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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2002-11-04

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!

1) Wireless Poachers, Wireless Guests

If you don't already have a wireless network in your office or home, you probably will soon: The use of wireless networking is burgeoning because--- as millions already have found--- it's a wonderfully convenient and inexpensive way to share data, printers, or Internet connections. You can do almost anything on a wireless LAN that you can do over a conventional wired connection, but without the hassle of running cables or of being tethered to one location.

Wireless networking is sometimes referred to as WLAN ("wireless Local Area Networking") or Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity http://www.weca.net/OpenSection/index.asp ) or any number of other acronyms or spec numbers (e.g. "802.11x" http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/8/802_11.html ).

In the most common form, a wireless network consists of one or more devices that connect via low-powered radio signals to and through a transceiver called an "access point." The access point and wireless devices comprise a LAN unto themselves, although the access point is usually also connected to a conventional LAN or to the Internet, or both: This allows the wireless devices to connect not only to each other but also to the wider world beyond the immediate range of the wireless network.

The "immediate range" can be substantial: In operation, each access point typically creates a bubble of connectivity extending a hundred feet or more (sometimes much more) in all directions. This makes it easy for you and your coworkers to connect, but it also means that anyone in the next office, in the parking lot, on the sidewalk, in a nearby apartment or house--- anyplace within the bubble of connectivity--- also may be able to tap into your bandwidth and go online through your access point without your explicit knowledge or permission. In fact, they may also be able to access not just the Internet, but the PCs on your local net as well.

The current InformationWeek column at http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021031S0004 lists four easy steps you can take to secure most WLANs; discusses various add-on software you can use to make a WLAN all but bulletproof, or even to disguise your WLAN so that other's can't find it; and provides links to a huge range of online resources ranging from the beginner-level to deep-geek professional-level information.

By the time you're done with this full-length article, you'll have the info you need to provide whatever level of security you want for your wireless devices.

Come check it out at http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021031S0004. See you there!

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2) More On Email Hangs & Repeats

The Item "Email Deja Vu" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-10-31.htm#3 ), in which a reader had trouble getting all his email to download, brought a pile of great reader mail, much of which made similar suggestions. Here's a sampling:

Hi Fred. I have seen this quite often with my clients. 99% of the time their mailbox on the server will contain an email with a several megabyte attachment. When they check their mail the normal messages that are in the queue before the large one are downloaded in the usual manner. The server will then churn away gradually delivering the monster. Sometimes the connection will time out or will drop before delivery is complete, but usually the user will misinterpret the seemingly lack of progress as a hang and will cancel the request. They will then try again and the same thing will happen thus receiving multiple copies of those messages they have already downloaded. Until the server receives conformation that all messages in the queue have been delivered it will assume that none have. Email servers were not designed to handle multimegabyte files. Most ISPs have web browser based "Hotmail style" email access that their clients can use to access their accounts from any internet connected machine. If the problem is being caused by a large file, this interface can be used to read or delete it without downloading. If it is a file that is important then the client should try downloading the mail again and while this is happening go have a coffee, read the newspaper and perhaps have a small nap. Multimegabyte emails can take quite some time to download especially with a busy mailserver and a slow internet connection. If the above does not work then call your ISP. ---- Terry Harris

Fred, A useful tool in the circumstances described is POP3 Scan Mailbox http://www.kempston.demon.co.uk/smb/ .It will download just the headers from a POP3 mailbox displaying the size, the sender, etc. This allows the user to see any problem emails and delete them without having to download the whole mail first. Regards,  Ron Colverson

Fred, I work for a regional ISP in Central California, and "Email Deja Vu" is an all-too common problem. One thing we find very frequently when an email "hangs" during transfer from the server is that the email has an attachment. If your ISP offers a webmail portal for accessing the email server through a web browser, you can see which emails are hanging up, and determine if it is worth the effort to download them, or just delete that joke which has already been forwarded to you five times in the last month (Dad, are you paying attention here?!?). If the attachment is a photo that you would like to keep, you can always right-click on the image and "Save As..." As always, Fred, thank you for putting out the best Windows newsletter around. The Plus subscription is a fantastic deal! --- David Burrows

Hey Fred. If he checks his email with a website like http://www.mailstart.com/ then it will allow him to delete individual messages from the server and fix the problem himself. Also he will be able to see who the message is from and possibly a little of the message as well to know if it might be something important. I know I have a recurring problem with a certain family member that sends very large picture files through the email clogging up my own inbox. As well if it happens to him again, then he can clear up the problem on his own without having to call the ISP. There are other similar websites that do the same thing but this is the one that comes to mind. It is also pretty straightforward. All you have to do is type in your email address and password. I love the newsletter. Keep it up. Thanks! ---Matthew Lewis

Fred: I had this problem with the scanning function of Norton Antivirus. Any time I was sent an attachment over 1 meg, NA seemed to choke on it. I would wait and wait and it would never download. I would have to use a program called Mail Washer to delete that file off the mail server so I could get my mail. This went on for weeks. I finally got tired of it and started changing various things on my system. Nothing worked until I turned off the option to have my incoming mail scanned for viruses. I experimented with it using a test email several times and that turned out to be my problem. When Roger logs off, the mail server hasn't updated the "received" flag yet, so all the emails would come down again. As soon as they do, I believe that NA chokes again on #7. I don't think this is an unsafe practice because I have NA running in auto-protect anyways. If I open anything that could be a virus, NA would jump on it then. I hope this helps. Love the newsletter.--- Patrick

Thanks to all the *many* who wrote in!

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3) An IM/Outlook Problem?

Fred, First of all thanks for all the invaluable advice you turn out in your newsletter. I have been a Plus subscriber for a little of a year and have found myself searching the Langalist Archives first in search of answers to perplexing problems before going anywhere else. More often than not the answer has already been researched and posted in the List and cuts my research time to fractions. I am with you for life....

I wanted to share with the subscribers a problem that was discovered a couple of weeks ago but we just found a solution. I was on vacation so I can't take credit for the find but felt it important enough to forward it to you.

I work for the State of California, State Teachers Retirement System as an Associate Information Systems Analyst. There are three of us on the team and our primary job is to service about 120 users in Administration. Over the last 3 months we have been upgrading the PC's in our office to the newer Dell 8000 series. They come with XP Pro installed and as they come in we add the XP Office Pro. Recently, several users have been complaining about how slow MS Outlook is running after getting their new machines. At first we blamed it on the Exchange Server but after repeated reports of problems one person on our team decided to look into it. We use the preview pane view to read the mail with the subjects listed on the upper screen and the body of the email on the bottom screen. It seems that when a user would click on a subject, it could take anywhere from 5 to 15 seconds for the body of the email to appear on the screen. When your trying to read through your email each morning, that 15 seconds seems like forever. Anyway, we looked at users of previous versions of Outlook and with older an older OS and they didn't exhibit the same problem.

Well, after researching through just about everything he could find on Outlook, our team member, Tom, wasn't any closer to finding a solution. He then did the IT's last resort: He guessed. That's right he started going through the Outlook Tools & Options and clicking and un-clicking everything he could find hoping for a solution. As you might have guessed, he found one. At least we hope it is the solution.

It seems that the default setting for Outlook (XP) is to have the Instant Messaging in MS Outlook enabled. In Outlook, you can go to Tools, Options, Other, and at the bottom uncheck the "Enable Instant Messaging in MS Outlook" box. Once you have restarted your PC and go back into Outlook, the speed at which the body of the email is displayed is noticeably faster.

I am not sure if this is a problem for those using a dialup or DSL connections but is has definitely made a lot of Exchange users here much happier. Just thought you should know. ---Dave McHenry

Thanks, Dave! I never use IM on my system, so I've never seen this slowdown. But as a *lot* of people love IM and use it all the time, this might be a very helpful tip.

(BTW: You can run IM on demand, when you're ready to chat. There's really no need to leave it on all the time anyway.)

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4) "iWON" Means You Lose?

The "iWON" site aggressively promotes itself through extreme giveaways--- currently $10,000 every weekday, with a shot at a $25million prize.

That kind of hyper-aggressive giveaway always makes me go "Hmmmm..." but I had no specific information about iWon. That is, until reader Gerry Boyd sent a heads-up about news reports that states "Software at iWon Web Site Tracks Users Even After Removal."

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/TechTV/techtv_iwonspyware021023.html

Thanks, Gerry!

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5) Browser Helper Objects

As so often happens, when a reader discusses an issue, it might seem very specific at first, but it actually affects many users--- and it may affect *you,* even if you use a different version of Windows or IE:

Hi Fred. Great newsletter - many useful tips! I upgraded a W2k PC to IE6 and suffered apparently a common problem - IE6 and Windows Explorer would only show the first letter of the URL/folder address in the title bar (absolute top of the page) and little task bar window (absolute bottom of the page). After some diligent research through various forums (MS Knowledge Base didn't have anything too useful) - mainly in Google Groups http://groups.google.com/  , I came up with a solution that worked for me, which I'd like to share with the LangaList community.

Apparently, the problem is one or more conflicting BHOs (Browser Helper Objects), so I downloaded http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,270,00.asp  BHO Cop from PCMagazine. This allowed me to identify BHOs and them disable/enable them one at a time until I found the BHO or combination of BHOs that were the culprit. Solved a tiny, but infuriating problem! Many thanks for all the good stuff in LangaListPlus....... Ian Reece

Thanks, Ian. We've discussed BHO's almost a year ago in the Plus! edition ( see item #12 in http://www.langalist.com/plus/newsletters/2002/2002-01-31plus.asp ): In that context, we were looking at BHO's as a potential attack vector for some types of scumware. At that time, reader "MLL02" made a suggestion that may be worth repeating here:

You can disable *all of them* [all BHOs] from IE's options Advanced tab, then uncheck "Activate/Enable third-party browser extensions." If you want a more selective approach, there's  BHOdemon http://www.definitivesolutions.com/bhodemon.htm --- free, but doesn't always work on my systems. BHO Cop is free, my favourite, always checks at startup disabled BHO don't get re-registered. --- MLL02

Thanks again, MLL02!

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6) Is This Information Useful?

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, maybe a friend would find it useful too! Just use the following link to recommend the LangaList---your friend may find a new source of useful information and you just may win $10,000 for your trouble (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... and more. (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

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7) Easy Way To Back Up Your Drivers

Hi Fred, I've been a long time consumer of your newsletter and thought I d let you know about a new, free Windows utility just out by JerMar Software ( http://www.jermar.com ). It is called WinDriversBackup ( http://www.jermar.com/wdrvbck.htm ). WinDriversBackup can identify all of your Windows driver files and save them to a secure location in two simple mouse clicks.

As you know, backing up your Windows driver files means they will be available to you the next time you need to reinstall the driver or the whole operating system. WinDriversBackup places the driver files in one organized location of your choosing.

WinDriversBackup is especially helpful in situations where you have a computer in your possession and its internal hardware is unknown. WinDriversBackup can identify the hardware on the system and the associated drivers ---then back them up to a specified location. WinDriversBackup is even network compatible --you can just as easily connect to a remote computer on your network and backup driver files.

WinDriversBackup is provided free of charge. This software DOES NOT install spy-ware or ad-ware software. When you install WinDriversBackup all you get is WinDriversBackup. There are no strings attached.

WinDriversBackup seems to be an excellent tool and a good fit for the readers of your newsletter. Best of all it is free.  Warm regards, Jerry Rawdon

Thanks, Jerry.

In the interests of full disclosure, Jerry is the "Jer" in "JerMar," so you might wonder about his objectivity. But I've tried the tool, and it's just as he says. It works quickly and effectively, and creates a neatly-ordered folder structure that contains backup copies of all the current drivers on your system. Cool!

The reason they offer it for free is that they hope you'll check out their other software, some of which also is free and some of which is commercial. Well worth a look!

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8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming And Coming...

Way over 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

Logic Assistant & Mindgames
http://www.digby.de/

ADVICE FROM MEG
http://www.geocities.com/advicefrommeg/TellMeAboutIt.html

Sierra Dojo (Nevada)
http://www.sierradojo.com/home.htm

Life Long Learning
http://erichunt.tripod.com/index.htm/

Christmas Sculpture
http://www.whitemountain.cc/

Computer Repair (Georgia)
http://members.surfsouth.com/~hlmccard/11.htm

Vertebroneurology
http://ilyafa.homeip.net/popel-manual/index.htm

mortgage trading
http://www.robertofrentzel.com/

Checket homepage
http://www.checket.com/

The Informer Newsletter
http://Informer.homestead.com/index.html

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-

9) Two New Security Glitches

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10) Just For Grins

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11) This Issue's Plus! Edition Highlights:

• Free Tagline/Sig Generator

• Another Way To Elude Spamming Robots and Spiders

• Plus! Edition Extra: Oldies But Goodies

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: a reader-written, 100% free tool that can automatically generate random "taglines" or "signatures" for your emails; another great way to hide your address on web pages so that spamming spiders and robots can't find it; and an outstanding repository of older versions of Netscape software, for anyone who's ever "upgraded" to a newer version only to find it worse than the previous one! <g>

The Plus! Edition costs just $12 for a FULL YEAR of issues! That's right, just a buck a month! Info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm 

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See you next issue!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@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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