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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2004-11-08

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) A New Way To Slim Down Windows

Windows has a well-deserved reputation as a large operating system. A standard installation of just Windows XP alone (with nothing else installed) can easily occupy something in excess of 1.5 GB of disk space. In part, that's because Windows is a general-purpose OS. As such, it's a kind of kitchen sink software, with all manner of tools, capabilities, and functions thrown into the mix, whether you specifically need or want them or not.

That trend started almost a decade ago when Microsoft built HTML rendering functions into the base code of Windows: What had previously been part of a separate application--- a stand-alone browser--- was now inside the OS and available to any application or utility that wanted to use it.

That sounds like a good thing, and indeed it can be--- sharing common functions can be a fine way to reduce overhead and simplify setup, installation, and maintenance. But there are downsides too:

For example, users who installed a stand-alone browser (e.g. Netscape) ended up with needlessly complicated systems that carried both the unwanted IE code buried in the OS, and the code for the stand-alone browser which duplicated many of the OS functions.

More seriously, code-sharing also means problem sharing: Any coding errors, security flaws, or other problems in shared code can affect any or all of the components that access and make use of that code. This, in fact, is one of the reasons why Internet Explorer and Outlook Express--- distributed together, and sharing some common code--- became the primary infection vector for huge numbers of worms, viruses, and other malicious code.

So, why not just delete the offending software subsystems; for example the browser engine? Microsoft originally asserted that the browsing subsystem couldn't be removed from the OS without wrecking it, but a developer--- Shane Brooks--- proved it could be done. His elegant little hack became distributed as the freeware "98 Lite," and is still around today, along with some companion software that lets you add or remove other deeply-buried parts of Win98 that otherwise can't readily be changed.

Over the years, Brooks' original tools gained polish and sophistication, growing into a family of "98lite" products. Incredibly, this now includes a tool that can trim Windows 98 down from its normal installation size of around 400MB to as little as 9MB! This ultra-lean version of the OS is highly restricted in what it can do, of course; it's really meant for use in embedded controls and the like. But another version of 98lite can produce a desktop-capable version of Win98 that weighs in at only about 40MB, or about 1/10th the normal size. The whole 98lite software system works "on-the-fly," letting you select whatever combination of components you want at any given time; and all changes are reversible.

Windows 2000 and XP, with a different genealogy and core structure, were more of a challenge for the developers, but "lite" tools eventually were produced for them as well. (And with the extension of "lite" technology to these OSes, the company changed its name to the more general "LitePC.")

Just last month, LitePC released a brand-new version of their XPlite software; this being fully SP2-compliant.

Given that XP is a fairly large OS to begin with--- and made even more so by SP2--- I wanted to see what the new version of XPlite could do.

The results of my tests--- with screen shots so you can see exactly what's involved, and links to the products discussed--- are posted at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=51202853  .

Come check it out. If you're looking for a way to make your Windows smaller, faster, and maybe more secure, the information above  may be just the ticket!

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In just the past couple of months, I've stored and used more
of your tips and tweaks than anything else I've ever found on the internet.
Thanks for the help! I look forward to your next newsletter,
and hope that you may dig out some tips for those of us
with some hair left to pull!" ---Frank DC

Thanks, Frank!

The LangaList Plus! Edition is ad-free, spam-proof,
and contains even more content--- tips, tricks, advice, downloads....---
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2) Recovery Console Won't Install After SP2?

Hi Fred, Since subscribing to your excellent newsletter, I have never seen a problem you couldn't resolve. I have one that I hope will not break your winning streak.

I installed Win XP Professional about five months ago. I did not install the Recovery Console. Yesterday, when I tried to install it from the original installation disk, I got the following error message: "Setup cannot continue because the version of Windows on your computer is newer than the version on the CD." I recently installed SP 2, and since many consider this to be a "new" version of Windows, I went to the Microsoft support site and looked. All I could find was articles on how to install or use the Recovery Console.

Is there some way I can install the Recovery Console without going back and re-installing Win XP and all of my software from scratch? Thanks, Keith Clark

Sure, Keith, it can be done.

You're right on target when you say that SP2 is, in essence, a new version of XP: Many of the files on the original setup CD now are indeed out of date: That's why you were correctly warned about adding older, original files to a new SP2 installation.

The solution is to install the Recovery Console from an XP setup CD that's been updated to include the SP2 files--- that is, a prepatched or "slipstreamed" setup CD. Using such a CD not only lets you install XP and all patches through SP2 in one step, but also lets you add or modify files and features (such as the Recovery Console) to an existing SP2 setup because the CD files are the same version as the running version.

Making your own prepatched or "slipstreamed" setup CD may seem a little geeky, but it's not really that hard. Full info here: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=47212312

Once you have a prepatched setup CD, you can use it to install the Recovery Console exactly as usual:

• With Windows running, insert the prepatched Setup CD into your CD-ROM drive.
• Click Start and select Run.
• Type the following where "D:" is your CD-ROM drive letter:
  D:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons
• Follow the instructions on the screen.

You also can use the prepatched setup CD to run the Recovery Console directly: Just boot your PC from the prepatched CD, let the CD slog along for a while (don't worry--- nothing's being overwritten on your hard drive and no system changes are being made) and eventually, you'll get to a "Welcome To Setup" prompt, which will offer you the option of installing Windows, running the Recovery Console, or quitting. Hit the "R" key to start the Recovery Console.

In both cases, they key is to have a prepatched setup CD at hand. It's really a smart idea to make one, and again, the article at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=47212312 can help! 8-)

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3) Burning Files To CD In One Step

Whenever I try to run the Backup program that is part of Windows XP Professional, I get an error message saying that the backup file name can not be used and to be sure I have access.  I am trying to back up to a CDR.  I am otherwise able to make CDRs.  Any ideas what's going on here? Thanks! ---Barbara Juknialis

On its own, the backup program in XP (and Win2K) doesn't know how to talk directly to a CDR. As a backup tool, it's actually not bad; and is worlds better than the lame backup tools in earlier versions of Windows. But it only knows how to make a backup file, period; not how to write the file to a CDR.

You see, CDs use a different file system than hard drives. What's more, burning files directly to CDR in one step usually requires special "packet writing" software, which allows data to be dribbled to a CDR in intermittent clumps, or packets, as opposed to the standard "burn the whole thing in an unbroken data stream" of normal CD burning. For example, Roxio includes its separate "Drag to disc" or "Direct CD" packet-writing software with its burner software; Nero ships its separate "InCD" software; and so on.

You don't say what software you have, but if you check your burner software's helpfile, you may find a way to enable packet-writing to a blank CDR (roughly analogous to formatting a floppy). Once that's done, the Backup software may be able to write to the CDR: Backup will think it's talking directly to the CDR, but in reality, the packet writing software will be working as an invisible mediator, taking data from Backup, and dribbling it out to the CDR in the correct format.

Some packet-writing software is notoriously fussy and hard to use, so you may be glad to know there's a simpler way. <g> Let Backup do its thing; store the backup file wherever you want on your hard drive; and then simply burn the backup file to a blank CD using normal CD burning tools.

In fact, XP comes with everything you need, built-in: Use XP's backup tool to create the backup file, then pop a blank CDR into the drive, and drag the newly-created backup file to the CDR: XP will burn the CD for you with no additional software needed--- a free/no-extra-cost way to backup your system to CDR.

As an aside, although my systems have packet-writing available, I almost never use it. I find it simpler, faster, and more reliable to use normal CD burning tools when I need to put something on CD. But, your mileage may vary.

More on "Packet Writing" in Windows:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=udf+packet+writing+windows

More on UDF, the "Universal Disc Format" used in packet writing:
http://www.google.com/search?q=udf+file+system+windows

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4) Unattended Scheduled Tasks

Hi Fred, Love the newsletter, there's ALWAYS something new in there! In your last newsletter, item #5, When To Do Routine Maintenance, you mentioned in passing: "I also have my system set to perform a more thorough automatic cleanup, defrag and a complete backup every night, in the middle of the night; I assigned an admin password to these tasks so that Task Scheduler can run them unattended." Can you tell me (us?) how to assign an admin password so that Task Scheduler runs unattended? Thanks! -Frank DC

Sure, Frank. Actually, Task Scheduler is a pretty slick and often-underutilized part of Windows. It can launch pretty much any software, script or batch file you want, at any time you want, as often as you want. It's possible to make your PC almost entirely self-maintaining!

Task Scheduler has been around for a long time, and there's a ton of info available:

See:
Make Windows XP Self-Maintaining
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=15600170

Solving Automatic Maintenance Problems
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16100473

and these references on Task Scheduler:

XP:
http://langa.com/u/6n.htm
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Task+Scheduler%22+xp

Win2K:
http://langa.com/u/6m.htm
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Task+Scheduler%22+2000

WinME:
http://langa.com/u/6l.htm

Windows98:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Task+Scheduler+win98

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5) Another Favorite File Splitter

The item "Free File Splitter" in http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-11-04.htm#4 brought several alternate suggestions, including this:

Hi Fred! You have mentioned a couple times about a program that does one thing and does it well. "Chainsaw is an excellent example:

Only 179KB ver. 6.3 you can find, download, and read about it, here:

http://www.schmeusser.siw.de/software/chainsaw.html

Your Plus! edition is the only newsletter I find well worth paying for. Thanks. ---Bob Johnson, a frugal user.

Thanks, Bob!

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6) Three More Winners!

Readers Franka707, Kumaran and Tlhudson69 each won a FREE full one-year subscription to the LangaList Plus! edition by using the "Recommend To A Friend" form at http://langa.com/recommend.htm .

You see, each month I choose three winners of a new FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to the LangaList Plus! edition. (Existing Plus! subscribers get their current subscription 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; and you just may win! (Full details also available via this link): http://langa.com/recommend.htm

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7) Bulk Rename / CD File Security

Fred, Is there an easy way (I stress easy) to do a global replace a la Word on file names?  For example, if I have a directory with umpteen files named File1.doc, File2.doc....File 3073.doc, is there a simple way to rename them all e.g. to 1MyFile.doc, 2MyFile.doc... 3073MyFile.doc?  I know of the way recommended by MS ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320167 ) but that will rename them to MyFile(1).doc, MyFile(2).doc...MyFile(3073).doc and gives me little flexibility.

A second and unrelated question is password-protecting a CD.  I have a lot of files - mainly .doc and .xls with a few database files that I want to keep on a CD but need to refer to frequently.  To keep them secure I need a simple way to protect them from prying eyes but, as I need to use them a lot, don't want to encrypt them, as it takes time to unencrypt.  The easiest way would be to put them on a CD with the CD having a single password, known only to me, which make all the files accessible (and, without which, none of the files is accessible).  Is this doable? Many thanks. --John Alvey

There are many "bulk rename" tools, and they can be handy indeed. One common use is renaming a pile of digital photos all at once from the camera-generated names to something more descriptive, but still sequential.

One particularly good tool appears to be the "Bulk Rename Utility" at
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22983,00.asp . But there are many others: http://www.google.com/search?q=bulk+rename+file

As for securing files on CD,  encryption really is the best solution, and it doesn't have to be cumbersome. WinZip, for example, lets you use 256-bit AES encryption on all the files inside a zip file at once. In opening the zip file, you only have to enter the password once to gain access to all the files inside. As an added bonus, 256-bit AES is impervious to all but the most extreme forms of cracking, and (optionally) using zip compression also lets you roughly double the number of files or amount of data that you normally can get on a single CD--- better security *and* more data storage in one step! If you don't need the extra space and/or want to make things as fast as possible, use one of the light/minimal compression options, which work very fast and don't really get in the way much at all.

There are many other folder-level compression tools too: Put your files inside a folder, encrypt the entire folder all at once, and then burn the folder to CD. You then can access the folder on CD, enter the password for the entire folder, and get at the individual files without further speedbumps. http://www.google.com/search?q=encrypt+folder

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8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming...

Well over 3,000 of your fellow readers have "loaded the code." Have you? Check out http://langa.com/code.htm for the details. Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site
http://langa.com/randomlink.htm

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

kevin break photography
http://www.kevinbreak.com/

Christmas Tree Farm
http://www.thechristmastreefarm.com.au/

Hidden Springs
http://hiddenspringsestateshoa.com/index.html

Homework Help
http://annwn.bluescities.net/

Dallas Home Loans
http://smarthomebuyersdfw.com/links.asp

Gordon's Site
http://www.gordonblain.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/welcome.htm

funandfreestuff4u
http://groups.msn.com/funandfreestuff4u

Virtual Office Assistant
http://www.virtualoaservices.ca/

Cubria Enterprizes
http://www.ecubria.com/

Ultimate Sound DJ Service
http://www.ultimatesounddjservice.com/

River Humber
http://www.riverhumber.com/index9.htm

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9) More On Dealing With Old Quicktimes

Hi Fred, This is in response to the problem posted by Bill Aldredge from 2004-11-04: "The question is this -I purchased used the multi disc National Geographic magazine collection and the viewer is an early version of Quicktime...." I have installed NG 109 Years on Windows 98SE and XP pro.  What Bill needs to do is uninstall any Intellipoint (MS mouse) software and QuickTime.  Then install NG on the 98 platform, make sure it works, reinstall Intellipoint and the newest QuickTime.  The procedure for XP is the same but he should set QT viewer and QT to run in Windows 95 compatibility mode.  He might need to experiment with compatibility mode a bit.  At least that is what worked for me. I doubt that he will ever hear from MindSpring (the original maker) who sold to Broderbund who sold to MindSpring who sold to (I've forgotten the name) who sold to  (I've forgotten the name), you get the picture.  Quite a bit of flux in the software industry at that time. Just my 2 cents worth, Jeff

Hi Mr. Langa, Regarding this newsletter http://langalist.com/plus/newsletters/2004/2004-11-04plus.asp and the person who couldn't install Quicktime, there is an alternative at this site
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/QuickTime_Alternative.htm  QuickTime Alternative will allow you to play QuickTime files (.mov, .qt and other extensions) without having to install the official QuickTime Player. It also supports QuickTime content that is embedded in webpages. As a bonus, Internet Explorer will play all QuickTime movies that are embedded in a webpage. You do need a media player that is capable of playing QuickTime files. The included Media Player Classic supports it and works very well. The QuickTime Browser plugin supports Internet Explorer, Opera, Netscape and Mozilla. The QuickTime plugins include iPIX and QuickTimeVR. There is also Real Alternative so that you don't have to download the "monster" from Real Player http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm   Regards Barbara-Ann Ecroyd

Excellent newsletter, as always! The saga of National Geographic on CD (and some on DVD) is kind of sad. I looked into how many different production houses they had tried, but am not sure if it was three or perhaps more. Each of those production houses did their own thing, so the various "editions" of National Geographic on CD
are incompatible. That said, the QuickTime referred to by your reader is probably the old 16-bit version 2.1.2, for which the install program on the CD may be named
qtinstal.exe. I ran that as an Admin on an XP Home system, and it began the install, but then appeared to hang. I suspect it was trying to optimize performance, but could not communicate with the nVidia chipset. After reboot, QuickTime 2.1.2 appeared to work OK. The reason I was installing it manually was because the Usborne Animated First Thousand Words CD (evidently ported from Mac for Win3.1 and Win95) setup program would not run. Aside from installing QuickTime 16-bit (which evidently had a different API than 32-bit QuickTime 3.0 or newer), I manually copied all the files and subdirectories that were not obviously (well ok, ... to me) used only by the setup program, to a directory on the hard drive. The software (100word.exe) then complained it needed 256 color 640x480, so I changed the Compatibility settings. I suspect similar gyrations might get National Geographic on CD going. I have a copy of  the 108 year edition, but have not had time to try... S.D.Maley

Thanks to all who offered suggestions!

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10) Just For Grins

Hi Fred, A little while ago you had a little article about boot times; so I thought this might amuse you (and your readers): http://tinyurl.com/5p6br  ---Nigel
 

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• Real-Time Anti-Spyware Tools
     (protect your system as it runs)
• More On Reducing Interference
     (what to do when your PC messes up your TV)
• Free "Stinger" AV Tool
     (clean even a badly infected PC!)

You can't lose! The Plus! edition is only pennies per issue, and comes with a MONEY BACK GUARANTEE from Fred.

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

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

See you next issue, 2004-11-15!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

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

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