How To Subscribe and Unsubscribe is at the end of this note. Mailing List Trouble? See http://www.langa.com/help.htm
Questions about the advertisers? See the end of this note. Please also see legal notices at the end of this note. LangaList: ISSN 1533-1156

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000 !)

An easier-to read formatted HTML version of this newsletter is available
<a href=" http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-12-02.htm ">here</a>

The LangaList
Standard Edition

2002-12-02

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) Lindows Version 3.0 = Major Changes

Lindows--- a commercial version of Linux that looks and feels very much like Microsoft Windows ( http://www.lindows.com/lindows_products_screenshots.php?desktop=yes ) --- made news in three major waves during the past year.

First was its splashy arrival on the scene: Lindows garnered instant attention with its claims that it would be able to run many native Windows applications as-is, letting you (for example) install and use your familiar Microsoft Office tools in a Linux environment. This was touted as a major advantage for Lindows because businesses and users could switch to the new non-Microsoft operating system without necessarily having to replace all their Windows-based applications.

Next, several months later, Lindows attracted still more attention through an aggressive bundling deal which packaged the Lindows OS on Microtel PCs sold though the retail giant Wal-Mart, all for under $200; an incredible price on the face of it, and fully $100 less than a comparable PC equipped with Windows XP Home edition. ( http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020618S0006 )

At around the same time, Microsoft inadvertently helped Lindows capture still more attention by suing the tiny software vendor for trademark infringement on the basis that some consumers would be confused between names "Lindows" and "Windows." Although the full legal wrangling isn't over yet, Microsoft has for the most part lost its legal challenges so far. ( http://www.informationweek.com/search/search?queryText=lindows&x=68&y=16 )

We've discussed Lindows several times here before, including a brief look at Lindows 2.0 about a month ago ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-10-10.htm#3 ). At that time, the company said:

PCs running LindowsOS have the unique ability to run Linux and Windows software. No additional software is required for owners of LindowsOS to run popular Windows or Linux programs...  LindowsOS has been optimized to run certain Microsoft Windows 'bridge' programs. So far, Microsoft Office 2000 applications like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint have been certified to run under LindowsOS.

As I began my in-depth exploration of Lindows, I asked for feedback from any readers who'd also used the new OS.

Those excellent replies in themselves were going to be the basis of a detailed follow-up article, but then Lindows released version 3.0, barely a month after releasing 2.0. Under the covers, Version 3 is much the same as V2, but it  has a very, very different focus. Yes, it still runs Windows apps, but that's not what Lindows now wants you to do. Instead, the OS now steers you in a very different (and surprising) direction.

So, I trashed the article I was going to present you, and instead ended up with a two-part feature-length article that should answer all the top questions about Lindows 3.0--- what it is, what it does, and how compatible--- or not!--- it still is with Windows applications; and how and why it's changed from the previous versions. You'll find the core article posted at http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021127S0017 .

Part Two is where I present the most-representative reader emails about Lindows, letting you see how your fellow readers fared with the controversial OS, so you can get a feel for how it behaves not in a lab setting, but when installed and used on normal systems by normal users. Those excellent comments are posted in the Listening Post discussion area: http://www.informationweek.com/forum/Fred Langa

Please check out the article at http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021127S0017 and then join in the discussion. If you've used Lindows or any other Linux distribution, please see what your fellow readers have to say, and then add your comments. Or, if you're just thinking about Linux or Lindows, or any alternative to Windows, come check out the additional information in those reader posts to get the broader picture provided by many contributing viewpoints. Join in!

Click to email this item to a friend
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

2) More: Cookie Management

Our recent discussion of Cookie-management tools ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-11-21.htm#3 ) prompted reader "Rob" to suggest a related, but different, approach:

Dear Fred: Let me tell you of a simple way I have come up with for managing cookies. It may not work for everyone, but it works for me.

In the Internet Options (Security tab), I set both the Internet zone and the Trusted Sites zone to Medium security. Then, in the Internet zone, I disallow cookies that are stored on the computer, while allowing session cookies. In the Trusted Sites zone, I allow both. Whenever I run into a site which needs to store a cookie (like eBay, Amazon, cable TV listings, etc.) I add that site to the Trusted Sites zone. At the end of the day, I have on the drive those cookies which I need to keep, and all others are history.

To make this even easier, I use a small application called Trust Setter, which puts two buttons in the IE toolbar, Add to Trusted Sites, and Add to Restricted Sites. Get it from http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/ScriptRepository/ .---Rob Griffiths

Thanks, Rob!

Click to email this item to a friend
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

3) Windows Update Hassles

Microsoft recently switched everyone--- including Win9x- users--- to a newer Windows Update page that's been open to XP users for the past year. For many newly-switched Win9X users, the transition has not been smooth.

Hi Fred. You probably know about problems with windows update. But, just in case, here's what I know. The "windowsupdate" newsgroup is full - many dozens of update problems including reference to the same error I get.

In my case - 3 pcs, two on Win98SE and one WinME - one Win98 and the ME always work just fine and one Win98 always fails at 66% when checking for updates! Just started happening a couple of days ago.

Lot's of folks are diddling with their computers and probably creating havoc in the process - I nearly did!

Thanks for a superb newsletter.--- Patrick T.

Indeed, Patrick, it's been messy. I have a number of Win9X machines here, and most downloaded the necessary files for the new update site with no problem. But one machine is stuck in a  loop: It sees the notice about the need to update, downloads the files, and on reboot appears to install the file. But on returning to the Update site, it once again gets the message that it needs to update to the new site--- over and over. I have no clue what's different about that one machine: I set up all the Win9x machines myself, in the same basic way, and they all coexist on the same network. But clearly, something is different about that one box, although I have no idea what it is. And so far, none of the things I've tried to solve the problem have helped. Fortunately, it's a spare/test PC, so it's not vital to my daily work. But others are not so lucky, and have lost the ability to update their primary PCs.

Enough people are having trouble with the new update site that Microsoft has created a FAQ-and-troubleshooting guide at http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/troubleshoot/. If you're having trouble with the new site, that's a good place to start.

Part of this Update site change stems from Microsoft's phasing out support for older versions of Windows. For example, at the end of THIS MONTH (on Dec 31, 2002) Microsoft is totally pulling the plug on MS DOS, Windows 3.xx, Windows 95 and Windows NT3.5x. Six months later, Microsoft will begin shutting down support for Windows 98 and NT4: There'll be no more free security patches and updates for these products starting in June of next year.

None of this is secret; we've discussed it many times before, going back almost 2 years. But many people still haven't gotten the word that, for example, Win98 is in its final days. (Please don't shoot the messenger: This is a Microsoft decision that I have nothing to do with. See "Win98 Coverage Going Away?" http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-10-17.htm#4 for more info.)

You also can see Microsoft's full plan for all its major products at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycleconsumer.mspx and look up specific product life-cycle plans at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;lifecycle .

Lack of support doesn't mean the older OSes will cease working, of course. And my intent is to continue to provide info for *all* popular versions of Windows for as long as I can. And--- as you've seen in our growing XP and Linux coverage--- whether you've already moved to a newer OS, or are in the process of moving, or when you eventually do so in the future, we'll be ready to help. <g>

Click to email this item to a friend
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

4) Related "Hard Line" From Microsoft

This isn't exactly the same thing as the previous item, but is in the same vein:

Fred: Well, we all knew Microsoft was going to do this...
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,56381,00.html ---Ken Kashmarek

Thanks, Ken. That article begins:

Craig Mundie, who oversees [Microsoft's] Trustworthy Computing initiative, told an audience Wednesday that in response to the threat of terrorist cyberattacks, Microsoft would deploy security fixes to its installed base of hundreds of millions of computers worldwide in the coming year -- even if those fixes break applications in use by customers.

"We're going to tell people that even if it means we're going to break some of your apps, we're going to make these things more secure. You're just going to have to go back and fix it," said Mundie....

I personally don't think it's just "the threat of terrorist cyberattacks" that led to this, although that may legitimately be part of the reason. Microsoft has long been vilified for its lax software security, but also simultaneously has been expected to keep everything as compatible as possible. Those are conflicting goals: "Make everything--- even older software--- more secure, but don't change anything."

With newer software, there's really no excuse to have to choose between security or compatibility: Microsoft--- or any major software vendor--- ought to be able to deliver both simultaneously. But retrofitting current-day security models onto older software may, of necessity, introduce compatibility issues.

And all we can do is grin and bear it.

Click to email this item to a friend
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

5) New Month, New Chances!

It's a new month, and right now your chances are the best they'll ever be! To have a shot at winning a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys, and more--- 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 mini-shopping spree! (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2

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(really!), 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!

Click to email this item to a friend
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

6) "Page Faults?"

This reader mentions XP, but the same question crops up in *all* versions of Windows, not just XP:

Hello Fred, Just a small query that I wonder if I should be concerned about. You will no doubt be aware of the task manager display in Windows XP when you do a ctrl-alt-del and click on the processes tab. The display can be customized very nicely by using the View menu to select columns to be displayed. There's a wide choice to select from. One of the choices I selected was the "page faults" column. It was there so I selected it and ... oh dear. My page fault counts are astronomical! So, my question is should I be concerned? My PC seems to run normally... Regards, Brett Sinclair

A "page fault" doesn't necessarily imply a major problem--- mostly, its just a poorly-chosen bit of jargon that makes a routine occurrence sound like something bad.

A page fault occurs when the next bit of data that a program needs is not in immediate memory, and must be fetched from another location. That's it; that's all it normally means.

But--- you knew there was a "but," right? <g>--- there are different kinds of page faults, and (alas) the process monitor doesn't distinguish among them. Microsoft says:

"If a process requests a page in memory and the system cannot find it at the requested location, this constitutes a page fault. (If the page is elsewhere in memory the fault is called a soft page fault. If the page must be retrieved from disk, the fault is called a hard page fault.) The system also counts a page fault on a file access if the requested page is not found in the File System Cache and must be retrieved from storage. The page fault counters do not distinguish between hard and soft faults..."

More serious page faults--- sometimes reported in blue screens as "invalid" page faults--- are something else; an error where the software has completely lost track of its code or data, and has no clue where to look for it, or when the data itself has become corrupted and unusable. That's a serious problem: A crash. But that's NOT what you normally see when Task Manager or another similar monitor shows you simple page fault counts.

Some level of simple page faulting is normal, and represents the routine action of your caches. But each page fault consumes a little time as the system tracks down the data it needs, so reducing page faulting to a minimum (it will never go away completely) can improve performance. (See next item.)

Click to email this item to a friend
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

7) Cache Adjustments

(Continued from previous item) By adjusting various caching parameters--- size of the cache, how aggressively it's used, how much material is read ahead in anticipation of future needs, etc.--- it's possible to keep a program almost entirely in live RAM, and limit access to the hard drive, which is slower than RAM. This reduces the number of hard page faults and speeds operation. But it's difficult to do, because what's great for one program may be horrible for the next program. If you run many programs, or run many apps or tasks at once (more common than most people realize--- there's a lot going on in the background on most PCs), fiddling with the cache parameters may improve one thing while ruining performance of others. In real life situations, cache settings are always a compromise designed to give good general performance--- not perfect "zero page fault" performance.

In older versions of Windows, the default cache settings were carried over from the days when systems didn't have a lot of RAM. Tweaking the cache settings was something of a necessary black art. (See http://content.techweb.com/winmag/columns/explorer/1999/0913.htm  and http://content.techweb.com/winmag/windows/features/98runbetter/default.htm and http://content.techweb.com/winmag/windows/features/merunbetter/default.htm )

But XP actually has pretty good cache defaults, and most people can probably leave them as-is, or tweak them only slightly. (See http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011204S0009 )

For more info on page faults: http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm?term=page+fault&x=24&y=9

To find and download a page fault monitor for your version of Windows:
http://www.google.com/search?q=page+fault+monitor

Click to email this item to a friend
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

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

Well 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

BugSight: "The Windows Bug Illuminator"
http://www.bugsight.com/index.htm

Jagged Earth Graphics
http://www.jaggedearth.com/

Bruce Starling (Canadian reader)
http://www.geocities.com/bfstarling/

Internet Monitoring Service
http://www.thepc.com/sentinel/

The Redfields (Oregon)
http://www.rvi.net/~readyed/

Searching For (Free) Software
http://www.andyfilefind.co.uk/

"Best Services" (Washington)
http://members.toast.net/sbest35/

Cymru'n Galw/Cymru Calling
http://sianio.tripod.com/Galw_1.HTM

Peggy Coquet's Rant du Jour
http://pjcoquet.home.attbi.com/

BARTLETT, WOOD, DINGMAN genealogy
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~helenjeansgenealogy/links.html

meckz.net
http://www.meckz.net/

Click to email this item to a friend
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

9) Another Free Icon-Positioner

Hey Fred!! Enjoy the Plus edition and all the great tips!! In your Nov 25 issue a reader sent in a link for a desktop icon protection program (see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-11-25.htm#7 ) . I have been using ICONLOCK from PC Magazine for about 2 years now and it has saved my tail numerous times. This program does more than just protect your icons, it can disable icons, lock the desktop with a password and do assorted other tasks that I won't get into for the sake of brevity. Here's the link ( http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,22743,00.asp ) for the download page, but one note You must register with PC Magazine to d/l the program. It's a free download, and the link also includes a link to a full description of all that ICONLOCK does. Thanks Again, Tim Flynn

Thanks, Tim. Actually, a number of readers sent in the same recommendation (thanks, all!), so I must conclude that the PC Mag tool is indeed a useful one.

Click to email this item to a friend
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

10) Just For Grins

In light of the recent security patches and the current problem with the Microsoft Update site, this item sent in by reader Conrad E. Yunker was worth a grin:

Click to email this item to a friend
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• Great Feedback On Laptop Battery Problems
• More Help With Small-Net "Domain" Problems
• Free Data And Image Recovery Tools

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: expert information on extending the life of expensive laptop batteries, or even resurrecting dead ones; practical tips on getting small networks to overcome "domain" problems; and a pair of free tools to help you recover erased data and digital images.

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

Click to email this item to a friend
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

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.

return to top of page

Administrivia:

UNSUBSCRIBE: From the same email account you used to sign up with), send an email to
unsubscribe-langalist@lyris.dundee.net

SUBSCRIBE (it's free!): Create and send a new email to
subscribe-langalist@lyris.dundee.net

CHANGE ADDRESS? LIST TROUBLE? HAVE QUESTIONS? OTHER PROBLEM? NEED HELP? See http://www.langa.com/help.htm

This newsletter is SPAM PROOF and requires two levels of subscriber confirmation before delivery begins: See http://www.langa.com/info.htm

About the advertisers: http://www.langa.com/privacy.htm#ads

Disclaimer: http://www.langa.com/legal.htm  In brief: All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind. Neither Langa Consulting LLC, nor its employees nor contributors are responsible for any loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from your choosing to use any information presented here.

This newsletter is a service of Langa Consulting LLC and is Copyright © 1997-2005 Fred Langa/ Langa Consulting LLC. All worldwide rights reserved. LangaList: ISSN 1533-1156

return to top of page