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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2003-01-20

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) Free Software to Test, ID System Parts

Hi Fred. A very Happy New Year to you! Not sure if you have mentioned this particular programme before to my fellow readers, but I have found it very good source of system Information (Live). Hope this may be of help. http://www.aida32.hu/aida32.php Many Thanks for the Plus Edition Fred. ---John Worley

Thanks, John. We've covered other free system-sniffers before (see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-09-30.htm#2 , for example) but Aida32 seems like a good addition to the mix, especially in its international support and multiple language versions:

AIDA32 is a professional system information, diagnostics and benchmarking program running on Win32 platforms. It extracts details of all components of the PC. It can display information on the screen, print it, or save it to file in various formats like HTML, CSV or XML. For corporate users, AIDA32 offers command-line switches, network audit and audit statistics, remote system information and network management....

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2) 20 Freeware Tools

Fred, Searching for a font printing program today for a friend, I came across BlueFive Software. It has useful looking free programs. The font program is only one I downloaded and it worked as advertised. http://bluefive.pair.com  ---Mark Stout

Nice find, Mark. Thanks!

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3) "Defang" Win2k SP3's Auto Updating

Dear Fred, I wanted to share a workaround for the Win2k SP3's auto updating reminder that sits in the tray and irritated me constantly. It works. I was so happy to get rid of it, that I wanted to share it with your readers. ---Yours, Tony Bannister

From http://www.tipsdr.com/windows-2000-tips-2.html :

...Go to Start, then run services.msc. You can also do this via Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services. Find Automatic Updates, and change startup type to disabled.

Then run gpedit.msc, the group policy editor. Go to User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Update. On a fresh installation with SP3 applied this will show up as not configured, and somewhat counter-intuitively, in order to remove access to Windows Update, you enable it. Notice in passing that it's tagged Remove access to use all Windows Update "features," which we presume is one they can fix in SP4...."

Thanks, Tony! Actually, the main site at http://www.tipsdr.com/ has a load of info for *all* versions of Windows.

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4) Faizal's Mother Writes

Remember Faizal ( http://www.freetune.com/images/faisal.jpg )? He's a young Indonesian born to a desperately poor family in Central Java province. He lives with his parents in a very simple house with an earthen floor. His father is a farm laborer, and there is no way for the mother to help with the finances. The Family's annual income is US$ 154. (More info: http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-09-19.htm#3 )

Last Fall, Faizal became one of the children getting ongoing support through LangaList Plus! subscription contributions. (See http://www.langa.com/plus2.htm#kids for more info.)

We recently received a letter from Faizal's mother, writing on his behalf (he's too young to write yet). Her note translates this way:

I am Yeni, mother of Faizal Eko Budiyanto. I am glad to hear that you are willing to be Faizal's sponsor. Our family are really grateful for that.

Faizal has been waiting this moment for a long time because he want to be able to enjoy his childhood like his others friends. As his parents, we can't fulfill all his needs yet because his father only works as a daily laborer with its income uncertainty. Faizal will enter the kindergarten next year, now he is following a child progress program in the Posyandu (a place to control mother and children health) so they will know his progress in weight and health. He also joins in children club/play group in the project to prepare his school next year.

Our warmest regards and prayers for you. God bless. Love, Written by Yeni, mother of Faizal Eko Budiyanto

What's this all about? Very simply this: Those of us with computers and Internet access are vastly better off than most of the world's population. Because of this, I decided that a portion of the LangaList Plus! subscription fees would be donated to registered/legitimate charities helping the underprivileged around the world.

The contribution does not increase the cost of a Plus! subscription in any way; the donation is taken "off the top" of any profits. (This is described in the pages at http://www.langa.com/plus.htm  )

Faizal is one of seven kids sponsored on an ongoing basis by the collective generosity of LangaList Plus! subscribers, through contributions to an international relief agency; Plus! subscribers also have collectively contributed to emergency earthquake relief efforts in India and to funds to assist those hurt in the Sept 11th terrorist attacks on the US. (To see all the donations so far, click to http://www.langa.com/plus2.htm#kids  )

Graham Greene once said, "There is always a moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in...." If you're already a LangaList Plus subscriber, thank you! You can feel good about giving back a little to those less fortunate, and opening "a door to the future" for a child in otherwise-desperate circumstances.

If you're not yet a Plus! subscriber check it out: With a Plus! subscription, you can not only help yourself make the most of your hardware, software and time online with expanded content and no advertising--- but you also can help those less fortunate (like Faizal) make the most of their very lives. Thanks for your help!

http://www.langa.com/plus.htm

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5) "Auto-Protect" Worthwhile?

Hi Fred, As your long-time reader, I know that you have very good practices to protect your pc. I am always alarmed about viruses and Trojans, so I switch on the Norton Antivirus 2002 Auto-Protection to scan all files. But this slows down the pc significantly. OK, everyone knows NAV take a lot of resources.

I did see that the NAV detected and stopped viruses when I was surfing the web and downloading emails.

Do you think it is sufficient to set the auto-protection just scan some files? Even though you do antivirus scanning every night, what do you do about the viruses when you encounter from web and email but your NAV is off? ---Damien LOH

Norton is notable for the amount of resources it consumes, but the basic idea here--- of scanning all files whenever they're created, downloaded, opened or saved--- is not unique to Norton. Virtually all good antivirus software does something similar. And unless it's making your system unusably slow, it's generally a good thing because it helps ensure that no malware will be able to sneak onto your system, even by back doors.

Note that if you have your AV tool set up to scan everything this way, you may *not* also need to have it separately scan your email. There's really no advantage to scanning your emails if they're going to be scanned when they're written to disk anyway. (And, in fact, Norton has an annoying behavior in this: A single email-borne virus can generate two separate warnings--- one from the email scanner and one from the all-files scanner. I don't know why Norton doesn't allow its two scanners to communicate with each other to avoid this needless duplication of alerts.) Plus, tools like Zone Alarm may already be blocking some (in the free version) or many (in the Pro version) mail-borne nasties. Yes, everything should be scanned, but you can reach a point of diminishing returns if you have the same items being scanned repeatedly by the same tools. And needless duplication of scans can *really* bog down your system.

I think the safest approach with AV tools is to have them monitor all types of file accesses, all the time: This provides the best protection. But if that's not possible, then use the email scanner function; and set the AV tool *at least* to look at the files types listed here: http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter/102099langa.htm ;

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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) Handy, Free "Startup Trimming" & Resource Guides

Hi Fred: Thought some of the readership might be interested in knowing what to trim from their startup in order to preserve some system resources. I found the following two sites that give a very good explanation of what starts when Windows loads and what would be safe to stop loading. Because some if not most of the programs have very cryptic names, allot of us are unsure what to uncheck under startup (from msconfig). These sites are good guides.
http://www2.whidbey.com/djdenham/
and
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm

I still need to find a site or software that will help me solve my problem of "diminishing resources". When I first boot up, I have 80+% resources available. The longer I leave the system on, the lower my resources go. Sometimes down to 2% with warning messages about low resources. Seems like I have a very bad "leak" somewhere. I have nothing running in the background that I am aware of except the few items in my systray - firewall, antivirus, direct CD, Wintidy and the speaker icon.

Do you know of a site or software that I can go to or use that will track this problem down? I get tired of re-booting when I want to use a photo editor or word processor. Thanks for the help. ---Bill Cain

System Resources are an ongoing issue for anyone using Win9x or WinME. (Win2K and XP handle system resources differently so that it's very hard--- nearly impossible in normal operation--- to "run out" of resources.)

If you're still using Win9x or WinME and are having system resource issues, please see http://content.techweb.com/winmag/columns/explorer/2000/14.htm for some easy fixes.

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

Over two thousand five hundred 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

Karl`s Device Driver Site
http://www.karldavis.com/

Curt West
http://beers2002.tripod.com/curtwest/index.html

Custom Golf Clubs
http://www.pwsgolf.com/

"Virtual Loyalty"
http://www.vloyalty.com.au/contact.html

Ask the photographer
http://pixdw.bravepages.com/

Rhebus Networks
http://www.rhebus.com/index.htm

Ex Truckers Success Group
http://www.extruckers.com/

FREE FOR ALL The Skills Pool
http://www.geocities.com/theskillspool/bookmarks.html

The Very Large Computing Array
http://www.vlca.net/

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9) "SpywareBlaster"

Writing from Australia, Dave Austin suggests this tool:

Fred: Your recent article on spyware and the (apparent) demise of Ad-aware prompted me to tell you of a nifty freeware utility called SpywareBlaster. It operates on a slightly different basis from Ad-aware in that it actually prevents spyware being loaded into your system as opposed to the search and delete method.

The readme explains-

"SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed. How? By setting a "kill bit" for the CLSIDs of spyware ActiveX controls, it prevents the installation of any of them from a webpage. You can run Internet Explorer with Active-X enabled, but you will never even get a "Yes/No" box popped up, asking you to install a spyware Active-X control (Internet Explorer will never download or run it!). All other Active-X controls or plug-ins will work fine. The SpywareBlaster database contains information on these known spyware Active-X controls. Make sure you run the Check For Updates feature frequently to get the latest database! (And make sure you check the new items to protect your system against them!) As a side benefit, setting this "kill bit" will also prevent the spyware Active-X from running, in many cases, if it is already installed on your system."

A wealth of information on many of the spyware items that SpywareBlaster protects against can be accessed here http://and.doxdesk.com/parasite/  Best regards, Dave Austin

Thanks, Dave. We'd actually covered SpywareBlaster in a previous issue (see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-11-25.htm#3 ). It uses an interesting approach, and is well worth a look.

But no single tool is a panacea: SpywareBlaster will have no effect whatsoever on non-Active-X type spyware tools, for example. Still, as another weapon in your anti-spyware arsenal, it's definitely worth having. The software is free (or rather, supported through voluntary user donations), and is available for download at http://www.wilderssecurity.com/spywareblaster.html

(And by the way, Ad-Aware isn't dead. They're working on a new version. But in doing so, they left their users unprotected for over four months, and to me that's unconscionable--- totally unacceptable for a security product. If you're an Ad-Aware user, I suggest you see what Ad-aware has left you exposed to by running Spybot or PestPatrol [see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-01-13.htm#3 ]: I think you'll be dismayed at what you find.)

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10) Just For Grins

Louis M. Garcia sends in this, um, unusual comparison of " Work vs. Prison: "

IN PRISON...you spend the majority of your time in an 8X10 cell. AT WORK... you spend the majority of your time in a 6X8 cubicle.

IN PRISON...you get three meals a day. AT WORK...you only get a break for one meal and you pay for it.

IN PRISON...you get time off for good behavior. AT WORK...you get more work for good behavior.

IN PRISON...the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you. AT WORK...you must carry around a security card and open all the doors for yourself.

IN PRISON...you can watch TV and play games. AT WORK...you get fired for watching TV and playing games.

IN PRISON...you get your own toilet. AT WORK...you have to share with some idiot who pees on the seat.

IN PRISON...they allow your family and friends to visit. AT WORK...you can't even speak to your family.

IN PRISON...all expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required. AT WORK...you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON...you spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out. AT WORK...you spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.

IN PRISON...you must deal with sadistic wardens. AT WORK...they are called managers.

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• RAM Defraggers?
• An Alternate Quick Search Taskbar
• Free NT/2000/XP Password Recovery Utility

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: a discussion on tools that claim to speed your PC by defragging RAM or making "holes" in RAM for large programs; a free tool that links you to the fastest search engines on the web; and a Linux-based (!) tool that fits on a floppy and that can help you recover forgotten passwords on NT/2K/XP systems.

Come see what you're missing! Plus! Edition 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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This newsletter is a service of Langa Consulting LLC and is Copyright © 2003 Fred Langa / Langa Consulting LLC. All worldwide rights reserved. LangaList: ISSN 1533-1156

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