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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 1) Cool and Quiet--- Part ThreeIn "Cool and Quiet--- Part One" (
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17701645 we
started with the basics of quieting a PC's noisy fans, and saw how PC noise
reduction can actually be rather easy and cost just a few dollars. A
high-quality, nearly silent PC fan can cost under $10, for example. Today, we wrap it all up: In a new, Part Three article posted at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=18400732 I'll show you exactly how I modified my system in five successful ways--- and in one unsuccessful way! I'll also show you my final results both for sound and for temperature, even after running the system through a worst-case thermal stress test. You don't
have to spend much--- possibly as little as $10 or so--- to make your PC
noticeably quieter. And for just a few tens of dollars, you can make your PC
quite literally as quiet as a library whisper! Please click on over to http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=18400732 and see how easy and inexpensive it can be to quiet down that noisy PC! Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 2) Wiping Out "Hiberfil"Fred, I was appreciative of the item on the Page File in Win XP as I am just migrating to that OS. I am a bit of a neat and clean freak when it comes to my computer and in connection to the Page File item, I was wondering if you could shed some light on the Hiberfil.sys in the root directory of my C drive. It is over 300Mb and I cannot delete it. Could I get help giving this thing the boot? :-) Thanks HaraldHiberfile is your hibernation system file. Hibernation is a special kind of shutdown:. The system stops all activity, just as if you had shut it off. But before powering down, the hibernation system writes the contents of RAM and some CPU settings to a special file on your hard drive (often called "hiberfil.sys" or something similar). When the PC awakens from hibernation, it doesn't go through a full reboot. Instead, it reads the contents of the hibernation file back into memory, and thus restores itself to the exact same condition it was in when hibernation started. Although this takes longer than waking from a sleep or standby or suspend mode, it's usually much faster than a full boot. Because the hibernation file contains the full contents of your system RAM, its size is roughly equal to the amount of RAM you have in your system, plus a little more. Because it has to be available at boot, before the OS is fully awake, this file can't be moved, compressed, or otherwise played with. But if you don't hibernate your pc--- if instead you only use suspend/standby/sleep or just plain "off" modes--- then you don't need the hibernation file in the first place: Use Control Panel/Power or Control Panel/Performance/Power to deactivate hibernation, reboot, and the file should be gone. If it's still there, you can then manually remove it. There's lots more information on the pros and cons of all five power-saving "sleep" states in PCs, including hibernation, at: http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020927S0028 Click to email this item to a
friend 3) Stuck With Messenger?Fred: I cleverly installed Windows Messenger thinking I could remove if I didn't like or want it. Well, I don't, but it is protected and XP won't allow removal. Now, it wants to create items in the start files and doesn't seem to want to take no for an answer. If there's no better way, I have a one day old image of that drive that I can restore, but I wonder if there will be residual registry entries on other partitions. I use multiple partitions (per your sage advice) and most of my apps are on other partitions, but I've read of instances where an image restore in similar circumstances didn't get the job done. Thanks once again for the great newsletter, Tom Rall First, re: Messenger: It's a *very* common problem, and so has generated a ton
of excellent online advice. Rather than merely parrot it here, let me point you
at the best sites: (continued next item) Click to email this item to a
friend 4) Image Tool Not Restoring Everything?(continued from previous item)
This can happen with the kinds of imaging tools that work from inside Windows, while Windows is running. Many people like the seeming convenience of performing an image from inside Windows without having to reboot, but the problem is the OS normally "locks" in-use files so they cannot be deleted or overwritten while they're active. This can prevent a restore from putting everything back the way you want. Sometimes a file may not restore properly because the current version--- the one you're trying to replace--- is in use, and protected by the OS. Your restore ends up being a mix of old and new files. That, in turn, is why I prefer imaging tools that operate from a separate OS--- DOS, Linux, etc. If you boot from a DOS floppy or CD, for example, you can image and restore all--- and I mean *all*--- Windows files because Windows isn't running: No files are in use, and nothing is locked. It's less convenient to have to reboot to create an image, but it's the only way I know to be 100% sure that the images and restores are truly complete. See http://langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-07-03.htm for a fuller discussion. Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- "When I placed my order for the Langa List Plus version, I
didn't see --------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 5) *Nasty* Scam MailI buy a lot of stuff online, and that includes essentially all my office supplies from entire PCs down to software, cables and blank CDs. So I was initially confused when I got this email about a supposed laptop purchase. Had a valid order gone awry? Was I about to be charged a thousand dollars or more for something I never ordered? In part, the email said:
After a minute or two of head-scratching, I realized it's just a nasty phishing scam. The idea, of course, is that you'll say "Wait, I never ordered that!" and rush online to cancel the "order." Naturally, you have to enter your personal information, including your credit card number, so the "refund" can be issued. But there was no order, and the sole purpose of the fake email is to get you to enter your credit card info. The clues include: Unfamiliar address and company name (a company I'd never heard of); incomplete specs (no weight, no width; etc.); and half a dozen other telltale things that I'd rather not list, because I don't want to help hackers improve their scams. But most telling to me was the awkward use of language: It's the kind of clumsy text commonly generated by hacker kids who slept through their high-school writing classes; or by non-English-speaking hackers trying to avoid prosecution by operating in what is to them a foreign language. If the above seems too indirect, don't worry: You really don't have to do any real sleuthing on your own. All the major credit card companies have a toll-free number (it's on the back of the credit cards) that you can call to check your account status. I didn't need to in the above case, but I could have called and asked if any large purchases had shown up. If they had not--- and indeed they hadn't in this case--- then it'd be clear the email was a fake. And if bogus charges had been made, the credit card company would help resolve the problem. In any case, keep your BS detectors turned up high, and think before you respond to *any* mail asking for financial or other personal info. Click to email this item to a
friend 6) Recommend This Newsletter And Win!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 one of three
FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS to the LangaList Plus! edition given each month. (If
your name is drawn and you're already a Plus! subscriber, your current
subscription will be extended by a full year.) Click to email this item to a
friend 7) Dying FloppyDear Fred: For the past few weeks my floppy drive in Windows XP Home doesn't work. The drive shows in "my computer", but it will not format, nor read a disk. When a known good data disk is inserted windows says the disk is not formatted. If I try to format a blank disk, the drive just spins endlessly. I replaced the drive to no avail. I borrowed a USB external floppy, but the same problem persists. Any ideas? --Steven SpiegelIf I were you, I'd start with the simplest potential fixes: I'd remove the floppy from the case and thoroughly blow out its guts with clean, dry air. Then I'd put it back, making sure both ends of the data cable (at the drive and on the motherboard) are firmly seated. Then I'd reboot the system, and check that the BIOS is correctly "seeing" the floppy; and adjust the settings if it isn't. The reason for the above is that PC fans suck air through *all* the openings in the case, and that includes your floppy (and CD) drives. Over time, an amazing amount of dust and other airborne crud can accumulate inside, interfering with the drive's operation. Likewise, over time, minor oxidation on cable pins or sockets can interfere with electrical signals. And "thermal creep" (small movements caused by repeated expansion and contraction as a PC heats and cools) can actually work a cable loose. Often, simply removing and reattaching a cable is all that's needed to reestablish a solid connection. There can be other issues, too, such as those discussed
here: If it does turn out to be a hardware issue, don't spend a lot of time trying to solve it. You can buy a brand-new 3.5" internal replacement floppy drive for under $10! <g> (eg http://langa.com/u/3s.htm ) Click to email this item to a
friend 8) They Loaded The CodeOver three 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 ) Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At S. K.- M. O'Meagher Digital Photos ricaldrich.com Hosting and Domain NC Dental Plan Bill's Home Page Island County Community Health Advisory Board Online Travel Agency Work At Home Ideas Bookworm Bonanza PlusForty AntHill Acres Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 9) "Locate Link Browser" ErrorHi Fred: I use Microsoft Outlook as my mail handler and recently I've encountered a problem. When I receive email with a clickable website, I can't get to it by clicking. I get a dialog box labeled "Locate Link Browser". So, I end up copying and pasting to get to the site. I don't know what to "connect" it to. Would you please give me some direction? ---Bill Mohr I'd never seen that particular error, but it appears to
be a fairly common one caused by an odd conflict between Outlook and Netscape,
both of which fight for who "owns" the right to open links. (See If that's not the problem, the thread at http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1074641871 contains information on rebuilding your URL-handling associations in Windows; a little geeky, but not too bad. And if *that* doesn't work, surely the answer
is here: Click to email this item to a
friend 10) Just For Grins
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