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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2005-01-20

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!

Contents:

1) New PC System Setup Secrets
2) Long-Distance Fixes
3) Unexplained  Automatic Restart
4) Win98/ME Systray Cleanup
5) Great Site, Great Solution
6) Recommend This Newsletter And Win!
7) DOS Tamer And/Or VPC To The Rescue
8) Another Code-Load Success Story
9) Good Site? Bad Driver?
10) Just For Grins
11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

Next Issue:
2005-01-24

 

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1) New PC System Setup Secrets

We haven't specifically updated the classic System Setup Secrets articles in a while (XP: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=12803122 ; Win98/WinME: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17500413 and http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=12802747 ), but there's a very good reason: Many other articles have separately expanded on and enhanced the topics of the original articles in far more depth than we could otherwise present in a single new article. In total, it amounts to an entire minilibrary of FREE tips, techniques, and best-practice information on perfecting your PC setup:

In themselves, the above will go a long way to help you get any PC in great shape, but there's more you can do, too. In fact, I've devoted an entire InformationWeek.Com column to answering questions such as: What's the current best way to get off on the right foot with a new PC? What steps can you take, in today's PC environment, to ensure that the hardware and software is set up as solidly as possible for a long-term safety and reliability?

The new article (free!) is at
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=57701147 .
Click on over!

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"Hi Fred...Just wanted you to know that your new system of
'notification' of the Plus! edition is working very well. Thanks for all
of your extra effort and numerous ways to get past my ISP's filters.
Would also like you to know that as an instructor at a 1000+ member
computer club here in the Phoenix area, I have been regularly
recommending your website to my students who want to get past the basics
of computing. I really feel your easy to understand approach to
explaining sometime complex issues is wonderful and really valuable in a
world full of soundbites and assumed knowledge of current technology.
For $1 a month you probably have the best value in this space, and I for
one am extremely glad I found out about you. Sincerely, Dan Spedale"

Thanks, Dan!

Plus Edition subscribers not only get about 30% extra content and no
advertising, but also can get their extended-length issues in any of
four formats--- HTML (easiest on the eyes); plain text (universally
compatible); digest (just the facts, ma'am); and the specially formatted
"Notify" edition, designed to get past overeager spam filters. And all
the Plus! editions are sent out before the Standard Edition even starts
to mail, so Plus! readers see everything first!

And it's all only around $1 a month!

Get all the details:
http://langa.com/plus.htm

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2) Long-Distance Fixes

Mr. Langa, My 19 year old son is in the military serving in the Middle East. He bought a computer from another soldier who was coming home. It has Windows XP installed on it. Unfortunately, after only a few days, my son managed to pick up some sort of virus that he's not able to get rid of. He says that it connects to the internet by itself and he can't control what sites the system accesses. He called home to ask me what to do. I'm not sure how to crash and reinstall XP, especially long distance. I told him to try system restore. He got the virus about 2 months ago and was shipped out and unable to fix it at that time. Can you give me step by step instructions on what he needs to do?
 
I don't know what anti virus, (if any), he has installed. I hope I taught him better than to surf the net without protection, but when he was at home I had other concerns. : )
 
Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Deb

The emergency, band-aid fix is to use a firewall such as Zone Alarm ( http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp ); you can "lock" the firewall to block all internet access when you're not using the PC. This only takes a click on the system tray icon, but prevents all phone-home activity via the internet connection. (Of course, you can do something similar by physically disconnecting the network cable or phone wire.) When you want access, it only takes another click to turn the connection back on.

The above doesn't solve the root problem, of course, but might let him regain a bit of control over the PC; it does stop whatever's going on from progressing, and blocks access to the unwanted site. But that's just a first step. To cure the root problem:

Because the system has been infected for a long while, the stuff in System Restore may also be infected. This can cause an endless-loop problem: You disinfect the PC, SR "restores" files, trying to reverse what it thinks is a system change, but which actually restores the infection.... (The same thing can happen when you restore from infected backups of any kind.)

So: Turn off System Restore, at least for now. Right click on My Computer, select Properties, go to the System Restore tab, click the "Turn Off" box.

Next, I suggest he start with these tools, and thoroughly de-worm/de-trojan his system:

Spywareblaster: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Spybot S&D: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
Ad-Aware Personal Edition: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Microsoft Antispyware: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Run the above iteratively until they all come up clean, and set up Microsoft Antispyware for continuous monitoring of the system. Next, install a current antivirus tool, and let it do a thorough scan of the system. Then leave it active as well, continuously monitoring the system. AVG has a pretty decent, free-for-personal-use version: http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php

Once the AV tool shows the system as clean, make sure the PC is fully patched from Windows Update, and from the sites of the publishers of all the other software on the system. Update *everything.*

Finally, re-run deep scans with all the protective tools again (to make sure nothing sneaked in with the updates). Then, by using all the tools regularly, and keeping the MS Antispyware, the antivirus software, and a good firewall always running, the system should stay clean.

It's a hassle to do a major clean up like this, but with no clean backup to revert to, there's really no good alternative.

(PS: Once the system *is* clean, that'd be a great time to do an image backup. That way, your son can revert to that good, clean backup should he need to in the future, instead of having to jump through all those steps of disinfecting the system again....)

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3) Unexplained  Automatic Restart

Maybe you can point me in the right direction. My computer is a Gateway Win 98.After a normal shutdown  the computer  does that  but within 2 sec will restart itself. If I shut it down with on off button, same thing it will restart. The only way to stop this is to pull the plug from the wall. Have you ever heard of that?--- Gerald Ebner

Yes, I have heard of that. But first, it never hurts to check the FAQ or Knowledgebase at your vendor's site: This may be a common problem with your model of PC, and there may be a very simple fix ready-made and waiting for you.

But if not, I'd first suspect a setting in the BIOS that's interpreting a "turn off" as power loss, and is trying to restart the system for you. This is usually an adjustable behavior via the BIOS setup:

To access the setup tool, on many Gateways, you tap the F1 or F2 key about once a second or so as the PC wakes up from a cold start. (Other brands and models use the Del or Esc or other keys. Check your owner's manual, or the online manual at the vendor's site, for the exact method of accessing the BIOS setup.)

Once you see the BIOS setup screens, look for something relating to "restart after power loss" or "system state after AC back" or any similar concept: The idea is to find a setting relating to what the PC does when the power goes out. You may find this under "Power Management" or some other section of the setup pages.

Once you've found the setting, adjust it so that the PC stays off after a power loss, instead of "turning on," "waking up," "reverting to previous state," or whatever other verbiage you may see: You want the PC to ignore a power loss (for any reason, including a "turn off" event) and simply stay off.

If the above turns out not to be the problem, then the BIOS or power supply may have problems. (It's also possible it's a software issue in Windows own power management routines, but that seems very unlikely.) You might try re-flashing (a kind of upgrading) your BIOS, via the info and instructions on the vendor site (search for "flash" and "bios"). Other vendors sell replacement BIOSes too, if you'd rather go that route: http://www.google.com/search?q=replacement+bios

If that doesn't help, I'd suspect the power supply. You may also wish to see if your vendor offers replacement power supplies; or, try an aftermarket source. Power supplies don't have to cost a lot, and they're surprisingly easy to replace (usually just four screws!): http://www.google.com/search?q=replacement+power+supply

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4) Win98/ME Systray Cleanup

Fred, As you know, there are many times when it is desirable to shut down all running programs, except Explorer.  It's pretty cumbersome to use the CTRL-ALT-DEL combo over and over to shut down each component, one at a time.

So, why not just use the "RUN" command, and create a shortcut to do this with one double-click?  Such as:

C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE SHELL32.DLL,SHExitWindowsEx -1

Could call the shortcut anything that seems appropriate-like SYSTRAY CLEAN for example.

Maybe I am missing something here, but it seems like a pretty good idea to me.

Alan, PLUS subscriber

Thanks, Alan. Often, the stuff in the "Tray" (by the clock) is OK to leave running: When new software says "Close all programs" it normally means all top level programs that open a window on your desktop or leave themselves as an icon on the taskbar. But if you truly want to close everything, you can use Alan's suggestion. You can copy/paste the command (above) into the Start/Run line, as he suggests; or paste it into a NotePad text document, and save the one-line document on your desktop, named something like "SYSTRAY_CLEAN" as he suggests or any other name you wish. It will initially be saved as a TXT file (eg "SYSTRAY_CLEAN.TXT"); rename it to .BAT eg "SYSTRAY_CLEAN.BAT" to make it a batch file that will run automatically when you click it.

For Win2K and XP (as well as 98/ME) and for greater control over what shuts down and what's left running, you can try a tool like "EndItAll" ( http://www.docsdownloads.com/Tier1/enditall.htm ) which can either close everything, or let you selectively close programs and processes, sometimes with more control than Task Manager gives you (which is yet another way to accomplish the same thing).

Lots of options. Thanks Alan!

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5) Great Site, Great Solution

This item's worthwhile on two levels. The most obvious level is for the information on the appearance of mysterious, large gaps in the Add/Remove Program list (see http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-12-09.htm#2 ):

Mr. Langa, I hope you don't mind someone else chiming in about the large gap in the Add/Remove program in XP. I found the solution for the problem Mark Major and Peter Jam experienced at http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm . Scroll down to "Add or Remove - White Space" and you will see two links;
 http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/autocadaddremovefix.zip
 http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/autodesk-landdesktop3-addremovefix.zip
These lead to .zip files which contain fixes for this problem.
 
 I don't have either AutoCAD or AutoDesk on my machine, but I still had the problem with the large space. I used the AutoCAD fix, and it did the trick for me, but as they say "YMMV". :-)  ---Eric Kunz

The other level is about Kellys Korner. We've mentioned it several times before, but it bears repeating: This site should be in everyone's Favorites for information on XP. It contains an amazing amount of information, all high-quality and well-presented. Check it out! http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp.htm

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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.)

Check out the details at http://langa.com/recommend.htm . Thanks for recommending the LangaList--- and good luck!

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7) DOS Tamer And/Or VPC To The Rescue

In "Hungry, Like The Fox" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-01-13.htm#3 ) we discussed some easy ways to try to rein in piggy DOS apps that want all a PC's CPU time and/or RAM for itself. (The case in question was FoxPro, but it could have been any number of older software releases.)

A number of readers sent in notes mentioning a proven commercial solution. Here's one such, but this also asks a follow-on question we'll get to in a moment:

Fred: Regarding your question and answer about the DOS application that is out of control, I'd recommend looking at this product: http://www.tamedos.com/
 
For what it is worth, I've had this problem on some Citrix servers and this has helped with the CPU issue.  The memory issue is another story and I'd love to hear a solution to this.  No matter what you do, the NTVDM takes up 70-80% of all available RAM when the app is launched.  I have a Citrix server with over 2 GB of RAM and nearly all the RAM gets tied up by NTVDM despite the fact this app runs on old Win 98 PC's with 64MB RAM. Hope this helps. ---Anthony DeHart

Thanks, Anthony.

There's another, nearly bulletproof way to control too-hungry apps: I didn't mention it in the previous answer because I thought it might have been overkill. But, seeing your problem (above) it may bear a brief mention:

It's a Virtual PC solution--- a complete PC, emulated in software, inside your regular operating system. The VPC thinks it's a fully normal standalone PC, and all apps running on the VPC think likewise, even though the VPC is really just a memory space and special software running in your real, physical PC alongside your normal apps.

When you set up a VPC, you can specify how much memory it will have, and whatever goes on inside the VPC normally cannot--- *cannot*--- reach out to the main PC to take over more RAM or CPU horsepower than you allocated. In fact, the VPC can be totally isolated from your real PC, if you want it that way; or it can connect via networking, just as if it were a separate PC. In any case, a VPC can work as a kind of self-contained sandbox where you can run voracious or even dangerous software with essentially no risk to your real PC. I use a whole fleet of VPCs for testing and research on my PC; not only for trying apps I'm not sure I want on my main system, but also for running Linux and other versions of Windows inside my main copy of XP. It's very cool technology.

It's a heavy-duty way to control too-hungry apps, but it can work with far more safety and isolation than just about any other option. See http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=vpc&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000 for more info, including Microsoft free trial VPC.

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8) Another Code-Load Success Story

Code-loader John Bradley writes:

Hi Fred, Recently you loaded my URL code "Jigsaw Puzzles on CD"  ( http://www.jbradley2002.com ) in your newsletter and I just wanted to tell you that my counter increased over 1,000 hits in 2 days! It was absolutely amazing! I thought I was seeing things! Thanks for a great newsletter too! Have a great week.... John Bradley

Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join the thousands 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://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://langa.com/randomlink.htm

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

Canadian/Hungarian Couple In Austria
 http://members.linzag.net/679185/

CFS Outlaws
 http://www.members.tripod.com/cfsoutlaws/index.htm

Bowen Therapy Training
 http://www.bowentherapytraining.com/

Craig & his Family
 http://www.geocities.com/campocraig/

Lazy Daze Inn
http://lazydazeinn.net/

Intuitive Pharmacol
 http://intuitivepharmacol.hostingisfree.com/home.php

BillMinder
 http://www.billminder.biz/

Chainpurr Record Collection
 http://www.chainpurr.com/

electronic office equipment
 http://www.mandeepsahni.com/

david's skydiving pages
 http://members.lycos.co.uk/yellowperil

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9) Good Site? Bad Driver?

Hi Fred. I couldn't find any info on the drivers hq/driver detective. I have subscribed to it at a fee of almost 30.00 dollars. I hope that you or any of your readers can give me their opinion of this software. It searches in your computer in  FAST time and I cant believe it found 45% bad drivers. My Gateway computer is only 6 months old. Intel either makes the drivers for Gateway or? I'm really getting gunshy. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for a good newsletter. Norm Mc

Well, it depends on what you, or the site, means by a "bad" driver.

If your hardware is working reliably and provides all functions you want and need, then it's hard to imagine why a driver would be "bad" even if it's not the newest version. At some point, it's perfectly fine to say "who cares if it's not the absolute latest version?" As long as it does what you want, you're OK.

The one major exception to this is for security issues; these should be fixed, no matter what. But security problems in driver-level software aren't very common. Usually, drivers are updated to fix bugs and provide new features. If you're not experiencing the bugs, and don't need the new features, you don't really need the new driver, simple as that.

That said, sites like Drivers HQ and its Driver Detective can be very useful, especially if your trying to install older hardware for which you have no drivers. I've used them myself, when the hardware vendor's site no longer offers the driver and a Google search turns up no other alternative.

But I'd never automatically take the word of a site that my drivers were "bad" and in need of replacement, unless there was some other indication of trouble; especially when the site is in business to (in essence) sell you access to drivers. *You,* and not some outside site, should decide what's good and bad on your system.

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10) Just For Grins

Fred: I'm a subscriber to the Plus list.  You save my life almost daily.  I came across this entry whilst reading blogs this evening at http://volokh.com/. ---Paul H. Perry

Eugene Volokh, Driving Directions:

Check out the directions that Microsoft's MapPoint gives for going from Haugesund, Norway to Trondheim, Norway. The "quickest" option ( http://langa.com/u/7g.htm ) yields the most amusing result, but "shortest" is good, too ( http://langa.com/u/7h.htm ). Thanks to James Tyre (who credits David Flint) for the catch.

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

  • Zone Alarm / AntiSpy Conflict, and Fix
       (just a few clicks does it!)
  • More On: Moving An Operating System
       (... and repairing boot problems, too!)
  • "bugcode-usb-driver?"
       (mysterious error, easy solution!)

The Plus! edition is only pennies per issue, and comes with a MONEY BACK GUARANTEE from Fred. How can you lose? Check out the details: 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, 2005-01-24!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

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