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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2004-04-22

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) Linux Hardware Support

Reader MikeD wrote one of the more balanced, rational replies to the current InformationWeek article on Linux hardware issues:

Hello Fred, While I will be the first to admit that Linux has its problems, especially with hardware support, the real issue is where do you look for the reasons for those problems.

It turns out that all most all of that great windows device support comes from the hardware vendors themselves ... not from Microsoft.

Unfortunately many hardware vendors are not as interested in supporting Linux and so do not develop device drivers. Some of those vendors are even more difficult to work with, refusing to release their hardware spec to the Open Source community. The claim most often heard is that it would compromise their Intellectual Property. However I have to wonder about the seriousness of that argument since I am sure that the serious competitors have completely reverse engineered the competitor's product if they have really considered it a 'threat'.  It only inconveniences the independent Open Source developers who do not have the facilities or the time to completely reverse engineer hardware items. Intel (for what I would suspect are obvious reasons) is one of those companies that does not want to support Open Source. But if you look at the vendors that *do* support the OS market, either by developing drivers of Linux or by releasing the interface specs, their hardware works very well in Linux.

FWIW, I use both. Currently I am still using various versions of Windows most of the time for my "bread and butter work" and I have more problems with Linux getting hardware to work. But when I have all the right hardware drivers and it is installed and working correctly, it is great.

I still hope to be able to move my day to day computing to Linux ... "Real Soon Now"<wink> Best regards,  MikeD 

I agree, up to a point, Mike.

But why can I get Win95 to work on this system? I doubt that Intel reached back through time to inform Microsoft then of what its sound system would need today. <g>  If I could get 10-year old MS code to do it, current Linux code should be able to do it too, without a lot of jumping through hoops.

And note that I'm not talking about Dolby 5.1 support or synthesized 3D sound or anything exotic. I'd just like to hear basic aural alerts and system beeps in the speakers. Generic sound would be fine--- and it shouldn't be all that hard, or an original copy of Win95 wouldn't be able to do it.

My guess is that eventually, I'll find a way to make it work--- just as in the old Win3.x days, you could get around hardware problems if you were clever enough with editing INI files, finding custom drivers, and so on. That's about the state of Linux now: If something doesn't work, but you're willing to edit configuration files, dig out custom drivers, and such, then you can overcome most problems.

But one might legitimately ask why anyone should have to do that, 10 years after Microsoft mostly solved that problem for generic system components; and 15 years after Apple did so.

>>But when I have all the right hardware drivers and it is installed and working correctly, it is great.

I again agree. I have several systems here where Linux works fine. But I wanted it on my latest, best system--- I *wanted* to have Linux as part of my daily routine. I wasn't trying to have it fail, as some of the Linux fanatics have claimed. (One called me an outright liar. Sigh.)

I tried mightily to get it to work on my best hardware, but it failed. Instead, because it can't handle this mainstream system, it will have to remain on one of my secondary-use experimental/test boxes until and unless I can finally get it working on my main PC. It runs fine on those smaller, slower, systems, but they require that I switch away from my mainstream work to use them. Thus, Linux remains a sideshow here instead of the mainstream tool I was hoping for.

The Linux fanatics will see all this as somehow my fault, but again: I WANTED Linux to be part of my daily routine. I truly wish it could be. But it's still not fully ready for prime time. Someday, it will be.

But not yet.

If you're using Linux, or thinking about it, please check out "Linux's Achilles' Heel" at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=18901660 and then join in the heated discussion--- or just read it for fun. <g> See you there!

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2) When The Admin Account Is Invisible Or Locked...

We've discussed XP logons many times of late, in many contexts (example: http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-04-12.htm#9 ).

A number of readers have had trouble finding the Administrator login, which is normally part of every XP system. For example, if you're using the "friendly" graphical login screen for XP, the Admin account is usually suppressed: You see only the named user accounts on the system.

But you can still access the Admin account by hitting ctrl-alt-del at the login screen. It may take several tries to break out of the friendly login process, but eventually, the "friendly" screen should be replaced by what's called a "classic" (plain) login dialog box. You can type any valid account name into the first field, including Administrator; enter the password in the second line, and click to enter.

Of course, that assumes you know the password. 8-)

I have always saved your tips for recovering from disasters. Recently I got a malicious virus which required an XP boot disk repair. I had my LangaList, XP disk, and backups ready. When I booted to the disk it asked me for my administrative password! I never set an administrative password. My computer, a Dell Inspiron 1100, came with XP installed. I tried everything: administrator, dell, none, inspiron, etc. Nothing worked. I called Dell tech support. No-one had any idea what the administrative password might be, on the boot level. No-one seemed to know if it was on the disk or on the computer. Without the password I was forced to format and reinstall. Any suggestions appreciated. ---Paul DeLeeuw

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3) Cr*p Cleaner

Hello: At GRC.Privacy  in a discussion about tidying up a drive there was a reference to a new freeware tool called Cr*p Cleaner. The author asserts "CCleaner (Cr*p Cleaner) is a ... system optimisation tool. That removes unused and temporary files from your system - allowing it to run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space. The best part is that it's fast! (normally taking less that a second to run)..." 

On my Win98SE sub-gigahertz box it took 1.8 seconds and freed up 23 MB, much more than I anticipated  since I try to keep this box fairly tidy.  The discussants noted it "added 336 keys and 289 values. Shredding? didn't find this option. Backup for registry undo just in case?: neither". It seems intended for the more advanced user, no help section, or "Undo" capability.  However, during Windows idling, my CPU utilization stayed at 3-5% for five minutes with only three events at 6%.  I think that's a record for this machine.  Adequate user options, at least for me. Works on Windows 98/NT4/ME/2000/XP/2003 and available at http://www.spazmatic.net/partners/ccleaner/ . Works for me.Truly, John Lowenbergh

Thanks, John. Nice find! And you're right: All tools like this carry risks and should be used cautiously and only with good backups at hand.

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4) Pape Enters High School

Remember Pape Tanor, from Senegal? When he became one of the kids sponsored by LangaList Plus! subscribers, he was nine years old. He lives with his mother, one older brother and two older sisters in Senegal, in the village of Ouakam south of Dakar. His mother tries to support the family by selling cakes in the local market; the family of five has an  income of about US $775 per year. (More info: http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-04-12.htm#8 )

We've had several letters from Pape; you can read them all here: http://www.langa.com/plus2.htm#kids

We also just got a new note and a, um, strange drawing of what appears to be a briefcase or valise surrounded by plants. I have no idea what it means. 8-)

You can read his note in the original French, or see the translation; and view his drawing here:

Plus! Edition Subscribers: http://www.langalist.com/plus/kids/pape0404.asp

Standard Edition Subscribers: http://www.freetune.com/kids/pape0404.htm

What's this all about? Well, 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 )

Pape is one of 10 children sponsored on an ongoing basis--- week in, week out--- by the collective generosity of LangaList subscribers. LangaList Plus! subscribers also have collectively contributed to emergency earthquake relief efforts in India and to funds to help the victims of the Sept 11th attacks in the US. (To see all the donations so far, click to http://www.langa.com/plus2.htm#kids )

As the year goes on, and as more readers sign up for Plus! subscriptions, I hope we'll be able to sponsor more children and assist other charities around the world.

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, but you also can help those less fortunate (like Pape) make the most of their very lives. Thanks for your help!

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

or give a GIFT SUBSCRIPTION to the Plus edition:
http://langa.com/plus_gift.htm

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5) Beyond System Tools: Old DOS Applications!

Fred, I just got done reading the latest version of Langa list, and as always I enjoyed it. I was reading the piece on Copies Of Old Dos Files and Boot Disks ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-04-12.htm#1 ), I happen to come across a website a while ago that has a collection of rather old DOS versions and DOS based programs. For example DOS 1.0-6.22, Xtree Gold, Aldus Touchbase, WordStar and many more. I still use DOS programs via Virtual PC and I do agree with what you said about if it is a old program that isn't available or supported and it doesn't cost anyone any money, or if you already own a licensed copy of the program and a floppy went bad then it is ok to get a second copy to replace the bad disk. I like this site because of the nostalgia that it gives me because I have been in this industry for close to 20 years and I remember when these programs came out, And I also remember when some of these companies actually existed.  Here is the site. http://www.doslife.com/ --- Jim Hutto

Thanks, Jim! Some of that old DOS stuff was amazingly powerful, all things considered. And some of it makes me slap my forehead and wonder why we thought it was so good at the time. <g>

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6) Last Week To "Recommend And Win"

Next week, I'll choose three more monthly winners who each will get a FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to the LangaList Plus! edition. (If your name is drawn and you're already a Plus! subscriber, your current subscription will be extended by a full year.)

To have a shot at winning, 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 FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION! (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

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7) Deep Network Refresh Needed?

Ever have a mysterious network failure?  OK, who hasn't? <g>  Sometimes a "deep refresh" of the transient network settings is all that's needed to make things work again. Other times, it takes more:

Hi Fred: Your newsletter has solved many a problem. Thanks. Don't remember you covering this one.  I have a network set up with a Desktop computer, a Laptop and an IPaq. The router is a Linksys with a Linksys Wireless adapter. My Desktop computer is wired. The Laptop can run either wired or wireless. My Ipaq is wireless. My problem is that about once a month the Laptop will not transmit data over the network with either the wired or wireless connection. The icons in the system tray indicate the network is working. When I look at the router settings it does not list the Laptop in the DHCP table. I try the "refresh" button, and it doesn't help.  I redo all the settings and nothing. The Desktop still works.  The first time this happened I tried it again the next day and surprise, it worked. The most recent time waiting till next day didn't help, but waiting two days did. It mysteriously started working again. Of course, it quits working just when I want to work on the Laptop. Any help would be appreciated. ---Robert Porter

If you *still* have trouble, you might try removing any "bridge" software between the two networks. Manually disable whichever network you're not using; enable the other and let it operate by itself. This is a little clumsy, but it simplifies the networking setup, and sometimes lets you connect when bridged connections fail.

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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 )

Speaking of which: Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site From Among All Listed
http://www.langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://www.langa.com/readersites.htm

HexFF
http://www.hexff.com/index.php

SwimBahamas
http://www.swimbahamas.com/index.htm

Full Moon Glass Studio
http://www.fullmoonglassstudio.com/

Steveo
http://stevo48106.tripod.com/

Insurance Pro
http://www.etip.ca/

Bob's World
http://home.comcast.net/~bobmaryclark/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html

Tam's Drums
http://www.tamsdrums.com/

Learning The Hard Way
http://turner50.blogspot.com/

Joe's Collage
http://www.crtelco.com/~jacentko/

Xango
http://www.xangoforall.com/

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--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) ---

 $12 For A Full YEAR!

"Fred, I can't tell you the number of ways I have spent twelve bucks -
but I can tell you the best twelve bucks I've spent in a long time was to
upgrade to the Plus Edition of the LangaList. And so darn organized too,
your operation that is. I've already got another twelve just waiting for
next year! ---John"

Thanks, John! <g>

The LangaList Plus! Edition is ad-free, spam-proof,
and contains even more content--- tips, tricks, advice, downloads....---
than the Standard Edition you're now reading.

Just $1 a month!

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

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

9) Multiboot Manager

Dear Fred: OSL2000, is a slick multi boot manager that allows up to 100 bootable partitions, multiple copies of the same system, boot from a second hard drive, boot from a logical partition and more. I'm using it now to boot Win98FE from a second primary partition on my new 40G Hitachi drive with an 8meg buffer that turned my aging 300mhz Dell Inpsiron 7000 laptop into a screamer.  My next step is to install Win98SE over a copy of my working system and give it a tryout, then move onto installing Linux.

With the new drive and OSL2000 it's like a whole new machine.  You can find OSL2000 at  http://www.osloader.com/ it's shareware with nag screen until you subscribe.

Thank you  for the great publication.--Arn

Thanks Arn. Just to keep terms straight--- a boot manager lets you select which of several (or many) OSes to boot to. Your PC can have many OSes installed, and you run them one at a time; each OS "owns" the PC while it's running.

A Virtual PC ( http://langa.com/u/4j.htm ) also lets you have many OSes on your PC, but they run concurrently--- you can have several OSes going at the same time, and jump between them.

Both ways have their strengths and weaknesses; both ways let you have multiple OSes on one system--- which is very handy, any way you do it! <g>

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10) Just For Grins

Many AOL subscribers were incensed and asked AOL tech support for an explanation. Reader "Ray" for example, got this immediate reply from AOL:

...I assure you that AOL is not blocking emails of any sort from arriving on your mailbox....

But at almost the same moment Ray's mail arrived, I also got this:

Dear Fred, I just thought that I would let you know that I forwarded your [send to a friend] letter to all my friends on aol.  Guess what, aol bounced everyone of them. This is the reason they gave: "(reason: 554-:  (HVU:B1) The URL contained in your email to AOL members has generated a high volume of complaints... AOL will no longer accept email with the URL contained in your message.  554 TRANSACTION FAILED" ---Kris

Then I got a note from Fred and Anne Weaver:

After reading your recent newsletter on AOL I tried to send it to an AOL friend.  Your URL caused it to be rejected by AOL! Why anyone uses AOL is beyond me. ---Fred and Anne

Then a note from Diane H Kuhn:

I tried to email the latest newsletter to 2 of my family members with AOL address. Both were returned to me within minutes of sending...the reason? It contained a link to a Malicious site....hmmmmm. I guess I better print it and mail it!! Thanks, Diane

It went on all day--- notes from AOL members telling me that AOL techs swore that AOL would *never* block email... followed by mail from readers outside of AOL who tried send to AOL members, and got their mail blocked. <g>

The amusing thing, aside from AOL's blatant duplicity in telling its customers one thing while simultaneously doing the opposite (ok, I have a dark sense of humor), is that the only link in the "send to a friend" letter was a link to the current LangaList issue on Langa.Com--- there was no ad link, no spam link, no tracking link, nothing but a link to a newsletter that criticized AOL. But that was enough for AOL to install a block on Langa.Com email. (Or, as AOL might say: "Block? What block? We'd never do that...!" <g>)

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• Free Emulator, Extender
      (make Windows Explorer do more...)
• AVG Update Failures
      (how to keep your AVG up to date no matter what)
• Bad Name, Good Idea
      (send huge files with ease)

Plus! edition subscribers not only get much more content in every issue (like the above), but also have access to a private web site with over 100,000 words of special content and features not found in *any* issue of the newsletter; along with dozens of private downloads and much more--- all for just $1 per month!

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

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(Give a gift subscription to the LangaList Plus edition!
Click <a href= " http://www.langa.com/plus_gift.htm ">here</a>)

See you next issue, 2004-04-26!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win a prize!)

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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