letter, it's here: http://www.langa.com/extras/mcafee.htm It raises some very interesting questions about the way McAfee is doing business... Click to email this item to a
friend 3) AOL To Users: Do As I Say, Not As I DoMany of you will remember Mike Elgan from the days of Windows Magazine--- he's now at http://www.interex.org/. and is still running "Mikes' List" ( http://www.mikeslist.com/ ). Mike was the first of several readers who sent along this wonderful item: After the AOL/Time-Warner merger, the edict went out to all 82,000 employees of the media giant that they had to use AOL email for company communications. To its chagrin, the company has finally admitted what millions of others already know: "...the e-mail software frequently crashed, staffers weren’t able to send messages with large attachments, they were often kicked offline without warning, and if they tried to send messages to large groups of users they were labeled as spammers and locked out of the system. Sometimes, e-mails were just plain lost in the AOL netherworld and never found." In fact, they found that about 2% of AOL emails never made it to their intended recipients! Although AOL still touts its email as a wonderful thing in its ads, it now allows its own employees to use email from *other* ISPs! You gotta love it. Full story: http://www.msnbc.com/news/727898.asp Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 4) Updates to "CleanAll/9x" ComingIf all goes well, I'll have some updates to the popular "CleanAll/Clean9x" batch files next week, including versions that will run on Windows ME, 2K and XP; and a better download method for the Win98 version. I'll be prepping the files and the explanatory info early next week, so there'll be no newsletter published Monday. Instead, the next newsletter issue will be Thursday--- and (with any luck at all) will include the new CleanAll/9x/ME/2K/XP (whew!) files. Stay tuned! (Want to get up to speed early? The concepts underlying the new files are the same as in the originals--- it's just the implementation details that change. To get the "big picture" on what these files are and how they work in general, see http://www.langa.com/cleanup_bat.htm ) Click to email this item to a
friend 5) Accessibility Options In Windows XPReader Peter Kronenberg faced a problem in XP, found the answer, and decided to pass along the information so that someone else wouldn't have to do the detective work he did:
Thanks, Peter. Most people never diddle with the Accessibility options at all, and I'll bet your note will prompt many to take a look. It's also true that the XP settings aren't completely smooth: Switching to High Contrast works fine, for example, but (on my system) switching back leaves the icon title text stuck in High Contrast mode (very large white text on a dark blue background). I have to manually reset the text to get things back to normal: I right click on the desktop, and select Properties, then choose the Appearance tab and set the font size to Large, then to Normal, and then click "Apply." With that, the icon title text text finally returns to normal. Yikes. It's nice that the Accessibility options are built in, but the rough edges are annoying. Click to email this item to a
friend 6) Last Days To Enter March's FREE DrawingOn March 31, I'll choose another monthly winner of a
no-strings $30 Gift The more times you make a recommendation, the greater
your chances are Either way, thank you, and good luck! Click to email this item to a
friend 7) Separate Tips for Win2K and Word2KReader John G. Faughnan also faced--- and solved--- two entirely separate problems: (1) configuring Windows 2000 workstations safely for multiple users; and (2) coping with Word's formatting weirdness.
Thanks, John! Click to email this item to a
friend 8) 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 ) Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At Domain Name Analyzer Reverse Classified Ads Deb's Place (Wisconsin) "Utlimate Chat" Network Security Consulting Pete's Place Leroy and Mary Lou Iowa Real Estate Blogspot sitemaven web design Harp, Keyboard, Recorders Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 9) Share Bookmarks/Favorites Among Different Browsers
Compass works with IE, Netscape, Opera and "generic browsers." It's available at http://www.softgauge.com/compass/ ; the download is free and you have 50 days to decide if you want to keep the software or not. If you do keep it, it's $25. Thanks, David! Click to email this item to a
friend 10) Just For GrinsReader Roger Sweeney sends this along:
And then there's the other view: Any sufficiently low technology is indistinguishable from hard work. Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 11) Plus! Edition Highlights:
Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: a very nice, 100% free, open-source office suite (Microsoft Office 97-XP compatible); a service (also free) that takes any long URL and provides you with a much shorter, easier-to-use one; and reader-created tools for managing program startup and more. The Plus! Edition costs just a buck a month! How can you go wrong? info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm Click to email this item to a
friend See you next issue--- Thursday, not Monday! <g> Best, 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. UNSUBSCRIBE: From the same email account you
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